KEEP CALM AND POTA

KEEP CALM AND POTA

Apr 13, 2024 | ART, ART, CULTURE, CULTURE, WOMEN, WOMEN

Keep calm and pota!

Don’t say you’re not already smiling thinking to Keep calm and pota.

I immediately lit up, also because Keep calm and pota is curated by Piöcc’s Café.

Café! A coincidence, or rather, I would directly say a sign.

A sign that I immediately grasped when I contacted the Teatro Centro Lucia in Botticino Sera.

Yes, you read that right: theatre.

Elena kindly explained that their artistic direction in recent seasons has been proposing a review of dialectal comedies from the Brescia area entitled ‘Èl bel del dialet a teàter’.

As I have already mentioned, I am very fond of dialect. 

Keep calm and pota is therefore a dialect comedy, and Cafè di Piöcc a theatre company.

Elena also helped me contact the director: Manuela.

In two words: a revelation!

Quoting Queen Agatha:
A clue is a clue, two clues are a coincidence, but three clues make a proof.

Keep Calm, Coffee and Friendship. 

The founders of the Café di Piöcc are three friends who meet in the parvis of the cathedral church in Montichiari.

Money is tight and friends watch the gentlemen eat pastries and drink wine, but they can only afford water from the fountain: the Café di Piöcc then, that is, the poor man’s café.

At Cafè di Piöcc, stories, gossip and historical facts are told.

From these tales, one of the first theatre companies in Brescia was born in 1970, a troupe that was also the subject of a university thesis.

Manuela joined the company, gradually performing various tasks: props girl, prompter, actress with a small part, assistant director.

Until one evening in the rehearsal room she picked up a book from which an envelope came out with a letter that no one had ever seen.

Destiny, magic, what would you call it?

In this letter, Beppe Boschetti, one of the three founding friends, had expressed his wish to leave the company in Manuela’s hands.

A story made up of people, a long journey made up of extremely remarkable theatre works such as I tre innocenti (The Three Innocents), inspired by news events, or Semplicemente donna (Simply Woman): a red chair and 49 changes of clothes representing the stages of life up to menopause.

And yet settings and periods vary while the common denominator remains the titles that are idioms, e.g. Petost che peji l’è mei insi or Ogné come la sàpes stada.

All the way to Keep Calm and pota.

Pota is the word that unites Brescia and Bergamo, an intercalary that, pronounced with the typical accent, is always very nice.

The author had the intuition to combine pota with the expression keep calm, linking up with Freud’s truth, the female Ego interjecting itself with the Super Ego, and communicating a message: love wins.

Speaking of messages, the Cafè di Piöcc also collaborates with the municipality of Montichiari for social work with the Legality in short project. 

It can therefore be said that Cafè di Piöcc keeps calm but is unstoppable!

Many many compliments and a special thanks to Manuela Danieli.

TASHIROJIMA: ISLAND OF CATS

TASHIROJIMA: ISLAND OF CATS

Mar 30, 2024 | WHO CARES, WHO CARES

Tashirojima 田代島 is an enchanting island populated mainly by cats. 


Hidden among the waves of the Sea of Japan, Tashirojima emerges as an enchanted oasis where pussycats reign supreme.

Located in Miyagi Prefecture, this small island has become world famous as ‘The Island of Cats’, a place where feline inhabitants outnumber humans and where the presence of these creatures is honoured as an ancient tradition.

The history of Tashirojima is intertwined with the bond between the island and its cats. Over the centuries, local fishermen are said to have believed that the presence of cats brought good luck and prosperity to their boats and fishing.

Today, Tashirojima is a unique tourist destination, captivating visitors from all over the world with its picturesque landscape and feline population.

Wild cats roam freely around the island’s streets, interacting with tourists and providing moments of joy and entertainment.

The islanders have also built several ‘neko-jinja’ (cat shrines) in honour of their furry friends, where visitors can pay their respects and leave offerings such as toys or food for the cats.

In addition, there are also some tourist facilities on the island that welcome visitors eager to experience the unique atmosphere of this feline community.

For cat lovers, Tashirojima is a true paradise on earth.

Here they can stroll through the island’s picturesque coastal landscapes, interact with a diverse cat population and fully immerse themselves in the culture and tradition surrounding these fascinating animals.

In conclusion, Tashirojima is much more than just an island: it is a world apart, where the presence of cats is considered sacred and where daily life is permeated by the magic and affection of these adorable animals.

For anyone seeking an escape from the hustle and bustle of modern life and a unique encounter with Japanese nature and culture, Tashirojima is the perfect place to explore and discover.

Massimo

I NEVER FORGET TO CALL YOU LOVE

I NEVER FORGET TO CALL YOU LOVE

Feb 3, 2024 | BOOKS

Non mi dimentico mai di chiamarti amore (I never forget to call you love) is the sylloge published by Parallelo45 for which I surely “won’t forget” to thank Carmelo Cossa and Manuale di Mari. 

February has arrived, the month of Valentine’s Day, the most famous romantic occasion, just as romantic is the author’s soul.

Carmelo Cossa is immediately striking in the way he declares his love: love for poetry.

So Poetry becomes the way for expressing the idealisation of love as a totally harmonising expression of feeling.

The author is like a knight of the dolce stil novo, even though life has taken him far from his roots.

Reading the poems in Non dimentico mai di chiamarti amore (I never forget to call you love) I had a strong sense of how the journey from his homeland to the place that would offer him fulfilment was a key element for Carmelo.

Among my favourite poems:

Con il cuore appeso (With the Hanging Heart) because I found myself in the concept of a night grip and also in the comparison of a shredded cloth stretched out in the sun.

Natura e vita (Nature and Life) because I found the personification of nature in the first person a metaphor capable of giving a powerful sense of flow, vitality and harmony.

Magia di vita (Magic of life) for the concept of the ‘beginning again’ of the cycle of the seasons that repeat, but even more so, relive.

Speaking of his Poetry, Carmelo Cossa also quotes Rita Levi Montalcini:

it is better to add life to days than days to life

thus capturing the mark of what I would dare to call a life mission for him: he lives for poetry and makes poetry alive.

So I invite you to pause on Non mi dimentico mai di chiamarti amore (I never forget to call you love) and to think about to which ‘love’ your life is dedicated.

BEFORE YOUR MEMORY FADES

BEFORE YOUR MEMORY FADES

Mar 23, 2022 | BOOKS

Before your memory fades … but the Italian title is The first coffee of the day… could I not read it?

Actually no, and that’s why my husband decided to give it to me.

Before your memory fades is the new book by Toshikazu Kawaguchi 川口 俊 和 published in Italy by Garzanti.

Do you know him?

I was very impressed to discover how Toshikazu Kawaguchi here in Italy has established himself thanks to the word of mouth that has been unleashed since March 2020, when his book Before the Coffee Gets Cold debuted and finished in the bestseller list within a week.

In fact, going backwards, about Toshikazu Kawaguchi

March 2012: the Grand Prize of the Suginami Theater Festival for the stage “Before the Coffee Gets Cold”

December 2015: the novel “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” published

April 2017: the Grand Prize Bookshop nomination

September 2018: cinema adaptation of “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” with Kasumi Arimura

February 2019: 100,000 copies of “In front of cold weather” exceeded in Taiwan

February 2020: the UK version of “Before the coffee gets cold” is 10th in the Bookseller ranking

March 2020: the British version wins the first place in the best-selling literary books in Singapore

until May 2020: his biography mentions a 3rd place as a novel translated in Italy in the ranking of the Corriere della Sera that I have not been able to recover

January 2021: Tales from the Cafe.

Autumn 2021: the project for a TV series  produced by SK Global and developed by The Jackal Group. 

And January 2022: Before your memory fades.

I don’t want to anticipate the focal point of these coffees nor what happens while the coffee is hot, in case you don’t know the story yet, but surely the idea of these special encounters over a cup of coffee is the key concept here on the blog too.

Unfortunately, without the magic and the Japanese delicacy, and with very different cooling times, but with the same intent to try, very modestly, to give small trips.

And about the first coffee of the day would you like to tell yours?

THE THREAD OF INFINITY IS TIED TO THE PAW OF EVERY FLYING BIRD

THE THREAD OF INFINITY IS TIED TO THE PAW OF EVERY FLYING BIRD

Feb 4, 2022 | ENVIRONMENT, BOOKS, ENVIRONMENT, ITALY, ITALY, BOOKS

The thread of infinity is tied to the paw of every flying bird

I find that this sentence by Victor Hugo somehow fits the thoughts that this video by Ugo De Cresi gives:

Do you understand why I get angry when Lomellina, this land of rice paddies and beauty is poisoned? 

Don’t you seem to really perceive that thread of infinity that is mirrored, like the sky, and leads you to breathe in a better dimension?

That flight of sacred Ibis is a melody of freedom and harmony.

Yet, the Ibises are not at home, indeed, environmentalists consider them an invasive species because they are not native, a bit like the otters.

But how did they get here?

The man brought them to us.

Always we who break the balance …

Paradoxically, they turn out to be extinct in Egypt, where they were depicted as the representation of the god Thot.

According to Treccani, Thot was revered as the god of writing and magic formulas, and obviously I can’t help but think immediately about the magic of books!

What is the book that triggered the magic for you?

What is the book that made you feel at home like an Ibis in Lomellina?

What is the book that made you fly tied to the infinity thread?

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