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4.
Mar. 13
There'll
Be a Hot Time in Bacoli Tonight
Apologies
to "There’ll Be a Hot Time
in the Old Town Tonight"
by T.Metz and J.Hayden
(1896).

At least we hope so. Our
artists' collective, Opus
Continuum, plans on an
exhibit this summer from 1
July to 30 September. Selene
Salvi tells me they will
use the Vanvitellian Lodge
in Bacoli. The exhibit is
called L'Eros degli
Ardenti (Eros of the Passionate
-- lit. "inflamed, fiery)
and is a tribute to the Campi
Flegrei, the Fiery
Fields, or, if you will, the "ardent
fields", just like the
passions that stir us. The "Eros" part is
the subtitle of the exhibit;
“Noi che tignemmo il
mondo di sanguigno”,
from Dante's Divine
Comedy, the Inferno, in
the second circle, Canto V,
line 90, where those who
gave their entire lives over
to the excesses of carnal
lust, passion, and desire
are punished. The Italian
is:
«O
animal grazïoso e benigno/ che
visitando vai per l'aere perso/
noi che tignemmo il mondo di
sanguigno,
rendered by Longfellow in his
1867 translation as
"O
living creature gracious and
benignant, / Who
visiting goest through the purple
air/ Us, who
have stained the world
incarnadine,
Their
lust and self-indulgence
have condemned them to be
buffeted by the winds of a
violent storm, drifting
endlessly, as they drifted
in the winds of their sexual
desire. This is where Dante
places Cleopatra, Helen of
Troy, Achilles, and many others
who were overcome by sexual
love during their lives. He
is good enough to cut me
them some slack, for it was all
consensual. No one was
forced. They just wanted to
make "the beast with two
backs," and they did. The
verb "tingere" in
Italian can mean tinge,
dye, color, paint, etc. and
suggests bright red, the
color of fire, the flames of
passion.
All
this, says Selene, will be
part of activities in Bacoli
to mark the 700th
anniversary of Dante's
death. The exhibit will have have two
sections. Anyone can get
into the first one. The
second one is for adults
only, somewhat like the Secret
Room in the
National Museum. She borrows
from Dante, "All modesty
abandon, ye who enter here." The group is now
at work on festivities for
the opening orgy. They've
been in those practice rooms
a long time.
see #14 below, this page
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5. Mar. 22
Dante's
Easter
Egg
Easter
is almost here and
Gay Odin in
Naples, one of
Italy's best-known
makers of
chocolate, is
still doing
what it does
best --make
chocolate. It is
combining that
with what Italy
does best,
celebrate the
father of the
Italian Language, "the
Supreme Poet,"
Dante Alighieri,
who died 700 years
ago, in 1321. The
company has put
the finishing
touches on a Dante
Easter
Egg, two meters
high and weighing
300 kg. All
chocolate.
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6.
Apr. 1
There
is no real April
Fool's Day here. This
is not an April Fool's
gag. See
this link.
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7.
Apr. 3
What
is a
milliHelen?
The answer is here.
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8.
Apr. 8
Lucia
Votano,
physicist
The
National
Laboratory of
Gran Sasso is
the largest
underground
research
center in the
world. It is
beneath Gran
Sasso mountain,
120
km from Rome.
They
research
particle
physics under
the "umbrella"
of the
National
Institute for
Nuclear
Physics, which
coordinates
nuclear,
particle,
theoretical
and
astroparticle
physics in
Italy. From
2009-2012, the
Research
Director of
the Gran Sasso
lab was Lucia
Votano, one of
the most
prominent
researchers in
particle
physics in
Italy (she is
now retired).
She was the
first woman to
hold that
position after
decades at
various
physics labs
throughout
Europe.
Her
reaction to
media coverage
of her
appointment
was two-fold:
on the one
hand, good. It
showed that
"...a woman
has risen to
the top in
science";
on the other,
"If women were
normally
allowed to go
as far as
their ability
can take them,
this wouldn't
have been such
a big deal."
She is not shy
about telling
you where she
grew up --down
south in
Calabria in
the 1950s,
where 30% of
the population
couldn't read
or write and
where children
were
undernourished
and sicker
than in the
north.
She was a
woman, but
all she ever
wanted to be
was a
scientist. So,
sure, she was
happy, but...
next question?
She
has authored
or co-authored
about 300
scientific
papers in
peer-reviewed
journals and
has also
written
popular
science books.
added: Sept.
2022 - As
of 2020, she
is part of the
600 scientists
currently
working on
JUNO, a
neutrino
experiment
under
construction
in Southern
China, which
aims to begin
acquiring data
in 2021.
In March 2010,
she was
awarded the
Order of Merit
of the Italian
Republic by
the Italian
president,
Giorgio
Napolitano.
In 2019, she
became
honorary
member of the
Italian
Physical
Society.
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9.
added May 11,
2021
This
article from the
New York
Times:
Paris
Teenager’s
New
Gig:
Would-Be
Queen
of Italy.
A
Nation
Shrugs.
By
Jason Horowitz
published May 9,
2021
"The
son of Italy’s
last king has
tapped his teen
granddaughter to
eventually lead
the House of
Savoy,
pretenders to
Italy’s defunct
throne" is at this
external link.
The
article will
change neither
your life,
nor that of
Vittoria, the
never-to-be
queen of the
never-to-be-restored
kingdom of
Italy (defunct
since 1860),
but it is very
well-researched
and written.
It is very
informative,
entertaining
(and even
hilarious). It
gives
you insight
into the
quixotic
would-be
dynastic
goings-on of
the Savoys
since I last
wrote about
them a few
years ago at this link.
After all, it's
been a few
years,
so refresh
your now tired
memories.
Vittoria
di Savoia
(shown). Her
great-grandfather’s
great-grandfather
(you figure it
out) was
Vittorio
Emanuele II, who
united Italy
in 1860. Well,
actually
Garibaldi
united it and
gave it to the
king.
Photo
credit: Selfie
di Savoia
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10.
May 21, 2021
Forget
your Computer.
Restart
your Life.
"We
finally got
the date!
Friday, July
2. 6
p.m. The
Vanvitellian
Lodge. This is
it! Restart!"
That is from
Selene and she
is talking
about the Opus
Continuum
project, Eros
(see
#4, above,
this page.)
We
all hope so.
There are more
than a few
signs in
Naples and
throughout
Italy. There
were 20-30
sailboats out
in the western
bay the other
late afternoon
--1900, the
sun was still
up but
setting, and
sails were
just
lingering,
floating in
the light and
staring at it,
full of hope
that this year
might still be
saved. Then
they drifted
west with the
encroaching
shadows to put
in at
Mergellina
harbor.
What else has
opened? The
San Carlo
opera opened
the other
evening and
played La
Traviata.
After months
of silence,
they did what
they were
meant to
do.They had an
opening minute
of silence for
the victims of
the pandemic
and then the
show went on.
There were
only 500
people in the
audience,
spaced apart
due to
restrictions
still in
place. The
same thing at
La Scala in
Milan. The
show went on.
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11.
June 2, 2021
Youth Orchestras
in Italy
& Naples
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12.
June 3, 2021
The
Next
Train?
Maybe
October.
Why,
You
in a Hurry?
further tales
of the Naples
Metro
that
entry is at
this link
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13.
June 15, 2021
Film
Music
and Nino
Rota
at this link
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The Vanvitellian
Lodge (above)
is on Lake
Fusaro,
north
of the Gulf of
Naples before
you get to
Cuma.
The
lake is on the
right
and the Lodge
is in the
lower
right
quadrant of
the lake. More
details below.
|
north

|
14.
June 28, 2021

The
Opus
Continuum
Art
Collective
Presents
Eros
of the
Passionate
"We who have stained the world with blood"
exhibit
in
collaboration
with the town
of Bacoli at
the
Vanvitellian
Lodge
from
Jul Fri 2
through Sep
Sun 5
Events
of the
exhibit:

Everything is
at 19.00
(7p.m.), at
the
'Ostrichina'
(this building
in front of
the Lodge.
It does not
look like an
ostrich. It
means 'little
oyster').
2 July: a
performance of
“Paolo
&
Francesca or
Paolo &
Francesco or
Paola &
Francesca”
acted by Sara
Bucataru,
Emanuela
Futia, and
Zena Rotundi.
18 July:
presentation
of the
catalog, "We
Who Have
Stained the
World with
Blood".
If you want to
listen to
scholars and
real humans
discuss the
fine line
between erotic
art and
pornography,
you have too
much time, but
there are
these two
discussions:
22
July
“The Faces of
the Artistic
Nude, Between
Painting and
Photography”
led by prof.
Fausto
Minervini
(Academy of
Fine Arts of
Bologne).
12 August
"Graphic
representation
of sexuality
in the human
psyche, from
ancient times
to the present"
led by Dr.
Domenico
Nardiello,
psychologist.
The
exhibit is
open on
weekends until
2200. Entrance
is free.
If you want a
tour of the
Vanvitellian
Lodge
on
a weekday, you
have to book
in advance for
your group.
Minimum of 10
persons.
Entrance
fee €4.