Gianna e i Rinoplastici

Last night "Gianna e i Rinoplastici" (Gianna and the Nosejobs) rocked the Big Ben. This is the Rino Geatano Tribute band I told you about last month. The photo above is the lead singer getting into it. The guy in the back, you only see his head, is key to the band as he also plays the accordion for some of the songs. Last night he put his keyboard on some crazy steel drums setting for the song "Ahi Maria" to give it a more "Latino flavor".

Below is the bass and drums part of the band. The drummer is Marielena's brother so she always lets up know when they are playing. She probably has some good photos over on her Flickr page.

What's a band without fans? Nothing! And this band is lucky to have the best fans in Brindisi.


This last picture is left over from November and NaBloPoMo. I was trying some wines back then and therefore it was a bad month for wine glasses in my apartment. One was broken in the usual way, while washing it! This second one however broke spectacularly. I saw Nello and Mara playing while I was eating and I decided I would try to scare them when they weren't looking. I started to get up when I barely touched the glass and it glently fell over. It didn't break then so it casually rolled towards the opposite edge of the table. I lunged over the table to try to stop it and got their just in time to catch nothing but air. The glass fell on to the cold hard tile floor. Needless to say the cats were sufficiently scared at the end of this commotion and the following string of curse words. I hope Santa wasn't listening.

Fast Food Italian Style

That was supposed to be the title yesterday! Let's just forget yesterday. Today's photo I call "cooking minestrone", pretty original. Hey I'm an Engineer. I'm better with acronyms!!
Well yesterday I guess I was trying to do too much with my poor computer. It just was running very slow and locking up all the time. A coworker game me 2 CDs of music and I was desperately trying to copy them so I could give them back today. Problem is these were homemade CDs and old. Some parts were just not readable. In the end I copied most of the songs. I saw that I did get one song that I’ve been dying to find (and don’t say iTunes as it’s not a song worth paying for). It’s “Gianna” by Rino Gaetano. There is a tribute band to Rino Gaetano here in Brindisi and when they play “Gianna” the place turns into that scene from Animal House when they play “Louie, Louie”. It’s hilarious so I now I have the original and I have to say the live local version is more fun. I need to learn the words but that won't happen listening to the song, so here they are:

Gianna Gianna Gianna sosteneva, tesi e illusioni
Gianna Gianna Gianna prometteva, pareti e fiumi
Gianna Gianna aveva un coccodrillo, ed un dottore
Gianna non perdeva neanche un minuto, per fare l'amore

Ma la notte la festa è finita, evviva la vita
La gente si sveste e comincia un mondo
un mondo diverso, ma fatto di sesso
e chi vivrà vedrà...

Gianna Gianna Gianna non cercava il suo pigmalione
Gianna difendeva il suo salario, dall'inflazione
Gianna Gianna Gianna non credeva a canzoni o UFO
Gianna aveva un fiuto eccezionale, per il tartufo

Ma la notte la festa è finita, evviva la vita
La gente si sveste e comincia un mondo
un mondo diverso, ma fatto di sesso
e chi vivrà vedrà...

Ma dove vai, vieni qua, ma che fai?
Dove vai, con chi ce l'hai? Vieni qua, ma che fai?
Dove vai, con chi ce l'hai? Di chi sei, ma che vuoi?
Dove vai, con chi ce l'hai? Butta la', vieni qua,
chi la prende e a chi la da!Dove sei, dove stai?
Fatti sempre i fatti tuoi!Di chi sei, ma che vuoi?
Il dottore non c'e' mai!Non c'e' mai! Non c'e' mai!
Tu non prendi se non dai! Vieni qua, ma che fai?
Dove vai, con chi ce l'hai? Butta la', vieni qua,
chi la prende e a chi la da!Dove sei, dove stai?
Fatti sempre i fatti tuoi!Di chi sei, ma che vuoi?
Il dottore non c'e' mai!Non c'e' mai! Non c'e' mai!
Tu non prendi se non dai! Vieni qua, ma che fai?

I played around last night doing the effect Kent told me about. I used a long exposure and them zoomed in with the shudder open (something the books all say never to do). I managed a few fun shots looking out my window.
This is multiple cars!
My favorite!

Music to Soothe the Soul

I thought I would do a completely random post in an attempt to take my mind off of the intense heat and wildfires ravaging Puglia right now. Some time ago there was a meme going around asking what 7 songs could you not live without, or something like that. I can't remember. My picks may seem rather arbitrary but nonetheless I like these songs and they all have a certain mood that goes along with them, so here they are in no particular order.

1. All Right – Toad the Wet Sprocket
I love Toad the Wet Sprocket and the albums Fear and Dulcinea are the best to me. This particular song is from “In Light Syrup” and it’s just so smooth and builds up as it goes. Then at the end when he sings “And these ladders, rising endlessly, leading, no where I can see…” It makes you ponder the future.

2. These are the Days – 10,000 Maniacs (unplugged version)
When you get that feeling that everything today is screwed up.

3. Sunrise – Nora Jones
A great song for relaxing on a rainy Sunday morning while reading the paper with a good caffe...Rain, what's that?

4. Minutes to Memories – John Cougar Mellencamp
There is something about this song that can bring me to the edge of tears (but I’m a man so I don’t cry). This is just a great song about a father giving advice to his son. Even if it is as simple as, “Suck it up and tough it out, be the best you can.” Maybe it’s a midwestern thing…

5. Graceland – Paul Simon
Paul Simon himself says that this is one of his best songs, which is high praise and it’s a great driving song.

6. Mambo Swing – Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.
I know I can’t dance but if I could it would be crazy, wild, throwin the girl around, swing.

7. Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) – Us3.
Something a little different. Give me more, of that funky horn!

Whatta think? Has the sun fried my brain?
P.S. The photo was taken by Kent. Repeat photo by Kent (although I wouldn't have got the lamppost in the way, but I still love it)

Weather for the .....!!

It’s raining today, again. I don’t know what’s going on. I think we have had at least a little rain every day for a week maybe a week and half. I have it on good authority that we have all the water we need to get through the summer so Mother Nature can turn off the tap!!!! I checked my Brindisi weather stats and amount of rain per month does take a nosedive after March. It bottoms out in July when Brindisi gets on average 0.55 inches of rain (compare that to 3.9 inches in Indianapolis). The picture is my cyclamens on my balcony. They seem to like the weather.
Last night I went to a concert in Lecce (it rained on the way home). It was free for the students of the university and it was also free for other people who were bold or sneaky enough to enter through the back door. The location was a little strange, which is what provided us with a back door. It was in a huge circus tent in a gravel lot. We snuck (sneaked? had sneaked, whatever) around by the port-o-lets and trailers then act like you are coming back into the concert from using the bathroom. It worked like a charm. The concert was worth it too. The band,“The Hormonauts” were pure rockabilly (like Brian Setzer or maybe more like the Reverend Horton Heat ), just a stand up bass, drums, and sizzling guitar. I think I impressed my friends because I knew all the words to Folsom Prison Blues, Johnny Cash would be proud. The best part of the show was when they came out with cowboy hats on and did a very country rock version of “Staying Alive”. The lead singer must be American because there is no way an Italian could sing in English and with a country drawl…. is there? I had to get a t-shirt as I loved the design with a big 50s style car on it and “The Hormonauts with Fast Hormone Billy”.