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WHAT THE…?
I stole that headline from a Chicago newspaper (referring to fan Steve Bartman’s
interference in the pivotal Cubs-Marlins game of 10/14/03). There were a
lot of “what the…?”s in my life this month…but all
of them extremely positive. (Well,
except for the outcome
of a certain ballot. Do you
suppose we’ll see the son of an Al Qaeda/Taliban/Fedayin
member in Sacramento in 50 years…married to one of the Bush grandchildren?)
Okay…onto the
positive “what the…?”s:
First of all, I am an aunt again. “But,
Dawn,” you say, “That’s impossible. You’re an only child!” Yes…true,
true…But, Jake and Yuka Wachtel have graciously made Bruce and me honorary
uncle/aunt to their new baby, Mia. So, we now have two nephews, Pol and
Marc in Barcelona, and little Mia here in L.A.
We learned that in one arena in L.A., loyalty pays off. We’ve been attending Clippers games
for 7 long, losing years. They haven’t advanced any closer to the playoffs,
but we have gone from the nosebleed section to some respectable vantage
points. Well…drum roll, please…This year, we are shown to our seats just
three rows back from THE FLOOR. I can count the drops of sweat on Elton
Brand’s brow, and watch the muscles ripple in Corey Maggette’s
arms! I can tap fellow fan Frankie Muniz (“Malcolm
in the Middle”) on the shoulder…!
But, would someone tell Penny Marshall to quit walking back and
forth in front of me!?
We were completely surprised and
flattered to be included in the going-away dinner for Jeff
Goldman at the gorgeous home of the Swedish Consul to L.A., Tomas Rosander
and his wife, Christina (a
MD who is well-known globally in the war on infectious diseases and whose
anecdotes provide “infectious
laughter”). Yes, Elvis has left
the building, Arnold won the race, and it was time for Jeff to head back to DC, via hotspots like Idalou, TX. He favored us with his John Travolta impression over
the three-course gourmet meal prepared by…who else? A real Swedish Chef!
Next, in the “what the…?” file:
Bruce seemed to really enjoy his birthday this year. (This is as strange as
the Cubs winning the Series!) Maybe because the actual day was “terminated” and not “recalled” by his
colleagues or by me until after the fact. Flown in from his hometown of Cincinnati, there were Montgomery Inn ribs and Graeter’s
ice cream two days later at our soiree
a deux. (Thanks, Mom & Dad!)
DOTTIE got into a fest in Tagru-Mures, Romania for next month. I
also found out by “googling” the title of DOTTIE
that “she” played with some fancy kids last month…at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC where people like Chelsea Clinton went to school. No,
this was not piracy (although I check for that when I “google”…;-)). The Search
for Common Ground Organization has my blessing to present DOTTIE to
audiences in under-developed nations…and since most of those hate us these
days…I’ve extended my blessing to include her presentation to extremely
rich, privileged kids who I hope will be molded and shaped to think, speak
up, and lead our nation in a better direction in the future. Mua-ha-ha! (my
evil laugh) It’s all going according to plan…;-)
DOTTIE will also play in Izmir, Turkey in November, and THOROUGHLY MODERN MILI will play in Warsaw, Poland & Singapore in November, and Ankara, Turkey in December!
And then…the
most incredible “what the…?”:
I seem to be famous in Fano,
Italy…former home of Julius
Caesar (in the Year 49 B.C.) and situated at the end of the Roman Road, Via Flaminia. All three of my films have played there
at the Fano International Film Festival, and all three
have won Special Jury Prizes, but I had no idea the “rock star” attention I’d receive if I went there.
Bruce and I decided to attend this time for THOROUGHLY MODERN MILI.
This incredible
floral spray from festival director Fiorangelo
Pucci awaited me when we checked into the Villa Serena, a manse dating back to the 18th
C. and still owned by the Pintos, a family with noble Portuguese
blood. We were given an incredible
suite with bedroom, dining room, both with fireplaces, entryway and bath for a bargain basement
price, and had breakfast here each morning.
The first night, they took pity on our jet-lagged selves and served us a
five-course dinner in the family dining room…gratis! (My head tipped back in pure exhaustion a
couple of times, but who could fall asleep with these frescoes
staring down!?)
The next day at lunch, Fiorangelo had three newspapers for me, Il Corriere
Adriatico, Il Messaggero,
and Il Resto
del Carlino…all with my picture and nice
comments about me and the film inside! Then, came the “inaugurale”
of the fest, where I was called on stage to speak (thank God that my three
years of college Italian kicked back in!) and presented with flowers…and
then, whisked away to my RAI-TV (national
Italian news) interview where I railed against “il Signor
Bush” and the war…steered by the rather liberal Italian journalist. (Va bene!) Actually, in Italy, it has nothing to do with “liberal” media…these PACE (peace) flags hang
from every other window throughout the entire country.
The opening night show was
unbelievably unique. It was called “Kinestesia” and performed by Massimo Ottoni and his piano accompanist Mario Mariani. It was animation on a sheet using iron
fillings (and ants…for the Buñuel part of the
show)! Massimo did an entire tribute to all the major movements in cinema
since the very beginning using his hands to
sprinkle the shavings and shape them on a sheet…the results were then
simultaneously projected
on the big screen. I’m doing an impossibly bad job of explaining
this…it’s just that there are NO WORDS! Bruce and I agreed that it was the
most unique, “live” animation we’d ever seen in our lives. Afterwards, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner
at Le Bottigliere with Mario, Massimo, Fiorangelo and other friends of theirs, and then, we
went to see more art…at
1am…that of Giancarlo
Pucci (no relation to Fiorangelo)
who we’d met at dinner, and frankly, the first impression he gives is of a
highly intelligent, extremely humorous grandfather-figure. Inside his
studio, we realized that he was a cross between Dali, Picasso…and
the Pope! Walking to his studio, he pointed out that it was between two
old important churches. I joked that he must get a lot of “divine
inspiration”, and he said seriously that he found nothing inspiring about
the Church. Once inside, he did his
performance art of dressing in a conical hat and vestments, and I
proclaimed him “Il Papa
Dada” (The Dadaist Pope). This seemed to please him. Again…this is all
just impossible to describe. His
excellent site might help you envision his genius.
During the week, Bruce and I had
rented a car,
so we were able to visit a lot of the towns in the Marche region. We really liked Urbino
with its beautiful university campus in the hills, gorgeous old buildings
and easy access to internet cafes! (They are almost non-existent in the Marche region, we found…) We ran right into a parade for the Blessed Vergine
in Pesaro, saw the walled city of Gradara
where Vincente Minelli
once made a film, and walked around for a bit in Fabriano,
where paper was introduced to Italy by the Arabs in the 7th C. They had some great fall colors there,
too. We also went into the Reppublica
di San Marino which has some stunning houses and views, but too many
t-shirt and gun shops (no kidding) for our taste…it was kind of like Main
Street, Sausalito, if Charlton Heston were mayor.
They did have this gorgeous outdoor theatre,
though; and this fountain (a
gift from the U.S.); and interesting depositories for doggy-doo.
Viva San Marino! We also took an
excursion into the Grotte di
Frasassi. They were stunningly beautiful, but we
were not allowed to take photographs since the cave’s foundation owns the
copyrights! This was explained to us in English and German…in case there
was ANY question. So, we got one lousy 6 Euro tourist trap shot.
Finally, the night arrived when my film screened. I couldn’t hear any of the dialogue or
the audience’s reaction because my heart was pounding in my ears, but Bruce
said it went over very well, and afterwards, a lot of people came up to
talk to me. Earlier that day, we celebrated with a fancy lunch at an old Napoleonic Fort in
Portonovo on the coast.
The next day, I finally got to
meet my penpal of about two years, Manuela “Lela” Palmucci. Lela used to work with the festival and
was an amazing friend and confidante while Bruce was in Kuwait. The following night, we had a delicious pasta meal at La Guercia in Pesaro with
Lela and her husband Stefano Conti.
They are a charming, charming couple. We could instantly talk about
anything and everything.
As the week wound down, other
filmmakers who’d won prizes in the fest came into town for their
screenings, and Fiorangelo took us to an unforgettable lunch at the
best restaurant in town, Casa Nolfi. We instantly
adored director/actor Davide del Degan and his
co-star in “Interno 9”, Urska
Bradaskja. Their writers, Alessandra
Romani and Fabio Bartolomei were darling…and doesn’t Alessandra kind of look like “Amelie”?
(She said she gets that all
the time.) Lorenzo, the
actor/boyfriend of “best actress”, in the movie “Playgirl”, Daniela Fazzolari, was a stitch…very reminiscent of Roberto
Benigni. We also enjoyed their director, Fabio Tagliavia
and art director Sigridur Brjna Bjornsdottir. After all the great food, a stunning dessert,
and many wines…and the killer coffee drink of the region, La Moretta,
we toddled off to…you guessed it, Giancarlo’s studio!
But, beforehand, there was a surprise for me. Fiorangelo informed me that a local jeweler, Laura Maiella,
wanted to be MY jeweler. She had a piece for me that she wanted to
present…like Harry Winston might have something for Nicole Kidman.
Suddenly, we were in
her shop and a paparazzo
was shooting away as I was given a pendant of “La diesa
di Fano” (Fano’s original name was Fanum
Fortunae) who is thought to bring good luck to
all that worship her. Let me tell you…after this week, I’m a believer!
Closing night saw me up on stage again…thanking
everyone from the bottom of my heart (either that or I ordered a lot of
pizza) and getting
MORE flowers and my special jury medal.
Then, there was an after party at an old manse from the 17th
C. It was already time to say goodbye to Fiorangelo,
Urska,
Davide
(who was really broken
up about it), Daniela
and Lorenzo...Mario…and there
was one last
waltz with Giancarlo. Arrivederci, Fano…a
wonderful town with a wonderful festival which has bolstered my self-esteem
and brought me “fanum fortunae” since MINI first played there in 2001.
The next morning we drove to
spectacular Bellagio on Lake Como. We checked in
at the Villa Serbelloni and were shown to Room 254 with its outstanding
view of the Italian
Alps and the lake. Villa Serbelloni also has a fabulous outdoor pool and a very
cozy indoor pool (perfect in the chilly weather we experienced). While in Lake Como, you don’t
really need your car. You just ferry around to
the different villages like Varenna
or Tremezzo…with their superb villas and gardens. Like…Villa Carlotta
with its breathtaking
fountain and bright
flower beds…and Villa
Melzi with its Japanese garden
(reminiscent of Monet)
and gorgeous autumn
leaves…Villa
Monastero and Villa Cipressi
are also open to the public to stay and/or have conferences, and a walk in
their gardens, with the strange
trees that crawl over the railings, can be magical.
From Lake Como, we went back to Venice, turned
in our car and water-taxi’d to our hotel in the rain. We checked into the Gritti Palace and were instantly surprised with a
room upgrade (thank you, “diesa di Fano” pendant!). Our suite
here consisted of an entryway, living room,
and large…I mean,
large, bedroom and
bath. We’d been to Venice two years ago and did the gondola ride, so we weren’t
too upset by the
rain. We mostly shopped ‘til we
dropped (my favorite purchase was these shoes), got to the
Bridge of Sighs a few
times (we totally missed it
somehow last time!) had an amazing dinner at Hotel Cipriani
(here I am riding in their private vaporetto to the restaurant), visited the fish market and the butcherie,
hung out in Piazza San Marco,
in rain, shine, sunset
and nighttime,
visited the Jewish Ghetto
(which is supposed to be “geto”,
but it was mispronounced by the Germans who were forced to move there, and
the mispronunciation stuck!), and reflected on how far communication has
come in 600 years. This
fishmonger is speaking on a cellphone by the
bridge to the message depot of Venice (now
a bar) dating back to the 1400s. We also visited Murano,
the home of murano glass. We watched the glass blowing
demonstration and hit almost every store in search of a fixture for our
dining room. However, we found nothing until we went back to Venice and ran into the woman who sold us a table lamp for our
living room two years ago at Fratelli Lodoli. She was
amazed that we were back and doing business again.
Finally, it was time to check out of the Gritti in the middle of a flood and head back home to the ugly reality of NOT being a rock star…But, we
delayed that one more day with a stop in NYC, another mysterious room
upgrade at the Regent
Wall Street (grazie mille, diesa!), and an
extremely fun time with our friends Jennifer Goebel
and Phil Morgan. We had dinner at Phil’s new restaurant Mojo and then had drinks at his restaurant/bar Suba before
going to a very exclusive speakeasy…I wish I could remember the name, but
we’d been up for about 30 hours at that point. (You know you’re amongst
dear, dear friends when instead of smacking you, they just giggle when you
fall asleep while they’re talking.) Forgive us, Jen!!!!!!
And finally…the
MOST amazing “what the…?”:
Italians have QUIT smoking in
record numbers, and those who do still smoke have to deal with these
enormous warning labels…and
it’s the same in
Slovenia, too…demonstrated our new friend, Urska
Bradaskja.
p.s. My apologies for the run-on
sentences, but this month left me breathless…literally…the happy stress has
given both Bruce and me terrible cases of the flu. Scusatemi!
FADE TO NOVEMBER…
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