Rapturous Rhapsody

Andrea Bocelli is blind. A man who tragically lost his sense of sight but yet enriches the acoustics of the world with a voice heralded as “angelic”. “Time to Say Goodbye” (Con te partiro ~ literally means “With you I will leave”) was his winning song back in ’95 at San Remo; an Italian music festival named after it’s location and famed for it’s winners whom mostly always blossom into magnificent artists. This best selling tenor teamed up with the remarkably talented Sarah Brightman and best selling soprano of all time. I adore this operatic song. Both are the biggest classical stars in the highest of the vocal range for male & female! Ethereal in beauty their voices open the heavens.

I have translated the Italian lyrics into English after the jump.

(Play, Watch &/or Scroll to Read…) Enjoy!

A Hilarious Case of Culture Shock

I absolutely could not put down an extremely funny and touching book concerning one Australian woman’s quest and failure to integrate into Greek society and am therefore delighted to be able the quiz the author Lana Penrose. To Hellas and Back (“Hellas” is the Greek word for “Greece”) details the effect the move had on her relationship with her boyfriend Greek-Australian Dion and with her career gone how she killed time with bizarre rituals like tweezing her legs and obsessing over the symmetry of her pupils!

Everyone you wrote about (particularly central characters) you essentially ended up immortalising by depicting them in your book. How did these people such as your friends Tim, Johnnie and family react to this? Unsurprisingly, my best gay pal, Tim, who came to my rescue in ‘To Hellas & Back’, adores having been immortalised in print. (His latest obsession is for us to write and star in a sitcom together, only by ‘us’, I think he means I write it and he stars in it!) Johnnie the Greek American rocker pretends he doesn’t care about his literary immortalisation because he’s too cool for school, but he secretly loves it too. Dion has been extremely supportive. And my family are very down to earth and don’t think too much about it. They’re just proud and happy that I now float amongst them.

What about Katerina? As your well meaning but intense mother-in-law the dynamics of this relationship would have struck chords with many. Do you know if she read your book and how she felt about your portrayal of her?

Meet The French Woman Who Doesn’t Get Fat

I am extremely honoured to share with you an intimate interview with Mireille Guiliano whose book “French Women Don’t Get Fat” topped the New York Times best-seller list and was translated in more than 40 languages. Her book is now being adapted for the big screen. Read on as this famous francaise shares her views from her favourite wine to what it was like to meet Oprah!

What was it that made you want to unlock the age old French paradox (that despite all the bread, chocolate, cheese, wine, dessert and more the French feast on they remain slim)? So many women I’d met through my years at Clicquot, Inc.–whether staff, colleagues, consumers, other people and guests I met at events and in restaurants and, of course, friends I made through work and life–were desperate for tips on how to lose weight (and keep it off). I realized that if I could help only just a few of them, I should. Plus by trial and error I had an approach that worked.

I remember reading that one of your French friends questioned you writing French Women Don’t Get Fat. Are you often met with disapproval from French friends because of the cultural secrets you shared? Do you consider yourself a very sharing person in general? A few of my friends did ask me why I was sharing all our secrets with America. There are always selfish people. For others, it was in good fun. I never planned on writing a book, but the opportunity came along and it felt right. In general, French people are pretty reserved about personal nutrition, diet and lifestyle habits, but with globalization, television and “diet” commerce, all this is changing and now even young French girls seem to be benefitting from my tips and secrets. Just this past week, I received a touching letter from a young girl who it turns out lives not far from us in Provence. Also, France is now like America, a melting pot, and with women coming from different cultures, you see more and more overweight people not born in France in addition to the locals who are falling off balance buying supermarket food.

Merry Christmas, Auguri di Buon Natale, Joyeux Noël, 聖誕快樂 Seng dan Fai Lok! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Merry Christmas dear readers!

Thanks so much for coming into my world it’s been a magical ride so far… Wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and end of year…

Whether you celebrate on the beach, snowed in or at KFC with Mandarins like the Japanese have a great break wherever you are!

All the best  ♥ ♥ xxx Carm

Image from here

Sydney Sweet Sydney

I must apologise for the long pause since my last post. I hope you are all delightfully busy with Christmas cheer and well I know I’ve been enjoying myself being back home.

Since leaving Milan this is what I have been loving and appreciating with newfound zest…

• Sheer Space ~ Flying over Sydney, for me,  there is always a thrilling moment before landing. I normally feel content but this time I felt especially blissful and appreciative. Gorgeous aqua water teamed with a dazzling white coastline! We really are blessed. The rooftops also struck me as particularly large compared to the apartments of Milan and Hong Kong!

• Clean Wide Streets ~ As adorable and quaint as the medieval streets of Italy are they often come with medieval standards of hygiene. Dog poop and urine are all over the narrow streets and is a repulsive and perplexing aspect of life there considering Italians are such clean freaks within their own homes.
• Lovely Water ~ In Milan every time I went to boil the kettle limestone would build up literally after one go. It would also leave watermarks and stain everything and it was necessary to use “anti- calcare” wherever you use water such as on dishes or clothing. It was awful. I’m so pleased I can drink tea or make rice without worrying now!

BB526

“BB526″ ~ Personalised Numberplate spotted in Hong Kong.

What could it mean?

The numbers 5, 2, & 6 correspond to Chinese words just like 2(two) =to or 4(four) =for in English.

In Mandarin:
5 wǔ 五 sounds like wǒ (I)
2 èr 二 sounds like ài (love)
6 liù 六 sounds like nǐ (you)

BB = stands for Bibi = Chinese for “Baby”

Baby I love you!

Awwwww… how cute is that?!

Image from here

Note: In fact 520 is the “official” code for “I love you” “0″ ling is closer sounding to nǐ (you) and but 526 still sounds similar enough to work. Thanks to Stephiie for pointing that out!

Who by Fire: Interview with the Author

An interview with author Diana Spechler
I was very much entranced by Diana’s humorous and honest writing style when she did a guest post on Bleeding Espresso recently and am therefore thrilled to quiz this charming author of Who by Fire.

How would you describe your first novel Who by Fire? Who By Fire is a family story set in Israel in 2002 that explores what happens when we try to rescue the people we love.

Could you explain the mystery behind the title and the use of the back view of a girl’s hair pulled back into a ponytail for your cover? People keep asking me if the title is an homage to the Leonard Cohen song, Who By Fire, but in fact, it seems that Leonard Cohen and I had the same inspiration. The words come from a prayer. In fact, the words are part of a litany of modes of death: Who will die by fire and who by water, who by sword, who by beast, etc. It’s a very cheerful prayer that Jews recite on the High Holidays. As for the cover, I’m not sure which character the girl is meant to represent. There are several elusive female characters in the novel. I suppose she could be any of them. My grandfather thought it was me. He said, “Why did you let them take a picture of the back of your head? Why didn’t you turn around?”

Goodbye Italy

Hi everyone. If I am slow at responding to comments or uploading content it is because I’m leaving Milan for Hong Kong tommorow and after a couple of days will be making my way to Australia for Christmas. I hope you enjoy the interview I’ve posted with the lovely Diane  in the meantime. I still have lots to post on Italy and will certainly do so asap amongst new interviews, anecdotes & articles to come! Best & be in touch soon!

Coathanger Art

How incredible is this?
Simple coathangers were used by David Mach Scottish Sculpturer to create this hulky King Kong…

[Source]

What do you think about this?

I came across this quote today:

“The first half of our lives is ruined by our parents, the second half by our children.”
~ US Defense Lawyer Clarence Darrow (1857-1938)

How does that make you feel? Do you agree in jest or in all seriousness?

And to think this is the circle of life…

Image from here