TOE goes places so you don’t have to.

Tags: ::PLACES::, ::WEB FINDS::, google maps, im bored, italy, pompeii, street view, wasting time

by Michael Davidson

Honeyed Cat, savoring her tail, ignores the transfer of my feet from ottoman to floor, an insinuation of my itch to silence the telephone, which sounds again from the room used as a music studio.  It is here that Rufus, a baritone, layers soundscapes of guitar and bass, synthesizer and drum machine, trumpet and vocals, to let people hear the music that pursues him.  Sorry, I say, and place the cat on the ottoman.  By the second ring I am beside the cradle and, with the sweep of a pelican, lift and replace the receiver on the connect button.  Why are you calling, I think, Rufus is in Italy with De Sica and Moravia and Bellucci.  He passes the market outside Vatican City, I think, and his vision switches to black and white as he remembers Antonio scouring the plaza for his stolen bicycle, a mode of transportation that is prerequisite for his new line of work placing Rita Hayworth posters on the city walls.  more »

Tags: ::CREATIVE WRITING::, alberto moravia, fiction, honeyed cat, italy, monica bellucci, rome, Short Stories, the bicycle thief, the conformist, vittorio de sica

I’m working my way up through the narrow, stone-covered streets, dodging oncoming scooters, cars, Italians rushing home from work, and a plethora of other tourists. My camera bag and tripod hinder me a bit as I swiftly move left and then right, around the slower, aging people and gawkers taking pictures. I feel the soreness of my travel-worn legs as the path steepens a bit. Suddenly, the yellow and brown walls around me open up, and I’m in a plaza, with an ancient Fountain in the middle and an old Romanesque style cathedral anchoring it all. Chairs and tables spill out into the plaza, and people lounge with their coffee or wine. A soft murmuring chorus of voices drift around me and I catch pieces of sultry Italian words as I fly by. I remind myself, “I’m in Rome”, followed by a short burst of exhuberance. more »

Tags: ::ESSAYS ABOUT REAL LIFE::, ::FILM::, anita ekberg, italian film, italy, la dolce vita, marcello mastroianni, movie, movie review, rome, trevi fountain