GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL

GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL

Glastonbury Festival is another iconic music event that takes place in the days following the summer solstice

Glastonbury is located about an hour from Stonehenge and is famous for the Glastonbury Tor or a hill on which St. Michael’s Tower is located.

 

There are legends about this place that lead back to Avalon, Ynys yr Afalon, the famous island linked to the myth of King Arthur, very exciting indeed.

Glastonbury also stands on a Ley line: a temporary line i.e. one of the lines that virtually connect places of historical significance related to the spiritual sphere.

Glastonbury Festival on the other hand concerns the musical sphere and was born in 1970 from the inspiration of Michael Evis after attending a Led Zeppelin performance.

What can we say … there is to be understood.

Throughout the years there have been memorable performances, difficult even to rank, out of all of them I would like to mention this one

Recently R.E.M. published on their twitter profile five songs taken from their 1999 concert asking their fans to vote for the best among: Loosing my religion, It’s the end of the world as we know it (we have already chatted about this song hereEverybody hurts, At my most beautiful and Man on the moon

Would you know how to choose?
Or do you have your own favorite performance by any other artist?

The Glastonbury Festival is also a case opportunity to indulge in distinctive outfits, but they turn out differently than those sported in the California sunshine for Coachella

The British weather calls for raincoats and boots: here is a roundup of looks  among which we can admire Emma Watson

How about?
Sun or rain as long as there is good music!

And of course coffee 🙂 

CAT AT THE MET

CAT AT THE MET

 

Cat at the Met is the description that came to mind when I saw these images

 

 

on the instant I smiled but then I wondered what prompted Jared Leto to dress up as a cat

This is the Met Gala: an event created to raise funds for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute that over the years has become such a prestigious and coveted event not only in the fashion world that tickets, for those not included on the invitation list, are astronomically priced.

Nevertheless, the Met Gala has a strict rule: no cell phones and consequently no sharing on social media.

This perhaps contributes to the idea of exclusivity that Anna Wintour has built over the years making it an event that some refer to as “the Oscars of fashion.”

As a Meryl fan I inevitably associate Miranda Priestly,  by the way did you see that Andy was actually appearing in the video? 🙂

So back to the cat: Jared Leto was not the only one who wanted to follow the dress code of this edition by paying homage to Choupette, aka Karl Lagerfeld’s cat.

In fact, the Met Gala 2023 was also dedicated to Karl Lagerfeld as a preview of the Costume Institute’s exhibition A line of beauty:  at the Metropolitan Museum from May 5 to July 16.

Undoubtedly dressing up as a cat has made even we in our own small way are talking about it, but beyond that, do you find it a brilliant or irreverent idea?

Do you think this participation added a valuable contribution, or the risk of slipping into style fall?

Can we see it as a touch of irony or can it be a missed opportunity to give a message?

In general I think we all have a great need for levity, certainly we also have to learn from cats.

In the meantime we should maybe convince Jared Leto to be less tea guy 🙂 what do you think?

And maybe even less Cat at the Met.

Joking aside, now that he has felinely got our attention, we expect great things from the new Thirty seconds to Mars album due out on May 8, especially after the statements he made in an interview: listening to Italian 80s music during the filming of the movie House of Gucci  in which Jared played Paolo Gucci, left an important imprint of inspiration because it was able to reach the heart.

How can you blame him?

72 SEASONS

72 SEASONS

72 Seasons is the title chosen by Metallica for their new album released yesterday and anticipated by a global premiere on Thursday, April 13 at the same time in cinemas around the world.

72 Seasons equals the first eighteen years of life.

The 72 seasons of life before coming of age, before becoming an adult.

James Hetfield said he was inspired by the idea of maturation that occurs during these years reading a book.

None of the interviews I found ever asked what this book was, yet that is the first question I would ever ask, “James what book did you read?”

In general, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo 72 seasons have not been easy, and I think each of us periodically rethink to the 72 seasons period.

For example, I often say that after a carefree childhood, adolescence was a bit of a middle age in its negative sense.

What memories do you have of your 72 Seasons?

Still talking about darkness: James Hetfield reminds us of its importance because without it there would be no light.

I reflected on this concept for the first time precisely during my 72 Seasons ….

Speaking of light, Lux Æterna is the debut single from this album and by associating it with Memento Mori I wondered if these obvious references are a consequence of the historical period in which we are living.

Instead, James Hetfield called Lux Æterna a joyful song and a kind of throwback to the 80s

What do you think about this definition?

I personally haven’t decided yet if I completely agree with it, however, I am sure of one thing: the second excerpted track If Darkness had a son is perfect to give a remarkable power.

My son and I listened to it in the morning while we were in the car on our way to school and the office, and we had fun and nice smiling.

Indeed I’m not the only one who gets energy from Metallica, as the Virginia Tech team uses Enter Sandman for pre-game … of course you can’t compare it to aka, but for those without Maori roots and ancestors, the effect is powerful enough, isn’t it?

Aside from coffee, of course, what gets your power?

RONDÒ ARMANIANO

RONDÒ ARMANIANO

Rondò Armaniano is an imaginary dance composed of lines, lights and colors that gently vibrate, as if refracted through a prism.

The Giorgio Armani Privè spring summer 2023 collection is a luminescent fantasy in which the clothes dance and shine.

Just like the Rococo interiors of Venetian palazzos, it is the splendour of light, multiplied by extraordinary embroidery, that creates the most precious sensations.

Rondò Armaniano is a symphony of small, jewelled jackets, long skirts, fluid trousers and sheath dresses that create seductive silhouettes.

Gorgères and diamond motifs inspired by a painting of Harlequin take us straight to the Venice Carnival, but not only.

Everything is light, impalpable and glittering. The diamonds motif expands onto the catwalk, in a painting that becomes reality.

A reality that remains a dream for many, yet I consider it Art, and as such I simply admire it without feeling the desire to own it.

I find that every time Giorgio Armani offers us his fashion shows, we can all consider ourselves richer in beauty.

And as if by magic, again King Giorgio has managed to pay homage to something in my heart: in this case Venice

Luciana in her tag wrote me “Venice & Armani: a dream” perfectly describing my thoughts.

And, just to frame … the fashion show took place in Paris

I really liked this sequence of shots: little glimpses, angles, viewpoints.

Here, at this point I would like to ask you if you would also like to remember a place that inspires you for whatever reason.

I came across this quote by Haruki Murakami:
People leave traces of themselves where they feel most comfortable, most worthwhile.

Do you agree with that?

In my case, I would rather say that it is the place that leaves its imprint in me, but I am weird … how about you?

 

WAR OF THE WORLDS

WAR OF THE WORLDS

What time is the end of the world?
No, let’s start from the beginning: The War of the Worlds is a novel written by H. G. Wells, one of the forerunners of the science fiction genre, originally published in installments in 1897 on the Pearson’s Magazine in London.
First curious anecdote: HG Wells took in part inspiration from Giovanni Schiaparelli’s theories about Mars (and if you always read me remember our save the date 🙂 )
The astronomer and director of the Brera Astronomical Observatory in Milan observed some lines on the surface of the red planet, and hypothesized that they could be natural channels for the transport of water as they changed from one observation to another.
At this point there is another beautiful smile because what is one of the painful keys for all of us Italians? Knowledge of English!
Why do I say this? Because its natural channels were translated with the wrong term that distorted the theory by transforming them into artificial canals. Hence the assumption that they had been excavated by … Martians, precisely.
These famous “Martians” who populated the fantasies of many, embodying the most varied forms and descriptions, before being replaced by the most universal aliens.
These famous “Martians” who inspired Wells first and then Welles, Orson Welles.
Curious also this coincidence, one e above all and a patented invention separates them, another curious fact, always in 1897, always in London, and always by an Italian: Guglielmo Marconi.
Why do I switch to radio? Because in the meantime we arrive in 1938, and the radio is still the fledgling mass media and, exactly as it works today for the internet, it is seen as a form of potentially dangerous communication. It is seen as a vehicle of social mutation, for the rapid diffusion to the easy reach of a large number of people, and above all harmful to the publishing giants, worried about losing their income.
And precisely at CBS Orson Welles conducts The Mercury Theater on the Air: a program consisting of the narration of the great classics of literature, for the truth poorly paid and not much followed.
But Orson, at that time a Shakespearean actor, expresses his genius by using the program also to deal a blow to the system, deciding to cut the news in real time, and in view of the imminent Halloween, structures the Martian invasion described in the book like a real-time radio commentary.
It is in fact on October 30, 1938 when the reading of the opening words of The War of the Worlds is on air, interspersed with musical broadcasts, as usual, until an announcement interrupts the music and transposes the text setting it in the United States. With the help of screenwriter Howard Koch, completed with mock interviews with experts, imitations of press releases from the authorities, and sound effects to which Orson Welles pays special attention.
At the beginning and during the transmission it is clearly stated that it is the transposition of the novel, but many tune in at different times and the illusion effect created artfully succeeds perfectly.
It is said that a man called the New York Times to ask “what time is the end of the world?” to which the famous song written by Michael stipe of R.E.M. is inspired.
There is a chorus that supports the exaggeration of the estimates that count people running in the street, panic scenes, or hysteria, and I honestly don’t intend to dwell on the numbers, since, especially in this period, we everyday hear tragic counts.
In fact, in Grover’s Mills, New Jersey, there is a commemorative plaque with the following inscription:
On the evening of October 30, 1938 Orson Welles and The Mercury Theatre presented a dramatization of H.G. Wells The war of the worlds as adapted by Howard Koch. This was to become a landmark in broadcast history, provoking continuing thought about media responsibility, social psychology and civil defense. For a brief time as many as one million people throughout the country believed that Martians had invaded the earth, beginning with Grover’s Mill, New Jersey.
The important thing that Orson Welles has more or less voluntarily shown us is that people are led to believe rather unconditionally what is communicated to them by the mainstream mass media.
How many times have we heard “TV said it?”
How many care to check the news?
This time I went beyond coffee time, but today we can also indulge in chocolate, what do you say?
Now I conclude with the last strange coincidence: in The War of the Worlds the Martians are defeated by a virus.

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