Word of the Day: Arrangiare

Posted on May 25, 2012 by

You know when you learn a new language and the teacher always warns you about ‘false friends?’ You know, those tricky words in the language you are learning that resemble or sound like a word in English, but they do not mean the same thing at all. For example, the Italian word fabbrica: you would think it means fabric in English, but actually it means a factory. Fabric in Italian is tessuto.

Well forget all that for now, because today’s word of the day is exactly what it sounds like.  That is, unless you think arrangiare sounds like ‘orange,’ and the word means ‘to orange,’ it’s pretty obvious what it means…

Arrangiare is to arrange. Or in other words, to organize, to put into order. [I'm sure Italians hate this but...] Arrangiare comes from the French word, arranger, meaning to organize or to settle.

Example:

‘Ha arrangiato la camera prima che arrivasse la mamma.’ – He put his room in order before his mommy arrived.

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This Weekend in Rome

Posted on May 25, 2012 by

Friday: Seems like this year Rome has picked up on that grand old American tradition of Memorial Day weekend street fairs.  First off, Via Margutta, that charming little side street off of Via del Corso that’s noted for its art galleries, tasty little restaurants, and the home of Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday, is wrapping up a month long festival today.  Head over there to take in some art, check out concerts and special window displays throughout the day, and catch vintage photos of the street detailing its artistic history.
In the meantime out in Pigneto, today marks the opening night of Pigneto Citta Aperta – a weekend long, unsponsored festival of art galleries, bbqs, street performances, and concerts.  Check out the Facebook invite for a full list of events, or just head out there starting at 5pm today thru Sunday, wander around, and soak up some non-ancient Roman culture.

Saturday: Head to the MACRO Testaccio for the 5th Annual Rome Contemporary Art Fair.  Close to 100 different galleries from around the world are in town to show off their best contemporary pieces.  The fair is divided into three sections – the Main fair will feature established modern and contemporary galleries, the Start Ups is a place for all those young, cutting edge galleries, and Out of Range will be a place for galleries from both categories to show off some rockin’ large scale works.  The fair is open from 4pm -11pm on Friday and Saturday, and, unless I’m misreading the hours on the website, from midnight on Sunday morning until 11pm that night. Admission is 15 euro.

Sunday: For anyone who’s ever dreamed of spending a Sunday afternoon wandering fro vineyard to vineyard, sampling the best of what Italy has to offer to the oenological community, this is your day.  Cantine Aperte is an annual event put on by the Movimento Turismo del Vino, and is basically just a day when all of their associated wineries (about 1,000 or so), open their wine cellars to the public for tours and tastings.  Check out their website to narrow down your list (you can search by region and provincia), and plan accordingly.

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Word of the Day: Brillo – Alticcio

Posted on May 24, 2012 by

The verb brillare in Italian means to shine or to sparkle, but in Italian slang, you can also use the adjective brillo to say that someone is tipsy or slightly drunk.

Personally, I think this can be explained by that sparkle or shine one shows in his eyes when ‘slightly drunk.’  However, the Italian etymology gods say something else. If I understood correctly, brillare is the ‘shining’ effect that wine has when it is generously poured into a glass and some spills out.

During my brillo research, I also discovered the word alticcio, meaning tipsy, or being merry [from drink]. The etymology of alticcio is also interesting, saying that it comes from a guy named Altetto who was apparently “somewhat altered for the excessive drinking of wine…”

Examples:
‘Sono brillo, non posso guidare.’ – I’m tipsy, I can’t drive.
‘Non ho mai visto Giovanni così alticcio.’ – I’ve never seen Giovanni that tipsy before.

Disclaimer: The Italian etymology website that I use seems to be [badly] scanned pages of an actual book, and furthermore, an etymological book that is pretty old in its style, so if I get it wrong or miss something, please excuse me!

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Photo of the Week: Castel Sant’Angelo

Posted on May 23, 2012 by

Castel Sant’Angelo at dusk

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Summer Concerts

Posted on May 23, 2012 by

Rock out this summer with Rock in Roma

Summer in Rome is bomb. Besides for all sorts of outdoor revelry, there is a huge lineup of musicians and bands playing in Rome. Most of the concerts are in the middle of the week, so get ready to be tired most weekday mornings. Small price to pay though, it’s summer!!!

Below is a summary of the more well-known groups that will be performing. Whether tickets are still available is up to yous guys to check out. I generally use TicketOne, GreenTicket, PostePay, or LisTicket to purchase concert tickets.

PS -August is kinda a dead month in Rome…
PPS – I linked some musicians below to YouTube videos, so enjoy!

May:
24th: Black Lips + Gringo Star + Wildmen
28th: Neon Indian + Grimes (Grimes jam here).

June:
7th: Afghan Wings + After Hours.
8th + 9th: M.I.T. – Meet in Town
12th: Madonna
14th: In the Game of Land
25th: Incubus
26th: Cypress Hill + Everlast (Cypress Hill jam here).
27th: Portishead
27th: Mastodon
28th: Tiesto
30th: Radiohead

July:
2nd: Deadmau5 (Deadmau5 jam here).
2nd: The Cranberries
3rd: Snoop Dogg
5th: Negrita
7th: Boys Noize (Boys Noize jam here).
7th: I Cani (I Cani jam here).
7th: Morrissey
8th: Justice
9th: The Cure + Crystal Castles (Crystal Castles jam here).
10th: Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of The Doors
11th: J-AX
12th: Wolfmother (Wolfmother jam here).
12th: Garbage
13th: Armin Van Buuren
15th: Tony Bennett
17th: Lenny Kravitz
18th: Duran Duran
18th: Kasabian
20th: Caparezza (Caparezza jam here).
21st: Alanis Morissette
22nd: Goran Bregovic
23rd: Ben Harper + NNEKA
25th: Subsonica
26th: Beach Boys (Beach Boys jam here – long live Uncle Jesse!)
27th: Simple Minds
28th: Litfiba

August:
2nd: Placebo

Keep it rockin’!

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Word of the Day: Aperitivare

Posted on May 22, 2012 by

I’m sure an aperitivo needs no explanation, but just in case: it’s when you go to a bar or restaurant and order a commonly imbibed pre-dinner beverage (spritz, wine, beer…), and they throw in a plate of goodies or a buffet for free. Aperitivo comes from the medieval Latin word, aperitivus, which is derived from the latin verb, aperire, or, to open. All of this makes sense, since people have an aperitivo as an appetizer, or as something to whet the appetite, opening the door to dinner.

In Italian people use the verb ‘fare,’ literally, to make/do, or ‘prendere,’ to get, an aperitivo. I, on the other hand, would much rather have aperitivo be its own verb… ‘so let it be written. So let it be done.’ Aperitivare then, means to have, get, or go out for an aperitivo.

Example:
‘Aperitiviamo stasera?’ – Shall we get an aperitivo stasera?
‘Ti va di aperitivare?’ – Do you feel like getting an aperitivo?

PS- to all the Italians out there who claim that it’s cacophonous to say aperitivare, I say to you, tough nuggies.

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Fare Hikes

Posted on May 21, 2012 by

An important heads-up to all you commuters out there – starting on Friday, May 25th, all ATAC fares (buses, metro, etc) are going up to 1.50/ride.  A couple of things to note:

1. The new 1.50 tickets will be valid for 100 minutes, instead of the current 75
2. The daily unlimited ticket is now 6 euro
3. Monthly passes will go up to 35.  For anyone requiring a student pass, you’ll need to register through ATAC (http://www.atac.roma.it/index.asp?p=170)
4. Tickets purchased at the 1 euro price before Friday will be valid until July 31st
5. From August 1st until October 31st, if you still have old 1 euro tickets, you can trade them in for a new ticket, and pay the difference. Please note, this doesn’t actually save you any money, but if you find an old ticket after July 31st, it won’t go completely to waste.

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Word of the Day: Costanza

Posted on May 21, 2012 by

I saw the word costanza in an article recently, and it was like getting hit in the face with a marble rye. SEINFELD. George Costanza (aka Art Vandelay).

In Italian, the noun costanza means constancy or stability. It comes from the Latin, constare: to stay together, to be still, to remain stable.

In other words, it doesn’t have anything to do with George Costanza.

The Assistant to the Traveling Secretary himself

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Dancing: May 18-19

Posted on May 18, 2012 by

Friday May 18th:

L-Ektrica Deluxe Closing Party: The season of L-Ektrica parties is almost over, and Lanificio is hosting the last one, featuring Nicholas, a 25 year old DJ from Perugia, spinning deep house and techno. Lanificio’s resident DJs will follow.
Where: Lamificio 159 - Via di Pietralata, 159
When: 11:30 PM
Cost:  €10 with drink before 1 AM, €15 with drink after 1 AM.
For more info check out the Facebook invite of Lanificio’s event page.

Touch the Wood Closing Season: Another closing party scheduled for tonight, this time from the Touch the Wood club series at Radio Cafè. The bassist from super popular British electro-pop group Metronomy will be throwing down his own DJ set, and then joined by some “chummy friends”, aka more DJs!
Where: Radio Cafè - Via Principe Umberto, 67
When: 11:45 PM
Cost: €8 with drink on the list (email touchthewood@live.it), or €10 with drink at the door
For more info check out the Facebook invite.

I Mostri Release Party: Head over to San Lorenzo to catch Rome’s own I Mostri. This group is pretty great: they write their own quirky lyrics, in Italian, about life in Rome (and Americans in Campo de’ Fiori). As they describe themselves on their Facebook page, they are “explosive in all respects… giving a pure adrenaline rush, literally spawning from proto-punk and ska.” This concert will showcase works from their new album, La Gente Muore di Fame. Two other groups will be performing as well.
Where: Locanda Atlantide – Via dei Lucani, 22
When: 9:30 PM
Cost: €5
For more info check out the Facebook invite.

Saturday May 19th:

In case you aren’t partaking in Rome’s Notte dei Musei, or if you want to boogie after checking out some art, I suggest:
Deep Ink: As the tagline for this event describes, “London, that great garbage dump where all the loafers and idlers of the empire irresistibly flow.” What’s that mean? Well-known British DJ Simon Baker is in Rome and will be spinning deep house and techno. Four other DJs will also be performing both indoors and outdoors, which is pretty cool! Yay summer!
Where: Circolo degli Illuminati – Via Libetta, 1
When: Midnight- 6:30 AM
Cost: €10 with drink
For more info check out the Facebook invite.

ROCK ON!

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This Weekend in Rome: May 18-May 20

Posted on May 18, 2012 by

Friday: Get yourself over to Castel Sant’Angelo tonight at 9pm as the first cars of the Mille Miglia roll into town. This classic car rally started way up in Brescia on Wednesday, and rolls into Rome for the southernmost stop on the 1,000 mile circuit.  Close to 400 cars are participating, so expect to see some classic Bugatti, Officine Meccaniche, Fiat, Talbot and Mercedes models cruising by the castle tonight.  In fact, one of the qualifying criteria to participate in the race is that the car must be a model that drove in the original incarnation of the Mille Miglia – an annual event from 1927 through 1957, before it was revived in the 1970′s.

Saturday: The annual Notte dei Musei takes place tomorrow night, as the great majority of Italy’s museums and archaeological sites go nocturnal and free for the day. Most sites are open until 2am, with last entrance at 1:30.  There are also quite a few concerts and special events going on in conjunction with the evening, so check out the Musei in Comune site for a full list.  If you’re more into calcio than Caravaggio, don’t forget the Champions League final is Saturday night at 8:45pm – you can count on most pubs (Scholars, Abbey, etc) to be showing the Chelsea/Bayern match.

Sunday: Sunday is the final day of the Festival del Verde e del Paessagio, a three-day festival dedicated to the greening of Rome through urban and home landscaping.  The event is taking place up at the Parco della Musica, and features a mile long stroll which various gardeners, garden designers, landscape architects, nurserymen and craftsmen, have enhanced with their sustainable design solutions. Apparently there area  lot of hanging gardens involved, which just sounds magical.  Additionally, the BNL Internazionali Tennis Tournament concludes today with both the men’s and women’s finals.   This information isn’t particularly helpful, because tickets are sold out, but it will explain the traffic you’ll encounter trying to get up to the Parco della Musica.

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