Happy Day Of The Dead.....

Here's a picture I took of a marble inlay skull and crossbones in the floor of the almost hallucinogenic 17th century Baroque Chiesa del Gesu off of the Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Rome. The church contains some of the most incredible marble craftsmanship I have ever seen. I tried to count the varteties of marble used in the interior and gave up at 22.  As in all latin countries, the real feast is November 1st. Halloween is a Northern thing. Here in France, it is traditionally the biggest family holiday of the year.  Tomorrow, everything is closed except for the cemeteries and everyone is there decorating the family crypts with chrysanthemums.  In Italy, the last night I was in Perugia, after a fantastic meal with tagliatelle and white truffles, we had gelato and little cookies called Favi di Morti...literally, beans of the dead. They were being sold in all of the old style bakeries. I always liked Halloween, though. So, if you want to celebrate it me, here's an opportunity to see a very good version of Frank Zappa's Epic 1972 film, 200 Motels...worth it for the opening sequence alone, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Theodore Bikel, Ringo Starr as Larry The Flying Dwarf who is dressed up as Frank Zappa and forced to insert an Aladins Lamp into the reproductive orifice of a female harpist dressed as a nun played by Keith Moon. Here, just press the play button......

But then again, don't call this phone number if you know what's good for you:

Happy Halloween and an even happier Day Of The Dead!