#Vincenzo Gigante

[magauda]

La morte dei segretari Frausin e Gigante provocherà, all’interno del partito comunista triestino, l’allontanamento dal CLN italiano per passare sotto il comando sloveno

Per cui, con le dimissioni del re, e con l’avanzata dell’Armata Rossa in Bulgaria e in Romania (che avevano firmato un armistizio con le forze sovietiche), Tito viaggiò segretamente in aereo, all’insaputa degli inglesi, per arrivare a Mosca per chiedere aiuti militari a Stalin e addestrare le sue truppe in modo da poter combattere efficacemente i tedeschi e cacciarli dalla Jugoslavia. Stalin…

[condamina]

La morte dei segretari Frausin e Gigante provocherà, all’interno del partito comunista triestino, l’allontanamento dal CLN italiano per passare sotto il comando sloveno

Per cui, con le dimissioni del re, e con l’avanzata dell’Armata Rossa in Bulgaria e in Romania (che avevano firmato un armistizio con le forze sovietiche), Tito viaggiò segretamente in aereo, all’insaputa degli inglesi, per arrivare a Mosca per chiedere aiuti militari a Stalin e addestrare le sue truppe in modo da poter combattere efficacemente i tedeschi e cacciarli dalla Jugoslavia. Stalin…

[collasgarba]

La morte dei segretari Frausin e Gigante provocherà, all’interno del partito comunista triestino, l’allontanamento dal CLN italiano per passare sotto il comando sloveno

Per cui, con le dimissioni del re, e con l’avanzata dell’Armata Rossa in Bulgaria e in Romania (che avevano firmato un armistizio con le forze sovietiche), Tito viaggiò segretamente in aereo, all’insaputa degli inglesi, per arrivare a Mosca per chiedere aiuti militari a Stalin e addestrare le sue truppe in modo da poter combattere efficacemente i tedeschi e cacciarli dalla Jugoslavia. Stalin…

[adrianomaini]

La morte dei segretari Frausin e Gigante provocherà, all’interno del partito comunista triestino, l’allontanamento dal CLN italiano per passare sotto il comando sloveno

Per cui, con le dimissioni del re, e con l’avanzata dell’Armata Rossa in Bulgaria e in Romania (che avevano firmato un armistizio con le forze sovietiche), Tito viaggiò segretamente in aereo, all’insaputa degli inglesi, per arrivare a Mosca per chiedere aiuti militari a Stalin e addestrare le sue truppe in modo da poter combattere efficacemente i tedeschi e cacciarli dalla Jugoslavia. Stalin…

[bagnabraghe]

La morte dei segretari Frausin e Gigante provocherà, all’interno del partito comunista triestino, l’allontanamento dal CLN italiano per passare sotto il comando sloveno

Per cui, con le dimissioni del re, e con l’avanzata dell’Armata Rossa in Bulgaria e in Romania (che avevano firmato un armistizio con le forze sovietiche), Tito viaggiò segretamente in aereo, all’insaputa degli inglesi, per arrivare a Mosca per chiedere aiuti militari a Stalin e addestrare le sue truppe in modo da poter combattere efficacemente i tedeschi e cacciarli dalla Jugoslavia. Stalin…

[italianiinguerra]

I dieci Eroi sepolti al Vittoriale accanto al sommo poeta Gabriele D'Annunzio

La sommità del Vittoriale degli italiani che, si estende per circa nove ettari sulle colline di Gardone Riviera in posizione panoramica, dominante la sponda bresciana de lago di Garda, è occupata dal Mausoleo, monumento funebre realizzato dall’architetto Gian Carlo Maroni dopo la morte di Gabriele D’Annunzio. Il monumento è ispirato ai tumuli funerari di tradizione etrusco-romana ed è costituito…

[bellysoupset]

The New Guy

It was the first day of class and Vince felt like a toddler in kindergarten. Although he didn't actually remember going to kindergarten back in Italy, but his mom made a point of telling him he had wailed every time they dropped him off, so this was how Vince felt.

Except he wasn't the student today, he was the teacher.

He still wasn't fully back on his feet after such a hellish bout of flu and the emotional stress, but Vince felt steady enough he could at least fake it. Besides, he had wanted to be a teacher his whole life, so even if he felt like crying from the nerves, he was also incredibly excited.

This was his old school and it was weird, to say the least, to walk the halls as a teacher, not a student. Not much had changed - better flooring, a classroom had a smartboard instead of a white one, new teachers.

His old ones were still there, though, and Vince nearly jumped out of his skin upon entering the teacher's hall and having his name shouted, "Vincenzo! Oh look at you!" as if he was the chubby kid who grew up over summer. Which yeah, he sort of was.

The literature teacher was still the same woman, Ms. Lobdell. She had been already been an ancient faculty member back when he was at school and time had done her no favors, but she was sharp as a knife.

His old history teacher had retired, the spot Vince had occupied, and the biology and chemistry teacher, a horrible man whom Vin had hated back then, had also left the school.

He was told all this by Ms. Lobdell, who dragged him around by the arm despite the first class starting at 8 AM and it already being 7:55.

Finally Vince was released from the claws of that sweet wrinkly woman to his class of snotty 10 year old, whom he was already very partial to.

Because moving had been such a huge thing, from his relationship with Wendy and his friends, to quitting his solid job and getting an entirely new place, Vince had been more than a little insecure about the whole thing.

Suddenly it wasn't just "getting a new job", it was "getting a new life" and he felt a gigantic pressure for this to be as good as he had imagined it to be, otherwise... Otherwise he would have gone through all this trouble for nothing.

It was a relief so strong when teaching his first class ended up being everything he had imagined and more, that Vince was teary eyed by lunch break.

"So how was it?" Wendy asked, her voice breathless as she moved around. Vince checked his watch again, noticing his hands were shaking with how nervous he had been. 1:30 PM, she was probably leaving her hot yoga class to get dressed for her evening shifts.

"It was amazing," he confessed, smiling, keeping his voice low, "the kids were great, the teaching plan went smoothly... They keep calling me mister Monacelli, though, which is very weird... It was just great."

"I'm glad," Wendy answered and he could tell she was smiling and meant it, "what now?"

"Now I get my teenagers," Vince scratched at his cheeks, suddenly wishing he hadn't shaved in the morning. He felt too baby faced to handle the teens, doubting they'd respect him, "they're going to eat me alive."

"Yes, but not in the way you think," Wendy teased him, "you're going to be the class crush, just watch it."

He grinned, smoothing his shirt and looking around the empty classroom. Vince had been much too nervous to join the remaining staff in the cafeteria and had had lunch inside his classroom, like a loser. Just a veggie roll too, which normally wouldn't sustain him even for two hours, let alone the rest of the day.

"Now you're just egging me on," he rolled his eyes, "how's your day?"

"Great," Wendy huffed and her voice got distant as if she had left her phone in a surface, "I have far too much free time now that you're not around, so I'm gonna start taking classes."

"Classes on what?" he balled up the paper napkin and grabbed his tooth brushing kit, walking out of the classroom, holding the cellphone to his ear.

"Anything," Wendy sighed, "I just need to occupy myself a bit, it'll help."

"I think you should take interior design classes," he entered the bathroom, "you're always fiddling with things in the apartment."

"Uhm, maybe," she sighed and then he heard a noise and Wendy cursing, "a stupid pigeon just hit my window, I gotta go. Love you, break a leg, Mr. Pussy Magnet!"

"Love you as well, honey," Vince rolled his eyes, hanging up.

His first class after lunch actually went a lot smoother than Vince was expecting, but the second one... He had no idea where his students were.

After fifteen minutes of sitting there without a single soul appearing, Vince peeked at the hallway and frowned. He was half expecting the kids to be pranking him by sitting in the hallway, but nada. Not a single student.

He sighed, locking the classroom and walking back to the teacher's hall to see if anyone else would have an inkling of where his kids had disappeared to.

An older teacher, whom Vince remembered as the trigonometry teacher and who, thankfully, did not remember Vin, was leaning against the window, with his head poking out, smoking.

"Mr. Turella, hi," Vince smiled and the older man smiled back.

"You're the new teacher, right? History?"

"Yeah," Vince crossed the room to shake his hand and the man let out a huff.

"You're looking more like the P.E teacher, son," he teased lightly, "are you lost?"

"No, not really," Vince grimaced, "but I think I lost my kids? No one showed for my class..."

Mr. Turella let out a snort, carefully resting his cigarette on the windowsill and walking across the room to the big schedule that was plastered to the wall, "oh yeah," he shook his head, "Daniels stole your kids."

"Excuse me," Vince frowned, crossing the room so he could look at the schedule as well. Mr. Turella planted a wrinkled finger over the sophomore's schedule and dragged it down.

The class before Vince's was Chemistry, with Mr. Daniels.

"Uh... That's just great," Vince wrinkled his nose in distaste, "I don't suppose I should go over and tell him to release my kids?"

"Bad move for a rookie," Mr. Turella patted his arm, "just wait for them to show and you can chew out Daniels after class. Not that it's going to help much, it never did in my case."

"He does this a lot?" Vince scoffed and the other man nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh yeah, get used to it," the man sighed and walked back to the window, "take the win, it's a break in your schedule."

"It's time they're not learning the curriculum," Vince corrected, groaning as he imagine the headache this would be down the line, when he inevitably fell behind if he didn't have enough time to teach, "alright, thanks Mr. Turella."

"It's John," the man waved him off, continuing to smoke.

Vince returned to his classroom, chewing at his lip since it was still empty. He paced nervously, until his students finally showed, thirty minutes late and chatting loudly.

"We're having P.E now?" a boy asked, causing his friends to giggle and Vince to sigh. It was going to be a long evening.

Mr. Daniels fucking haunted him. His senior students, whom he was dreading already, were also late thanks to the biology classes. Unlike the previous kids, though, they walked in quietly and seemed very interested in Vince, if only because he was new and shiny.

"You cannot be serious-" a girl blurted out, when Vince announced he was holding them for ten more minutes, since they had arrived twenty past the time of class, "sir. You cannot be serious, Mr. Monacelli," she corrected herself quickly.

Vince raised his eyebrows, not the outburst, but at the correction. It was so weird to be treated like that.

"Well, I- Alright, today you can leave, but next time this happens I'll have to hold you until we're done. You can't fall behind so close to SATs," he sighed, gesturing to the whiteboard, "and remember homework."

"Yesssir," there was a chorus of voices, making him cringe. Sir, that didn't sit right.

"I'll see you Wednesday," Vince waved to the door and then sat down, waiting for the kids to leave. As soon as he was alone, he let out a groan and rubbed at his neck.

As Vince walked to the parking lot, he paused as he saw a man leaning heavily against the wall, just outside the view of the buses leaving.

The man had his back pressed to the wall and his hands on his knees, as if catching his breath after running a marathon.

Curiosity got the best of him and Vince stepped closer, wondering if this was a senior student who had been held back - he didn't look seventeen, for sure, but not old enough to be a parent either - and if so, why he hadn't been in his class just now.

"Hey," Vince said, realizing the guy was actually older than he expected as he stepped closer, "hey, you alright?"

The guy shook his head, lips pressed in a thin line, "not feeling too hot..." he let out a soft burp, unashamed, and grimaced, "you're the new guy, the new teacher."

"Uh- It's Vince..." Vince frowned, inspecting the other man. He was a blonde, with most of his hair pulled up in a man bun, showcasing an undercut. He was wearing a buttoned up shirt, but with short sleeves - which should be a crime, in Vin's opinion, - and he could see his left arm was completely tattooed.

Definitely not a teacher, Vince thought, crouching slightly. The guy wasn't short, but compared to Vin he was. He also looked incredibly, terribly familiar.

"I'm Max," the man grimaced and spread his feet apart, "I'm gonna hurl, you should step back."

So casual about the whole deal, as if it wasn't mortifying. Vince frowned even more, "are you waiting for your kid, Max? Can I get someone for you?"

"My kid?" Max let out a little chuckle, which quickly turned into a groan and he wrapped an arm around his stomach, "no, I'm fine. Lunch was just too heavy, the cafeteria food fucking sucks."

"You're a staff member?" Vince frowned, even more confused. He wanted to get a decent look at the man's face, but he was sort of bent over, with a couple hair strands falling in front.

"Bio-" Max cut himself off with a gag and groaned loudly. He panted, back heaving and a couple of belches bubbled up, low in volume, but terrible wet. He cleared his throat, but it morphed into a cough and then Vince jumped back as a splatter of puke hit the pavement, sinking in the gravel.

He made a face, reaching out and planting a hand on Max's shoulders, keeping him swaying, and looked around, hoping there was anyone better equipped to help.

"Fuck-" Max groaned, pressing his stomach with a hand and heaving again. An empty, painful and loud, heave, followed by another cough and more vomit, this time a much larger amount. He let out a little moan, hanging over the puddle with an arm wrapped around his middle and panting.

"Done...?" Vince grimaced and the man nodded, wiping his lips on the back of his hand and then making a face at it, wiping his hand on his jeans.

"Urgh, that was gross..." he straightened up, taking a steady breath and sidestepped the mess on the ground, "sorry. I didn't catch your name?"

"Vince," he repeated, studying the man's face. They were about the same age, now Vince realized, but Max looked younger. Blonde with brown eyes and a tanned complexion, he looked like a surfer who had gotten lost on his way to California, "I'm the new history teacher."

"I'm the biology and chemistry teacher," Max shook his hand, following Vince further into the parking lot and Vin nearly stopped on his tracks.

"You're Mr. Daniels?"

"Uhhh yeah man, the one and only," the guy opened a little smirk, looking amused, "you heard about me?"

"You're the prick who held my kids," Vince glared at him, "twice. Thirty minutes each."

"I had to wrap up the subject," Max shrugged, "and they were interested. You know how hard it is to get these gremlins interested in anything, no hard feelings."

Vince scoffed, rolling his eyes, "quit doing that then," he said, finally arriving at his bike, "...Are you sure you alright?"

"I'm fine," Max smiled, smoothing his shirt and undoing the top buttons, "see you around, Mr. Monacelli."

[igottakeeponmoving]

Notes on a BOTW/TOTK Atlantis: The Lost Empire au

Milo Thatch - Zelda -> it just makes more sense for her personality to make her the passionate scholar rather than the warrior princess

Kida Nedakh - Link -> less an actual prince and more of an out-of-time wild child who was taken in by the king and queen

Preston Whitmore - Impa

Commander Lyle Rourke - Ganondorf

Lieutenant Helga Sinclair - Riju -> much less overtly villainous than Helga, and in fact turns against Ganondorf pretty quickly once he lays a hand on the royal family.

-> She's also not the one who recruits Zelda; Paya is the one who takes Helga's role in that particular instance

Dr. Joshua Sweet - Sidon -> the Zora have healing powers and he is one gigantic sweetheart

Audrey Rocio Ramirez - Tulin -> young airship mechanic. Teba was part of the expedition that found the Journal/Tablet

Vincenzo "Vinny" Santorini - Yunobo -> because of the whole explosions thing, though the personality is drastically different

Gaëtan "Mole" Molière - Josha -> up the child prodigy aspect rather than Mole's overwhelming weirdness (given that Josha is the head of the Depths investigation team this just makes sense to me)

Wilhemina Packard - Purah

Jebidiah "Cookie" Farnsworth - Robbie -> these two are undercover as the communications officer and cook respectively and were in fact tasked by Impa to keep an eye on Ganondorf (all those moments where Packard is gossiping with her friend Marge instead of watching comms? That's Purah reporting directly to Impa through code); they take over the expedition after Ganondorf betrays everyone

Kakeshim Nedakh - Rauru -> create a role for Mineru - makes more sense for her to become queen after Rauru's death than for Link to become king The Queen - Sonia

The Leviathan is either the Colgera or a giant Flux Construct. Maybe even a literal Divine Beast.

I am open to better ideas.

[jinhogae]

AL'S DRAMA RECS VOL.1: these recs will solely focus on the writing of the shows, which to me comes down to two things: how well does the plot accomplish what it set out to do in the beginning? and how compelling are the characters written, no matter if their character arc means they become better or worse through the story or even remain who they are? my favourite dramas usually succeed in giving us a satisfying answer to both questions and these are the ones you will see on this list!

★★★★★ dramas (aka the greatest hits):

SECRET FOREST / STRANGER (2017-2021): the pinnacle of all dramas. follows the duo of no-nonsense prosecutor hwang si-mok (the acting star turn of he century by cho seung-woo) and police detective han yeo-jin (the ever-exceptional bae doo-na) investigating a murder case that blows open several scandals in the prosecution. season 2 follows several cases leading to an internal investigation on police bribery. it just does not get better than this and i fear it won't ever will. this drama has the understated styling of nordic noir, the classic shenanigans of an unlikely leading kdrama duo, and one of the tightest scripts ever seen in any tv show ever. | genre: thriller, melodrama, crime procedural

MY LIBERATION NOTES (2022): following the yeom family's three siblings living in the small town of sanpo on the outskirts of seoul, and the stranger moving into the house next door to theirs, this story navigates questions of sibling-hood and family, the purpose of life, as well as the sacrifices we make for the relationships in our life as well as our own happiness. this show earned its hype from the central love story between mr. gu and yeom mi-jeong (son seok-ku and kim ji-won acting the house down) but every one of the three main storylines is well-paced, gives the main actors moments to shine and grow, and ties neatly into the overarching plot to render you either moved or comforted, or even both. | genre: slice of life, melodrama

VINCENZO (2020): at this point are there still followers on this blog who haven't at least seen me talk about vincenzo? the writing of this show is maybe the peak of genre-blending done in kdrama, a culmination of years refining this skill to sharp perfection in a biting black comedy. vincenzo cassano (song joong-ki), consiglieri of a mafia clan he got adopted into, goes back to south korea to recover a frankly unholy amount of gold and fights a gigantic conglomerate (babel) to get there. if you watch past episode four, you will finish this drama, because everything ensuing from then on is just one iconic story beat after another. | genre: black comedy / satire, crime, romance

HOSPITAL PLAYLIST (2020-2022): a medical drama beyond reproach. this show is on this list for the way it wrote its characters and achieved the most satisfying character arcs in any kdrama, maybe, ever. a group of five friends in their fourties all working at the same hospital and navigating their professional and private lives, this drama doesn't shy away from eclectic backstories (and the leads all playing music together in a band) as well as truly heart-tearing moments of friendship and romance. never have i seen character growth done as well as i have seen it in the characters of yang seok-hyeong and kim-jun-wan. | genre: medical, slice of life, rom-com

D.P. / DESERTER PURSUIT (2021-2023): d.p. to me is a no-notes kind of show. it depicts the work of the military police pursuing army deserters through freshly enlisted ahn jun-ho (jung hae-in playing years below his age and leagues above many his actual age) who ends up empathizing and working to help and save the deserters he and his team partner han ho-yeol (an exceptional koo kyo-hwan) are meant to bring back to the army instead of incriminating them further. d.p. is much better for its tone, its writing and the risks it takes in its no-nonsense approach than some of the drivel revered solely for being more flashy and showy in this genre. | genre: military drama, action

★★★★☆ dramas (aka near-perfection):

PRISON PLAYBOOK (2017): the perfect prototype of the bromance as romance formula and one of the best found family dramas that really focuses on that. star baseball player kim je-hyuk (park hae-soo in his career-defining role) loses his career and lands in prison after he assaults the ex-boyfriend of his younger sister to protect her. the show centers on je-hyuk's time in prison, where he reunites with his childhood best-friend-now-prison-guard lee jun-ho (a supreme jung kyung-ho) and assimilates himself with the people he meets in his cell. this show hits all the beats so well from a stellar supporting cast to a great comeback kid narrative for je-hyuk from his time in prison to being released. glaring flaw: the age-gap / childhood friends romance, the conclusion of hanyang's story arc, who gets the short end of the stick while being the one out gay character in the show. | genre: black comedy, found family, slice of life

GOBLIN: THE LONELY AND GREAT GOD (2017): the defining kdrama for many. it may be the one drama that really delivers in answering its plot's defining question twice over and then some. goblin kim shin (gong yoo), cursed to immortality, gets his life upended once a grim reaper (lee dong-wook as wang yeo, a performance never to be seen or repeated again since) and the young woman (kim go-eun as ji eun-tak) who turns out to be his fated bride enter his life. an immortal man resigned on life finds purpose while knowing he will fatally die once the woman he falls in love with cures him of his curse. glaring flaw: the age gap romance between eun-tak and kim shin. could she have not been in college at least? | genre: melodrama, romance, fantasy

CRASH LANDING ON YOU (2019): the romance drama that could, and did. based on a real life incident, ceo yoon se-ri (son ye-jin, an acting veteran near beyond reproach imo) accidentally crash lands in north korea after a paragliding flight gone wrong. there she meets active duty soldier captain ri jeong-hyeok (hyun bin, thank you for your service) and has to stay with him and his military company. the fated love story starts there, but neither of them know they have met before, and already changed the courses of each other's lives before doing so again. minor flaw: is this drama romanticising the military? or is depicting of that on screen just that and nothing more? that is up to you to decide. | genre: melodrama, romance

HOMETOWN CHA CHA CHA (2021): the series remake of a korean rom-com film of the early aughts, this remains my favourite romance drama over all. dentist yoon hye-jin (shin min-a blessing our screens) moves to rural gongjin, a seaside village where nothing happens at all, after her professional life in seoul goes up in flames. it's not all sunshine in gongjin either as ye-jin meets hong du-sik (kim seon-ho),a handyman who is called chief hong by everyone and fixes all the big and small fires in the village. the two start as enemies that eventually fall in love. the romance is well-handled and paced and the second lead (lee sang-yi) is the best i have ever seen in a show, especially because of the arc written for him. minor flaw: the plot is not as tight as the respective character arcs, so sometimes sacrifices are made for the sake of a more emotional scenes. | genre: rom-com, slice of life

THE GLORY (2022): when you put the revenge in revenge drama, this is what you can get. song hye-ko returns to small screen brilliance in an incomparable performance as moon dong-eun, a woman who decides to infiltrate the lives of her school bullies and take them down one by one. this show delivers on plot even more than on characters, following through on every step of moon dong-eun's revenge without shying away from how gruesome or painful that path of vengeance can be. dong-eun gets help from plastic surgeon joo yeo-jeong (a delightful lee do-hyun), and the main cast is rounded out by lim ji-yeon and jung sung-il as dong-eun's grown up tormentor and her reluctant husband respectively. minor flaw: the show does spend a big chunk of its time on the group of school bullies and their interpersonal relations, which sometimes takes time away from the main plot. | genre: psychological thriller, revenge drama

♡ more specific genre watches (beware: usually crime):

LIFE (2018): written by the writers of secret forest, life is another thriller with understated direction and a more sombre tone. i would have put it in the greatest hits category, but watching it with other people made me realise how niche it actually is in genre. a corporate hospital thriller, the show revolves around the newly-minted ceo of sangkook university hospital, gu seung-hyo (a once again flawless cho seung-woo) and a dedicated ER doctor (lee dong-wook, stellar as ever) who depict the two sides of the patient care vs. profit conflict in the hospital. i can't even say more about the show because every other plot point is basically a spoiler. sharply directed and written, this is one of the best genre pieces i have ever watched, and is mildly reminiscent of hbo prestige television of the decade before. | genre: medical drama, corporate thriller

THE WORST OF EVIL (2023): are you even surprised? this was the drama of 2023 for me, one of the most stellar scripts i have seen. the worst of evil is very firmly a noir show and you have to treat what you are watching as such. it is heavily entrenched into its genre tropes and arcs, even more than most crime shows i have seen, and that can be off-putting for people unfamiliar with the genre, but if you are up for it, you will not be disappointed. opportune violent crime detective park jun-mo (ji chang wook, korea's finest new gen action actor) infiltrates a drug ring lead by jung gi-cheol ( fantastic and emotional tour de force by wi ha joon) and the lines begin to blur when neither of them knows if what they bargained for is actually what they want. the show lets its main plot dictate the pace, focusing on park jun-mo's descent into crime, and it is all the more better for it. | genre: noir, crime thriller, action

BEYOND EVIL (2020): the story about dejected and grieving small-town detective lee dong-sik (baeksang-awarded veteran actor shin ha-kyun) being partnered with elite detective and spinster seoulite han joo-won (child actor prodigy turned actor to watch du jour) has made its waves online for its very apparent gay subtext, but to reduce beyond evil to this would be a crime in itself. following lee dong-sik and han joo-won as they are tasked to solve a reoccurring serial killer case, the framing plot then fans open the age-old wound of dong-sik losing his twin sister and being blamed for her disappearance with joo-won having taken an obsessive fascination with the case. the two crime cases are exceptionally interwoven and the stories of the people in the small town of manyang, and how they all somehow tie back to dong-sik, is the perfect example of turning the small centrepiece of a plot into the binding force of every thread. | genre: procedural, psychological thriller

OUR BELOVED SUMMER (2021): i put this into the genre-piece category because obl is majorly focused on its main trope. romantic dramas can easily be trite to me, as this obvious list of crime shows doesn't tell you, but our beloved summer is one of the few that did everything right. it plays out the best trope ever done - exes to lovers - and does not back down from embracing the whole shebang to the nth degree. high school / college sweethearts choi woong (known beloved actor on ye-xiu tumblr dot com, choi woo-shik) and kook yeun-soo (the ever great kim da-mi) have to unite to replicate, or rather continue, the viral high school documentary they filmed years ago. the show shimmies its way from one moment of reconnection to another, culminating in the best kdrama kiss to ever be put to screen, and concludes in one of the most satisfying and, yes, romantic endings ever. the things a show can do when it just sticks to its main narrative, huh. | genre: rom-com, coming of age

[borderpaolino]

La stagione della salagione, un crodino, la panchina.

La salagione delle strade: lo so che il termine è più alimentare gastronomico che stradale però insomma le strade diventano sapide, come certi salumi e certi primi e certe pizze nelle trattorie, lungo le strade. Passaggio da Ispra per recapito oggettistica causa lungo viaggio. Un bel Crodino e via! Grazie Vincenzo! La panchina “gigante” di Varano Borghi. Ho preso spunto da BicicOwlRider e sono…

[joseandrestabarnia]

Hércules coronado por las Musas Alessandro Allori (Florencia 1535 – 1607) 1568 Óleo sobre cobre 40x29,5 cm Inscripciones: tot iam peractis sume laboribus quae clara laudis praemia te manent alexander allorius Inventario 1890 n. 1544

Este pequeño óleo sobre cobre forma parte de una serie de pequeños cuadros creados por Vasari y los artistas de su círculo para Francesco I de' Medici, cuyos temas se basaron en los escritos del erudito Don Vincenzo Borghini, prior del Ospedale degli Innocenti. A partir de episodios extraídos de la mitología clásica y las Metamorfosisde Ovidio, Borghini había desarrollado una serie de "inventos" con complejos significados alegóricos cuya intención era celebrar los "talentos" florentinos y el buen gobierno de los Medici. Francisco I, príncipe de temperamento introvertido y contemplativo, apreciaba especialmente este tipo de pinturas destinadas a un uso privado: de hecho, pocas personas de cultura refinada eran capaces de comprender su significado simbólico, a menudo oscuro. Recordamos a este respecto que Borghini será también el creador del programa iconográfico del estudio que el príncipe hará construir en el Palazzo Vecchio unos años más tarde, al que Allori contribuirá pintando La pesca de perlas y El internado de Cleopatra.

La pequeña obra representa a Hércules coronado por las nueve Musas, que pretenden rendirle homenaje por haberlas salvado de los Gigantes, que yacen derrotados en el suelo. Junto al héroe se encuentra Calíope, patrona de la poesía épica, sosteniendo una tablilla cuya inscripción invita a Hércules a recoger los elogios y recompensas por sus trabajos. Al fondo se levanta un templo dedicado al Honor y la Fama.

El cuadro pretende, por tanto, aludir al estado de paz alcanzado en Florencia gracias al buen gobierno de los Medici, bajo cuya protección las artes pudieron florecer.

Desde el punto de vista estilístico, la obra está sin duda influenciada por Bronzino, maestro de Allori, quien a su muerte heredó su taller y el papel de artista oficial de la corte de los Medici.

La deuda con el maestro se manifiesta en particular en la tez blanca y tersa de la musa Calíope y en el refinamiento de su rico peinado, entrelazado con collares de perlas. Pero la anatomía escultórica de los desnudos masculinos revela el conocimiento de los frescos de Miguel Ángel que Allori tuvo la oportunidad de estudiar durante su estancia en Roma en 1554.

Información de la web de la Gallerie degli Uffizi, imagen/es de mi autoría.

[personal-reporter]

Napoli Film Festival 2023

Manca poco alla 24esima edizione del Napoli Film Festival, diretta da Mario Violini, che partirà il 25 settembre. Le kermesse, che è nota per proiezioni, incontri e eventi tra la Sala Dumas dell’Istituto Francese e l’Auditorium Santa Luisa di Marillac, con le proiezioni serali al Grenoble, quest’anno presenta interessanti novità. Il film d’apertura della rassegna sarà 12 repliche, l’opera prima di Gianfranco Gallo che è anche il protagonista affiancato da Gianni Parisi, Gianluca Di Gennaro, Roberto Azzurro, Elvis Esposito Franco Iavarone e Lisa Imperatore, su un attore che sta per debuttare in teatro con la versione napoletana de La Cage aux folles. La proiezione sarà anticipata da un concerto al pianoforte del maestro Vincenzo Sorrentino, autore delle musiche del film e tra gli autori della colonna sonora de L’Amica geniale. Martedì 26 settembre alle 21 ci sarà la pellicola francese “Petites” di Julie Lerat-Gersant, su un adolescente a un bivio nella vita che spezza il circolo vizioso degli schemi della sua famiglia disfunzionale, che ha ottenuto il Premio Boccalino d’Oro dalla critica indipendente del 75° Festival Internazionale del Film Locarno. Ispirato alla storia vera di Luca Trapanese e sua figlia Alba, mercoledì 27 settembre c’è l’anteprima di Nata per te di Fabio Mollo con Pierluigi Gigante e Teresa Saponangelo, in sala dal 5 ottobre con Vision Distribution, alla presenza del cast e dello stesso Trapanese. Il fenomeno Mixed by Erry è il titolo dell’incontro in programma giovedì 28 settembre a cui parteciperanno Simona Frasca, i Fratelli Frattasio e gli attori Luigi D’Oriano, Giuseppe Arena e Emanuele Palumbo che li hanno interpretati al cinema, per raccontare un fenomeno degli anni 80 rinverdito dal successo del film. Vincitore del Giffoni Film Festival nella categoria Generator +16, Normale di Olivier Babinet verrà proiettato alla presenza del regista venerdì 29 settembre e racconta il rapporto padre-figlia alle prese con gli assistenti sociali che vogliono separarli, poi arriverà nelle sale italiane dal 12 ottobre distribuito da No.Mad Entertainment. In chiusura sabato 30 settembre ci saranno le premiazioni dei concorsi e l’assegnazione dei Premi Francesco Rosi del Gruppo Campano del Sindacato Nazionale Critici Cinematografici Italiani e a  seguire l’anteprima del film A passo d’uomo di Denis Imbert con il premio Oscar Jean Dujardin. Saranno sei i lungometraggi che si contenderanno il Vesuvio Award in Nuovo Cinema Italia, nella sezione SchermoNapoli Corti sono stati selezionate diciotto opere, con a decretare i vincitori la giuria composta da Alberto Castellano, Vincenzo Nemolato, Marcello Sannino (per Nuovo Cinema Italia) e da Marco Chiappetta, Cristina Donadio e Ignazio Senatore (per SchermoNapoli Corti). Read the full article

[klandmerch]

6 K-dramas que no deberías perderte

La ola coreana está en su pico máximo y si tenés ganas de mirar alguno de los mejores estrenos, estas son las series que no deberías perderte.

Tomorrow fue uno de los mejores estrenos de 2022.

Reborn Rich, disponible en Viki. Si fueron fanáticos de Vincenzo es muy probable que conozcan al genio de Song Joong-ki y su nueva serie. Si bien es verdad que su historia no es súper innovadora (este mismo año estrenó Golden Spoon, que es muy similar), hay algo en su personaje y en cómo está narrada que atrapa a morir. ¿De qué se trata? Yoon Hyun Woo trabajó por años para poderosa familia que lo termina traicionando y el hijo menor lo termina matando para, al otro día, darse cuenta que despertó en el cuerpo de su asesino y por eso decide vengarse.

Big Mouth, disponible en Viki. Mix de drama criminal y teorías conspirativas, esta ficción significó el gran regreso de Lee Jong-suk (El amor es un capítulo aparte) después de su servicio militar. Con algunos clichés muy bien usados, la historia nos presenta a este abogado medio patético que está haciendo todo lo posible por sobrevivir y a quien le ofrecen algo imposible de resistir: ser el representante de tres personas poderosas en un juicio arreglado. ¿La vuelta de tuerca? Termina incriminado y ahora tiene que demostrar su inocencia.

All of Us Are Dead, disponible en Netflix. Parece que fue hace millones de años pero, en realidad, esta fue la serie más vista del gigante del streaming durante febrero 2022. ¡Nadie podía dejar de hablar de All of Us Are Dead! Catalogada dentro del género del horror y basada en el webtoon Now at Our School, se centra en este grupo de estudiantes que -en medio de un apocalipsi zombie- se quedan atrapados en el colegio y tienen que buscar la manera de sobrevivir.

39, disponible en Netflix. De una de esas series para llorar sin ningún tipo de reparo, esta ficción también tiene un nombre enorme liderando a su elenco: la mismísima reina de la tel coreana, Son Ye-jin. Definida como un drama familiar, nos presenta  estas tres chicas que se convierten en mejores amigas durante la secundaria y que ahora, a punto de cumplir los 40, se enteran que una de ellas tiene un cáncer terminal. Juntas tendrán que aprender a sobrellevar esta situación y, en el proceso, sanar las heridas de sus vidas compartidas.

Twenty-Five Twenty-One, disponible en Netflix. Quizá una de las ficciones feel good más lindas de la tele de Corea del Sur, los coreanos demostraron que no querían quedarse fuera del boom de los años 90. Con dos tiempos narrativos (1998 y 2022), los protagonista son: Baek Yi Jin, hijo de una familia millonaria que cayó en bancarrota después de la criss económica del país, y Na Hee Do, una adolescente que sueña con ingresar a la selección nacional de esgrima. Mientras su relación amorosa se desarrolla, juntos aprenden quiénes son y sus fortalezas para enfrentar todo lo que se ponga en su camino.

Tomorrow, disponible en Netflix. Difícil es una palabra que no alcanza para describir esta ficción brillante, protagonizada por Rowoon, Kim Hee-sun y Yoon Ji-on. El protagonista es un joven coreano que -después de dedicar muchísimo tiempo a perfeccionarse- no consigue trabajo pero, después de una muy mala entrevista, está en un puente reflexionando y ve cómo una persona intenta suicidarse. ¿Qué pasa? Al salvarlo, él queda en coma. Con historias que empiezan y terminan en cada episodio, vemos cómo -en un plano astral- empieza a trabajra con los ángeles de la muerte que tienen como misión salvar la vida de las personas que quieren morir.

Woo, una abogada extraordinaria fue el gran éxito de Netflix

[goalhofer]

2023 World Baseball Classic Italy Roster

Pitchers

#7 Michele Vassalotti (Carolina Mudcats/Valencia, Venezuela)

#17 Braxton Lorenzini (free agent/Aurora, Colorado)

#19 Alex Bassani (Fortitudo Baseball 1953/Castel San Pietro Terme)

#21 Vincenzo Aiello (Staten Island FerryHawks/Staten Island, New York)

#25 Jeffrey Passantino (Gigantes De Carolina/Ft. Myers, Florida)

#29 Steven Woods; Jr. (free agent/Huntington, New York)

#33 Matt Harvey (free agent/Mystic, Connecticut)

#34 Vin Timpanelli (Chattanooga Lookouts/Staten Island, New York)

#35 Brian Marconi (Lehigh Valley IronPigs/Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

#36 Glenn Albanese; Jr. (Rocket City Trash Pandas/Wheaton, Illinois)

#38 Ryan Castellani (Kansas City Monarchs/Phoenix, Arizona)

#41 Joe Biagini (free agent/Redwood City, California)

#42 Matteo Bocchi (Parma B.C./Parma)

#44 Claudio Scotti (FCL Mets/Rome)

#46 Sam Gaviglio (free agent/Ashland, Oregon)

#48 Michael Nittoli (Iowa Cubs/Tempe, Arizona)

#53 Neil Pallante (St. Louis Cardinals/San Clemente, California)

#64 Nick Fanti (free agent/Smithtown, New York)

#67 Matt Festa (Seattle Mariners/Brooklyn, New York)

#72 Alessandro Ercolani (FCL Pirates/Borgo Maggiore)

#75 Nicolò Pinazzi (Dayton Tortugas/Milan)

#77 Tiago Da Silva (Generales De Durango/São Paulo, Brazil)

#90 Mitchell Stumpo (Reno Aces/Raleigh, North Carolina)

#92 Joe LaSorsa (Tampa Bay Rays/Mt. Kisco, New York)

#94 Joey Marciano (Sacramento River Cats/Carbondale, Illinois)

Catchers

#30 Alberto Mineo (Parma B.C./Gorizio)

#41 Vito Friscia (Philadelphia Phillies/Oyster Bay, New York)

#42 Brett Sullivan (San Diego Padres/Stockton, California)

#59 Dominic Miroglio (Arizona Diamondbacks/Oakland, California)

Infielders

#8 Nick Lopez (Kansas City Royals/Naperville, Illinois)

#9 Vinnie Pasquantino (Kansas City Royals/Chesterfield County, Virginia)

#20 Miles Mastrobuoni (Chicago Cubs/San Ramon, California)

#22 David Fletcher (Los Angeles Angels/Cypress, California)

#82 Robel García (Toros Del Este/Las Matas De Farfán, Dominican Republic)

#91 John Valente (Toledo Mud Hens/New Rochelle, New York)

Outfielders

#3 Dominic Fletcher (Reno Aces/Cypress, California)

#11 Sal Frelick (Nashville Sounds/Lexington, Massachusetts)

#78 Ben DeLuzio (Iowa Cubs/St. Louis, Missouri)

Coaches

Manager Mike Piazza (Italiana Baseball/Phoenixville, Pennsylvania)

Bench coach Blake Butera (Hudson Valley Renegades/Metairie, Louisiana)

Pitching coach Mike Borzello (Italiana Baseball/Los Angeles, California)

Bullpen coach Jason Simontacchi (Omaha Storm Chasers/Mountain Valley, CA)

1B/Infield coach Jack Santora (Tri-City Dust Devils/Monterey, California)

3B/Hitting coach Chris Denorfia (Hartford Yard Goats/Southington, Connecticut)

Outfield coach Michele Gerali (Italiana Baseball/Parma)

Assistant coach Joe Hsu (Hardin-Simmons University Cowboys/Abilene, Texas)

[ranjish-hi-sahih]

let’s talk about the deaths in Vincenzo, shall we? pt.4

this is the last one, i swear. 

so we are all gutted by han-seo’s death. we’re even more devastated by the fact that we did not get any sort of a mourning scene. now one of two things could be happening here. let me explain with my clown hat on.

one option is that they’re setting up a season two. to not show the conclusion of his death scene, to not give us the time to mourn a beloved character seems too cruel. vincenzo when talking about his island says that its a place for healing. who’s gonna get healed there. we’ve established that both vincenzo and cha-young stand by their actions and that healing, if we can even call it that lies in them finding it in each other. so who is getting healed? obviously one of the most abused characters in the tv show. something about the next shot being vincenzo and cha-young in a hospital room as if nothing has happened doesn't sit well with me. this is wishful thinking but i’m manifesting that han-seo is safe and on an island off the coast of malta with his Vin hyung ready to make his comeback. 

option two is a bittersweet. as i said before, the deaths and aftermaths of the characters reflect the life they’ve lived. yu-chan was the naïve good and he got an entire fucking in remembrance montage. mrs. oh was the i have goodness in my heart but life has beat me down and i have come to accept whatever it throws at me with open fucking arms good and so she got people mourning for her at her funeral. living all her life alone, she wasn’t alone in her death. also the only two good characters got the whole pay our respects at the grave scene but that could also be because they are the parents but bear with me. and subsequently, the evil and bad ones got nothing. 

han-seo lived a life that was neither good nor bad, meaning realistically if we were to follow the trend that i have created, han-seo should get something that resembles both. and that according to writers is a flashback scene that shows how much he has learned, how much he has grown, the brotherly relationship that he has cultivated on his own. it also shows his final act of ‘fuck you’ to his brother. the dream like smiling face is early similar to something that shows up in ‘celebration of life’ videos. 

i will not get into the discourse about how a victim died at the hands of his abuser. because i might explode. i am mad about that but then i think about the reality of it and i have to acknowledge that regardless of being a campy show, vincenzo gave us nothing but hard truths. so i am a conflicted mess.