Memories of Italian immigration to South America My bisnonna left Italy with only 4 years of age, in 1889, in a ship called “Rosario”, which travelled from Genoa all the way to Argentina. It was a steamship (vapore or piroscafo in Italian), 282 feet long, with a speed of 14 knots, that could carry 48…
Author: Tom
Bicycle Thieves
Why are so many bicycles stolen? I had my bicycle stolen earlier today. I suppose it is my fault, as I left it unattended and unlocked for five minutes in front of the building. And yet, I had done the same thing other times, for longer periods, and nothing had happened. I guess it was…
The end of Covid?
Or just a new beginning? After two years of failed tests, with that terrible procedure of nostril rape (I wonder, why didn’t they use simple saliva samples from the mouth? It seems to work just as well, at least, it worked for the home self-test), I finally managed to test positive for “Covid”. This was…
America, Land of Freedom(s)
Happy 4th of July. Today is the 4th of July, and I am for the moment still in America, (although I fly out today), so I thought it would be a good moment to jot down some notes about the good old USA. Many people, and in particular Americans, like to say that the U.S….
Escape from New York
Some people are leaving the big city for the countryside I am here in upstate New York, somewhere in Sullivan County, about two and a half hours (northwest) from the hustle and bustle of New York City. I came to visit family and ended up staying for a few more days in the countryside, where…
About "Geist", hedgehogs and foxes
A few notes about publishing a literary magazine For the past two years, I have been publishing “Geist“, an independent magazine of literature and art. We have now reached the fourth number. It is in printed paper and not online, which I suppose is something very old-fashioned these days (although we do make the pdf…
Why are our democratic leaders so undemocratic?
In a harbinger of bad things to come, France has prohibited outdoor events due to a heat wave, which according to the media is being caused by “climate change”. There is no way to prove the causality, of course — anything can be “climate change” (except when they are actually changing the climate by bombarding…
We are all children whom time separates
On the death of friends and the fleetingness of life I hate social media. If it wasn’t for that damned, demonic invention, I wouldn’t have found out that a friend of mine, whom I knew for almost 25 years, has suddenly died at just 40 years of age. True, I hadn’t seen her in almost…
GEIST Nr 4 is Out!
The summer 2022 edition of Geist magazine is now out for sale in the print version. You can read a sample in pdf. The full magazine will be published in pdf format after the official release party in July. Thanks! Remember, for updates and our written blog, check https://contrarium.substack.com/
Childless in Europe
Birth rates are abysmally low in Europe due to COVID, war, and digital technology I just finished editing a new documentary, “Childless in Europe” (you can watch it it here), but almost all of its footage was filmed before COVID and of course before the current war. Now the situation is even worse, as the…