TORONTO – Nicknamed “Picchio” as a little boy by his father, Actor Pierfrancesco Favino was so enamoured with the moniker that he attempted to launch his career substituting it for his first name. Not surprisingly, he walked that idea back fairly quickly given how odd “Woodpecker” would have sounded being called out at auditions. Not the brightest idea for a stage name, nor entirely marketable. But why the nickname? He was vociferous as a child, given to fits and rages while often stomping on floors and banging walls – hence Picchio. But what his father might have shrugged off as childish petulance, revealed itself as steely determination and grit in his adulthood.
TORONTO – I happened to pass by a TV just as a majestic display of order and harmony appeared on the screen. Two musicians, displaying their art and creativity with a violin and viola setting the mood in the restored Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. The music, the setting and the attention by the audience was mesmerizing.
VATICAN CITY – In the tenth Consistory of the pontificate of Pope Francis which took place on Saturday in the Vatican basilica, packed with 5,500 faithful, 21 new Cardinals were created, coming from every corner of the world: from Algeria to Iran, from Ukraine to Chile and to Brazil, from Argentina to Japan, passing through Rome, Naples and Turin, the faithful from all five continents gathered in the Vatican to pay homage to the “their” new porporati (“dressed in purple”, from the colour of their robe). →
