lsd

Nic il drago sorrideva all'orizzonte e shiva storceva la sua proboscide ogni volta che lui respirava.
Era vestito di tatuaggi e il suo costume era rosso fuoco con un cordino beige slacciato
che si muoveva su e giù ipnotizzandogli i genitali.
La confusione regnava sul suo corpo sgraziato:
sulla schiena un grande cristo in croce avviluppato da un nastro indaco con per fiocco un cuore nero, due buddha identici erano appollaiati sulle sue spalle tonde, un drago sputafuoco sul polpaccio destro
e shiva, che sprofondava fra le pieghe del suo ventre.
La madre di Nic lo portava a fare il bagno tenendolo per mano;
aveva sul viso quell'espressione dura e dolce che hanno le madri con figli caduti.
Caduti in guerra, caduti da un pero, caduti dal letto a castello, caduti in moto.
Caduti dentro al buco nero degli acidi.
Nicola poco prima di diventare Nic il drago aveva abusato lisergicamente di svariate sostanze pesanti
e un giorno per lui capitò che la notte non smise di calare.

Adesso stava davanti a me, scemo e perduto a considerare il nulla guardando il mare.
lsd
[audio http://www.rapida.typepad.com/filosofia/files/17_l.S.D..mp3]

lsd
lsd
Sassi a cura del mare, canzone LSD di Lucio Dalla e gli Idoli, 1999

1. You must not have seen any of the films on your list, either in theatres or on video.

2. The films on your list should not be available on Netflix (this will be the criteria for "availability" since it's too hard to track down what's available where, to who, etc.)

3. You can organize the list however you want, in themed couplets like Piper's original list, or just as twelve semi-random films.

4. You must credit and link to my blog, Piper's blog for getting the original ball rolling, and for good measure, the guys at Out 1 for planting the seed.

5. Tag five people to keep the meme going.

6. If you're too lazy to follow all of these rules, but still want to participate, you have my blessing (the more the merrier). Except for the rule about linking to my blog. That you still have to obey.

This time around I decided to break the films up into pairs of two, mostly by director. At first I thought that this would be too hard to accomplish (while abiding by the rules, that is), but then I remembered that there were quite a few Italian films that I couldn't find on NetFlix. So doing some backtracking, and aided by a few bouts of genius, let's get this party started:

Theme: Vittorio De Sica (Director)
Films: Shoe Shine / The Gold of Naples

Theme: Roberto Rossellini (Director) / Ingrid Bergman (Actor)
Films: Stromboli / Journey to Italy

Theme: Luchino Visconti (Director)
Films: Senso / Days of Glory

Theme: Abel Gance (Director)
Films: Napoleon / I Accuse

Theme: Miscellaneous
Films: Chaplin / Sleuth (1972)

***BONUS FEATURES***

Theme: Hitchcock Films that NEED to Be More Available
Films: Notorious / Rebecca

Honorable Mention:
War of the Buttons (Why is this gem not on DVD yet?)

Obligatory Tags:

Movie Reviews By CaptainD

The Kinetoscope Parlor

YDKS Movies

Celluloid Fire

/Film

(EDIT: Just found out that this is my 100th post. Yay)

Brady's Grilled Stromboli

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf of bread dough - we use frozen white (I have not found frozen wheat, only fresh from TJs). It is cheap and low in fat which is a plus since it is full of carbs and lacks many nutrients.
• tomato sauce
• bbq sauce
• fat free feta ( we just ran out of parm. but this ended up working)
• fresh veggies
• chopped chicken ( chopped in our little Cuisinart food processor that I am obsessed with!!)
• brie cheese
• BW3 Caribbean Jerk sauce
• bacon bits

Don't worry - these were not all mixed together into one big, gross stromboli. We used these ingredients to make four different kinds. The assembly of each one was simple:

1. Roll out a piece of dough on a cookie sheet. Brady likes to use a cold can of pop or beer to roll out the dough. He thinks it works better than our rolling pin...I am not so sure, but rolling is always his job so we will let him go with it!
2. Cover about 3/4 of the flattened dough with your sauce of choice. Make sure to leave an edge of dough where there is no sauce for putting it together.
3. Add your toppings or filling - the good part.
4. Fold the edges together so that none of the goodies can sneak out.
5. Place the stromboli on medium heat grill until it turns golden brown

Stromboli #1:

- BBQ sauce

-Chicken

- Feta

Stromboli # 2:

-Chicken

- Brie

- Veggies

Stromboli # 3 *Brady style

- Caribbean Jerk Sauce

- Chicken

- Bacon

- Feta

Stromboli #4

- Fresh veggies

- Tomato Sauce

- Feta

- Chicken

Overall, all of them were delicious! We liked the meltiness of the brie! It really added to this dish. This was a test night, to see if we could/should make these for company. We agreed they are perfect for having people over for a causal dinner. To make them a little more pretty, I would make an egg wash (egg whites + spices + salt and pepper) to brush on the stromboli before cooking it. This will give it a little glaze.

Hostess Tip:

A fun way to serve this dinner would be to create a "make your own stromboli bar". Your guests could each have a plate with a pre-portioned amount of rolled out dough. They could add their own sauce and toppings to make it original!

The outside:

The insides

Our sides were the leftover veggies: zuc, squash, mushrooms and spiral cut sweet potatoes cooked in a little olive oil. They were also great!

Way back in my college years in Holland, I used to waiter on holidays for 5 stars hotels/restaurants to get some extra pocket money, before that time I could not understand why people choose to have cheese plates for dessert instead of sweets. Then, my love for cheese started to grow because everytime  new cheese supplies came in, the chef always asked every F&B staffs to taste and gave some introduction too, for our product knowledge sake. So, despite of hating the hard work I've done, now I'm kind of thankful for my "serving" time, because at least I got some knowledge out of it.

Now, move on with the cheese... I usually just have the basics in my fridge, ricotta, mozarella, cheddar and some blue cheese, but Camembert is special to me because eating it, I feel like eating two kinds of cheeses at the same time... the "skin" part ,I loooove it so much, some people like to take the skin out, but sometime I like to eat only the skin... I'm weird :P .

 I like Camembert better than "regular" brie because it has a distinct "little bit longer" after taste, which I can not quite explain why, but maybe from the grass soil that cows in camembert ate or who knows what... for whatever reason, I just like it :) , and the reason why I'm telling you all of this is that there is a "Say Cheese"  food-event , that I just had to send my entry to... yea...the name of the event says it all :)

 With this stromboli I try to put 3 different worlds in one dish, french, mid-east and Italian...all of the rustic tastes, enjoy :)

Ingredients

• 4 Cups bread flour
• 1/4 Cup barley flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1tsp caster sugar
• 1,5 tsp fast action dried yeast
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1,5 cups water
• fresh basil

• beef pastrami

• camembert cheese

Directions

1. Put the flour, salt, sugar and yeast into a large bowl. Add the olive oil then gradually mix in enough warm water to make a soft dough.
2. Knead well on a lightly floured surface for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. put the dough back into the bowl, cover loosely with oiled clingfilm and leave in a warm place to rise 1 hour or until doubled in size
3. Tip the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and roll out, dust the outside part with barley flour. Arrange the fillings, then cover loosely with oiled clingfilm and leave in a warm place to rise for 15 minutes.
4. Remove the clingfilm and bake in a preheated oven 200′C for 30 minutes.
5. Serve while hot.

2 tubes refrigerated pizza dough (such as pillsbury brand)
2 tbsp corn meal or all purpose flour
1/2lb sliced pepperoni
3/4 lb sliced mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 tsp Italian seasoning blend
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
16 oz marinara sauce, for dipping

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Break open the tube of dough and remove it from container. Dust your hands and lightly coat the dough with flour or cornmeal the roll out onto work surface. Stretch out dough, gently spreading out the rectangle shape it has been formed into already. Cut the thin rectangular dough into 4 equal pieces, working across the dough: cut it in half and cut each half in half again. Cover each piece of dough with: 2 slices pepperoni and 2 slices cheese. Roll each piece on an angle from corner to corner making a long roll that is thicker in the middle and thinner on each end. Brush rolls with extra-virgin olive oil then mix cheese and seasonings in a small cup, sprinkle and pat the mixture into the dough. Bake until evenly golden, 12 to 14 minutes then serve. If desired, serve with Dipping Sauce.

Reaction: Positive, and they said it was really filling (I agree). The only downside is that this is a gut bomb, heartburn provoking kinda meal :( It was hard to stop eating the Stromboli, but you regretted it for the rest of the night!

Group Size: 6 girls

Group Involvement: 1 person unrolled and cut up the dough, 1 person laid out the fillings, 1 person seasoned the rolls.

Alterations: The original recipe calls for a lot of different meats, but our group is small and there were only enough people to bring a few things.

If I made this again:  I would use trader joes pizza dough, or try to make my own beforehand.

Gli strombolani , quando si riferiscono al vulcano, lo chiamano "Iddu" (è alle mie spalle in questa foto scattata un paio di mesi dopo gli eventi del 2003)

Mi stavo chiedendo se pure noi abbiamo coniato-nel tempo- una sorta di definizione del genere per riferirci al nostro personale "Iddu", il terremoto.

Perché ? Perché ho notato che gli strombolani hanno, in un certo senso, esorcizzato la presenza di un rischio incombente evitando di nominarne apertamente la fonte, ma, di fatto, assolutizzandola con l'attribuzione di un pronome personale in maiuscolo. _   Sarei curiosa di sapere cosa ne pensate voi.   elda _

At first it seemed like the new eruptions at Mt. Etna (Italy) were petering out rather quickly. Instead, now it seems that there are fears that a new rift might be opening on Etna, which might mean more vents for lava to erupt. Apparently there has also been some seismic activity to go along with the new eruption and rifting, which shouldn't be too surprising.

It is also noted that Stromboli, another one of the Aeolian volcanoes, is erupting now as well. Busy time for Italian volcanoes!

My favorite menu item was the Stromboli and being friends with the family - Together we share and hope you enjoy!

Pizza Pantry Stromboli Sandwich

6 - Hoagie Buns - cut in half lengthwise

1/2 lb ground chuck - cooked, crumbled and drained

1/2 lb Italian or breakfast sausage - cooked, crumbled and drained

1 - onion - finely diced

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Italian seasoning to taste

1 small jar pizza sauce

8 oz. Mozzarella cheese

----------------

Combine meats

Season to taste

Spoon equal parts of meat on bottom half of each bun

Spoon pizza sauce on top of meat

Add diced onion

Sprinkle cheese on the other half of the bun

Bake 400 - open face style - for 5 - 10 minutes until cheese is bubbly

Put sandwich together - drizzle with melted butter - sprinkle with garlic salt

Cut in half

The Pizza Pantry served these delicious sandwiches with a pickle spear and Ruffles Potato Chips

     ******************************* 

Bob's Pizza Pantry

A Itália tem uma das cinematografias mais interessantes do mundo. Principalmente a partir do pós-guerra, criaram-se condições económico-sociais, psicológicas e até mesmo tecnológicas (talvez mais pelo facto de, nos primórdios, a tecnologia ser escassa) que permitiram criar obras imortais da História da Sétima Arte.

Filme maior do neo-realismo italiano, conta-nos a história da não integração de uma jovem da Lituânia na sociedade da ilha de Stromboli, no sul do país, para onde se mudou após casar com um jovem natural da dita ilha. Conhecida a fundo a vida dura dos habitantes locais – perspectiva esta que o altruísta realizador fornece também ao espectador, através das longas e belas passagens quasi-documentais sobre a pesca ou a erupção do vulcão da ilha – a jovem, cada vez mais descontente com a vida que leva, pretende abandonar tudo…

Há ainda a particularidade de este ser o filme de Ingrid Bergman, tantas vezes considerada uma das mulheres mais bonitas de sempre. É o melhor filme dela? Difícil dizer. É porventura o mais badalado, a expensas das estórias da rodagem do filme e dos anos seguintes… Mas não vou contar essa história, isto não é a revista “Caras”, gossip vão ter de procurar noutros lados…

Mas não deixem de ver o filme se tiverem possibilidade. E para uma iniciação ao cinema italiano procurem o documentário do Scorcese, “Viagem a Itália”. Ou esperem que repita no Canal 2 – tenho a certeza que mais dia, menos dia, isso vai acontecer.

The Dame;

Meryl Streep.

Making her screen debut in 1977 at the age of 28, Meryl Streep made her mark quickly. A year into her career, making an appearance in the award winning Julia, before winning an Emmy for her role in the television mini-series Holocaust. Two years later, her reputation was established when aged 30 she won a supporting actress Oscar for her role in the Best Picture winning Kramer vs. Kramer, it was her second Best Picture appearance in as many years after her quietly pained turn in the Vietnam epic The Deer Hunter and established the New Jersey native as one of the brightest sparks on the Hollywood map. Immortality was hers 3 years later with her leading turn in the emotionally harrowing, physically draining Sophie's Choice, she won the lead actress Oscar and immediately took her place at the head of the quickly emerging generation of actresses. She went on to garner 4 more nominates in the 80s, and with Out of Africa appeared in her 3rd Best Picture winning film in 7 years. As the years have passed she has continued to gain a great deal of attention, racking up further Oscar nominations till she became the most nominated performer in history with her 13th nomination in 2002. Though often accused of being a mechanical, mannered actress, Streep is at times perfectly capable of playing loose, of being effortless and flowing as her detractors claim she is impossible of being. She rose above the turgid middle aged romance of The Bridges of Madison County, to give a heartfelt, melancholy turn, and with her role in Spike Jonze's Adaptation, gave the sort of beautifully subtle mix of comedy and drama which she had never come close to displaying before, and leaving many to wonder why she doesn't do it more often. Whether or not Meryl Streep is one of the great actresses of all time is a matter of opinion, but that she is an incredibly gifted performer, equally capable of earning laughs, and tears, with restraint or theatrics is a plain and simple fact. Pushing 60, she shows no signs of slowing down.

The Dude;

Peter O'Toole.

Playwright Noel Coward once told Peter O'Toole that if he had been any prettier, the movie would have had to be called Florence of Arabia. Depending on a persons tastes, that may or may not be the case, but if it is, nobody could deny that the Irish born son of a bookie who abandoned boyhood dreams of journalism to enter the world of acting has ever taken the simplistic route of coasting by on his looks. After small parts in small movies and bit parts on television, graduation day came; in 1962, at the age of 30, Peter O'Toole beat out some of the biggest names in the business to land the lead role in David Lean's majestic Lawrence of Arabia, and an icon was born. In the 46 years that have come and gone since, O'Toole has amassed 7 further Oscar nominations, yet it was that first that almost half a century later remains the role for which he is, and most likely always will, be best known for. T.E Lawrence was a larger than life character, he was special at what he did and he knew it, O'Toole plays the part with absolute conviction, never attempting to reach out for the audience's sympathy, simply bringing the character shining to life with a God like ferocity. He has brought that same ferocity to the vast majority of his roles since, whether providing the storm to Richard Burton's calm in Becket, taking the lead in epic literary adaptations such as Lord Jim, more intimate ones such as Goodbye Mr. Chips, the thundering fireworks of his verbal duels with Katharine Hepburn in The Lion Winter, the odd but interesting choices of films like Supergirl or Caligola, or as the elder statesman, bringing his parched, resounding tones and towering pathos to supporting roles in the likes of Troy and Ratatouille. Peter O'Toole carried a degree of grandiosity out of that desert and into anything he has been involved with since, that he has played Presidents, Popes, Kings and...film directors, will come as no surprise, the world knows what he is suited for, and it's majesty.

The Director;

Roberto Rossellini.

Roberto Rossellini was born into a bourgeois family in Rome in 1906, his father built the first cinema in Italy, and granted his son an unlimited free pass. As such, the youngster began frequenting the theatre from an early age, falling in love with the medium he helped to define decades later. Following his fathers death, Rossellini began working as a soundmaker on numerous Italian productions, quickly learning the different aspects of the moviemaking trade before in 1937 he made his first documentary, after this he went on to work as assistant on numerous other directors productions, gaining further experience. Though his directing career began soon after, it was not until 1945 that he began to establish the reputation that endured ever since with Roma, citta Aperrta. Made in the final year of the war it ushered in the beginning of the neo-realist movement that has been the hallmark of Italian cinema ever since, it told the harrowing tale of the city of Rome under Nazi occupation and made a star of Anna Magnani. He followed it up the next year with Paisa, a larger scale chronicle of Italy during the war. He completed his legendary neo-realist trilogy in 1948 with Germanna anno Zero, leaving his native land behind, Rossellini turned his attention to Germany, and the conditions in the country in the wake of the war, told through the eyes of a young boy, the nation's future, and its struggles to overcome the past. In 1950, Rossellini married Ingrid Bergman, and over the next 4 years they made 6 films together, most famously Stromboli, Europa '51 and Viaggio in Italia, all character dramas dealing with wider world issues. Though as a cinematic icon it was these later years that made him most famous, it was in that first decade, during the neo-realist period of the 1940s, that Roberto Rossellini made his most defining works as a filmmaker. He took non professional actors and put a camera to them, against the backdrop of one of the most turbulent times in the continents history, perhaps as close as narrative cinema has ever, or will ever come to capturing life on screen. He continued working till the year of his death, but it was in those first ten years of his career, that Rossellini earned cinematic immortality.

The Picture;

Singin' in the Rain (Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly, 1952)

Hollywood had been turning out musicals since they knew how, ever since Al Jolson sang his way to immortality in The Jazz Singer, the movies had been brimming with song, from Top Hat to The Wizard of Oz to On the Town, from those beginnings to the genre's decline in the mid 60s musicals garnered Best Picture Oscars on six different occasions, yet still, over half a century later, the Hollywood movie musical was perhaps never more perfectly embodied than in 1952's Singin' in the Rain. Created in collaboration between Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly (the two who had brought the iconic On the Town to the screen 3 years prior) the film set new standards of musical innovation, from Donald O'Connors physically awe inspiring, manic hilarity on 'Make 'em Laugh' to the unflinching joy of 'Good Morning', the dreamlike odyssey of the 'Broadway Rhythm Ballet' and the soaring precipitation soaked glory of the title song itself. Yet here was not a film built entirely upon its musical sequences, for Singin' in the Rain featured fine performances from its entire cast, from Kelly's ballsy, charming leading man, Debbie Reynolds' sweet softness, Donald O'Connor and his electric verve and Jean Hagen's greedy, jealous, simple and conniving starlet, and even more impressively, here was a musical social commentary at it's heart. Telling the tale of the coming of sound to cinema, of the changing world and how all in it learned to cope, about ambition and stardom and glitz, about the ones who toil and make the magic and the ones that shine and create illusions. There were those that made more money, and those that won more awards, but only one, had Gene Kelly...singin'...and dancin'...in the rain.

The process:

(Hi I love you)

It's true.

The finished product:

It didn't look that blurry in real life, I swear.

Good stuff. I would've taken more pictures, but my hands were constantly covered with flour.

On another note, I really want someone to hang out with tonight.

Hit me up: 516-732-8970

Rome's has been around for a while and developed a reputation for having good food and great lunch specials. The place is normally pretty full around lunch time but there is plenty of seating. The restaurant has three locations in and around San Antonio and a new location in North Austin. In addition, the owners have franchised their restaurant concept in hopes of expanding (it will be interesting to see how they do).

The dough used for the pizza, calzones, and stromboli tastes great. It is doughy and slightly chewy and toasted well on the bottom. It is not greasy nor soggy and is firm enough to hold up the weight of the toppings. The cheese/sauce ratio is good and the pepperoni has a nice tangyness to it. The stromboli is only made for lunch and the Classico, with meat and cheese, sells out quickly. Nevertheless, the Stromboli of the day (aka: Vegetarian) is still pretty good with its mix of traditional pizza veggies (mushroom, peppers, etc.).

The other day I split an Extravaganza pizza with a few co-workers. It has extra pepperoni, canadian bacon, Italian sausage, ham, beef, salami, and cheese. Salami is a little unusual for a pizza topping, but it tasted great. The canadian bacon and the salami were sliced thick enough to be meaty, but not so thick that they wouldn't cook through. If you like meat, this is it. My only gripe is the Italian sausage - its not that great. Moreover, it was chock full of fennel seeds. I hate fennel (I must be the only one in the world who hates this weed seed because everyone seems to use it in their sausage - more on this in another post).

Overall, the menu has a lot to choose from, but not so much as to be overwhelming. There are several salads and sandwiches if you are not in the mood for pizza products and they also serve dessert, beer and wine. There are a lot of things I have not tried at Rome's, but based on my experiences here and the lunchtime crowd, I'd have to believe that the rest of the menu is just as good. Let me know what you think, especially if you have any desserts. This is the kind of place you would just love to see in-house desserts at. However, since this is the seed of a franchise operation where everything must be standardized, I can't imagine that the dessert offerings would be any better than what I could buy at the grocery store. Nevertheless, this is a great place for a tasty, quick lunch.

Tonight I made strombolis for supper.  I like to make stromboli for supper when I know I will not have a lot of time right before dinner to cook.  It is a simple meal that my family loves! 

Today I made my own bread dough for the stromboli, but it works fine with store-bought frozen bread dough.  Since I am cooking for a bunch of hungry people, I made a quadruple batch of basic soft white bread dough.

Basic Soft White Bread Dough (one batch makes one loaf):

1 cup of warm water

2 tablespoons of sugar

two teaspoons of yeast (or one small packet)

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

3 cups of flour (I like to use bread flour but regular works too)

All I do is mix the yeast with the water and sugar and let it set until the mix looks foamy.  Then I add the salt and oil, stir a bit, and then mix in the flour.  I knead the whole mix , adding a bit more flour if I have to, for about 5 minutes.  Then I let it rest for awhile, 20 minutes or so, and then knead for another 5 minutes or so. If I am just looking to make bread, I then put it in an oiled bowl and let it rise for an hour or so, then punch it down and put it in an oiled loaf pan to rise again.  Once it is doubled in size, I bake it at 350 until it looks done and sounds hollow when I tap the top.

But since I was making stromboli tonight, I made a quadruple batch of dough and let the whole thing rise in a huge oiled bowl for an hour.  I punched it down and divided it into four equal parts, shaped each part into a ball and set them on waxed paper to rise again.  Today I had to take a child to the orthodontist, so I let the dough sit and rise for an hour or so while I was gone. 

Then I just had to roll out each ball of dough into a long rectangle.  I put on a layer of red sauce, some browned italian sausage, and some mozzerella cheese.  The whole thing got rolled up, placed on an oiled baking pan, and put in the oven. 

The good news is that tonight I think there is a bit leftover- I know the kids were hoping for leftovers so they could bring slices with them for lunch tomorrow!