Wanderer

Giro d’Italia  Tour of Italy
(Not the cycling race)
 
 In this space we present some cities inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List
 
 
ALBEROBELLO

 
Alberobello is a small town and comune of the Metropolitan City of Bari (Apulia), famous for its unique trulli buildings.
The trulli of Alberobello have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996.
 

 
Trulli were generally constructed as temporary field shelters and storehouses or as permanent dwellings by small proprietors or agricultural labourers.
Trullo is a house whose internal space is covered by a dry stone corbelled or keystone vault.
The trullo is essentially a rural building type, with its thick walls and its inability to form multi-storey structures, it is an inefficient use of ground space and consequently ill-suited for high density settlement.
Being constructed of small stones, however, it has a flexibility and adaptability of form making the design most helpful in tight urban situations.
 
 
Today, the trulli are popular for tourists and are often bought and restored for general use. Anyone wishing to restore a trullo, however, needs to conform with many regulations, as trulli are protected under the UNESCO world heritage law.
 
 

Giro d’Italia  Tour of Italy
(Not the cycling race)
 
 In this space we present some cities inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List
 
 
MATERA

 
Matera, a city in Basilicata known worldwide for its historic “Sassi”,  two districts (Sasso Caveoso and Sasso Barisano), well-known for their ancient cave dwellings inhabited since the Paleolithic period.
Listed among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1993, along with the park of the Rupestrian Churches.
 
The term "sasso" derives from Latin saxum, meaning rock or great stone.
The "Sassi" of Matera are an urban settlement deriving from the various forms of civilization that have occurred over time. The streets in some parts of the Sassi often run on top of other houses. The ancient town grew up on one slope of the ravine created by the Gravina river.
In the 1950s, the government of Italy forcefully relocated most of the population of the Sassi to areas of the developing modern city. Beset by extreme poverty and riddled with malaria, the unhealthy living conditions were considered inhuman, however, people continued to live in the Sassi. Until the late 1980s this was considered an area of poverty, since many of these houses were uninhabitable.
The recovery action that began in the mid-1980s has a historical value however also has become more tourism-oriented, and it has promoted the regeneration of the Sassi with the aid of many stake-holders.
 
 
                            

 
 
The rock churches in the territory of Matera and along the ravines of the Murgia Materana park there are around 150 small churches carved into the rock, founded mainly in the Early Middle Ages, they are buildings carved into the rock. Initially born as religious structures, over time they have undergone various transformations of use, becoming homes or shelters for animals. They are an important testimony to the presence of communities of Benedictine, Lombard and Byzantine monks.
 
 
 

TEAM CHALLENGE
 
 
 
Team VOLLY Rank
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Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 Volly was the mascotte of Men's Volleyball World Championship 2010

A blue and white swallow with the number 10, a volleyball in his hand and red knee pads.

Volly also returned for the men's world championship co-hosted by Italy/Bulgary 2018
 
 
 
Team CORTY Rank
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Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 Corty, the red squirrel, was the mascot of the Cortina 2021 Alpine Skiing World Championships

Corty is a character who draws inspiration from the tradition and history of Cortina d'Ampezzo, the small rodent is in fact one of the animals that inhabit the woods of the Dolomites.


 
 
Team PINOCCHIO Rank
#
 
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 Italia '80 was the first UEFA (European) tournament to present a mascot, while they were already used for the World Cup and Olympics.

The puppet created by Carlo Collodi, Pinocchio, was chosen and was represented with a balloon under his arm, a tricolor nose and a sailor's cap on his head with the writing Europa 80.

The mascot was not initially given an official name because it was believed that the rights to Pinocchio belonged to Disney. When the Collodi Foundation confirmed that the copyright on the book had expired 50 years ago, the organizing committee renamed the official mascot.


 
 
 
Team  DIVA09 Rank
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Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 Was the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome.

Frogs symbolize vitality and energy, and also have the ability to adapt to different environments, especially aquatic ones.
It is always on the move, just like any athlete.


 
 
Team  BUMSI Rank
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Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bumsi was the mascotte of Biathlon World Championships 2020  Rasen-Antholz (Rasun-Anterselva).

"Bum" has its own meaning, it reproduces with a language the two actions of the biathlon: “bum” (shooting shots); “si” is the phonetic of sci (Italian for SKI) symbolizing cross-country skis.


 
Team  NEVE & GLIZ Rank
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Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 The two mascotte of Winter Olympic 2016

They both represent the characteristics of the Winter Games, including "Snow and Ice". Neve ("Snow" in Italian) is a humanized female snowball that wears red and represents "softness, friendship and elegance." Gliz (a shortened form of Ghiaccio, "Ice" in Italian) is a humanized male ice cube who wears blue and represents "enthusiasm and joy."
 
 
Team CIAO Rank
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Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ciao is the mascot adopted for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. It represents the stylized figure of a footballer, made up of cubes colored with the national colours, who had a football instead of a head.

The mascot immediately divided the public and critics, but unexpectedly it had a great success, it was reproduced in different forms, many gadgets, posters and puppets representing it, a resounding commercial success.

THE LOGO
 

 
The Radio is symbol of TAISC 2024

 
This year marks the centenary of the beginning of radio broadcasts in Italy (October 6th, 1924)


In Italy, which on a technological level was the homeland of radio, use of radio transmissions was permitted only for military purposes,

and a 1910 law prohibited its use by civilians.
Only in 1924, a  late compared to the rest of the world, began the commercial broadcasts.


For the logo the radio chosen is Radio Cubo ts522, this model is designed in 1962 by architects Marco Zanuso and Richard Sapper and marketed since 1964 by Brionvega, an Italian company (active from 1945 to 1994) specialized in the consumer electronics sectors.

Examples of this radio are permanently exhibited at the MOMA in New York and at the modern art museums of La Jolla, Osaka and Sao Paulo.
 


Key dates of italian radio history

In August 1924 the Italian Radio Union (URI) was born, it held the government concession to broadcast and there was only one radio station.
January 1928 - URI becomes EIAR (Italian Auditing Body). Italian radio becomes a means of mass communication
December 13th, 1931 the first radio commentary of the football match was broadcast (Italy vs Hungary)
After the end of the war in 1944, Rai (Radio Audizioni Italiane) was born and the radio entered the homes of the majority of Italians.
In 1950 the reform of the radio system established the creation of three networks
In 1951 the first edition of the Sanremo Festival was broadcast live
In 1976 did the RAI monopoly lapse thanks to a ruling by the Constitutional Court and the broadcasters already active in Italy (around 400), so-called "pirate radio" will then become "free radio"
In the 1980s, private national radio stations began to emerge, many of which are still active today

 
 
Italian committee: Henry_Leon @Pablita @Gianlu33 @SteveParker
 
Big thanks at @vinipereira the author of the logo
 
 
Eugenio Finardi - La Radio
(1976-written by: Lucio Fabbri, Eugenio Finardi)
 

 
 
 

Totallympics Annual International Song Contest 2024
Gran Final
 
The venue: Forum (Assago-Milano)
 

 
Forum di Milano is an indoor sports arena that is located in Assago, a small town 3 km outside Milan.
Was completed in 1990, has covered area of more than 40,000 square metres, with a central arena that can host up to 15,800 spectators, and is primarily used for basketball, tennis, live concerts and entertainment.

 
The arena is the home ground of basketball team EA7 Emporio Armani Milan.



The Area Multisport includes an Ice-skating rink of 1800 square metres, a covered 25 metre swimming pool, the Beach Forum an open-air with  a 50 metres swimming pool; squash, padel and five-a-side pitches, bowling,  gyms and a dance floor.
 

 
Forum is served by the Green line of the Metro M2 (underground), is only seven stops away from the centre of Milan (M2 Assago Milanofiori – Forum). The structure is easily accessible also by cars thanks to its location, close to the motorway junction (A7 - Milano-Genova) and the western ring road (A50).


The Forum hosted many basketball’s Italian Cup finals and many international sport competition:

1988 Davis cup Final, Italy-Sweden
1994 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships
2003 IIHF Continental Cup Superfinal of ice hockey
2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships
2014 EuroLeague Final Four
2014 FIVB Women's World Championship (Third round, Fnals)
2014 FIVB Men's World Championship (Second round, one Pool)
2018 World Figure Skating Championships
Some group phase matches of FIBA EuroBasket 2022

 
Forum Ice-Skating will be the figure skating and short track venue during the 2026 Winter Olympics.


 
 
 

Voted!  All in all, I still think this edition is better than usual. 

I love my top 5, and there are 10 other songs I liked, however not standout songs. Yeah, so far this edition seems to be one of the better ones when it comes to Annual editions. The lack of unique songs is typical for modern music so there shouldn't be some complaints  

Voted!  All in all, I still think this edition is better than usual. 

I love my top 5, and there are 10 other songs I liked, however not standout songs. Yeah, so far this edition seems to be one of the better ones when it comes to Annual editions. The lack of unique songs is typical for modern music so there shouldn't be some complaints  

The man was looking for a logical explanation, not for poetry in motion

Wow, really huge progress for France in last couple of years, although some teams like Serbia seem to be fading away. Montenegro didn't seem to have noticeable results either.

Wow, really huge progress for France in last couple of years, although some teams like Serbia seem to be fading away. Montenegro didn't seem to have noticeable results either.

Wow, really huge progress for France in last couple of years, although some teams like Serbia seem to be fading away. Montenegro didn't seem to have noticeable results either.

Wow, is this the first ever World Championship semifinal for France?

Also, for reference here are my favorite songs so far, mostly the songs with 12 points and some runner-ups. Maybe after 9 editions you can guess where my highest points will go.  (And yes, none of these songs won TISC. Only one of them was Top3.)
 
 Dulce Pontes - Canção do Mar
 Aldous Harding - Zoo Eyes
 Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova - Falling Slowly
 The Idan Raichel Project - Bo'ee
 Ashe & FINNEAS - Till Forever Falls Apart
 Evgenya Redko - Laikinai
 The Rumour Said Fire - The Balcony
 Kwiat Jabłoni ft. Julia Pietrucha - "Drogi proste"
 The Motans - În Golul Tău
 Asaf Avidan - Reckoning Song
 Jerry Heil, alyona alyona, Ela. - #KUPALA
 Toto Cutugno - L'italiano
 Μαρίνα Σάττι - ΜΑΝΤΙΣΣΑ

Since this is my 10th edition participating in this contest I tought I should look up what my current "all-time" ranking is since I joined in 2019. 
 
Fun fact: I have given 12 points to 9 different nations in the 9 editions I participated. Nobody repeated so far on the top. So after 9 editions, these are my Top10 nations...
 
1st  47 points - 1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze
2nd  39 points - 1 gold
3rd  37 points
4th  36 points - 1 silver, 1 bronze
5th  33 points - 1 gold, 1 silver
6th  32 points - 1 gold
7th  32 points
8th  31 points - 1 gold, 1 silver
9th  30 points - 1 gold, 1 bronze
10th  30 points - 2 silver
 
And now let's see which nations gave the most points to Hungary since I joined...
 
1st  51 points - 1 silver, 1 bronze
2nd  49 points - 1 gold
3rd  48 points - 2 gold, 1 bronze
4th  45 points - 1 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze
5th  38 points - 1 silver, 1 bronze
6th  37 points - 2 silver
7th  35 points - 2 silver
8th  33 points - 1 gold, 1 silver
9th  33 points - 1 bronze
10th  32 points - 2 silver, 1 bronze

New Zealand
 
 
Stan Walker - I am
 

 
We are the color
Found in spring
You are the wind
Breathe into me
You inherit me
I inherit you
I am the language
You speak to me

As far as the eye can see
Everything has changed
Tell me how can we stand by
I don't wanna be the same

He toiora ahau nōu
Te toi nō Kurawaka
Taku rongomaiwhiti e

Tākiri ko te haeata
Anga atu ki te rā
Whiti, whiti ki te ora e

We are the waters
The rivers and streams
Flow through the armor
Of a dying breed
I am with you & you are with me
Baptized in fire
We're lions in the ring

As far as the eye can see
Everything has changed
Tell me how can we stand by
I don't wanna be the same

He toiora ahau nōu
Te toi nō Kurawaka
Taku rongomaiwhiti e

Tākiri ko te haeata
Anga atu ki te rā
Whiti, whiti ki te ora e

Hou mai rā
Tō rongo e
Hou mai rā
Tō karere
Mau tonu e

Hou mai rā
Tō rongo e
Hou mai rā
Tō karere
Mau tonu e

Hou mai rā
Tō rongo e
Hou mai rā
Tō karere
Mau tonu e

Tūturu whakamaua kia tina
TINA
Haumi e
Hui e
Tāiki e

Yup
When Schiavone won, I was 10 yo

Too young for remember Pennetta and Schiavone victories?
 

i really feel sorry for him , he's always this guy who doesn't get any applause from fans everywhere and he loses 2 AO finals in the same way it's very cruel , i got this mixed feelings of being happy to Sinner and feeling really sorry for Meddy 

One slam wonder  (I’m pissed that Meddy lost another Australian Open final after being two sets up)

Meanwhile, unbelievable to see Meddy losing another AO final after being 2-0 up  

Great to see Sabalenka defending the title and keeping some consistency in WTA. Hopefully she doesn't follow Azarenka's path and adds few more titles

Wow Sinner!!!  

Yes, Novak was well beyond his level in the first two sets; however, Sinner played so good, served amazingly well and no any break chance for Novak says it all. Well played. I had predicted Sinner winning over Djokovic in the semis. Whether it is indeed a final decline from Novak or not, this year is going to be bumpy and with more losses than usual. I also highly doubt he'll win another slam too, cause young guy are becoming more consistent and with Alcaraz, Sinner, Medvedev, Zverev and occasionally Rune, Tsitsipas, why not Rublev too, maybe 11th time is a charm!, with potential new names, it is hard to get easy draw.
 
Hopefully Sinner wins the title, it has been amazing last couple of months for him
 
Meanwhile, very exciting first set between Meddy and Zverev