We’re taking a break from a major project here at Eternally Cool to show you some snaps we took while touring the US in December.  The trip took select members of the eCool team to the great state of Oklahoma, where they paid a visit to the famous Winstar World Casino in Thackerville.

A tip from honorary eCooler, Heather, had alerted us to the fact that the facade of the casino (if you can say that a casino housed in a giant inflatable building––we kid you not––can be said to have a facade) had been embellished in such a way as to recall some of the world’s greatest buildings.

We were, needless to say, excited to see the Colosseum right there at Oklahoma’s exit 1.  The Arch of Constantine left us trembling (we dig that little door in the leftmost arch) though we are perplexed as to why the monument’s noble arches have been closed up.

But nothing delighted us as much as the creative take on the Pantheon (above).  You’ll see that the building’s massive pediment and soaring columns have been adapted to serve as an entrance to the Winstar World Cathedral.  For reasons that are utterly unclear, however, the designers of this faux-facade decided to shrink the columns dramatically, both in height and width, thereby lowering the pediment and making it appear that the building is buried deep in Oklahoma dirt.

We giggled to see “No Parking” stenciled on the curb in front of the building, we hoped we’d win one of those shiny new cars on display, and we admired ever so much the bronze statue of a Native American that stands proudly before this Roman temple to all the gods.

But that, eCoolers, was really just the beginning.  We were able to pay a visit to Florence’s wonderful Palazzo della Signora (above) as well as Venice’s Ducal Palace (never mind the Tower of London and some lovely Asian monuments that we were unable to name without referring to our college art history books).

Once inside the casino––the money we make writing this blog was burning holes in our pockets (ha!)––the Old World tour continued and we began to feel quite at home.

We passed through an extraordinary triumphal arch and made our way to the free beverage station before taking our place in front of nickle slot machines.  We try only to play those that are classically themed.  You’ll want to note that the Pompeii machine has particularly good effects, for if you are lucky enough to win Vesuvius erupts before your very eyes!

And, taking breaks now and then from the one-armed bandits, we  admired gurgling fountains and brilliantly-colored frescoes, including that seen above, which depicts the fall of Phaeton, which provoked a great debate amongst the eCool team:  Is that really the best myth they could come up with for a fresco?  What about Croesus?  Didn’t everything he touch turn to gold?

We’re happy to report that we didn’t lose too much money.  We suffered a bit from binging on the unlimited free Diet Pepsi.  And we loved the place.  We’re going to head back to the Winstar World Casino as often as possible.  So, if any of you eCoolers are game for  New World meetup, we’ll let you know the next time we’re headed to this Oklahoma’s classiest classical casino!

Some of you may realize that eCool has its own water nymph in go-go boots who has written to let us know that the primary source of the Emperor Trajan’s Aqueduct, the Aqua Traiana, has been identified north of Rome.   The aqueduct carried spring water down to Rome from near Lake Bracciano.

According to the press release, the discovery of the source was made on 24 June 2009, precisely one thousand nine hundred years after the aqueduct’s inauguration, when worldwide aqueduct authority Prof. Lorenzo Quilici accompanied  British HD documentary team Michael and Edward O’Neill to a newly discovered springhouse-shrine and its labyrinth of underground water galleries.  Excited by what he saw,  Quilici exclaimed, “È TUTTO ROMANO!” – it’s ALL ROMAN!”

For perhaps a thousand years or more, Trajan’s sacred water source was hidden under a Christian Church, now ruined and dismantled. The ancient aqueduct still emerges from under the church’s meagre remains. The water
collection chamber of the Caput Aquae (headwaters) and 125 metres of the Roman Aqueduct gallery are still in pristine condition as compared with many crumbling ruins in the centre of Rome. The entire area is rich in springs and while many other smaller springs were probably also tapped to augment the Traiana, this was without a doubt the primary spring.

Ancient evidence and Papal records confirm that this shrine is almost certainly the primary water source of Trajan’s aqueduct: The vaulted ceilings are all richly decorated with expensive Egyptian blue pigment, which strongly suggests that the great Emperor Trajan almost certainly was present at his aqueduct’s inauguration.

Until recently, this water source was considered by some to be a local, regional aqueduct of eighteenth-century origin. However, when documentary filmmakers Michael and Edward O’Neill descended below the chapel with powerful lights for filming of the underground galleries revealed that the brickwork and waterproof hydraulic cement lining the tunnels is absolutely characteristic of the Trajanic age.

The O’Neills are now raising money to film the ongoing preservation, excavation, documentation and opening to the public.  They have invited two American scholars, Katherine Rinne (Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, University of Virginia) and Rabun Taylor (University of Texas at Austin), to investigate the site further and to seek resources to undertake its survey, excavation, and publication–so stay tuned for more information as it emerges from the ground.

Interested in the waters of Rome?  Read our post on Katherine Rinne’s work on the Aquae Urbis Romae.

We do so like to see antiquity reveal itself in modernity–it’s one of the things that makes Rome such an intriguing city.  And, we know, that many eCoolers enjoy the same.

So, we thought you’d be keen to hear about a debate set off by Vittorio Sgarbi, Italian art critic, politician, cultural commentator and TV personality and by Maurizio Costanzo, Italian television host and journalist.  Costanzo has suggested that a street in Rome be named for the Roman Emperor Nero and Sgarbi has taken up his cause.  While their are streets named for many other emperors already, Nero’s notoriety, earned in part (and only in part) for the charge that he burned the city to increase his own landholdings, has prevented his eponymous entry into the plan of modern Rome.  Sgarbi argues that “a negative legend has kept one of Rome’s great politicians from having his own street.”

The newspaper La Repubblica has decided to give modern Romans (and you) a voice in the debate.  They’re currently running a survey as to whether or not the name Nero should be emblazoned on a street sign.  So click here to register your own vote in the Via Nerone debate.

And, if you find yourself coming down on the side of Nero in this conversation, you may want to advertise your sentiments with a “Come On Baby Light My Fire” shirt that sports the design shown above.  You can pick one up at the iDC City Shop.

Happy New Year from all of us at the eCool Compound!  Buon Anno!  We hope that 2009 was good to all you eCoolers and that 2010 promises even better things.

After all the holiday celebrations (and it’s not over yet in Rome – Epiphany, 6 January, is still to come – we thought we’d kick off the New Year by letting you know about an enticing product that’s bound to improve your cooking skills, giving you operatic alerts that let you know exactly when it’s time to drain the pasta.

If al dente has always been a challenge, you’ll want to to get one of these  Al Dente pasta timers immediately.  Simply drop the little red mafia man in the pot of pasta water and he sings to let you know how much time has passed.  After 7 minutes, he’ll do 30 seconds of the “Triumphal March” from Aida; at 9 minutes, the “Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves” from Nabucco; and at 11 minutes, “La Donna é mobile” from Rigoletto. (A non-replaceable battery is safely sealed inside.)

We’re told that Rachel Ray has been pushing this product on her show on HGTV and it seems that supplies are running short as the Soultions store that sells the operatic pasta timers is currently sold out.  But we’re hoping they’ll restock as we can’t think of a better way to sing for our suppers!

We begged and begged this year until our crack photographer, Susan Sanders, finally agreed to make us some Rome With A View calendars for 2010.  Susan did the same last year and the calendars were enormously popular – so much so that many people wrote and asked if there was going to be an updated version for the coming year.

Some of the photos in the calendar will be familiar as Susan’s posted them here on eCool or on her own Rome with a View website.  Others have received less press but are still fantastic.

So, if you’re looking for a way to keep Rome in your life every single day of 2010 – or if you’re in desperate need of a last-minute gift for a Rome-antic – click here to purchase one of Susan’s calendars at the iDC City Shop.  There are a total of 5 designs from which to choose.  We know you’ll enjoy perusing their pages as you decide which one is right for you and for those friends and family who are Eternally Cool.

Click here to buy a calendar.

The Italian ministry of Cultural Affairs has just launched a new ad campaign intended to shock visitors and residents into paying homage (and admission) to some of the country’s most important cultural sites.

In one example, shown above, four cranes work at disassembling the Colosseum by night, while in another example, below, helicopters carry Michelangelo’s David into the stratosphere.  Taglines on the ads read, “If you don’t visit it, we’ll take it away.”

The images are super clever and thought provoking, but we find the ads just a bit too threatening in that they suggest that if we don’t pony up our 12 euro (that’s $18.00) to visit the Colosseum, they’re going to disassemble it.   It hardly seems the best strategy for a period in which tourism is on the decline thanks to the worldwide economic crisis.

The ministry of cultural affairs says that they’re trying to provoke  Italians into making visits to museums and archaeological sites important to the country’s cultural patrimony.  To this end, the ads will be aired on TV, radio, and internet and will appear in train stations and airports as well.

There’s a third version of this ad of which we could find no representations on the web.  Apparently it shows four workers disassembling Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper in Milan.

The folks at Leo Burnett have been making us laugh with the advertising campaign they put together for Clean & Pretty Professional Dry Cleaners.   Ancient and medieval monuments are evoked by means of well-laundered towels, jeans, and dresses, as well as spotlessly clean underwear.  We know that none of them are really Roman, but we love the terrycloth Acropolis (above) and the tidy whitey Pont d’Avignon (below), while the clothesline Stonehenge is simply a delight.  The tagline reads: “Don’t let your clothes look older than they are.”

Here at the compound, we’re going to spend the day trying to arrange our own laundry in forms reminiscent of Rome.  Should we achieve anything of architectural significance, we’ll be sure to let you know.

We spotted these cool ads on Ads of the World, where we’re told that the following creative people are responsible for their genesis:

Advertising Agency: Leo Burnett Frankfurt, Germany
Chief Creative Officer: Andreas Pauli
Creative Director: Hans-Juergen Kaemmerer
Copywriter: Florian Kroeber
Art Director: Claudia Boeckler
Photographer: Markus Georg
Art Buyer: Cornelia Richter
Account Supervisor: Monika Wuest

At the Trevi Fountain this week, we caught a centurion catching up on correspondence while leaning against a Benetton display window.  We’re guessing the Roman army’s a bit short on wars these days and imperial expansion has slowed down with the economic crisis.

Today. 8 December, is a national holiday, the celebration of the feast of the Immaculate Conception.  Schools and offices are closed, though shops are open and masses of Romans seem to be out and about browsing stores and getting a head start on holiday shopping.

Other Romans (and loads of tourists)–perhaps those more devoted to their religion than to retail–spent the afternoon in Piazza di Spagna awaiting the Pope’s annual visit to the Column of the Immaculate Conception.  He was scheduled to arrive at 4:00pm; traditionally, he kneels in prayer and leaves flowers for the Virgin.

The eCool team passed through today between about 1 and 2pm–long before the Pope arrived–but the area around the column was packed already.  The Spanish Embassy on the piazza (its location gives Piazza di Spagna its name) was decked out in red banners and any number of huge bouquets (many with corporate sponsors) had been placed around the column base–including a fabulous wreath with the name of ACLI/ATAC/Trambus, the Roman public transportation consortium, spelled out in giallo and rosso carnations.  We’re glad to know about the devotion of ATAC and we’ll continue to hope for divine intervention on those days in which there’s nary a bus in sight.

We didn’t stick around long enough to see the Papal visit, but even in those hours before he arrived, individuals were bringing flowers for the Virgin and handing them off to a team of priests and nuns who were curating the careful arrangement.  Images of the event itself, showing the arrival of the Pope in his Popemobile by way of Via Condotti, as well as the greeting he received from Rome’s mayor, Gianni Alemanno, can be seen on the Corriere della Sera website.

Web surfing is practically our profession here at the eCool Compound and sometimes we come across something that’s so fabulous that it makes our jaws drop!  That’s what happened today when we hit the Urban Outfitters website in search of a witty stocking stuffer for the upcoming holidays.

We didn’t find the perfect thing to stick in the hearth-hung sock, but we did find a gift that’s perfect for any lover of classical antiquities, particularly given the current economic crisis.  Behold, the Venus de Milo bank!  This glossy plastic goddess will help you hang on to your change–which is not exactly what you’d expect from this deity as she’s certainly not known for helping you to hang on to other any of your other assets.

This holiday season, we’re buying one of these sweethearts for everyone we know!  Get your own at Urban Outfitters.