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posted by Federico Pace —
February 16, 2011
It 's been only one day that Silvio Berlusconi has been indicted to stand trial on charges of paying for sex an under-age prostitute. And someone in the street, already wonders how many more days it'll have to wait before Silvio Berlusconi will resign. How many more days before Berlusconi, hidden behind the brown glasses of his car, will abandon forever palazzo Grazioli...
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posted by Federico Pace —
December 27, 2010
Must have been the bodies of Christ and the marble bishops, hoisted to the top of the Basilica of San Giovanni, to see the first patch of light emerging from the east. Yesterday, all those statues were in that their sailors posture. Trying to understand, with desperate stillness, the elusive horizon. The meteo bulletin says that the first ray of sun has to be appeared at thirty-five minutes past seven...
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posted by Federico Pace —
December 01, 2010 —
In the spring of 2003, it happened to me to go to interview Mario Monicelli. The appointment with the director was in his house in Rione Monti. My small crew was composed just by three persons. And all three of us were left for a while before buzzing at the door bell. As if we have to celebrate a sort of a ritual. Such was our respect for that man became bony...
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posted by Federico Pace —
November 10, 2010 —
Tourists are entering the body of the Colosseum. Almost in multitudes. They are entering in the cavity while they've taking pictures of themselves using their small luminescent gadgets. A few days ago it, after forty years, the access to the third ring has been reopened. There are couples of spaniards discussing why they should pay a surcharge of eight euro to visit the underground...
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posted by Matteo Sarlo —
October 20, 2010 —
Facing Van Gogh’s paintings, on exhibit at Vittoriano Museum in Rome since October 8, you understand how weaving the threads of a story or a painting, shaping an idea that can exist and persist, is not an aesthetic form but rather a form of resistance. A connection. An active deed by which the artist affects the world and that cannot be erased...
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posted by Federico Pace —
September 20, 2010
Nobody's stopped. All the cars went by and were caught in the green and higher up, where the streets have the names of movie stars. There were the houses, nestled in the slopes, legacy of an economy and a society that does no longer exist. There were the gardens, the green sheets to the doors and, higher still, the luxurious rest homes. Old simulacra of a desire, came back even more alive, to isolate themselves and seclude...
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posted by Antonio Carbone —
February 21, 2010
It’s one of those afternoons when one leaves behind the door thoughtfully. Almost just because time has granted a bright spell. The same random is the path taken: Viale Castro Pretorio over Italy, Villa Borghese. A little 'less the reason that leads me down the stairs of the underground parking. I do it in a sort of hypnosis, dream. The excuse is that I should get the car that I left there for several days but in reality is very different reason...
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posted by Federico Pace and Antonio Carbone —
November 05, 2007 —
These are tense and uncertain days. Tuesday 30th October a woman, Giovanna Reggiani, was attacked and killed not far from the Tor di Quinto railway station. Charged with the event is a Romanian called Nicolae Mailat. The new migrants sometimes show an aggressive face. The new migrants seem uncontrollable. They also, as Italians, and like the ex-marksman of Guidonia, wound and kill.The day after the aggression of the woman, the government passed a decree that allows expelling community citizens...
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posted by Federico Pace —
October 15, 2007 —
Now there is nothing to separate him from the position of Democratic Party leader. Now there is nothing to separate him from the umpteenth return to national politics. Now there is nothing to separate him from the definitive affirmation. Now there is nothing to tempt him. Now there is no identity behind which to hide. Now there is no other commitment or mission that can make him think about to leave politics and power.
What he had said once does not count any more...
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posted by Federico Pace —
October 01, 2007 —
About the streets of the city it is easy to come across graffiti, on the ground and walls. They are the amorous spray expressions. White, black or coloured. They are done with declamatory words, absolute and at times, epical. They are written nearly always by kids. At the centre of the authors thoughts there are fiancées, girlfriends, and girls just glimpsed...
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posted by Federico Pace —
September 17, 2007 —
There is long a kind of snake made of steel and toxic fumes that crosses the city. An endless grey metalized line that, without rest, winds its heavy and bulky body among the narrow urban streets. An animal that moves to a slow rhythm puffs and leaves its waste. From early morning, to late evening. A metallic reptile that carries within itself tired men and lonely women.
In Rome there are nearly two millions cars...
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posted by Antonio Carbone —
August 01, 2007 —
It’s not only because today is the first of August, a reason for which not many people arrived this morning to pay their last homage in the mortuary chapel prepared in the Capitol. Different in comparison with the crowd of people the day Alberto Sordi died. In fact, in spite of being always considered a teacher abroad, he never has enjoyed great popularity in Italy.Even this is a symptom of the times we live in...
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posted by Antonio Carbone —
June 13, 2007 —
The gaze went from the window to the courtyard. But there wasn’t even a fugitive caged bird to capture attention. Much less, on the terrace, you could catch a glimpse of someone with an intention to bring in the clothes hanging in the sun. You could hear only the muffled sound of the helicopter blades. So as time passed, as if to avoid your condition of segregation, you asked yourself if that action in the city was a sign of strength or of weakness...
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posted by Monica Pietrangeli —
June 05, 2007 —
At the Pigneto library a few days ago, the section of the Chinese language was inaugurated. It contains books ranging from classic to contemporary novels that are available for the components of the Chinese community. At the Pigneto the experiment of cohabitation appears possible. The third generation of the population that has taken residence here, mix with the teenagers and the children of Italian families that at one time were made up of workers and railwaymen...
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posted by Federico Pace —
May 30, 2007 —
Right in the middle of Largo Argentina, in front of a well known bookstore, there is for some time a new shelter. A long crystal roof that covers it darkens with the rays of the sun. Inside, under there, if have a look, you can see the faces of whom has tried to sit and wait.You can see faces of frowning pigeons that are lined up in a row. Nothing is said...
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posted by Antonio Carbone —
May 02, 2007 —
In a hypothetical classification of the city areas at risk, Termini station would probably not be in one of the last positions. Even though not lacking dangers, it presents an internal resident population in which it is hard to distinguish who needs help from who is simulating a necessity. But the feeling that you get crossing the gallery and even the long corridors that bring to the subway is not of danger...
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posted by Federico Pace —
April 25, 2007 —
To put into action the trolley bus project that from here to a year should cross Via Laurentina, the City Council foresees to sweep away a good number of pines. From fifteen to sixty. Closely examined the trunks of these trees, blackened by smog are thin and ancient, makes you think about the streaked skin of a prehistoric animal. In the traffic island there are greying bushes of oleanders, wastepaper and empty plastic bottles...
Berlusconi refuses to resign in the palazzo Grazioli's metaphisical quietIt 's been only one day that Silvio Berlusconi has been indicted to stand trial on charges of paying for sex an under-age prostitute. And someone in the street, already wonders how many more days it'll have to wait before Silvio Berlusconi will resign. How many more days before Berlusconi, hidden behind the brown glasses of his car, will abandon forever palazzo Grazioli...
Winster solstice in RomeMust have been the bodies of Christ and the marble bishops, hoisted to the top of the Basilica of San Giovanni, to see the first patch of light emerging from the east. Yesterday, all those statues were in that their sailors posture. Trying to understand, with desperate stillness, the elusive horizon. The meteo bulletin says that the first ray of sun has to be appeared at thirty-five minutes past seven...
Mario Monicelli, the lost and found interviewIn the spring of 2003, it happened to me to go to interview Mario Monicelli. The appointment with the director was in his house in Rione Monti. My small crew was composed just by three persons. And all three of us were left for a while before buzzing at the door bell. As if we have to celebrate a sort of a ritual. Such was our respect for that man became bony...
Visiting the Colosseum in RomeTourists are entering the body of the Colosseum. Almost in multitudes. They are entering in the cavity while they've taking pictures of themselves using their small luminescent gadgets. A few days ago it, after forty years, the access to the third ring has been reopened. There are couples of spaniards discussing why they should pay a surcharge of eight euro to visit the underground...
The Van Gogh Exhibition at Vittoriano Museum in RomeFacing Van Gogh’s paintings, on exhibit at Vittoriano Museum in Rome since October 8, you understand how weaving the threads of a story or a painting, shaping an idea that can exist and persist, is not an aesthetic form but rather a form of resistance. A connection. An active deed by which the artist affects the world and that cannot be erased...
The grand Mosque of RomeNobody's stopped. All the cars went by and were caught in the green and higher up, where the streets have the names of movie stars. There were the houses, nestled in the slopes, legacy of an economy and a society that does no longer exist. There were the gardens, the green sheets to the doors and, higher still, the luxurious rest homes. Old simulacra of a desire, came back even more alive, to isolate themselves and seclude...
The underground car park of Villa Borghese, the vanguard, the gelatinous substrate and the two ItalieIt’s one of those afternoons when one leaves behind the door thoughtfully. Almost just because time has granted a bright spell. The same random is the path taken: Viale Castro Pretorio over Italy, Villa Borghese. A little 'less the reason that leads me down the stairs of the underground parking. I do it in a sort of hypnosis, dream. The excuse is that I should get the car that I left there for several days but in reality is very different reason...
The uncertain days, the exemplary Rome, the siege, the collapse of the walls and the matter of the RomaniansThese are tense and uncertain days. Tuesday 30th October a woman, Giovanna Reggiani, was attacked and killed not far from the Tor di Quinto railway station. Charged with the event is a Romanian called Nicolae Mailat. The new migrants sometimes show an aggressive face. The new migrants seem uncontrollable. They also, as Italians, and like the ex-marksman of Guidonia, wound and kill.The day after the aggression of the woman, the government passed a decree that allows expelling community citizens...
His AfricaNow there is nothing to separate him from the position of Democratic Party leader. Now there is nothing to separate him from the umpteenth return to national politics. Now there is nothing to separate him from the definitive affirmation. Now there is nothing to tempt him. Now there is no identity behind which to hide. Now there is no other commitment or mission that can make him think about to leave politics and power. What he had said once does not count any more...
The coded confessionAbout the streets of the city it is easy to come across graffiti, on the ground and walls. They are the amorous spray expressions. White, black or coloured. They are done with declamatory words, absolute and at times, epical. They are written nearly always by kids. At the centre of the authors thoughts there are fiancées, girlfriends, and girls just glimpsed...
The bite of the steel snakeThere is long a kind of snake made of steel and toxic fumes that crosses the city. An endless grey metalized line that, without rest, winds its heavy and bulky body among the narrow urban streets. An animal that moves to a slow rhythm puffs and leaves its waste. From early morning, to late evening. A metallic reptile that carries within itself tired men and lonely women. In Rome there are nearly two millions cars...
Bergman and Antonioni departed togetherIt’s not only because today is the first of August, a reason for which not many people arrived this morning to pay their last homage in the mortuary chapel prepared in the Capitol. Different in comparison with the crowd of people the day Alberto Sordi died. In fact, in spite of being always considered a teacher abroad, he never has enjoyed great popularity in Italy.Even this is a symptom of the times we live in...
A particular dayThe gaze went from the window to the courtyard. But there wasn’t even a fugitive caged bird to capture attention. Much less, on the terrace, you could catch a glimpse of someone with an intention to bring in the clothes hanging in the sun. You could hear only the muffled sound of the helicopter blades. So as time passed, as if to avoid your condition of segregation, you asked yourself if that action in the city was a sign of strength or of weakness...
The Pigneto, the experiment and the preyAt the Pigneto library a few days ago, the section of the Chinese language was inaugurated. It contains books ranging from classic to contemporary novels that are available for the components of the Chinese community. At the Pigneto the experiment of cohabitation appears possible. The third generation of the population that has taken residence here, mix with the teenagers and the children of Italian families that at one time were made up of workers and railwaymen...
Largo Argentina, what remains of a shelterRight in the middle of Largo Argentina, in front of a well known bookstore, there is for some time a new shelter. A long crystal roof that covers it darkens with the rays of the sun. Inside, under there, if have a look, you can see the faces of whom has tried to sit and wait.You can see faces of frowning pigeons that are lined up in a row. Nothing is said...
Die at TerminiIn a hypothetical classification of the city areas at risk, Termini station would probably not be in one of the last positions. Even though not lacking dangers, it presents an internal resident population in which it is hard to distinguish who needs help from who is simulating a necessity. But the feeling that you get crossing the gallery and even the long corridors that bring to the subway is not of danger...
The pine trees on the Laurentina and villainous mathematicsTo put into action the trolley bus project that from here to a year should cross Via Laurentina, the City Council foresees to sweep away a good number of pines. From fifteen to sixty. Closely examined the trunks of these trees, blackened by smog are thin and ancient, makes you think about the streaked skin of a prehistoric animal. In the traffic island there are greying bushes of oleanders, wastepaper and empty plastic bottles...