Patrizio Buanne.- Who? Italian Heart Throb Crooner of Italy's Songs in English

Patrizio Buanne is a soft-spoken and an immense charmer with stunning good looks, and has been described as a man women want and men want to be like.

Buanne shares his culture through passionate and beautiful Italian songbook standards. He chooses timeless songs, but those that speaks to life today.

Buanne's debut album, The Italian, was released in 2005 It is composed of eleven tracks of traditional Italian songs.The Italian reached #10 on the Pop chart in the United Kingdom and also charted in Australia where it was certified as double Platinum.

As of May 2007,The Italian has recently been released in the USA. His second album Forever Begins Tonight was released in July 2006.

Patrizio sings in English, Italian and Spanish, but he speaks six languages.English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Polish and can say a few words in many other tongues

Review from amazon.com

Style, sophistication, elegance...where can we find that old-school cool in our consumer culture of instantly disposable celebrity? Time to meet Patrizio Buanne. Tall, dark and handsome, perfectly groomed and impeccably dressed, the clean cut Italian with the rich baritone voice is an enigma.

Inspired by the singers of yesteryear, Patrizio harks back to a time when a man would not dream of singing on stage in anything less than a suit, shoes, polished, clean-shaven, hair neatly brushed, with a dab of cologne behind the ears. Nothing strange about that, you might say. Except that Patrizio is only 26 years old - and hopelessly devoted to his art - romantic crooning.

Dean Martin, Paul Anka, Tom Jones, along with the traditional Italian singers - these are the men he idolizes. Unfashionable? Perhaps, on first impression. But as they say: style is temporary and class is permanent. "Less is more - those artists perform great melodies - it's so fantastic to go onstage performing beautiful melodies with an orchestra behind you."

Raised in Naples, he moved to Vienna at the age of six when his father opened Austria's first pizzeria. But his fiercely patriotic father would play only Italian music at home. When he was 8 his parents bought him a guitar and at 11 years old Patrizio made his first public performance at a talent contest for schools. Patrizio then began to enter more talent competitions - and always won first prize.

At the age of 17 Patrizio was invited to sing for the Pope in Poland, performing in front of his biggest audience yet - 85,000 people - which led to a recording contract shortly thereafter at age 17. However, tragedy soon followed when his beloved father died shortly after Patrizio's 17th birthday. But one thing made Patrizio determined to survive. "I had promised my father I would be a superstar and make my name - his name - famous. It is always music that reminds me of my father and makes me happy."

In 1999 Patrizio took up on an uncle's offer to return to Italy and, after winning yet another talent show, found himself offered a job as a TV entertainer. Soon he was one of the most popular young faces on Italian television, hosting his own show in between studying languages at a university in Rome. But his dream was still to be a recording artist - and most of all to be successful in Great Britain and America.

In 2003 Patrizio was introduced to music producer Christian Seitz. They both shared the same passion and vision for music, so bravely quitting his burgeoning TV career they went to work on the album - going into London's world famous Abbey Road studios with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to realize his dream. 18 months later the result is L'Italiano (The Italian ) an album mixing traditional Neapolitan romance and singing tradition with Italian standards from the '50s and '60s - songs barely known outside of Italy but destined to become favorites for a new generation.

To listen to Patrizio is to immerse yourself in the soundtrack of a world familiar from film and television - including Fellini and Sophia Loren.

"My music is as Italian as pasta in an Italian kitchen," says Patrizio. "These songs are timeless classics. To me, crooning is more than a way of singing; it's a way of life!".

"THE ITALIAN"
1. Il Mondo
2. Amore Scusami
3. Parla Piu Piano
4. A Man Without Love
5. Che Sara
6. Come Prima
7. L'Italiano
8. Home To Mamma
9. On An Evening In Roma
10. Alta Marea
11. Credi In Te Sample Listening for The Italian at Amazon. com ------------------------------------------------ "FOREVER BEGINS TONIGHT" 1. You Don't Have To Say You Love 2. Un Angelo 3. You're My World 4. That's Amore 5. Forever Begins Tonight 6. Bella Bella Signorina 7. Smile 8. Malafemmena 9. Let's Make Love 10. Vicin' 'O Mare 11. Luna Mezz'O Mare Sample Listening for Forever Begins Tonight at Amazon. com

Book: The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 by Rick Atkinson - Must Read!

PREFACE:
FIRST: Italy would never have been Hitler's Ally if it hadn't been for Anthony Eden, Britain's Foreign Secretary 1935-1938, who resigned because he could not accept Chamberlain's opening of negotiations with Italy. Negotiations that Mussolini pursued in order to become a member of the Allies, and distance himself from Hitler. Eden was notoriously and unapologetically ANTI-ITALIAN. Eden's PETTY and RIDICULOUS attitude RESULTED in WW!!. [Eden later served as Prime Minister from 1955- 57. and he is generally ranked among the least successful British PMs of the 20th century.] SECOND: The Incredibly Destructive Sicilian and Italy Campaign by the Allies should have, and never would have taken place, if it hadn't been for Churchill's irrational decision, which seems to have been influenced by British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, who wanted to use the Invasion as a way of punishing Italy.! BACK TO THE BOOK: "The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944" FDR, Stalin, Eisenhower ALL felt that the Best and quickest way to Defeat Germany was to Cross the Channel FIRST, and ignore and bypass North Africa, and the Italian Peninsula, and Threaten and Cut off the Head /Germany through France from the West, while providing Russia with much needed Relief. North Africa and the Italian Peninsula as the Extremities would be of no consequence. BUT Churchill prevailed, and the Italian campaign became a tragedy for the Italy and it's citizens, AND the Allies!!!!!!!!!!!! The Allies thought the Italian Campaign would last only a couple of weeks. Rather the Italian Campaign lasted September 9, 1943 - May 8, 1945, TWENTY ONE MONTHS!!!!! It would take the Allies 9 Months just to get to ROME. [This ALL despite the Italian resistance assisted with over 300,000 members !!!!!!] The previous invasion of Sicily took 38 days, with Patton entering Messina on August 17, 1943. On July 25, King Victor Emmanuel had Il Duce arrested and replaced him with Marshal Pietro Bagdoglio, the Army Chief of Staff. Bagdoglio immediately started secret negotiations with the Allies to take Italy out of the war, which were concluded with US Gen Maxwell Taylor on September 3, announced on September 8, while the Eighth Army landed in Southern Italy. On the Italian Peninsula, the Allies encountered Impossible Mountainous Terrain, Cold Winters, the Shortage of Shipping - the Slow Buildup of Troops and Matйriel, the Tactical Mistake of Not taking advantage of Italy’s 5,000-mile coastline, the Series of German Fortified Lines, the German Tenacity, the Blunders of Gen Mark Clark at Anzio, both of hesitation, and defying orders and heading toward Rome rather than following orders and outflanking the Germans at Cassino. German General Kesselring made the Allied Generals look like bureaucrats. Ironically, Tragically, and Pathetically the Allies conducted their Invasion of Normandy France just 9 months after the Italian Invasion, June 6, 1944, and Paris liberated itself on August 25th, and the Allies were threatening the Rhine and German homeland in December '44. Also, Churchill was fine with Long distance Amphibious landings in North Africa, and Sicily, yet was queasy about crossing the English Channel that is only 21 miles wide at the Dover Straits. Additionally, the Americans conducted Nothing but Successful Long distance Amphibious Campaigns in the Pacific, starting with Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942. and the Solomons Campaign on February 1943. All this deserves a book: "Anthony Eden, and the WW that Didn't Need to Happen" !! :(

The Italian Job

New York Times

Review by James Holland

September 30, 2007

"THE DAY OF BATTLE"

The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944. Volume Two of the Liberation Trilogy.

Authored by Rick Atkinson.

Illustrated. 791 pp. Henry Holt & Company. $35.

In the 62 years since its end, thousands of books have been written about World War II, yet a new in-depth work on the major battles and campaigns is always to be welcomed. In an age when travel is easier than it has ever been, and technology increasingly helpful to the historical sleuth, it is possible - with the solace of a half-decent publisher’s advance - to visit battlefields and archives around the world, and then to produce a book containing genuinely new material and perspectives.

Rick Atkinson proved what a determined and assiduous researcher could achieve in "An Army at Dawn", his best-selling account of the North Africa campaign, and he has been no less thorough in "The Day of Battle", the second part of a projected "liberation" trilogy. But while there is new material here - like information about the deaths of Allied servicemen from American mustard gas at Bari - it is his ability to ferret out astonishing amounts of detail and marshal it into a highly readable whole that gives Atkinson the edge over most writers in this field.

Anyone who devoured "An Army at Dawn" with relish will be delighted with his account of the Sicilian and Italian campaign. All the same ingredients are here, from sharp one-liners ("Camaraderie and good fun", he says of the resumption of negotiations at the Trident conference in Washington, "promptly popped like soap bubbles") to brilliantly observed character portraits.

Take, for example, his description of Dwight Eisenhower on the eve of the Sicily landings, chain-smoking damp cigarettes in the sticky, humid underground command headquarters on Malta, desperately trying to pass time after sending the invasion fleet into the Mediterranean in potentially catastrophic stormy conditions. The minutiae of events combined with telling character observation enables Atkinson to write about Eisenhower - and others, like Generals Patton, Clark and Truscott - in a way that makes readers feel they knew these men personally.

Opening with a fine account of the Trident conference between Roosevelt, Churchill and their chiefs of staff, Atkinson notes that the Italian campaign was really all about Allied strategy, or rather diverging views on strategy between America and Britain. The United States believed nothing should hinder its original aim of invading northwest Europe at the earliest possible date. Britain felt just as strongly that Italy should also be invaded after a successful conquest of Sicily.

A compromise of sorts was achieved. Following Sicily, Eisenhower, as supreme commander in the Mediterranean, was to plan whatever operation was most likely to knock Italy out of the war and contain the maximum number of German forces.This, the Americans eventually conceded, was the invasion of Italy, even though Italian surrender terms had been agreed before the British crossed into the boot of the peninsula. Inevitably, problems soon materialized. The terrain hugely favored the defender, Hitler decided to fight for every yard north of Naples, the winter conditions were far harsher than anyone had anticipated and the Americans’ hearts were not really in the invasion anyway.

As in any war where miscalculations have been made at the top, it is the frontline troops and unfortunate civilians in the way who suffer the most, and Atkinson has an admirable sympathy and understanding of both. Among the most powerful passages in the book are his descriptions of the hellhole that Naples became and the desperate fight for San Pietro. The sounds, smells, violence and idiocy of war are all here. "Perhaps only a battlefield before the battle is quieter than the same field after the shooting stops", he writes of the aftermath of the Salerno landings."The former is silent with anticipation, the latter with a pure absence of noise".

With these descriptions of the dirty business of war on the ground, along with his accounts of matters of higher politics and strategy, Atkinson is at his best. Although he is perhaps overly hard on General Alexander, he is, for the most part, evenhanded in his treatment of the senior Allied commanders, whose characters and decisions take up so much of the book. Clark, for example, receives a justifiably more generous assessment than has often been the case.

Yet, while Atkinson discusses all the big debating points - the Rapido crossing, Anzio, Cassino, Rome and so on - he tends to do so in terms of generals blaming one another for the various setbacks. There is not enough analysis of the issues and circumstances dictating those often difficult command decisions. For instance, a fuller explanation of how and why the terrain was so treacherous for the attacker would have been useful. The shortage of shipping - which meant the Allies could not take advantage of Italy’s one redeeming feature, namely its 5,000-mile coastline - was not Alexander’s or Clark’s fault. The other big problem facing Alexander and his generals in the early months in Italy was the slow buildup of troops and matйriel. This was caused primarily by American insistence that formation of the 15th Air Force in Italy take priority over troops on the ground, thus using up much of the limited transport available. In fact, one of the prime reasons the American chiefs were finally persuaded to support the invasion of Italy was the promise of airfields from which the strategic bombing of Germany and the German war effort could be increased.

All Allied men and matйriel had to cross the sea; the Germans, on the other hand, were already in place and could supply the front by land, hence with greater speed. Not until May 1944 did Alexander have the three-to-one advantage in troops he felt he needed for victory. These factors are not really examined. Indeed, the enormous contribution of the Allied air forces is greatly underplayed.

....."The American Army and the War in Sicily and Italy" would have been a more appropriate subtitle for this book. It is also questionable whether, in the 21st century and with the current troubles in Iraq and elsewhere, continuing to view history almost entirely through the prism of the United States is serving Americans well.

Despite these quibbles, there are few to match Atkinson’s writing style. "The Day of Battle" is a very fine book indeed. "Here the dreamless dead would lie", Atkinson writes in a very moving passage about the aftermath of the bloody Rapido, "leached to bone by the passing seasons, and waiting, as all the dead would wait, for doomsday’s horn". Even the great Ernie Pyle would have liked to have written that one.

James Holland is the author of "Together We Stand: America, Britain and the Forging of an Alliance".

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/books/review/Holland-t.html?em&ex=1191124800&en=f9239326b76b3ed0&ei=5087%0A

Things I've Learnt Since Living in Italy

These observations are very amusing, incitful, yet not demeaning.

Things I've learnt about Italy since living in Italy

Emma Bird
How to Italy

I thought about what I've learnt over the various years of being in Naples, Bologna, Milan, Cagliari and now Cannigione, Sardinia.

In a foreign country, you are the odd one out. No one needs you as they all have their own busy lives and their own circle of friends. To make friends and establish a life, you have to make the effort. You have to go out even when you are tired.

You have to get used to walking into rooms full of strangers where you don't know anyone. And you have to start talking to people you never normally would talk to. You have to talk without worrying about what's coming out of your mouth. If you wait to speak the perfect sentence in Italian, you're not going to get anywhere. Open your mouth, be prepared to be mortified by the words that come out and get on with it. It's the only way to get fluent.

You need to forget all the dining etiquette you've been brought up with, especially if you're English and eat peas on the back of your fork. Italians don't use knives. They use forks in the right hand and they eat peas as you should do really - on the curved part. Oh, and don't put your hands in your lap when you're not eating. It's not polite as it would be in the UK. It's very, very bad etiquette.

You have to say 'permesso' everytime you enter someone's house or you go into a shop or an office and no one is in the room. You can actually do this for every room you enter into to, if you haven't actually been invited.

It takes a long time to make friends with Italians. To you they are laidback, gregarious and social creatures that made you fall in love with Italy in the first place, but that's where first impressions aren't what they seem. Yes, Italians are laidback, gregarious and social but try to build up a friendship and they scurry away and don't want to know. There are exceptions to the rule: students and housemates will be friends with you without a problem and so will ragazzi or ragazze that want to date you. Otherwise, play by their game. Be friendly but don't necessarily try to be friends. At some point it will happen.

Italians act with an air of authority even though they have no idea whether or not that is the case. This often happens in public office and the post office. Last week I had to get the document to pay the ICI - Italy's version of property tax. The person in the tax office told me I hadn't paid the refuse tax because it wasn't on the computer. Now, he didn't say 'how strange, it's not coming up'. He said 'no, you haven't paid. The computer doesn't lie'. Oh, but it does because I was waving a photocopy of said bill in his face. It turns out it was in a pile to be formatted and he hadn't quite got around to it. Never take anything that Italians in public offices maintain is true and always have printed out documents proving that you are, indeed, right.

Italians cannot go out to the beach and then out to dinner. They have to go home and have a shower first even though they may be starving. This isn't a quick 5-minute shower either because you must dry your hair with a hairdryer before you go out otherwise you will catch a cold even though it is a warm summer's evening. If you all go out to the beach together and then they come back to your house for dinner, you will end up providing clean towels for everyone to have a shower before dinner and, of course, they must dry their hair. In comparison, I'm a heathen Brit because I'm quite happy to have a shower once they've gone while they give me strange looks because I'm having dinner without having washed all that seasalt off my body first.

If you are a Brit you are not allowed to give blood because you may have Mad Cow Disease simmering away somewhere in your body. I can accept the logic somehow, apart from the fact I'm vegetarian and therefore the slim possibility of having KJD becomes even slimmer. The Italian health service desperately needs blood donors but yet they turn down blood from healthy people. If the British health system turned people down, they wouldn't have any blood at all.

Italians have a serious love of English words. So when you don't use the Italian, use the English. But do make sure you use it in a convincing manner and not like you've just forgotten the Italian. So throw in coffee break...drink...management...meeting...holiday' and you'll be the epitome of chic.

You never ever go into a bar and wait to be served. You wait to catch the waiter's eye and shout out your order. But coming out with a phrase like 'potrei avere un cappuccino per cortesia' (could I have a cappuccino, please is a sure way of highlighting your foreign status. Far better to say 'un cappuccino' or 'un cappuccino, grazie'. And you only need to say 'grazie' the once. If you're British you need to delete your heritage at least temporarily and learn to limit the amount of times you say 'please' and 'thank you'.

In a business interview, it is important to come across as sociable and trustworthy. So throw those arms in the air, make lots of eye contact and smile. Then, while the Italians are beginning to trust you, subtley show off your knowledge.

In the southern Italy and the islands, it is as if you step back in time. If you are a woman and in a couple, you will be ignored and people will talk to your other half. Thus, landlords will say 'Please tell X, I need to see him about the gas bill'. They can't possibly talk to you because you are invisible. But keep insisting that they can talk to you and they will finally see you exist after all.

Italians love having foreign friends because it ups their 'cool' status. But as a Brit or American you cannot possibly be expected to know how to dress or what to wear. Italian friends will, of course, think that they themselves are immaculate and that you should copy them. The fact that you might hate their style is irrelevant. Friends will then touch your hair and touch your clothes and then forget that you are even there as they discuss what 'lei' (she) should be doing with her hair and which hairdresser she should use - I love my Italian friends to bits but can you tell this last point bugs me big time?

You can learn a lot from the Italians' mentality. Yes, they may be rather late for a lot of things but I no longer knock it. It can be stressful seeing them flit about and juggle appointments but spend some time observing them over the course of a week and you'll see that they still fit everything in. And besides, that's the flip side of the wonderful laidback lifestyle.

Never ever invite a big group of Italians out for your birthday as you'll end up paying. And if you have a party at your house, be prepared to pay for everything. It's rare for an Italian to turn up at a party bearing gifts of food and drink.

In meetings, you should always present your business card at the beginning rather than the end. Hold it in both hands and present it personally to the person you are giving it to. Keep it in your hand for several seconds to allow the receiver time to take in all your details.

Italian weddings are very very expensive. You're normally expected to give at least Eur100 in cash regardless of how well you know the bride and groom. And beware if you're asked to be a testimone (witness). That's a big-time honour. The bride or groom don't buy you a gift to thank you for doing the deed. Instead, you buy them a nice expensive present to thank them for asking you to do it.

Italians are wary of email. If you need an urgent reply than phone or text. Both will solicit an immediate response whereas you may not get a reply to email for several days.

Working from home is not common in Italy and Italians, by and large, don't get it. The 'bella figura' is oh-so-important in Italy so what could be more bella than showing off how rich and successful you are than having a swish city-centre office regardless of whether or not you actually need it?

Italians love their ponti (bridges) as do expats who live in Italy. These aren't bridges of the architectural type, but long weekends when you have a public holiday. In Italy, public holidays don't fall on the Monday or Friday but on the exact date. Say the public holiday was on Tuesday. Italians will take the Monday off work as well. I was living in Milan in 2003 and it was a great year for ponti. What with the combination of Easter, Liberation Day and May 1, it was a whole two week festa. This year we've not had many ponti because all the holidays have fallen on weekend. Che sfiga...

Italians will tell you something with absolute conviction. So much so that you believe them every single time. All told, I've been in Italy for seven years and I still fall for this one.

If Italians have something important to tell you, it will be done face-to-face. Never bring up the subject of money on the phone or in email. It is always always discussed face-to-face and always at the very end of the conversation. You will meet in a bar, have aperitivi and proceed to small talk for at least 20-25 minutes. At the very very end of the conversation as you are about to pay the bill and walk out, money is mentioned. I'm not sure why. I mean, you know you are there to talk about money as does the other person, so why not save time and mention it straight away?

You can't go out with friends for dinner and sit and listen to the conversation. They will be worried that you are on your deathbed or that something is seriously the matter with you. Periodically wave your hands about and add some comments to reassure them.

Italians are hypochondriacs and are experts on every single health problem going. Keep a thermometer handy because whenever you feel a bit under par, you will be asked what your temperature is. Sticking a hand on your forehead will not do. Ever. You must also have your heart monitored before you join a gym or a swimming pool and check that you are fit enough. This applies even if you intend to do only a few leisurely lengths and not hurtle Olympic-style down the length of the pool.

Italians are also colour experts. You've probably never seen a Dulux colour chart in Italy because Italians have no need for them. To an Italian, your cream jumper isn't cream. It is one of the following caffelatte (milky coffee, or rather, very very milky coffee), panna (cream), crema (vanilla ice-cream colour) or ecru. Similarly, your pink top will never be pink. It will be rose, fuschia, petal-pink, shell-pink and so on.

It is illegal to drive outside of built-up areas without your car headlights on. Even on a bright summer's day in Sardinia when the light is blinding. But rules are rules. Funny how you have to stick to some rules but can break others, eh?

You can never book a hotel months in advance. Italians like to keep their options open so they aren't too fond of letting you book if there could be a more attractive offer around the corner. Last-minute is always best.

Italians travel in convoy. It takes forever to get anywhere. If a group of friends are going out for the day, you must all meet at one person's house. Everyone must get out of the car, shake hands or kiss each other. You then pile back in the car and ensure that the cars are travelling together. Periodically - and at least every hour - you will all pull into a layby for no other reason than to check that everyone is okay. This, of course, could be done by phone but it isn't. Once you have ensured that everyone is fine, no one is sick, no one is lost and everyone is happy, you will go on your way. You'll arrive at your destination just before it's time to make the return journey home.

You must wear plastic gloves for touching fruit and vegetables. I'm not sure why Italians go along with this one because they wash the fruit when they get home anyway. I do, too, for that matter. What I don't do - unlike my beloved Italian friends - is get out some fruit washing solution and soak the fruit and veg for 10 minutes. I'm not sure they approve of me merely rinsing it under the cold tap. In fact, that's probably why they turn down my offer of fruit after lunch.

Italy has some of the most gorgeous coastline in the world but few Italians swim in it. Instead, they walk out to stand and talk to their friends. The swimming part rarely happens. Italians look on in disbelief should you actually decide to swim and get your hair wet.

Italian children aren't fussy when it comes to food. They eat everything. Those horrible tins of mushed up food seem to bypass the mouths of Italian babes. Instead they are fed pasta, soup, icecream and tiny bits of fish and meat. And they don't eat before their parents. If dinner is at 9pm, the children eat at 9pm, too.

Walking around barefoot in the house is frowned upon. Your feet will get dirty and you will make the bed dirty. I've lost count of the number of times my feet have been inspected by various boyfriends over the years. Likewise, you should never pack/unpack your suitcase on the bed. The wheels of the suitcase have been on the floor and you will transfer the dirt to where you sleep.

Italians think nothing of discussing their toilet habits with strangers. Hemmoroids, by default, are also popular in small talk. And what do you know? Accountants who didn't know each other even managed to discuss them over cocktails yesterday evening. I tried to keep a straight face. I really did.

Italians shun conventional wisdom that it is better to cover up in the sun.
They believe you are ill if you are pale and rather nicely describe you as bianco come una mozzarella (as white as mozzarella) or palido come un cadavere (as pale as a corpse). After all this time in Italy, I now get my cheeks pinched whenever people see me in the summer as they say compliment me for no longer resembling mozzarella or dead people. I'm not sure when the transformation happened as I wear sunscreen all year around and factor 60 from april through to November.

Italian girls take a little bag to the beach with all of their sun creams and oils in. Me and you obviously only use one or two spf factors but not Italian beauties. You need a low one for your legs because they tan slowly, a higher one for your feet because walking about in flip flops means the sun is always on them, a not-to-high one for your face, and a lowish one for your arms, and a very very low one (SPF 1, 2 or 5) for your abs which are hardly ever exposed. This ensures an even tan all over. But that's not the end of it. Oh no. Next up is the oil for the hair and the freshwater spray for the legs to boost circulation while frying in the sun.

Italian mammas and babbos don't like their wee ones to get sandy feet once they've got dressed to go home. So said child will be hoisted up by the arms, carried down to the beach and be made to dip their feet in the sea until all sand has gone. Then, they will be carried back to the towel to dry off and put their shoes on to walk back to the car. My sandy barefoot walk back home doesn't pass muster.

Italians don't do light lunches at the beach. It's not uncommon to see families under their gazebos as they get out their pasta salad, prosciutto, mozzarrella and tomato salad and fruit and then round it all off with an espresso that they heat up on their little camper stove. Gosh! No wonder Italians can't go in the sea for three hours after eating.

It's considered 'brutta figura' to open your door in your pjs after 9am
- even to your own family. Heavens! What would they say if they saw me working in my pjs sans make up during the day?

Italians can never ever make firm social arrangements. It could be a party or a day out at the beach but you won't know who will be there until the event is in full swing. As the popular detto (saying) goes: Chi c'è, c'è. Chi non c'è, non c'è. Who is there is there. Who isn't there, isn't there. Painfully obvious but oh-so-true.

Families often employ a 'badante' to look after their widowed or divorced dad. This is not because he is in ill health and unable to look after himself. It's simply because he doesn't know how. Even Mario's mum can't spend a day away from the house because his dad wouldn't know how to prepare his own lunch. Luckily for me, Mario doesn't take after him.

Italians seem to have been born with a gene for rustling up large gourmet meals at a moment's notice. I still have no idea how they can find all the ingredients in their cupboard. But they do.

Italian children share bedrooms right up into their twenties. One of my friends who is 31 still shares a bedroom with her 28-year-old sister. Their narrow twin beds are a mere 50cm apart and in the same position as they were all those years ago. So much for personal space.


Visit Emma's blog at http://howtoitaly.typepad.com/howtoitaly/

Italy Wine Makers See Small but Fabulous Crop

Italy Wine Makers See Small but Fabulous Crop

Reuters By Svetlana Kovalyova Wed Sep 26, 2007

MONTEPULCIANO, Italy, As a dozen of people work their way up a Tuscan hill picking up heavy purple grapes, they look up at a blue sky hoping no rain will spoil what seems to be a top quality wine harvest in Italy.

Italy, Europe's second-biggest wine producer after France, is heading for its smallest grape harvest in 30 years with output falling 12 percent to 43.5 million hectolitres, according to a recent wine industry forecast.

But with the harvest under way in Tuscany, home to red wine Chianti and its more up-market cousins Brunello di Montalcino and Nobile di Montepulciano, wine growers and makers do not seem to be worried about an estimated 5-15 percent fall in output in the region as long as its quality is good.

"It will be a great vintage, of the best quality," said Luca Gattavecchi, chairman of Consorzio del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, which represents 290 growers and makers of the wine which traces its history back to the year 790.

Makers of typical Montepulciano wines -- Nobile and Rosso -- which belong to top quality categories like DOC (Denomination of Controlled Origin) and DOCG (Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin) have always bet on quality rather than quantity to win consumers' hearts, Gattavecchi said.

"We are not that worried about the output drop," he said.

Predominantly dry weather this year has trimmed production yields, or the amount of wine produced from a certain amount of grapes, as grapes have developed a thicker skin and less liquid, but it also boosted their sugar content, wine growers said.

"The grapes are fabulous," said Aldimaro Daviddi, whose family makes about 80,000 bottles of red wine a year, a small contribution to Consorzio's total output of about 8 million bottles, which include Rosso and Nobile di Montepulciano.

Gattavecchi said vineyards in Montepulciano this year were practically untouched by mildew, a wine grower's nightmare as it causes rot. "Grapes are very healthy this year," he said.

By contrast, grapes in the south of Italy, where most of table wine is produced, suffered from mildew, with Sicily hit particularly hard and output falling 30 percent there, according to a study conducted by the industry body Unione Italiana Vini and agricultural research centre ISMEA.

Tuscan wine growers said favourable weather at the crucial final stage of grape maturation from the end of August has also boosted future wine quality.

"It will be a five-star vintage," said Alamanno Contucci, whose family has been making wine in Montepulciano for the past 500 years.

(Reuters Messaging: svetlana.kovalyova.reuters.com@reuters.net; email svetlana.kovalyova@reuters.com; Tel: +39 02 6612 9450))

http://uk.reuters.com/article/consumerproducts-SP/idUKL2542668020070926

A Touch of Little Italy in Nashville, Tenn. ???

Savarino’s Cucina is a haven for displaced Yankee Italians. But don't bother if you are in a hurry. Corrado and his family need time to give his delicacies the proper tender loving care.

Our Own Little Italy

It’s Hillsboro Village, not the North End, but your taste buds won’t know it

Nashville Scene - TN, USA
by Jack Silverman

September 27, 2007

SAVARINO'S CUCINA
2121 Belcourt Ave.,

Nashville, TN 37212
(615) 460-9878

For more than a few transplanted Italians living in Nashville,... it was easy to get nostalgic for South Philly, or Boston’s North End, or Providence’s Federal Hill, or New York’s (or Cleveland’s-or Baltimore’s-or Wilmington, Del.’s) Little Italy.

But then the answer is Savarino’s Cucina run by Corrado Savarino, the Italian bakery/deli/restaurant that has become a popular gathering spot for Italian Americans, Italophiles and other displaced Northerners longing for the home cooking and warm neighborhood feel of their favorite Italian haunts "Up North".

Corrado’s wife Maria does much of the cooking, his father Pietro helps out in the kitchen and his daughter Francesca and son Carmelo often man the register, so Savarino’s is a family affair. Corrado is a proud and patriotic American who served in the Army Airborne division. And his brother works for the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office. Oh, and Corrado’s grandfather, for whom he’s named, was a sheriff himself-in Sicily, mind you.

Corrado, too, was born in Sicily (his family emigrated to Brooklyn when he was 9) and spent 10 years baking at Veniero’s Pasticceria, one of New York’s (and North America’s) preeminent Italian bakeries, so he knows a thing or two about Italian pastries. He brought his family to Nashville in 2001 at the suggestion of his uncle and opened a bakery on Nolensville Road near Old Hickory Boulevard. The location wasn’t great, and after three years, he threw in the apron and dedicated himself to baking for wholesale buyers. But during his stint on Nolensville, he developed a small but loyal following who continued to hound him about opening a retail establishment. So in November 2006, Savarino’s Cucina was born.

Though baking is Savarino’s, um, bread and butter (dough!) (d’oh!), the eatery features some of the best (and most authentic) Italian food Nashville has to offer. Many of the items are prepared ahead of time and displayed in a refrigerated deli case, which offers one nice advantage- you can just see what looks good, point and say, "gimme some o’ dat." The case usually features a couple of chicken dishes, pastas, a meat item or two and assorted sides, and the selection can vary from day to day.

Savarino’s stuffed pepper is one of Nashville’s more sublime gustatory pleasures. If stuffed peppers conjure up unpleasant memories of your high school cafeteria, leave that aversion behind and take a leap of faith. The roasted, lightly charred red pepper filled with a creamy risotto flecked with beef and herbs is a wonderfully subtle marriage of flavors, and has become a favorite of the Scene editorial staff.

Though it’s on the appetizer menu, it can be a meal in itself, particularly with a house salad or some caponata. The savory caponata -a mixture of eggplant, carrots, celery, olives and capers -is, like the peppers, another example of a flavor being far more than the sum of its parts.

Attention Italian meat fans: pass by Nashville’s myriad sub shops and head directly for Savarino’s Ed Pontieri sandwich. Named for a frequent customer, the Pontieri features mortadella, hot sopressata, hot capicola, hot cherry peppers, lettuce, tomato and bomba calabrese (hot sauce). One patron from the largely Italian town of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., swore it was the best Italian sub he’d had, and after a couple of bites, I had to agree. So many subs fall short right out of the gate because of inferior bread, but all of Corrado’s rolls are baked fresh from scratch, giving his entire sandwich selection a leg up on much of the competition. The prosciutto, sausage-and-pepper and meatball sandwiches are also terrific, and the Al Bunetta (breaded chicken cutlet, lettuce, tomatoes, roasted peppers and balsamic vinegar) is alleged to be fabulous, according to the sandwich’s namesake, who owns Oh Boy Records and manages singer-songwriter John Prine. (Pontieri, Bunetta and retired recording engineer Mike Figlio, who also has a signature sandwich, enjoy a good-natured rivalry about whose is best. Heck, if you’ve got an original idea - and a last name that ends in a vowel - you may have a featured sub on the menu someday too.) Another Savarino’s devotee is music exec Frank DiLeo, was a partner for 11 years in Robert De Niro’s world-renowned Tribeca Grill'so he obviously knows food.

The chicken Parmigiana sub was good. Other entrées we enjoyed included the steak Pizzaiola (a piece of steak pounded thin in a zesty sauce and served with rice) and the eggplant Parmigiana. Pizzas are also recommended - the chicken-and-broccoli-rabe pie we sampled was quite tasty, in large part because of the crust.

And desserts? Corrado is a baker extraordinaire, supplying bread and pastries to a number of Nashville restaurants. He’s got Italian cookies out the ying-yang, but our favorite desserts were the exceptional cannoli, a delightful sfogliatelle (order it warm, with an espresso) and a cream puff filled with zuppa inglese. And for a while this summer, Savarino’s superb gelato and Italian ices were the excuse for many a Scene editorial department recess. Sadly, the machine Corrado uses to make the frozen treats broke, and finding a repairman for the rare contraption is like finding a guy to fix your ’57 Studebaker. Hopefully it’ll be up and running again by next summer.

One thing any Savarino’s novice should know- don’t go if you’re in a hurry. First, it’s not a full-service restaurant, but more of a bakery and deli, where you’re welcome to sit down and eat. It’s almost like you’re sitting in a friend’s kitchen while he’s making you dinner. We’ve waited anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes for food, with the average wait during the lunch rush being about 25 minutes. Speed is not a priority, and

Corrado is even considering putting up a sign saying something along the lines of, "If you don’t have a half-hour to wait, go to McDonald’s." There’s no microwave in the kitchen, and they put a premium on fresh ingredients, even if it takes a little longer. With the exception of imported Italian specialties, nothing comes from a package - Corrado even makes his own breadcrumbs from scratch. He’s heard occasional complaints about the wait, but he’s not eager to change things in that regard. "If you want fast, go to a buffet," he says straightforwardly. And as a frequent European traveler pointed out, that’s much more typical of the Italian dining experience.

So if you’re looking for a fine dining experience with table service tonight, or you’ve got an appointment in an hour, now might not be the time for Savarino’s. But if you’re in the mood to relax and enjoy some authentic, home-cooked Sicilian food like you used to get in Joisey or Philly or wherever the hell you’re from, stop by the cucina. And anyway, what’s your hurry? You some big shot or sumthin’?

http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/Columns/Dining/2007/09/27/Our_Own_Little_Italy/

Cleveland Area Italian Americans Lead Region in Household Income

The U.S. Census Bureau says families of Italian descent enjoy the highest household income of any of NE Ohio's major ethnic groups..

It's 2006 American Community Survey, profiles the six largest European ethnic groups in the eight-county Northeast Ohio region. Those six largest ethnic groups were Italian, German (675,000, the highest), Polish, Irish, Hungarian, and Slovak.

TheSurvey leaves out some high-flying immigrant groups, like Asian Indians and all Asian Americans, whose demographics would compare very favorably, since. Statewide, 60 percent of Asian adults hold a college degree. The Jewish community is considered religious, rather than ethnic for this Survey.

Italian Americans Lead Region in Household Income

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Robert L. Smith

September 26, 2007

Italian Americans in Northeast Ohio take visible pride in their heritage, which they celebrate at spectacles like the annual Columbus Day Parade, and more quietly at nightly Italian classes and bocce matches.

Now they have something more to feel good about. The U.S. Census Bureau says local families of Italian descent enjoy the highest household income of any of the region's major ethnic groups.

Not that their European peers lag far behind. Locals who identify themselves as German, Polish, Irish, Hungarian, and Slovak American tend to be richer and better educated than the general population, and more likely to work as managers and professionals, even as they retain elements of old world culture. Seven percent of Hungarians speak a second language.

The ethnic snapshot comes from the U.S. Census Bureau, which today released results from its 2006 American Community Survey. The report profiles cities and communities larger than 65,000 people, a threshold that includes the six largest European ethnic groups in Northeast Ohio.

That leaves out some high-flying immigrant groups, like Asian Indians and all Asian Americans, whose demographics would compare favorably. Statewide, 60 percent of Asian adults hold a college degree.

Still, Cleveland's pioneering immigrant groups leave a tough act to follow.

The 675,000 people in the eight-county region who claim German heritage, comprising Northeast Ohio's largest ethnic group, enjoy a median household income of $54,386, compared to the regional median of $45,164, and no wonder. Nearly 30 percent hold a college degree, and most belong to married couple families.

Of people claiming Slovak descent, 84 percent own their own home. Only 3 percent report being poor.

Whatever trepidation their ancestors felt coming to America, most Italian Americans locally can say that they made it, and how. They are more likely than most to be married, employed, have a college degree, and to own their home.

"It doesn't surprise me," said Basil Russo, a Little Italy resident and the national vice president of the Order of Italian Sons and Daughters of America, one of the nation's largest fraternal associations. "Italians come from a culture that stresses family, work and the Catholic church. That helps to explain our lower divorce rate, and why we are so successful in America."

Time, and the misfortune of others, also boosted the fortunes of the European ethnic groups, said John Grabowski, an historian specializing in Cleveland's ethnic cultures.

"They were dominate groups and they've been here for generations," Grabowski said. "The chances for upward mobility accelerate as your roots deepen."

Meanwhile, poverty among blacks and Latinos pulls down the regional averages, making the successful shine brighter, he said.

Regionally, about 27 percent of African Americans and Hispanics live in poverty, the census bureau found. The black median household income, $27,639, is the lowest of any race or ethnic group. So is the percentage of black adults who have never married, nearly 47 percent.

The census bureau also took a national look at people living in group quarters, like prisons, college dorms and nursing homes. It found that the prison population about doubled between 1990 and 2006, to 2.1 million people, 90 percent of them men, 46 percent of them white, 41 percent black and 19 percent Hispanic.

In contrast, the population of the nation's nursing homes is 70 percent female and overwhelmingly white.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2007/09/italian_americans_lead_region.html

Too Many Italian Women Doctors?

By 2017,in one decade, only two doctors in ten will be male, according to FNOMCEO, the federation of Italian medical associations !!!!!

Today's article in Corriere Della Sera reflects an opinion previously expressed 3 YEARS ago in Great Britain by BBC News on Tuesday, August, 3, 2004. (Both articles Below)

Incidentally, I disagree with this Italian Doctor TOTALLY. If someone is going to be fondling my Genitals OR sticking their finger up my backside to massage my Prostate,, I would prefer it to be a young lovely FEMALE, than my crotchety old Male doctor!!!!!! :) :)

Thanks to Pat Gabriel

Too Many Women Doctors

Corriere Della Sera

26 settembre 2007

In 2017, only two doctors in ten will be male. Surgeons and urologists dwindling. Federation of medical associations warns that countermeasures must be taken

ROME – Can you imagine a man letting himself be examined by a female urologist? In a couple of years’ time, this will be a situation that many men who are currently reluctant out of pride or embarrassment will have to accept. Italy’s medical profession is rapidly changing sex.

Already, some 60% of the students at faculties of medicine and surgery are female and forecasts predict that in the next ten years, as many as eight white coats in ten will be worn by women. The topic will be on Friday’s agenda at a major conference organised at Caserta by the FNOMCEO, the federation of medical associations chaired by Amedeo Bianco.

Dr Bianco’s warning is based on figures collated by his deputy, Maurizio Bennato: “We have to address the future differently, otherwise some specialisations, especially the ones that today are single sex, will be facing a crisis. I am very much in favour of women doctors but I do admit to a certain concern. We have to design a system that will ensure quality and potential without reducing supply”.

Hospital roles will be turned on their heads with beskirted doctors and nurses in trousers. For there is also a new trend in nursing. Once, nurses were female but nowadays the profession offers more promising prospects for men. Nursing is no longer just about care and has acquired a managerial, coordination-oriented focus. In other words, old-style ward sisters are on the way out.

In the world of medicine, the fields traditionally denied to women are now more open. These include prestigious surgery specialisations like neurosurgery and cardiosurgery, not to mention those that deal with diseases of the intimate regions. Vincenzo Mirone, president of the Italian society of urology, reflects on the figures. There are only 173 women out of 2,200 urologists in Italy. “Let’s be frank. We men are never going to let a female examine our prostate nor would we be happy if a woman prescribed us with a drug for impotence. I mean it’s not nice to hear a woman telling you that you need Cialis or Viagra”. Dr Bianco suggests a way to offset the impact of the female invasion in hospitals and family doctors’ surgeries, where numbers of women have tripled. “

There’s a danger of a shortfall in surgery or orthopaedics. People think, wrongly in my view, that only men can operate because they are stronger, cooler and more courageous. And there are also objective difficulties. For example, operating theatre hours are hard to reconcile with a family. We need to rethink shifts and maternity conditions”. The FNOMCEO president is not in favour of quotas that would set aside jobs for the sex that continues to be stronger, at least on the management front. The medical profession may be undergoing a sex change but most heads of hospital departments and top managers are still men.

Lorenza Sassi, a dental surgeon and member of the Udine medical association council, stresses that a change of culture is needed. “A lot of people are still suspicious of us women”, she says. “Patients call me ‘Signora’, not ‘Doctor’. If I have to extract a tooth, their attitude becomes negative. They think that you need to be physically strong to be good, and that women don’t have that strength. In short, it’s going to take time before men get used to going to a female urologist without embarrassment, the way women go to male gynaecologists”.

Margherita De Bac
English translation by Giles Watson
www.watson.it

http://www.corriere.it/english/articoli/2007/09_Settembre/26/womendoctors.shtml

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Are There Too Many Women Doctors?

A top female doctor has warned the medical profession's influence could be damaged by the number of women choosing to be medics.

BBC News

Tuesday, 3 August, 2004

Professor Carol Black, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said that feminising medicine would cause the profession to lose its prestige and 'power'.

She said she believed female-dominated professions such as teaching no longer saw themselves as "powerful".

She added: "We are feminising medicine. It has been a profession dominated by white males. What are we going to have to do to ensure it retains its influence?

"Years ago, teaching was a male-dominated profession - and look what happened to teaching. I don't think they feel they are a powerful profession any more. Look at nursing, too."

Women doctors are expected to outnumber men within a decade.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/3528786.stm

Italians Think the Getty Museum was Built on Looted Italian Art...It Was !!

California's J. Paul Getty Museum is fabulously wealthy -- its endowment is worth $5.6-billion (U.S.) -- and can buy masterpieces when the struggling Italian museums can barely afford washroom cleaners. It's because the Italians think the Getty was bu