IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREEN

The final episode of Stanley Tucci’s CNN series Searching for Italy ** took us to Liguria and showcased its “rugged environment,” evidenced by God-like drone shots of the “angularity of its landscapes.” The episode’s opening scene...

Not a Horrible Life

Halloween is upon us and our thoughts go back to one of the best Draculas of our youth:  Christopher Lee.  Christopher Lee as Dracula in nine films Sure, Bela Lugosi was the original but he had a black & white existence on screen.  Blood isn’t blood...

In Praise of Puglia

In the latest episode of CNN’s Searching for Italy, actor Stanley Tucci continued his journey in southern Italy with a stop in Puglia (POOL-ya), located, as he says, “in the heel of Italy’s boot…with 500 miles of coastline and 60 million olive trees,...

With a Handshake

In 1864, during his invasion of the Confederate South, General Sherman famously wrote to President Abraham Lincoln: “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah …” Whether Sherman knew it or not he was mimicking a similar gesture performed four years...

Searching for Italy: Sardegna

Week Two of CNN’s Searching for Italy, hosted by the ambulatory actor Stanley Tucci, took us to Sardegna (aka Sardinia), the large island off Italy’s coast frequently described with adjectives like rugged, mountainous, and implacable. Or as, Tucci’s...