Culture

Dear Readers, The Labor Day holiday reminded me that back in the days when chips were made of wood and not silicon, the labor that enriched the Santa Clara Valley was predominantly Italian. The fertile land and mild climate attracted …

For most immigrant groups the idea of upward mobility is an inevitable byproduct that is caused by the blood, sweat and tears of past generations.  In most cases immigrants from the past and present, arrive in the US and yearn …

Italy is heading into a critical period of change this fall. The reform of the Senate went through a first reading in Parliament in the summer and will now have to face three more readings in both the Senate and …

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius lasted two days. The only witness to document his observations was Pliny the Younger, who recorded what he saw from Misenum, on the other end of the Bay of Naples. His uncle, Pliny the Elder, …

Dear Readers, An August assortment of Italian connections for you:   Swiss Guards have been protecting the Pope for centuries. When I first visited Italy in the 1950’s, I wondered aloud why, with all those Italians around, the Vatican was …

Birthday “numero 88” was celebrated by singer Tony Bennett of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” fame in North Beach recently. The following day he had a “very public lunch” at another S.F. Restaurant. According to S.F. Chronicle columnist, …

Have you ever noticed the jaunty vintage streetcars rolling along Market Street and around the Embarcadero?  Have you ever wondered why some of them have foreign identifications on them? That would be because they are vintage streetcars from around the …

Sono appena quattro minuti e mezzo in bianco e nero. Girati clandestinamente e inediti.  “The March of Sorrow-The Good Shoemaker and the Poor Fishpaddler” è il video breve, ma intenso che aiuta a raccontare un pezzo di storia su un …

Major in the Italian Air Force, test pilot, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut, Luca Parmitano was born in the province of Catania in 1976. Thanks to an intercultural exchange program, he had the chance to get to know the …

While film lovers eagerly await Jurassic World, the fourth chapter of Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic saga – despite the nonsense debate caused by a viral picture of the director posing with a dinosaur – architecture lovers look forward to Renzo Piano’s …