Columns

The Museum of Modern Art in New York, in collaboration with Cinecittà in Rome, hosted a film retrospective in December dedicated to the work of the late, great Marcello Mastroianni and his daughter, actress Chiara Mastroianni. The retrospective, “Marcello and Chiara Mastroianni, A Family Affair,” celebrated the iconic actor’s legacy in the year of the centennial of his birth while highlighting his daughter’s achievements. An accomplished actress with more than 30 years of experience in French and international cinema, Chiara helped curate the lineup and was in attendance to introduce the films, beginning with opening night’s restoration of Luchino Visconti’s …

Nothing caused butterflies to blossom in my stomach more luxuriantly than my father’s weekend home-repair sessions. Not only couldn’t I go out to play but I soon heard myself being ordered to fetch him an awl from the tool chest — and I came back with a file. Or he’d tell me to get him a plane, and I brought him a plumb line. Or he asked for a Phillips screwdriver, but all he got was a regular one. Sometimes he’d tell me to hold something straight so that he could hammer it or screw it in somewhere or saw …

Italy’s 1-euro homes captured global attention a few years ago. For Italian Americans, this initiative sparked dreams of owning a piece of their heritage — a villa nestled among olive groves or a rustic home in a quaint medieval village. But as the dust settles, many are asking: What happened to these homes? Were they the bargain of a lifetime, or too good to be true? The story begins in the early 2010s. Facing depopulation, many small Italian towns — borghi, as they’re affectionately called — decided to tackle the problem creatively. They offered abandoned homes for as little as …

It’s that time of year where we get to plan ahead based on what we know from last year. This year’s plans, as far as I can tell, are a continuation of ongoing plans from the past year. Due to various factors, there are some plans that have gone by the wayside temporarily. Development in Pullman and Roseland is always in a state of flux. For instance, Chicago’s Red Line Extension Project is in the early stages of its infrastructure phase. This can be witnessed by driving up 116th Street toward Michigan Avenue from Indiana Avenue. The six houses on …

I usually talk about the primary genealogy records you should all look for: births, marriages and deaths. They are the foundation of genealogy research. For many of our ancestors, they are the only biographical information we have. And for many researchers, those three record types are more than enough to keep them busy. Lately, I have been working with a record type that you may never need, but you ought to know about. These records might solve problems you have had for a while. They are called “Atti Diversi.” It sounds like “random stuff.” “Stuff that doesn’t fit the other …

With the 2024 Budget Law, the Italian government is looking to launch a package of tax incentives aimed at encouraging the return of Italian manufacturing activities from non-EU and non-EEA countries. This initiative is part of a broader reform of international tax policy designed to make conditions more competitive for Italian businesses and strengthen the national industrial base. These measures are especially focused on incentivizing “reshoring,” meaning the return to Italy of companies that had previously offshored production. The main goal of these incentives is to bring back to Italy parts of production that, over recent decades, had moved abroad …

By the mid-1950s, people of Italian descent largely owned and managed the Highwood shops that dotted the main streets. Those who owned or worked at the establishments could speak Italian to their customers if needed. Not all, however, were from our region in Italy. They all spoke Italian but in dialects unique to their towns of origin. The Napolitano and Sicilian dialects felt harsh to our ears — they had a staccato sound — whereas the Tuscan dialect had a rhythmic flow whose singsong-sound was more pleasing. Immigrants from Piandelagotti spoke their own dialect, substantially different from even the mountain …

The Modal Verb “Should” Meaning and Uses Three important modal verbs in English are “should,” “could” and “would.” In general, modal verbs, also called “helping verbs,” convey information about the verb that follows.  The focus in this blog will be the English modal verb “should,” although the general rules for all English modal verbs are the same. Let’s first answer some general questions about modal verbs, and in particular how the modal verb “should” is used in English, before comparing “should” to its Italian counterpart. Why is “should” considered a modal verb? The English verb “should” is a modal verb …

When you’re researching your family tree, and you find a record you are looking for, sometimes it seems so bizarre that you question what you saw. “That can’t be right,” you think, “can it?” I’ve been at this for more than three decades, so I have had many such moments. Sometimes, I go back to a family I haven’t looked at for a long time, and I see something that doesn’t look quite right. This can be for many reasons. Sometimes, it can be a data entry error in your computer. “Hmm…I have someone who was born in 1943 and …

In a classic tale of good guys vs. bad guys, “Elf Me” is an enchanting-but-sometimes-creepy tale of one of Santa’s elves, who finds himself trapped in the mountain village of San Nicola al Monte during the week of Christmas, where the town’s two toy sellers are battling it out during the holiday rush. Trip, hilariously played by beloved comedian Lillo Petrolo, has the power to bring toys to life for his boss, Santa Claus. One day, while strolling the misfit warehouse, looking through the toys that were sent back to the North Pole by the children who received them, one …