Friday already?? April is heaven in Italy because there’s really only one full work week all month. Don’t envy us though, now we have no holidays (other than summer) until November!! June 2 had the sfiga to be on a Saturday this year.
I hope you’re reading this with two of my favorites, the Marocchino, and a thick slice of pane and Nutella (remember World Nutella Day?), a hearty breakfast to push you through to the weekend.
Some notable news:
- [Music] Pandora, my favorite internet radio of months recent, decided to block all non-U.S. users so all my hard work and personal stations are *poof* Wah! I had my Ella/Dinah/Sarah/Nina, Flamenco, 70s Funk and Vocal House stations just where I wanted them. I’m playing around with Last.fm, but so far it seems like I have a lot less control than with Pandora. They suggested Bonnie Raitt when I put in Dinah Washington and Janis when I put in Ella!! Sob. Can anyone help?
- [Map-Gadget] I found a good way to me to memorize Milan’s layout – get the flyswatter in the shape of Milan.
- [Alitalia and all] Another strike today – Michelle will tell you more about the multitude of strikes today in Italy. I’ve had a fabulous experience with Alitalia, as you know. Does anyone think this will affect their attractiveness in this so-called buyout?
And in small news, with absolutely no other intended meanings whatsoever, Danny DeVito has his own brand of limoncello complete with horrendous jingle on the website – my favorite line is about him being famous. Danny DeVito is actually one of the few celebrities I’ve met, along with Rhea and Woody that evening. Yes, he’s that short. He needs a good copywriter – Cent’Anni!
I was featured on Deb’s Writer’s Row “Pay it Forward Tuesday” this week, so I’m paying it forward myself and mentioning someone new to me – La Cucina di Adina (in Italian), since I met Elena two days ago and her food pictures are excellent!
Since I included some music last week, here’s another band that I’m really enjoying: Feist, aka Leslie Feist. Her creative videos are getting almost as much acclaim as her songs! Her third album (The Reminder) just came out a few days ago, but I can attest that the second album, Let it Die, is excellent!! Official site – MySpace
Here’s the video for Mushaboom from Let it Die – one of my favorite songs from that album was “Gatekeeper” but I can’t seem to find the official video for that:
Also, a video from the new album Reminder, called 1-2-3-4 which is getting a lot of buzz because it was shot in a single take (and it uses human dominoes!) as was the video for My Moon My Man (which I think is a better song)
I have some cooking ambition this weekend – what about you?
Cooking projects for the weekend – veggie chili (I do a mix of Texas chili using Cincinnati chili spices. Yes, Cincy is somewhat famous for its chili and the secret ingredient is – shhh – cocoa), potentially to be combined at a later date with rice as yummy burrito filling. As a side, jalapeno cornbread.
I wish I could cook this weekend… tomorrow I’m having BBQ with some old friends, but they’re going to bring everything. I’ll let you know, maybe I’ll be able to take some pictures. kisses
I am so looking forward to the weekend.
I made a spinach frittata last night, will be cooking rigatoni with sausage and arugula later and might try this new recipe for goat cheese tarts on Sunday.
I don’t think I have any cooking ambitions for the weekend, but I applaud the suggestion of Nutella. You know I have that 6.1 lb jar of it afterall…
And, I laughed a little, “WTF” to me, doesn’t mean “Where’s the Fire”. I thought Technorati had gotten a little edgy there…*voting*
Hey! I want that milan flyswatter. Everytime I get pissed of with living here (which is every day ha!) I could get out my frustrations by whipping that thing around!
Just wanted to say how glad I am to have found your blog… I spent last summer in Italy (Venice) and miss it terribly!!
Wow…sometimes I feel like I’ve been living under a rock! Haha! The Charles & Marie site is way cool! Unfortunately the fly swatters seem to be sold out! We had a little cinco de maio dinner with all the usual suspects (burritos, tacos, quesadilla, and guacamole) this weekend! Do you realize how difficult it is to find mexican fixins in Milan?! Haha!
I’m sorry people, but am I the only one who found the Danny DeVito limoncello jingle about the funniest thing I had seen in quite some time? Ale and I played it twice, just for kicks. Where do they come up with this stuff? And better yet, Sara, where do you find it? Brava!!! :-)
@Michelle – i haven’t had chili in a while! let me know ur recipe.
@Adina – BBQ? I’m jealous!!
@nyc – sausage in pasta is my favorite. Try some with asparagus!
@Finny – you are plenty crafty, you don’t need to cook, too :)
@Autumn – haha, that would definitely be satisfying
@sojourness – welcome! living in venice, eh? my favorite shopping city.
@lieudalis – yum, mexican. any recipes to share? i have some extra spices if u need them.
@shelley – that jingle is def hilarious!! i expect next they’ll add a bouncing ball to it. :)
This was a fun post. I enjoyed the Feist video. I thought about you today when I read this post from Lifehacker about Pandora. You might want to give a proxy a try.
http://lifehacker.com/software/notag/how-to-access-pandora-from-outside-the-us-257706.php
Hi Ms. Adventures!
New to your page, like it very much.
Thought maybe I could help with your radio dilema… there are two stations that I think you would like. Both of which are heard world wide as far as I know.
The first one is Martini on the Rockies… it’s jazz mostly, new and old. On their home page they list Michael Buble, Norah Jones, Frank Sinatra, Sarah McLachlan, and George Benson. I listen to this station EVERY day… love it, they also play Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Anita Baker, Van Morrison, Rod Stewart, Christina Aguilara, Dean Martin, Louis Prima, and the Pussycat Dolls. Very good stuff. Here’s that link:
http://www.martiniontherockies.com/
the other station is a 60’s and 70’s American top rock station with 50’s and 60’s on the weekends. Beatles, Elvis, Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac, Turtles, Elton John, Supreme’s… etc. The name of that station is Kool 105.
Here is that link:
http://www.kool105.com/
Both pages have a link to download their live stream of music. You should be able to get it.
Best of luck!
Scarlett