Umbria is for Lovers and One San Valentino was Born There!

Salve Tutti,

I hope all you lovers out there have had a wonderful day expressing your love for one another. But, have you performed any miracles for your beloved today?  Why do I ask?, you say.

Well, did you know that San Valentino was a native of Umbria?
And, did you know that  legend has it...
The Early Medieval acta of either Saint Valentine (there was more that one and two most famous ones that) were expounded briefly in Legenda Aurea.[16] According to that version, St Valentine was persecuted as a Christian and interrogated by Roman Emperor Claudius II in person. Claudius was impressed by Valentine and had a discussion with him, attempting to get him to convert to Roman paganism in order to save his life. Valentine refused and tried to convert Claudius to Christianity instead. Because of this, he was executed. Before his execution, he is reported to have performed a miracle by healing the blind daughter of his jailer.




Since Legenda Aurea still provided no connections whatsoever with sentimental love, appropriate lore has been embroidered in modern times to portray Valentine as a priest who refused an unattested law attributed to Roman Emperor Claudius II, allegedly ordering that young men remain single. The Emperor supposedly did this to grow his army, believing that married men did not make for good soldiers. The priest Valentine, however, secretly performed marriage ceremonies for young men. When Claudius found out about this, he had Valentine arrested and thrown in jail.


There is an additional modern embellishment to The Golden Legend, provided by American Greetings to History.com, and widely repeated despite having no historical basis whatsoever. On the evening before Valentine was to be executed, he would have written the first "valentine" card himself, addressed to a young girl variously identified as his beloved,[17] as the jailer's daughter whom he had befriended and healed,[18] or both. It was a note that read "From your Valentine."[17]( For full article see reference below.)

In addition, did you know that Il Convento Mincione is a very romantic place to spend Valentine's Day and a fecund place as well!


Oh, I love that word 'fecund' (Don't you?), especially the way the Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo savor it in the film "The Kids are Alright." This is a great movie and I think Annette Bening will win the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance. They use actress (f.) for award shows; actor (m.) when they want to be politically correct.


I think Natalie Portman, who won the Golden Globe in that category,  gave a great performance in "Black Swan" and she worked really hard to get herself into shape for the role. I should be rooting for her blindly, since she and Roney went to the same dance school, Eglevsky School of Ballet on Long Island and danced together in the Nutcracker for many years. But, there is something to say for age and experience and Annette has both.


Talking about age and experience, do you remember or did you know that The Who had a hit called, "The Kids are Alright"? Listen to the lyrics and see if they relate to the movie. Listen to the melody and tell me if you don't think they were stealing from the Beatles!!!

See you at the Oscars?

Ciao for Now,


Joan



References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine's_Day