All posts by Jana

Administrative Assistant to the Chief

“I’ll, be loving you, eternally….” ~ Jana

November 12, 2015 Jana 52 Comments

When I got back from my walk tonight, there was a nice surprise waiting for me in my mailbox. The guys were waiting for me, ever so patiently! They were a little cramped in that small box and suffocating in that envelope. I couldn’t wait to get up to my apartment and let them out! I gave a little shout, as not to alarm my neighbors and quickly did a little dance around my living room, holding it closely, giving it little kisses all over, as if they were really here! Alas, they are not, but I can hold them close to my heart now, any time I want…can you?

There they were, just looking at me, and only me. Gianluca with that serious look, Piero with his half grin, and Ignazio with his beautiful smile and eyes half closed…I have them, in the palm of my hand! I could hear the rustling, the cajoling…”hey, open us up! We want to tell you our story! Hey! Ow! Igna! Piero! Guys… says Gianlu!” Yes, guys, soon – I have a few things to do first….”

Even though the book is in Italian, the words you can understand, leap from the page as if the guys were right there. As you read their passages, you can hear their voices telling you their story and imagine the expressions on their faces of happiness and pride, as well as fear and sorrow. “Finally” it says on the back cover, they can finally tell the truth, their story. It’s the first official book of Il Volo – first you think? I can hardly wait for the second one! What chapters lie in their future; what mysteries lie ahead? For we do not know their destiny – they do not know their destiny. One thing we know for certain though, is that they are certainly destined to do great things, whatever they may be!

I will not tease you with cliffhangers from the book, because I encourage you to get your own copy. You can translate it the hard way, by typing it in Google Translate, paragraph by paragraph, as I was doing… or you can get the book and use the translate app on your smart phone (that can be easily downloaded) and scroll across the words. It’s like when you were a kid and you had the magic mirror decoder to decode the secret messages. The words magically appear in English, right before your eyes! It takes a little adjusting and practice, but it is worth it.

For those of you that say you will wait for the English version? Well, I applaud your virtuousness! I am sad to say, I admit I am part of the “gotta have it now” generation. For who knows what tomorrow will bring?? I ordered it about a week or so ago and was surprised to get it this week, as I wasn’t expecting it til next week. So a very nice surprise! When you use the app, the words just jump from the page and it’s like getting a hug from each of the guys as they tell their stories….I must say I love the way the book is laid out. It is very simple and straightforward. Whoever did this, Rizzoli? Did a marvelous job! Yes, we have read countless interviews of them and translations of those interviews, but this book is more than just a few sentences, it is paragraphs of their most intimate thoughts and memories that they are sharing with us. So, don’t wait… go to amazon.it and get your copy today!

However, I am once again, in a dilemma….like the empty picture frame around my heart that was miraculously filled this past July, the inside cover of my book is blank and once again, awaiting their signatures! Will this dream come true, as my other one did? Can I sneak my copy of the book into the meet and greet in Detroit? In Vegas? Will they be pleased that I have an Italian copy? One may never know, as I await to begin my own chapter of my “avventura straordinaria!” Only a little over 100 days til they land at the Fox in Detroit – let the countdown begin!

~Jana

Editorials, Gianluca, Ignazio, Il Volo, Piero, Site News

What will you do/did you do with your extra hour this weekend?

November 1, 2015 Jana 35 Comments

It is once again time for Daylight Savings Time to end and we get that extra hour back we gave up in the spring! How we hate losing an hour back in March, but we love getting it back even more in November! Italy actually already changed back on Sunday, October 25! Since we have this once a year opportunity, how will YOU spend it?

General news

If you are desperate for their new book….

October 30, 2015 Jana 27 Comments

Ciao a tutti!!

Ok, if you have a Kindle and/or a Smart phone with the Amazon Kindle app; here is what you can do….just fyi, if you dare:

After I ordered it from Amazon.com (US), I found it was $4.00 cheaper on Amazon.it – strange, I know? Yes, the site is all in Italian, but I’m sure you can figure it out and if you have a regular Amazon account, it’s your same ID/Password!

Link to Il Volo new book on amazon.it Hope it works. For me it comes up 7.99 euros, which is just about $8.80 or so. When you place your order, it should be delivered automatically. If, for some reason, it doesn’t work, you can always order from regular US Amazon site.

When you do get it, open it up. I will admit to not being a very techy person, so if I can figure this out, you can too! That being said, here is how you can translate it paragraph by paragraph. First, I just put my finger on a word, not really knowing what I was hoping for, but a box popped up to download the Italian dictionary – so, I did that. Ok, now what? Pick a word and hold it down with your finger. It will “highlight.” Then, if you are lucky, a few things will “scroll” like a banner at the bottom, or top. Scroll across and you will come to something that says “translate.” You will see your word defined in English!

Yes, there is a way to do more than one word. It does take some practice though – just do a few words at a time and work up to one paragraph. I would not do more than one paragraph at a time, but you can try. Yes, this will take you a while, but it will be worth it!

To do more than one word, you will see the little “margin blockers?” that enclose the word you have chosen, or held down with your finger. If you take your finger and gently “move” the one on the right, you will see more than one word or sentence get highlighted. You can also drag your finger down to do the whole paragraph. Also on mine, in the translation box, you may see a little “speaker” symbol. If you click on that, it will TALK to you!!

If none of this works for you, you may need to find someone from the younger generation to show you. I’m sure they will be happy to do it! 🙂

Here are just a few of the first sentences of the intro, that I grabbed from the Amazon site, translated from Google Translate….

“Piero was sure to become a music teacher, Ignazio sang with passion but certainly not thought of success, Gianluca sang only for himself, because it made him feel good. In short, the music was in everyone’s future but none of them could have imagined that 25 April 2009, the fate would knock on the door and Il Volo was “born,” which in a few years has achieved international fame and the first places in the standings and in Italy in the world.”

I will tell you this – when I did the whole paragraph, then looked down into the little box with the translation, my heart literally skipped a little beat and it felt like I was opening this little treasure chest and they were speaking right to me as the words jumped off the page to my heart…

(my phone is a Samsung Galaxy S5 – not sure if things might be different for different models of phones…might also be easier for those of you with a tablet, since they are much bigger than a smart phone!)

Buona fortuna!

Ciao!

Jana

Il Volo, Our Stories

Tanti Auguri, Ignazio!

October 16, 2015 Jana 51 Comments

Dear Ignazio –

We have waited and waited for 21 years to celebrate this special day, even though we’ve only known you for a little over six of those years, it seems like we’ve known you forever. We didn’t know what a special day it was, back in 1994 on October 4^th, when this beautiful boy came into the world, how he would transform our very being into the most joyous reason for living that there could possibly be!?

To paraphrase your new song “The Best Day of My Life…,” we did not know that it was the best day of our lives when you were born. But after seeing you; how our lives have changed. We see the world from your eyes now, and want to share it with you.

So, while you were off in Spain, enjoying your birthday paella, we celebrated your special day, here in Detroit, with a special birthday menu! To start off we honored the city of your birth, Bologna, with special Bologna appetizers, brought by dear Virginia, hand-rolled herself, consisting of bologna, cheese, cream cheese, and olives! The next course was a beautiful Caprese salad, garnished with garden fresh basil from Sharon, with tomatoes and mozzarella brought by Magdalena. The main course, was, of course, Chicken Scallopine Marsala, ala Ignazio (“just a little bit of cinnamon” – I added about two shakes!) and with a special added surprise ingredient by Jana! The Marsala with baby portabellas, was served with casarecce (homemade in Italian) pasta – Sicily inspired, by Barilla, along with fresh broccoli and carrots from Emilia. To wash everything down, we had plenty of wine and special Villa Pozzi Moscato from Donna, right from Sicily! For dessert, we had a very special chocolate cake with one of your favorite pictures of you on it, brought by Chris. We couldn’t forget the gelato! We had salted caramel, raspberry, and chocolate mint; from Sharon and Donna. Everything was delicious – if I don’t say so myself! Lol! And was enjoyed by all!

Although the weather was typical for a fall weekend in Michigan, with a gray, cool, and drizzly day, the atmosphere inside was filled with warmth, laughter, friends, fun, and food!

While waiting for dinner we listened to the concert from Verona, took some pictures, and of course, sang Happy Birthday to our dearest Ignazio!

Tanti Auguri, Ignazio – hope this link works, having tech difficulties with converting video…

After dinner, we enjoyed dessert and listened and watched the Pompeii video, which I finally got after 3 months – ok, long story, but it was definitely worth the wait!

My favorite one-liner of the evening, was “Jana, you have to hit play…” Ok, our special inside joke, but, seriously, we all burst out laughing!

I actually did have some red, green, and white star balloons brought by Chris, that I had tied outside to a bush so the newcomers could find the place. However, since it was rainy out, I did not take a picture and ended up leaving them overnight outside. I went out for several hours the next day and when I came back, they were still tied to the bush and I was going to take them down. However, by the time I pulled into the parking lot and got out of my car, a few teenagers had already grabbed them, were sitting on the curb across the street, and you could hear the “helium” voices!!! At first I was upset, but then thought about it… it’s just what Ignazio would have done! In fact, we have video of him doing just that last year! Lol!

Ignazio, many people tell you how special you are. All of you guys are special in your own ways… But, Ignazio, even with your jetlagged eyes and pouty lips; your eyes still twinkle, your lips still smile, and your cheeks cannot hide the dimples beneath them. Your face radiates joy each time you open your mouth to sing. With each tender note, you open your soul for all of us to see; you touch our hearts like raindrops falling to the parched earth.

“Per Te Ci Sarò”

“Vi proteggerà Noi saremo lì per voi Non lasciate che il mondo ti cambia Lotteremo per voi ci Noi saremo lì per voi”

Per sempre!

Birthday Blessings,

Jana

Our Stories

Tanti Auguri, Piero! (somewhat belated….)

July 25, 2015 Jana 6 Comments

It was June 24, 2015, and everything was a buzz of excitement as we waited in anticipation to celebrate Piero’s birthday in Detroit! Most of the same group that celebrated Gianluca’s back in February, was once again, joined in Il Volo love, to celebrate the “real” opera singer of the group!

balloons

The balloons were in place outside to make sure no one missed where the party was. Red, green, and silver star balloons were waving in the wind to announce his special day. Along with a happy birthday one, of course!

Sharon and her lovely house were the hosts of this event. Everyone started arriving around 6p. Our theme was “make your own pizza” and we had salad from Buddy’s and angel hair pasta to go with it with a very creative tomato sauce! And, how could we forget all the wine! Oh, did I mention cake???

About 6:30p, we decided we better quickly make our “tanti auguri” video for Piero. So, we all gathered around Emilia’s phone and we sang “Tanti Auguri” to Piero and even added some harmony in at the end! Emilia sent it off into Ivolosphereland and it was quickly picked up on a few Facebook pages.

After some more chatting, it was time to prepare the toppings for the pizzas! I put on the Italian apron that Sharon had won at the Gianluca party, and I went to work chopping and prepping the toppings. We fired up the grill – yes, we had pizza cooked on the grill! They actually turned out wonderful and we all enjoyed our individual pizzas, angel hair pasta, salad, and wine. We ate outside in Sharon’s lovely backyard, surrounded by beautiful trees, a few Koi ponds, and a lovely breeze. It was a very beautiful evening for Piero’s birthday.

group oval

salad

Of course, earlier in Italy, he was having his own fun at their last concert in Roma, where they gave him a cake, and flowers, and he had his fun with Ignazio!

Later, it was time to cut the cake and it was delicious. We also had some M&Ms custom made with Piero’s picture on them, along with Tanti Auguri, his birthdate, and stars. The M&Ms were in red, white, and green. We also had lots of other Italian themed decorations to go along with the other festivities of the evening.

mms packages

We were stuffed full of pizza, pasta, wine, and cake, but we finished off the evening watching one of our favorite videos of them – “Il Volo Takes Flight – from the Detroit Opera House!” We never tire of their first performance taped live from Detroit!

By then it was nearing 11p and the party started to break up. Emilia had a really long drive home and a few of us had to go to work the next day. We helped Sharon clean up and Emilia, Ginny, and Donna had gone home. Chris, Sharon, and I were just about to leave when we got a Facebook instant message from Emilia! She was very excited and said that she thinks Piero saw our video on Facebook and gave it a “like!” Well, that just made the perfect ending to a perfect evening for us! All of our hard work and efforts did not go unnoticed by our guest of honor for the evening. Even though he was thousands of miles away, he was as close as our fingertips!

Chris and I finally left about 12:30am! We were exhausted, but sated, and are looking forward to Ignazio’s celebration in October!

group square

Part II

Since I did not write this story as soon as I had wanted, and as often happens, procrastination pays off, I have some personal accounts from Piero that I can share here to go with his birthday celebration!

As everyone now knows, the guys were here on July 6 at PBS and all of us at the party were fortunate to have also been at the PBS evening with them. A few of the girls, Donna and Sharon, from the party, were also lucky enough to meet them at the airport when they finally arrived. They brought some of the decorations from the party, and they also told Piero about the M&Ms that were made special for his party. He was very excited about seeing the M&Ms and lucky for him, we had each saved one package of them! They told him about the cake and showed him the pictures of our evening. I do have a direct quote from Piero…. he asked, “Who ate the part of the cake with my glasses?” Sorry, I don’t have a answer though – I don’t remember! Lol!

cake

So, at the meet and greet, Donna, Sharon, and I all brought him our saved package of the M&Ms with his picture, etc. on it. I later found out that he was very excited to receive each package and even though when I gave him my package, and it was the 3^rd one he had gotten, he was still very happy, as he showed it to Gianluca! I wonder if they ate them and if he shared? I guess we will never know the answer to that one…. mms small

Il Volo Flight Crew ~Share The Love