The cage of work

"Italy is a republic founded on work". For sure the half of the constituent assembly would have liked to say "republic of workers". It would have a completely different meaning. I am not thinking about the mitology of Stakanov, who reaches 20 times the daily productivity allowing the satisfaction of the quinquennial plan and the wealth of the sovietic state, but rather about the idea that the right-duty of work gives to everybody who participates in it a share of the responsibility of the management of the public affairs, that is the common good. But on the other hand, the idea of work is present in nearly all the ideologies. The christian ora et labora: you have to pray but even then there is nobody working in your place. In liberism the work is what gives value to some natural resource through a process of transformation, and legitimates the private property: at the extreme there is the myth of the self-made-man. The writing "work makes you free" was flagging (sarcastically ?) we know where. The first article of the italian constitution is a compromise, and alone it means really nothing: instead, in a wildly capitalist context, it sounds to me mocking and derisive. You, as a poor man, have to float among the mental categories that somebody packed for you, work hard all life long, pay the taxes, at least the amount necessary to guarantee that the superstructure survives itself: maybe someone will be rich but at least you will be dignified.

Ford River Rouge plant, Dearborn, Michigan. Congress Library, United States of America

In the meanwhile the fordist structure has determined our society, and even more the representation that we made of it, the idea that it gave us some kind of desiderable form of wealth, the shining floors, the antenna on the balcony instead of the toilet, the centralized heating system, the middle-power car with which you crowd arbitrarily chosen places on saturday evening and go out in the countryside on sunday afternoon, and then you demolish it with ecological subsidies after a five years life, maybe without support this model we are desperately grasped at will vanish, because all the rest is precarity, decomposition, half-peripherical abandoned plants with broken glasses, occupied by clandestine immigrants divorced men and political refugees.
This life structured into closed compartments might have increased the life expectancy but it never gave answers to something resembling deep needs. Half of the life productive, one fourth looked after by the parents, one fourth looked after by the sons. Schools not as places of culture and society, but as parkings. Other 50 square metres parkings with 70 years old people inside, who if the woman from Rumania or the Philipines is not there they only watch Rai 1 because noone considered meaningful explaining to them how to change channel, techological transitions are not for them, who go out only to come back wth plastic bags with other plastic bags inside. The day divided into three turns: 8 hours to sleep, 8 hours to work, 8 hours to take care about yourself. Then, of these, you spend 2 in an individual locomotion vehicle because of an antropological-urbainistic crisis, 2 to obtain and swallow food with enough natritional value but completely lacking social and relational one, 2 in front of a television for a crisis which is nothing but cultural... what remains then? The week at the seaside in the middle of the summer?

Traffic Jam during the rush hour, Shangai Source: Reuters

Or...?
Maybe the only thing that my father tried to teach me, interpreting this idea also with his activity, is that you don't live to work but you work to live. I am not so sure abouth the meaning of "live" in this context, but... I am intelligent enough to feel impossible to identify my purposes with the ones of an hypothetical profit-seeking company their owners and/or shareholders for which I might find myself working for. I have experienced so many genuine and disinterested personal relationships, and I have seen too many persons dedicating themselves sincerely to the common good, that I cannot perceive me as an entrepreneur of myself with tha aim of qualify and gain economical and contractual power in the "work market". Collecting money to substain a life style of which I don't feel the need is quite not interesting as perspective. Maybe the love for someone else might let you perceive all the rest as purely survival, but at the moment it think it does not.
Usually every speech it happens to me to hear about work puts me down, oppresses my personality, crushing it in a remote corner, while inconclusive rhetorics and minimal necessities struggle in front of me without outcome, like it was possible to deal with the issue without asking themselves on what this society is based; this society that we would like to require and guarantee work to everyone.

Slow Fast Food [EN]

I nave been recently in a place called M**Bun. It is a small chain exixting for a few years, with at the moment three establishments, two in the center of Turin, Piedmont, Italy, and one in Rivoli, in the suburbs of the same town. It defines itself as Slow Fast Food. For sure McDonald's cannot patent the very common Scottish prefix Mc, but interpreting it as a challengo to the american giant is even too easy. The sponsorization by the organization SlowFood can also be straightforwardly recognized. It displays itself as a place where you can buy ready-made food quickly, to take way or to eat there in rooms with a minimalist interior design, that you order at a counter in disposable packages and with a service reduced to the essential. But then you immediately see the differences. The products, even the potato chips, are cooked at the moment; you can collect them at the counter but with a mechanism that informs you as soon as they are ready. All the material is recyclable, and you have to take care you yourself of the disposal in the proper containers. The products, from the meat to the drinks and the sweets, are only of very good quality and of local origin, not only as origin but mainly also as gastronomic tradiction. This is emphasized by the purely Piedmontese irony that you can see on stickers available around, and remembered at the entrance a statue of an ox, which is Piedmont is the king of the animals. Also dishes suitable for vegetarians are avalaible.
The place is spreaded with visual stimuluses about the etical principles they guide them, and you can find with transparency informations about the producers. On the website you can view the full list; the meat producer, the farming company Scaglia, also located in Rivoli, in summer organizes guided tours to the farm. For sure, you pay a little more, but you pay for the substance and not for the appearance. By the way, I have eaten an exceptional beef entrecote.

M**Bun in the center of TUrin

Some days ago, and only during two days, it was opened in Milan a trendy fast food named Single Burger. It has been sponsorized by two popular concurrents of the italian culinary talent show Masterchef. Every week they would have proposed a special hamburger conceived by them. The first opening Saturday night evening, here comes the revelation: the delicious hamburger with bacon proposed, is actually a McDonald's product, projected and realized with ingredients and technologies and by workers of the American multinational, available now under the name "Bacon Clubhouse" in every "restaurant" of the chain. This history cannot be settled so quickly simply as a joke to the gastro-cool people, or as a brilliant marketing operation, and not even as the licit try to clear out "prejudices" related to the brand. It is a fact that it is hard for it to seep through a lot of areas of South Europa, and even studies conducted by themselves seem to point out that, together with recent desperate attempts of cleaning their image, at least in Europe, increasing a little the quality of the products, they would make more profit.

Single Burger, now renamed McDonald's premium in the center of Milan

For sure it is easy to come out claiming that, in the end, what matters is waht you like, but the issue remains: we are progressively loosing in general the ability to eat well, just even in the meaning of understanding what it means, for the health and for the environment. A lot of people is satisfied with paying a lot because some restaurant is cool or sophisticated or elegant, but the quality concerns other aspects more intimately related to the food: the production technologies and their impact, traceability, locality, cultural value. The organization SlowFood deep in its heart works very well about these themes. Somoetimes maybe it ends up appearing radical chic, but the future of fodd cannot be BIO for the rich people and GMO for all the others. Obviously a local high quality properly made beef entrecote is more expensive that an hamburger in a fast food restaurant, but the opposite gives you no guarantee. The message that McDonald's is trying to conceive is then meaningful: you should not be cool and you can come and east by us, since you don't understand anything and for you is the same.
But this does not make disappear the objective criteria that allow to say that a beef entrecote in M**Bun is better than an hamburger in McDonald's: it is documented who produces the meet and with which criteria, it is fresh, it does not make thousands of kilometers, without preservatives used only for aesthetic purposes, without hormonal pumping, without antibiotic treatments to increase productivity, without GMO feeding, without intensive farming in plants with dozens of thousands of animals in conditions that you would not allow to visit, that instead you keep well closed hoping that the smell of manure is not revealing too much. You can see all this on the wealth and on the environmental impact, and with a little of culture of food you would see it also on the taste, whose knoledge in our society is getting lost under the delirium of industrialization.
A key point of capitalism is the idea that you have to follow your primary pulses without thinking about it. That a purchase is just filling the gap between a will and its satisfaction, and has no further implications. It is better when it is an impulsive action because it can be foreseen and directed. Instead, we are responsible of the success of the products we choose: CONSUMING IS A POLITICAL ACT.

Nightfall

Un eclisse di sole e` qualcosa ora di perfettamente compreso e prevedibile. Giorni prima siamo gia` invasi di informazioni sugli orari e le aree geografiche in cui puo` essere osservato, se non da tutta una serie di informazioni pratiche su come beneficiare al meglio dello spettacolo.

A solar eclipse is now something perfectly understood and foreseenable. Already days before we are invaded by informations about the timings and the geographical areas where it can be observed, if not by all a series of practical informations on how to benefit from the show.

Bambini guardano un eclissi di sole Children look at a solar eclipse credits Sky

Ma immaginate, all'alba dell'umanita`, doveva essere qualcosa di tremendo, che incuteva profondo timore e rispetto per l'ordine cosmico. In pieno giorno tutto si fa buio, un unorme mostro mitologico si divora il Sole, per poi restituirlo pochi minuti dopo, con grande clemenza, o al termine di scontri titanici, tra la gratitudine della popolazione.

But let's imagine, at the dawn of mankind, it must have been something terrible, which instilled deep reverence and respect for the cosmical order. In broad daylight everything gets dark, an enormous mythological monster devours the Sun, and then it gives it back a few minutes after, with great clemency, or after titanical struggles, among the gratefullness of the population.

Il Dragone Bakunawa mangia la Luna, mitologia filippina Bakunawa Dragon eats the Moon, philipino mithology Copyright Jerald Dorado

I due lupi Skoll e Hati inseguono i carri che trainano il sole e la luna, mitologia vichinga The two wolves Skoll and Hati chase the chariots carrying the Sun and the Moon, viking mithology "The Wolves Pursuing Sol and Mani", John Charles Dollman, 1909

"Nightfall" si spinge oltre. Scritto nel 1941 da Isaac Asimov, quando aveva appena 21 anni, nel 1968 e` stato votato dalla Science Fiction Writers of America come il miglior racconto di fantascienza mai scritto. L'idea di partenza e` la domanda, cosi formulata dal saggista e poeta Ralph Waldo Emerson nel secolo precedente: "Se le stelle apparissero una sola volta ogni mille anni... Come gli uomini crederebbero, adorerebbero, e preserverebbero per molte generazioni il ricordo della citta` di Dio!" La risposta che il giovane Isaac si diede fu invece semplicemente: "Gli uomini impazzirebbero".
La costruzione e` la seguente: dei simil-umani vivono su un pianeta da qualche parte nell'universo, che fa parte di un sistema planetario in cui ci sono sei soli, e le orbite sono tali che ogni parte del pianeta e` sempre esposta alla luce di almeno uno di questi. Essi sono abituati alla luce e condiderano il buio come qualcosa di inconcepibile. Esiste pero` anche un pianeta, normalmente non visibile, la cui orbita e` tale che una volta ogni qualche migliaio di anni si frappone tra il pianeta abitato e l'unico sole che ne illumina una faccia in quel momento. Si produce percio` una eclissi, che lascia gli abitanti al buio, che lascia loro vedere le mitiche "stelle", oggetti misteriosi tramandati da vecchie leggende apocalittiche. Qualunque cosa siano devono essere assolutamente tremende.

"Nightfall" goes further on. Written in 1941 by Isaac Asimov, when he was just 21 years old, in 1968 it was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America as the best science-fiction short story ever written. The starting idea is the question, as formulated by the essayist and poeat Ralph Waldo Emerson in the former century" "If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God!" Instead, the answer that the young Isaac gave himself was simply: "Men would go mad".
The construction is the following: simil-humans live on a planet somewhere in the universe. It is part of a planetary system where there are six suns, and the orbits are such that every part of the planet is always exposed to the light of at least one of these. They are used to the light and they consider the darkness as something unconceivable. But there exist another planet, usually not visible, whose orbit is such that every a few thousand years comes between the lived planet and the only sun which lights up one of its faces in this moment. Hence an eclipse is produced, which leaves the inhabitants in the darkness, which allows then to see the mytical "stars", mysterious objects handed down by old apocalyptic legends. Whatever they are, for sure they must be absolutely terrible.

Nightfall, copyright Don Dixon, Cosmographica

L'intreccio e` cosi` assemblato: si e` appena scoperta la legge di gravitazione universale; questa porta a prevedere l'esistenza nel sistema planetario di un altro oggetto, invisibile. Si nota poi che la sua orbita e` tale da produrre, ogni paio di migliaia di anni, il gia` menzionato eclisse. Questo sembra avallare le ipotesi catastrofiche dell'avvento del "Buio". Nel frattempo ritrovamenti archeologici rivelano che la civita` e` stata perdiodicamente annientata da incendi devastanti, e ricostruita in seguito a fatica, piu` volte nel corso della storia. E gli intervalli di tempo dei due fenomeni... corrispondono.
Il prossimo eclisse risulta essere presto. Una comunita` di persone, soprattutto scienziati frequentanti l'osservatorio astronomico, si prepara al peggiore degli scenari; allestisce un bunker, per resistere alla follia dilagante, alle orde di persone prese dal panico, fomentate da integralisti religiosi, disposte a bruciare qualunque cosa alla disperata ricerca di luce. Ma anch'essi saranno presi dal delirio. " Trentamila potentissimi astri risplendevano di un fulgore che feriva l'anima, più spaventosamente gelido, nella sua orrenda indifferenza, del vento tagliente che spirava invisibile attraverso un mondo freddo, orribilmente informe. ... Aton (la guida autorevole del gruppo di scienziati) da qualche parte, frigna e singhiozza come un bambino terrorizzato: 'Stelle, tutte le Stelle, noi non sapevamo niente. Non sapevamo affatto. Credevamo che sei stelle in un universo fossero tante... Adesso è l'oscurità per sempre, per sempre' "

The plot is assembled in this way: the laws of universal gravitation has just bee discovered; this leads to foresee in the planetary system the existence of another object, invisible. Then it is noted that its orbit is such that it produces, every couple of thousands of years, the aforementioned eclipse. This seems to validate the catastrophic hypothesis of the advent of the "Nightfall". In the meanwhile archeological findings reveal that the civilization has been periodically annihilated by devastating fires, and rebuilt with efforts again, more times in the course of history. And the time intervals of the two phenomena... correspond.
The next eclipse turns out to be soon. A community of people, mainly scientists frequenting the astronomicl observatory, gets ready for the worse scenario; they set up a bunker, to resist to the madness taking over, to the hordes of panic-stricken people, instigated by religious integralists, ready to burn down everything in the desperate search for light. But they will also fall into delirium. " Thirty thousand mighty suns shone down in a soul-searing splendor that was more frighteningly cold in its awful indifference, than the bitter wind that shivered across the cold, horribly bleak world. ... Aton (the distinguished guide of the group of scientists), somewhere, was crying, whimpering horribly like a terribly frightened child: 'Stars, all the Stars, we didn't know at all. We didn't know anything. We thought six stars in a universe is something... is Darkness forever and ever and ever' "

Radikal

   From the Oxford English Dictionary:
Radical:
A adj. Of or relating to a root or to roots

1 a. Of, belonging to, or from a root or roots; fundamental to or inherent in the natural processes of life, vital

.....

   b. Of a quality, attribute, or feature: inherent in the nature or essence of a person or thing; fundamental.

.....  

   From "Die Zeit" of 29th January 2015:
The European reactions to the Greek elections show that what is growing together does not belong together. Tsipras' victory was celebrated by the French right radical Marine Le Pen and by the German party "Die Linke", by the Europe enemies Ukip and the left party Sinn Féin in Ireland, by the
right separatist Lega Nord from Italy and by the French ex-communist Jean-Luc Mélénchon, among others.  
Obviously it arizes here in front of the European Establishment's eyes an "International of the Against", that not only trespasses without effort the borders between singular countries but also the one between right and left . The program of this right-left movement is the following: against Brussels, against The U.S.A., against Israel, against the N.A.T.O., against the so-called mainstream media, against any military intervention, against austerity, against globalization. And for: Putin.
The only manifest difference that complicates an association between the left radicals and the right radicals is Islam.


   From the Open letter to German Citizens by Alexis Tsipras, published on the Handelsblatt, an economical newspaper, on 13th Januar 2015:
Greece's debt is currently unsustainable and will never be serviced, especially while Greece is being subjected to continuous fiscal waterboarding. The insistence in these dead-end policies, and in the denial of simple arithmetic, costs the German taxpayer dearly while, at once, condemning to a proud European nation to permanent indignity. What is even worse: In this manner, before long the Germans turn against the Greeks, the Greeks against the Germans and, unsurprisingly, the European Ideal suffers catastrophic losses.
....Our task is not to confront our partners. It is not to secure larger loans or, equivalently, the right to higher deficits. Our target is, rather, the country's stabilization, balanced budgets and, of course, the end of the grand squeeze of the weaker Greek taxpayers in the context of a loan agreement that is simply unenforceable. We are committed to end 'extend and pretend' logic not against German citizens but with a view to the mutual advantages for all Europeans.


   Mrs. Katsulis phoning and speaking to politicians and journalists in a Greek political talk show on 14th January 2015:
Did you have to sleep without having dinner, Mr. Jatsidakis? Did you feel the banks thread of taking your hause away, that you built over the years? Did you sleep on a frozen mattress? What did you do to help all these people? I would like an answer. I have voted for Nea Demokratia for years and now I'm going to vote for Alexis Tsipras. Not because Alexis Tsipras would bring me to heaven. I trust on the purity of its words and its clean look. I don't trust that other ridiculous, evil and trickster. You lean your heads down, don't you? You have nothing to say, do you? I am a widow, I have a son that is studying and you give me a 360 Euros pension. And you want me to live on that. Give me an answer please! I am not the only one, we are a lot of Greek women that sleep in frozen houses and that have nothing to eat for dinner. Did I make my point clear, Mr. Jatsidakis? This is a cry of pain. If you want to know what the word of God says: "When pityful leaders command, then are people blessed. When the impure have the power, people suffer". 

Stupido sogno

wallpaper ufficiale dei Porcupine Tree
official wallpaper of the Porcupine Tree

Dei Porcupine Tree ho sentito dire: "il solito gruppo epigono", che nulla ha da aggiungere all'originale. Di Steven Wilson ho letto che copiava David Gilmour pure nel colore delle mutande. É proprio assurdo e stupido questo sogno di far rivivere il rock progressive negli anni '90-'00, con venti anni di ritardo, e forse ancora di piu`lo sono io ad ascoltarli ora, con altri 20 (come se la musica potesse avere solo una funzione storica?).
Ammetto che "Radioactive Toy" da "On the Sunday of Life"(1992) sembra la brutta copia di quel capolavoro floydiano che é "Comfortably Numb" da "The Wall" (1979); già questo puo` essere considerato un onore.
Però con il tempo hanno sviluppato uno stile molto personale e creativo, con sonorità tra l'etereo e l'hard-rock, con la giusta dose di elettronica e ovviamente di chitarra tagliante alla Gilmour, poche  digressioni e sbrodolature, a tratti una non molesta immediatezza consona coi tempi, e qualcosa spesso mancante al genere, un groove di basso sempre ben strutturato e a volte trascinante.
I migliori momenti della loro carriera direi gli album "Stupid Dream"(1999) e "In Absentia"(2002).

About the Porcupine Tree I heard saying: "the usual imitator group", that has nothing to add with respect to the original. About Steven Wilson I read that he was copying David Gilmour even in the colour of the underwear. This dream of reviving the progressive rock in the '90s-'00s, with 20 years of delay, is really absurd and stupid, and maybe I am even more in listening to them now, with oher 20 (like music could have only an historical function?).
I admit that "Radioactive Toy" from "On the Sunday of Life"(1992) looks like a bad copy of the floydian masterpiece "Comfortably Numb" from "The Wall"(1979); already this can be consideren an honour.
But with time they developed a very personal and creative style, with sounds between heavenly and hard-rock, with the right amount of electronics and obviously the cutting Gilmour guitar, a little digressions and dribbles, from time to time a not molest immediateness suitable for the times, and something usually missing in the genre, a well structured and often drawing bass groove.
I would say the best moments of their career are the albums "Stupid Dream"(1999) and "In Absentia"(2002).

copertina dell'album "In Absentia"(2002)
front cover of the album "In Absentia"(2002)

Radio Bayern

Pensieri fluidi del risveglio.
Le dita che cercano il bottone della radio.
Musica country-folk e rock'n'roll ti ricorda sotto quali ali sei nato e sarai protetto.
La pubblicita` del nuovo centro commerciale, accorrete, per tutta la famiglia.
Le rassicuranti informazioni sul traffico.
I soliti 10km di coda sulla A9 Monaco-Norimberga.
Qualche noiosa news locale.
Niente che valga la pena di menzionare dal mondo.
Tutto in ordine.
La gente esce, produce, consuma.
La radio concilia gli acquisti.
Nel traffico rende piu` comodo il sedile in pelle del SUV Audi.
Gli ingegneri si prendono le loro piccole responsabilita`.
I bulloni girano.

Pensamientos fluidos del despertar
Los dedos que buscan el botón de la radio
Música country-folk y rock'n'roll te recuerda bajo qué alas naciste y serás protegido.
La publicidad sobre el nuevo centro  comercial: ¡vengan, para toda la familia!
La información tranquilizadora del tráfico.
Los típicos 10 kms de atasco en la A9 Múnich- Nurenberg.
Alguna noticia local aburrida.
Nada que valga la pena mencionar sobre el mundo.
Todo en orden.
La gente sale, produce, consume. 
La radio concilia las compras.
En la carretera hace que el asiento de piel del Audi todoterreno ligero sea más cómodo.
Los ingenieros asumen sus pequeñas responsabilidades.
Los bulones giran

Flüssige Gedanke beim aufwachen
Die Fingern suchen die Radio Button.
Country-folk und Rock'n'Roll Musik dass Dich erinnert unter welchen Flügel
Du geboren bist und  geschützt wirst.
Die Werbung des neuen "Malls": Kommen Sie hierher, mit der ganzen Familie!
Die beruhigende Verkehrsinformation.
Die übliche 10km Stau auf der A9 München-Nürnberg.
Einige langweilige lokale Nachrichten.
Nichts erwähnenswert um die Welt herum.
Alles in Ordnung.
Leute gehen raus, produzieren, konsumieren.
Das Radio vermittelt die Käufe.
Im Verkehr, macht  den Lederfahrersitz des SUVs bequemer.
Die Ingenieuren übernehmen ihre kleine Verantwortungen.
Die Bolzen drehen. 

Fluid thoughts of the awakening.
Fingers looking for the radio's button .
Country-folk and rock'n'roll music reminds you under which wings you were born and  you will be protected.
The advertising of the new shopping mall: come on, for the whole family!
The reassuring news about the traffic status.
The usual  10kms traffic jam on the A9 Munich-Nürnberg.
Some boring local news.
Nothing worth to be mentioned from around the world.
Everything in order.
People go out, produce, consume.
The radio conciliates the purchases.
On the road it makes the  Audi SUV's leather seat more comfortable.
The engineers take their own small responsibilities.
The bolts turn.

Mauern abzubauen

There are a lot of walls to demolish.

Ci sono molti muri da demolire.

Hay muchos muros por demolir.

When the wall fell, or better, collapsed under a huge social pressure, and the world divided into blocks together with it, its pieces scattered all around the world, together with an undefined and completely unjustified hope for the future, before the conditionsless victory of capitalism showed to be the victory of no one.
Now the wall can be barely seen around the town, but a large trait, roughly 1km, is still standing, close to the Warschauer Strasse S-bahn station, all along the Spree river, and it has been painted by more or less known artists, reflecting the euphoric expectations of the early 90s. Some are great pieces of street art, in an incredibly good state of conservation and very little vandalized.

Quando il muro cadde, o meglio, collasso` sotto un'enorme pressione sociale, e il mondo diviso in blocchi assieme ad esso, i suoi pezzi si diffusero per tutto il mondo, assieme ad una indefinita e completamente ingiustificata speranza per il futuro, prima che la vittoria senza condizioni del capitalismo mostrasse di essere la vittoria di nessuno.
Ora il muro puo` appena essere visto per la citta`, ma un grande tratto, all'incirca 1km, e` ancora in piedi, vicino alla stazione della S-bahn di Warschauer Strasse, lungo il fiume Sprea, ed e` stato dipinto da artisti piu` o meno famosi, riflettendo le aspettative euforiche dell'inizio degli anni '90. Alcuni sono grandi pezzi di arte di strada, in stato di conservazione incredibilmente buono e molto poco vandalizzati.

Cuando cayó el muro, o mejor dicho, colapsó bajo una enorme presión social, y el mundo dividido en bloques junto a él, sus pedazos se difundieron por todo el mundo, junto a una indefinida y completamente injustificada esperanza para el futuro, antes de que la victoria incondicionada del capitalismo se probase como la victoria de ninguno.
Ahora el muro apenas se puede ver por la ciudad, pero un grande trecho, de aproximadamente 1km, esta todavia en pies, cerca de la estación de la S-Bahn de Warschauer Strasse, a lo largo del río Esprea, y lo pintaron artistas mas o menos celebres, reflejando las eufóricas expectatívas del inicio de los años 90s. Algunos son grandes obras de arte callejero, en impecable estado de conservación y habiendo sido poco víctima de vandalismo.

This bubble of the German reunification, whole quarters completely emptied, their cheap flats filled with immigrants, unemployed people and artists of all sorts, has undergone deep changes. A Spaniard would say: they have Mallorca, but we have Berlin. Now you can still find a Turkish who would give you a falafel sandwich for 2 euros, or take a Scotch in a bar for the same price, but such places are being replaced by cocktail bars where you get a mojito for 8 euros, and abandoned industrial buildings are being filled by clubs where an "Hartz 4" (the nearly universal but really minimal german unemployment benefit) cannot afford to enter. Maybe this transformation is going to affect also this delicious piece of history. There are rumours saying this trait of wall will be removed to leave place to luxurious residential units, which would benefit from the vicinity of the river.

Questa bolla della riunificazione tedesca, interi quartieri completamente svuotati, i loro appartamenti economici riempiti da immigrati, disoccupati e artisti di ogni tipo, ha subito profonde trasformazioni. Uno spagnolo potrebbe dire: loro avranno Mallorca, ma noi abbiamo Berlino. Ora puoi ancora trovare un turco che ti dia un panino al falafel per 2 euro, o prendere uno scotch in un bar per lo stesso prezzo, ma tali posti stanno venendo rimpiazzati da cocktail bar dove prendi un mojito a 8 euro, e edifici industriali abbandonati si stanno riempendo di club dove un "Hartz 4" (il pressoche` universale ma veramente minimale sussidio di disoccupazione tedesco) non puo` permettersi di entrare. Forse questa trasformazione affettera` anche questo delizioso pezzo di storia. Ci sono voci che dicono che questo tratto di muro sara` rimosso per fare spazio ad unita` abitative di lusso, che beneficeranno della vicinanza del fiume.

Esta burbuja de la reunificación alemana, enteros barrios completamente vaciados, sus apartamentos baratos llenados por imigrantes, parados y artistas de cualquier tipo, ha sufrido transformaciones profundas. Un español puede decir, ellos tendran Mallorca, pero nosotros tenemos Berlin. Ahora puedes todavia encontrar un turco que te dé un kebad de falafel por 2 euros, o tomar un güisqui de importación por el mismo precio, pero estos sitios estan siends remplazados por cocktail bares donde tomas un mojito por 8 euros, y edifícios industriales abandonados se están llenando de garitos donde un "Hartz 4" (el casi universal pero verdaderamente mínimo subsidio de desempleo aleman) no puede permitirse entrar. Quizás esta transformación afectará tambien esta preciosa parte de la historia. Hay voces que dicen que este trecho de muro será erradicado para dejar espacio a viviendas de lujo, que se beneficiaran de la cercanía del río.

Wiew of the Spree river and the Oberbaumbrücke from the East Side Gallery
Veduta del fiume Sprea e dell'Oberbaumbrücke dall'East Side Gallery
Vista del rio Esprea y del Oberbaumbrücke desde la East Side Gallery

There are a lot of walls to demolish, in Palestine, Melilla, Cyprus, these that forbid us to find global solutions to global problems, these that separate us in classes which do not communicate with each other.
There are a lot of walls to demolish, but not the East Side Gallery.

Ci sono molti muri da demolire, in Palestina, a Melilla, a Cipro, quelli che ci impediscono di trovare soluzioni globali a problemi globali, quelli che ci separano in classi che non comunicano tra di loro.
Ci sono molti muri da demolire, ma non l'East Side Gallery.

Hay muchos muros por demolir, en Palestina, en Melilla, en Cipre, los que impiden encontrar soluciones globales a problemas globales, los que nos separan en clases que no se comunican entre ellas.
Hay muchos muros por demolir, pero no la East Side Gallery.

The real size of german cars

We discuss today about a distinctive feature of the german cars. It is well known that these have a key role in defining the success mithology of the country, Mercedes, BMW, Audi; such magnificent appearing vehicles...! What is a little less known is that they are actually huge, well, they already seem at first view quite large, but their real size is much more.

Oggi discutiamo una caratteristica specifica delle automobili tedesche. E` ben noto che queste hanno un ruolo chiave nella definizione di una mitologia di successo del paese, Mercedes, BMW, Audi; veicoli dall'aspetto così magnifico...! Quello che è un po' meno noto è che sono in realtà enormi, beh, sembrano già a prima vista abbastanza grandi, ma la loro domensione reale è molto maggiore.

Discutimos hoy una propriedad caracteristica de los coches alemanes. Todo el mundo sabe que estos tienen un papel esencial en la definiccion de una mitologia de exito del pais, Mercedes, BMW, Audi; vehiculos de un aspecto tan magnifico... ! Lo que es un poco meno conoscido es que estos son en realidad enormes, bueno, parecen ja a primera vista bastante grandes, pero su tamaño verdadero es mucho major.

Their real width can be noticed in a couple of situations: when some vehicle stops in the emergency lane in a highway, such cars have to considerably slow down to be sure that they could pass through; or in the typical street of a suburban residential area, if someone is coming in the opposite direction they have to stop for the same reason; or when they have to overtake a bike, the space on the left must be at least 4 meters wide.

La reale larghezza può essere notata in un paio di situazioni: quando un veicolo si ferma nella corsia di emergenza in autostrada, queste vetture hanno bisogno di rallentare significativamente per essere sicure di superare quel punto; o nella tipica strada di un'area residenziale suburbana, se qualcuno sta arrivando nella direzione opposta devono fermarsi per la stessa ragione; o quando devono superare una bici, lo spazio a sinistra deve essere almeno di 4 metri di larghezza.

La verdadera anchura puede ser observada en un par de situacciones: cuando un vehiculo se para en el carril de emergencia en la autopista, estos coches tienen que desacelerar considerablemente para ser seguros de superar aquel punto; o en la tipica calle de una area residencial suburbana, si alguien esta llegando en la opuesta direccion tienen que pararse por la misma razon; o cuando tienen que superar una bicicleta, el espacio a la izquierda tiene que ser por lo menos 4 metros.

The real lenght instead of such a car can be clearly clarified with this picture. The small white car in the middle, parked by the way in the wrong direction, is enough to say that is not german, while all the others are. You can notice that its real size is equal to its apparent size, while for all the german cars it is much greater, given the enormous space that seems to separate them. It might look like a waste of parking space, but that is not possible given the well known german responsible and collaborative spirit.

La reale lunghezza di una tale vettura può essere invece chiarificata da questa immagine. Sulla piccola macchina bianca, parcheggiata tra l'altro nella direzione sbagliata, è sufficiente sapere che non è tedesca, mentre tutte le altre lo sono. Si può notare che la sua dimensione reale è uguale alla sua dimensione apparente, mentre per tutte le altre auto tedesche è molto maggiore, visto l'enorme spazio che sembra separarle. Potrebbe sembrare uno spreco di spazio di parcheggio, ma questo non è possibile visto il ben noto responsabile e collaborativo spirito tedesco.

Por otro lado la verdadera longitud de un tal coche puede ser clarificada por esta imagen. Sobre el pequeño coche blanco, aparcada entre otros en la direccion equivocada, es suficiente conocer que no es aleman, mientre todos los otros lo son. Se puede observar como su verdadero tamaño es lo mismo que su tamaño aparente, mientre para todos los otros coches alemanos es mucho major, dado el enrome espacio que parece separarlos. Podria parecer un gasto de sitio por aparcamiento, pero eso no es posible dado el conocido responsable y colaborativo espiritu aleman.

Homage to Kurdistan

Yesterday evening I ended up in a kurdish restaurant.
My starters dish had very peculiar stuff, which I always associate with that region: humus, that souce made out of chickpeas, spinaches, beans, this roll filled with cheese that I often saw called cigarillo, taziki, that white sour sauce made with yogurt, and these wine leaves which wrap around rice. Then all the main courses, poultry, lamb or just vegetables, mainly grilled, contained of course a lot of bulgur in tomato sauce, which is nothing but coarsely grinded wheat.

   

I immediately remembered that it is quite a "peculiar" moment for the kurdish people and I started perceiving my being there almost like an homage to them. These people tortured by history, a strong national identity without a state, split and repressed between the turkish nationalism and the Saddam Hussein sunni leadership, they lately found a kind of role in the post-war Iraq, just to share the impossibility to stabilize the country, and now with the breakthrough of the Isis they seem to be again the chosen victim. They can very little against the rich and well-armed terrorist group, without a direct support of western countries; ok war is a complex issue, but now either it will be a disaster or hundreds of thousand of refugees will flood, hopefully to Turkey, but they have their issues with kurdish militians as well, needing a huge humanitarian help. And finally at least Turkey will have to intervene to defend the border...
Well I don't feel like commenting much more, my knowledge of Middle East is too weak. I just leave you with a couple of meaningful pictures.

U.S. air strike in Kobane, kurdish town in Siria under attack by Isis.  Copyright Reuters

Kurdish anti-Isis manifestation in Düsseldorf, 11.10.2014.  Copyright Reuters

Il dono di meta` agosto

Per carita`, in stagione si trova anche in Germania, tondo come una mela, fatto quasi con lo stampino, un po' acquoso ma duro, e difficilmente a meno di 3 euro al chilo; ma un po' piu` a sud verso meta` agosto piovono letteralmente dal cielo, fuoriesono dai tombini, riempono di rosso la gia` rigogliosa vegetazione dei cortili, e dalle cucine quando cuoce si riversa per le strade il suo odore trascinante. Stiamo parlando ovviamente del pomodoro, questo frutto quasi magico proveniente dal "mondo nuovo" che ha finito per essere icona della cucina del Mediterraneo.
Che sia il piccolo tondo aspro Pachino, o un gigantesco Cuore di bue re delle insalate, o l'oblungo San Marzano da conserva, dalle mie parti chiamato butalina... Per inciso lontano dalle mie parti tale nome puo` tirarsi dietro un'imprecazione contro Garibaldi i Savoia e la dannata unificazione italiana...

Well, in the right season  you find it also in Germany, rounded like an apple, made almost with a mould, a little watery but hard, and hardly for less than 3 euros pro kilo; but a little souther around middle august they literally rain from the heavens, they pour out from the drains, they fill with their redness the already flourishing vegetation of the courtyards, and from the kitchens when it is cooked its drawing smell spills out in the streets. We are of course talking about the tomato, this almost magical fruit coming from the "new world" which ended up being the icon of the mediterranean kitchen.
It can be the small spherical harsh "Pachino" (a town in Sicily), or a huge "Cuore di bue" (heart of ox) king of the salads, or an oblung "San Marzano" (a town in Campania) for conserves, that where I come from is called "Butalina"... By the way far from where I come from such a name can invoke an imprecation against Garibaldi the Savoia royal family and the damned unification of Italy...

pomodoro tipo San Marzano
tomato of the kind San Marzano

Le conserve appunto; ricordo la vicina di casa calabrese, il suo pentolone gigantesco da strega, quell'aroma generosamente sprigionato dalla bollitura, e poi barattoli barattoli e barattoli, e questa specie di rituale mistico a cadenza annuale da famiglia allargata. E perche` noi no, o non piu`? Ho voluto recuparare questa tradizione, dettata piu` che altro prima dall'esigenza e poi dal buon senso, piuttosto che da qualunque desiderio di virtuosismo. Perche` devo comprare lattine ogni settimana al supermercato? E ingurgitare prodotti nella migliore delle ipotesi mediocri? Perche` e` piu` sicuro? Vaffanculo il botulino e tutta l'ansia che ti mettono i giornali quando succede qualcosa a causa di queste obsolete e pericolose pratiche casalinghe, indegne di una civilta` evuluta e frutto solo della miseria. Si lava bene il materiale il luogo e se stessi, si sterilizza e si chiude sotto vuoto i barattoli, come si deve, come si e` sempre fatto, e via.

Conserves indeed; I remember the neighbour from Calabria, her huge witchy cauldron, that flavour generously emanated by the boling, and then jars jars and jars, and this kind of yearly large family mystical ritual. And why we do not, or not anymore? I wanted to recover such a tradition, dictated before mostly by esigence and then later by common sense, much more than by any desire of virtuosism. Why should I buy every week tins in the supermarket? And swallow products which are mediocre in the best of the hypothesis? Because it is safer? Fuck off botulinus and all the anxiety the newspapers put on you when something happens  due to these obsolete and dangerous hausehold habits, which are unworthy for advanced civilization and reult only of misery. You wash properly the material the place and yourself, you sterilize and close under vacuum the jars, like one must, like one has always done, and let's go.

un tipico rovescio di pomodori
a typical tomato downpour

Bancone al lato di uno stradone di periferia, dall'altra parte i fabbricati giganteschi di una nota industria meccanica, dietro quel miscuglio di cascine case nuove case vecchie campi incolti campi coltivati fabbrichette che non e` ne` campagna ne` citta` ma quell'enorme luogo surreale che vi giace un mezzo. Quanto e` una cassa? 25 chili, a 0.65 centesimi al chilo. Me ne da una. Si vergogni lei, la signora prima ne ha presi 3 quintali e ci ha riempito la station wagon. Quasi gli dicevo, ma sa e` praticamente la prima volta. 

In realta` la nonna si ricordava bene di quando li faceva ancora; diceva da qualche parte ho ancora il pentolone ma chissa` dove. E` stata una gioia tagliare i pomodori assieme, guardare i pentoloni non tanto -oni ribollire, e poi a meta` cottura passarli con il passaverdura.

Poche decine di barattoli non credo che mi basteranno per tutto l'anno futuro.

Stand aside a wide road in the suburbs, on the other side the huge buildings of a well-known mechanical industry, behind that mixture of farms new houses old houses fallow fields small manufactures that is neither countryside nor city but that enormous surreal place that lies in between. How much is a case? 25 kilos, 0.65 cents pro kilo.I get a case. You should be ashamed, the woman before you took 300kg and filled the station wagon. I was about to say, you know, practically it is the first time.

Actually the grandmother remembered very well when she was still making it; she said somewhere I still have the big pot but who knows where. It was a joy to cut the tomatoes together, look at the not so big pots boiling, and pass them throught the rotary food mill half the way.

A few dozens of jars I don't think they will be enough for all next year.

The maccheronis with ragout

The changes during the existence of a person are often gradual, spread over time, they can be catched only at distance. But sometimes there exist topical moments, that mark the passage between a before and an after, at a more or less symbolic or substantial level. Sometimes like the ball that rolls down a slide from a side instead of another, a little push would have been enough and you would have been attracted to a different aggregative relational universe. Sometimes more like the exasperation and frustration drop that allows a critical threshold to be reached and the glass to overflow, sometimes an image where just the exceeding water comes out is not enough, rather it is that acid drop more that transforms a solid magnificent mountain into flooding mush.
Lately, ten years after, one of these moments is obsessively emerging from the fogs of my memory; maybe just because I have only now the cultural tools to deal with it. It has been the apex of a context that now I would define repressive, not to say aborting, that marked me a long time notwithstanding a stubborn removal operation: for years I would limit myself in saying that in a few months I abandoned the first level secondary school the soccer team the oratory and nearly all the related connections, that continuity elements in my life mum dad and 2 friends, or I would mention a platonic love. Clearly those were environments that I did not perceive stimulating, and that were not going along to my inclinations; instead they partly managed to instill in me the shame of my sensibility (and I would say intelligence if it did not sound arrogant), the ambition to mediocrity, maybe also the fear of the culture, that I spent the teen years in removing. I am going to describe this event for a sort of removal of the removal, like to compensate all the times that looking back to it I would have liked to disappear, like a sort of reversed exorcism, like in its being a particular affair it had something universal, avoiding to be influenced by the remote possibility that someone who was present could actually read this.
The ambientation is a big room at the first floor of the oratory kindergarten, huge glass walls window into the courtyard, where on strictly estabilished timetables one could play with the ball, unless the priest felt offended for some noise out of order, a lot of uncomfortable chairs and a penetrating smell of pear pulp rising up from the stairs, around thirthy guys around 13-14 years old, some entertainer and some nun; it is a preparatory meeting for the confirmation, with which a few days after we would have confirmed our belonging to the catholic christian faith. The question is: if the confirmation was a dish? and if it was a color? The game was tested, I knew what it was expected, and the answer should not differ too much, and pleasing the nuns was easy, sometimes if I wanted to make some effort I tried to come out with something not completely trivial. That day I was not disposed to compromises, and after hearing a set of disciplined and orthodox answers, I said something like: the color is transparent because it must be a choice made with transparency, awareness, in front of everyone, and the dish is maccheroni with ragout because life is made out of paths, represented by the maccheronis, and you pass from path to path like you were inside the plate and you passed inside the maccheronis and then from one to another, and they are full of obstacles which are represented by the ragout. Now I would not try to defend such allegory as smart. But I was very serious. Non only externally. I mean, the ethical and cosmological construction that they were trying to teach me was already seeming shaky to me, but at the time I did not yet extradolate explicitely the idea that one could live without (that) religion, simply I was not believing to all they were saying to me; hence in the framework of the reasoning we were making it must have seemed to me a sensible metaphor, compatible with the imposed schemes of reasoning. All the guys exploded into laughts, maybe I did it also after a while, infected by the collective euphoria. The nuns not really, in particular one, the "bad one". (maybe I also touched some open question that made her felt singled out?) Of what she babbled I just remember that I was an idiot, that I spoke like an handicapped [and most of all that "transparent" was not a colour], probably she said other stuff aligned with her injured authoritarian pride but not with her supposed educative function. I came out crying (but that was not so strange since I uses to cry for the demerits at school), humiliated in front of my companions; at the confession imposed to the confirmers a few days after I was not of the mood to say I don't go to mass and I don't obey mum, I went to the priest coming from outside just for the purpose, I told him my father has been in the hospital all the summer long, we suffered a flood, my cat is dead, and I have problems in the relations with other people, let's see what he says, nothing memorable; and after the confirmation, yes because saving the appearance never costs too much, they did not see me anymore.
It often happens to me to think that I cold have been a church guy, after all there were good persons, better than any other aggregate I have met within 2 km from home, and I have dear friends authentically christian, and interesting I have met much more; but what I narrated was not just a little push that sent me away, my intellectual and spiritual wit could not be confined within a reign of prepackaged compatibility; I live side by side with doubts, that feed a continuous research; the collapse of the mountain was unavoidable.

Ode to epub

I wanted to express my appreciation for the epub format.
It is an open source format for encoding text files and features of its layout. It is vectorial. A good reader would take advantage of that allowing to customize text size, colors, margins, spacing, orientation, and optimizing the appearance for the screen of your device.
A document conceived in this format would be ideal, but most of times it is just converted from pdf; operation which often works poorly not because of the epub but because of the pdf extraction library. Furthermore it is not designed to handle pictures and articulated layouts, and it is often found unsatisfactory for these side reasons.

Volevo esprimere il mio apprezzamento per il formato epub.
E` un formato open source per la codifica di file di testo e caratteristiche della sua struttura. E` vettoriale. Un buon lettore approfitta di questo permettendo di personalizzare la dimensione del testo, i colori, i margini, le spaziature, l'orientazione, e ottimizzando l'aspetto per lo schermo del tuo dispositivo.
Un documento concepito in questo formato sarebbe ideale, ma la maggior parte delle volte e`` semplicemente convertito da pdf; operazione che spesso riesce male non a causa dell'epub ma a causa della libreria di estrazione del pdf. Inoltre non e` disegnato per maneggiare immagini e impaginazioni articolate, ed e` spesso condiderato insoddisfacente per questi motivi marginali.
 

These pictures show how an epub can be represented on my mobile. It is a document directly available as epub from the Guthemberg project website.

Queste immagini mostrano come un epub puo` essere rappresentato sul mio telefono. E` un documento direttamente disponibile come epub nel sito web del progetto Guthemberg.

 

why do germans go on holidays at the italian sea?

30 degrees instead of 40, clean water, no salt, grass instead of sand, trees instead of umbrellas, no overcrowding...
why do germans go on holiday at the italian sea?

30 gradi invece di 40, acqua pulita, niente sale, erba invece di sabbia, alberi invece di ombrelli, niente sovraffollamento...
perche` i tedeshi vanno in vacanza al mare in Italia?

30 grados en vez de 40, agua limpia, no sal, hierba en vez de arena,  arboles en vez de parasoles, no hacinamiento...
porque los alemanes se van de vacaciones a la playa en Italia?