Article from Federico Wardal

Young man photographed with dreamy eyes and hazy outlines. He's got blue eyes and dark hair.

Massimo Sangalli: the swing between fame and life

We are talking about a foreign world where the USA were the absolute protagonists, a world, however, that was only shown in the USA in the magazines dedicated to celebrities: it is the post-dolce vita Rome, which follows the Rome – Dolce Vita, so called, because brilliantly depicted by my mentor Federico Fellini in his famous film of the same name. 

We are in 1995 in Rome. The poets, the writers, the filmmakers, the global stars all frequent the literary café “Caffè Greco” and the night clubs. My friend Prince Egon Von Furstenberg, who introduced me to Joan Crawford in NYC, and I were leaving the famous Jackie O’ nightclub, in homage to Jackie Onassis, with a group of movie stars to continue the night at “Gilda”, another famous nightclub dedicated to Rita Hayworth, owned by my friend Giancarlo Bornigia. Wild dancing with songs by Corona, Cher, Haddaway and a group of fans around their idol took up all our space. The idol was the adolescent star of photo stories, the fascinating Massimo Sangalli, accompanied by Doriana Bianchi, the favorite actress of movie director Marco Ferreri.

Another hazy, dreamy photograph of a young man with locks of dark hair.

I called the director of Gilda, my friend Angelo Ciccio Nizzo, to calm down Sangalli’s fans and to have some space for us to dance too. I met Sangalli and Doriana Bianchi, we started dancing together, but we also started a friendship that never ended. With the great poet Dario Bellezza, a pupil of Pasolini, we were working on a big show, based on the novel by Dario Bellezza: “Turbamento” about Pasolini. I invited Sangalli and the Italian star Sebastiano Somma to act with me. It was a great success for Sangalli in his theatrical debut and then he became internationally famous. Sangalli is currently starring in “Music in the Forest” by Roberto Lippolis with Nastassja Kinski, John Savage, Cassandra Gava, Vincent Spano, soon to be released.

In Lippolis’ film, set in the Second World War, Sangalli plays Zigmund, a Jewish poet. Both female and male beauty in the world of cinema is certainly important, since it is the easiest road to fame, which, however, survives only if you have talent and gradually put aside roles based on the beauty of physical appearance and often superficial, to interpret psychologically complex and profound roles, as in the case of Sangalli. Of course, the world of fashion, especially in Italy and France, opens the doors to perfect bodies and enchanting faces and so Massimo Sangalli has participated in events of the famous fashion designer Anton Giulio Grande. He is the testimonial for “Angel” by Dolce & Gabbana. He has been photographed by Helmut Newton, Louis Vidal, Carlo Bellicampi, Dario Plozzer, working in cinema with prestigious directors such as Tinto Brass, Pupi Avati, George Lucas and others.

Young man and older woman dressed up in white gloves and suits and pearls in a movie.

Sangalli will soon be in an Italian-Californian film about Pirandello and in an interesting film written by Hollywood authors, based on the transition between the era of communication without the internet and with the internet. Cinema continues to be an important reference for all of us to improve ourselves, but I fear that it will continue to always be based on “fame” which for Hannah Montana by Michael Poryes, instead falls to second place, since life reconquers the first. https://synchchaos.com/?s=Poryes&submit=Search . 

A difficult swing for those who, like Sangalli, face this aspect on a daily basis.

Prose from Daniel De Culla

Photo of a Spanish train station with the sign encased by ironwork and barren trees and tall brick apartments.

ASSAULT ME MORE, LOBATO

It happened one night.

I’m a taxi driver in Madrid, although I’m from a town, Sacramenia, in Segovia, and one day, I picked up a woman with two children at the Glorieta de las Pirámides, asking me to take her to the Lista metro station, on Ortega y Gasset Street, where she lived, because she wanted to keep an eye out there for her husband who was out with a whore.

She told me her name was Fernanda, and her sons were Miguel, the oldest, and Corono, the youngest.

That her husband, although a gentleman and devoted himself to his children, was bald and a well-known whoremonger in the Salamanca neighborhood, as he hung around in bars and seafood restaurants where officials and wealthy people went, posing as a gynecologist, even though he was a simple official.

She told me she’d been looking at an apartment in the Glorieta courtyard, a row house with a bustling neighborhood, whose floors opened onto a balcony that ran around the entire interior courtyard, because she wanted to separate from her husband Lobato, who was a notorious whoremonger.

That the apartment belonged to a Capuchin brother from the Church of Jesus of Medinaceli, Jesus “the rich man,” with whom she heard confessions once a month, approaching the confessional on her knees, telling him all the suffering her husband had caused her, and the obsession she’d developed with denouncing him and accusing him of having been with whores, checking his fly for any woman’s pussy hair, his shirt collar for any lipstick stains, or his neck for any hickeys.

That she, a top-notch seamstress, highly sought after by the best fashion houses in Madrid, when he made a move to hit her, insulting her vulgarly, she would say:

-Insult me ​​more, Lobato. Hit me, hit me more, bald, bald-faced, prick-faced. Go with the whores, you shitty pimp.

That she realized that the brother had taken a fancy to her, because, kneeling before him while he was confessing, she noticed a bulge in his habit; and that, when he blessed her, he would reach for the bulge first.

That a nun from Our Lady of Zion showed her the apartment, and that it seemed too small for the three of them.

This woman, Fernanda, was very pretty. She reminded me of Kim Novak, a sex symbol from the golden age of Hollywood. I don’t know what happened to me, but when I stopped the taxi at the subway entrance, I put my hand on my bag and said to her:

-Ma’am, if you separate or divorce your husband, you and your two children would live in luxury with me.

She replied:

-Sir, stop with the luxury. There’s no luxury here or there. Get paid, and ¡good service!

Poetry from Noah Berlatsky

The Day

The day.

The day.

The day.

The day.

The day.

The day.

The day.

The day won’t start.

The day won’t.

The day.

The day.

The day won’t.

The day won’t start.

The day won’t start.

The day.

The day.

The day is not.

The day is not.

The day is not.

The day is not.

The day is not.

The day is not.

The day is not.

The day is not.

The day is not.

The day is not getting.

The day is not getting.

The day is not getting anything done.

Anything done.

Done.

Done.

Done.

Done.

Done.

Done.

Done.

Done.

Done.

Done.

The day won’t done.

The day won’t get done with me.

The day won’t get done with me.

The day won’t get done with me.

The day won’t start.

The day won’t end.

The day won’t start.

The day won’t start.

The day won’t start.

The day won’t start.

The day won’t end.

End.

End.

End.

End.

End.

End.

End.

End.

End.

End.

The day.

The day won’t.

The day won’t.

The day won’t.

The day won’t.

The day won’t.

The day won’t.

Won’t.

The day.

Won’t.

The day.

Won’t.

The day.

The day.

I’m trying to get my life organized.

Essay from Dr. Jernail S. Anand

Older South Asian man with a beard, a deep burgundy turban, coat and suit and reading glasses and red bowtie seated in a chair.
Dr. Jernail S. Anand

O THAT MACBETH HAD READ A POEM!

In fact, while doing some evil deed, a man does not need to think. But if he is doing some good deed, he has to stop and consider what consequences he may have to face.

****

When stones start sparkling with emotions, literature can be said to have performed its part to perfection.

-Anand

It is no exaggeration to say that evil dominates the human psyche more than any other emotion, like love or compassion. Macbeth and Dr. Faustus appear as objective correlatives of evil. But this article questions were they entirely evil? Is goodness an outer growth over evil, or is evil an outer growth over good? My thesis is that all men invariably are made of the shining stuff, and evil is a super imposition, and can be erased with sharp tools of wit, wisdom and satire.

As far as human society is concerned, goodness has already been pushed to the margins. The animals and birds also indulge in killings but this violence cannot be classified as Evil. People do show sparks of goodness, but very occasionally, while evil is on the elephant ride in the streets of this kingdom, which belongs to God, but is run by monsters. The good remain huddled in corners of existence, whereas the centre stage is grabbed by evil mongers. When evil multiplies and threatens the very fabric of the society, God sends apocalyptic beings like Lord Krishna and Jesus Christ. But it is also a fact that as soon as they disappear from the world, people come back to their original setting, of vileness, suppression and exploitation of the good. The pages of human history depict either wars or men who created havoc with the masses in the name of religion.  It appears either there were no good periods in history, or they are intentionally ignored because they do not offer thrills which a reader expects from the reading of history.

Footfall at the Gate of Hell

The  Reception at the Gate of Heaven remains closed most of the time. Once or twice during a month, the office opens to admit one or two persons at the most. In fact,  it is the Reception at the Gate of Hell where you find most festive conditions. People come in hordes singing folk songs, carrying drinks and beauties in their laps. It is another thing, the monsters welcome them, and after a thorough investigation, they are directed to the Purgatory.

The scene inspires horror when we try to guess how rampant is evil in our society. Some scientists from Lustus University lost their lives when a speeding bus tumbled into an abyss while negotiating a sharp turn high on a mountain. On reaching the Gate of Hell, they were engaged in a verbal duel with the Reception staff.

‘There is no goodness in this world. It is not possible to find one person who believes in good. Close down the  Reception Centre for Heaven,’  they argued so vehemently that  senior functionaries of Hell and Heaven had to intervene.

Course Correction

Brahma detailed Indra to bring them to the Emergency. All of them were laid on different tables, and given injections of inertia. When the operation was over, and the Professors of Lustus University were back in their senses, a video was played which showed how each man’s consciousness was turned naked, and then, with sharp-edged appliances, the dirt frozen on their consciousness was layered off. After several days of deep digging, a shining layer of light was visible.

The merchants of darkness were stunned to realize that they were essentially made up of the shining stuff. However, man becomes oblivious of this sublimity of his being when layers of dust fall and freeze on the shiny surface.  What really transforms the evil souls is the power of goodness, exampled by its practitioners [like the Bishop in Victor Hugo’s novel Les Miserables] Man not only learns but he even unlearns by example.

The Flop Triumvirate

With evil so rampant, if we are getting oblivious of the dividing line between good and evil, it is because our elders have not learnt their ropes well. The teachers, the parents, the religious leaders – are responsible if the moral fabric of the society has deteriorated. The reality is that Evil comes to man far more naturally than good. In fact, while doing some evil deed, a man does not need to think. But if he is doing some good deed, he has to stop and consider what consequences he may have to face. It is the fear of consequences of being good, straight, honest and kind that most of the people have said good bye to this domain.

The emotional demography of good and evil can be understood with the help of the following graph. Thirty percent people can go to any extent in the domain of evil. Five percent people practice goodness and cannot be deflected from their path. However, the remaining sixty five percent keep shifting from good to evil and evil to good depending on their necessities.

Re-forming the Social Fabric

If we want to re-form and re-organize our society, we have to contend with the truth  that religion and fears of hell do not horrorize any Faustus now. Millions of people will be ready to sign in blood a contract with the Devil which ensures them twenty four years of thrills. The horror of Faustus’ destiny is no longer a deterrent for evil-mongering which has now become a  romantic fantasy.

Art and Literature

Society lacks the tools with which it should be able to touch the souls of the people. The best way is Art and Literature.  A poem is truly magnificent if it can tear off the layers of unreality, faithlessness, despair and doubt, from the consciousness of a person who has no direct or indirect connect with art or literature. When stones start sparkling with emotions, literature can be said to have performed its part to perfection.

Dr. Jernail Singh Anand, [the Seneca, Charter of Morava, Franz Kafka and Maxim Gorky awards Laureate, with an opus of 180 books, whose name adorns the Poets’ Rock in Serbia]]  is a towering literary figure whose work embodies a rare fusion of creativity, intellect, and moral vision.

Poetry from Chimezie Ihekuna

Chimezie Ihekuna (Mr. Ben) Young Black man in a collared shirt and jeans resting his head on his hand. He's standing outside a building under an overhang.
Chimezie Ihekuna

Heralding God’s Magnificence

Lord, thank you for grace
For you are with me always as I run my race
Inspite of my nakedness, you shield me with your lace
By faith, I can move mountains
For you’ve made me an ace
Christ is my base
I can’t be shaken by life’s rays
For in God’s presence, I’m more than all mays
And in Christ, I put my enemies at infinite bays
The Lord God is in charge of my case
For His word is greater than what anybody says
His death on the cross is greater than all my big pays
So, I’ve chosen to serve Him, Grace!

(D)

We Are Children!

We make the world go round

but we are taken to the ground

We make ourselves ready to be used

but we are abused!

We make the world a proud place

but we are pushed aside in many ways!

We make up the figure

but we  are not shown the gesture!

We make forgiveness our priority

but we are faced with cruelty!

We make the truth our watch-word

but we are influenced by the Liar’s Rod!

We make the world one

but we are treated as none!

We make freedom play out itself

but we are stuck in the growing years of  self!

We make ourselves happy at school

but we are not just cool!

We make our elders better brethren

but we are children!