Columns

I give thanks!

This year’s Labor Day weekend celebrations were looked forward to with great anticipation and, though the weather wasn’t exactly as we had hoped, all events were successful. For me, the eventful weekend began on Sunday when the first Sunday of the month walking tour took place. More than 50 individuals participated. The group was so large that it was split into three, each with their own tour guide, proving Pullman’s emergence as a “must see” Chicago sight. What made this tour group special for me was that my friends Diane De Re and Sonia Carli, along with their four friends …

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Sink your fangs into a host of Italian horror classics

While browsing the web recently, I stumbled upon a few old and, in some cases, really old Italian horror films. These movies take “creepy” to a whole new level. Some are pretty ridiculous by today’s standards, but they featured cutting edge technology when they were released. As long as you have the stomach for it, you’ll probably find them entertaining and quite different from standard American fare. There are two contemporary Italian films at the end to bring you full circle. For straight up horror, check these three out: “Bloody Pit of Horror” (Il Boia Scarlatto) is a 1965 Italian …

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Mi Piace Natale

How to Say, “I like…” in Italian with “Mi Piace” In a previous blog on this topic, Using Piacere to say, “I like it!” we learned: The Italian verb piacere literally means “to be pleasing.” Italians use this verb when they want to express the idea that they like something. It is how Italians say, “I like it!” It should first be noted that piacere has an irregular conjugation. Then, it is important to understand that the verb piacere works  differently than most other Italian verbs that have an -ere ending. In effect, the subject of the sentence that uses the verb piacere …

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How to Use “Da” in Italian

Let’s continue our series about Italian prepositions with the essential Italian preposition “da.” The Italian preposition da can be translated into the English prepositions “from” and “by.” It serves as an essential link between Italian nouns, is used in Italian phrases that describe time in a complex way, and is also integral to many common expressions. If we learn how to use the Italian preposition da, we will truly sound like a native Italian!   Use “Da” to Say Where You are From One of the most frequent questions asked during polite conversation is, “Where are you from?” We learned how to …

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8 hot real estate trends

The wild rollercoaster ride that was the 2021 real estate market packed a thrill a minute for buyers and sellers alike, and it isn’t quite over yet. All parties need to remain seated and buckled in at all times! This year might not have as many twists and turns. but it’s definitely maintaining its own momentum. While sellers still remain at an advantage in 2022, according to experts the market is beginning to ease up for first-time buyers. We have identified eight trends that we believe will continue to shape the market, and paying attention to them will help you …

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Being Polite with “Potere”

Homes on Burano, Venice with a bench out front to talk in Italian

Potere means “to can” or “to be able to,” and is classified as a modal, or helping verb. This means that potere provides information about the ability of the speaker to “be able to” complete the  main action described in a sentence. When used in this way, potere is conjugated to reflect the speaker and the action verb follows directly after in its infinitive form — that is, the action verb is not conjugated! (Remember that Italian verbs are categorized into three infinitive forms by the following endings: -are, -ere, and -ire, and that English infinitive verbs are preceded by …

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A farewell to summer

Once again, we’ve seen a summer come and go and, as usual, we get to look back on what we DIDN’T manage to get done, or attend, or see, or listen to. But let’s look at the bright side and focus on what we actually DID accomplish! Summer in Pullman began its countdown to the always festive Labor Day Weekend with the annual Pullman Family Picnic. It was the first blazing hot Saturday in August, so it wasn’t as well attended as we had hoped. However, that didn’t stop attendees from having a great time. The smaller crowd actually allowed …

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Heartfelt documentary captures spirit of fashion rebel

Celebrating its 79th year, the Venice Film Festival ran from Aug. 31 to Sept. 10, 2022. To mark the occasion, let’s take a look at a heartfelt documentary that premiered at the festival in 2016. “Franca: Chaos and Creation” is the story of Vogue Italy’s former editor-in-chief, Franca Sozzani, who passed away from cancer just a few months after the film’s premiere. Directed by her son, Francesco Carrozzini, the film takes us through Sozzani’s life as a child to her reign at the magazine, exploring her talent for finding innovative photographers to whom she completely handed her trust in creating …

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Cinematic treasure features the work of 7 Italian legends

Screenwriter and director Cesare Zavattini was truly ahead of his time when he organized the 1953 film compilation “L’amore in città” (Love in the City), a collection of seven short film essays directed by Zavattini, Dino Risi, Michelangelo Antonioni, Carlo Lizzani, Francesco Maselli, Federico Fellini and Alberto Lattuada. The New York Times did a beautiful article on the collection in 2014 referring to Zavattini as “a pioneer of documentary fiction (sometimes called ‘hybrid cinema’), in which non-actors essentially play themselves, dramatizing their particular situations.” With the exception of Fellini’s short, in which he narrates something that happened to him but …

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It’s anniversary time!

In the past year or so, I’ve been telling people that I’ve been writing Petals From Roseland for 12 years. Now that September has rolled around, marking the first month I took over from Mario Avignone, I stopped to do the math and realized that I’ve actually been writing the column for 14 years! It was September of 2008 when I was first introduced as the author of Petals from Roseland. I personally paid my thanks to Mario by visiting him in the Manteno Veterans’ home a few times. I also attended the premiere presentation at Casa Italia, along with …

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