Totally Worth It

Never pass up a chance to hug your grandma, even if you get a yellow card for it.

Friday Fun Video: Learn Italian Gestures

   

GRAZIE.

Headline of the Day: "Pope Francis Excommunicates the Sicilian Mafia, Takes the Cannoli"

Well, you can't talk about the mob without working in a Godfather reference!

Happy Easter! Χριστὸς ἀνέστη!

Veteran readers of this blog know that every Easter Sunday I post a great master's artistic rendition of the Resurrection.  This year's art is a piece of the masterful Averoldi Polyptych by Titian.  Dated 1520-22, the polyptych resides in the church of Santi Nazaro e Celso in Brescia, Italy.

If you'd like a little artistic journey through the past, you can see my curated Easter art from 2010 (Fra Angelico), 2011 (Michelangelo), 2012 (Veronese), and 2013 (Michelangelo again).

PS: Cool factoid: This year everybody celebrates Easter on the same day - Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant.

Captain Shirk: Francesco Schettino Now On Trial

Schettino, you'll recall, is the despicable captain of the Costa Concordia.  Yes, the captain who abandoned his ship, crew, and passengers when it capsized.  (Remember this?)  The dirtbag is now on trial for manslaughter.

Can Pinturicchio Paint with All the Colors of the Wind?

Is this 15th-century fresco the first Western artistic depiction of Native Americans?  Pinturrichio executed this in 1494, just two years after Columbus's epoch-shaking voyage to the New World.

Awesome: Ghiberti's Gate of Paradise

California Dreamer just told me this lovely news about the restoration of a Renaissance masterpiece.  How awesome is it?  So awesome that it impressed even Michelangelo himself.

The Butler Did It

Heh.  

Euro Notes: Monti and The Italian Job

An unenviable and Herculean task.

Newspaper Nastiness: Il Giornale vs. Der Spiegel

*Sigh.*  It's an all-around slapfest of crude national stereotypes.  Everybody loses, especially good taste and common courtesy. You will of course remember this blog's standing rule that in any argument the first party to refer to Nazis automatically loses, so I guess Il Giornale loses twice.

Dirtbag of the Year: the Cowardly Captain

Unbelievable.  So the captain of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia repeatedly refused to go back and help evacuate the passengers thrown into distress by his own negligence.  You can practically hear the Italian Coast Guard hopping with frustration and rage.  See too this study in contrasts.  UPDATE:  A bit of rude Italian has now gone viral.

Euro Notes: Credit Rating Downgrades

Uh-oh -- some eurozone countries are getting coal in their stocking this Christmas.  Spain, Italy, Belgium ... you've been very naughty indeed.

Euro Notes: Technical Difficulties ...

The trouble with rule by technocrats.  Money quote here:

... one irony here is that many of Greece and Italy’s current woes can be traced back to the original design flaws of the euro itself — which, of course, was dreamed up by unelected experts and policy wonks. Technocrats, even.

Well, DUH.  Meanwhile, the entire idea of unelected technocrats in power -- i.e., rule by unelected expert (or "expert") -- should give us all pause.  The key word is "unelected," boys and girls. More here.


UPDATE:  Commentary by Daniel Hannan:

Lessons from the European Fiscal Crisis

Consider this.

Arriverderci, Silvio

Berlusconi will resign.

Quirky Euro Files: Fun with Stereotypes

Hilarious, if you're not easily offended.

Taiwanese News Animators Vs. Amanda Knox

Inevitable.  The face-off with Casey Anthony is a nice touch.

History Lesson: Women in World War II

Take a look at this remarkable collection of photos. 

Some of the women you will have heard of, others not.  The first one you meet is Lyudmila Pavlichenko, a Russian sniper who racked up 309 confirmed German kills and so became the killingest female sniper in history.  The second photo gives you the infamous Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.  Elsewhere in the photo collection you will see, in moral and historical terms, the good, the bad, and the ugly from every aspect and location of the war.  (The "you go, girl" tag is obviously only for the good ones.)  In an historical event as massive as WWII, one tends to forget that it was composed of individuals.  This photo essay is a reminder of those individuals and the many roles they took.

Quirky Euro Files: Ghost Towns

For something different to do on your next trip across the pond!

Photoblogging Umbria

I have no idea who "Bird Dog" is, but his gorgeous photo essay from his vacation in Umbria is making me absolutely green with envy.  Take a look!