Giovanni Falcone (May 18, 1939 – May 23, 1992)
Written by admin on 25 May, 2009 – 11:17 am -
Saturday marked the 17th anniversary of the death of the the Italian antimafia magistrate who specialised in prosecuting the Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian Mafia. He was killed in la strage di Capaci (near the town of Capaci, Sicily) along with his wife and three bodyguards, when the motorway on which he was travelling was blown up using 350kg of explosives. His good friend Paolo Borsellino, who was also an antimafia magistrate, was killed by a car bomb less than two months later in Palermo.
Both magistrates received the Medaglia d’oro al valorcivile, Golden medal for civil valour, and in 2006 Time Magazine honoured them by naming them as heroes of the last 60 years. In 2007, at the Festival di Sanremo (Sanremo Music Festival), Fabrizio Moro wrote about the two men with his winning entry Pensa.
An excellent TV film was recently broadcast by Rai. It follows Falcone’s life from the start of his mafia investigations in 1980, up to his assassination.
Photo source – Biografia: vita e morte di Giovanni Falcone
Posted in History | 2 Comments »
What’s on Your iPod?
Written by admin on 22 May, 2009 – 4:10 pm -
Posted in Entertainment | 2 Comments »
Rules for the Perfect Coffee – Part 2
Written by admin on 15 May, 2009 – 9:22 am -
Here is part two of the tips for a perfect coffee as promoted by the Istituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano. A big thank you to Carlo Odello for allowing me to publish it.
As with part 1 a translation will follow soon for those who don’t speak or are learning Italian. However, it might be good practice to try and understand it yourself first.
Please let me know how you feel about these ‘rules’ and if you have any other tips add them in the comments below.
Posted in Food & Drink | 1 Comment »
Rules for the Perfect Coffee: Translation – Part 1
Written by admin on 11 May, 2009 – 1:27 pm -
The Perfect Coffee
What to look out for:
Coffee grinder: the bin must always be clean
Filter holder: must be completely empty and clean
Coffee pressing: must be done with strength
Cups on top of the machine: no more than two rows
The Perfect Cappuccino
What to look out for:
Steamer: must be clean
Milk: must never reach boiling point and never be resteamed
Posted in Food & Drink | 3 Comments »
Take Control of the Metro
Written by admin on 8 May, 2009 – 4:10 pm -
Want to drive a metro? Then visit the ATM M3 Simulator .
Spacebar starts the game. Use the mouse to change speed (up to accelerate, down to decelerate). Use the bars to the right to keep an eye on your passengers’ stress level and speed. At the bottom you can see the stations and your progress bar. Move between stations. Be careful to slow down in time so as to arrive within the platform limits. Press A to open the doors and let the passengers get on. Press S to sound the siren, informing the passengers you are ready to depart. Press A to close the doors. Then move off slowly.
Try not to go over speed limit of 70 km/hr. Beware. If passengers get too stressed the game finishes. Have fun
Posted in Interactive | 3 Comments »
Word of the Week
Written by admin on 7 May, 2009 – 7:55 am -Inspired by a headline following Barcelona’s injury time equaliser / winner against Chelsea last night in the Champions League semi-final, the word of the week is
beffare
to mock, to laugh at
- Chelsea beffata dal Barcellona e dall’arbritro Chelsea mocked by Barcelona and the referee
I’m sure not that many people were upset to see an English team get knocked out!
Posted in Language | 1 Comment »
