Hulk Hogan vs il Califfo

Fa sorridere l'articolo di oggi sul Corriere della Sera che parla di Hulk Hogan, il piu' grande wrestler di tutti i tempi, tanto che parallelemente alla carriere di attore nel circo wrestlers degli Anni Ottanta venne contattato ripetutamente per parti da attore cinematografico. Sembra che ora le cose non vadano piu' bene come un tempo e che l'ex wrestler viva in affitto - pur non facendosi mancare nulla. Ma di soldi per sua stessa ammissione ne ha sperperati parecchi (8,9, 10 milioni di dollari, in macchine di lusso, case e vacanze).
E cosi' mi torna alla mente un altro articolo, sempre del Corriere, dedicato ad un altro grande "lottatore", questa volta nostrano. Il Califfo, al secolo Franco Califano.
In comune i due hanno sicuramente i folli guadagni di una vita vissuta al massimo e nello spettacolo; le folli spese per oggetti di lusso (piu' una quantita' imprecisata di donne per Califano); accuse di uso di droghe alle spalle; un divorzio a testa; e chi piu' ne ha piu' ne metta. La differenza e' il lottatore Hogan ammette di vivere ancora nell'abbondanza; il lottatore Califfo, con una caduta di stile senza precedenti, chiede un sussidio statale.
E tutto il resto e' noia

Blog world

I was wondering what is that makes a blog a successful one, attracting visitors, comments, reactions. I don't know what the right recipe is, but for sure, if you are already famous somehow it helps.
Let's take Nino Mandala', for example, who you can find in the news yesterday in abundance, referred to as a mafia boss. Do you know how many visitors he has had since 31st December 2009 - when he started his blogger career? 26062 in this very second, and going up. And I am sure that he is being read even more these days because of the press referring so much to his blog.
It's a sad world.

Novalgina: che ricordi.

E chi se la ricordava piu'? S ha la febbre e ha trovato nel cassetto una confezione non scaduta di Novalgina. E io che credevo l'avessero tolta dal commercio... mia madre ce ne dava sempre qualche goccia quando avevamo la febbre, facendola cadere su un cucchiaino di zucchero per mascherare senza troppo successo quel gusto cosi' imperdonabilmente amaro.

Jackie Kennedy vs. Jackie Kennedy

Aspettavo con ansia le sue rivelazioni post-mortem. Certo, dalle "anticipazioni" che si leggono sembra ci sia ben poco di cui meravigliarsi.

La sua opinione su Lyndon Johnson? Beh, Jackie non mise praticamente mai piu' piede alla Casa Bianca dopo che lui divenne presidente...
JFK criticava i riti orgiastici di Martin Luther King e lei rabbrividiva nel vederne una foto? Ipocrita l'uno e lei chissa' che brividi doveva avere ogni mattina risvegliandosi accanto al marito...
Amante di Gianni Agnelli? Alla buon'ora, sorprende di piu' che si sia sposata Onassis, considerazioni economiche a parte!
Eppure, nonostante le "anticipazioni" deludenti, leggero'Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy'. Ormai e' una missione. Vorrei solo che anche Anna Bolena avesse avuto l'opportunita' di lasciare le sue rivelazioni.

The Last King of New York. And his Princess.

I know that being Italian I should probably comment on Mrs. Gelmini's gaffe or some Berlusconi stuff. But I don't feel like it. There would be too less to add to what has already been said.

Let's talk about the Gottis, instead, and in particular John Gotti and one of his daughters, Victoria.
So this John Gotti was not at all famous like Lucky Luciano or Al Capone or all the lot, even though he had the merit to reunite under his own egida the 5 Mafia families of New York. He is much more remembered for his style: very elegant, so much that he earned the nickname of the Dapper Don; apparently totally unscathed by the many trials he underwent without ever being pinned to his many crimes, characteristic that earned him his second nick: Teflon Don - till his fall-down in 1992. He was the last icon of the Hollywood type of gangster and many movie characters are actually shaped after him. Just to mention one: Michele Corleone in the Godfather.

                                                                                                         

Now, what can come out of a Gotti? Some kids, one of which is Victoria, New York socialite. I used to watch a reality with the Gottis and thought blond Victoria as a kind of vulgar useless lady. Now I read she was and is very bright, can write (she even published some apparently successful thrillers - I checked, they're out of print, so I can't testify to that), and has turned her notorious family name into something (legally) profitable. Chapeau. And probably never judge from appearances....

Lemony Snicket's A series of unfortunate events

 "I'm gonna get you kids. No matter where you go, no matter what you do, I'll *find* you! Oh, you are so deceased!"

I can't convince P that it's actually a good movie and that he shouldn't get asleep after 20 minutes or so.

"I am Stefano, and I am  an Italian man"

Jim Carrey is one of the best villain ever, with his three characters of Count Olaf, Stefano and Capt. Sham (the choice of this last name is just full of echoes from the Dickens' character of Miss Havysham). He hasn't the least bit of good in himself and doesn't care about children, whom he calls "orphans" because that is what they actually are. His philosophy about "children" is well stated by alter ego Stefano "Children are strange and distant for me....but I know they are an important part of the ecosistema". It somehow reminds me of unforgettable Nina Van Horn from the Just Shoot Me TV Series (http://gabrieleisland.blogspot.com/2011/09/memorable-quote.html)
But he is also the only adult in the plot who knows that the Baudelaire children are right and he states the simple truth that "nobody ever listens to children", even if they are right.
Of course, if it's good feeling you are interested into, there's plentiful in the movie. After all, it's a movie for children... But that's not why I like watching it.

Gabriele Island update

The little island is growing fast.
But Alu, the local alligator in the muddy pond, is killing Kois, leaving traces in the garden.