The Tarantella

My A-Z Challenge series is about Italy, it's lifestyle, the country and other miscellaneous things in regard to it.

                           

This is a dance mainly danced in the South of Italy, generally during traditional festivals or weddings. The name comes from a type of poisonous spider whose bite was believed to cause people to move convulsively. This in turn was used as a form of medication back in the middle ages, if someone had a bite wound doing this dance was meant to remove any venom. It may have had it's roots from further back in Roman times and is still actually used today to remove depression and similar mental health ailments, the belief going that the fast music and movements will drive it out somehow. Research has begun to see how much efficacy there actually is in this.

There are different versions, either being used for courtship or as a simulated sword fight between two men. When danced at a ceremony such as a wedding all guests often join in and it's just a fun dance for entertainment.

Another dance where lots of people join in is the Hulli Gulli which was American but seems to have reached Italy back in the sixties and is still very popular now. You see it at weddings, dances on the beach and all over. It generally is danced to the tune of The Watusi, a song which will undoubtedly get your toes tapping, hum it anywhere in Italy and someone will sing along and probably start up the dance. It's a type of line dance, some people get it right every time but often people will be out of time but no-one minds, a fun dance for everyone of every generation. Click on the link below to watch The Hully Gully being danced to The Watusi, and see if you can find any recommended YouTubes for The Tarentella being danced by brides and grooms and their guests at a wedding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr4-5kKcn_4

Romans, or rather What Have The Romans Ever Done For Us

My A-Z Challenge series is about Italy, it's lifestyle, the country and other miscellaneous things in regard to it.

                  

The Romans, as mentioned in a previous post, did appropriate or rather steal lots of land in and around Europe. They did take taxes from the peoples of those countries, turn some into slaves and generally ruled the natives of those countries in the way the Romans wanted which was not necessarily the way it had been previously done or that was appreciated. So, yes, not good. But on the other hand, as the clip from the film The Life of Brian (one of my favourites as it happens) shows, they did give things back. 

The ones listed in the film are medicine, 
Roads -famed for their long and very straight roads which are still in place in many cases, 
Aquaducts - bringing water to the towns, 
Sanitation - not too dissimilar to what we have today including latrines with a sewage system to take waste away,  
Irrigation - making channels from rivers
Education - this was in part taken from the Greek ways of doing it but passed further abroad by the Romans. The methodology and curriculum came from them, as well as starting at an early age and putting pupils into tiers or bands
Health - related to keeping clean and the sanitation systems, public baths - they also had baths in some private homes, 
Peace - they were good on peace keeping, maybe through force but still...
and of course wine making.

Other things they did for us were bringing in the calender used today which gives us 365 days, names of the months and leap years,
Certain types of material used in building such as cement, glass and even bricks,
Plumbing - they made pipes to bring and remove water out of lead. The word plumber comes from the Latin of plumbum.

So the Roman's did do quite a lot for us, as is shown by the legacy they have left. If you've never seen it do watch the clip from The Life of Brian.

Ennio Morricone and the Spaghetti Western

Anyone who has ever watched one of the so called the Spaghetti Western films will immediately know the familiar music which was often composed by Ennio Morricone. The first few bars of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is instantly recognizable. His music is haunting, suspenseful with the touch of Mexican which is needed as most of these films are set around the Mexican border. Maned Spaghetti Westerns due to the themes of an American western and also because they were directed and mostly made by Italians, Sergio Leone being one of the biggest known directors. The original name was Italian Style Western. They were actually often filmed in Spain or other countries, but some were made in  Italy. I know about some being filmed in Italy as my father had a bit part in one of them, as well as most of the young men of the town who all jumped at the chance, not only to earn a few Lira but also to be in a film - guess people wanted their 15 minutes of fame even back then. I think they must have enjoyed dressing up as cowboys too.

These films were cheaply made, dubbed very badly into English, plots which resembled each other, but weren't they compelling? Such violence, not usually my thing but the humour put into them made it watchable. All underscored by the most amazing, well, score.  Ennio Morricone used unusual instruments to set the films off, things like whips and gunshots which perfectly set the tone of the films up. There usually isn't a lot of narrative in these films as they're much more visual with lots of close ups, Morricone's sharp whistles and other strange instruments helping you to feel the emotions which aren't being spoken in the film. If it weren't for the music the films would have been much less watchable. I even have an old album of Spaghetti Western music.

The YouTube video above is from Once Upon a Time in The West which has the violence, lots of close ups, the humour which really makes it for me, and that all important haunting music composed by Ennio Morricone, some of the main ingredients of these movies. My Favourite of this genre are 'The Good, The bad and The Ugly' and 'My Name is Nobody' - both incidentally about a man with no name. What was you favourite, or is this film genre not one you like?

Happy Monday

Glitter Graphics Tumblr Backgrounds


No, I'm not talking about the group, though they are definitely worth talking about - controversial as they were, what with Shaun Ryder's excesses and Baz's amazingly crazy dancing. One day I will watch '24 Hour Party People' the film made about their time in Manchester.

No no, this post was just a way of hoping everyone is having a happy Monday. Monday's are often thought of as the worst day of the week, coming after the week-end where many people have rested and played, in various different amounts, then having to get up early again, back to work and back to the grindstone. I do hope you don't think of your work as a grindstone, I was only using it as a continuation of the old saying 'nose to the grindstone'. Only 4 more days till it the week-end again, guys.

A few facts about Monday:

Monday, nowadays is usually the first day of the week, gone are the days if it being Sunday,

The word itself comes from moon's day,

Daughter#2 was born on a Monday (I know - not really a fact about Monday, but it's still a fact as it happened),

The children's rhyme for it is Monday's child is fair of face,

Monday is the most popular day to commit suicide, call in sick, and surf the web in the Netherlands (that was whipped from Wiki).

I shall leave you with one of my very favourite songs which is by the aforementioned Happy Mondays, just highlight, right click then left click in the box, or just copy and paste:

http://youtu.be/KnBi-LNM0Og

Watermelons, Cocomeros and Losing Weight

Daughter#2 and I recently went out for a wander. On the way back we saw a stack of huge watermelons and it being a warm day were seduced into buying one. Silly us hadn't thought things through - we were at least 25 minutes walk away from home and those things weigh a ton!

Here's some to drool over



Well we had to share the carrying, and as the flimsy carrier bag threatened to break at any second we needed to carry it cradled in our arms as if it were a baby, a very heavy baby.

We took it in turns and I gave myself a little pep by imagining the weight dropping off me as I carried this great heavy thing, hoping my not loved handles might benefit too.

Finally we reached home and gave ourselves the best reward, slices of that lovely juicy (heavy) watermelon, mmm. Definately worth the effort. I have no idea if I lost any weight while carrying it, especially as I had the help from strong armed daughter#2 but at least you surely can't put any on from eating those things, indeed I'd go so far as hoping they have the celery effect of helping you lose as you eat.

All the way home I sang the cocomero song, although both daughter#1 and daughter#2 protest and insist the singer is actually singing
'Boom Badoom Boom
Boom Badoom Boom
He's Got That Super Bass'

Tell me, how can those lyrics sound like Cocomero Cocomero'? Anyway, that's my take on it and that's what I sing. If you're wondering, cocomero is Italian for watermelon.

Make your own mind up, here's the link to the song is she singing about juicy watermelons or some man with a deep voice? By the way, that watermelon is all eaten up already, delish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JipHEz53sU&ob=av2e

Cool Gadget

This looks a lot of fun. Bet you want one.

Jill and Kevin Wedding Entrance Dance

I saw this video some time ago and just loved it. What a fabulous way to start your married life! Imagine getting your family and friends to agree to dancing down the aisle for you that way. I wonder how long it took them to practice and what fun they must have had. You can see how much fun they had actually doing it by looking at their faces.What a surprise for the guests waiting for the standard wedding march.

Love it. Look at the post below to see who else loves it after watching this video!

The T-Mobile Royal Wedding

Well, if it was good enough for Jill and Kevin it's good enough for Kate and William. Here they are also dancing down the aisle with their family and friends.

Good little wiggle from Her Madge, don't you think? Nice bum bump from Charles and Camilla. But my favourite has to be Harry.

Wrinkled Ladies

Here's a bit of fun to watch, the original is in the post below.

Beyoncé - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)

The real deal. Fab, isn't it?