Did you ever stop to carefully read the tag of a food package you purchased at the supermarket?
I rarely did it before reading Paolo Conti’s book.
It’s the synthesis of a three years long inquiry containing a lot of information exposed in a clear and fluent way.
The book deals with arguments ranging from the supermarkets power over the food chain, to the analysis of the health emergencies caused by food adulteration, to the opposition between techno-food and eco-food.
All of this always taking into consideration the position of Italy compared to other countries: we have a good competitive advantage in the biologic food sector.
It’s an advantage mostly due to the slow industrialization process of the food production sector in our country, something which we can exploit now that the consumer attention towards good and genuine food is definitely increasing.
So there’s still hope in order to preserve the good Italian food reputation in the next years, so that it won’t become a legend due to invasive production and conservation techniques, supermarkets economic interests and last but not least our buying decisions.

Valérie, our French stagier, went back to France for her deserved holidays after she managed to get appreciations from anyone who had the chance to meet her due to her contribution to our project i-muse™ and not only due to her charm and pleasant French accent!
An extraordinary girl, brilliant and results-producing, qualities they recommend to search for in the people to work with and that rarely you can find in the same person.
It was a privilege having her aside during these three months, not only because she has a so vital attitude that looks the opposite of his bizarre Italian surname , but also because you could talk about anything with her: from business planning to Rfid technology, to French cuisine, or even about John Gray’s books.
Also thanks to her the number of left-handers in the i-muse™ team became equal: 3 vs 3 as you can see in the photo shot to celebrate the start of the tests as well as her departure.
Her thesis about the use of technology for the valorization of cultural goods, that she’ll expose in September in Italy, almost looks like a celebration for i-muse™, in a natural way however, since the studies and the market trends are reporting that the odds for our product are good in this specific sector.
A big thank you for all you did: Au revoir Valérie!

1050 kilometers in three days riding my Vespa: it’s the result of the journey made together with 11 Vespa riders of the Vespaclub Como to join the Vespa World Days 2007, the international gathering organized this year in San Marino.
More than 3000 Vespa riders, a wonderful weather, a nice company and specials such as Nicola L’impennatore and the Arrotino from the Vespaclub Biella made the three days a memorable experience.
The 162 pics I shot will preserve part of the memory.
Anything but less funny was the 2nd National Vespa Meeting Town of Como on June 24, a day in which taking pics was my official duty for the club. Gathering in Como, aperitif in Menaggio and then in Grandola e Uniti for the lunch: 300 Vespa riders enjoyed the sight of the lake and the organization of the event, including the Vespazza Award, la Vespa più Bonazza, given to the nicest girl on a Vespa.
All of the 276 pics I shot are online to the benefit of the Vespa riders who participated.
If you’re in a hurry these are the best 4 of the two events.

Ilaria, the art lover who “lend” her voice for the guide in i-muse™ , is the curator of a young art exhibition which will be inaugurated on Saturday June 2 at the Salone Age Parrucchieri in Piazza Vittorio Veneto 13 a Lurago d’Erba, not too far from Como.
For i-muse™ Ilaria did a great job, so it’s a pleasure for me publishing his announcement:

Guardando fuori è la seconda e più famosa mostra d’arte giovane, promossa dal Salone Age Parrucchieri in collaborazione con la Biblioteca Comunale di Lurago d’Erba e con il contributo di quattro imprese brianzole: Age Giardini, Edil Alfa3, Ferrari Impianti e Poliform. All’inaugurazione verranno offerti da La Coccinella di Albiate caffè e vecchi dolci dimenticati.
Guardando fuori prosegue a portare la sperimentazione creativa all’interno della vita reale, descrivendo in modo verosimile, la realtà delle piazze italiane, soprattutto quelle di provincia. Molte tele dipinte e molte stampe fotografiche presentate sono strumenti per acquisire la verità di ciò che si vede.
La mostra è caratterizzata dalla particolare laboriosità di Chiara Aldeghi e Antonio Bernardo, che presentano situazioni reali stereotipate, deformate ed estremizzate.
Le tele di Antonio Bernardo, articolate in sezioni che presentano gli elementi peculiari della piazza/sagrato e i personaggi che li popolano, sono state precedute dalle fotografie che l’artista ha utilizzato per i suoi dipinti.
Le fotografie di Chiara Aldeghi descrivono la piazza vera e propria; sulla base di alcuni specifici riferimenti si può immaginare che essa sia situata a Lurago d’Erba. La piazza accoglie un mercatino dell’usato, un’insegna di avventurosa costruzione e una vasta offerta di personaggi. La descrizione di questi uomini e donne è ottenuta tramite un brillante uso della luce, della posizione e dei colori.
I personaggi che popolano la piazza comprendono moltissime figure dell’immaginario collettivo: il tecnico, sedicente esperto di calcio e di qualsiasi altro argomento, il professore, filosofo e studioso di figure femminili, il tuttofare, il bimbo. E poi il nonno, il fattorino scapestrato, il carabiniere e le anziane signore che discutono esclusivamente di necrologi.
Nella piazza si discute di improbabili eroi, le cui storie costituiscono un racconto nella mostra.

GUARDANDO FUORI
Doppia personale di Chiara Aldeghi e Antonio Bernardo
LURAGO D’ERBA
2 giugno - 17 giugno 2007
Salone Age Parrucchieri, P.za Vittorio Veneto 13
Orari: festivi 10 - 12; 15 - 19
INGRESSO LIBERO

INAUGURAZIONE
Sabato 2 giugno 2007 - ore 17.00
Salone Age Parrucchieri
Lurago d’Erba - P.za Vittorio Veneto 13

I was waiting for Beppe Grillo’s book since even I have been a “modern slave“, a underpaid worker, without any contractual guaranties and to the mercy of superiors making their arrogance their unique mean to get listened.
Beppe Grillo’s initiative was born to give voice to the stories of more than 400 young workers, often with a degree, which don’t appear true such is the humiliation level in many cases.
The book is well structured in different sections dealing with problems going from black work to “forced” VAT accounts, from escaping brains to the mobbing by the superiors.
Such witnesses don’t paint a nice picture of the italian work market at all.
They say that who critics his own country the most is actually the one who loves it the most and we italians are pretty good at this , but the real situation is really bad, we definitely need a Reset as Beppe says!
Initiatives like this not only helps to give voice to a generation of young precarious but also to start a strong reaction aimed to change things.
Great Beppe, keep it up!

Being in the middle of more than 500 people sharing the same passion for a two wheels transportation mean become legend was a feeling I wouldn’t ever thought to feel when I purchased my Vespa GTS exactly two years ago.
On last Sunday, together with Egidio and Andrea, two members of the Vespa Club Como, I attended the 7th National Vespa Meeting organized by the Vespa Club Mantova, a town that reserved for me some other nice surprises thanks to the Saturn Project.
The day has been intense and focused on the local gastronomy as you can see in the 50 photos of the gallery dedicated to the event and has been even more pleasant due to the fact that I finally meet again the three Vespa-raiders from Mantua I met by chance in Tuscany during my Vespatour 2006: Alberto, Angelo and Claudio.
To them go my special thanks for their welcoming and see you soon to the next meeting, the Vespa World Days in San Marino!

I was surprised when Cleto Orefice, the Virtual Tailor in Cernobbio, told me that on the Corriere Economia dated Monday March 12 we were both included in the list of the 109 italian entrepreneurs under age 50 devoting themselves to innovation in all its aspects.
I asked myself: what the hell I’m doing among people such as Catia Bastioli, Stefano Quintarelli, Paolo Barberis and others?
In the article, which you can read here: page 1, page 2 and page 3, they published a profile of the first 30s of the chart, while for the others there was a brief description of their activity. I was mentioned as “Davide Orlando, founder of Albegor (that’s only my nickname actually!), who creates interactive guides for museums“.
I really like that creates and the mention makes me very proud. Please allow me a joke, however: surely I’m not the richest one at all among the people in the list!
Money is not necessarily the purpose for me but it’s certainly a tool, sometimes the only one, to actually make things.
I say this because the difficulties I faced to come to this point, almost ready to launch a highly innovative product such as i-muse™, have been even too much to tell.
A welcome to the mention on the Corriere Economia then. I’d really like to meet the other innovative entrepreneurs mentioned. I think I could learn a lot from them!

Do you remember Giacomo Leopardi’s poem The Infinity: “Ever dear to me was this lonely hill”?
Well, that in the picture is actually the famous hedge on top of the hill!
It’s the hedge, “that excludes the greater part of my view of the farthest horizon“, illuminated by the sun in August and with the brick wall partially covering the view towards the Sibillini’s mountains.
Last summer in Recanati, the last step of my Vespatour around Italy, I had the unexpected chance to climb upon the top of the hill which inspired Leopardi’s masterpiece, something made possible only since 2003 thanks to the Centro Nazionale di Studi Leopardiani.
The picture is now on my office desk, it’s a suggestion to look beyond and to ask myself what that hedge is hiding, what surprises the future holds for me.
I even shot what you can see behind the hedge and I’ll put that picture online in the Vespatour’s gallery I’m setting up.
Every now and then I shift my eyes from the monitor, I get lost in my thoughts while gazing at the photo and I naturally recall the Leopardi’s writings: “and sweet is the shipwreck in such a sea“…
It really helps having a pleasant and comfortable working environment with little important things such as this!

A as Avventura (adventure), B as Bagaglio (luggage), C as Cibo (food), D as Donna (Woman).. and so on till the last letter of the alphabet.
This is the original layout of the book by Anna Maspero, a traveler living in Como who turned into words her numerous adventures around the world.
A book which captured me for the many hints of reflection about the essence of traveling, which is the metaphor of the life, as Anna says. I read it while I was still elaborating mentally the events of the intense journey I did last summer on my Vespa around Italy, so it has been very useful for me.
I met Anna at the presentation of the book at the local library in Como organized in collaboration with the staff of Il Sole since the earnings of the book were going to be employed for the project Reborning Flowers.
Anna writes we travel “to escape from the routine, but even as habit; for pleasure as to live new experiences and emotions; to follow a dream and to forget an broken love affair; to learn or simply for a wish of freedom; for the joy to leave and for getting back.”
Well, there actually has been all of this in my solo Vespatour.
“For Davide, have a good road!” she wrote as dedication on my copy of her book.
It has been so and it will be again, thanks Anna!

Could ever exist something better than doing charity while having fun?
I don’t think so, especially in these times, but it’s exactly what will happen on Sunday evening if you’ll come to the Teatro Sociale in Como where Flavio Oreglio, the great cathartic poet from Zelig, will perform in a musical show whose profits will go to Il Sole, the local Onlus devoted to distance adoptions and international cooperation projects.
Their project Reborning Flowers, aimed to give psychological support to child victims of rape in Addis Abeba in Ethiopia is having a difficult time due to the critical situation in the area and I think Flavio will talk about this during the show. One more reason to contribute to such a delicate project while spending a special evening, not only different.
The tickets go from 25 to 10 Euros.
Mrs. Olivia Piro, Il Sole’s president, yesterday evening told me she’s dreaming of a theater at full… let’s help her making her dream come true!