Newsgroup: it.cultura
Titolo: virtualitalia.com (february 1999)

VIRTUALITALIA.COM
              (
http://www.virtualitalia.com
)
An online resource for Italians, Italian Americans and enthusiasts of
Italian culture.
THIS MONTH.....................................................
Amore is in the air as St. Valentine's day approaches.  We come to the
rescue with some love tips and remedies from Ovid in "books," tunes from
Battisti in "music," and scenery from one of Italy's best-known romatic
actors, Marcello Mastroianni, in "videos."
Get to the heart through the stomach in this month's recipes, with
delectable Italian dishes that plead to be shared and promise to make you
feel warm and fuzzy.
Baci!
--paz
"Gli amori nuovi fanno dimenticare i vecchi"
New love makes you forget the old.
INFO SHORTS...................................................
GET ACADEMIC
Call for papers!  ITALIAN AMERICANS: A RETROSPECTIVE ON THE TWENTIETH
CENTURY. Presentations by scholars and researchers are invited on any topic
related to the general broad theme of the conference; we especially welcome
papers that focus on Italian Americans and World War II, Italian Americans
and the world of entertainment, Italian Americans and Hispanics, Italian
Americans and Asians, and any aspect of the Italian experience in the West.
Papers are encouraged from a broad range of disciplines, ranging from
anthropology, to literature, history, sociology, etc. The conference,
sponsored by Saint Mary's College of California, will be held at the Museo
Italo Americano, located at Fort Mason in San Francisco. For information and
requirements for submitting a proposal, visit
http://william.stmarys-ca.edu/cynaut/AIHA
GONE?
Amici dell'Italia Foundation, a national foundation dedicated to educating
the public through sponsorship of Italian American events and educational
classes, closed its doors in January for lack of money. They have not
updated their web site (
http://www.adif.org
) nor have given details about
the fate of their radio program, television show and quarterly magazine.
They did, however, send out a letter to members with a final and sad "ciao!"
NOTHING'S FREE
The Istituto Italiano di Cultura, in it's new digs closer to North Beach
(San Francisco's Italian neighborhood), is going "members only."  That is,
you will only receive their news, or be invited to their events, if you pay
an annual $40.00 membership fee. Membership will also give you discounts on
tickets to movies and performances co-sponsored by the Istituto, access to
and rental of their video collection, and other miscellaneous benefits.
Get all the details and find out about their new Italian Language and
Culture classes from their web site (
http://www.sfiic.org
)
JOIN THE GANG
Do you live in a place other than the San Francisco Bay Area and have the
time and dedication to collect Italian American resources in your area?
We're looking for volunteers to be "Community Ambassadors" for
virtualitalia.com
 in areas with Italian American concentrations to commit
1-2 hours per week collecting information about local events, restaurants
and resources.  You must be proficient in HTML (or be a quick learner), a
good communicator, dependable and be willing to attend events and festas! If
you're interested, drop us a line at 
p...@virtualitalia.com
.
SF BAY EVENTS.................................................
Select events to pique your interest; to see a complete detailed listing,
visit the web site at 
http://www.virtualitalia.com
 and click on "events."
February 3 - March 28, "Mostra Winners Solo Exhibitions", The Museo
ItaloAmricano sponsors an annual Mostra exhibition, an invitational group
show featuring the works of emerging Italian-American artists. Photographer
Jan Camp and performance artist Jill D'Agnecia won the "Best of Show" and
"Honorable Mention" prizes respectively for Mostra 97. Each artist was
awarded a solo photography exhibition, and both shows will run currently at
the Museo Italo Americano (
http://www.well.com/~museo
).
February 6, SAT, 7:30pm FIERI, San Francisco (a club for young Italians and
Italian Americans) members and prospective members are invited to attend a
performance of "La Madonna Nera" (The Black Madonna), a play written by
Italian American playwright Tommi Avicolli Mecca. Directed by Nello Carlini.
At the John Sims Center for the Performing Arts. 1519 Mission Street
(between Van Ness and 11th) in San Francisco. Tickets are $5-10, to be
purchased upon arrival. Space is limited so please RSVP ASAP to Laura
Pazzaglia 
(415) 863-6820
 or 
fier...@yahoo.com
.
February 7, SUN 1:00 pm: Family Day: Byzantine Mosaics. Artist Quintilia
Cesaretti Nylin will present a fun introduction to Byzantine art, and
children will create their own Byzantine mosaic tiles with glass and pottery
pieces. Free for children and free after Museo admission for accompanying
adults. Call the Museo Italo Americano at 
(415) 673-2200
 to RSVP.
February 13, SAT, 6-11pm, "Carnevale, Ballo Rosso e Bianco", Red and White
Dinner Dance. Dance to the music of comic deejay Fiz Nik Rik Minervini, No
Host bar, entertainment, 3 Course Polenta dinner at 7pm, rallfe prizes,
costume parade. Donation $13 per adult, $6 children 6-10, free to children
under 5! Costume or Red and/or white attire encouraged. Held at the Santa
Rosa Vetrans Memorial Hall. For more information contact the North Bay
Italian Cultural Foundation, 
(707) 522-9448
.
February 14, SUN, Robert Mondavi's Romantic Valentine's Celebration, Our
sweetheart chef, Annie Roberts, will prepare a delicious lunch followed by a
concert by internationally renowned pianist John Bayless. He will play
interpretations of famous Italian love songs to be enjoyed with great wine,
fine food, and love. $80 per person lunch and concert, $35 per person
concert only with wine and cheese. At Robert Mondavi Winery
(
http://www.mondavi.com
), 7801 St. Helena Highway, in Oakville. For
reservations and information, please call 
(707) 968-2203
. Space is limited!
February 16, TUE, 6 pm, for 10 weeks,"Cinema e Letteratura: Classiscs of
Italian cinema taken from literature", This 10-week series of films shown on
large-screen video will present movies based on major works of Italian
literature. The series will be presented by film, author, teacher and
historian Seymour Chatman. Admission to the series is free with a $40
membership and subscription to the Istituto Italiano di Cultura.  At the
Istituto Italiano di Cultura (
http://www.sfiic.org/
), 425 Washington Street
in San Francisco, 
(415)788-7142
.
February 17, WED, conversational dinner, Monthly Italian conversational
dinner in SF for the World Affairs Council's International Forum Language
Dinner program. People must be able to speak enough Italian to hold a
conversation but need not be member of the World Affairs Council to
participate. Contact Laura Del Rosso (
ldel...@aol.com
) or call (415)
386-3224 for more information or R.S.V.P.
February 20, SAT, 11am-1pm, workshop, "Si dice non si dice", This is a two
hour workshop that focuses on the most common errors made by nearly every
American student of Italian. This workshop is targeted towards intermediate
students. At Italingua (
http://www.italingua.com/
) at their new location 447
Sutter Street, Suite 427 in San Francisco. Call 
(415) 362-6025
 for more
information.
February 27, Valentine's Family Dinner, 6 pm cocktails, 7pm dinner 8:30 to
11:30 pm dancing. Featuring dance music from the Sam Farano Band. Admission
is $13 for members and $15 for guests. At the Colombo Club in Oakland, call
(510) 653-9716
 for reservations!
February 28, SUN, 8:00pm, concert, "Orchestra of Padova and the Veneto"
Currently making it's US debut tour, the Orchestra of Padova and the Veneto
is under the direction of American pianist David Golub. This concert --the
orchestra's only San Francisco performance-- features a clarinet solo by
David Shirin, artistic director of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society.
Tickets $20. At the Herbst Theater, 401 Van Ness Avenue, in San Francisco.
For further information, and to order tickets, call 
(415) 392-4400
.

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