I remember a summer when I decided to follow the trend to pastels, floral prints and ladylike dresses. I was living in New York City at the time, and this wardrobe made me look so sweet and friendly that everyone stopped me on the street for directions. I had to go back to black just to make it to work on time! Luckily, Portia never has to be anywhere, so she can be the dustiest rose around. For this post, I took her to the Starlustland sign (in the Floydian Territories), where each letter offers a different pose.

Portia pairs a peach freebie dress from Drown with freebie tights by amato. Her hair, which attracted a lot of attention from fellow Sunday shoppers, was a Stumblebum Brigade special shade (Highlighty Twix) of lamb’s Say. The duck-feather headband from [glow] Studio was one of the items in “old pink” offered by the Weekend Fever shops.

A face plastered with makeup and yet Portia still looks pretty. This lovely skin is Abella Gray HB by Rebecca Dembo, a 10,000 members gift to Fabulously Free in SL, and it should still be available in notices or at the headquarters.

The Starlustland sign offers some extraordinary poses, none of which properly displays the ankle-length tulle skirt of Chantkare’s Weekend Fever item, Duquese. Chantkare is one of my favorite stores for feminine dresses. Portia paired this cocktail gown with Periquita’s Silly Wedge shoes, which are colour-change, instead of the obvious stiletto. The necklace is the Fab Free 10,000 gift from Glitterati, Rosebud in turquoise.

It must be the Sailor’s Delight Windlight setting that has Portia looking out to sea from her perch atop the letter N. I was well chuffed to finally have an outfit that called for Clawtooth by Clawtooth’s Good Morning in the Peeled Carrots shade, but it looks like Portia may have shed a few tears over the unconventional hairdo. Or did her sailor date stand her up? The skin is Adam n Eve Sasha tone 2 smudge makeup.

More experiments with the dreaded fabric called check! These form-flattering overalls were a 50L Friday item from Doppelganger. Portia pairs them with a tight black shirt (an old group gift from Prelude) and opts for Dogroses hair in Buttermilk, one of the loveliest shades offered by lamb. The cloche hat is color change, with at least 10 vibrant options to hasten the coming of spring.

The hair makes Portia look a little bit like Botticelli’s Venus, although the Pink Fuel skin, Raine in Honey, evokes a more decadent version of the goddess of lust.

Yesterday Anya Ohmai’s generous 50L item was a four-pack of plaid versions of her new Basics One-piece romper with optional skirt. Here, on a chilly spring day, Portia layers it with Paradisis’ Christmas gift sweater, Saikin’s (fake) rabbit scarf, Stage Props, a hat with hair by [OH] for the DU<3 event, Brody gloves by Viva Glam, which come in a very inexpensive fat pack, grey stockings by RunoRuno and SLink’s Beebee boots in Cinnamon.

The skin is Cupcakes’ latest group gift Diamond in Clown makeup. I think Cupcakes reinstated the join fee because of a tsunami of spam. Here you see a closeup of the skin in Cameo, and in the final photo, Portia wears the Copper shade. Eyes are a freebie by amato. All the photos in my 50L check posts were shot at Phyrax, where a photo studio appears to be open to the public. (Can you say learning curve? I could only get a couple of the poses to work, but then I discovered I could use my own inventory.)

Fall returns to the forest and Portia gets a fright, causing her to run so fast that her boobs threaten to bounce out of her romper. (Perhaps poses should go unexplained. This one is new by OMGWTF Barbecue of This is a Fawn, and she made it for avatars who are more voluptuous than mine.) Here Portia sports a 50L Friday version of one of Sand Shack’s new hairdos, Maranna with Fringe Bangs, which features a color change ribbon and a matching bow.

something i find difficult to explain is how my brain currently processes musical design for display! it’s not like a car where you just get in and use it when needed. it’s as if someone put a key into my brain and turned it on, and it’s stuck in the ON position. i am learning deal with the fact that my mind continually builds musical notation. even as im walking down the street, i find my fingers mocking piano structures on something, body, table, arm, heck, even on someone else’s leg, seriously! in phone conversations i play on my leg, while eating a sandwich, in the shower, driving, you name it, my fingers are obviously my brains escape goat to display a visual concert to anyone watching. you may not hear anything at all when im playing my leg, but my brain lets me hear music to dance to as im walking down the street without a piano! so i guess carrying piano keys in my pocket everyday will get me to where im going, and i prefer to dance my way there!

piano keys

body {

background-position:top center;

margin-top:420;

}

div.toppage {

top: 0;

left: 50%;

position: absolute;

margin-left:-400;

}

Things can get pretty hectic when you have so many different sets of people coming at you in this industry! I have been fairly diligent as to not following the standard corporate bullshit that comes with the music industry. I guess it comes down to either you put yourself in a huge pool of amazing talent, or you simply attempt something a bit different. I am taking the different road, in hopes to give the people whom are following my work something different than the norm. I love going out to see live music, but everyone is sounding so consistently the same these days. I guess that’s what makes going out to see live music so fascinating, I’m always excited to come upon that new or something different musician or band. Im really excited to go back in the studio. I will be surrounded by amazing friends, engineers, producers, and basically a bunch of people I admire very much! I will expect nothing short of all of them pulling the best out of my musical abilities. We will also be video taping the making of the album, i love that behind the scenes stuff, makes me laugh most of the time!

As I begin my third year of enjoying this absolutely amazing musical experience, I find it necessary to continue my efforts to stay personally connected with you! Three years ago my life changed. It all began with a visit back to the midwest to catch up with friends and family. During my visit, I sustained a major head trauma which was the result from diving into the shallow end of the pool. Yep, shallow diving is over rated, although the ending result was the beginning to a new found treasure. I was diagnosed with a massive concussion, the loss of 40% of my hearing, and memory loss! Four days after my accident, I sat down at a piano and began to play as if I had always played this foreign instrument. Of course I was shocked, could you imagine waking up and suddenly playing the piano fluid? This my friend, was the beginning of an adventure that I will continue to be fascinated with! Stay tuned, as we will be posting blogs, updates, tour dates, and simply what’s going on in my silly little world! I look forward to reading your comments and emails, and thank you for taking a moment out of your day to explore my work!

Regards,

Derek Amato

by NewPolis

1996 +1.1% (Dini, Prodi)
1997 +1.9% (Prodi) 
1998 +1.4% (Prodi, D’Alema)
1999 +1.5% (D’Alema)
2000 +3.7% (D’Alema, Amato)
2001 +1.8% (Amato, Berlusconi)
2002 +0.5% (Berlusconi)
2003 +0.0% (Berlusconi)
2004 +1.5% (Berlusconi)                                                                                                                                                                                           2005 +0.7% (Berlusconi)
2006 +2.0% (Berlusconi, Prodi)
2007 +1.6% (Prodi)
2008 -1.1% (Berlusconi)
2009 -5.5% (Berlusconi)

Fonte: Fondo Monetario Internazionale

Intervenendo alla presentazione a Villa Madama dell’iniziativa “Due Hub”, il Nostro, poiché l’Italia ha un gap infrastrutturale drammatico, ha ufficialmente annunciato «A dicembre-gennaio cominceremo a realizzare un’altra importante costruzione per la Sicilia, una regione che dobbiamo rendere italiana al cento per cento. Mi riferisco al ponte sullo Stretto di Messina».
Ha anche ricordato che l’Italia ha «… condizioni negative, è un’eredità con cui dobbiamo fare i conti». Eredità lasciata anche dai governi che l’hanno precededuto:

Silvio Berlusconi   10/05/1994 – 17/01/1995 durata gg.    252
Lamberto Dini      17/01/1995 – 17/05/1996 durata gg.    486
Romano Prodi      17/05/1996 – 21/10/1998 durata gg.    887
Massimo D’Alema 21/10/1998 – 25/04/2000 durata gg.    552
Giuliano Amato    25/04/2000 – 11/06/2001 durata gg.    412
Silvio Berlusconi   11/06/2001 – 17/05/2006 durata gg.  1801
Romano Prodi      17/05/2006 – 08/05/2008 durata gg.    722
Silvio Berlusconi   08/05/2008 – in carica     (ad oggi)gg.   524

In percentuale dal 10/05/1994 sono stati Presidenti del Consiglio:
Silvio Berlusconi  46%
Romano Prodi        28%
Massimo D’Alema   10%
Lamberto Dini         9%
Giuliano Amato       7%

Comincia a suonare un po strano, come il miglior Presidente del Consiglio degli ultimi 150 anni che ha rappresentato il paese per il 46% del tempo degli ultimi 15 anni ancora oggi scagli accusi ai suoi predecessori, visto che il rappresentante più partecipe è lui stesso

da ‘la repubblica.it’ del 14-10-2009

Over the past couple of years we have had the pleasure of meeting a number of visitors who have come to this area of Italy to try and trace their Italian ancestry, some with relatives who came from the Val di Comino area. 

My own maternal grandparents originated from the beautiful mountain community of Atina, Frosinone, overlooking the River Melfa and the Meta and Mainarde mountains. 

In Italy, in the latter half of the 1800’s and during the early 1900’s, times were very hard, many people toiled in miserable conditions and experienced severe hardship and poverty due to poor wages and food shortages.  Thus my grandfather Benedetto felt restless, as many Italian families departed for distant lands: to America, France, Belgium, Scotland, and England. His elder brother and sister had already moved to live in London, and Benedetto, longing for adventure was also enticed by the prospect of emigration to a new land of opportunity.

Thus in the Summer of 1911 my Italian grandparents first set foot on English soil, and made their way to the city of London, to the district of Clerkenwell, the Italian quarter know as “Little Italy”.  They rented a dilapidated house close to St Peter’s Italian Church, which was to be their home for many years to come.  Here my mother was born and she was brought up in the Italian community.  My grandmother Maria Grazia always pined for her home town of Atina and never managed to learn to speak English.  

I was born nearby in the heart of London, “within the sound of Bow Bells”, so I suppose I could be considered to be an “Italian Cockney”.  I have always had a true passion for Italy and all things Italian, and felt a real need to see for myself “the land of my forefathers”, visit Atina and walk in the footsteps of my grandparents.  

15 years ago my husband and I spent a memorable fortnight staying with some of my Italian cousins, in Atina. It was our first meeting but we were so warmly welcomed and received into the family fold and Atina transpired to be even more charming than I could ever have imagined.  

Thus began our irresistible love affair with “La Bella Italia”, and of course the very special town of Atina, which finally inspired us to risk everything, sell up lock, stock and barrel and entirely transform our lifestyle by moving to Italy. 

Since then we have got to know several people who have family who originated from the Atina area, and since the creation of my Atina / Val di Comino website we have received many enquiries from people with ancestors from  this beautiful area and share my passion for it.

Aldo De Angelis and his wife June from Scotland are tracing his family roots in Atina and Belmonte Castello – family surnames: De Angelis, Delicata, Ianetta, Notarangelo.

Whilst in Atina recently we asked at the Comune and at the local library whether there was a list of the graves in Atina Cemetery, but nobody there seemed to know.   The main cemetery is located near the ruined church of San Marco and  the church of San Pietro.

So, Paul and I have spent many hours browsing around and looking for the graves of my relatives.  Some of the graves have some wonderful statues.

If anyone wants us to go and look for graves of  family members who have passed away, and who may have been laid to rest in Atina Cemetery, we are happy to go and look for them whilst we are visiting our family in the area.

Common surnames of Atina include: 

Amata / Amato, Bastianelli,  Bove, Caira, Coppola, Di Angelis, De Luca   Delicata, Di Duca, Di Paolo, Fortunata, Mancini, Marini, Nardelli, Rossi, Sabatini, Tamburrini, Tortolani, Visocchi , Volante.

Yes we are sad family history “anoraks” !!! 

Sadly we got addicted years ago, and there’s little hope for us now. 

We already belong to the Guild of One Name Studies and are carrying out a “one name study” of the surname Shapcott and its variant spellings.

Also I have  been considering making an application for my Italian citizenship through what is known as  “jure sanguine”.

As both of my grandparents were both born and married in Atina,  and they did not became naturalised British citizens during their life-time I should be entitled to Italian citizenship.  Amongst the documentation required to obtain this is my grandparents’ marriage certificate and their birth certificates.  

I know that they were both born in Atina and even have details of their parents and grandparents, as I have seen their families listed on the “Stato di Famiglia” held by the Comune of  Atina.  So recently we visited the townhall to ask for copies of the above certificates.  Sadly, the staff there were not exactly welcoming and accommodating.  They said they would take the information and that we would have to come back another day.  I recently heard from my cousin in Atina that the Comune had failed to find the requested documents, so I am somewhat down-hearted. 

But … I will persevere !!!  

This is Italy !!!  Nothing is simple, especially regarding bureaucracy.  I have tried to organise an opportunity to look through some of Atina’s church registers, but to no avail, it seems that they are guarded with a rod of iron by the Parish Priest. 

As yet Italians just don’t seem to “get” family history, indeed it is far from the popular pass-time in the UK where within County Halls and libraries there are departments dedicated to giving the public access to the Saint Catherine’s Index of Births, Deaths and Marriages, numerous Censuses, Church Registers, old newspapers etc. etc.  

Italians still fail to realise how important it is for people to be able trace one’s family roots and learn so much about local social and cultural history.  If you ask Italians about their ancestors, they sometimes get quite nervous and seem guarded, perhaps suspicious that some stranger may be after some money or trying to claim back some old derelict house of piece of family land !!!  There are so many family disputes regarding ownership of land in Italy.

Anyway, I will keep you posted on our progress with my goal of obtaining my Italian Citizenship.

Anyone with ancestors from the Atina / Val di Comino area –

We’d love to hear from you !!!

Do feel free to Contact Us

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Incidente mortale poco dopo la mezzanotte in via de’ Gasperi a Pagani. Un auto si è scontrata con una moto di grossa cilindrata: a perdere la vita un motociclista di 18 anni Amato Bonaventura. Sul posto i Carabinieri della Tenenza di Pagani per i rilievi del caso. Il giovane era in sella ad uno scooter assieme ad un coetaneo e si è scontrato con una “Smart”, alla cui guida vi era una giovane di 22 anni anche lei di Pagani, che è rimasta lievemente ferita. Per Amato Bonaventura non c’é stato nulla da fare. Il giovane è morto subito dopo il ricovero in ospedale. L’altro giovane invece è ricoverato nel reparto di rianimazione dell’ospedale “Umberto I” di Nocera Inferiore. La conducente della Smart invece ha riportato solo alcune ferite, medicate al pronto soccorso dell’ospedale di Pagani.

fonte www.salernonotizie.it

Oggi ho incontrato qualcuno, l’ho rivisto dopo tre anni.

Di lui si era perso ogni essenza.

La sua figura snella ma allo stesso tempo forte mi

Ha sempre affascinata.

Il suo gusto nel vestire aveva qualcosa di magico

Non l’ho mai sorpreso con un aspetto trasandato

Ma era un maestro nel curare ogni dettaglio

Dal colore  di ciò che indossava fino all’accessorio più futile.

Alto, capelli neri pettinati all’indietro, un filo di barba

Che dava un tocco irresistibile al suo viso.

Lo sguardo intrigante e penetrante ti soggiogava all’istante.

Ero rimasta imbambolata a guardarlo e non riuscivo a muovermi se

Non fosse stato il clacson  di qualcuno a scuotermi.

Vedevo lui avvicinarsi con passi veloci e un sorriso malizioso e il suo “ciao, come stai?”

Mi aveva lanciata in orbita, avevo percorso la via lattea tra i suoi pianeti, stelle e buchi neri.

E mentre stavo per entrare in un’altra galassia, venni scaraventata giù e strappata a i miei sogni.

Il motivo del mio ritorno era una stangona con gambe kilometriche e sorriso

Accecante che dava il braccio a lui. Ma chi era costei? E cosa faceva sottobraccio a lui?

Per un attimo avevo sognato di ritrovarci seduti a sorseggiare il nostro prosecco e a raccontarci

Tre anni di vita passati l’uno lontano dall’altro.

Ma la realtà mi impediva ciò.

La realtà si chiamava Sara ed era la sua fidanzata e presto sarebbe diventata sua moglie.

Ed io da eterna sognatrice com’ero fantasticavo sul suo ritorno da me.

Volevo tornare ad essere la sua amata.

Ma lui aveva occhi unicamente per lei .

Per me aveva speso solo un ciao ed un sorriso.

Buongiorno a chi è solo e a chi è triste, a chi è stato abbandonato e a chi ha abbandonato, a chi ama e a chi non è amato. Buongiorno a chi piange e a chi ride, a chi è in vacanza e a chi in vacanza non ci andrà, buongiorno a chi ha tradito e a chi è stato tradito, a chi si pone delle domande e a chi vorrebbe delle risposte….Buongiorno a voi tutti!

Lorenzo Contucci è ormai un nome noto negli ambienti Ultras e non solo. Curatore del sito  www.asromaultras.org e difensore degli Ultras, dentro e fuori, le aule dei tribunali è stato intervistato di recente in merito alla Tessera del Tifoso.

di Giacomo Russo Spena su “il manifesto”

È l’anticamera della carta sui diritti civili, un provvedimento da Ventennio». Lorenzo Contucci, avvocato di molti ultras ed esperto del pacchetto antiviolenza negli stadi, osteggia l’introduzione dal prossimo campionato della tessera del tifoso. Voluta dal ministro Amato (subito dopo la morte a Catania del commissario Raciti) e messa in pratica adesso da Maroni, si presenta come uno strumento di fidelizzazione adottato dalla società di calcio. Per contrastare gli episodi di violenza.

BREVE RACCOLTA DI FOTO D’AUTORE

FOTO DI FAMIGLIA DELL’ONOREVOLE (OMISSIS) CON MOGLIE E FIGLIA CHE TOGLIE LA POLVERE DALLA SCRIVANIA DEL PADRE.

FOTO DELL’ ON. BRUNETTA CHE COMBATTE CONTRO I FANNULLONI.

IO CHE CERCO DI METTERMI IL PRESERVATIVO.

 L’ONOREVOLE AMATO CHE SI RULLA UNA CANNA.

CHE TEMPI!

The amato family band is back together again

Originally uploaded by juplife

With Pat and Kat finally in town, we’re in full force.
www.jupmode.com