Imparare a vivere

Quale di queste due frasi è vera? Possono essere vere tutte e due?

Ci vuole tutta la vita per imparare a vivere.

Seneca

Abbiamo solo due vite: la seconda comincia quando ci rendiamo conto di averne una sola.

Confucio

Pagare la tassa sui rifiuti e raccolta ingombranti

Dal 2013 ho cercato di sistemare la situazione della raccolta dei rifiuti per il mio villino a Fregene, in provincia di Roma.

Ho chiamato il comune di Fiumicino decine, forse oltre cento volte, ma non mi hanno dato retta, devo andare di persona o mandare qualcuno con delega. Vivendo all'estero non mi facilitano certo la vita. Eppure li chiamo per dargli dei soldi, in cambio di un servizio non solo dovuto, ma che loro forniscono comunque. Infatti so di molti miei vicini di casa che non pagano ma i cui rifiuti vengono comunque raccolti!

Passa il tempo e tra una cosa e l'altra non succede nulla, poi me ne dimentico, e se ne dimenticano anche loro. Infatti continuano a raccogliere i rifiuti prodotti nel mio villino, ma non mi chiedono soldi, non mi mandano fatture, solleciti, minacce, saluti, nulla.

Avrebbe potuto andare avanti così per sempre. E forse sarebbe stato meglio.

Invece nel 2020 riparto all'attacco per regolarizzare il tutto. Provo a telefonare al comune di Fiumicino, ma negli orari lavorativi il telefono risulta sempre occupato, mentre negli orari di chiusura (ho provato, vedi mai?) prevedibilmente non risponde nessuno. Sarà per l'epidemia COVID-19 in corso? Però un altro ufficio mi ha detto che almeno alcuni impiegati lavorano in remoto, da casa.

Ho scritto email, ma senza avere risposta. Allora ho contattato il comune di Fiumicino tramite la messaggeria della loro pagina Facebook! Chi dice che i social media non servono a niente?

E lì ho avuto risposta tramite la messaggeria privata di Facebook. Mi hanno suggerito di chiamare il numero che risultava perennemente occupato... Gli ho scritto della futilità dei miei tentativi e mi hanno risposto fornendomi un altro numero da chiamare, un numero verde: 800.020.661. Risolto? NO! Il numero verde si può chiamare solo da telefoni fissi, chissà perché. Ed io, come tanti ormai, non ne ho più. Il telefono fisso è stato reso completamente obsoleto dalla tecnologia mobile, da anni.

Ho insistito, chiedendo un recapito email, e me lo hanno dato, sempre via Facebook, anzi me ne hanno dati due: info@fiumicinodifferenzia.it e assessorato.ambiente@comune.fiumicino.rm.it.

Ho scritto all'uno con l'altro in copia, il 28 settembre 2020, e tanto per essere sicuro ho usato la posta elettronica certificata, così ho potuto verificare che avessero aperto il messaggio. Dopo pochi minuti mi ha risposto l'ufficio dell'Assessorato Ambiente, Parchi, Verde pubblico e privato, Ciclo integrato dei rifiuti, Monitoraggio ambientale, Risparmio energetico, Demanio marittimo. Molte mansioni, ho pensato, per un singolo assessorato. Ecco la risposta:

Gentile signor Marco Carnovale, non ci risultano problematiche particolari del servizio prenotazioni per il ritiro di ingombranti. Le rimettiamo in allegato i contatti e gli orari previsti per richiedere il servizio e concordare l'appuntamento con la società, in indirizzo per conoscenza, che svolge il servizio. Cordiali saluti

Al che, non intendendo ricominciare la trafila delle telefonate a vuoto, risposi al gentile assessore:

A seguito corrispondenza in calce, quanto sarebbe possibile fissare un appuntamento per prelevare alcuni rifiuti ingombranti? Al telefono non risponde nessuno, sempre occupato da settimane.
Grazie per la disponibilità.

Finalmente l'assessorato mi rispose con una informazione utile:

La prima data disponibile è il 27 Ottobre.
Insieme alla lavatrice può mettere solo 2 mobiletti per via del limite quantitativo concesso.
Per fissare l'appuntamento abbiamo bisogno anche del Suo codice fiscale.
Cordiali saluti.

Dunque un mese di attesa, un po’ tanto ma almeno avevo una data certa.

In un altro messaggio mi si avvertiva che c'erano dei limiti a quanto potessi mettere in strada per il ritiro: ogni anno il pagamento della tassa mi dava diritto al prelievo e smaltimento di 5 metri cubi, e massimo 2 metri cubi per prelievo. Un elettrodomestico e un mobiletto piccolo a due ante, mi specificavano. 

Ed il resto? Avevo anche un grande frigorifero da smaltire, ed un paio di vecchi mobiletti scassati, oltre ad un piccolo scaldabagno elettrico anche lui da smaltire. 

Niente da fare, ho dovuto chiamare uno sgombracantine privatamente, e ovviamente pagarlo a parte. Per cose più trasportabili con un'auto, ma troppo grandi per entrare nei bidoni, farò un po' di viaggi in auto per Roma ed utilizzare uno dei cassonetti ancora disponibili per la raccolta indifferenziata nella città eterna. Non so se sia legale portare rifiuti da un comune all'altro, ma che fare?

Film review: Disrupting Wine (2020) by Johan Rimestad, ***

Synopsys 

Documentary about the founder of Vivino, Heini Zachariassen.

Vivino has more than 43 million downloads worldwide and has its HQ in San Francisco. (from the film’s website) Of course: for wine just as for anything else innovation blooms in silicon valley.

Review 

Too much about the life of the founder and his family and not enough about the Vivino application, its features, its very useful role in the hands of wine lovers and sommeliers alike. While some facts about Heini would obviously be in order to understand the genesis of the app, this is not supposed to be about him but about IT, VIVINO! Also, one gets the impression that the creator of Vivino treats wines as if they were any other commodity, he could have made an app about different kinds of detergents. I feel that is not the case but Heini's passion for wine does not come through.

See my other reviews of films about wine here.

 

Film review: A Year in Burgundy (2013), by David Kennard, ***

Synopsis

The film follows Martine Saunier seven wine-making families in the Burgundy region of France through the course of a full year, and delves into the cultural and creative process of making wine, as well as its deep ties to the land. What lies within the rhythm of a year, from vines to grapes to wine? 

The film is in four season-sections, and plays out against that backdrop: spring showers, drought, heat wave, hail and storms, harvest moons and the damp cold of winter. Each vintage is a time capsule, a bottled piece of history of a very specific year, with its particular weather pattern, its crises and its triumphs. It all goes in, whether you want it to or not, and 2011 was full of drama. (from Ibmd)

Review

A bit of a disappointment. If you don't know anything about Burgundy you will certainly learn something. If you've been there a few times you will still get a few bits here and there but not much. Much of it is cliche. Brugundy deserves better. Still, if you have it for free on Prime and want an easy evening, go ahead an watch it, with a glass of Burgundy wine in hand of course.

See my other reviews of films about wine here.

Film Review: A seat at the table (2019) by David Nash and Simon Mark-Brown , **

Synopsis

A New Zealand winemaking team enters the period known as Vintage when wine is made 24/7 for months on end. Sleepless nights, endless labor, time away from home means they must ensure nature, science and magic come together to overcome each challenge Vintage presents. (from imdb)

Review

A missed opportunity. The makers of this documentary had access to the whole process of harvesting at a large New Zealand vineyard but we learn very little in over one hour of watching this repetitive production. We hear a hundred times how hard the work is during harvest, and how awesome everyone in the multinational team of pickers is, but little else. 

Some information that one learns in this film: foreigners now own one third of NZ wine production, the French were the first to invest, in the 1980s. 

Biodynamics taking off.

Not so many rules like in Europe about controlled origins, allowed varieties, irrigation, chaptalization, so  NZ can experiment more.

One curiosity: lots of pigs apparently threaten the harvest at night, and even deer. As for birds, they try and do their share of eating but mostly cause botrytis, which is some parts of the world is welcome as it allows to make sweet wines, but not here.

Read my reviews of films about wine here.

Film review: Somm, into the Bottle (2015), by Jason Wise, ****

Synopsis

Sequel to the previous Somm movie of 2012, this documentary takes the viewer into the private world of famed producers (who open exceptional bottles for the occasion).

Review

A peek into cellars that most of us humans will never get into, and a good dose of self-irony about a profession that means different things to different people. Definitely recommended after the first.

We learn that the word "spirit", used for alcoholic beverages, comes from the fact that wine has been used in religious functions for a long time, it takes the "spirit" out of the body, especially when abused! Not sure it is true, but it sounds fun.

We also learn that Julius Cesar instructed his legionaries to drink at least a liter of wine a day, more before going into battle.

One somm opines that aging wine in wood is like adding salt to food: you may need it to exalt the flavor, but not too much. Some may not like it at all, of course. But if you do choose to oak a wine, beware: your barrel is going to be like a wife for your wine, choose well or your wine will pay the price for your mistake!

A few spoke about scoring wines. Some find it useful, some hate it as an oversimplification that is not reliable: no single somm will score the same wines the same way if given the same bottles blind over again.

Film review: The Barolo Boys (2014) by Paolo Casalis and Tiziano Gaia, ****

The story of a group of Barolo producers, friends, colleagues and competitors at the same time, who broke with tradition to find their own call.

Barolo was mostly cheap, unknown and unloved until the early 1980s. It was a difficult wine, harsh, unfriendly, tannic, and it required a very long time to age and become more pleasant.

A bunch of producers, led by Gaia and Altare among others, decided to change that: they started reducing yields by green harvesting (removing some bunches before they ripen, so as to leave fewer but better bunches on the vine) and using new and small oak barrels.

The result was amazing, Barolo became well known, expensive and veery much loved. But not everyone was happy

 

Arrivo a Roma da Londra e tampone COVID-19

Regole per spostarsi in Italia

Decido di andare in Italia, e prendo l'aereo. Volo British Airways, partenza in orario. 

Dopo il decollo ci danno 3 moduli da compilare per le autorità italiane. Una pagina ciascuno, scritto fittissimo, con un carattere dimensione 4 o 5, quasi illeggibile. Bisogna inserire sempre le stesse informazioni: nome, cognome, indirizzo, recapito telefonico, ecc. firma con data e ora, OK fatto. 

Appena arrivati in aeroporto la polizia di dice che uno dei moduli non va bene, è vecchio, e ne dobbiamo riempire un altro, che però è identico! Passato il controllo doganale ci informano che la postazione aeroportuale per effettuare il test COVID-19 è chiusa, funziona solo fino alle 18. Invece ce ne sta un'altra, aperta 24 ore, al parcheggio di lunga sosta, a qualche km di distanza. Mi consigliano di andarci adesso (sono le 22) perché se tornassi domani, come sarebbe mia facoltà fare, troverei una fila d'attesa più lunga. 

Ritiro l'auto in affitto e vado al parcheggio lunga sosta, dove arrivo alle 22.30. 

C'è una fila di un centinaio di macchine, non male dopotutto. Passa una mezz'ora e sono arrivato allo sbarramento, l'impiegato mi fa passare e... mi trovo a fare un'altra fila in un parcheggio adiacente! 

Passa ancora un'ora e finalmente ci fanno passare, ci dicono di andare dritto e poi a sinistra, seguendo i cartelli. Detto, fatto, ed eccoci in un terzo parcheggio, con ancora centinaia di auto davanti a noi. Sono le 23.30 circa.

Qui la fila dura circa due ore. Arriviamo quindi alla postazione della Croce Rossa per fare il test e ci chiedono se avevamo compilato "il modulo". Quale modulo? Un altro modulo con nome, cognome ecc che però nessuno ci ha dato. Un impiegato ce lo fornisce e ci dobbiamo mettere da parte per riempirlo, mentre ci passano davanti quelli arrivati dopo di noi. Uno si è addormentato in macchina, l'addetto a smistare il traffico bussa sul finestrino, gli strilla di svegliarsi, niente. Alla fine apre la porta della sua auto e il tizio si sveglia di soprassalto. Sono le 2 di mattina. 

Finalmente una crocerossina brasiliana (si capisce dall'inconfondibile accento, anche se parla un ottimo italiano) molto gentile e professionale ci fa il tampone, poi ci dice di aspettare in un parcheggio adiacente per il risultato, che ci sarà mandato per SMS. Però i nostri numeri di telefono sono inglesi, ci chiede se abbiamo un numero di cellulare italiano. No, non ce l'abbiamo. Come non ce l'hanno tutti i visitatori stranieri che arrivano a Fiumicino! 

Ci dice di aspettare comunque, e se non riceviamo nulla entro mezz'ora meglio tornare a chiedere. Intanto sono le 02:30 di mattina, son 4 ore che siamo qui. Non c'è modo di avere nulla da mangiare, neanche acqua da bere. 

Però c'è un bagno, a circa 500 metri di distanza, molto pulito e ben illuminato. Ne approfitto...

Ecco che dopo mezz’ora arriva il sospirato SMS, sul mio cellulare col numero inglese, sono negativo, buona notizia, si va a casa. Sono le 3 del mattino.

Film review: Somm (2012) by Jason Wise, ****

Review

Four sommeliers attempt to pass the prestigious Master Sommelier exam, a test with one of the lowest pass rates in the world. 

The documentary follows them step by step as they prepare and study together, meticulously, for many months, at the expense of their normal lives, their loved ones and their emotional balance.

The test is ruthless, both theory and practice (a blind tasting) demand superhuman qualities, memory, and not a little luck. In the end, those who pass join a club of only some 200 people who ever passed the test and are catapulted to the top of the wine world.

La raccolta dei rifiuti a Fregene, comune di Fiumicino

Ho ereditato una villa a Fregene, comune di Fiumicino, provincia di Roma. Dal momento in cui ho assunto la piena proprietà mi sono dovuto far carico di pagare la tassa per la raccolta dei rifiuti. Tassa non proprio economica, pago quasi 1500 euro l'anno, anche se la casa è quasi sempre disabitata.

Gentile signor Marco Carnovale, non ci risultano problematiche particolari del servizio prenotazioni per il ritiro di ingombranti. Le rimettiamo in allegato i contatti e gli orari previsti per richiedere il servizio e concordare l'appuntamento con la società, in indirizzo per conoscenza, che svolge il servizio. Cordiali saluti

Come prenotare? Facile
Per prenotare il servizio basta chiamare i seguenti numeri:
- Numero Verde (Solo da fisso) 800 020 661
- Numero (da cellulare): 06 65.22.920
attivi dal lunedì al sabato dalle ore 09.00 alle ore 14.00

Cosa puoi smaltire e in che quantità?
Puoi smaltire ingombranti come: armadi, divani, materassi, poltrone, sedie, scrivanie... oppure i RAEE (Rifiuti di Apparecchiature Elettriche ed Elettroniche) come: frigoriferi, monitor, televisori, lavatrici, scaldabagni...

Puoi richiedere il ritiro gratuito a domicilio gratuito entro il limite di 2 mc a ritiro (esempio, 2 pezzi quali frigorifero,armadio a 2 ante, lavatrice, tavolo) per un massimo di 5 mc/anno.

Solo che al telefono non rispondeva mai nessuno. Anzi per essere precisi: durante gli orari di apertura degli uffici la linea era sempre occupata, durante gli orari di chiusura, ovviamente, la linea era libera ma non rispondeva mai nessuno.

Dopo qualche giorno la conferma per email. Le confermo l'appuntamento per il 4 Novembre, entro le 12 il divano deve essere esposto fuori l'abitazione sul piano stradale, il ritiro avverrà dopo le 12. Il divano deve essere lineare senza angoli o penisole.

In un'altra occasione dovevo liberarmi di una vecchia lavatrice. Insieme alla lavatrice, mi dissero, può mettere solo 2 mobiletti per via del limite quantitativo concesso. La parola concesso mi ricorda di quando andavo a scuola dai preti, e a fine anno mi davano una medaglietta per il buon profitto dicendo che mi era stata concessa. Non che me l'ero guadagnata. E qui pure mi concedono di ritirare i miei rifiuti, invece di dire che stanno facendo il loro dovere dato che pago le tasse comunali e loro lavorano per me. 

E meno male che non ho divani con angoli o penisole.

FIlm review: Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (2009) by Jan Kounen, ****

Synopsys

In 1913 the first performance of the ballet “Le sacre du printemps” took place in Paris. The composer, Igor Stravinsky, is whistled for his radically new music. But in the audience there is a woman who is intoxicated by the dissonant rhythms and feels that this music is just as groundbreaking as her fashion creations: Coco Chanel. 

Seven years passed before the choreographer Sergej Diagilew introduced Coco to Igor Stravinsky, who had since fled Russia to Paris. Coco Chanel invites the penniless composer to live with his lung-sick wife and children in their luxurious villa in Garches and to revisit his spring sacrifice there while she creates the first synthetic perfume with Chanel No. 5. The novel is apparently based on a true story: Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky actually had an affair.

Review

A captivating story of two icons of the XX century, coming from two entirely different worlds (fashion and music) but sharing a revolutionary approach to

their work. Strawinsky owes his professional survival to a woman who almost destroys his family.

Book  

 Film

Film review: Queen of the Desert (2015) by Werner Herzog, *****

Synopsys

Gertrude Bell, a daughter of wealthy British parents, has no interest in the social life of the London elite. Balls, receptions and the British aristocracy bring her only boredom. She wants to study, learn and above all see the world.

Aspiring to have at least some kind of activity in her life, Gertrude decides to find freedom and move to be with her uncle, who occupies a high diplomatic position in Tehran. From Iran she moves on to Amman and Damascus, some of the main political centers in the crumbling Ottoman Empire.

So begins her lifelong adventure across the Arab world, a journey marked by danger, a passionate affair with a British officer, Henry Cadogan, and an encounter with the legendary T.E. Lawrence.

With an all-star cast, including Nicole Kidman, Robert Pattinson, Damien Lewis and James Franco, Queen of the Desert is the uplifting, inspiring and extraordinary true story of one woman who, against all odds, changed the course of history.


Review

A gripping historical film on the life of an extraordinary woman who carved the life she wanted out of a hard world made for men.

We learn a lot about life in the latter part of the Turkish occupation of what is now Jordan and Iraq, areas where nomads roamed free without borders and ancient religions perpetuated irreconcilable conflicts.

Never seeking power she ended up making political decisions that are still relevant in the Middle East a century later. It would have been interesting if the movie had shown why she helped certain tribes rise to power through British help and not others. In the end, a successful but unhappy woman who spent most of her life alone.

Film review: Naked Island (1960), by Kaneto Shindo, ****

Synopsis

Filmed on the virtually deserted Setonaikai archipelago in south-east Japan, Naked Island was made in the words of its director "as a 'cinematic poem' to try and capture the life of human beings struggling like ants against the forces of nature". Kaneto Shindo, director of Onibaba (MoC #13) and Kuroneko (MoC #14), made the film with his own production company, Kindaï Eiga Kyokai, who were facing financial ruin at the time. Using one-tenth of the average budget, Shindo took one last impassioned risk to make this film. With his small crew, they relocated to an inn on the island of Mihari where, for two months in early 1964, they would make what they considered to be their last film.

Naked Island tells the story of a small family unit and their subsistence as the only inhabitants of an arid, sun-baked island. Daily chores, captured as a series of cyclical events, result in a hypnotizing, moving, and beautiful film harkening back to the silent era. With hardly any dialogue, Shindo combines the stark 'Scope cinematography of Kiyoshi Kuroda with the memorable score of his constant collaborator Hikaru Hayashi, to make a unique cinematic document.

Shindo, who had worked with both Kenji Mizoguchi and Kon Ichikawa, shot to international fame with the astounding Children of Hiroshima (1952). Eight years later, the BAFTA-nominated Naked Island won the Grand Prix at Moscow International Film Festival (where Luchino Visconti was a jury member). It is now considered to be one of Shindo's major works, and its success saved his film company from bankruptcy. The experience of making Naked Island led Shindo to appreciate 'collective film production', and has been his preferred method of making films ever since. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to release Naked Island for the first time on home video in the UK.


Review

A strange film in many ways: itis not a silent movie but all you hear is background noises and the desperate cry of a woman when she loses her son. Few other words are uttered in the film. The story of a couple and their two sons on an island off the coast of Japan in the immediate post-war years. They have to row their way to the mainland several times a day to fetch fresh water, take the kids to school, buy necessities.

It is a very repetitive film, with scenes of rowing and carrying buckets of water displayed over and over again, but in a way I think it has to be to depict such a lifestyle. Imagine how repetitive it must have been for real people who had to suffer through this. Having said that, it is perhaps a bit too repetitive!

Beautiful photography in black and white.

Film review: A Separation (2011) by Asghar Farhadi *****

Synopsis

The stand out film of the 2011 Berlin Film Festival and winner of the Golden Bear, A Separation is a suspenseful and intelligent drama detailing the fractures and tensions at the heart of Iranian society.

Written and directed by Asghar Farhadi, the film boasts a range of superb performances from the ensemble cast who collectively received the Silver Bears for both Best Actor and Best Actress at the Berlinale.

The compelling narrative is driven by a taut and finely written script rooted in the particular of Iranian society but which transcends its setting to create a stunning morality play with universal resonance.


When his wife (Leila Hatami) leaves him, Nader (Peyman Moadi) hires a young woman (Sareh Bayat) to take care of his suffering father (Ali-Asghar Shahbazi). But he doesn't know his new maid is not only pregnant but also working without her unstable husband's (Shahab Hosseini) permission. Soon, Nader finds himself entangled in a web of lies manipulation and public confrontations. A Separation is the first-ever Iranian film to be awarded the Golden Bear.


Review

A universal story of family power struggle and love, all made more stressful by the strictures of Iranian society and Islamic rules. Never predictable, the plot keeps the viewer glued to the screen. Also an interesting peek into middle-class Iran, a category of professionals and white-collar workers that does not share much with poorer, more traditional and religious strata of society. In the end, one gets to reflect on the vault of truth: is it always a sin to lie?

Book review: Cixi (2013) by Jung Chang, ***

Synopsys

In this groundbreaking biography, Jung Chang vividly describes how Empress Dowager Cixi - the most important woman in Chinese history - brought a medieval empire into the modern age. Under her, the ancient country attained virtually all the attributes of a modern state and it was she who abolished gruesome punishments like 'death by a thousand cuts' and put an end to foot-binding. Jung Chang comprehensively overturns the conventional view of Cixi as a diehard conservative and cruel despot and also takes the reader into the depths of her splendid Summer Palace and the harem of Beijing's Forbidden City, where she lived surrounded by eunuchs - with one of whom she fell in love, with tragic consequences.

Packed with drama, fast-paced and gripping, it is both a panoramic depiction of the birth of modern China and an intimate portrait of a woman: as the concubine to a monarch, as the absolute ruler of a third of the world's population, and as a unique stateswoman. (inside flap of the book)



Review

Lots of information here, as usual for Chang. She digs deeper than anyone in Chinese sources and is very meticulous in her writing. One learns not only about Cixi but also about much of the troubled history that surrounded her long reign. Often the reader is led by the hand through the lives of the many characters depicted, and one has the impression of living in the Forbidden City or the Summer Palace. A real light on the life of late imperial China.

The major problem of the book is that the author is in love with her protagonist. This produces a hagiography rather than a biography. Cixi is praised for much, too much, and hardly ever criticized. When she is criticized, then immediately follows an excuse for her mistakes (of which there were many) or her shortsightedness.

Cixi did a lot of good, but also a lot of evil, and only the former is described in this book. Perhaps this is because Chang seems to be in love with female figures of Chinese history. Her Wild Swans remains my favorite and I am looking forward to reading her new book on the Soong sisters, hoping that it will be more impartial than this one.

Have a look at my list of books on China reviewed in this blog.