LIGHT MODE
DARK MODE
In the summer of 1949, a Marchese, a scion of an aristocratic Tuscan family, created his very first clothing line, all in black and white. By the time his house of fashion was born in 1951, he’d found his pale turquoise, his sea green, his lemon yellow,
DH. Lawrence was a bit of a bad boy. Lady Chatterley’s Loverwas the last and probably the best-known novel by the British writer (1885-1930), but in 1928 when it was published it was considered so scandalous and sexually explicit that the only place Lawrence was able
I like Edison as much as the next person. Indeed, when I first arrived in Florence, I jokingly referred to it as my second home. It was where I checked my e-mail, had my morning cappuccino, went to the loo, did my Italian homework, and wrote in
The Leather School is located in the historic Monastery of Santa Croce and its creation was a collaborative effort of the Franciscan friars of the Basilica of Santa Croce and ...
When one considers the musical landscape that The White Stripes have jumped into, you’ve got to give them credit for doing so damn well. After five albums, they sound as fresh as ever. Offering new guitar pleasures and witty lyrics to the common folk. This recording again shows
After last year’s emotionally draining Million Dollar Baby, and the long tradition of boxing biopics that came before that (all the Rocky’s and Raging Bulls) yet another one might seem superfluous. But the first-rate teaming of Ron Howard and Russell Crowe (the second time,
Roald Dahl’s famous book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has been adapted for the screen a second time, and Tim Burton’s delightful version of the industrial fairy tale provides an opportunity for Johnny Depp to do a creepy impersonation of the misanthropic entrepreneur, Willie Wonka.
A futuristic thriller warning of the dangers of human cloning and the harvesting of spare body parts, with a strong cast not quite succeeding in enlivening a structurally unsound movie of two philosophically unreconciled halves. The two attractive protagonists Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) and Jordan Two Delta (Scarlet
September hails the start of a new school year, and in this city it is not just the Italians who go back to school, but all the foreign students as well. As a matter of fact, Florence is the biggest American study abroad centre in the world and that’
First off, I have to confess that I’ve always been fascinated with Extreme Makeover, What Not to Wear, and other physical transformation shows. Of course, I know that beauty is not only skin deep and Gabrio Staff was the first to tell me so when I visited
The fall fashions this year look good on Florence: the soft, natural colour palate of the season against the cool, grey stone. A stroll down Via Roma is sure to get you in the mood for Autumn. The brocade coats showing off in the windows at Miucca
Catering to those tourists, students, and expatriates craving an American fix, a ‘culinary’ comfort from home, purveyors of distinctly American food have found a niche in Florence. Although New York style Chinese takeout has yet to hit the scene, imported peanut butter, fresh blueberry muffins, Campbell’s
Rosanna Serravalli was born in Florence, Italy where she started ballet classes at the school of Darie Collin. As a young girl she moved to New York to join the Joffrey Ballet. She then moved to the American Ballet Theatre, where she attained the rank of Soloist.
A guy who dresses up like a bat clearly has issues. Adam West, Micheal Keaton, Val Kilmer and George Clooney have all had the privilege, but Christian Bale has more issues than most- he's less camp, more convincing- in this earnest Batman prequel, as possibily the best Bruce Wayne
“A useless, talentless, empty man…” Peter Sellers (an excellent Geoffrey Rush) says of himself in this hatchet-job biopic that is at pains to step out of the standard representational biographic ...
Lightning never strikes in teh same place twice. Or does it? H.G. Wells' visionary 1898 sci-fi novel has had many incarnations- famously on radio by Orson Welles, on film in 1953, on TV and in comics- and now in Steven Speilberg's contemporary American version with man of
It almost sounds like the beginning of a novel: a group of friends sharing a bottle of wine and talking about the opening of a McDonald’s restaurant at the foot of the Spanish Steps in Rome. About how this could be the end of the treasured, ancient Italian
‘Arethusa rose from her couch of snows in the Acroceraunian mountains,’ recites Audrey Hepburn as Princess Ann in the 1953 film, Roman Holiday. She quotes it as her favourite Keats ...
If you rent an apartment here, one of the things you will quickly discover is the Italian mode of home electricity. You’ll probably want to plug in your computer right away or charge up your cell phone. You’ll find that you need to buy
My relationship with Trenitalia is one of mutual suspicion and distrust. They suspect me of not having the correct ticket and I don’t trust them to get me anywhere on time. Anyone like myself who travels a short distance in or out of Florence everyday for
So you’re having a girl’s night out. You’re fairly new in town and you and a few girls from your Italian class have arranged to meet at the Duomo, where you might hang out for a bit, maybe pop into JJ Cathedral for
The Gorrilaz first pounced on the world with the single “Clint Eastwood” in 2001. Some critics have labelled them unoriginal, but one thing is for certain, their dynamic is original, for the Gorrilaz are a cartoon band. Any picture you will see of the band, weather it be
While there has always been a tradition of creative English and American expatriates living in Florence, there was also a small Russian contingent, including the brief stays of the writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) and composer Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-1893). Although most of these foreigners came to Florence seeking sun,
This month, as temperatures peak and air quality plummets, visitors to Florence may find themselves wandering a city nearly void of Italians. Owing to its particular geographical position — lying in a low-level basin between hills — in late summer Florence becomes an intolerably hot and hazy place. Thus,
