We’re kicking off Monday morning with a final homage to ABOVE and his/her centurion stencil on Via di San Giovanni in Laterano (really near the Colosseum). If you saw yesterday’s post, then you may have watched the video that ABOVE made about the stencil, in which one of the “real live” centurions who poses for photos at the Colosseum makes an appearance.
When ABOVE wrote to alert us about that video, s/he also sent us some snapshots of the “real” centurion standing side-by-side with the sprayed one. So, we show you some of those today and feel pretty confident that they provide just the kind of juxtaposition between past and present (or is this present and present) that e-Coolers adore.
If you missed it yesterday, click here to watch ABOVE’s When in Rome Video. You can find out more about ABOVE at www.goabove.com, where you can see more street art, watch videos, buy prints, and fill out an “application” to buy original art work (ABOVE won’t sell to just anyone, it seems – and that’s OK with us).
There are members of the eCool Team who have started to call the Compound by another name–sweat lodge. It’s mid-August and it’s just plain hot in Rome. That heat doesn’t keep the eCool team from showing up for work. Oh no! They’re here bright and early, slogging away at their computers, trying to think of clever things write, trying to find amazing things to post, and generally trying to work out the proof that informs the equation (Rome = Eternally Cool).
Each day by about 2pm, however, the eCoolers have had it. Despite our instance that they need to stay and work and despite the fact that we provide them them with an unending supply of cold coffee and other iced beverages, each afternoon there’s a moment when our highly-paid team just deserts us. They say that they’re heading out into the streets to look for eCool material. We know that no one in their right minds would wander the streets of Rome in the middle of the afternoon in August. And we know that they’re really sitting in air-conditioned bookstores reading trashy vampire novels, but we don’t press the point.
Every once in a while, however, our team does return to the Compound with something ultra-awesome. Dripping with sweat, they download their photos onto the eCool computer and then show us something so amazing that we cease to care what they’re doing with their time and lavish praise upon them. That exact series of events happened recently and so today we’re happy to share with you the photo that our badass team brought home late last week.
It’s a stencil that currently embellishes a wall flanking Via di San Giovanni in Laterano, quite near the Colosseum. A Roman centurion–the kind that poses for a picture with you outside the Colosseum and then demands an exorbitant price for the privilege–stands holding a paint roller in his hand. Above him are the words “When in Rome.” Are we meant to read him as the artist of this oh-so-apropos artwork? (The artist, by the way, seems to have claimed their work here in the form of a signature below the figure that reads “Above.”) Or are we meant to see him as representing an antiquated authority figure who will come and erase this bit of stupendous stencil work with another coat of paint. We don’t know the answer but we love this addition to the streetscape.
Probably everyone who reads this site knows that the eCool team has a thing about the She-Wolf. We love her. Unconditionally. After all, she’s Rome’s urban icon.
We’re not purists however. We’ll take our She-Wolf shaken, stirred, commercialized, and multiplied. In fact, we love nothing more than an advertiser who decides to incorporate the She-Wolf into their campaign in a creative manner, and so, on a recent August giro through Rome (note the deserted streets in the photo above), we were pleased to discover that Binacci, a furniture company, is making clever use of our Roman heroine and her offspring.
The image shows the She-Wolf atop the pedestal she inhabits in the Capitoline Museums. Below her clamors a sextuplet of Romuluses and Remuses hoping for a bit of nourishment. The tagline reads, “Binacci multiples the benefits with discounts up to 50%.”
There are lots of clever protests and attention-getting antics going on in Rome ahead of tomorrow’s G-8 meeting. Polar bears took to the streets yesterday, rightfully protesting the loss of their homeland to global warming.
Oxfam, a group of non-governmental organizations from three continents working worldwide to fight poverty and injustice, chose another tactic, staging a stunt photo in the Circus Maximus.
In this mise en scène, bobble-headed G8 leaders lye on a triclinium, eating grapes and reciting ancient poems accompanied by a cithera, whilst huge flames destroy Rome. The message? The eight leaders of the most powerful countries are, like Emperor Nero, ignoring the flaming crisis engulfing the world around them.
Sweet dreams are made of this.
Not surprisingly, Bono is getting into the action too. Yesterday he published a love letter to Italy in La Stampa, in which he pleaded for the Berlusconi-led G8 to fulfill its obligations to the world’s poorest people.
Photos by Oxfam its partner UCODEP are posted on Flickr.
Oh yeah, eCoolers. This is what you’ve all been waiting for! Chariot racing on the Wii. A press release from Neko Entertainment provides further information and lets us know that Hercules Chariot Racing goes on sale today:
Neko Entertainment an independent premier video game developer and publisher announced today the upcoming release of Heracles Chariot Racing on WiiWare™, a racer that will drive players new and old to distraction. Featuring ten circuits in five mythological fantasy settings, players take control of one of eight gods or legendary creatures from Heracles to Poseidon as they race to become Champion Charioteer. Heracles Chariot Racing will be released on July 6th on WiiWare, first in the Americas, then later in Europe.
“We are excited to announce the upcoming release of Heracles Chariot Racing for WiiWare”, said Laurent Lichnewsky, Managing Director of Neko Entertainment,“With its blistering fast racing action, mythological tracks and enemies, split screen multiplayer modes, Heracles Chariot Racing is destined to become a WiiWare classic for players, both young and old”.
In Heracles Chariot Racing our hero Heracles has to undertake a challenge that none before him have survived– a chariot racing tournament. To win a series of sacred trophies and be crowned Champion Charioteer our hero has to race across mythological kingdoms against some of the most feared monsters in existence. The objectives are simple, survive the battles and race against some of the most fearsome and inventive foes in Greek mythology. Select a character and let fate, skill and ability decide the outcome!
Heracles Chariot Racing is an exciting journey into a mystical and colorful word of danger spiced with excitement, awesome weapons laced with humor. Featuring Championship, Single Player, Time Trial, Battle and intense 2 to 4 split screen multiplayer modes, players are the master of their own destinies, but with the divine actions of Gods they will require both skill and an element of luck to be crowned champions. Featuring 3 racing cups across 10 courses based on mythological fantasy settings including Nemean Lion, Realm of Hades, The Augean Stables, Stymphalian Lake and Mount Olympus, players select a character and race it out using fantasy weaponry including Zeus lightning rods, tridents, fireballs and more against their opponents.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a Wii at the Compound. If anyone wants to send one our way, we’ll be glad to take Hercules and his chariots out for a test drive!
Hey eCoolers! The Compound is in a frenzy! We’re so excited about an upcoming event that we can’t contain ourselves. And we can’t wait even another moment to let you know about it.
Just hitting the press in Rome are reports that from 30 June – 25 October, the National Etruscan Museum at the Villa Giulia will host an exhibit called Etruscomix – a mostra of Etruscan comics created by six Italian artists.
The young artists that produced these comics – Francesco Cattani, Marino Neri, Paolo Parisi, Michele Petrucci, Alessandro Rak, and Claudio Stassi – were chosen as “artists in residence in Etruria.” Two were sent to the National Archaeological Museum at the Villa Giulia to explore its holdings for a week, while two others spent a week at the Banditaccia necropolis in Cerveteri and a further two spent a week at the Necropolis and Museum of Tarquinia. In each Etrusco-locale, the artists immersed themselves physically and metaphorically (that’s what the announcement says) in history and material culture as they gathered inspiration for the fanciful artworks that are part of the exhibit.
Loving all things Etruscan in a fashion that’s almost unreasonable, we can’t wait to see the show and will report bakc with further information and images when it opens. We’re also excited to report that they’re preparing a book of the comicspublished by Black Velvet and available for purchase.
The idea was conceived by the superintendency of archaeology in southern Etruria, facilitated by the region of Lazio, and organized by the cultural organization Civita and by COMICON in Naples.
The image above was created by cartoonist Milo Manara.
Not to worry, eCoolers! We didn’t forget Photo Friday. We just had so many other things to post about — including the link to a free copy of Angela Nickerson’s Rome’s Angels & Demons: an Insider’s Guide — that we decided to publish Susan Sanders’ photos on Saturday, rather than Friday.
Susan, in roaming the Quirinal Hill recently, found herself in a secret garden shop on Via Torino that’s filled with statuary perfect for any Roman garden or terrace. She ran into some old friends there — Cicero, Augustus, the Farnese Hercules, and the Thornpicker among them. The rest of us were a bit disappointed that she didn’t bring anything but photos of those beloved aquaintances back to the Compound; she claims that the abundance of choice was just too much and promises to return to pick up a few trinkets for the Compound’s roof terrace. Once we have them in place, we’ll invite you all over for a bit of prosecco and some nibbles.
In the meantime, enjoy other images on her Rome with a View website.
Some time ago, we recommended the Playmobil Romans toys for any young Rome-antics in your life. Of course we particularly love the Roman arena (above, left) and have been considering whether or not such an accessory is a real necessity for the eCool Compound or whether it would be such a distraction as to keep us from blogging regularly.
Now, however, that we’ve seen what can be done with the Playmobil arena, we’re running out to buy one. If you want to see for yourself, click on over to YouTube and watch the Playmobil tribute to the movie Gladiator. This is good stuff folks, and we just can’t get enough.
Via the former Ph.Diva.
On 27 May, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League Final will be played in Rome. The tournament awards the most prestigious trophy in all of European football and winning it is the ultimate goal for any major football club within the continent.
It’s not clear yet who will be playing in the match. The victors of semifinal games between Barcellona-Chelsea and Arsenal-Manchester will be the teams that take to the field for a game to be played at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico (the home of A.S. Roma and S.S. Lazio) which holds some 82,000 people. Preparations and publicity are already underway and it’s expected that the Eternal City will be flooded with soccer fans for the event.
As part of the preparations, the colossal trophy was delivered to Rome’s Mayor, Gianni Alemanno, on the Birthday of Rome, 21 April, in a ceremony that took place in Rome’s city hall. Alemanno joked that it was the only trophy he’d ever one. Now, in a move that’s proving to be highly controversial, organizers and promoters have come forward with a plan to build two soccer fields that can seat some 200,000 people and are furnished with giant video screens, concession stands, portable toilets and other necessities near the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine for the event.
Archaeologists and others who worry about the monuments and the effect that hundreds of thousands of soccer fans might have upon them are opposed to the suggestion, citing the need for decorum near the ancient monuments, bans against publicity on and around Rome’s archaeological monuments, and general wear and tear as reasons that the fields should not be built.
If the plan goes forward, it won’t be the first time since antiquity that the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine have been used as backdrops for sporting events. In June 2007, a Euro title cruiserweight boxing clash took on gladiatorial overtones as it was staged on Piazza del Colosseo with the fourth-century Arch of Constantine as a backdrop. And long before that, in the 1960 Rome Olympics, the Arch of Constantine served as the finish line for an historic marathon won by the Ethiopian runner Abebe Bikila who set a new world record while racing barefoot.
We’ll keep you posted.
Oh boy, eCoolers, you’re gonna love this one! A Google search gone astray led us to a Roman furniture maker who can really liven up your living environment. In addition to some crazy couches that involve tiger heads and other animal visages, Rodolfo Rocchetti makes a Colosseum couch fit for an Emperor.
We often wonder what kind of seats furnished the Imperial box at the Colosseum. Now, the answer seems clear. And we want one of these for the eCool terrace.
We can just imagine ourselves sitting upon those fancy red cushions, sipping prosecco, and watching the Romans fight for parking spots on a warm summer eve. That would be the high life!
