*******FESTA ITALIANA, 2006, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY ON THE CONCERTS & TENORS WE SAW AND MET:


Here we are at Festa Italiana in Milwakee on Saturday, July 22, 2006. I wanted to make sure to take a couple pictures of this Statue of David. We just got a digital camera for the first time last year, but we don't take many photos at Festa Italiana because we're always rushing around trying not to miss the beginning of all the many concerts and singers we want to see, and this year there were several great ones! With 10 stages of continuous entertainment, not to mention so many more off-stage attractions, there really is enough to keep everyone busy and happy. We also had beautiful weather in the 70's, with just one period of sudden thunderstorm threats, but while it was sunny, I wish we had taken a photo of Lake Michigan's lakefront (where Festa Italiana is located), because it really is very nice. When it is sunny, the water is even blue! We also couldn't take any photos of the amazing fireworks, of course, but we've never seen any locally as good as the Italians put on each night here!

......... Settimio has a strange way of smiling sometimes.....unless this was around the time he was looking for a Men's Room! LOL!

Considering the excellent weather earlier in the day, there seemed to be fewer people this time as we headed over to see Frank Tenaglia and Aaron Caruso ---the main attractions for us this year. They both performed on the Miller Lite Oasis stage which you can see in the background. As I said, there is music going on 10 stages all at the same time ---singers of Italian and American pop and classical music, comedians, impressionists, cooking shows, an Italian street or village, an Opera Tent, dancing (we usually skip the folk dancing), many bands, and "Italian Idol", etc. Another new young singer we saw was MATT MORGAN with WE THREE, who had a powerful pop tenor voice, has performed quite a few opera roles, and at the end of his show sang "Nessun Dorma" and "Vesti la Giubba". He was impressive enough for the crowd, but Settimio and I thought his voice didn't sound refined or pretty. It was very rough around the edges and seemed to be shouting more than singing......So off we go to see more and better tenors!

.........But first, here I am again with that Statue of David. Last year he was wearing shorts in the pattern and colors of the American flag!All previous years Festa photos are not uploadable yet, but if I can make a picture CD from the film negatives, I'll show you what they did to him! lol -- There was also an enormously tall and huge statue of the Madonna last year (they wisely didn't dress Her up). We try to attend Festa every year, as there is always something and someone new. We wanted to attend Sunday also, of this 4-day festival, but we already had tickets to an excellent production of the "Student Prince" at William Bay, Wisconsin, on beautful Lake Geneva on July 23.

....... We couldn't miss FRANK TENAGLIA'S show this year at the Festa. Last year we missed it because of the extreme heat - nearly 100 degrees! I don't know how anyone can perform in that heat, but thank goodness this year was a lot cooler! I don't do well in extremely hot weather, as you can see by our Florida photos. We were lucky also, as was Frank, that just as he FINISHED his show, it started to rain with dark clouds all around, and an announcement over the loud speaker to take cover as a "fast-approaching severe thunderstorm" was on its way. Well, it just got real windy, but didn't rain much so we stayed outdoors, though the photo we took with Frank was a bit dark and didn't turn out well in other ways, so that one's not here. The BEST part was our enjoyable and VERY interesting long chat with Frank. Frank is the nicest guy, and talked to us as if he'd known us forever. Both Settimio and I were thrilled to hear his views on various singers, singing, and his own life and career! It was a great pleasure meeting Frank finally, and we plan on seeing him again next year when I'm sure he'll be back at our Milwaukee Italian festa. This was his 6th or 7th year performing here, and the audience loves him!

.....I can't forget to mention that FRANK TENAGLIA presented to us a copy of his new CD, as a gift, with 10 beautiful songs on it!! That was SO nice and generous of him, and we love all the songs already! He has such a beautiful, powerful voice, at both full and mezza-voce, and really should be an opera star! "M'appari and "Una Furtiva Lagrima" were especially fantastic on the CD, and on #10 he even sings an English pop song called, "Take My Hand" - quite a departure from what he normally sings. He sang a couple songs from this CD as well as others not on it at this concert, and had a 5-piece band with him. We felt his voice really deserved to be heard with a much larger band or orchestra. He spoke about and praised Mario Lanza before singing songs like "Be My Love", and "Because". In addition to his singing, we really enjoyed his many jokes and funny stories ---and told him he could be a comedian too! This added to the success of his very personable and entertaining show.

.......AARON CARUSO was a big hit with the ladies, especially, and they lined up to buy copies of his CD at Festa Italiana in Milwaukee. We purchased one too, of course!!


.....The CDs were going fast....Settimio took these photos - I wouldn't have the nerve to!

........ Performing is AARON CARUSO, for the very first time at FESTA ITALIANA. We really enjoyed his show, even more so because we already had been aware of this young, handsome singer and his talent thru his website and some posts on the LanzaLegend forum. In fact, in his show he remarked, "I have been picked to portray Mario Lanza on Broadway", and we were excited for him, so asked him about this when we met him after the show. He then said that he hoped this would become reality,
so we wished him Good Luck and I said of all the singers considered for this role, he looked the most like Mario Lanza (a very young Mario). He was very gracious to us and asked us to wait because he wanted to speak to us after he was finished greeting other fans who wanted their CDs signed. ( He remembered me from a Lanza forum.) We had a short, interesting conversation; he was a really nice guy too, gave me 2 hugs, and Settimio and Aaron even had a nice exchange in Italian. We then went merrily on our way, WHAT AN EXCITING DAY this has been, hearing and meeting all these great singers!!






Sorry some of these photos are out of order....During his show, Aaron Caruso sang a variety of songs, including "Mala Femmina," "Mamma", "Til", and a Tom Jones song I can't recall right now, plus many more. We heard so many songs that day, I can't remember who sang what
anymore! His style and stage presence were fantastic, and his voice was beautiful, with plenty of powerful pop singing. He didn't sing any operatic arias or high C's, but what he sang was very enjoyable, and he also pleased the crowd by walking into the audience, shaking hands at one point. This young man is certainly full of talent, and we are enjoying his CD also.

My favorites on Aaron's CD are: "Dio Come Ti Amo", "Romanza", "Spanish Eyes", "Autumn Leaves" and "Chiove". I think he sang one of these at his concert, and also "O Sole Mio" and Torna a Surriento".

.......This is an Italian pop singer named MORENO FRUZZETTI. He hails from the same city in Italy where my husband was born - PISA. We wanted to meet him too but didn't have time, as we had much more to see and hear yet! But Moreno has a very good voice and his speciality seems to be the old, classic Italian pop songs from the 50's and 60's, which we remember so well. He always gets a big, enthusiastic crowd.

....... PLEASE NOTE: When I decided to finally learn how to create a website, I intended this blog to be only for family photos, as most are, below. But since the cats are such a big part of our lives and a hobby for me, and they INSISTED on sharing this space as they share our lives, I couldn't say "No" to them. So here are a few pictures of some of my kittens for now, most recently gone to new homes, so anyone interested can also see what distinguishes "Pet Quality" from "Show Quality" as regards their faces, at least. These kittens loved to play in this basket, even though it's not soft like their wicker basket bed. I encountered plenty of glitches in the process of uploading these photos, and had to re-place some of them, just to get them in the right sequence, so please excuse any repetition in my comments anywhere on this Blog. The posting dates also do not match the photo dates, because I have to back-date posts/pics in order to get them in the right order. (Otherwise all photos always land up on top of this Blog). This has been quite an adventure (and headache at times) , but I think I'm finally getting the hang of it now! :-)

........This is an 8 week old extreme face black-Smoke kitten, as you can tell by the high placement of his nose, which fits completely between his eyes. This look appeals to some, but not all people. To me, they are all lovely to look at and fun to be with.

........2 BLACK-SMOKE KITTENS, ON THE RIGHT, ABOUT 7 WEEKS OLD, BROWN TABBY ON LEFT, BUT COLOR OF PHOTOGRAPH IS OFF, NOT QUITE RIGHT. ALSO THEY WILL ALL HAVE COPPER EYES AT AGE 6 MONTHS. FLASH TURNED THEIR EYES WHITE - I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO FIX THE *RED EYE* IN PICTURES YET, MUCH LESS WHITE-EYE!!

.......THIS WAS A PET QUALITY, SILVER KITTEN I RAISED IN MARCH-APRIL 2006 AND AGAIN THE NICE LADY WHO PURCHASED HER SENT ME THIS PHOTO. "SHADED" PERSIAN KITTENS ALWAYS GET CONSIDERABLY LIGHTER AS THEIR COAT GROWS COMPARED TO THEIR KITTEN COLOR.

....... These are Cameo and Silver-Shaded Persian kittens, both males, at only 5 weeks old here ---one of the hobbies that keep me busy much of the time - aren't they adorable? These are what is considered "doll-faces", not extreme.

.......SAME KITTENS, 5 WEEKS OLD IN WICKER BASKET , JUST ANOTHER ADORABLE VIEW!

.......THESE ARE THE SAME PERSIAN SHELL CAMEO (LEFT) AND SILVER SHADED MALE (RIGHT) KITTENS AS ABOVE IN WICKER BASKET. THEY ARE 9 WEEKS OLD NOW AND IN THEIR NEW HOME. THE NICE FAMILY WHO BOUGHT BOTH OF THEM WAS KIND TO SEND THIS PHOTO.

........THESE ARE SOLID WHITE MALE PERSIAN KITTENS THAT MARY, A FRIEND HAD TAKEN CARE OF FOR ME (AND VERY WELL, I MIGHT ADD!) WHEN WE WERE IN FLORIDA FOR 2 WEEKS. SHE TOOK THESE PHOTOS AT HER HOUSE, AND THE BROWN TABBIES BELOW WERE FROM THE SAME LITTER, BORN FROM A BROWN TABBY MOM & A WHITE DAD.

.........WELCOME ALL!! - The first photo I wanted to put here is of our sweetheart daughter SONIA (the half-Italian brunette on the left - now age 28, but she was in College when this was taken ) , standing with her friend, Andrea, on one of her trips to Brazil 3 years ago in 2003. She comes first because, as the song goes, she really "lights up my life!" But this photo was one of those which landed out of place, Oh well... We just wish she wasn't so far away in Florida now, as she has always been our "only child", meaning no brothers or sisters. She has a big family in Italy on her father's side, and she has visited Italy twice, and a few times some of them have come to visit us too....

Andrea and Sonia are still friends, and like me, has attended Josh Groban concerts with her. Josh is her current FAV singer! She says it's kind of hard to find friends in her age group who appreciate that kind of voice and singing! Many of her friends and acquaintances have never even heard of him. Sonia has a degree in Film Production but now has a demanding job, working in the Travel Industry, and does a lot of travel for her Company too - the fun part!! Her husband is Claudio, a native of Brazil, and is applying to become a Police Officer. They've been married about 5 years, and currently live in Orlando, FL.

I happened to have this photo already saved on our computer, but I don't have any more uploadable-photos of her or anything until we buy a scanner. 2005 was the first year we ever had a digital camera, so I'm lucky to have these photos below to upload from our 2005 Florida trip. Later, when I get more experienced at this technical stuff, and we take more pictures, I'll add some more. But for now... Believe me, it took me MANY hours just to figure out how to maneuver around and create this website, in the first place!!

I hope I didn't upload too many pics, as I know how boring family albums can be! That's why I'll try to vary the pictures, as I just did by including our kittens, as some of you are hopefully cat lovers! Later when I buy a scanner, I can scan photos of our ADULT feline companions, and put a few photos of them on here too. Eventually I might even get around to talking about MYSELF a bit, but that's not important now. My original intent was ONLY to have a place to put our family photos online!!

THE PHOTOS BELOW ARE ALL OF OUR FLORIDA TRIP IN SEPTEMBER 2005:

..........WELCOME TO BEAUTIFUL (DOWNTOWN) ORLANDO, FLORIDA. There are pretty birds everywhere! (But I always loved SWANS the best!! They're SO GRACEFUL!)

.....One of the daily shows at the Chinese section of EPCOT. Everyone seems to like Chinese acrobats and jugglers, and this day the crowd also enjoyed the show.

...........I wish we had pretty gardens like this in Wisconsin that flourished all year round like they do in Florida!!! I believe this building is near the entrance to the International part of Epcot. As you see, Settimio and I were BOTH having a bad hair day!! LOL. This was one of those grueling days in the sweltering hot Florida sun and humidity, (like our ENTIRE trip!!! ---I always carried around a bottle of water) so I just pulled my hair back and didn't care how I looked!! IT WAS WET ALL THE TIME ANYWAY!! : -(

......... This is Settimio standing near some of the lush foliage at Sea World.


......Settimio back "at home" in St. Mark's Square in Venice - hmmm, that's Venice, at Epcot in Disneyworld, Orlando! It is really remarkable what they built at Epcot!

.....THE TREE OF LIFE, Inside Animal Kingdom, which has a fantastic cavern inside the trunk, where they show the 3-D film, A BUG'S LIFE, which we all really got a kick out of!!

........Disney's Boardwalk Resort - You can walk around the entire lake and see the other side too. It's also a great place to catch one of the many Disney boats that take people to some of the Theme Parks.









....SEAWORLD, Where you can see BIG fish and LITTLE fish, all in aquariums of various sizes. Of course, I guess these performing ones are considered MAMMALS! We also saw cats and dogs in a show, which are amazingly well trained, and also a bird show at Seaworld, among other things.

..........SOME VIEWS OF SEAWORLD IN ORLANDO, INCLUDING A GORGEOUS ACQUARIUM AND ONE OF MY FAVORITE GARDENS THERE!

........SCENES FROM BEAUTY & THE BEAST. It was just a mini-production here at Disney's MGM Studios Theme Park, but the costumes were great!

........SOME MORE VIEWS OF EPCOT , the fantastic International Food & Wine Festival was going on when we were there, where you can try food from all over the world.. This Disney Park is full of authentic looking buildings, villages, monuments, caves, etc. from many countries and continents. Be prepared to WALK forever too, if you go here, and this section is only HALF of EPCOT. The other half has all the rides!
In the second picture below (where I resemble a cooked lobster, with that sunburn) I think that's what they built to represent England.

.......These beautiful flamingos can be found all over Florida.

..........Can you believe that ALL these figures were made completely out of LEGOS?? This can be found at Downtown Disney, a FREE Disney attraction which contains many stores and fantastic exhibits like this.

These are a couple of the beautiful floats at Magic Kingdom in their daily parade.




.......GOODBYE, AND THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG AND DISNEYWORLD! IN SPITE OF THE HEAT, WE HAD A BLAST, AND CAN'T WAIT TO RETURN - WHICH WE WILL DO NEXT NOVEMBER - MAYBE THE WEATHER WILL BE COOLER THEN!! MORE PHOTOS LATER... WE HOPE YOUR NEXT VACATION WILL BE AS FANTASTIC AS OURS WAS!! :-D

........OH, ONE MORE PHOTO TO SHOW OF A COOL CAVE WE STOPPED TO TOUR IN TENNESSEE ON OUR WAY HOME. AND IT REALLY WAS COOL IN THERE TOO! WHAT A RELIEF!! THEN BACK ON THE ROAD FOR THE LONG 22 HOUR DRIVE HOME!! NEXT TIME WE ARE FLYING!!!