Oct 11.2009 - Milan, Italy

DKP : After 18 hrs of traveling, we definitely needed a pick me up and our friends from the Jingles Factory, Loris and Wally (who we renamed "Marco" due to the obvious fact that WALLY is NOT an Italian name), were just the guys to help us out.

They promptly welcomed us with a pint of Italian Bier and a plate of home made Pasta at PLACES (a British-style neighborhood pub). PLACES is my kind of eatery, where the owner sits down with you to ask you what you feel like and recommends the best dish for you, orders it up and remains to watch the match between Ireland and Italy while we revived ourselves. This is all I ask of a local pub... but it's so rare to find.

So here we are... Us and our proscuitto thin use of Italian, Loris and his ample use of broken English and "Marco" who speaks solo Italiano... eating and drinking and laughing... what language barrier??? Good food and drink, a smiling face and a warm heart say all that needs to be said I think.

We sleep well at the massive and MOMA-styled Cosmo Hotel and are up for espresso with Loris for a brisk walk to his Jingles Factory Studios the next morning. We follow Loris' wiley frame as he quickly slips behind some seemingly random wall into a piazza style group of apartments and working studios. His is cozy digs are filled with memorabilia and found items that keep us amused and amazed. Check out the shots on FB to see what I mean.

Jingles Factory is known around the world for producing some of the most soul-filled, artful jingles for FM as well as Internet Radio. Loris and his incredible stable of talented singers and players are responsible for ALL of the imaging packages on SmoothJazz.com, SmoothLounge.com and GoGirl.net.

In the middle of any random busy day, we recieve a call from Milano and there is Loris playing for us, over the phone, a new audio logo or jingle for one of our stations. We do radio like Jingles Factory does radio imaging... with the most feeling and quailty that an artist can wring out of their heart - we love and highly recommend the Jingles Factory to any of our radio friends out there.

On a more personal note, we also got to meet the overjoyed Gizmo and Maggie with tails wagging, the sweetest pit bulls you'll ever want to meet and at the same time, not be surprised by ;-).

Finally, we met the special little guy that has been Loris' "other" son for the past 16 years - Ugo (a beautiful black Dauchsun). Ugi was very sick and although it was very sad to see the little guy at the end of his life like this, it was heart warming to see Maggie sleep next to him in his tiny bed and to watch his Poppa take the best care of him while he hung in there with us... listening and watching Loris work his magic on the mixing board as he had done all the years before.

I can't tell you how fortunate I feel to have been a part of this special time between them in such and intimate setting.

______>>________

SS : Milano… we came to you exhausted in body but bursting in spirit. As we await our good friend Loris from Jingles Factory to pick us up at the airport we can’t help but notice that all Italians smoke… okay, not all, but let’s say 9 out of 10 of them do. They also eat a lot of carbs and drink a lot of wine yet they all look like fashion runway models and movie stars.

God I love Italy… any place that hands you bread and cheese in a napkin for breakfast, lunch and dinner is my kind of place. There’s the Panini sandwich, the thin, wood-oven pizza, fluffy and pasta, baguettes, cured meat, fresh pressed olive oil, the most flavorful Balsamic vinegar and sparkling little bottles of lemon soda.

Jingles Factory’s Loris Meroni picked us up with his friend Wally, whom we promptly renamed “Marco”… I’m sorry, we’re on an authentic Italian holiday and all of the cast members will be name-appropriate. “Marco” doesn’t speak English. Exactly how I enjoy men… a little less chat and more baggage handling please. Thank you Marco!

The four of us have been invited to see Milan’s Ronnie Jones perform a benefit event for a brand new Tennis Academy just outside of Milan. It was a lovely event with special guest, Italy’s famous tennis player, Panetta. Ronnie performed passionately with his full band and sang his heart out. It was fantastic finally seeing this soulful singer live. Ronnie is an American who has made his home in Italy for the past many years. You can hear his music on SmoothJazz.com and visit his website at RonnieJones.it!

The night ended with the best pizza ever featuring four Italian cheeses and topped with Arugula. I’m just saying… Love + Pasta… does it get any better?: