the international

Tonight we went to the cinema to see The International by Tom Tykwer. I was just coming back from Berlin, and MeinMann was heading to Istanbul, so it was an unmissable movie! The perfect film for the tiny portion of weekend that we could spend together.

I liked Naomi Watt’s hairline wrinkles, she is indeed an actress full of expressions and her forehead is no frozen alabaster. Clive Owen is credible as usual, handsome and not too polished.

The plot is catchy and a bit slow at the start…but that is a compliment. Quite interesting the faux political rally in front of Milano’s Stazione Centrale. So faux, hence, so true…

stolpersteine and sanpietrini

Stolpersteine in Schoeneberg.

trendresistant

So I had a few days in Berlin for myself, for the first time without an agenda full of things to do. A lonely holiday without MeinMann, but a holiday nevertheless. For the first time I could relax at a place I could call “home” and not “the building site”.

I could take the measure of space and see how the light floods the flat at the different times of the day. It was me and my little Saturn Eur 4.99 alarm-clock radio set on JazzRadio 101.9.      No TV.     No Mac, no PC.      No ipod, cd, dvd.

A nice interview in the Tagesspiegel with Simone Weil , from Carla Bruni and Angela Merkel to her experience in Auschwitz and her achievements as a young bride and mother of 3 in the professional and later political arena (“I am the alibi woman, the one that is pointed to as an example when they talk about women’s emancipation, but as of today not enough women have real opportunities and it is a scandal that there are still huge salary differences between men and women”).

tentative spring in Berlin

Last saturday I took the orange U-bahn to Berlin, and after browsing the morning papers I was in town. The light in Rome was spectacular in the early morning, but it was a surprise as well to find Krokussen in bloom in every Strasse in Berlin…the afternoon light had a glowing golden quality also in Berlin, in my street many people were gardening and sprucing up their balconies.

I decided to trek up to Prenzl’berg in order to buy some food at the Kollwitzplatz market and have a late lunch at Anita Wronski’s. Easter is approaching and bricolage stores in Berlin are very well stocked with all sort of materials and colors for “creating something”. I find so healthy (and so 70s!) to actually do manual activities, from gardening, to creating your own calendar – the activity calendars seem to be a german specialty to me! – and in any case to teach children to make something with wood, paper, fabric, you name it.

In Prenzl’ there is this park, where kids can actually build a house using real wood and real tools, under the control of kind moniteurs…it’s called Abenteurlicher Bauspielplatz “Kolle 37″ and they welcome donations of old furniture, tools, wood planks.

Saving private Saviano

Just landed back in Rome, the Rai3 special with Roberto Saviano, David Grossman and Paul Auster. One of those rare evenings in which it was worth turning the tv on.

2009-03-26 10:02 SAVIANO: CAMORRA UCCIDE CON SILENZIO E DIFFAMAZIONE (di Bianca Maria Manfredi) MILANO – Il silenzio e la diffamazione sono armi terribili in mano alla camorra e l’ordigno adatto per combatterli è quello della parola. Anche la parola, o meglio le parole, dette questa sera da Roberto Saviano allo speciale di ‘Che tempo che fa’.

museum island

Busy-bee days. Both for me and MeinMann. Today an unexpected visit and 30 minute exchanging views on the economy over sandwiches with J. Many social-clips (video-clips of social life exchanged at high speed?) about the changing plans of our aquaintances in Milan and their new professional projects, voluntarily or not. Many people in transition. In between jobs. Reinventing. Working on a project. That’s the air du temps we’re heading to. Sleepy Rome dozes through its public sector and politics hinterland, but that’s not the reality.

Saturday I’ll take the U4, the San Lorenzo – Schoeneberg line…the orange U-bahn over the Alps towards the Baltic. I definitely want to have a look at this “new addition” to the famous Berlin’s Museum Island… ;D

police attack students in rome

I am halfway through Colin Crouch’s book “Postdemocracy” but reality caught up much faster today.

Today the police attacked the students at the Universita’ La Sapienza. They were trying to join the strike in the city center but were blocked and pushed back into the campus.

The new regulations on protests by Rome’s mayor+the police are now in full force. One year after the election, matraque oblige.

It happened here, close to home. An ordinary day. This morning I bought the newspaper at the kiosk opposite the Sapienza, had breakfast at one of the students’ bars around the corner. Busy day in the office, many meetings, many calls, I didn’t check the news at lunchtime. It was sunny, I went for a sandwich at Piazza Colonna. An ordinary day?

It’s only now after dinner that I find out what happened today, on the internet. I see if there’s something about this o TV, but we’ve got a talkshow covering a dancing contest, a talkshow debating a reality show, a talkshow stuffed with politicians, a history documentary on the Battle of Berlin. I try to download the local news from Rai but it doesn’t work.

It’s always like that. Student citizens are the first to be attacked. While other citizens are at work and don’t notice.

Shocking. It’s happening now. Welcome to postdemocracy, where you pay taxes for these “services”.

source: youreporter, uniriot.org

photo: katia ancona, repubblica

Btw, TG3 reported on this a few minutes now, 00.50, I guess the same few frames they broadcasted at prime time.

You will find photos and videos here. La Sapienza The Wave movement communique’ is here. (The Wave is the translation of the movement’s name, L’Onda – nothing to do with the german film).

Communiquè of LaSapienza
The Wave cannot be stopped

l’empire des lumières

…lumières as in a freshly-baked Magritte…6pm, Spanish Steps

Yesterday morning MeinMann and I went to Villa Torlonia, our local park. The Two Aunties – two hieratic cats who are masters of this small universe – were sunbathing on the balcony of the Casina delle Civette. The restoration of the Moorish Tower and of “The Theatre” has posted some progress during the winter. Daisies were everywhere, and extremely visible in the emerald green grass (yes you know already we got plenty of rain in Rome recently), very pop-art indeeed.

So it’s sort of spring. Last weekend we had our first lunch al fresco – or rather, al sole - at a restaurant right above the Spanish Steps, our eyes still unaccustomed to such strong zenith light.

And this week we had gorgeous spring sunsets. The Tiepolo sunsets. With all the possible pastel hues. First the acid green-yellow shades diluted in the pastel blue, and then the superposed pink-violet clouds stirring the still cold air of the night.

…..7pm, from via del Corso to Ara Pacis

tribal politics and post-democracy

The recent declarations by the italian PM are a clear warm up for the forthcoming european elections.

Today reading the Spiegel article I discovered Colin Crouch and his notion of post-democracy. In his view, Italy is already a post-democracy. Well, it started back in the 80s, it’s not new.

We’re well beyond now. It’s neo-tribalism.

boring is beautiful

An interesting article from Global Property Guide and another from Property Wire…you can check them out on our other blog AflatinBerlin! Watch out around the corner, inflation will be back like high tide…