 It is here, it is real, it is now. It is diverse, it is powerful, and yes my friends, it is truly Roman. It is Buona Pace from the Italian hip hop icons, Cor Veleno. Released this week on May 25 from RCA/Sony Music, Buona Pace is the newest addition to Cor Veleno's long line of discography and makes a grand entrance into today's capricious music industry in a terrific way. It is true that rap can and almost must be direct to a confrontational level and stirring to an abrasive level, and in fact this is a rap album, but anyone with even a basal appreciation of any music genre would be silly (for lack of better words) to pass these twelve tracks by. Cor Veleno: Buona Pace (Sony Music)
The trio that is Cor Veleno- Primo, Grandi Numeri & Squarta- has successfully, artfully created an album that embodies not just a hybrid music genre theory, but an evolved hip hop music theory. Buona Pace is comparable to a well-curated art exhibition in which each track would need its own room with blank walls to fully express its distinctive personality. With reggae, rock and classical undertones just to name a few Buona Pace proposes a new sound without compromising the intelligent, charismatic attributes so characteristic of Cor Veleno's previous work. If anything, the new sound is indicative of a talent only shared amongst the most passionate musicians at work these days. Following the heavy rotation single "L'Odore del Mare", Buona Pace is now available on iTunes as well as in music stores across Italy. If you are American (like me) and have to fight with iTunes to get this album save yourself from banging your head against the wall (like I did) and go straight to 7digital.com where you can even pay with PayPal. We hope everyone in the Storia world will check out Buona Pace- not just because the Cor Veleno guys are good friends of ours and die-hard Storia supporters, but because they are legit. And nobody knows legit like we know legit. Give it a look, then give it a go, but more than anything... ENJOY. COR VELENO OFFICIAL WEBSITE  Add Comment Villa Pamphili: Old Papal Family Property, Largest Park in Rome... My Brainstorming Office? 05/11/2010
Let's face it. Working from home has all of it's pluses, but every once in a while you have to get out! Actually, more than every once in a while, more like daily, is ideal. Anyone who has ever worked from a home office knows what I mean; more than X amount of hours in front of the computer/sewing machine/etc and your productivity level goes down very quickly. This entry shares a little bit about my playground, my brainstorming zone, my nap time spot, my place of escape. And, when you really need some fresh air is there really any better place to go than an old villa once known to Romans as Bel Respiro? I think not.  I have the great fortune of living next to the largest public park in Rome: Villa Doria Pamphili. Villa Pamphili is the old property of the Papal Pamphili family as well as the inherited property of the royal Doria family. If you look at an aerial view of Rome you will see two huge splotches of green interrupting the urban layout- one is the also famous Villa Borghese and the other one is my backyard...   It is a well known fact that exercise does 'ya good. It's also a well known fact (here in Rome at least) that if you want to get away from the city and go jogging, Villa Pamphili is one of the best places to go. But, as I only really like running on poorly groomed trails in thick forests with the possibility of running into large, dangerous wildlife (you can take the girl out of Alaska, but you can't take...)- let's just say that I don't come to Villa Pamphili to jog. I'm more likely to be found plopped down under a tree, face to the sun, thinking up a storm, possibly with my iPod in hand. I consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world for several reasons and one definitely has to do with this place. I can't think of a better way to "get out of the house", revive creativity, pass the siesta hour, get a tan and dream up new "impossible" plans than basking in the front lawn of one of the most powerful families that made Rome. Plus, the statues are big Storia fans.   Down with our April Hat Sale and up with our May Cuffs & Bracelets Sale. From today until June 1st all cuffs and bracelets in the online shop will be discounted by 20%. It's very straightforward: cuffs normally for sale at $20 are currently only $16 and cuffs normally priced at $18 are now $14.40!  If you ever wanted one, but never took the plunge this is the time to get yourself one of these puppies! Now that Storia is based out of Italy all our leather products are changing so what you see now is what is left. (dun dun dun!) Check back on the weekends when you may find a select few at an even bigger discount as part of our weekly weekend sale... Wednesday Wisdom I 04/21/2010
"Art has been veritably invaded by life, if life means flux, change, chance, time unpredictability... Sometimes the difference between the two is sheer consciousness, the awareness that what seemed to be a stain on the wall is in fact a work of art."-Michael Kimmelman  Back to La Dolce Vita... 04/09/2010
...which means sewing and leatherwork have to make room for eating, passeggiate, and sunshine! We are back in Rome and back in business- hopefully also with energy to blog more often too! A month in Thailand will do many things to you including clear your mind of the daily grind and free up space to see new possibilities, new ideas, new designs, new solutions... So, it is with all these new things that we are starting "anew" in the Eternal City which is bella Roma. Some of these new designs simply helped me to get back on track and have some creative time for myself. Some of these designs you may see on Storia gear later on this year. They're exciting- that's all I will say for now. We are also looking for fun boutique and street wear shops here in Rome to sell Storia gear. Of course, we're always open to wholesaling internationally as well. If anyone has any ideas I am all ears. :)  A quick post to update everyone on the shipping status of orders placed between today, February 23, and March 25. The news is that these orders will be sent out between March 26th and April 1st; the reason is because I will be in Thailand for the next month doing some sun-soaking, ocean-swimming and much needed design development. All orders received between now and March 25th will go out with a small gift, however, to thank y'all for your patience!  This is probably also a good time to thank all of our wonderful friends and clientele in Alaska for being so good to us over the past few months. Yes, it is true, The Storia Project is again based out of Rome. So, though our Alaskan adventure was far more brief than anticipated we were overwhelmed with the hospitality and warmth we received while we were there and we will be back soon enough. THANK YOU ALL, YOU ARE TRULY THE BEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD! ALASKA! 11/23/2009
Well it's done- I'm officially back in Alaska!  After many months of inner (and outer) reflection on the States vs. Europe question we have decided to give it a go stateside. Without getting too far into the whole citizenship dilemma our basic story is that we would love to be in one place (or continent for that matter) for more than three or four months. Of course when turning stateside the most obvious location of choice was Alaska in my hometown of Anchorage. The benefits of being in Alaska are endless. In regard to a disorganized and often disinterested Italy Alaska is amazing. In terms of getting consistent, reliable supplies- especially leather- this is the place to be- not to mention the great air quality, raging mountains behind the house, sunsets over the ocean, night-less summers, snow-filled winters and, of course, hockey... and extreme sledding.  On top of all those great things I would like to yell out a huge HOORAY! for being close to family and friends. They are truly award-winning! Plus, everyone knows that Alaskans are the nicest, most laid-back, hospitable people on earth- why not surround yourself by great people? So if you're in the Anchorage area the good news for you is that if you get in touch with me directly I can arrange to drop-off packages- this means zero shipping! And, if you're in the states this means less expensive shipping! Hooray's all around.   After several grueling days of "scattando" (shooting) the new Storia gear with dear friend and model Zena Leanord in Santa Marinella I'm pleased to announce that the new photos are ready! Check it out! Santa Marinella Photoshoot & Behind the Scenes I have to admit that it is a hard job hanging out in the sun, at the beach and on the terrace all day- definitely the most miserable photoshoot I've ever been involved in. Oddly enough whenever Zena comes over we end up eating wonderful feasts and drinking lots of good wine. She, by the way, is in the works of developing what is sure to be a great blog and website about restaurants, food, recipes, gastronomic policy, and basically all things yummy. You can bet your buttons that Storia WILL be involved. (dun dun dun...) It's amazing how complicated things can get in this country. I mean, I've always known that Italy was a crazy, unpredictable country, but somehow even without the expectation of things running smoothly you always end up surprised when an "easy" thing turns into an unreasonable, unattainable objective. To put it bluntly, Italians are horrible organizers. For anyone dreaming of a life in this (admittedly beautiful) country, THINK TWICE. If you are on any kind of schedule or have any sort of deadline steer clear of Italy- head for Switzerland or Britain. But, if you have the whole day to sway between beach, museum, cafe, or monument and you are willing to spend at least 60% of all daily conversation deciding (seriously, as if it were life or death) what you are going to eat then you may find yourself at home. Basically today I went to go ship the order from two days ago only to hear from Poste Italiane (the Italian Post) that I could either spend twice the value of the contents of the package to get it to the USA within 72 hours OR I could pay HALF the value of the contents of the package and it would take 15 days- wait!- "more like a month" the clerk told us, "IF it gets there at all... but we can't guarantee anything." Excellent. What part of that deal sounds remotely profitable, efficient, or responsible? The buzz from my first sale on Etsy from two days ago was dead. Welcome to doing business in Italy. I could probably dedicate an ENTIRE website only to this subject and probably have tons of people write in with their personal stories of the lack of professionalism in Italy. From pubs to universities to tour operators to the VATICAN ITSELF- I have a story. But, I never get too far with my ranting before I remind myself of how Italy could never be as humanly beautiful as it is without being completely unreliable. You see, if you are late for a job interview and you're waiting for the bus and you're waiting and you're waiting and the rain starts pouring down and you're still waiting and some greasy guy is cat-calling you while you're STILL waiting and freaking out when finally you feel like your brain is going to explode... and you decide to call the office to notify them (nervously) that you will be running late and you're terribly sorry... the secretary answers the phone, sounds disgustingly annoyed with you because you're interrupting her cigarette/espresso/text messaging and they tell you that Signor So-And-So cannot meet with you anyway because he is taking his lunch early and it will run late. It all comes full circle. The bus pulls up in that moment and you are almost convinced that the only reason it HAS arrived is because you don't actually have to be somewhere for anything important- if you still had your appointment it wouldn't have shown up- are you going crazy for thinking this? On top of that the bus driver is on the phone and driving like a maniac (not a municipal employee) and he'll brake every once in a while to interrupt his phone call to yell at someone who dared cut him off. It is in these wet, frustrated, mental-break-down moments you strangely enough develop an affinity for the unpredictability and care-free air that seems to lounge around in Italy. A Swedish friend once said, "Yes, life in Italy is not as professional, organized, reliable, or well-paid as other countries, but life elsewhere is just not quite as spontaneous." |  What's in, what's new and what's up.
This blog is a little more intimate look at the life behind Storia- my life and the lives of those who have helped Storia rock on into the future. With every idea and project that becomes realized we seem to think of five new ones to pursue. Needless to say, we're looking forward to creating and sharing more storie as this adventure unfolds. Daily adventures, that's our thing.   ArchivesSettembre 2011 CategoriesAll |
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