tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86729392011-12-06T16:00:06.892+01:00by Leon BertolettiLeon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comBlogger11451100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-5662359863929110632011-05-20T23:13:00.003+02:002011-11-18T10:38:27.813+01:00

To all my readers and commenters since October 2004, many thanks. Broken people get recycled and I hope that I will Sometimes we're thrown off our pathways What I thought was my way home Wasn't the place I know I'm not afraid of changing, I'm certain nothing's certain What we own becomes our prison My possessions will be gone Back to where they came from . . . (Katie Melua, The Flood, produced

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-20290690251234727592011-05-20T15:09:00.018+02:002011-05-20T17:39:50.709+02:00

Sono un poeta I am a poet un grido unanime a unanimous cry sono un grumo di sogni I am a clot of dreams Sono un frutto I am a fruit d'innumerevoli contrasti d'innesti of countless counter grafts maturato in una serra matured in a greenhouse. Giuseppe Ungaretti, Italia (Italy), 1916 - excerpt. Interlinear translation by Léon Bertoletti.

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-72216120094957943262011-05-19T16:09:00.001+02:002011-11-18T10:35:15.071+01:00

"I'm walking away, like dear Abby told me. I'm walking away, my shrink gave his OK." (Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, Jubilation Day)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-51204978539319718222011-05-17T11:05:00.000+02:002011-11-18T10:42:16.328+01:00

Berlin. In June 1961, Nikita Khrushchev called it "the most dangerous place on earth." He knew what he was talking about. Much has been written about the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later, but the Berlin Crisis of 1961 was more decisive in shaping the Cold War-and more perilous, according to the book "Berlin 1961" by Frederick Kempe. For the first time in history, American and Soviet fighting

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-23563553103758813632011-05-15T11:44:00.002+02:002011-11-18T10:44:20.223+01:00

Sich üben im Lieben (to become adept in love), In Scherzen sich herzen (to jest and caress) Ist besser als Florens vergängliche Lust (is better than Flora's passing pleasure). Hier quellen die Wellen (here the waves flow), Hier lachen und wachen (here laugh and watch) Die siegenden Palmen auf Lippen und Brust (the palms of victory on lips and breast). Bach's Sich üben im Lieben ("To become

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-44100799407075945122011-05-11T17:06:00.001+02:002011-11-18T10:49:21.087+01:00

A love song . . .

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-65104444512455409262011-05-10T15:43:00.000+02:002011-05-10T15:43:04.086+02:00

The question and the cry "Oh, where?" melt into tears of a thousand streams and deluge the world with the flood of the assurance "I am!" (Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali) Rabindranath Tagore: born May 7, 1861, Calcutta, India — died August 7, 1941, Calcutta.

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-58307901417475845182011-05-09T17:49:00.000+02:002011-05-09T17:49:39.212+02:00

The gods appear in many forms, carrying with them unwelcome things. What people thought would happen never did. What they did not expect, the gods made happen. That's what this story has revealed. (Euripides, The Bacchae) Πολλαὶ μορφαὶ τῶν δαιμονίων, πολλὰ δ᾽ ἀέλπτως κραίνουσι θεοί· καὶ τὰ δοκηθέντ᾽ οὐκ ἐτελέσθη, τῶν δ᾽ ἀδοκήτων πόρον ηὗρε θεός. τοιόνδ᾽ ἀπέβη τόδε πρᾶγμα. (Εὐριπίδης, Βάκχαι)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-37409227502213268932011-05-07T16:06:00.000+02:002011-05-07T16:06:36.368+02:00

"They asked for workers but people came" (Man hat Arbeitskräfte gerufen, und es kamen Menschen) Max Frisch: born May 15, 1911, Zürich, Switzerland — died April 4, 1991, Zürich. (Max Frisch: Überfremdung. In: Öffentlichkeit als Partner. Edition Suhrkamp, 1972)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-46663483176677088452011-05-04T09:49:00.000+02:002011-05-05T09:41:06.894+02:00

Gretchen Parlato and Alan Hampton, Still (from Gretchen Parlato's new album The Lost and Found):

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-31702577956793332992011-05-03T20:32:00.006+02:002011-05-04T14:39:58.255+02:00

Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda, mastermind of the September 11th terrorist attacks and the world's most wanted man for almost a decade is dead.

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-40724355606331187482011-05-03T16:17:00.000+02:002011-05-03T16:17:52.811+02:00

Alexander Dmitrievich Litovchenko. Charon carries souls across the river Styx. Oil on canvas. The Russian Museum, St Petersburg, Russia. Hell - I've seen - and there's no flame But you can buy a lighter without shame - Hell - I've seen - and there's no fire But taxis are licensed to ply for hire - (Léon Bertoletti, Taxis to Hell)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-11413172558668654852011-04-28T17:05:00.001+02:002011-04-28T17:05:51.912+02:00

Janine Jansen playing Après un rêve (Gabriel Fauré) with Itamar Golan:

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-85571040090684025872011-04-27T14:31:00.000+02:002011-04-27T14:31:42.770+02:00

Tens of thousands of devotees thronged Puttaparthi, a town in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, for the funeral of Hindu ascetic Sathya Sai Baba, one of the country's best-known holy men. The ceremony was broadcast live by several of India's television channels, AP reports.

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-35772814666093530202011-04-25T15:06:00.000+02:002011-04-25T15:06:16.989+02:00

Sri Sathya Sai Baba is no more with us. He left his physical body at 7.40 a.m. April 24, 2011 due to cardio-respiratory failure. (Hospital statement) "I have come to light the lamp of Love in your hearts, to see that it shines day by day with added luster. I have not come on behalf of any exclusive religion. I have not come on a mission of publicity for a sect or creed or cause, nor have I come

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-77647444839427609622011-04-22T15:36:00.001+02:002011-04-22T19:24:12.094+02:00

God loves a lullaby In a mother's tears in the dead of night Better than a hallelujah sometimes God loves a drunkard's cry The soldier's plea not to let him die Better than a hallelujah sometimes We pour out our miseries God just hears a melody Beautiful the mess we are The honest cries of breaking hearts Are better than a hallelujah A woman holding on for life A dying man giving up the fight

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-80458570022548887182011-04-21T15:18:00.001+02:002011-04-21T16:02:35.071+02:00

"Non conosco. Mai visto. Non so chi sia" Canto perduto nel Nazareno giallo: Sole, ittero o mistero. Canto per vero prima che un Gallo Annunci la triplice bugia. (Léon Bertoletti, Prima che il 'giallo' canti) Paul Gauguin. Le Christ jaune (The Yellow Christ). 1889. Oil on canvas. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, US.

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-35239713244136698222011-04-19T18:17:00.000+02:002011-04-19T18:17:51.879+02:00

I love coffee, I love tea I love the Java Jive and it loves me Coffee and tea and the java and me A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup. I love java, sweet and hot Whoops, Mr Moto, I'm a coffee pot Shoot me the pot and I'll pour me a shot A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup . . . (The Manhattan Transfer, Java Jive)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-67177041735042677022011-04-18T16:40:00.002+02:002011-04-18T17:00:03.890+02:00

A saint who lost his head and found it again. Italian musician Angelo Branduardi dedicated his new single to the figure of St Gemolo. St Gemolo is said to have survived his decapitation and, after collecting his head, climbed on horseback. He rode to meet his uncle, a bishop, on a small mountain before he finally died. Carlo Cocquio. San Gemolo. 1964. Mosaic. Ganna, Varese, Italy. Angelo

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-85615441113458171832011-04-15T14:53:00.000+02:002011-04-15T14:53:48.739+02:00

Chanel No 5 and Mahler No 2 . . .

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-89127451919949044332011-04-11T16:53:00.000+02:002011-04-11T16:53:25.169+02:00

Soprano Danielle de Niese's third album embodies "Beauty of the Baroque", including Handel's "Ombra mai fu", Bach Cantatas, Monteverdi's "Pur ti miro" as well as solo songs by Purcell and Dowland. For more information on the album: DeccaClassics For more information on the artist: DanielledeNiese

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-33020100496112576172011-04-11T15:06:00.000+02:002011-04-11T15:07:04.421+02:00

"The secret of successful journalism is to make your readers so angry they will write half your paper for you." (English philosopher Cyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad, 1891-1953)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-59095271010162518582011-04-10T18:30:00.000+02:002011-04-10T18:30:21.348+02:00

Singer/songwriter Tina Malia and soulful visionary/rocker GuruGanesha Singh. [Song of the Soul Tour]

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-57909013183725441602011-04-08T16:54:00.000+02:002011-04-08T16:54:24.178+02:00

Mystic Monk Coffee is roasted by the Carmelite Monks, a Roman Catholic monastery in the silence and solitude of the Rocky Mountains of northern Wyoming, US.

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-35756926759666028742011-04-08T10:42:00.002+02:002011-04-08T11:16:03.208+02:00

Vocalist and songwriter Madeleine Peyroux revealed two tracks from her recently completed new album with digital EP available everywhere. Helmed by noted producer Craig Street (Norah Jones, k.d. Lang, Cassandra Wilson) and featuring Marc Ribot on guitar/banjo along with Me'shell Ndegeocello on bass, Peyroux's latest sessions signal a new approach for the musician as she carries her jazz

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-71230436207642552532011-04-04T22:57:00.001+02:002011-04-05T15:41:03.597+02:00

Swedish singer Lisa Ekdahl . . . (Lisa Ekdahl at the Olympia, Paris: new live CD and DVD album)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-63436796439033246982011-04-03T08:58:00.000+02:002011-04-03T08:58:46.874+02:00

"Carneades! who was he?" (Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi or The Betrothed)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-48080363860696598452011-04-01T15:08:00.001+02:002011-04-01T15:20:47.503+02:00

Viktor Oliva. Piják absintu (Absinthe Drinker). Café Slavia, Prague, Czech Republic. We can do nothing - it's our humus - Pulvis et umbra sumus Whatever happens - Dust - ash - dust - Something else in the park Of the withered humanity Where Lenten ghosts look For their Easter Eve Having lots of Wednesdays - Lots of Fridays - Not many Sundays And windmills to tilt at - The dragon eats the

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-18118772068099915442011-03-30T09:20:00.000+02:002011-03-30T09:20:04.588+02:00

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. [HST]

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-6424863535438363532011-03-25T18:53:00.000+01:002011-03-25T18:53:28.705+01:00

Celtic Woman . . .

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-67517612132270756852011-03-23T15:12:00.000+01:002011-03-23T15:12:40.318+01:00

Every war has the "journalists' hotel": the Continental in Saigon, the Holiday Inn in Sarajevo, the Palestine in Baghdad - the Rixos in Tripoli. [Jon Williams, Reporting from Libya, BBC News | The Editors]

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-91022424508799651422011-03-16T16:42:00.000+01:002011-03-16T16:42:49.025+01:00

Little Fly, Thy summer's play My thoughtless hand Has brush'd away. Am not I A fly like thee? Or art not thou A man like me? For I dance, And drink, & sing, Till some blind hand Shall brush my wing. If thought is life, And strength & breath, And the want Of thought is death; Then am I A happy fly, If I live or if I die. (William Blake, The Fly, from Songs of Experience, 1794) And Esperanza

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-32273334284540310612011-03-15T17:00:00.000+01:002011-03-15T17:00:20.436+01:00

Daphné . . . Où va Lila Jane? Mélodie à personne Portrait d'un vertige From the new album "Bleu Venise"

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-25284376869640497142011-03-15T12:35:00.000+01:002011-03-15T12:35:51.786+01:00

As daylight broke, I saw the earth The trees had burned down to the ground . . . Spanish soprano Ainhoa Arteta's version of Peter Gabriel's Don't Give Up:

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-14944055558831869042011-03-14T16:39:00.001+01:002011-03-14T18:32:15.984+01:00

Asahi Shimbun, published in Tokyo, Japan

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-2179852740637370522011-03-08T15:01:00.000+01:002011-03-08T15:01:20.427+01:00

And so in circles over existential deserts I and you wander, lost, and arm in arm: Lost, lost. And the visions paying us visits Lead us to mirages where, in a morning dream, We forget the headaches and the lost Edens. (George Barker, Elegy IV, Sacred and Secular Elegies)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-91958350932529984042011-03-04T16:12:00.000+01:002011-03-04T16:12:12.916+01:00

(That's how I feel whenever I hear it.) Nicola Benedetti playing Mendelssohn:

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-57374363983232929132011-03-02T18:33:00.000+01:002011-03-02T18:33:12.448+01:00

"Poor Bill," written by Keith Pearson and performed by Keith Pearson's Coup de Grass, from the album "After the Treacle." Banjo and vocal: Keith Pearson. Bass Guitar: Phil (Tarzan) Milner. Acoustic Guitar: Andrew (Finchley) Noyes. Dobro: Tim (Nancy) Jellis. Recorded by Mick Venning at Orchard Cottage Studio, Cambridge, England.

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-19250697178957409602011-03-01T15:50:00.000+01:002011-03-01T15:50:31.063+01:00

"Return, return, O Shulamite; Return, return, that we may look upon thee." (Solomon's Song of Songs) Salvador Dali. Return, O Shulamite. 1971. Etching with stencil and gilding.

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-2196000332308616432011-02-27T17:20:00.001+01:002011-02-27T22:51:13.329+01:00

That's great . . . and remembers me the sound of my first band . . . (Herbie Hancock, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks: Space Captain)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-4530867835049624092011-02-21T15:45:00.000+01:002011-02-21T15:45:12.296+01:00

AR Rahman featuring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (Hindi version): (Tamil version here)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-3231275872410306502011-02-19T14:38:00.001+01:002011-02-19T14:57:23.770+01:00

There's such a lot of world to see We're after the same rainbow's end Waiting 'round the bend . . . Andrea Ross (produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber for Universal Classics & Jazz):

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-19011016827763001382011-02-18T15:13:00.000+01:002011-02-18T15:13:28.494+01:00

"I think poetry must I think it must Stay open all night In beautiful cellars." (Thomas Merton, "No. 53", Cables to the Ace)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-2763148569903972082011-02-16T15:30:00.000+01:002011-02-16T15:30:12.793+01:00

I just wanna play music all night long I'm singing you my song . . . Sara Gazarek, Makes Me Feel This Way:

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-11398436156474870292011-02-09T15:46:00.000+01:002011-02-09T15:46:37.106+01:00

"An event, seen from one point of view, gives one impression. Seen from another point of view, it gives quite a different impression. But it's only when you get the whole picture you can fully understand what's going on." The Guardian, Points of View, 1986. TV advert produced by BMP (Boase Massimi Pollitt), a London advertising agency now rebranded as DDB (Doyle Dane Bernbach), and written by

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-49030099467728882472011-02-03T15:26:00.001+01:002011-02-05T14:50:25.770+01:00

Ravid Kahalani with Omer Avital, Avi Lebovich, Itamar Borochov, Hadar Noiberg, Itamar Doari, Rony Iwryn, Hilla Epstein and Galia Hai. [YemenBlues.com]

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-62724533975250690552011-02-02T15:03:00.000+01:002011-02-04T15:52:33.363+01:00

The Independent's front page: And Al-Ahram (Egypt's main state-run newspaper):

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-24141332307963139152011-01-16T15:37:00.000+01:002011-01-16T15:37:41.408+01:00

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-63184893897292071022011-01-14T17:30:00.001+01:002011-01-14T17:31:38.377+01:00

"Men of every kind have their characteristics, their features, their virtues and vices and their deadly sins. Prowling about at night was one of the Steppenwolf's favorite tendencies. The morning was a wretched time of day for him. He feared it and it never brought him any good. On no morning of his life had he ever been in good spirits nor done any good before midday, nor ever had a happy idea,

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-75461674771476933472011-01-12T16:39:00.000+01:002011-01-12T16:39:46.443+01:00

Round and round and round it goes Where it stops nobody knows Robin McKelle, Abracadabra:

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-18730769095382168352011-01-12T15:38:00.000+01:002011-01-13T14:45:27.312+01:00

Mark Matveyevich Antokolski, The Dying Socrates, 1875. Critone, amico - l'intima voce dal porto mi muove in direzione Paradiso. Supero la foce - incontro l'ultimo (il nostro) Socrate, muto sfinito bianco; seduto stanco tra i cigni del Ciani: la testa piegata al demone, alle leggi le mani. Lezione maieutica - obbedire non fuggire? marciare non marcire? L'angelo cinerino degli imbarcaderi -

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-31183555135690678542011-01-07T11:41:00.001+01:002011-02-04T16:01:54.938+01:00

Sergio Saviane's I misteri di Alleghe (The Mysteries of Alleghe) is the story of a journalistic investigation published in 1952. Probably Italy's best example of investigative journalism.

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-19163272562529017512011-01-06T15:09:00.001+01:002011-01-13T14:47:34.071+01:00

But also fire. A behind-the-scenes look at the making and meaning of Jane Monheit's album Home:

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-17155273134103709792011-01-03T18:44:00.006+01:002011-01-13T14:49:36.236+01:00

Some believe it's right to say Jesus when you pray, Some believe Mohammed, Allah, or Buddha are the way. Instead of a God or a pantheon of gods up in the sky, I'll honour your choices and you can honour mine . . . India.Arie & Idan Raichel: (India.Arie and Idan Raichel share their experience in the creation of "Gift of Acceptance" which will be a part of her upcoming album "Open Door"

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-30427496310749702782011-01-01T10:23:00.000+01:002011-01-01T10:23:39.414+01:00

The years creep slowly by, Lorena, The snow is on the grass again. (Henry de Lafayette Webster, Lorena)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-4445202022520629152010-12-30T14:30:00.000+01:002010-12-30T14:30:34.456+01:00

As Reagan and his wife, Nancy, boarded Air Force One for their trip home, a reporter shouted, "What will '87 be like?" "Great," Mrs. Reagan replied. "Better than '86," the President added. (H.S.T. January 5, 1987)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-64525728008671826502010-12-29T15:42:00.002+01:002011-03-04T18:48:36.814+01:00

Say everything you've always wanted, Be not afraid of who you really are . . . (Ian Axel, This Is The New Year) Sometimes I see How the brave new world arrives And I see how it thrives In the ashes of our lives . . . (Abba, Happy New Year)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-54493265569570450742010-12-20T17:44:00.000+01:002010-12-20T17:44:03.188+01:00

The jingle bells are jingling The streets are white with snow The happy crowds are mingling But there's no one that I know I'm sure that you'll forgive me If I don't enthuse I guess I've got the Christmas blues I've done my window shopping There's not a store I've missed But what's the use of stopping When there's no one on your list You'll know the way I'm feeling When you love and you lose I

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-16690540079175138162010-12-16T17:00:00.000+01:002010-12-16T17:00:39.678+01:00

Jessie Kol: From the album Little Emmanuel:

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-12653999688566090092010-12-16T10:53:00.001+01:002011-12-06T16:00:06.895+01:00

Love generates life in the crib, in the world and our dreams wrapped in mirrors under trees of lights and a star taking us by hand if we walk — if we walk . . . (Léon Bertoletti, If We Walk) Peter Paul Rubens, Die Flucht nach Ägypten (Flight into Egypt)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-76527938416721637932010-12-13T12:26:00.000+01:002010-12-13T12:26:45.986+01:00

L'amore genera vita nel presepe, nel mondo e i nostri sogni incartati di specchi sotto alberi di luci e una stella che ci prende per mano se camminiamo - se camminiamo... (Léon Bertoletti, Se camminiamo) Federico Barocci. The Nativity. 1597. Oil on canvas. Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain.

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-89090010804995879762010-12-07T16:21:00.000+01:002010-12-07T16:21:16.631+01:00

I did not enter into silence, silence captured me. (Ezra Pound to his French publisher Dominique de Roux)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-19271382207074846412010-12-06T16:54:00.001+01:002010-12-06T17:13:25.265+01:00

Nino and Pasquarosa Bertoletti: Nino Bertoletti. Ritratto di Pasquarosa. 1930. Oil on canvas. Archivio Nino e Pasquarosa Bertoletti, Rome, Italy. Giulio Bertoletti: _______________________________________ Nino Bertoletti, 1889-1971. Pasquarosa Marcelli Bertoletti, 1896-1973. Giulio Bertoletti, 1919-1976.

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-34966899613522433942010-12-03T16:09:00.001+01:002010-12-04T14:58:15.804+01:00

Yes, no, maybe. [ AP(1) | AP(2) | Reuters | SPJ ]

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-56407391928052369142010-11-29T18:48:00.000+01:002010-11-29T18:48:32.007+01:00

NOTICE PERSONS attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHORPER G.G., CHIEF OF ORDNANCE. (Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-18169019103426416322010-11-24T15:38:00.000+01:002010-11-24T15:38:41.374+01:00

Got a hold on my heart that keeps me bound When the whole wide world is free Oh Lord who will comfort me Melody Gardot, Who Will Comfort Me

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-50092702548345436602010-11-22T15:03:00.002+01:002010-11-30T16:56:48.833+01:00

Fernand Cormon. Cain. 1880. Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France. O my pilot, winged Raziel — guide, counsellor, friend — you know we might as well finish up the manna in our daily desert or eat the fruit of knowledge from the satellite dish in the middle of the garden — feel satiated but realize we are naked — banished children of Cain — trembling in this valley of fears: our bread

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-40250350803009247152010-11-08T15:19:00.000+01:002010-11-08T15:19:23.490+01:00

Consider writing as a craft, like carpentry. (Lauren Kessler, Duncan McDonald: When Words Collide - A Media Writer's Guide to Grammar and Style) The difference between intellectual and manual labour has no meaning for us artisans of words.

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-17499827356320710942010-11-06T15:50:00.000+01:002010-11-06T15:50:46.492+01:00

Camilla Kerslake . . .

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-61735832128730030572010-10-24T17:24:00.001+02:002010-10-24T17:48:32.496+02:00

Paul Cézanne. Temptation of St. Anthony. c. 1875. Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France. Siamo nature morte - e non ce n'eravamo accorte. La chiesa autoptica seziona cadaveri di anima; indaga cause prime, eteree in coscienze secche per disturbi alimentari: anoressie, bulimie spirituali; ma è la vita viva che ha avvelenato il cardiogramma di non mistiche rose, spine pensierose, fertili

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-78013253580768399702010-10-16T15:33:00.001+02:002010-11-22T14:58:56.656+01:00

The silent Silence Almighty silenced my monotheistic silence — silently. (Léon Bertoletti, Absence)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-28320976139985463732010-10-12T17:53:00.000+02:002010-10-12T17:53:20.659+02:00

"I had spent the entire summer sitting in cemeteries or in the public gardens near the castle, writing articles intended for some newspaper: page after page on almost any subject, filled with odd ideas, inspirations, quirks rising from my restless brain. In desperation I would choose the most outrageous subjects; the pieces would cost me hours and hours of labour, and were never accepted. When a

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-79542514756148021112010-10-12T09:59:00.000+02:002010-10-12T09:59:51.099+02:00

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-31478970159012660952010-10-06T14:53:00.000+02:002010-10-06T14:53:25.997+02:00

"The only way for a reporter to look at a politician is down" (H. L. Mencken)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-15271151745851437402010-09-15T16:54:00.000+02:002010-09-15T16:54:42.609+02:00

The thing speaks for itself . . .

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-77451281083935841492010-08-30T16:11:00.002+02:002010-10-06T16:18:21.249+02:00

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-44128574010411031812010-07-07T15:38:00.000+02:002010-07-07T15:38:12.393+02:00

TO:                The Editor FROM:           L.B. SUBJECT:      Ideas for my new column Whirring wings, shepherds, false prophets in sheep's clothing and wolves: Woe to the land of whirring wings (Isaiah 18:1) Should not shepherds take care of the flock? (Ezekiel 34:2) Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. (Matthew 7:15)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-51757027707857500992010-07-06T18:22:00.001+02:002010-07-06T18:28:37.658+02:00

To know, to judge, to understand: To see the whole in a grain of sand . . .

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-85747171133824719962010-07-05T15:52:00.000+02:002010-07-05T15:52:07.264+02:00

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-2635342779756105212010-06-14T22:52:00.002+02:002010-06-14T22:52:44.704+02:00

To be continued ...

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-66262574174674560442010-06-10T09:59:00.001+02:002010-06-14T22:55:07.508+02:00

Il y a des gens qu'on rencontre, qu'on voit tous les jours, dont on serre la main, avec qui on mange, avec qui on couche, avec qui on dort, et qui sont des morts. L.B. [Here]

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-8978936408498095082010-06-02T17:46:00.000+02:002010-06-02T17:46:10.823+02:00

... crawling up a hill. (Katie Melua)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-5352769090358320682010-05-30T19:02:00.000+02:002010-05-30T19:02:08.463+02:00

'You ask whether your poems are good. You send them to publishers; you compare them with other poems; you are disturbed when certain publishers reject your attempts. Well now, since you have given me permission to advise you, I suggest that you give all that up. You are looking outward, and above all else, that you must not do now. No one can advise and help you, no one. There is ony one way: Go

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-70287659622234122332010-05-29T15:16:00.000+02:002010-05-29T15:21:36.715+02:00

Pedophile priests: protected; Nun who saves life: excommunicated. Seems fair.

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-79337882352069997732010-05-28T16:25:00.000+02:002010-05-28T16:25:00.139+02:00

Oh, newspapermen meet such interesting people! They know the low-down, now it can be told. I'll tell you quite reliably off the record About some charming people I have known, For I meet politicians, and grafters by the score, Killers plain and fancy, it's really quite a bore. Oh, newspapermen meet such interesting people! They wallow in corruption, crime, and gore. Ting-a-ling-a-ling, city desk

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-12509272151580228442010-05-26T14:56:00.001+02:002010-05-26T14:58:18.078+02:00

"What is blind?" asked the blind man. (HG Wells, The Country of the Blind) [Full text]

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-12684372655005001632010-05-25T15:13:00.001+02:002010-05-25T15:48:09.490+02:00

Italian media on Tuesday united behind a protest against a proposed law by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's allies which would ban them from publishing the content of wiretaps during a judicial inquiry. "The publishers and editors of Italian newspapers as well as the Italian press federation denounce the danger" which the proposed law represents "to complete freedom of information," said an

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-20387544458503025712010-05-24T14:17:00.000+02:002010-05-24T14:17:29.579+02:00

"We're all in the same boat." Yep. But where's the boat going?

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-18352117756464205672010-05-22T19:15:00.000+02:002010-05-22T19:15:17.955+02:00

Oportet ut scandala eveniant, and this means that even scandal, the scandal of the absurd, and of offensive false criticisms of human conscience, is and advance. ("Oportet ut scandala eveniant: il che vuol dire che anche lo scandalo, lo scandalo dello sproposito e della bestemmia offensiva della coscienza umana, è progresso". Benedetto Croce, Teoria e storia della storiografia)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-12267932229603068312010-05-21T16:35:00.001+02:002010-05-21T16:39:25.221+02:00

I'm going 'round the bend like it'll never end, here I go again I'm going round and around; you know I'm losing ground Just keeping on and on There's a light up ahead, it's burning bright in my head Like a streetlight on an empty road ... You know people come and people go And things change You might like it today and then it all goes away It's all been rearranged ... So good bye Montréal, I'll

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-32100972314773774742010-05-18T15:08:00.003+02:002010-05-18T15:37:44.350+02:00

A column of mine. Giuseppe Prezzolini in Lugano, Switzerland in 1981. Related posts: Prezzolini's Lesson Giuseppe Prezzolini, Journalist The Signor Prezzolini

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-11322944699188991132010-05-17T16:19:00.000+02:002010-05-17T16:19:03.184+02:00

'What is so deceptive about the state of mind of the members of a society is the "consensual validation" of their concepts. It is naïvely assumed that the fact that the majority of people share certain ideas or feelings proves the validity of these ideas and feelings. Nothing is further from the truth. Consensual validation as such has no bearing whatsoever on reason or mental health. Just as

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-56755948956399004462010-05-16T11:10:00.000+02:002010-05-16T11:10:17.251+02:00

Tom Wolfe, Gay Talese, Joan Didion, Hunter S. Thompson ... "By then, legions of eager reporters had shoved aside the he-said-she-said-can-you-spell-it-for-me ways of the past and embraced the idea that they could bring to their work the sensibilities and techniques of fiction." (Michael Shapiro, The Reporter Who Time Forgot: How Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day changed journalism) Cornelius

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-85037432585628286742010-05-13T16:53:00.002+02:002010-05-13T16:58:59.964+02:00

Have reporters paid sufficient attention to the Gulf spill's impact on marine life? [CIR] (An up-to-date map is available at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, LDWF.)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-71745508816050153522010-05-12T09:36:00.000+02:002011-02-04T15:52:33.363+01:00

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-36065297131681231132010-05-10T10:52:00.000+02:002010-05-10T10:52:23.955+02:00

To know is to judge ...

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-91496611878810229692010-05-06T15:15:00.000+02:002011-02-04T15:52:33.364+01:00

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-91387594934582706252010-05-05T11:14:00.000+02:002010-05-05T11:14:07.074+02:00

"Call me Ishmael. Some years ago - never mind how long precisely - having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-38929210948916253752010-05-03T15:13:00.000+02:002010-05-03T15:13:15.221+02:00

Credit: WAN-IFRA/Cambon

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672939.post-42031568780586771412010-05-01T14:46:00.000+02:002010-05-01T14:46:25.016+02:00

"History teaches — even if man seldom learns — that if Athens cries, Sparta should not smile." (Carlo M. Cipolla, Before the Industrial Revolution: European Society and Economy, 1000-1700)

Leon Bertolettinoreply@blogger.com