Today we celebrate

April 25, 2025

Today Italy celebrates 80 years since the Nazi occupation and their fellows, the local fascists, were kicked out of Milan and Turin, the last two major cities still being held in their blood-soaked grip. The civil war would carry on for another week, but today’s the official holiday. Our local government (a far-right one, in case you missed this detail) invited the country to celebrate “with sobriety” and many cities cancelled the decennial tradition of public gatherings and commemorative parades, which is troubling to say the least. So here’s my invitation to celebrate with enthusiasm. Freedom doesn’t come cheap. Freedom doesn’t come for free.

In the header, a detail of a painting by Renato Guttuso, our local Picasso, who painted against fascism and joined the resistance in 1940.

books and literature

SciFi Friday — In the Year 2889 by Jules Verne (1889)

[Redactor’s note: In the Year 2889 was first published in the Forum, February, 1889; p. 662. It was published in France the next year. Although published under the name of Jules Verne, it is now believed to be chiefly if not entirely the work of

March 6, 2026 1:00 am

comics and illustration

What the fuck did I just watch?

Yoshitaka Amano‘s Angel’s Egg, it’s the simple answer: a 1985 animated movie directed by Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell). Following Amano’s exhibition here in Italy and the movie’s anniversary, it had been re-released in theatres but I had missed, I was curious, so I

March 5, 2026 9:00 am

architecture, engineering and construction

The SSR of Beautiful Models: Stewardship, Structure and Responsibility

“Advanced BIM”: what does that even mean? “Advanced BIM” is one of those expressions that sound authoritative and yet, when you ask what it actually describes, the answers become very vague very quickly. The statement doesn’t mean anything, and it drives me crazy equally quickly.

March 4, 2026 9:00 am