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Italy's Traffic Festival: Still Free and Going Green

Last July at Turin's Traffic Festival, Daft Punk and Arctic Monkeys put on performances that we would've paid good money to see. But we didn't have to because it's been free since its inception in 2004.

This year from July 7-11, the event line-up of punk, trip-hop and electro performances, cinema and contemporary art will not only be free, but also green. And to accommodate all the happenings, the fest is expanding from the main stage in Turin's Parco della Pellerina to include the Arena Civica in Milan and other smaller venues around Piedmont.

Check the event schedule before you go to avoid showing up at the wrong venue and looking like a music fest rookie in front of your friends. Besides, you'd be kicking yourself if you missed the Sex Pistols' first-ever Turin performance along with Brit punks The Wire. Others headliners not to miss include Patti Smith, Tricky, Afterhours and Justice.

--Courtney Scott

Related Stories:
· Traffic Festival [Official Site]
· Music Festivals coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: What's On Torino]

Trains / Death / → All Tags

Ferdinando's Last Ride

You might've heard that overnight train travel in Europe is occasionally risky, but this is the first time we'll tell you that taking the train in northern Italy can have serious health consequences. So, for that matter, can going on holidays.

It's all about Ferdinando Borelli, an old Italian guy who took a holiday recently. On the trip back from Savona to Turin, he had a heart attack (quietly, we presume) and sat dead in his seat. Other passengers presumed he was asleep. It seems even the ticket guys didn't want to disturb him, because he traveled between Savona and Turin six times before cleaners tried to wake him up and couldn't. That's why holidays and train travel are bad for your health. But then again, so's staying at home.

[Photo: Maximolly]

Related Stories:
· Last Journey Was Dead Long [The Sun]
· When Death Takes a Holiday [Jaunted]

Torino Olympics 2006 / → All Tags

Feeling Turin's Aura One Last Time

The Olympics are over, and it's time for all of us to put those lowcut spangled TV-watching outfits away for another four years. But before you do, check out the Washington Post's hilarious awards for Olympic Oddities, which include "Venues That Sound Delicious" (Cesana Pariol, anyone?) as well as some good Johnny Weir quotes:

Gold: "I never felt comfortable in this building. I didn't feel my inner peace, I didn't feel my aura. Inside I was black" (after finishing a disappointing fifth in men's figure skating).
Silver: "I could very likely wake up and feel horrible, like Nick Nolte's mug shot" (before skating his long program).
Bronze: "I dragged myself out of bed, had my Starbucks, put on my self-tanner and went from there" (after winning the national title last month).

Olympics / → All Tags

Fuzzy Imps of Destruction

You doubted us when we told you the Cheburashka would destroy all opponents, but here we have exhibit A: After dismantling the Canadian hockey team Wednesday, most of the Russian team in the above photo is holding a Cheburashka. Not only are they vicious little fellas (the Cheburashkas, not the Russian hockey team), but they're breeding.

If the Russians win today, the entire Olympic Village will be infested with these monsters. Keep your eyes peeled; they'll be here before long.

Related Stories:
·   The Russians Are Coming [NY Times]  
·   Mother Russia [Jaunted]

Olympics / → All Tags

Johnny Weir Seeks the Bosom of Mother Russia

Phew, enough of that serious Olympic coverage--back to the parties.

Those wrascally Russians aren't just exercising "face control" at some of the better clubs in Moscow these days. No, they're keeping a tight lid on who gets into Russia House at the Olympic Village. Parties there are the hot ticket, according to the NY Times.

We appreciate that "Please, I'm Russian" has replaced "I'm friends with the owner", but the Games also a serious case of Russian merchandising fever. Clothing manufacturer Bosco di Ciliegi is selling bunches $270 sweatpants with "Russia" written across the ass. The Russians have even come up with their own mascot, one that looks like it would enjoy feasting on the snowy flesh of Neve and Gliz, Turin's mascots for the games. It's named Cheburashka (pictured), and it will destroy you.

How can you tell that Russia House is the hot scene of the Games? Why, Johnny Weir made an appearance there two nights in a row, in his beaver and python skin coat. Thanks Johnny--you're Jaunted's new cultural barometer.

Related Stories:
·   Russia is Red-Hot [NY Times]
·   Jaunted's Olympic Coverage [Jaunted]

Olympics / → All Tags

Skiing Brokeback Mountain

The two-man luge should have tipped us off, but it turns out that Turin is not only famous (now) for the Olympics, but for being the most gay-friendly city in Italy. After the Games, the city will be host to a gay sports extravaganza in March and a pride parade in June. We're not sure what a "gay sport" is, exactly, but if you ask anyone from Boston, they'll tell you it involves Alex Rodriguez.

Why is Turin so gay-friendly? Being the one of the least Catholic cities in Italy helps. Still, there's work to be done: While the Mayor of Turin welcomed the festivities, he asked that organizers make themselves scarce during the Olympics.

We think the mayor's focus is misdirected. Did anyone else see Sasha Cohen's outfit last night?

Related Stories:
·   Turin's Other Claim to Fame [SF Chronicle]
·   Jaunted's Olympic Coverage [Jaunted]

Olympics / → All Tags

Alpine Whine

More on why Italians seems less than enthused about their Winter Olympics. It's beyond grumpiness, but could it be called a conspiracy?

Not a Mulder and Scully conspiracy. More of a Mean Girls conspiracy. Some Turinese are speaking up to accuse other Italians of not hating the players but hating the Game(s).

They claim that it's because of the Italian spirit of campanilismo, which translates to showing more support for one's city than one's country. So, the Turinese say, Romans and the Milanese aren't being supportive of Turin's Olympics.  

Italy is also having tough times politically. Their embassy in Libya was burned down by angry protesters after a right-wing member of Italian parliament ripped open his shirt during a session to reveal a t-shirt with the famed Danish cartoons of Mohammed on it.

At least we know that passion lives there.

[Image via Kevin Hutchinson/Flickr]

Related Stories:
·   Turin Competes for Italy's Attention [Toronto Star]
·   Jaunted's Olympic Coverage [Jaunted]

Olympics / → All Tags

The Cold Shoulder

What if the citizens of a host city of the Olympics ignored the games entirely? In what may be a preview of Paris 2012 (or New York 2016), the Turinese (described as reticent so many times you'd think their mouths were glued shut) don't seem all that happy about hosting the Games.

Olympic Games are meant to be a window into the character of a host nation, and homemade flags and municipal pride rumored to be in relatively short supply in Turin. The mascots are an ice cube and a snowball, after all.

But it's not that the Turinese don't care. It's that no one will be able to do nationalism quite like the Americans in Salt Lake 2002 Other nations don't always show their pride with synchronized dancing and flag-waving. Maybe the understatement in Turin is exactly the kind of national pride the Olympics needs.

Related Stories:
·   Speak Up, Torinese [FT]

Olympics / → All Tags

Farfalle Follies

Bellyaching is rife this year among the Americans in the Olympic Village about the quality of the food. Assessments run from "awful" to "possibly a cat". It may seem like a case of ugly Americans, but they weren't the only ones complaining. The Russian delegation was far from impressed with the quality of the grub. They feel not only that the food is terrible, but the portions are too small. Classic!  

We feel the Russians and Americans have no one to blame but themselves. Even Bode Miller is smart enough to stay in his RV and cook up some Ramen on his hot plate after a night on the town instead of risking institutional cuisine.

Here's the tipoff: The Italian Ski Team is staying not in the Village, but at the Grand Hotel in Sestriere, and they love the food. It's an old travel maxim. Never eat at the places where most of the other patrons are from out of town.

Or is the bad food an Italian plot to increase their medal count in the games by tweaking their opponent's digestive tracts? Death by Meatball, we'll call it. It's far cleverer than bribing a French judge.

[Image via farleyj/Flickr]

Related Stories:
·   Not Everyone Can Digest a Rebuilt Turin [NY Sun]
·   Torino Hard to Swallow for Some [CNN]
·   Sparking Some Interest [Jaunted]
·   Grand Hotel Sestriere Reviews [TripAdvisor]

Olympics / → All Tags

Sparking Some Interest

The International Herald Tribune has set up a blog for its writers in Turin. It's got some pretty good nuggets of information about life in Turin during the Games, made all the more interesting because there's been very little actual coverage about Turin itself, just like in Detroit during the Super Bowl. And no, articles about chocolate and pizza don't count.

Writer Christopher Clarey notes that there are plenty of empty seats in the stands. Apparently, locals aren't overjoyed at the prospect of paying about $100 for tickets to the downhill, for instance, where skiers zip by in a flash at 90mph. At least in auto racing favorites go past the stands more than one time.

Tickets to the closing ceremonies are still available though, at about $250 each. Will the Sparks of Passion be snuffed out there?

Related Stories:
·   A ticket, a screen, or binoculars? [IHT Blog]
·   No-No-Notorious [Jaunted]
·   You Gotta Roll With It [Jaunted]

Olympics / → All Tags

No-No-Notorious

The Olympics aren't only about some of the world's best athletes coming together to compete and discretely hump each other. Or even about drumming up some visitors to an overlooked industrial Italian city. It's about the music.

Yup, there are some medal-worthy singers performing each night at the Games. Who needs Bode when you've got Avril? She'll perform next Tuesday, along with Michael Bolton, who sings later this week. More exciting for Jaunted is tonight's Duran Duran performance. They're hungry like the wolf--for gold!

[Image via slicky/Flickr]

Related Stories:
·   Turin Games Give 'Em Something To Sing About [Chicago Sun-Times]

Olympics / → All Tags

You Gotta Roll With It

Turin/Torino is home to Fiat Automobiles. Perhaps that's the reason the metro the city was building for the Olympics wasn't finished on time--sabotage! The official transportation system for the Olympics is pictured above.

Anyway, this metro, meant to connect Olympic venues with downtown Turin for the Olympics will be ready just in time for the Games. In 2008. In Beijing.

Passion May Live There, but it's still going to need a driver to get around.

[Image via Reggio/Flickr]

Related Stories:
·   Turin Races, Sort Of, To Let The Games Begin [San Diego Union-Tribune]