Tunstills Dislexicon

TUNSTILL's DISLEXICON

2011-06-30T05:34:00.000-07:00

G is for……….or sometimes….

Gaff, (sl) home
Gaff(e), (sl) error, mistake
Gaff, large hook for fishing

Gail, womans name.
Gale, strong wind.
Gael, celtic person.

Gail should not have gone out with that
Gael in this gale.

Gait, pace or manner of walking.
Gate, opening in a fence or wall.

He slowed his gait as he passed the gate.

Gaiter, anklet.
‘gaitor, saurian reptile.

That damned ‘gaitor bit through my gaiter.

Gall, boldness.
Gall, production of gall bladder.
Gall, round growth.
Gaul, Roman France or person therefrom.

Galley, kitchen (nautical).
Galley, oared vessel.
Galley, proof page of MS.

Go the the galley of the galley and fetch me
the galley.

Gaelic, pertaining to the Scots.
Gaulic, pertaining to the French.
Garlic, see the above.

The garlic smelling Gaulic offended the Gaelic.

Gambling, risk.
Gambolling, movement of young lambs.

He was gambling on the lambs gambolling by
the river.

Garibaldi, Italian patriot.
Garibaldi, biscuit named after, or eaten by, the above.
Garry Baldy, Gareth’s hairdresser.

Gauge, a measure
Cage, a metal-barred container for animals.

Make the cage of ten-gauge steel.

Gauze, Fine mesh.
Gorse, a plant.

Put some metal gauze around the gorse.

Gazer, one who stares.
Geyser, hot spring.

The gazer couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the
geyser.

General, usual.
General, Army commander.

In general it was always the same General.

Genes, DNA.
Jeans, denim garment.
Jean’s, belonging to Jean.

Jean’s genes were shown to advantage in jeans.

German, from Germany.
Germane, apposite.
Germaine, woman’s name.

The fact that Germaine was German was germane
to the argument.

Gild, to colour gold.
Guild, professional association.

Gild the guild’s coat of arms.

Gin, an alcoholic drink.
Gin, a brutal snare.
Jinn, a supernatural being.

Full of gin, he set the gin and was savaged by a Jinn.

Glasses, sight correcting lenses.
Glasses, for drinking.

Pass my my glasses, they are near the glasses.

Good buy, bon marche’, a bargain.
Goodbye, farewell.

We made a good buy this morning, goodbye.

Goose, large fowl.
Goose, (sl) to fondle.

The cook who cooked the goose had his goose
cooked when he goosed the housemaid.

Gorge, ravine.
Gorge, Spanish for George.
Gorge, spleen (as in rises.)
Gorge, to eat greedily.

Gorge fell into the gorge having gorged on his
own gorge.

Got, have, possession.
Got, must, necessary action.
Got, (abb) begot, to sire.

I’ve got an apple that you’ve got to eat, you
misbegotten so-and-so.

Graft, a stripling.
Graft, corruption.
Graf, German title.
Graph, record, chart.
Kraft, processed cheese.
Craft, skill.
Craft, a vessel.

The Graf’s craft at making a graft was recorded on
a graph. His prize of Kraft was lost through graft, so
he sailed off on a craft.

Grain, growth lines in timber.
Grain, wheat, corn etc.

Selling his grain at the price went against the grain.

Grapefruit, large, acid yellow citrus fruit.
Grape fruit, fruit of the grapevine.

I want grapefruit, not grape fruit.

Graze, to scrape or remove the surface.
Grey’s brand of cigarettes.
Greys, only regiment of Scot’s cavalry.
Grey’s (elegy) popular poem.

Gray’s Inn, area in London.
Grazing, ruminants method of eating.

Members of the legal profession are often found
grazing at Gray’s Inn.

Greater, bigger.
Grater, carrot slicer.

A greater grater.

Great, large.
Grate, fireplace.
Grate, shred.
Grate, irritate.

Don’t grate the nutmeg in the great grate, the noise
grates.

Grill, cook.
Grill, interrogate.
Grill, metal mesh.

Grill the cook, then we’ll grill the meat on the new grill.

Grisly, unpleasant, horrific.
Grizzly, large, north American bear, see above.
Gristly, sinewy, tough meat, see above.
Chris Lee, English horror actor, see above.

The grisly grizzly was very gristly, and so was Chris Lee.

Groan, moan.
Grown, (pt) to grow.
Groin, joint of legs.
Groyne, sea defence.
Growing, enlarging.

He gave a groan when he caught his groin on the groyne,
but now he was full-grown there was no chance of him growing further.
Ground, (pt) to grind.
Ground, the earth/soil.
Grounds, good reason.

He had grounds so he ground the ground with his heel.

Guilt, not innocent.
Gilt, for gilding.

His guilt was as plain as if it had been painted in gilt.

Guy, a tent supporting rope.
Guy, (sl) a male person.
Guy, to lampoon.

The guy guyed the guy who was tightening the guy.

CHINESE WHISPERS

Gladly, my cross-eyed bear. Teddy’s girlfriend.
Gladly, my cross I’d bear. Hymn.

God Almighty.
God! All my tea.

Gramophone records.
Granny, phone records.

Green Lion, pub.
Green Line, outer London bus route.

Greenpeace, environmental movement.
Green piece, inexperienced young woman.

Grey day, overcast.
Grade A, top marks.

Great heart, generous.
Grey tart, off-white prostitute.

The grey tart had a great heart.

MALAPROPISMS

“I’ll just get the groundsman to make us some coffee.”

“He went off to join the gorilla fighters in the mountains.”

ODDS

Guaranteed new - I don’t care if it’s used.

Gusting, windy weather.
Disgusting, ceased windy weather.

Glottal, Essex girl’s favourite stop.Soon to be added to the
District Line of the London Underground. Now often
referred to as Estuary English, from the Thames Estuary,
Essex.

GLAMS, greying leisured affluent middle-aged spenders.
These GLAMS are often attempting to recapture their lost
youth.In reality they are attempting, in their latter
years, to revitalise themselves rather than trying to find
and contain a mislaid youngster

A giant flea market is not always a market for giant fleas.

Gloucester, (pron) Gloster.

Getting on, getting aboard, not getting a board – or even getting
a bawd.
Getting on, advancing age or time.
Getting on, improving one’s self.

Getting off (sl), achieving organism.
Getting off, decending

Grippe, a hold-all.

SPOONERISMS

Dr Spooner is said to have wandered around Greenwich looking for the
Dull Man pub. He should have been in Dulwich looking for the Green
Man pub.

GEOGRAPHICAL TITLES

Bath,
Baton Rouge,
Colorado,
Maida Vale, (made of ale.)
Newcastle,
Sierra Leone,
Sierra Madre.

MODERN (MIS)USAGE

There you go! Where?
What was the name? The same as it is now.
Who wants him? I do.
He’s tied up, I’m afraid! Don’t be afraid, untie the knots
At the end of the day. Night.
At this moment in time. That moment.
It’s an on-going situation. You haven’t finished yet.
We’d value your input. I’ve paid you enough.
It’s a game of two halves. That’s not entirely true.

Easter parades on Good Friday

2011-03-31T06:31:00.001-07:00

Easter parades on Good Friday are prevalent in all the towns and cities in Umbria, starting in the evening, at about 9 o'clock.
Large bonfires are lighted along the route or the procession, and impressive hooded monks with loud rattles accompany the religious icons and the shrouded Christ.
The solemnity and large numbers of participants, the medieval streets and candles on the windows all instill a feeling of awe to the spectators, and it is well worth a visit to absorb the true atmosphere of this celebration.

Недвижимость в Италии, Тоскане и Умбрии

2011-03-21T04:06:00.001-07:00

Bыбирая недвижимость в Италии, прежде всего нужно определиться с регионом.

Объекты недвижимости и образ жизни в регионах принципиально различаются.

Как утверждают эксперты, итальянский рынок недвижимости от кризиса пострадал незначительно, благодаря консервативности экономики страны.

Очень привлекательными регионами для инвестиций в недвижимость Италии считаются Тоскана и Умбрия.
В Умбрии стоимость квартир начинается от € 800 за квадратый метр, где на россиян приходится 13% общего числа покупателей недвижимости (третье место после представителей Великобритании и Италии).

До 2008 года цены в Тоскане и Умбрии уверенно росли на протяжении двух десятилетий, однако кризис внес свои коррективы, и сейчас цены в регионе на 20% ниже своих пиковых значений.

По мнению экспертов, Италия интересна тем, что практически все регионы являются ликвидными с различной степенью интенсивности.

Инвестиция в квадратные метры Италии может быть сейчас выгодна еще и потому, что курс евро по отношению к доллару и рублю снижается. "В 2010 году мы не ожидаем роста цен на недвижимость в Италии - в первую очередь это связано с проблемами в Евросоюзе. Сейчас из-за падения курса евро цены уже снизились как минимум на 10%. Поэтому те покупатели, которые хранили деньги в долларах или рублях, на запланированную сумму могут купить объект побольше, чем если бы они покупали четыре месяца назад",- считает президент международного агентства недвижимости Gordon Rock Станислав Зингель.

Недвижимость в Италии можно купить и в кредит. По данным международного ипотечного брокера Lowell Finance, ипотечный кредит в Италии иностранцам можно оформить сроком на 5-30 лет, получив максимум 60% оценочной стоимости недвижимости. При этом плавающие процентные ставки составят 3,5-4,2%, фиксированные - 4,75-5,5%.

Cоотношение ежемесячного платежа по ипотеке и ежемесячного дохода должно составлять не более 35%. Оформить кредит можно только после получения прав собственности на объект.

К списку обязательных документов относятся идентификационные документы: загранпаспорт, свидетельство о рождении, браке и т. д. Для подтверждения дохода необходимо представить трудовую книжку, справку в свободной форме с места работы с указанием занимаемой должности и оклада, справку 2-НДФЛ за два года, подтверждение других видов дохода, если такие есть. Для владельца бизнеса или руководителя компании необходимо представить учредительные документы и отчеты о деятельности компании за последние два года. "Если заемщиком выступает руководитель компании или владелец бизнеса, то обязательным требованием является юридическое заключение о подлинности представленных сведений. Если есть аудиторская отчетность о деятельности компании, то нужно еще заключение аудиторской компании о ее подлинности. Если такое невозможно (например, для общества с ограниченной ответственностью), то необходимо обратиться в независимую юридическую компанию для получения подобного заключения",- рассказывает Кирилл Долгинский.

Также нужно представить выписку с банковских счетов, рекомендательное письмо от банка (лучше от двух) и информацию о текущих кредитных обязательствах - для этого в обязательном порядке требуется представить выписку из бюро кредитных историй. В банке нужно предъявить оригиналы документов и их переводы на английский и итальянский языки официальным переводчиком. Заемщику потребуется открыть счет в итальянском банке, в котором оформляется кредит, при этом на счете должна быть размещена сумма в размере около двух ежемесячных платежей. К дополнительным расходам при оформлении кредита относятся оплата административного сбора банка (1-1,5% суммы кредита), оценка объекта (как правило, в диапазоне €40-800) и страхование недвижимости (до 0,4% суммы кредита).

Помимо расходов на оформление кредита заемщику нужно быть готовым и к другим тратам:
регистрационный налог (до 7% стоимости объекта)
кадастровый и ипотечный налоги (до 3% стоимости)

www.propertiesumbria.com
www.lapreghiera.com
www.villamoscatelli.com

Clooney Brings Italian Murder Mystery to Theaters

2011-03-06T08:06:00.000-08:00

With a villa on Lake Como and a former Italian showgirl as a girlfriend, it can be safely assumed that George Clooney has a soft spot for Italy. Now, with a new movie deal on the table, he’ll get to spend more time in the country, filming The Monster of Florence on location.

Clooney has signed on to bring a famous Italian murder mystery to the big screen. The Monster of Florence is based on a book that recounts the true story of 8 couples who were found murdered around Florence between 1968 and 1985.

Clooney will play Douglas Preston, author of the 2008 book about the mysterious killings. Preston moves to Italy to investigate the murders and teams up with Mario Spezi, an Italian crime journalist. While Preston and Spezi are trying to find the real "Il Mostro," they find themselves accused of crimes by Florence police.

The screenplay is still being adapted, which means Clooney has downtime to spend with Elisabetta Canalis before he has to report to Florence for filming this fall.

http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy/george-clooney/clooney-brings-italian-murder-mystery-theaters

Eurochocolate festival in Umbria

2010-10-19T00:10:00.001-07:00

Once again, time for the delicious Eurochocolate festival of Perugia 2010 which takes place in the ancient centre, for 10 of the sweetest days imaginable, from 15-24October 2010.

Letters to Juliette

2010-08-20T05:10:00.000-07:00

Letters to Juliette, with Franco Nero, Vanessa Redgrave and Amanda Seyfried and made in Verona, New York and Siena, which is just up the road from where we live and where more than twenty internationally famous films have been made including Brother Sun-Sister Moon, My House in Umbria, Tea With Mussolini, Romeo and Juliet, Under the Tuscan Sun, The English Patient, Quantum of Solace and Gladiator.

AUGUST 2010

2010-08-20T01:56:00.000-07:00

Montone is celebrating the medieval procession of the Madonna della Spina until the 22nd, with flag wavers, archers, costumes, drummers and traditional food.

Citta di Castello is hosting world famous Russian musicians at the Festival of the Nations

Summer truffle hunts are starting in the Upper Tiber Valley which include samples and six course lunches or dinners based on black truffle.

San Leo Bastia village is having their annual four day mushroom festival, with dishes made by local cooks based on world famous porcini mushrooms, traditional from this area of chestnut woods.

Anghiari is hosting an art festival with exhibitors from different countries who are using the old cantinas in the historic centre as showrooms.

Italian property prices hold despite drop in sales

2010-03-29T13:34:00.001-07:00

Slow and steady. That’s the snapshot of the Italian property market in 2009, according to the Agenzia del Territorio, Italy’s equivalent of the Land Registry.

The Agenzia has just published its annual report on the Italian market, which analyses data from 2009. Some 1.347m transactions took place in the country last year - a markedly lower number than at during the property boom.

Concerns over equity and a gap in buyers and sellers’ price expectations both conspired to depress sale volumes, which were down 11.3% over the previous year. In 2008, the annual drop had been of 13.7% over 2007.

However, the tide appeared to change at some point during the second half of 2009. While the first quarter of the year recorded a staggering 18.6% reduction in sales over the same period in 2008, by the last quarter, they were only down 4% over the previous year. The trend affected every property segment, but offices and residential performed better than commercial and industrial properties.

Likewise, some geographical areas held better than others. In the last quarter of 2009, Northern Italy saw a greater drop in residential sales than the South (-6.4% against -0.7%) and the Centre, which bucked the trend and saw a 1.4% increase. In particular, the market in Central Italy’s capital cities went up by 4.6%.

It is also interesting to note that mortgage-funded purchases performed better than average, reversing a previous trend. Last year, mortgage buys decreased by 10.8% against an 11.3% average for residential homes, whereas in 2008, the mortgage market drop had been a massive 27%, against a 15% average. The report researchers believe that the dramatic reduction in interest rates helped support mortgage-funded purchases last year.

What is of greatest interest to Italian property owners, however, is that housing values proved remarkably resilient. Despite the significant contraction in sales, prices only went down by 0.7% in the second half of 2009 over the same period in the previous year. And putting the numbers in a longer term perspective, values today are 28.7% higher than in 2004. Southern Italy was the steadiest location, recording stable prices in capital cities (-0.1%) and a small increase (0.4%) in smaller municipalities.

Words by Carla Passino
http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy-featured/property/italian-property-prices-hold-despite-drop-sales

Valerio Scanu wins the Sanremo Festival 2010 with "Per Tutte le Volte Che"

2010-02-21T11:18:00.000-08:00

Per tutte le volte che is a song with a notable vocal difficulty but also with a single instantaneity..

"Each time i sing it, i think at the words thus whispered, by moment timidly sang, and on other time with a feeling of rage which comes to express a discomfort and then explodes in the refrain with this melody which falls, raises you and cut your breath. It's like looking at a small world with its details and its characteristics of every day, the troubles, fights, bad moments in the verses... And then the refrain which , on the other hand, brings you above the mounts and the clouds in a happy coasting flight...»

http://www.valerioscanu.com/

Trevi, Umbria - A week without TV

2010-01-27T04:22:00.001-08:00

The Italians - watch on average 28 hours of TV per person per week as compared to 28 hours of weekly viewing by the average Italian. In Italian homes there is nearly always a television in the kitchen as well as in other rooms and it is usually left on during mealtimes.

When a school in Trevi [Umbria] asked two classes to participate in a project in which not only the children but also their parents would spend one week without watching the television at all, then, the families foresaw a difficult seven days. However, 41 children between the ages of 8 and 11 and their families agreed to try, denying themselves the use of video and computer games as well, reports La Repubblica.

The project, called “Oltre lo Schermo” [“Beyond the Screen”] was the idea of Umbrian journalist and mother Giovanna Grieco, who only allows her own son to watch TV for a short time each day. He spends the rest of his free time reading stories and playing games with his family. Ms Grieco suggested games and activities that the children could do in the afternoons at school or at home instead of watching TV.

The emphasis was on interacting with the people around them.
In all, 28 children got through the “week without TV” and they kept diaries of their difficulties and discoveries of other ways to spend their time, such as helping their mothers with the cooking, reading in the school library or enjoying playing games with their parents.

“We enjoyed turning the TV off every time Dad switched it on”, reported eight-year-old twins.
It seems that the older children found the sacrifice harder than the younger ones. The school is happy with the outcome and may extend the project to include other classes in the future.

What's fashion about?

2010-01-14T13:39:00.000-08:00

"What’s Fashion About?” is the title of the 77th Pitti Uomo [Pitti for Men] Fashion Show which is taking place at the Fortezza da Basso in Florence until 15th January. This is the event that opens the international fashion fair season every year and exhibitors from all segments of the fashion industry participate, including textile manufacturers, garment makers, textile machinery and technology manufacturers, embroidery companies, makers of trimmings and accessories and even laundries. In all 730 exhibitors and 905 brands are participating.

The organisers say that, because of the recession, all fashion houses have been rethinking their strategies and Pitti have reflected this by breaking with tradition in the design of this year’s exhibition space. Spanish designer and architect Patricia Urquiola has revolutionised the design of the main pavilion and, on the lower floor, she has created a “fashion district”. Here the exhibitors’ stands are smaller than in previous years so that there is more space between them to encourage people to stop and talk. “Give up a little of your space so that there is room for all” is the message.

Exhibitors hope that the autumn-winter 2010 – 11 collections will mark a turning point for the industry as it comes out of recession but everything depends on the army of international buyers – 22,000 of them attended the last winter fair - who can make or break a brand. The upturn in the industry’s fortunes is expected to begin with the export market which decreased by 19.6% last year. The fashion companies particularly hope to be able to export their goods to the USA.

Yesterday Lars Nilsson showed elegant outdoor wear for men along with brightly patterned scarves. The waistcoat is definitely back in his suits and evening jackets featured a Bogey cut. Japanese designer Jun Takashaki showed in Italy for the first time in the setting of the Boboli Gardens in the evening. Corleani are showing at the Pitti for the first time. Pitti_W Woman Precollections are showing simultaneously at the Dogana. These are collection previews taking place in an exhibition space designed by Oliviero Baldini.

http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy/firenze/whats-fashion-about

Darwin Day - Perugia 2009

2009-12-07T03:55:00.001-08:00

To commemorate the centenary of Darwin's Evolution of the Species theory, the Associazione Nazionale Insegnanti di Scienze Naturali, the Centro di Ateneo per i Musei Scientifici have scheduled a long series of events throughout Umbria for Darwin Day from February through to December.

Email: segreteria@perugiasciencefestival.it

Forget Van Gogh's ear - it's Galileo's molar

2009-12-07T03:05:00.000-08:00

A private art collector who recently purchased a seventeenth-century box containing unidentified “artefacts” must have had a gruesome surprise when he opened it, for it contained a human tooth, a thumb and a middle finger, later authenticated as having belonged to none other than Galileo Galilei [1564 – 1642] who was condemned by the Vatican for claiming that the Earth moved around the Sun.

The collector contacted the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza in Florence and the Museum’s director, Paolo Galluzzi, pieced together the story:
when Galileo died, those close to him feared that the Church would refuse him burial in consecrated ground because of his “heresies” so his body was taken to a small room beneath the bell tower of Santa Croce.

In 1737, 95 years after the astronomer’s death, his body was removed from its “temporary” grave and placed in a monumental tomb in the Basilica itself. It was during this process that Giovanni Targioni Tozzetti, chief physician of the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova Gualtieri, removed the tooth, two fingers and the thumb from the right hand and the fifth lumbar vertebra. He wrote that he found it difficult not to yield to the temptation to remove the skull too, for it “had housed such extraordinary genius”.

One of the fingers was kept in the Science Museum in Florence and the vertebra was conserved at the University of Padua, where Galileo had taught.
The other body parts, however, were kept in a blown-glass vase inside a wooden container and this was passed down the generations of a noble family. Eventually, no one in the family knew what was in the container and they sold it. All trace of it was lost by 1905. Then suddenly it turned up at auction.

The rediscovered relics will be displayed in the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza in Florence when it reopens next year as the Museo Galileo.

http://www.italymag.co.uk/

Wine of the Month: Le Serre Nuove dell’Ornellaia

2009-11-16T04:26:00.001-08:00

Ten years old and still going strong. First made in 1997 and released in 1999, Le Serre Nuove is a complex aromatic red by the acclaimed Tenuta dell’Ornellaia winery in Tuscany.

One of the Tenuta’s three wines, it came 12 years after the flagship Ornellaia and, like its big brother, it quickly garnered international praise.

Le Serre Nuove is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, mainly made with grapes from younger vineyards. Technically, it is a second vin, a byproduct of Ornellaia, because it is produced with base wines that don’t make the cut during the flagship wine’s extremely rigorous selection process.

But second vin doesn’t mean it is a second rate wine. Its combination of intense aroma, structure, balance, but also freshness, softness and approachability captured critics’ interest from the very early days.

Each of the base wines is fermented and aged separately, first in stainless steel vats, then in barrels. After 12 months, the blending takes place. Once blended, the wine is aged in barrels for three months, and in bottle for six more. The end result has been described as “gorgeous”, “mellifluous”, “very rich”, and “elegant”, and, over the years, was awarded a minimum of 88 points (for the 1997 vintage) and a maximum of 92 (for the 2004 vintage) by wine bible The Wine Spectator.

Now the tenth anniversary vintage, which dates from 2007, promises to be among Le Serre Nuove’s very best. The weather was perfect in September two years ago, with hot sunny days and cool nights, ensuring the grapes ripened to perfection.

"Having ideal conditions in September enabled a perfect, slow, steady ripening of the grapes," says Leonardo Raspini, general director and agronomist of Tenuta dell’Ornellaia. "In this way, the grapes mature with a good concentration of aromas and polyphenols and without any hint of overripening.”
The resulting wine has “a complex bouquet, with intense red berry fruit, sweet spice and balsamic mint and eucalyptus accents," according to Axel Heinz, winemaker of Tenuta dell’Ornellaia. “Ample and silky on the palate, it displays an elegant, deft tannic structure, fresh sweet fruit, and intense minty accents.”

The 2007 vintage of Le Serre Nuove dell’Ornellaia is available now.

Welsh Translation

2009-05-30T02:50:00.000-07:00

Do you remember this sign at Oystermouth?
I don't know what happened to our original pic, so I took another.
I couldn't resist putting it through the Welsh auto translator....And back again.

Pryd yn arfer 'r nogia heb angora blocynnau , 'r atalnoda chan haul must mo bod 'n fwy na 8 chorfannau chan a perpendicular drwo 'r nogia darfod.

Meal using group.
I jib, without I anchor blocks.
Group, I point with sun, organise, not be heartburn.
I may be, I do.
8 feet with, I go perpendicular through group.
I jib perish!

I just added the punctuation.
LBB..

Santa Rita of Cascia

2009-05-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

Words by Michelle Fabio

One of the most beloved Italian saints is St. Rita of Cascia, a native of Umbria who died in Cascia in 1456. Santa Rita is widely celebrated not only in the Green Heart of Italy but also throughout the country on her feast day, 22 May, with Mass, processions, and other festivities. St. Rita has a most interesting tale for a saint as she was married and had children.

Although St. Rita had always wanted to be a nun, she obeyed her elderly parents’ wishes to marry a harsh, immoral man when she was just 12 years old. She was a loyal wife and mother of twin sons for 18 years, but family life went sour when her husband was murdered and her sons sought revenge.

St. Rita tried to persuade them to change their minds, but when she realized nothing could stop them, she prayed they would be taken from Earth so they couldn’t commit murder themselves; they died of natural causes a year later. Alone in the world, St. Rita sought admission to the Augustinian convent in Cascia, but was refused because she was a widow. Eventually she was admitted, though--her entrance itself a miracle as she claimed to have been transported inside by her own patron saints, John the Baptist, Augustine, and Nicholas of Tolentino.

St. Rita is often portrayed holding roses and/or figs and sometimes with an injury to her head because when she had asked to suffer as Jesus had, a thorn from the Crown of Thorns on a figure of the crucifixion fell on her forehead and cut her. She is the patron saint of hopeless causes, abused women, and parenthood.

W Santa Rita!
http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy-featured/cascia/celebrating-st-rita-cascia

Welsh Dyslexia Project

2009-04-24T03:40:00.000-07:00

Welsh Dyslexia Project

translates as

Prosiect Dyslecsia Cymru

who needs a Dislexicon!

La Festa della Donna

2009-02-26T16:26:00.001-08:00

words by Michelle Fabio

International Women’s Day (IWD)is held 8 March, and in Italy,it’s called La Festa della Donna.

The first IWD was really a National Women’s Day held in New York City in 1909;
by 1911, the idea of a day honouring women had spread to Austria,Denmark,Germany, and Switzerland and now celebrations are held in countries throughoutthe world including China, Russia, Bulgaria, Mongolia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

The symbol of the day is the yellow mimosa, and men are encouraged to give a bunch of them to all of the important women in their lives.

Read more about International Women’s Day at
http://www.internationalwomensday.com/.

http://www.italymag.co.uk/

Italians to snub ST Valentine's day

2009-02-14T01:08:00.000-08:00

More than half of Italians expecting a gift from their lovers on Valentine's Day this weekend are in for a disappointment, the Coldiretti farmers' group said Thursday.Some 52% of people in a poll by the union said they had no intention of digging into their pockets for a romantic present this year - an increase of 7% on Valentine rubbishers in 2008.

The economic crisis will also take its toll on lovers planning to shell out this year, with more people opting for cheaper gifts like flowers (25%) and clothes (11%), Coldiretti said.Around 9% of Italians said they would buy chocolates or sweets - a 5% drop on 2008 figures, while just 3% were planning to buy jewellery - down 6% on last year.But the group said florists expected to sell 20 million flowers this year, including 14 million roses, at a cost of 75 million euros.

Another farmers' group, CIA, said around 50% of under-18s would not buy presents this year, but 35% of these would say 'I love you' by SMS or email.The president of consumer rights group Codacons, Carlo Rienzi, meanwhile started an official campaign to ''cancel St Valentine's from the calendar as a form of protest, not against those in love, but against a pointless recurrence of unrestrained consumerism''.''Let's be honest, St Valentine's Day gets on everyone's nerves - both for singles, who feel alone and a bit sad, and for those in couples, who feel obliged to give something because of social convention,'' Rienzi said on his website, www.carlorienzi.it."

People who are really in love should not feel pressured by this symbol of consumerism but should celebrate their love every day,'' he added.Consumer rights association Adoc confirmed that lovers will also be saving their pennies on Valentine's meals, with 65% deciding to stay home and cook rather than go to a restaurant.Among the most popular dishes people planned to prepare on Saturday were polenta with creamed cheese, 'trofie' pasta with flowers and pesto and buffalo mozzarella with tomato mousse, followed up by chili-pepper-flavoured chocolate, strawberries or spumante.

Not everyone was shying away from grand romantic gestures, however.A Genoa bus driver has forked out 400 euros for advertising space on three city buses, one of which he drives, and which now bear the message ''Federica, I live for you only'' as a Valentine's present to his wife.''It was simply a way of showing my love and affection for my wife.

We've been married for 12 years and I love her to distraction,'' the doting driver said.Consumer moans are also unlikely to stop lovers from turning out in droves at St Valentine's birthplace at Terni in Umbria.

Each year couples swear undying passion in the cathedral that houses the saint's head.Couples also flock each year to the small Sardinian town of Sadali near Nuoro to ask the saint to look kindly on them and bless engagements.

The ritual has been going on for centuries in the town's 15th-century church, only the second in Italy to be devoted to St Valentine.In local dialect the saint is affectionately known as Su Coiadori (''he who betrothes'') and many of the couples expect their pilgrimage to bless their marriage (''coias'' in dialect).As well as saintly enterprises, Italy boasts other romantic rites for St Valentine's Day.The small southern town of Vico del Gargano, for instance, has a 300-year-old tradition of garlanding a lovers' lane.

http://www.italymag.co.uk/

Published on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 08:56 Life & Style

LATEST WORDS FOR 2008

2009-01-09T06:25:00.000-08:00

The most recent version of the Oxford English Dictionary includes some new words which due to common usage have finally achieved recognition. Below are just some of the latest buzzwords to be allowed entry into the word tome in 2008.

agroterrorism
n. terrorist acts intended to disrupt or damage a country's agriculture.
– derivatives
agroterrorist n.

celebutante
n. a celebrity who is well known in fashionable society.
– origin 1930s: blend of celebrity and debutante.

hoody (also hoodie)
n.
· informal a person, especially a youth, wearing a hooded top.
– origin 1960s: of unknown origin.

Yogalates (also trademark Yogilates)
n. a fitness routine that combines Pilates exercises with the postures and breathing techniques of yoga.
– origin 1990s: blend of yoga and Pilates.

zombie
n.
3. a computer controlled by a hacker without the owner's knowledge, which is made to send large quantities of data to a website, making it inaccessible to other users.

However this year has seen a number of words and phrases enter common
Usage in the English language and we now await the approval of the Boffins
at The Oxford English Dictionary to hopefully include some of these gems in
the future.

Bloggerati – the collective term for the great and the good, those influential
people within the blogging community.
Credit Crunch – squeezing of personal finances.
Edupunk – an anarchic style of teaching.
Nom de womb – the nickname given to an unborn baby.Salad dodger – a person who is not prone to dieting.

Christmas Trivia - You'll love this Yule tide entertainment

2008-12-20T03:35:00.000-08:00

Amaze your family and friends over the holiday season with your amazing knowledge of all-things Christmassy!

Think your Christmas Eve is stressful? Spare a thought for poor old Santa. He has less than one millisecond to deliver his presents to each household in the world - and that's if he does a 30-hour working day, allowing for the various time zones. Naturally he makes a bit of time back by skipping all the people on the naughty list.

Eve, the eventing time; Eve, the first woman; eve, the rebate under the edge of a roof, where it joins the walls.

Christmas trees have been popular in Germany since the 16th century but only made it over to Britain three hundred years later. Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, originally came from Germany and made a tree part of the official celebrations at Windsor Castle.

Trees, large objects growing in a forest; trees, Irish for threes.

The most expensive Christmas card in the world is a hand-drawn card that John Lennon sent to Beatles manager Brian Epstein. It sold at auction for £5,600 in April 2000.

Card, a piece of stiff paper, for visiting, playing; card, a raffish person, a wag.

Baubles were probably invented thanks to alcohol. Around 200 years ago, Bohemian glass blowers used to enjoy a cold drink in their hot factories, and when tipsy would start competing to see who could blow the biggest glass bubbles. These then evolved into Christmas decorations.

Alcohol, distilled liquor, a spirit; Al Cohol, founder of AA.

The USA's official national Christmas tree, in Kings Canyon National Park, California, is almost 280 feet tall and 2,000 years old. A little girl who saw it in 1925 commented what an impressive Christmas tree it would make, and the President agreed, making it the country's official Christmas tree in 1926.

Feet, a third of a yard, a measurement; feet, lower appendages which stop the legs from fraying. The first fairy lights are said to be have appeared in 1882, when Edward H. Johnson - a friend of inventor Thomas Edison - had 80 tiny lightbulbs made especially for his home Christmas tree. Before this, people would use candles and set fire to their tinsel all the time.

Fairy, small mythical creature, usually doing good works; fairy, perjorative term for gay.

Christmas cards were introduced in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. Before then it was tradition to write long, detailed letters to friends and family at Christmas, but Mr Cole couldn't be bothered with all that effort. He commissioned an artist to design some cards and filled them with a short greeting, saving us all a lot of writing each year.

Write, to set words, usually, to paper; right, a fundamental agreed principle; right, a person who makes or repairs wheels, waggons etc; right, opposite of left.

Traditional Christmas meals in England used to involve pig's heads and mustard. But when Queen Elizabeth I heard the news of the destruction of the Spanish Armada on Christmas Eve 1588, she declared that everybody in England should eat the dish she had enjoyed earlier that day - roast goose. When turkeys were introduced to Britain in the 1700s, they became a popular replacement.

Turkey, large domestic fowl; Turkey, the first Oriental county; turkey, something unfortunate or unexpected (slang US)

Mulled wine doesn't just make you happy because of the alcohol in it - neurologists have found that traditional Christmas spices like cinnamon, cloves and ginger release feel-good hormones in the body.

To mull, to heat with spices; to mull, to consider deeply.

Spiders are a big part of Christmas in the Ukraine. Trees are decorated with fake spiders and webs, and a real spider web found on Christmas morning is believed to bring good luck.

Spider, an arachnid; spider, an internet search robot.

'Silent Night' was first performed in Austria in 1818. Legend has it that the church organ in Oberndorf broke on Christmas Eve, leaving the priest - Joseph Mohr - with no music for his Christmas service. He handed the words to a poem he had written to a friend and asked that he write some guitar music to accompany it, and 'Silent Night' was born.

Organ, a wind powered musical instrument; organ, a part of the body.

Christmas was banned across England in 1647, when Oliver Cromwell's puritans were in charge. Pro-Christmas riots broke out across the country but the holiday wasn't officially restored until King Charles II took over 13 years later.

Banned, prohibited; band, rubber or musical.

The popular abbreviation 'Xmas' isn't merely popular because it's quicker to type on a mobile phone. 'X' is the first letter of the Greek word for Christ - Xristos - so the shortened spelling of Christmas has been around for hundreds of years.

Around, in usage; a round, of cards, drinks, a grouip of participants.

The Beatles and the Spice Girls are the only acts to have ever had three consecutive Christmas number one records - the Beatles from 1963 to 1965 and the Spice Girls from 1996 to 1998. 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen is the only record to have been Christmas number one twice - in 1975 and 1991.

Records, phonograph discs; records, anything recorded onto a lasting surface; records, target sor achievements.

Popular Christmas song 'Good King Wenceslas' is about Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia. He was a 10th century king who legend has it is sleeping inside a mountain in the Czech Republic with a huge army of knights, ready to wake and save the Motherland when he's needed.

Knights, armoured mounted warriors; nights, the dark bit, after days.

Caravaggio Created Firefly ''Photos''

2008-12-15T07:50:00.000-08:00

Caravaggio's reputation for revolutionary artistic genius has received a further boost following the discovery he may have used fireflies to create primitive ''photographs''.

Roberta Lapucci, conservation chief at the Florence-based SACI institute, believes the baroque artist created a firefly powder as an essential tool after converting his entire studio into a kind of camera obscura.

Writing in the monthly art journal Stile Arte, Lapucci reports Caravaggio filtered light through a purpose-made hole in his ceiling, using a biconvex lens and a concave mirror to reflect the image he planned to paint directly onto the canvas.

The use of a camera obscura to sketch the subject was not a new technique among artists, having gained prominence thanks to Leonardo da Vinci's writings.

The device works by projecting reverse images of outside objects onto the flat wall of a closed box through a lens in an aperture. By attaching a mirror to the apparatus, artists were able to trace the exact dimensions of the image onto a piece of paper.

Caravaggio spent months refining his technique, adjusting the light and the size of the models. However, by turning his entire room into a camera obscura, Caravaggio found himself working in the dark.

Lapucci believes this led him to create his own version of a distilled and dried firefly powder, first written about by the natural philosopher Giovan Battista della Porta in his 1558 work Magiae Naturalis.

Analysing the content of Caravaggio's paintings, Lapucci discovered traces of photosensitive substances that react to light.

She believes the master used a compound of white lead and firefly powder that allowed him to work in the dark, producing an outline on the canvas of the camera obscura image.

This produced a short-lived, fluorescent image, similar to a photograph, which he was then able to convert into a permanent sketch that formed the basis of the eventual painting.

The many techniques pioneered by Caravaggio (1573-1610) have confirmed his reputation as one of the most revolutionary artist of his time, although he is probably best known for his mastery of chiaroscuro lighting.

He abandoned the Renaissance focus on the human body and spiritual experiences for more realistic and dramatic atmospheres, mixing street characters with religious subjects.

http://www.italymag.co.uk

Words, words, words

2008-12-02T03:15:00.000-08:00

Rare fragment of early copy of Gospel goes on sale

Mike Collett-White of Reuters writes that an unusually large fragment from possibly the oldest copy of part of the Gospel of John will go on sale next month, when the torn piece of papyrus with Greek writing is expected to fetch up to 300,000 pounds ($460,000).

The fragment is believed to date to 200 AD, less than 170 years after the crucifixion of Christ, when Christianity was still illegal and around 100 years after experts believe the original Gospel was first written.

"This is either the first or the second oldest copy of this part of the text of the Gospel of John," Sotheby's specialist Timothy Bolton told Reuters as he held the document displayed between two sheets of clear plastic. "It is one of the finest and most celebrated of Gospel fragments, as there are very few pieces of this spectacular quality."

The appearance of page number 74 in one corner shows the leaf came from a relatively large volume of the whole Gospel, he explained, and adds to the rarity of the piece.
Its Greek text is an account of Jesus preaching in the temple, where people challenge his right to give evidence on his own behalf. It includes the cryptic and prophetic words: "Whither I go, ye cannot come."

The fragment was discovered in 1922 by British archaeologists Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt at the site of the important early Christian community at Oxyrhynchus, about 120 miles from Cairo. It is believed to have been written in Alexandria. Most finds from the site ended up in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the British Museum, although some pieces, including the fragment, were sent to seminaries and colleges..

The U.S. divinity school where it ended up sold the fragment in New York in 2003, and it fetched $400,000, which Sotheby's said was the highest price ever paid at public sale for an early Christian manuscript.

Donatello's David returns to public gaze

2008-11-25T01:24:00.001-08:00

The first major work of Renaissance sculpture, Donatello's bronze of David, is nearing the end of a complex restoration process.

The statue will be unveiled to the public during an inauguration ceremony on November 28 in Florence at the Bargello Museum.
The final phase of the 18-month restoration has seen the famed statue entirely closed off to visitors because of the sensitive tools being used.

Technological innovations have been used throughout the process, such as laser combs invented specially to swipe clean the delicate gold leaf that decorates parts of the work.

The 200,000-euro project followed a major check-up on the state of the work, carried out early in 2007. The David was subjected to X-rays and a range of other more sophisticated diagnostic tests.

Most experts believe Donatello (1386-1466) sculpted the sensuous work in the 1440s.

It depicts David standing with one foot on Goliath's severed head. Apart from a hat and a pair of boots, David is naked.

At the time of its creation, it was probably the first free standing bronze nude since ancient times and it caused a sensation.

The almost feminine physique contrasts with Michelangelo's powerful, masculine depiction of the biblical figure, sculpted between 1500 and 1504.

It is also very different from Donatello's earlier marble version - created around 1412 - in which David is clothed.

Donatello, whose full name was Donato di Niccolo' di Betto Bardi, was the son of a Florentine woolcomber.

As a teenager, he worked in the studio of noted sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti.
Later, he travelled to Rome with the great architect Filippo Brunelleschi to study the monuments of antiquity.

Donatello's dramatic departure from stylised Gothic art is credited with kick-starting the Renaissance.
The Florentine sculptor even anticipated the use of perspective that is often thought a painterly invention - as can be seen in his early bas relief of St George and the Dragon on Florence's Orsanmichele church.

Other major Donatello works include a grim prophet called Habbakuk - or popularly, Zuccone (big head) - on Florence's Duomo and an equestrian warlord in Padua called the Gattamelata.

www.italymag.co.uk

Upper Tiber Valley - the 90th anniversary of the ending of the Great War.

2008-11-06T02:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday evening saw the launch of the exhibition in the Upper Tiber Valley of the exhibition to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the ending of the Great War. Historical enthusiasts were amazed by the wealth of detail assembled by Alvarro Tachini, during the four years of preparation for this event, from personal sources in the local Upper Tiber Valley, not just the fighters, but also their families.

The Mayors of Citta' di Castello (Umbria) and San Sepolcro (Tuscany) gave short addresses and read a letter from the President of the Italian Republic complimenting the organiser, Mr Tachini, because, probably, for the first time, two compeditive adjoining Italian regions had combined in complete harmony in order to support this wonderful effort.

The total content of the exhibition has been photographed and reproduced in a most attractive format, and is now produced as a good quality book available to the public. ( price publisher details sponsor)

For students of this period, collectors, social historians and archivists, this work is an important and deeply moving account of the sufferings endured by all classes of the population, and which was repeated in different lands and different languages for most of the peoples of of a once divided Europe.

The terrible military casualties incurred during the war were overshadowed by the effects of the Spanish 'flu', a plague that struck down millions in the war torn countries, and then, to add to the misery, an earthquake. All of these grim details are recorded in the exhibition, and the book, and serve to remind us all that this valley in central Italy was not always the green and pleasant land that we find today.