Tuesday 30 March 2010

The Ropes

I'm taking a break from my dansk hjemmearbejde (homework)
just to post a little, brandnew song.
Sweet enough to forget the result of regional elections in my damned, populist country.
Alas
,

Enjoy!






I just read the lyrics and it is pretty good as well.
It suits perfectly to my today's mood and thoughts.



LOVE IS A CHAIN STORE

They're driving us out

We’re closing up shop

Lonely is the mom and pop

Lonely is the mom and pop

Where are the protesters?

Where are the slogans and signs?

This will be a swift decline

This will be a swift decline

I wouldn’t be caught dead in love

I wouldn’t be caught dead in love

They’re popping up

On every street

High demand, they like it cheap

High demand, they like it cheap

Everywhere you turn

No matter where you go

Settling is the status quo

Settling is the status quo

I wouldn’t be caught dead in love

I wouldn’t be caught dead in love

‘Cause love is a chain store

I’m getting out

Not making my bed

I took the price tag off my head

I took the price tag off my head

Time to relocate

And when I’m deep in the black

I will buy this country back

I will buy this country back

I wouldn’t be caught dead in love

I wouldn’t be caught dead in love

‘Cause love is a chain store

The lonely are the mom and pop



E.

Tuesday 23 March 2010

Event Management

As I said a couple of months ago, I've started with this event organization thing at the Studenterhuset.
We are having the first party next week, and I am really having fun arranging it.
Here's the poster and flyer by min "lille" bror :)


In the meanwhile i've also started my "french review class" with my flatmate. On parle que de politique...sujet pas trop facile pour commencer ma révision, mais bon enfin c'est encore mieux de s'entrainer avec des arguments difficiles. As a result, i'm even more messy than usual with languages, but now i can proudly understand a bit Danish, jo,jo!

E.

Wednesday 17 March 2010

About italian BrainDrain and commercial

Considering my future stage at EuRadioNantes, I have to get used to tell people about Italy and to try explaining how things work, and why such weird things happen there. So let's practise a little.
A couple of weeks ago i stumbled upon an interesting commercial.

It was about an Italian researcher working in the US.
(follows the translation of the Italian commentary)



The narrator tells this story: "Claudio, 33 years-old, graduated with honors with a PhD at the University of Los Angeles, where he is still working. Everybody knows that the US is the best for bio-medical research. But, this is not enough for Claudio, because what he really wants is to bring everything he has learnt to Italy and to his city."

Back to Italy, it follows a dialogue with his colleague in the lab:
- "It's wonderful, it seems to be in America!" (expression coming from the "American Dream" culture)
C:"You know what? It's even better!"
-"I'm happy you're back"
C:"Hey, chill out, we are just at the beginning"
-"Yeah, but what a beginning!"

Then again the narrator, while Claudio's girlfriend make him a sorpresa (surprise): "Will Claudio manage to realize his dream? We still don't know, but what matters is that there are a lot of stories like his."
And the final slogan says: "There's a piece Italy that is struggling to realize its dreams. We are by its side"

At this point I expected to see the governmental signature at the end. But no, it is signed by Intesa San Paolo, a bank. Besides the general pathetic style of the add, I actually got quite offended. The professor at the university tells Claudio he's very brave going back to Italy, that means that people who decided to leave Italy are all coward? Well...i don't think so.
We have a great debate about brain drain in Italy nowadays, and people are quite split between those who think that there's no point in staying there, because Italy can't offer a future to young people, so it is better to go abroad where skills are still rewarded.
On the contrary, others affirm that skilled people should stay to fight to change the things.
Pessimists and Optimists...
Personally I'm not that confident that the things will or can change any soon. And I get more and more convinced just listening to the news day after day.
This ad confirms the inner hypocrisy of the country, once again. Because the bank says to be on Claudio's side, but what about when he will need to ask for a loan to buy a house for and his american girlfriend and himself? I know, they will look at his monthly wage that amounts to 1000 euros, and they will laugh in his face.
This commercial is not pathetic, rather disgusting.

E.

Monday 15 March 2010

Roughly brilliant

This is quite a bright song, but the rest of the album is not as light.
It's worth to listen to Alight of night by Crystal Stilts.
It sounds so old, and so Joy division.

Friday 12 March 2010

New Era Foals

Here's the new from the Foals. Quite different from the catchy and easy listening reprise "Wish you’ve gonna, wish you’ve gone away" of last album single Cassius huh?
But that's the peculiarity of real artists that never repeat themselves and always move further in different directions.
Good job.




E.

Sunday 7 March 2010

Fra Tyskland igen

Today Moderat.
Awesome song.
A New Error.






E.

About music learning....

Just back from an amazing night full of music.
BeatTorrent concert first. Good show, those guys know how to make people dance.
Then after party listening to such good music. I am always amazed by new music discoveries.
So, in this early chilly Danish sunday morning, I am deadly tired, but I got home with some new fantastisk stuff to listen to.
Mostly electronic, with some romantic postrock sounds.
Too tired now to write about any of these bands though, a good track from Circlesquare is enough for now.
Good German school



Damn it, i can hear the seagulls, it's dawn already.
God morgen

E.

Wednesday 3 March 2010

Here we go again, Italy and censorship

Unfortunately, this is not a new story: Italy and censorship, such a famous union!
Every now and then, there're people trying to put a gag on journalists' mouth there.
Yesterday night, the talk show Ballarò was planned in the tv program schedule of RaiTre,
as every week. But, surprisingly, it didn't go on the air. The change was due to the Rai's board decision to declare the closure of all information shows of the public service from now until the regional elections occurring on the 28th-29th March. This measure comes from the law known as par condicio which was inspired by the American principle of the equal time, aiming at guaranteeing a pluralistic information.

For the rest of the "pardoned" broadcasts, neither politicians as guests, nor the treatment of political issues, are allowed until elections.

"Right to know, right to inform, we are indignant" states the UsigRai (Rai's Italian journalists Union).

Once again Italy moves away from those liberal and democratic countries which should be its natural partners in Europe and in the world, getting closer, on the contrary, to some forms of government still common in some countries at Europe's borders. For the
umpteenth time Italy confirms to be a borderline, and such a situation brings urgently to the rise of interrogations on the real nature of this country and its democracy.
Yesterday evening, instead of Ballarò RaiTre diffused "Dictatorship", a documentary dealing with the advent of fascism.
A random choice or a subliminal message from the communist channel head?


E.

Monday 1 March 2010

Festival here, Festival there

Even if the snow still tries to fall down up here, it's time to plan the summer, and also this year i'm getting confused about to which summer festival I should go to.
Basically the harsh battle is between Roskilde (Dk) and Wertcher (Be), but there is plenty of other "smaller" stuff, also less expensive, I'd like to give a try to such as: Dour, Pukkelpop, LowLands, RockenSeine...quite surprisingly the majority of them is around Belgium.
At the moment, for a spring warm up, I'm planning to go to Aarhus for the PopRevo, then we will see..

Here's a band I didn't know, not bad I think. They are from Canada and they are playing at the Dour Festival in July.







E.

Nuit nostalgique

While writing the story of my pilgrimage in Europe I stumbled upon a piece of writing I wrote two years ago, during my stay in Paris.
I read it again and i found it quite good, for this reason i don't feel like translate it, because it would lose a lot of its consistency and essence.



31 luglio 2008
Questa sera, sulla riva della Senna, a sinistra del Pont Neuf ho trovato un posto adatto a trascorrere la mia terza sera a Parigi.
Nonostante il cielo minacci tempesta c’è ancora qualche temerario che ha deciso di godersi la serata en plain air, e anche io sto qui, coi passanti che sfilano dietro la mia schiena e i battelli stracolmi di turisti davanti.
Parigi mi ha sorpreso. La sapevo città piena di vita, ma non mi sarei aspettata quell’aria giovane e accogliente che trasmette. Me l’aspettavo turistica, istituzionale, ingessata da quelle reglès spesse volte viste come unico rimedio ad un male che affligge da sempre le città: il degrado urbano.
Così mi è saltato alla mente un paragone, seppur ardito, con la “mia” Bologna.
Ecco, Parigi è la Bologna che ho sempre immaginato, ma non ho mai trovato. Quella Dotta, Grassa e Rossa città ha perso sia colore, sia acume intellettuale. Rimangono i tortellini, almeno per ora.
Partita come prima città universitaria d’Europa perde brillantezza e vita anno dopo anno. I giovani dal canto loro tendono sempre più ad appiattirsi, ad invecchiare senza tuttavia acquisire spessore ed esperienza.
Ma sono i giovani o la città la causa? Non lo so, forse un po’ tutti e due.
Fatto sta che Parigi, va in tutt’altra direzione, grazie al cielo.
Ieri sera le rive della Senna erano stracolme di parigini, di ogni età ed etnia. Come se facessero un sit-in di protesta per strappare la città ai turisti che ingombrano e a volte stonano con la sua originale essenza. Molti, anzi la gran maggioranza, erano giovani, così tanti da occupare un ponte intero. Ballavano, cantavano, bevevano seduti in cerchio, ma niente che lasciasse pensare a una qualche forma di degrado. Anzi. Tirava un’aria fantastica ieri sera; sapeva di libertà, sogni, amore.
Ora capisco quale è stato lo spirito che ha civilizzato l’Europa, quello che ha guidato la nazione fuori dall’ancien régime verso le rivoluzioni di cui la città si è messa a capo. Ecco la sua gran forza: saper coltivare i propri giovani permettendo loro di esserlo, giovani intendo. Tutti, tra i 18 e i 25 anni, dovrebbero passare per Parigi per capire cosa significhi esser giovani oggi, quali potenzialità/possibilità ha la nostra età, ma anche per capire, magari persi tra i vicoli del Marais, o seduti al bancone di una brasserie, cosa significhi essere giovani oggi, ma anche 40 anni fa, un secolo.
E allora, dopo una vacanza immersa in questa atmosfera, tornare a casa sarà difficilissimo, soprattutto se con la prospettiva di trasferirsi nella Verona dei divieti, dei picchiatori e delle bandiere verdi.
Senza rendermi conto un venticello rivoluzionario ha spazzato via le nuvole minacciose ed ora, scongiurato il temporale, sarà una notte calda e laboriosa.

E.