Traveling and Working : Italy

Rome - Hotel

noreply@blogger.com (Jotham) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 06:55:00 +0000

My hotel room, while cozy, doesn't have a safe. So it looks like we are going to play the "let's-see-how-long-it-takes-for-Jotham-to-get-robbed-blind" game.
Ah well, they can take my clothes and money and passport but, they can never take my dignity (At least until I am curled in a corner with no money, clothes or passport and sobbing for my mommy.)

My Nickname

noreply@blogger.com (Jotham) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:29:00 +0000

My Italian nickname is "Giocondo."

It means "funny, but stupid."

I like it.

Italian Joke

noreply@blogger.com (Jotham) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 22:44:00 +0000

I heard my first Italian joke and thought I would share it with you:

A man is walking along (in Italy) and he meets a woman.
"Where are you from?" he asks.
"I am from Bologna," she replies.
"Ah, Bologna," he says, "a great town. They are famous for two things in Bologna: Tortellini and blow jobs."
She looks at him. "What is tortellini?"

That is rich. That is rich.

New Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Jotham) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:55:00 +0000

New pictures have been added to the photo albums.

You can find them HERE

A Quote

noreply@blogger.com (Jotham) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:42:00 +0000

There is a quote written on the wall of our production office that, I think, perfectly exemplifies the Italian design aesthetic:

"Non puō esserci potenza creativa senza investimentio libidinate."

"It can't be creatively powerful without investing lust."

The Italians are so sexy.

My Hotel Elevator

noreply@blogger.com (Jotham) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:00:00 +0000

Here is a picture of the inside of the elevator at my hotel:

Yup. That's right.

I am riding up to my room in Schindler's Lift.

HA!

Film Master

noreply@blogger.com (Jotham) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 22:32:00 +0000

We are working for an Italian Production company called Film Master. Really a great place, it is hidden away (like many of the sights of Milan) in the inner courtyard of one of the austere, unassuming buildings on the street.

You can see it on the map HERE and begin to see (from above in a satellite view) what I am talking about with the courtyard thing.

The people that we are working with are fantastic, so gracious and fun. It is really a good time so far. There is a gallery in the album, HERE, for production photos.

I do have one mystery that I have been trying to solve. Perhaps somebody can help me out with it. This is a picture of the lamp above our work stations:

Why is there a chimney on the top of our fluorescent lamp? Why do you need a chimney on the top of a fluorescent lamp? Does that mean our lamp is going to start spewing smoke? If that is the case, wouldn't it be better if the chimney exited OUTSIDE of the building rather than one foot above the lamp (and still inside the room)? I am very confused.

All the kids here are punks

noreply@blogger.com (Jotham) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:15:00 +0000

Literally. Punks.
I was walking around the city for awhile today: see the sights, check out the Duomo, do some shopping. As I was wandering I noticed that all of the teenagers are doing the punk thing - black, ripped clothes, mohawks, crazy leggings, suspenders. Just like we did exactly 20 years ago.

You can check out pictures of them HERE.

Somebody could make a killing opening a Hot Topic here.

Celsius to Fahrenheit? Fahrenheit to Celsius? Ummm, what was the middle one again?

noreply@blogger.com (Jotham) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:18:00 +0000

The thermostat in my hotel room is in celcius. I am not sure how it works, how to figure out what is a comfortable temperature.

I have been trying to figure out the conversions back and forth.
9/5 + 32 degrees. Is that right?
5/9 - 156 degrees + 42 Nanoseconds?
(Square root of pi * The GNP of Myanmar) / Average height of a giraffe?
I am just not sure.

As near as I can tell from my experiments, here is the standard:

= 21.0000000000000000005 Celsius / Comforatble
< 21.0000000000000000004 Celsius / Freezing
> 21.0000000000000000006 Celsius / Boiling.

Yes. That seems about right. That seems about the level of accuracy that it seems I must achieve on the thermostat to maintain a livable atmosphere.

Photos and Maps

noreply@blogger.com (Jotham) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:09:00 +0000

There are two additional sites that have information having to do with this Italy trip:

1) A page with custom google maps of the trip.
Click Here to see that.

2) Photos of the trip.
Click Here to see that.

Check it out.

I love Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Jotham) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 06:10:00 +0000

I have only been here for a day and, already, I love this country.
Everybody is so hip and cool and nice. The language is a joy to listen to. People dress so well.
It is like going to some incredibly bohemian party in the hills (except everyone is not affected and shallow).

My favorite are the scooters. Everyone drives a scooter or is walking around with their scooter helmets. And the helmets are these giant, round, cue ball-like domes on your head. They are adorable and, because they are Italian, also very stylish.

Definitely stop by for a visit.

Travel 3 - Air Dolomiti

noreply@blogger.com (Jotham) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:00:00 +0000

We landed in Munich in the afternoon and, after a bit of a layover, I hopped the final leg of my journey to Milan.

This last leg is apparently too short for normal service so Lufthansa sent me on a flight with their partner, Air Dolomiti.

Here is the plane:

They shuttled us out to the landing strip and we boarded the plane.

(You can see a picture here.
My favorite bit was this:

Emergency exits are, apparently, not the preferred method for Air Dolomiti. In a crash, they find, everyone prefers to wait patiently while the crew goes and finds a circular saw.

Travel 2 - No Sleep and Paul Rudd

noreply@blogger.com (Jotham) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:00:00 +0000

I can't sleep on planes. I try but I can't.

I will doze a bit, toss restlessly, jerk awake, drool somewhat, kick out spasmodically (every once in awhile kicking a poor, unsuspecting stewardess) and snort. But actual, real, full, deep sleep always seems to elude me on a plane.

This is not so terrible when flying domestic but, on a 12-hour international flight from LA to Munich, it can become annoying. There is only so long that you can twiddle your thumbs before you begin to lose your mind.

In the end, I watched movies. A lot of movies. Oh, more movies than you would think possible. Movies, movies, movies. Each one of them as bad as I could think of (as you will, I think, agree) and not a damn one of them could put me to sleep.
Let me share them with you.

1) Horton Hears a Who
Another in the fine tradition of Jim Carrey Dr. Seuss book film adaptations. After about 10 minutes though, I was hoping that Horton would hear a better writer.

2) Definitely, Maybe.
A tender Ryan Reynolds, Abigail Breslin romantic dromedy in which Maya (played by Abigail) must figure out which of her father's three past girlfriends is actually her mother. It was the cinematic equivalent of a game of three-card monte and like said game, in the end, nobody wins.

3) Jumper
How the HELL does Hayden Christensen keep getting work?!

And, finally, the pièce de résistance:

4) I Could Never Be Your Woman
Starring Paul Rudd and Michelle Pfieffer, this movie tells the story of an older woman who dates a MUCH younger man.
I normally like Paul Rudd but this movie actually made Must Love Dogs look like it had chemistry.
The best part of the whole thing is that Paul Rudd's character confesses that he is actually 28 years old. 28? Really? I actually got a good laugh at that.

Four movies and no sleep. Good times and great oldies.

Travel 1 - Lufthansa

noreply@blogger.com (Jotham) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Off to Milan today, I am flying Lufthansa.
A couple of pictures of my plane, the airbus A300-600:

A picture of the business class seat:

The irony of a Jew flying Lufthansa is not lost on me. It was made even more poignant by the fact that I found that they had seated me next to what appeared to be the only other Jew on the plane. There was a sea of blonde-haired, blue-eyed, tall, athletic teutonic people and then Ethel Rosenberg and I, shoved over in the (admittedly business-class) corner, wondering why they don't have a kosher meal available.

"Vas is dis? Un kosher meal? I huff never heard of such a zink. You vant more uf ze bratwurst, ya?"

Mmmmmm. Bratwurst. Delicious.

Introduction

noreply@blogger.com (Jotham) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:05:00 +0000

I will be traveling to Italy to work on a commercial for a couple of weeks. A difficult time, I know. Such an imposition, such a trial. I will, I hope, be able to struggle through. Being forced to hang out in Milan, to eat all of that pasta and pizza and cheese. All of that Italian wine that I will have to choke down.

Send your thoughts and pity me. I hope that I will make it back.