Went to the world-famous Pomigliano Jazz Festival last night.
Yeah, I'd never heard of it either.
It was a good time, though; nice open-air park, lots of Italians wandering around, Italian companies giving away free ballcaps with ads for air-conditioning repair companies on them...which I found sort of odd, given that I don't think I've ever seen an Italian wearing a ballcap in the time that I've been here. The jazz, however, left a lot to be desired. There was a big stage set up in the middle of the park, and the group that was "playing" up there sounded like they were just warming up for two hours. It was the worst music I've ever heard. And then around half-past midnight, which is usually when things get started in Italy, they stopped playing and started taking down the stage. It took us about 15 minutes to figure out that the action had moved to the other side of the park, down a hill where there was a little amphitheater set up with a smaller stage, but with a much better band. Well, with a pianist, a guitarist, a bassist, and a singer (or "vocalist" if you want to keep with the "-ist" theme). The pianist was great, but the singer didn't actually sing any words to any of the songs...she just stood up every now and then and did that jazzy "beebopboopbopbeeboopshoobydoowop" kind of thing. Which I don't have a problem with if you're just throwing that in to a song or something somewhere. But it isn't quite as effective when it IS the whole song, and when EVERY song is just like that. Oh well.
Got home late last night, so I got a (very) late start on the day today. Especially since I tried to stay up to watch the Sox aboslutely demolish the Yankees (I fell asleep when the score was 12-1); keep in mind that watching those games is very difficult here, given that if it's a 7pm start, then it starts at 1am over here. I did watch Schilling's shattering return the other night, though. So sad. Anyway, yeah, so I pretty much wasted the day today, which means my plans to visit downtown Napoli today and climb Mt. Vesuvius (big volcano down the road) tomorrow are going to be cut in half. Although I'm told Vesuvius is better in the fall, since it's a little cooler weather to hike in, and it's not as hazy out so the view is much better from the top.
Yeah, I'd never heard of it either.
It was a good time, though; nice open-air park, lots of Italians wandering around, Italian companies giving away free ballcaps with ads for air-conditioning repair companies on them...which I found sort of odd, given that I don't think I've ever seen an Italian wearing a ballcap in the time that I've been here. The jazz, however, left a lot to be desired. There was a big stage set up in the middle of the park, and the group that was "playing" up there sounded like they were just warming up for two hours. It was the worst music I've ever heard. And then around half-past midnight, which is usually when things get started in Italy, they stopped playing and started taking down the stage. It took us about 15 minutes to figure out that the action had moved to the other side of the park, down a hill where there was a little amphitheater set up with a smaller stage, but with a much better band. Well, with a pianist, a guitarist, a bassist, and a singer (or "vocalist" if you want to keep with the "-ist" theme). The pianist was great, but the singer didn't actually sing any words to any of the songs...she just stood up every now and then and did that jazzy "beebopboopbopbeeboopshoobydoowop" kind of thing. Which I don't have a problem with if you're just throwing that in to a song or something somewhere. But it isn't quite as effective when it IS the whole song, and when EVERY song is just like that. Oh well.
Got home late last night, so I got a (very) late start on the day today. Especially since I tried to stay up to watch the Sox aboslutely demolish the Yankees (I fell asleep when the score was 12-1); keep in mind that watching those games is very difficult here, given that if it's a 7pm start, then it starts at 1am over here. I did watch Schilling's shattering return the other night, though. So sad. Anyway, yeah, so I pretty much wasted the day today, which means my plans to visit downtown Napoli today and climb Mt. Vesuvius (big volcano down the road) tomorrow are going to be cut in half. Although I'm told Vesuvius is better in the fall, since it's a little cooler weather to hike in, and it's not as hazy out so the view is much better from the top.
posted by Chris at 4:30 PM
0 Comments:
Posta un commento
<< Home