Monkeyrockworld

A little tribute collection of train rides, overnight and not, from my Indian trip in April 2010. It seemed important and funny to give a visual aid to understand the sheer fun of it… train was the transportation I mostly used, and I don’t regret any single trip I took. It is safe, relatively fast and hassle free (once you have purchased a ticket ) and mostly, it allows you to enjoy the scenic countryside views and meet real local people. I strongly suggest you travel in India using the train, and please enjoy my little video tribute to my Indian train adventures. They also make an incredibly cheap overnight hotel, remember!!

The other day, inspired by the loss of Scarey Records, I started digging the web for fun, looking for proofs of my past existence. Yes, before being the skeptical, cynic traveler you all grew to love and hate, I was the guitarist and mastermind behind The NERDS Rock Inferno, probably the best punk band to come out of Italy. Or probably not, but anyways, we totally rocked ass. And LOOK AT WHAT I FOUND!!! Something I thought had been long lost in the sands of time and general ignorant people’s bliss. But I was wrong: as I used to bootleg many a record, videos and movies for big bucks back in the early 90s (one of my videorecorders’ counter, the day it died, stated its heads run for more than 8000 kilometers), someone somewhere gave me the same treatment leaving me jaw dropping… who could have been so enlightened and cool to bootleg this previously unreleased Nerds video, only circulated as a white noisy 3 minutes nightmare on a few music videotapes I assembled for some of my best friends back in the day??? Only God, or Satan, knows. (more…)

It’s been a long time since I updated Monkeyrockworld. Why? Because I have spent a month in India, and I have been busy, and I didn’t bother thinking  about this stupid website, for all that matters. It seems like some people are getting offended or puzzled by what I try to say, so, better to shut the fuck up and enjoy my own time and my life, rather than trying to be the idiot Messiah of Independent Travel.  Honestly, today especially, in this hazy day interrupted by little showers of hot rain, after an airport pick up at 6 am and another late morning sleep to try to help with the recent lack of it, I just don’t care. I started thinking, as always, though, and I got nostalgic. I saw the little alien with the big head occupying the best part of my right arm, pointing a laser gun at my sorry ass face still encrusted with the dirt of sleep, and I remembered why I am a Monkey Motherfucker. My cultural roots are all over the place in the best extremities the world had to offer, and since it appears most of you are too busy hiding your heads into your own asses when it comes to talk about modern world and travelling, I’ll try to give you a Sunday shot of past awesomeness. Because you gotta understand the past, to understand the present, they say. (more…)

Giorgio Bettinelli e Pandemonium suonano “Barista” in RAI, nel 1977. Un Giorgio inedito, attore e cantante, in questa perla sconosciuta del tardo beat italiano. Giusto per ricordare, ancora una volta, questo poliedrico personaggio. Mi manchi, Mr. Vespa.

It’s good sometimes to discover that somewhere people are still doing good horror movies. And it’s not America!! This time is Thailand.
In a time when the Star Striped movie industry is dying on its last legs and “borrowing” (to say the least offensive) here and there, especially from the Asian markets, it’s quite inspiring to find that the source of if not original, at least brilliant thrills, is now centered in the East. (more…)

Non ho mai avuto grande fiducia o apprezzamento per le donne in viaggio: spesso lente, sperdute, aggrappate a una Lonely Planet, SEMPRE incapaci di mantenere i miei ritmi o anche solo di alzarsi dal letto e inforcare lo zaino sulle spalle in maniera efficente (intendo: in circa 15 minuti)… quasi tutte, compresa Kit Yeng

Ovviamente non si puo’ generalizzare, e una tantum capita di incontrare donne di spessore e, soprattutto, con qualcosa da dire.

Ho incontrato Valeria, la “Signora Tripmaitrop”, a Kuala Lumpur con suo marito Paolo e quando ho deciso di cominciare a fare qualche intervista per approfondire gli argomenti di viaggio, ho pensato di prendere Valeria come esempio di “travellin’ woman” capace di imprese di tutto rispetto.

Ma non parleremo dei suoi viaggi, dei posti che ha visto o di altre banalita’ da “Manuale del Viaggiatore Zaino in Spalla” (ma chi e’ quel coglione all’EDT che permette di tradurre dall’Inglese in maniera cosi’ orrenda le guide Lonely Planet? E poi c’e’ gente come me che rimane senza lavoro…)… Valeria ha accettato da gran donna di rispondere alle domande di una Scimmia Maliziosa all’inverosimile… il risultato poteva diventare lo script di un mondo movie alla “Emmanuelle:perche’ violenza alle donne?” o di un porno storico alla “Messalina Orgasmo Imperiale” , invece ci siamo limitati a dare dei preziosi consigli di viaggio per le donne, ragazze e ragazzine che come Valeria hanno voglia di vedere il nostro meraviglioso mondo.

E in una nuova tradizione monkeyrockworldiana, inauguriamo la serie delle videointerviste di culto…. ciak! motore! AZIONE!!!

I am in Myanmar (Burma) at the moment and probably forced not to work on the site for the whole lenght of my stay.

A few people know about Myanmar and fewer people know about its problems. I am not the first one to talk about this and won’t be the last, and probably not even the most prolific or interesting teller of this country’s unique segregation from the World. But while I am there living my Myanmar experience and writing about it, I want to present some videos contributed by a new friend, and a man I strongly admire.

Antonio Graceffo, an Italian American adventure writer and martial arts enthusiast, left a Wall Street finance background to literally dive into Asian adventures and languages. One of his most recent projects is a documentary called “In Shanland” : defying the Burmese government’s ban on journalists, Antonio crossed the border under the protection of the Shan State Army, and began filming interviews with IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) within the war zone.

I am currently interviewing Antonio for Monkeyrockworld, and I thought this series of posts can be a good introduction to Myanmar, its people, and Antonio to my readers. You will definitely enjoy. (more…)