Tag: london

St. Patrick’s Day at The Piano Works

St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th, will be celebrated with a party full of music at THE PIANO WORKS.
The band will be ready to perform all night long the most popular Irish songs .
Pints ​​of Guinness for just £ 3 from 3pm, in a bubbly atmosphere where Irish-style hats, wigs and disguises are highly encouraged.


Start with Happy Hour from 5pm to 8pm, with selected cocktails from £ 5.50 and bottles of Prosecco from £ 12.50.
You can book a table for your group of at least 8 people and get admission for £ 1 with a Guinness or Cocktail included.
The Piano Works is the only non-stop live music venues in London that play songs requested by the public. It hosts over 65 independent musicians from Great Britain and organize its  SingEasy evenings with non-stop  live music, in which pianists and singing waiters are at the center of the scene to play the songs requested by the public who can enjoy eccentric cocktails and delicious food.
Alan Lorrimer, founder of The Piano Works, says:“Given how many music venues have closed in London it is very rewarding to have created two venues that have such talented musicians, playing to a loyal and hugely appreciative audience.  Our on tour bands are also in high demand.”

For more info: The Piano Works West End;  The Piano Works Farringdon

THE PIANO WORKS – Say it with a song

Celebrate your Valentine’s Day at THE PIANO WORKS by dedicating a song to your partner or simply to someone who catches your eyes.

It will be possible to taste a romantic menu accompanied by the in-house six-piece band that will be ready to call out your request, or you can just join the late-night party (free entry after midnight).

The event is a great opportunity to meet new people: guests will in fact receive a numbered sticker that they are encouraged to wear in order to be recognized by possible secret admirers, so that they can dedicate or be dedicated a song. Once the song is played, it will be possible to trace the number and, why not, to find love.

To increase the possibilities of matching, there will be also a  Cupid matchmaker  that will help guests in finding the perfect song and shoot the arrow of love. This will ensure an outstanding date night experience, bond over amazing music.

The dinner includes a three-course menu with a glass of Moët & Chandon and a selection of dishes such as tuna tartar with guacamole and wasabi mousse, a sharing sea food platter, or côte de boeuf. Vegans and vegetarians are equally catered for, with delights such as vegan walnut pâté and shepherd’s pie.  End on a high note with a pear and liquorice strudel or warm chocolate brownie with salted caramel.

 

For further information: The Piano Works, Farringdon ; The Piano Works, West End

London – Trafalgar Square this week end : The West End Live Show 2019

London ( Maria Vittoria Bognetti ) What is there to do in London this weekend? Well, the answer is easy: West End Live 2019 !

The stage is already set, and throughout the whole weekend, great performers from the most important West End musicals, from the Lion King, Mamma Mia to Thriller live, just to name a few, will perform short sets at Trafalgar Square.
Presented by Westminster City Council and the Society of London Theatre, the annual event will start Saturday, from 11am to 5pm, up until Sunday, from 12am to 5pm, and it will see performing more than 50 artists throughout the weekend. From the refreshments to the interaction and the merchandise, the event is family-friendly


Whether you cannot make it to the show, everything will be recorded and shared on the many social media platforms so that everyone can participate, and also have a sneak peek about the behind-the-scenes content.
The show does not require any tickets, indeed it is all free to the public, so just come and
enjoy the show!

https://www.westendlive.co.uk/

Elisa is Back to London for her new Tour!

London, Maria Vittoria Bognetti

The great Italian singer and songwriter, Elisa, lands in the UK to perform during her 2019 European tour here in the capital city on the 30th of July and on the 2nd of August in Edinburgh. We will also see the artist performing in other major European cities, around Germany, Switzerland and Norway.

Her music genre can be categorized as alternative rock, influenced by her idols Dolores O’Riordan, Björk, Tori Amos, Alanis Morissette and Aretha Franklin.

Her background in the USA allowed her to expand her audience outside Italy by recording and writing her songs mainly in English, one of the few Italian songwriters that has made such a decision. Come Speak to Me, Dancing, So You Think You Can Dance are few of her most famous tracks in the international scene, and part of a discography composed by nine studio albums, 5 compilations and 51 singles. Her talent has been awarded with 1 diamond disc, 1 multi platinum disc, and 13 platinum discs.

 

Throughout her career, she performed with prestigious artists from Eros Ramazzotti, Zucchero, Francesco de Gregori, to Luciano Pavarotti. Worth mentioning that her song Ancora Qui, in collaboration with Ennio Morricone, was featured in a Quentin Tarantino’s film, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.
Her tour will start in Germany, in Cologne on the 20th of July at Luxor and in Hannover on 21st of July at Musikzentrum, moving successively to Norway, Oslo on 23rd July at Blaa. She will go back to Germany, Hamburg on the 25th of July at Fabrik before performing in Switzerland, in Bellinzona on the 26th of July at the Castle on Air. The tour will end in the UK, first performing in the capital city at the Union Chapel, and successively in Edinburgh at the Liquid Room.

https://www.elisatoffoli.com/

The Man Who Stole Banksy by Marco Proserpio

Torino (Caterina Moser) – A film about art, street art, poltics and hope.

But, wait. Let’s start at the beginning.

In 2007, the mysterious world-renowned street artist Bansky painted a politically works on walls and buildings in Palestine.
The reactions were various: who thought this as a message of hope; who didn’t like and viewed as a nuisance. And someone saw a business opportunity.

We are talking about a budybilder and local taxi driver known as Walid “The Beast”. He had ad entrepreneurial plan: cut out the entire cement wall containing the Bansky’s art and sell it off to the highest bidder.

The movie follow the trip of the Bansky’s work all over Europe and Usa. A trip that open a series of questions about art, in particular street art, and international politics, in particular the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

Proserpio directs a provocative story where he shown the different points of view: criticals, artists, collectors, historians and also people in Betlhemme, as Walid and a man who had open a “Banksy Market”.

It appears also a dark part of art. Or maybe, it appears that money are a big part of this reality.

Anyway, the focus is on Palestine too, and on the big white wall that divide Betlhemme. The Italian director show us a world that we don’t see or we don’t see enough.

Maybe, the aim of Banksy is something similar to this movie: show to the world those places. And let us think about it. But It opens many questions as what is art?, what is street art?, should we stole the painting of the street art?

A complete docufilm: full of questions, full of points of view, full of strong imagines. In addition, it is all told from Iggy Pop’s voice.

Debunking the myth of the job-stealing immigrant

Stefano Fugazzi – Free movement of workers is one of the key rules governing the EU internal market.

Within the euro area, labour mobility plays a key role in adjusting imbalances in current accounts and local job markets.

A currency union eliminates exchange rate flexibility as a way of responding to economic crises. By allowing workers to move from regions hit by a negative shock to regions hit by a positive one, labour mobility could then work as a substitute.

The accession of ten new countries to the European Union in 2004 and the financial crisis of 2007-09 have changed the migration dynamics fundamentally.

Prior to the global financial crisis, many citizens from Central and Eastern Europe migrated to Spain and other peripheral countries. The 2007-09 crisis profoundly impacted EU migration trends forcing many southern Europeans to relocate to Britain in search for jobs.

Immigration doesn’t hurt native jobs or wages

The recent rise in UK immigration has ignited the debate on whether migrants affect local jobs and wages.

The stereotype of the Polish plumber, used widely as a symbol of cheap labour, encapsulates the commonly held belief that immigration in Britain has pushed down wages in the most affected jobs.

However, the balance of the research on this issue suggests that the share of immigrants in the workforce has had little or no impact on the pay rates of the indigenous population.

According to a Bank of England research published in December 2015, immigration may have a small negative impact on wages for some low-paid workers.  But  the idea that immigration is the main or even a moderately important driver of low pay is simply not supported by the available evidence.

A newly published study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine finds that the long-term impact of immigration on the wages and employment of native-born workers is very small, and that negative impacts are most likely to be found for prior immigrants or native-born high school dropouts. First-generation immigrants are more costly to governments than are the native-born, but the second generation are amongst the strongest fiscal and economic contributors in the US.

The US research also concludes that immigration has an overall positive impact on long-term economic growth.

Another study by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis debunks the myth of the job-stealing immigrant.

The Federal Reserve research looks at wages and immigration figures for the years 2000, 2005 and 2010 to assess whether a change in immigration affect unemployment rates and payrolls.

The study shows that the relationship between unemployment and immigration is weak to non-existent, even during periods of financial crisis.

In some US states, an increase in the rate of unemployment is matched by a decrease in the proportion of foreign-born among the total population.

The research also finds no links between an increase in the proportion of immigrant workers and a reduction in hourly wages.

Changes in the level of wages are very similar across states even though changes in the proportion of foreign-born people vary a lot.

 Refugees have no impact on local job markets.

There is a general consensus amongst researchers that refugee waves have little or no impact on native wages.

The large inflow of Cubans to Miami in 1980 did not affect native wages or unemployment; migration from Algeria to France after independence in 1962 caused a small increase in unemployment whilst the Balkan crisis of the 1990s  did not materially increase unemployment in the refugee hosting countries.

“Brexit and The Rights of European Citizen”

London (Caterina Moser) – Italian Embassy in London held a meeting and a Q&A session on 12th September with the aim of informing Italians in Uk about the impact on their citizens’ rights. 

Several important authorities of the British government were there to answer all the questions: Minister Suella Braverman, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at Department for Exiting the European Union, Mr Chris Jones, director of Justice, Security and Migration, Mr Mark Doran, deputy director of EU Exit Immigration strategy and Jill Morris, British Ambassador to Italy. 

On the opening, the Italian Ambassador Raffaele Trombetta recalled how large the Italian community is. For this reason, it’s important to understand which the changes for every Italian student and worker living in United Kingdom will be. 

Jill Morris, British Ambassador to Italy, began her speech by thanking Italians. She wanted “to pay tribute to Italians for your contribution to our culture, economy and society”. The British Ambassador knows that it is a concerning and uncertain time, but it is important for Uk and Italy to work together to get the relation stronger and deeper. 

There is a talk of agreements and negotiation, but we can’t forget that there are 700.000 Italians in Uk and everyone of them have a different story. Jill Morris presented a new podcast #Migrantsbritish and invited everyone to tell their story. 

Suella Braverman took the floor. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary began reinforcing the thanks to all Italians that contribute for years in Uk. She said she loves Italy for its culture, food, fashion, design. (Moreover, she is going to visit Amalfi Coast in a few days for her Honeymoon and she doesn’t looking forward). 

It is a long story of link between Italy and Uk. Historically, Italians have always moved from Italy to study and work and, as well, British have moved to Italy to learn architecture, culture, literature. Italian culture can be seen an inspiration for British. The Minister Suella Braverman recalled the experience of Shakespeare. 

“3 millions of Italian people visit Uk every year. We will preserve that”, because although Uk is leaving European Unione, “we are not leaving Europe”. 

“We want you to stay” has been repeated several times. The Minister said that meeting is important. British government wants moment like these “to inform you, to assist you, to help you”. 

Chris Jones, director of Justice, Security and Migration, focused on the Draft withdrawal agreement and he underlined that this negotiation of citizen rights is unique and “we know that is a particular uncertain period”. It is possibile to read it on the site of the British government. 

In December, British government reached agreement on citizens’ right and in march it extended to cover who arrived in the implementation period. 

If you are an Italian citizen – or European Union citizen – living in the Uk, you need to apply the EU Settlement Scheme.

Mark Doran, deputy director of EU Exit Immigration strategy, explained how it will works and why it is important. 

The EU Settlement Scheme will allow Italians to continue to live and work in the Uk after 31st December 2020. Italians living in Uk will need to apply a simple digital system to secure their rights. “We will be looking for reasons to grant, not to refuse” said Mr Doran. 

It is necessary to complete three steps to check the employment and benefits. 

  1. Demonstrate the identity. This must be valid a EU passport or national identity card;
  2. Proof of residence. It will need to provide a National Insurance number or provide evidence to show the residence.  
  3. Declare any criminals convinctions. 

The fee to apply will be £65. For children under 16, the fee will be £32.50. But, it will be free if the applicant has already a valid indefinite leave to remain or a valid permanent residence document and if he or she is applying to move from pre-settles status to settled status. 

There will be also support for any kinds of need, such as translation, assisted digital, policy provisor.
For more information, visit the website eucitizensrights.campaign.gov.uk

In closing, the Ambassador Raffaele Trombetta spoke again. He underlined some concerns emerged in Q&A session moderated by Alessandro Motta, Deputy Head of Mission.
It is important to understand well what would happen if someone will not apply the scheme. We must also consider those who will not register and will not be informed about it.

Italians and Europeans need more details about the eventuality of a no-deal, because people are talking about it but there aren’t enough informations. 

What about the future after Brexit? “This event shown the strength of Italian Community. And we, both Uk and Italy, make sure that links and connection between us will not be affected” said Mr Trombetta. 

“The art of making buildings”, Renzo Piano’s poetry

London (Giulia Faloia) – The Royal Academy presented “The art of making buildings”, an exhibition of Renzo Piano’s buildings.

On 12th September the most famous Italian architect was in London for the launch of the exhibition that will officially start the 15th September. It was organised by the Royal Academy of Arts in collaboration with Renzo Piano Building Workshop and the Fondazione Renzo Piano.

The exhibition was born with the idea of following step by step Mr Piano’s career, from the influence of his Genoese heritage and his rise to the meeting with his friend and collaborator Richard Rogers, to current projects still in the making. 

The protagonists of the exhibition are 16 buildings, by which people can easily understand how the Renzo Piano Building Workshop designs buildings “piece by piece”, making deft use of form, material and engineering to achieve a precise and poetic elegance.

Mr Piano himself took part at the presentation on the 12th September by talking about the importance of architecture nowadays and its influence on our daily lives. He focused mainly on what he calls “fil rouge”, the idea that architecture has its continuity in time and space. 

https://youtu.be/FWdQ047i1eI

He also added that the same art must be used for people and that it represents a change in society. Architecture, as he claimed, gives you the illusion that it changes the world, when actually everything and the world itself is under a constant transformation.

Piano also said that he would like that people look at buildings not just as they are, but finding behind their structure something more: “maybe poetry”, in order to catch more than the simple construction.

The architect, as an Italian and as a Genoese, couldn’t avoid to talk about  the tragedy happened in Genoa when the bridge Morandi collapsed.

He said that a bridge falling goes beyond the collapse itself, because it is a symbol of connection that falls. First, a bridge should never fall and walls should be shot down, while nowadays the exact opposite is happening, metaphorically and in the real world.

At the following link you can listen to the whole interview had with the curator and creator of the exhibition, Kate Goodwin.

 

Lidia and her parents are asking for help

London (Giulia Faloia) – Giovanni and Claudia are Lidia’s parents, a two month child affected by a serious genetic disease. As every admission for such an illness it requires a long time in the hospital and also a lot of money.

Duodenale atresia is the name of the monster they are fighting. A newborn out of the 20.000 suffers for it. Lidia was born prematurely and she needs specific healings and surgeries.

In fact Lidia will have to spend many months in St George Hospital in Tooting close London and her parents must face considerable expenses such as rent flat in Weybridge, light, water and food.

But – unfortunately – this isn’t the whole story. In fact the couple, who comes from Siracusa, received an eviction notice at the beginning of the month. Within the 30th of September they will have to leave their home and they have no solution at the moment because they had spent everything for traveling to Lidia.

The need for money pushed Lidia’s parents to ask for help. Not only people, but also media have a big role in this run for solidarity. 

Lidia’s dad said: “We are asking for help to friends, relatives and every good-hearted person who don’t know us but who could relieve our pain”.

Whoever wants to lend a hand can join the cause on facebook. The ones who don’t want to rely on internet for payments can use the mum’s datas. SWIFTBIC: BARCGB22; IBAN: GB26 BARC 2090 7473 0456 25). Hashtag: #keep_fighting_Lidia.

To support Lidia’s parents please click here:  https://www.gofundme.com/3z6q7s-help-for-lidia

Happy birthday Google?!

London (Caterina Moser)  – Have you ever searched “google” on Google? Maybe today, it would be a perfect occasion to discover the story of the most important search provided. 

THE STORY

On 4 September 1998, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, both graduate at Stanford University, filed for incorporation. That’s it: twenty years ago today, two students changed our lives. They organize all the information in the world for everyone. In that moment, in California, Google was born. 

This is where it stared. From a research project oriented to the understanding of mathematical models and the link structure of the web. The rest of the story, you know it too well. 

IS TODAY THE BEST TIME TO CELEBRATE?

Google doesn’t know very well when to celebrate its birthday. The company history says that google.com was registered on 15th of September 1997, but it was filed for incorporation on 4th September. 

Anyway, most year we found Google Doodle about birthday on 27th of September, in memory of when in 1998 the record of indexed pages was recorded. But in 2005, the Google Doodle was put up on 26th of September. And in 2004 it put up on 7 September and in 2003 it put up on 8 September. 

But, it is always a good time to celebrate Google. 

THE NAME

According to the official version, the two founders had searched for a name by which they could represent the ability to organize the immense amount of information available on the Web. E.g. An hyperbole.

They chose an existing name: googol. The term is referred to the number represented by 1 followed by 100 zeros. The perfect metaphor of the (almost) infinity of the web. 

“TO GOOGLE” 

Today Google is the most popular search provided. It also creates a neologism: “To google”, that it means “search on web”. 

It has launched the most widespread Android operating system in the world and is working on Artificial Intelligence. It has allowed us to communicate in over 100 languages with Google Translate, let us explore places we would never have seen without Google Earth, and the list goes on: Images, Videos, News, Books, Shopping and so on. 

But it has also had to deal with polemics for privacy, maxi forfeits from Europe, internal protests of employees for deemed unethical projects and recently the heavy invectives of Donald Trump.

TREND TOPIC

A story of 20 years. Not a long time has passed, but many things have changed. Do you remember MSN or MySpace? 

To celebrate Google’s 20th birthday, metro.co.uk have gathered the top trending search terms in the UK through Google Search’s history from 2005. A perfect occasion to remind the past and remind things we forgot. 

Have a good time travel and the best wishes to Google!

2005: Hi5 • Crazy frog • Web messenger • Wikipedia • Webmessenger • Msn web messenger • Stick cricket • Yahoo music • Tsunami • Msn 7.0

2006: Bebo • Myspace • Weirdmaker • My space • http://www.myspace.com • Wiki • Radio blog • Wikipedia • euro millions

2007: Facebook • Tesco direct • Grayvee • Youtube • Club penguin • Plenty of fish • Natwest online banking • Ebuddy • Pistonheads • Youtube.com

2008: Facebook login • Premier inn • Bebo sign in • Hotmail sign in • Agames • Hannah montana games • Newlook • Mila kunis

2009: Argos.co.uk • Facebook login • 4shared • 4od • http://www.facebook.co.uk • Compare the market • Skype download • Justin tv • o2.co.uk • Youtube.com • ebay motors • Autotrader uk • hsbc internet banking • orange.co.uk • Katie Price

2010: Santander • Facebook en español • fb • Hotmail sign in • Youtube music • 40d • Msn sign in • Calendar 2010 • Traffic Scotland • Youtube videos • Mail online • Google translate

2011: Natwest online • Minecraft • Gumtree london • Angry birds • Halifax online banking • Happy wheels • psn • Euromillions • Capital fm • tumblr • Lloyds • Just eat

2012: Bars • tripadvisor • Who unfollowed me • Olympics • Train line • Kizi • Watch series • Lloyds internet banking • Olympic tickets • Sky go • pof • Movie2k • ipad 3 • Gary Barlow

2013: Outlook • yify • futhead • ee • ask.fm • Instagram • Miley Cyrus • Ian Watkins • Arsenal transfer news • Breaking Bad

2014: bt mail • Michael Schumacher • btmail • iphone 6 • Lloyds bank • American Horror Story • Liverpool transfer news • Lloyds internet banking • Lotto result • Google drive • Buzzfeed • Office 365 • Airbnb

2015: Couchtuner • This is England • Amber Rose • mbna login • Perrie Edwards • Twinkl • Euro exchange rate • Santa tracker • Show my homework • aa route finder • Stephen Hawking • showbox • Marksandspencer

2016: Hotmail login • jet2holidays • iphone 7 • bank holidays 2016 • Love Island • deliveroo • ftse 100 • rightmove uk • pound to euro • the sun • spotlight • Conor Mcgregor • bet365 mobile • kahoot • man utd news • Jamie Vardy

2017: Facebook log in • bank holidays 2017 • election • mathswatch • futbin • manchester • Love Island • solitaire • brexit news • Ariana Grande • aa route

2018: Facebook log in • studio catalogue • josh brolin • jet2 holidays • Post Malone • England football • purple bricks • fa cup final • lebron james • Dua Lipa • Donald Glover • google search • Peaky Blinders • flashscores • weather • Cher • Margot Robbie • Kate Middleton • metoffice • Russia