UPD 29/6 14:32 - Stamattina sveglia alle 6 e in coda all’ufficio passaporti della Questura di Milano. E’ estate e sono presi d’assalto, ma sono stati impeccabili: hanno capito il problema e mi hanno rilasciato un passaporto in due ore scarse (+2 di coda). E sono stati perfino gentili! Alle 13 ero al consolato americano a consegnare il mio nuovissimo passaporto. Commento del console: “Ha visto che era possibile?” Io: “Ma siete sicuri di fare in tempo a rispedirmi il passaporto per posta prioritaria, non sarebbe meglio che lo ritirassi io?” Console: “Niente è sicuro in questa vita, ma questo è il nostro sistema e funziona bene.” Per i burocrati benissimo. Per i cittadini direi un po’ meno. Augurateci buona fortuna…
Consular interview today for obtaining visas for the FF summer tour. Everything OK, except for me: no problem getting a visa, but my passport is no good. Expired? No way, it expires in 2011. So what’s the matter? The binding of the back cover is wearing out, which apparently makes it unthinkable to issue a visa on that passport. I suppose it is a threat to national security! So I need to get a new passport, then go back to the consulate to get a visa. Will I make it in time for departure? I have only one week, and that includes 4th of July. In the photo I am showing the scandalous passport.

UPD 29/6 14:32 - Woke up at 6 this morning and joined the queue at the Passports Office in Questura of Milano. It’s summertime and they are overloaded, but they’ve been impeccable: they understood the problem and issued me a new passport in less than 2 hours (+2 queue). They’ve even been kind through the madness! At 1 o’clock I was at the US Consulate to deliver my brand new passport. The consul: “See? It was possible after all!” Yeah, great. I: “Are you sre you have time enough to mail me my passport back? Would it not be better for me to pick it up?” Consul: “Nothing is certain in this life, but this is our system, and it works well.” Yeah, it works great for bureaucrats. For citizens not so much. Wish us good luck…

Here you may find the slides of my presentation (Booster network and project-work/festival) for the E.G.O. meeting (transnational partnership of the European project Booster) in Pescara:

Con qualche giorno di ritardo rendo disponibile anch’io la mia presentazione fatta a Pescara per il partenariato internazionale di Booster.

Aggiungo una ulteriore buona notizia a quelle di Alberto: i Vega’s hanno passato le selezioni e hanno suonato sul palco del Primo Maggio a Roma! Congratulations guys!

Una bella recensione, molto meditata e argomentata, del sito americano The Armchair Critic su Onda. Pare che “ci stiamo avvicinando” alla miscela ideale di folk e elettronica… speriamo!

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A nice, thoughtful review of Onda from the American website The Armchair Critic. Apparently “we have come closer” to the “right amount of musicality to balance the electronics”… let’s hope so!

Great news: we have started shooting for a film about the Choir of the Novi rice weeders. The film will tell the tale of these extraordinary ladies, from the work in the rice paddies to the foundations of the Choir in the early 70s and its encounter with Fiamma Fumana in the late 1990s, which over the year led to them featuring in all of our albums and a joint show. Their energy and warmth are inspirational for us all: they represent the best part of Emilia Romagna, the one we stand for.

The film will be produced by one of Italy’s top film directors, Davide Ferrario, and directed by young up-and-comer Andrea Zambelli. We’ll also make a book, published by Milan-based No Reply, and we would like to open the book to the contribution of everyone who feels to be part of the story of the rice weeders. If you want to contribute pictures, thoughts, writings, memories and experiences you are more than welcome to do so, we are certainly interested. We’ll use a lot of Internet for this, but we’ll start by organizing a physical meeting in Modena at Off (via Morandi 71) on Wednesday April 4th. We’ll be there, with Andrea (the director), Leonardo (the publisher) and of course the Choir.
It will not be a concert, but rather a chance to meet up and discuss this project, which we feel should belong to the whole community. Then, of course, we’ll make some music too…