Posted November 21, 2011 at 5:44pm in Sophia Loren Guess Fashion Black and White Photography Advertisement Model Beautiful Actress Italia Rome Roma Italy By Melissa Ashley Melissima.
JCU Exposure.»
Yeah, man! A handful of my photos are being featured on the John Cabot University website this month, plus, a link to one of my complete albums—-woot woot! Thank you, Multicultural Club, for a wonderful talent show, thank you Study-Abroads for another wild semester, and thank you JCU for making me feel like Rome is Home. Cheers! http://www.johncabot.edu/
Posted May 5, 2011 at 2:26pm in John Cabot University Rome Roma Talent Show Multicultural Club Italy Italia Trastevere College
The Departed | Photography.>>
[Click on the above link to view photos.]
Departed: yet another academic year.
This very morning: my last Victorian Novel lecture, held at the Protestant Cemetery of Rome.
Cemeteries aren’t supposed to be beautiful; they’re supposed to be lifeless.
But says who?
“THE MORTGAGED HEART”
The dead demand a double vision. A furthered zone,
Ghostly decision of apportionment. For the dead can claim
The lover’s senses, the mortgaged heart.
Watch twice the orchard blossoms in gray rain
And to the cold rose skies bring twin surprise.
Endure each summons once, and once again;
Experience multiplied by two—the duty recognized.
Instruct the quivering spirit, instant nerve
To schizophrenic master serve,
Or like a homeless Doppelgänger
Blind love might wander.
The mortgage of the dead is known.
Prepare the cherished wreath, the garland door.
But the secluded ash, the humble bone—
Do the dead know?
-Carson McCullers (1917-1967)
Posted April 29, 2011 at 3:28am in Photography Cemetery Spring Flowers Architecture Garden English Christ Catholicism Cats Dogs Animals Pets Statues Italy Italia Rome Roma Carson McCullers Poetry Death Black and White Photography
“L’Intoccabile:” ENNIO MORRICONE.»
I can’t put to words how I feel when I hear this song…a song that, quite frankly, I’m not really sure the name of. All I know is that the original was composed by the absolute one and only, Ennio Morricone (born in my neighborhood of Trastevere, and now living somewhere in Rome), and that a remastered version was recently perfected by Karl X Johan.
I’m pretty consistent when it comes to material that I love, so it should come as no surprise that I’m revisiting this masterpiece. It’s high up on my ”All-Time Favourite List of Everything”…But there’s no need to take away any more from the music; I’ll let it do the talking.
[You can hear Morricone’s score in the movie, “The Untouchables,” but really, Morricone is “L’Intoccabile,” (“The Untouchable”) if you ask me.]
Flames by Karl X Johan
Posted April 20, 2011 at 9:38am in Ennio Morricone Flames Gli Intoccabili Karl X Johan Music Remix Scores The Untouchables Rome Roma Italia Italy Trastevere
Random Rampage.»
This is a guessing game. | These are the clues.
It’s been two weeks since the start of school, and I’ve already found that paying attention during my last Monday class isn’t exactly the easiest task. But on a day like today, university lectures can prove to be fairly interactive and refreshing. My note taking skills were on fire as I listened to, perhaps, the oddest of all lectures of my college career to date. These notes won’t prove to be useful come Mid-Terms due to the fact that I wrote them in list-form, but they will make for a good laugh later. Honestly, had I not read my schedule before entering the classroom, I probably would’ve been completely oblivious regarding the subject at hand—my professor was on a complete Random Rampage.
Here are two lists: one is of vocabulary that he, in one way or another, incorporated into his lecture, and the other is of the random phrases he spoke here and there. And gathering from his speech, the above flags are his countries of preference/obsessions (same thing). Guess my class: ____.
Random Vocabulary
- Bafoons
- Banana Republic
- Chimney Sweeps
- Cleavage
- Cuckoo Clock
- Flux
- Gulp
- Legit
- John Cabbage
Phrases
- “…And you’ll be a California refugee.”
- “Go to the bar.”
- “I don’t really know.”
- “My brain is working comparatively.”
- “Pinch yourself.”
- “Poland’s a failure.”
- “Switzerland doesn’t count.”
- “There was a time when people wrote serious books.”
- “Well, there, people are too sleepy and too lazy to do anything, because people don’t move very fast.”
- “What if the world fails?”
- “[Wouldn’t be surprised if] Berlusconi were to flee Italy.”
- “You don’t have to be so dorky about it.”
- “You may see little pebbles running around in a great crisis.”
Simple Pleasures: Unexpected Edition.»
After a hectic day, I got into his car and we just drove. We zipped through Roman traffic, down streets I’d never been on before, and escaped the bustle of the city. It didn’t take long to get to the outskirts; “La Città Eterna” just kept getting smaller and smaller, and soon, it didn’t even feel like Rome anymore.
There’s a whole different energy here at night.
We stopped in a dark parking lot, where the only light came from the mansions of modern-day aristocrats…the villas of “Italian highborns.” Not far from where we parked: a locked garden, hidden by ancient walls. [It was beautiful in the dark, I tried imagining it sun-kissed…but more so, I tried imagining the reasons for my being there.]Two uniformed guards watched from afar; one man smiled.
He walked up to the door and called for me. Then he told me to look through the keyhole: the keyhole of the Gate of the Knights of Malta. Aventine Hill…that’s where we drove to. When Piranesi designed it in 1765, he had a goal for that keyhole—-And tonight, was I ever so grateful that his vision was able to come alive.
Through that hole, I saw the Vatican standing gallantly before me; perfectly framed, illuminating the city beneath. Enclosed by arches of overgrown vines from within the garden, there it stood…rooted…a bold face of the Italian culture and its people. It all made sense: I needed to fall back in love with Rome, far away from the rest of the world. And it came so simply; so naturally.
Just when you’re left with a sour taste in your mouth, and you’re forced to swallow hard against your will, the unexpected pays you a visit. And suddenly, things aren’t so bad anymore…they’re just…different. Thank you for surprising me, and for taking me there.
