cultural commentary from the desk of Don Shewey
I haven’t even read the issue yet, but I couldn’t resist posting Barry Blitt’s brilliant cover illustration for this week’s issue of The New Yorker. As my hyperbolic friend David Zinn would say: Best. Cover. Ever. It’s the ultimate Consider the Alternative, no matter what you think about Occupy Wall Street.
And then of course there’s this political cartoon making the rounds:
Another beautiful crisp clear morning in Piazza San Stefano
we're spending the morning with our very smart guide Simona on a tour of the Basilica di S. Stefano with its famous Seven Churches mushed together like TinkerToys
the main entrance, and most of the exteriors, are extremely unadorned
the easternmost church was originally built as a pagan temple to Isis
amidst these antique stone artifacts, a side chapel contains a surprising and touching war memorial
on our way to the next stop on the tour, we passed the statue honoring the 18th century physician and physicist Luigi Galvani, from whom we get the galvanic response and the concept of animal electricity
Simona next led us through the Archiginnasio, once the main building of the University of Bologna (the world's first)
now primarily used as a library, the monumental building also contains the original anatomical theater
the ceiling artwork represents the zodiac -- astrology was carefully studied once upon a time
a church official sat in a hidden chamber above the classroom, ready to interfere if he heard any teachings with which the Church disagreed
after a stroll through the Basilica of San Petronio in Piazza Maggiore, Andy and I made our way across town to the bustling university district
it has a somewhat different feel from the commercial center of Bologna
better graffiti, for one thing
hilarious sign posted among the bushes in a public park
on the way back to our residence, we happened to pass the birthplace of the great filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini
that night, we forsook traditional Bolognese fare for the creative nouvelle cuisine of Marco Fadiga
the maestro himself
the starter: antipasto kebab served in a glass (mango, fig, mozzarella, prosciutto, zucchini -- yum!)
the dessert plate included a drizzle of caramel syrup containing cigar tobacco
but the piece de resistance was an outrageous creamy risotto with speck and pesto
TANTRA
Tantra is an embodied spirituality. Embodiment means integrating the teachings, the techniques, the explorations and experiments into your total physical/mental/emotional and spiritual being. If the way you live, the space you create, your relationship to your food and where it comes from, your use of the earth’s resources, your relationship to Gaia who feeds and clothes and shelters you – and whose fluids run through your veins – are all unconscious, indifferent, and damaging to the web of life of which you are a part, then that’s not embodied. It doesn’t matter that you breathe when you’re having sex, or that you say a mantra sometimes. It doesn’t add up to Tantra. Tantra is about the integration of the whole, the conscious weaving together of the fabric of life.
— Rudolph Ballentine, Kali Rising
We spent the day in Faenza having a cooking class conducted by the fabulous Fabio Guerrini in the home he shares with his soulful wife Heide
Heide showed some of us how to clean raw shrimp and shred escarole for a delicious antipasto
Others assisted Fabio in concocting sauces for two typically Bolognese pasta dishes and a risotto
All of which we happily consumed
with generous helpings of prosecco, a crisp chardonnay, and a Gewurztraminer
We also got a good look at their extraordinary multilevel house, which Fabio proudly explained was formerly a brothell -- today's library is where the working girls met their clientele
The house is full of striking furniture...
ceramics...
contemporary art -- paintings, sculpture, photography...
and a wildly tiled bathroom -- Heide assured me that all the grooming products pictured here are Fabio's
After lunch, Fabio marched us across town to another super-arty home -- but one built in 1792
The home of Count Nicola Milzetti (now the Museum of the Neoclassical Age in Romagna) was built by local architect Giuseppe Pistocchi and his son Francesco.
Every inch of the place is decorated with beautiful, intricate frescoes and mosaics by Felice Giani
a bedroom like a movie set
and a sculpture of winged Psyche, because why not?
Stuffed with amazing imagery, we then trotted back to Casa Guerrini for gelato (three different flavors, natch) and moscato before scurrying off to catch the train back to Bologna. Whew! What a day! Who knew that Faenza was such a little treasure?
Pioneer gay activist Frank Kameny (above center) died last week. We’ve all benefited from his courage and determination to be treated as a first-class citizen and his willingness to fight back after being fired for being job in 1961. Read a thoughtful remembrance on him on Towleroad.
another eye opens 