Flaminia Dolce Vita – Sparkling Spring Water – 5.9.26

Big bottle of Italian sparkling water that I bought at World Market—a good deal, under $4 for 33.8 ounces—and it’s very clean, pleasant, refreshing, not too mineral-y. The bottle looks nice, clear glass, a picture of the Trevi Fountain on the label—though the label says the water comes from a spring in the mountains—not the fountain. Which is good, because I don’t imagine the fountain water is appetizing. I wouldn’t mind so much drinking water that Anita Ekberg waded in (as long as she didn’t pee in it) but not every dirty tourist in Rome! Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960) is certainly one of my three favorite movies of all time. Sometimes translating to “The Sweet Life”—interesting because my other two favorite moves of all time are Sweet Smell of Success (1957) and The Sweet Ride (1968). While those three classics of cinema may seem to have very little in common, on the surface, they are actually very similar in some ways—tone, especially, and then some of the themes running through them. They are also movies that I found unsettling—they made me very uncomfortable on first viewing. And they are also movies I can watch, now, over and over and over. I could watch any of them right now, in fact, along with a liter of this sparkling spring water and a bowl of popcorn. Or a gluten-free cannoli.

No. 156 – 8.13.26