Passo Lavazè, September 2011

I noticed many of my readers enjoyed the Rick Steven’s article of USA Today “What’s New in Italy in 2012″.
Do you like traveling? I do.
When I can, work and money permitting,  I love traveling. In Italy there’s a place that own my heart, where I spend part of my summer holidays every year since I was a child. This place is a region in the northeast of the country, Trentino – Alto Adige/Südtirol.
Maybe you won’t find it on a travel guide, but if you love mountain and/or nature, you’ll find it absolutely lovely. As I said I go there every year, usually at the beginning of September, but in spite of all, I find something new every time.
Nature dominates, there are so many paths and activities you can do, even with your children. And of course towns to visit.
And trust me, if you’re a gourmet you won’t be disappointed by food and wine.

If you want to know more, here two useful links:
http://www.visittrentino.it/en
http://www.suedtirol.info/en/

Image via Wikipedia

Without a doubt the challenge tap water vs bottled water is a hot topic.
Here an interesting article, with interesting comments in favor of both sides, titled “5 reasons not to drink bottled water”.

http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/5-reasons-not-to-drink-bottled-water

What do you think about it?

A photo I took in Lerici last May

A very interesting article about the Italian monuments and historical sites that will be reopened in 2012, plus some tips.

Rick Steves: What’s new in Italy in 2012 – USATODAY.com.

http://www.wunderkit.com/register

I spotted this dandelion near great aunt’s house in the countryside.
She has several flowers and plants growing nearby the steps of her house, but this one captured my attention. It was laying on the ground, completely bent.
Regardless, it was the beautiful one.

You who live safe
In your warm houses,
You who find, returning in the evening,
Hot food and friendly faces:
Consider if this is a man
Who works in the mud,
Who does not know peace,
Who fights for a scrap of bread,
Who dies because of a yes or a no.
Consider if this is a woman
Without hair and without name,
With no more strength to remember,
Her eyes empty and her womb cold
Like a frog in winter.
Meditate that this came about.
I command these words to you.
Carve them in your hearts,
At home, in the street,
Going to bed, rising;
Repeat them to your children.
Or may your house fall apart,
May illness impede you,
May your children turn their faces from you.

This is the part that introduce the book “If This is a Man“ (“Se questo è un uomo” in Italian) by Primo Levi. This is an autobiographical work, wherein Levi narrates his life as a prisoner (174517 was the number tattooed on his forearm), and in general the human condition, into the concentration camp of Buna-Monowitz at Auschwitz.
If you haven’t read this book yet, I strongly reccomend it.

I realized I don’t even own a hot water bottle. Yeah, the one we had mysteriously disappeared, probably in another dimension (ok, probably it is buried somewhere in the house).
Then I saw this:

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Waterless-Hot-Water-Bottle/

Seriously, it’s a very nice idea, I should try to make it!
(ok, probably it won’t be as perfect as the one in the photo)

LaPresse15/01/2012

No, I won’t talk about the telephone conversation between captain Schettino and coast guard officer De Falco.
I bet everyone heard about it.
What happened is a shame.

I think about all those unnamed people who rescued almost 4200 passengers at night.
Unnamed people who still fight day and night.
I think about the chief purser Manrico Gianpetroni, who broken his leg while he was inspecting the ship looking for people in need of help and  he was stuck on the cruise liner.
I think about the young musician Giuseppe Girolamo, who had to go on the lifeboat, but left his place to a kid. The guy is still missing.
I think about all those people who opened their shops, homes, schools, churches to give a shelter to the passengers and provided all they needed (clothes, food, water etc…) for free.

And obviously my thoughts are for the 28 missing people: 6 Italians, 13 Germans, 4 French, 2 Americans, 1 Hungarian, 1 Indian, 1 Peruvian.

Indeed, Dragon Age is a great source for funny, unwanted fmoments (and dialogues), but it’s not alone.
Here my personal TOP 3, based on what actually happened while I was playing.

3. inFAMOUS 2
I was running through Flood City and since, well, it’s flooded and water doesn’t get on well with Cole’s electric powers, I decided to jump on the top of a wagon.
I ended inside.
Since you aren’t meant to enter wagons, I was stuck…
I had to exit the game and reload the save file.

2. The Lord of the Rings War in the North
I was going through Coldfells. I jumped down a low edge and waited for my companions to follow. Well, Andriel didn’t even follow me, she just stood there doing nothing. Farin actually followed me but… he started running against a wall…
So I tried to go on, but the two didn’t move (well, Farin was stubbornly trying to run through that wall…). I went on again and found myself surrounded by orcs, I started battling and it took a while before my two dumb companions decided to stop doing what they were doing and join me…

1. Dragon Age: Origins
I was in the Deep Roads and I was getting ready to face the Broodmother.
I summoned a wolf to help my party and started the battle.
I had a pretty hard time beating that monster and in the meantime I was wondering where the hell was my wolf.
When I ended the battle I looked around and found my useless ball of fur stuck within two walls trying to walk in the wrong direction…

So, anyone else wants to join?

From Anime News Network

Actress Chiaki Kuriyama (Battle Royale, Kill Bill, The Sky Crawlers) will play the knight heroine Cassandra Pentaghast, while actor Shosuke Tanihara (Vexille, The Sky Crawlers, Pokémon the Movie: Black – Victini and Reshiram) plays a mage named Regalyan D’Marcall. Singer/actor Gackt (Shiki, Supernatural: The Anime Series, Sket Dance) plays a Knight-Commander and contributes the theme song “Until the Last Day.”

The film serves as a prologue to next year’s Dragon Age II. Director Fumihiko Sori (Ichi, Ashita no Joe, Ping Pong) and the studio Oxybot are working together after previously collaborating on Vexille – 2077 Isolation of Japan and To. Jeffrey Scott of the original game wrote the film’s script, and Daisuke Nakayama (Tweeny Witches) designed the characters. Tetsuya Takahashi (Appleseed , Halo Legends, To, Resident Evil: Degeneration) is composing the music, while Koji Kasamatsu (Afro Samurai, Appleseed, Halo Legends, To) serves as the sound designer.

Source: Pia

And here is the long awaited movie of Dragon Age.
I’m a big fan of this video game serie and I loved to death Dragon Age: Origins (less Dragon Age II due to the lack of locations but still…). I also enjoyed so much the books by David Gaider, “The Stolen Thorne” and “The Calling” (I’m now waiting for “Asunder”, it should be delivered within days).

I’m also a big fan of Japanese animation, but I sincerely don’t know what to say about this movie…
I hoped for a movie centered on Grey Wardens, since the order played an essential role in the game. Instead it seems we’ll get a movie about Cassandra Pentaghast (if you played Dragon Age II you know her).
Visually I like it, so I think I’ll give it a chance. We’ll get dragons after all.

Trumpeting in its headline that “iPhone is for games, Android is for apps,” Xyologic has managed to pull a singular feat: it’s undermined 5/8 of its own name with the analysis that follows…

Read more:
Flawed study decides iPhone is for games, Android for apps | TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog.

Montréal - Photo by Michel Filion

Montréal is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America. Originally called Ville-Marie, or “City of Mary”, the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the city is located, or Mont Réal as it was spelled in Middle French.

Fotopedia Magazine — Montreal, Canada’s Cultural Capital.

I want to visit this city one day.