In a country where entire mountains of marble exist, and nearly every commune has travertine quarries nearby, it's no wonder that many wonderfully designed bathrooms feature stone... and lots of it. Here are some of the most beautiful bathroom ideas in stone that I've come across... --Jerry Finzi There are many options (albeit an expensive choice) for sinks and tubs carved out of solid marble, travertine or other stones.
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According to the so-called "experts" at Glamour magazine, she is--for the second year in a row. The 44 year old Alyssa Milano is known more recently for her role on the television series Charmed, and back in 1984 (to a whole different generation) in Who's the Boss with Tony Danza (Lord, that's a long time ago). Earlier, she started her career at 7 years old with a role in Annie on Broadway. I mean, yes. For a 44 year old actress, she's held up well. But using a critical eye she's a bit worn at the edges. For instance, her make-up has gotten heavier and heavier over the years--along with her hips. Speaking as a photographer, her best looks are done as still shots in the studio using what we in the industry call "beauty lighting", with large banks of flat lighting that mask any age lines. Before being printed, retouching is the norm. To check out her "sexiest" looks in a critical way, look for shots captured candidly on the street with natural lighting, or harsh on-camera flash shots done by paparazzi. Ok, here's my choices, but not for "Sexiest Actress Alive". That's a pretty tall order. Instead, my list for actresses over 40.... --Jerry Finzi
Starting from 5000BC right up to modern times, gemstones with images carved into them by artisans, then mounted onto finger rings, have been are among the most highly desirable treasures to own and wear. Unlike the technique of carving cameos, which creates a bas-relief image sitting above a flat background, intaglio carves the image into the stone, below the flat surface. Although many were worn and collected simply as mementos, in ancient Rome they were often used as signet rings, with businessmen and political leaders with enormous power and wealth using them to sign documents by transferring their impression into a hot dripping of wax. At that point in history, there was no such thing as a written signature. Their origin can be traced to the Sumerian period in Mesopotamia. Seals were used in the Ancient Near East from about 3400BC for over three thousand years, with primarily softer gemstones being used. Harder gemstones were later used to aide the craftsman in cutting more precise detail into the stones that would last. In Europe, intaglio carving began in the second quarter of the sixth century BC, when new materials and techniques became available to the Greco-Roman artists. The new techniques were those required to work the harder stones, mainly the use of a cutting wheel and drill, driven by a bow or foot wheel. Previously, figures were gouged free-hand in the softer stone. Romans created intaglios with a wider variety of stones from Egypt and the far-east trade routes: garnets, emeralds, carnelian, chalcedony and amethyst, many being translucent. Emery (consisting of corundum, spinel and rutile) from the Greek island of Naxos was used as an abrasive polishing powder for the past 2000 years. The Romans inherited these techniques enabling the carving of harder gemstones with amazingly high levels of detail. This was of utmost importance in Roman society as a seal stone often mounted in a ring was used only by its owner to validate serious legal documents, although by the second century AD, the elite of Roman society en-massed large collections of intaglios with images of religions iconography, mythology, political leaders, or their sports and acting favorites. In the later days of the Roman Empire, collecting intaglios were all the rage, as proven by the large number of stones found in the hot mineral baths of Bath, England. Since the stones were held in place by nothing more than pine tars in most cases, the hot waters would dissolve the adhesive and stones worn by Roman soldiers would be lost in the baths. Roman men tended to wear only one intaglio ring at a time, while women might wear them on each finger. Other caches of intaglio have been discovered, never having been mounted, proof of a large industry of craftsmen producing the carved gems before orders were even placed. It must have been like going to a modern jewelry store where the pieces are already on display for you to make a selection. Believe it or not, you can invest in and enjoy ancient intaglio rings today. There are a surprisingly number of them available through specialist jewelers and auction houses. There are even unmounted stones that you can purchase and have mounted in a setting created by your own jewelry designer. Keep in mind that if you want to invest in a ring to wear, you must really try it on first. You see, in Roman times, rings tended to be below the second knuckle, unlike how we wear them, above the second knuckle joint. For this reason, many ancient rings are much smaller that we would require. On the low end, prices are very doable... Christies London sold a black jasper intaglio of a huntsman leaning on his staff, with a dog, for £1,188 last year. Portraits and mythological tableaux fetch a higher price. A carnelian ring carved with Alexander the Great in the guise of Hercules, his head draped in a lion’s skin, was sold by Bonhams in London for £55,200. And one of Hercules on a carnelian ring was recently estimated to fetch $120,000-$180,000 at Christie’s New York. Also, be aware that in the world of buying ancient artifacts, there are forgeries--both stones and rings can be forged. Deal only with a dealer with a long and respected reputation. For me, I'd be satisfied with that little red boar in the photo at the beginning of this article... after all, one of the best meals I had in Italy was a wild board stew. Ciao! --Jerry Finzi That's right... old men, with Italian Style. Sexy, yes? Here's how older men look their best in Italy. Regazzi, Take notes. Regazze, enjoy the eye candy... La Bella Figura... which means the Beautiful (or handsome) Figure, refers to how Italians take care about their personal appearance. Their figura, what they see in the mirror--but more importantly, what others see--matters. You won't see sloppy T-shirts and sweat pants--even when doing some daily chores, like picking up wine at the local alimentari or car parts or hardware. Especially when doing business and during the workday, Italian men really care how they look. They don't just throw on clothes in the morning--they make selections. Even their shoes get stored in a special shoe garage called a scarpiera... shoes aren't just thrown at the bottom of a closet where they might get scuffed. And of course, any Italian man worth his Sicilian sea salt is going to accessorize with a sciarpa (scarf), but it's much more than an accessory. The history of the scarf in Italy dates back to ancient Roman times, called a sudarium in Latin--literally: sweat cloth. You see, although we all know that modern day Italians loathe drafts and avoid getting a chill (which of course leads to catching a raffreddore--a cold), the scarf is also handy in hot, sweltering Italian summers to catch sweat around the neck or wipe it from their brows. For winter, fabrics such as wool, cashmere and alpaca are used. For warmer months, linen, cotton, silk, seersucker or pashmina (a lighter Indian wool) are worn. Then there's the jackets. These aren't the angular, harshly cut, tightly fitting suits of the younger generation (which, even on very thin regazzi, makes them look 20 pounds overweight), but a more relaxed fit. Even if an older gent is carrying a few extra pounds, the cut refuses to show them. There are softer lines overall. Softer shoulders. A softer drape to the fabrics. Ties optional. And classic jackets--like the double-breasted--look classy and timeless. In fact, a sports jacket and slacks or jeans give a casual chic look. Their classic selections will mix and match well with most colors and styles. Older Italian men have been around long enough to fill their closets with classic--not trendy--styles that will last for years. Every bride knows that she must include “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue..." in her wedding plans. The blue stands for purity, love and fidelity. Well, Saracini has created the “something blue” that will really make a hit... Blumond, blue Prosecco! "We wanted to create something very special, excellent & unique that has not been created before, changing the color to a vibrant Blue and making it sweeter and easier to drink... and that’s exactly what Blumond is!" Well, I don't know about the "sweeter" part, but for looks alone, this cool Prosecco is well worth a try. The blue sparkling Blumond wine will add a fun and vibrant color in your glass, and a sweet and fruity flavor made from Prosecco, peach, and blue curacao. In Italy, this blue stuff is receiving a cool, if not downright blue reception. You see, for Prosecco to actually be considered a proper Prosecco, it must contain 10 percent alcohol. Blumond only contains 7 percent, so you can see where the Italians would snubbing the apparent insult to the country's national tradition of wine. Cool blue or not? You decide. --Jerry Finzi Suede Ankle Boots by Santoni Calvin Klein Pink Notch Collar Coat, Trouvé Sweater & AG Jeans, Boot by JOIE, Handbag by Vince Camuto
Besides just being the cutest means of transportation on the Planet Earth, the Vespa Piaggio is now planning to introduce fuel-injection technology across its entire model range in the near future. Currently, the Vespa scooters get an old-school carburetor. With a carburator a Vespa (depending on the size of the engine) should get between 60 and 90 miles per gallon! With fuel injection, it can only get better. And depending on the model, you can go Slow Italy style at a top speed of 40 mph, or if you're more the Ferrari type, up to 80 mph on the larger models.
Here's a sampling of Vespa models and what they'll set you back...
A Brief History of Vespa The first Vespa scooter was produced in 1946 by Enrico Piaggio. Inspired by the Cushman scooters used by the American military during WWII, designer Corradino D'Ascanio first produced a scooter design for Ferdinando Innocenti (Lambretta), but after a disagreement, took his design to Enrico Piaggio, an aircraft manufacturer. Vespa, meaning "wasp" in Italian, was attributed to Piaggio's first sight of the design, exclaiming that it looked like a wasp. Production started in December 1946. But if you want a genuine feel-good reason to get a Vespa, check out the collaboration between Piaggio Group and (RED)®, which has created Euro 4 VESPA 946-RED, a Vespa clad in shiny red, designed to benefit the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, promoted by the organization founded in 2006 by Bono and Bobby Shriver. For every VESPA 946-RED purchased, $150 will go to the Global Fund to fight AIDS with (RED)®, which can provide more than 500 days of lifesaving HIV medication to help prevent a mother living with HIV from passing the virus to her unborn baby. Forget chic.... this is just plain solid! And how's a 90+ mph top speed and
The Vespa also joined with fashion guru Giorgio Armani to produce a version of the 946 called the Emporio Armani, but when I weigh whether I'd rather have some of my cash go into Armani's very full pockets or toward helping the helpless of the world... well, there's only once choice. What goes around comes around, you know? --Jerry Finzi To be honest, when my wife Lisa and I were first getting to know each other, I used to hide her Madonna CDs under the front seat of her car where she couldn't find them. I never really liked Madonna or the nasal sound of her voice. I also though her dancing was pedantic at best. But when I heard about her spending her 59th birthday in Puglia, I thought perhaps there's hope for her celebrity soul yet. Puglia is one of the most interesting and beautiful places on the planet, and one of the most under-rated regions of Italy. |
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