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This blog is intended to showcase my pictures or those of other photographers who have moved beyond the pretty picture and for whom photography is more than entertainment - photography that aims at being true, not at being beautiful because what is true is most often beautiful..

>>>> Comments, commentary and lively discussions, re: my writings or any topic germane to the medium and its apparatus, are vigorously encouraged.

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Entries from September 1, 2009 - September 30, 2009

Wednesday
Sep302009

tuscany # 42 ~ small is beautiful

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Street light ~ Firenze, Tuscanyclick to embiggen
Unlike (once again) the good 'ole US of America, one of things that we took away from our time in Italy was the fact that so much of that place is on a human/people scale.

To wit: small shops / stores / businesses and narrow streets and alleys, many of which are shared with motorized vehicles but are also made for walking - on all but the major thoroughfares it seems that people, not cars, rule. While I'm certain that they must exist, our travels seemed totally free from the ubiquitous corporate presence as we know it here in the United Corporations of America.

And the other thing that was noticeable by its absence in the small/medium sized cities, towns, and villages were the pockets of abandoned wastelands - derelict houses, buildings, factories, and weed infested / overgrown lots littered with trash / junk - that are the visual hallmark of virtually every American city, town, and village. Once again, they undoubtedly must exist but in no way near to the extent that they do in the good 'ole US of A.

I'm certain that Italy will not be confused with Nirvana any time soon, but it does seem that they do a whole lot more right than we do.

Wednesday
Sep302009

tuscany # 41 ~ choo, choo not vroom, vroooom

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Train depot ~ Arezzo, Tuscanyclick to embiggen
Unlike the good 'ole US of America, it is ridiculously easy to get around Italy by train.

Our day in Firenze (Florence) began and ended with train ride. No fuss. No muss. Just get a ticket and get onboard. Much more relaxing than a high-speed trek on the A1.

Wednesday
Sep302009

tuscany # 37-40 ~ del gallo nero

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On the grounds of the Poggio Cascianto estate, San Polo, Tuscanyclick to embiggen
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A winery tour ~ Ruffino Winery - San Polo, Tuscanyclick to embiggen
The number of opportunities for taking a a winery tour in Tuscany is similar to the number of grains of sand on a beach. A slight exaggeration, maybe, but not that much of one.

So it was that we found ourselves at Poggio Casciano, an ancient estate occupied since Roman times which is graced with a classic Renaissance villa - one that serves as the home of one of the two brothers who own Ruffino. The villa is surrounded by 60 hectors of vineyards and has a rather modest wine making facility.

We did not land here by accident - my brother delivers mail to one of the two brothers who own the largest wine company and the largest importer of wine - to include Ruffino - in the US of A. By coincidence, at one time in my photographic past, I used to do the photography for their annual report and wide variety of advertising / marketing photography for many of their products. That said, by pre-arrangement we were able to have a small private tour of the place.

As expected, we learned about / sampled some nice wines, toured the wine making facility and the wine cellars, and played a little bocce but what really struck my fancy was learning about del gallo nero - the black rooster. From an Italian translation:

The origins of this symbol can be found in a telling about the rivalry between Florence and Siena, due to the disputing for the possession of the Chiantishire lands, in the medieval period. To put down this interminable and bloody war, the two communes decide to entrust the definition of its own borders to a trial between two knights, one with the colour of Florence and the other with the colour of Siena. The place where the two knights met, leaving their respective cities to dawn, when the cock crows, there would have been the boundary. The Sienesi grew up and stuffed with food their white cock, convinced that this would sing stronger, while the Florentines choose a black cock and left it on an empty stomach. The fatal day, the black Florentine cock was very hungry and so began to crow before the sunrise, while the white Sienese cock was full of food yet.

The Florentine knight, woken up early by his cock, began to gallop covering much more street than his rival: almost the whole land of the Chianti was annexed to the lily Republic.

Ignoring the double entendre - re: woken up early by his cock (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) - you can probably get the drift of this story. What may be less than obvious in this translation is the fact that the knights set out from opposite ends of the same road - the road that traversed the region of Chianti - and where they meet on that road determined the location of the boundary in dispute.

In any event, the image of our hero (at least by Florentine accounting), del gallo nero, was adopted in 1716 by the Chianti Classico Consorzio del Gallo Nero as the symbol of high quality Chianti Classico wine.

Now, the next time you to go to the wine store, you can pick up a bottle of Chianti Classico (which will have the del Gallo Nero seal over the cork on the bottle neck). You can then entertain and amaze (and perhaps even annoy) anyone within earshot with the story of del Gallo Nero. The inclusion of the woken up early by his cock (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) bit is at your discretion.

And, btw, the next time you see me maybe I'll be wearing my del Gallo Nero insignia golf cap and/or my del Gallo Nero insignia polo shirt.

Wednesday
Sep302009

tuscany # 32-36 ~ vroom, vroooom

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Cisitalia dashboard ~ Arezzo, Tuscanyclick to embiggen
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Italian cars ~ in and around Tuscanyclick to embiggen
During all my years with the wife, one word that I can't ever remember hearing was the word, "vroom", so it goes without saying that I never heard her utter the phrase, "vroom, vroooom". However, in Italy / France, if I heard "vroom, vroooom" once, I heard it 1,000 times.

Now, it must be stated that the wife was not given over to some sort of verbal tick because she only verbalized the phrase "vroom, vroooom" in response to my oft-heard directive of, "way cool man, check out that (insert auto name here)." - a declarative sentence that she must have heard at least 1,200 times (maybe more, but only 1/2 the number of times she watched me making pictures) during the course of our travels about the Italian countryside. And, FYI, the difference in number between my exclamations and her responses can be explained by the fact that on some occasions she would just simply roll her eyes and chuckle softly.

In my defense, it should be noted that my love of Italian cars goes all the way back to my very own 1969 Fiat 124 Sports Coupe. It was a killer car for that time - a sweet interior, a high-revving twin-cam motor, 4-wheel disc brakes, 5-speed gearbox, and a suspension set up that was made for the twisty bits (any research will show that those specs were very very rare at that time, especially so in a very affordable car).

I also loved that fact that the dash made no pretense of catering to the American market in as much as all the gauges were in Italian. So, I had to pay attention the acgua temperature and be sure that I did not run out of benzina. I loved it. And, it is worth mentioning the car did not live up to the F(ix)I(t)A(gain)T(ony) reputation - it was very dependable and unscheduled maintenance free.

Over the past decade or two, my interest in cars has been heavily slanted toward those vehicles that are very fuel efficient, compact, and fun to drive - not exactly qualities found in many of Detroit's offerings (massive understatement). In fact, the number of Detroit vehicles that match that description can be counted on the fingers growing out of the top of head (0). And, in the US of A, foreign makers have generally imported only "stripper" compact cars because they assume, and probably rightfully so, that Americans want only characterless and "cheap" when it comes to compact fuel efficient cars.

To be honest, this situation really pisses me off. There are so many unique, creative, and "upscale" (think cabin trim and overall design) compact fuel-efficient cars out there that it boggles the (American) mind. But, unfortunately, virtually none of them are available in the good 'ole gas-guzzling, monster-sized truck/SUV, land-yacht US of A.

Fortunately for me, that may be about to change with the recently-inked Chrysler/Fiat agreement. It has been rumored that the one and only Fiat that Chrysler will market under the Fiat badge (the rest will be be Chrysler badged variants) is the Fiat 500 - a vehicle that I have been lusting over since its introduction.

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Luigiclick to embiggen
The new 500 (see the small red car above) is Fiat's update of the old venerable 500 (see the carmel-colored car above - the color of my Fiat 124 SC) and who could be so heartless and cold as to not love Luigi.

The model I am lusting for is the 500C. The wife has been summarily unimpressed with my 500-based desires, although ... on one of our rambles through the Tuscan countryside, I did stop - accompanied by much moaning & groaning from the passenger seat - at a Fiat dealership and managed to drag her inside to sit in one of the 500Cs. Her reaction was direct, terse, and to the point - "OK. Nice. If it makes it to the US, we'll get one."

Cue the location-appropriate chorus of Renaissance-era heavenly angels singing "Halleighlujah, Halleighlujah!!". Vroom, vroooom. Hope springs eternal.

FYI, I threw in the pictures of the Ferrari and the 1947-52 era Cisilatia just for kicks - what the hell, one can always dream, can't one?

Tuesday
Sep292009

tuscany # 31 ~ where there's smoke ....

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Tuscan fire with train ~ Cortona, Tuscanyclick to embiggen
Don't have a clue about what might have been going on here. Whatever it is, the passengers on the train got a great view.

I spotted this fire as I was picturing on our descent from the old Village of Cortona. At first, it was just a bit of flame and some smoke but over about a 10 minute span it grew to what you see here.

Tuesday
Sep292009

tuscany # 30 ~ RIP

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A cemetery in Cortona, Tuscanyclick to embiggen
Overlooking a cemetery from the old village of Cortona.

Tuesday
Sep292009

tuscany # 29 ~ say cheese

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Antica Bottega Tuscana ~ Arezzo, Tuscanyclick to embiggen
The wife buys cheese in Arezzo.

Monday
Sep282009

(firenze) tuscany # 25-28 ~ signs

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Self service ~ Firenze, Tuscanyclick to embiggen
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Self service ~ Firenze, Tuscanyclick
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Buca Mario ~ Firenze, Tuscanyclick
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Pizzeria ~ Firenze, Tuscanyclick
I'm basically clueless as to why I became so enamored by/of Italian signs. Maybe they subconsciously spoke to the designer in me - the signs were simple and to the point. One might even use the phrase "classically elegant" to describe them.

It goes without saying, or at least it should, that Italians rank amongst the world's best designers of all kinds of things - clothes, cars, typography, graphics, architecture, and wide variety of "things". I would even go as far as to opine that, to my eye and sensibilities, most of Italy (at least the parts I saw) seems to be well designed in the sense that there is a rather constant look and feel to the entire place.

That characteristic struck me immediately. It took the wife a few days before she stated that she was definitely beginning to understand what I meant by that observation. I think it had something to do with the fact that, for the most part, Italians have managed to avoid the relentless, slapdash, visually oppressive / ugly sprawl that we seem to passively accept, if not embrace, in the name of "progress" here in the US of A.