Rue McClanahan: A Golden Girl for the Ages

(Ah dearest, Rue. Your heart is true.)

Since I was away on my Paris trip when news broke that Rue McClanahan passed away, I didn't have a chance to post anything acknowledging her death. Still I was thinking about it. The subway stop next to my hotel in Paris was coincidentally named "Blanche" so I mentally referred to it as "Blanche Devereaux Station" throughout my visit there. I knew when I got back and got resettled into my routine, I'd post about it.

I always think it's sad news when a Golden Girl passes away. I mean, of course, that's life. It's inevitable. But for me, like so many other viewers, they were like surrogate grandmothers for years on the show. And seeing them in reruns it was easy to pretend they were not really aging. And then in the past two years we lost three of them. First Estelle passed, and then Bea, and now with Rue gone we've only got Betty White left with us. At least Betty is still vital and active and kicking comedy ass in TV and film.

Aside from her outstanding work on Golden Girls, I will always remember Rue for her work on Mama's Family, Nunsense, for being the grandma in the first family on Charles in Charge, and perhaps most delightfully for her cameo appearance in Starship Troopers. I love her in that!

But her turn as Blanche was in turns unforgettably vain, sexy, bitchy, vulnerable and of course hilarious. This is my favorite Blanche moment. The way the scene is structured, she never really gets the ovation she deserves for what is pretty much 5 minutes of straight joyous delirium. (this is from the episode where Dorothy is diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.)




RIP, Rue McClanahan. Thank you for all the great laughs and, of course, thank you for being a friend.

A "Rafa at Roland Garros" Preview: Style & Substance

(Do you know what time it is? Rafa could tell you, and he wouldn't even need to look at his fancy new watch. It's time for the 2010 French Open!)

The French Open officially kicks off tomorrow, and two weeks from now, hopefully I'll be watching Nadal pick up another trophy live from the grounds in Paris! After winning in Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid, Rafa has to be considered the favorite to win another Slam title at the end of this tournament. You wouldn't know it by reading the nimrods who post "stories" on tennis.com though. I won't even call what the op-ed people do for that site writing articles - "posting stories" is much more accurate. They waste their time not actually analyzing the game, but trying to come up with ridiculous theories to discredit Rafa's accomplishments. For instance, just this past week there were a bunch of "stories" posted dealing with Federer and Nadal. Oh, how they hate this rivalry because Nadal comes out on top! How can the #1 player of all time (Federer) have an accomplished contemporary that gets the better of him 2:1? They don't know how to handle it. So instead, they keep posting these stories. Here's something they LOVE to trot out from time to time: Is it really such an accomplishment to have 18 masters series titles at such a young age? I mean they're MOSTLY from tournaments played on clay (which I guess is the bastard child of court surfaces because Americans typically have trouble playing on the dirt.) Their argument is that Rafa hasn't dominated ENOUGH on other surfaces. He just has Slam titles on all three. And he's only just now turning 24! And he was injured throughout all of last summer. So he did the majority of his work when he was 22! Nothing like giving a guy time.

Then there was this other ridiculous story about how we wouldn't really appreciate the style of Rafa's playing if he were an ugly person. Seriously, that's what it says. If Federer were ugly, he plays a game that we'd still consider beautiful, but if Rafa was ugly we wouldn't be fans of his at all. I mean, holey Jeebus, if that's how far you have to reach to discredit a 6-time Slam champion and a 18-time Masters Series Champion then you have huge issues and you need help. I sometimes think tennis.com only exists to make me angry. But since the jokers at tennis.com STILL don't see what's so impressive about Rafa's career, here are JUST A FEW more stats of note:

*Only male player to have won French Open, Wimbledon, and Olympic gold medal in the same year (2008)
*The only man in history to win the "treble" (2008) - taking titles at the French Open, The Queen's Club and Wimbledon
*Most singles titles won in a single season as a teenager: 11 (2005).
*The only player to reach 9 different ATP Masters tournament finals (all except Cincinnati, but I'm sure he'll get there too!).
*The only player to win the same ATP Masters event for 6 consecutive years (Monte Carlo Masters).
*The only player to win 400 singles matches in fewer than 500 matches played (401-91).
*The only player in history to win all three clay court Masters events in the same year.
*The only player to win three consecutive Masters titles, irrespective of surface.
*The only player to win at least three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in a season for four consecutive years
*Overall Nadal is 196-16 (.925) in his career on clay, the best winning pct. on clay in the Open Era

So suck on it, tennis.com writers. I'm done with you.

Deep breaths. Okay, so back to the French Open. I actually think Rafa has a pretty decent draw. His first round opponent is 18-year-old French wildcard Gianni Mina. This kid is ranked 653 in the world. On paper, Rafa shouldn't have any problem with him, but he'll probably be playing as if he nothing to lose and he'll have the hometown crowd really pulling for him, so it might not be as easy as it looks. He should still get through in 3 sets.

Looking head there's a possible third round opponent in the form of Lleyton Hewitt, who has lost to Nadal three of the last four years in Paris. I like Hewitt, but he's not much of a threat to Rafa at this point it his career.

Either Fernando Verdasco, (0-10 record against Rafa) , or Fernando Gonzalez (6 consecutive losses to Rafa) are potential quarterfinal opponents. The semifinals could feature a match against Djokovic (but he hasn't been playing well of late, so that seems unlikely), Juan Carlos Ferrero (Rafa leads 7-2 lifetime), David Ferrer (Rafa leads 11-3 lifetime) and Andy Roddick, who you know I love, but who has never gone farther that the fourth round at Roland Garros. If Rafa meets Fed in the Final, Rafa holds a 14-7 lifetime record against him and a 5-2 record in Slam Finals. So while nothing is a sure bet, you can see on paper why things are looking for a healthy Rafa this year.

Moving from tennis substance to style, Rafa's never shied away from some head-turning or head -scratching outfits. There was the hot pink shirt at last year's French Open, the crazy checkerboard shorts he wore at last year's US Open and Aussie Open, and now that he's gone back to more classic color patterns, he's moved into eye-catching accessories.

For the first time ever, Nadal will be wearing a watch while playing his matches at the French Open. But it's not just any watch. It's the new ‘TOURBILLON WATCH RM 027." The watch, was especially designed for Rafa Nadal, by Richard Mille and is so exclusive that only 50 of them will be produced worldwide. Oooooh!

It turns out the Tourbillon watch RM 027 is the lightest mechanical watch ever made (only weighing 3.83 grams) and it was designed over the course of 2 years by Mille. This watch can be yours for a cool $425,000. But like I said, there's only 50 so order now while supplies last!

I have to admit when I heard Rafa was wearing this "luxury watch" while playing, all I could picture was this gaudy clunky bracelety-thing that would weigh down his wrist and mess up his swing. When I saw the above picture of it though, I have to admit it's pretty cool. Maybe not for a half a million, but still it's pretty awesome. Although this will almost definitely open him up to criticism from opponents who'll request for him to "check his watch" when he starts taking too much time in between his service points.

So now that we've explored the style and substance of the upcoming tournament, I wish Rafa luck and the greatest of success at the 2010 French Open. I know he take home the trophy for the 5th time! Vamos Rafa!

Nadal -vs- Federer XXI - Rafa Mastere Madrid!

(The winner of the Madrid Masters just gets a dish and not a giant trophy? Weird. But hey, the important thing is RAFA WINS AGAIN!!!)

Happy days are here again! This afternoon, Rafael Nadal reasserted himself as the true King of Clay with a win at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open (a mouthful of a tournament name, to be sure!). The win came at the expense of Roger Federer, who got edged out 6-4, 7-6 (5), in the first meeting between the two champions since last year's Madrid final when Federer beat Nadal. Obviously, I prefer this outcome.

It's so great to have Federer and Nadal both back at the top of their games, because at No. 1 and No. 2 it's guaranteed that if they are to meet in any tournament, it will have to be the championship match. Their matches are always amazing, even if in the head-to-head match-up Nadal (to my delight) totally owns Federer. With this victory, Nadal goes up 14-7 all-time against Fed. A 2:1 all-time advantage! Rafa is also 6-2 in major finals against Federer. It would feel like a more lopsided rivalry if Federer wasn't so dominate against all other players on tour, owning a record 16 Grand Slam titles and the Career Slam along with at least a dozen other mind-boggling tennis records. A lot of the drama in major tournaments is if Rafa can get through his draw to meet Federer at the end. It's more assumed that Fed can get to any final, but it's not a done deal that he'll be raising the trophy if Nadal is standing in his way in that final match.

Rafael Nadal is 15-0 this year on clay, winning all three clay tournaments he has played as we head into the French Open. With this win comes a bit of history. I believe this is the first time ever that one player has won all of the masters series tournaments on clay in the same season - those being Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid. Also this marks the 18th (!!) Masters Series win for Nadal, who now has the most of any player in history. Andre Agassi previously held the record at 17, with Federer one behind him at 16. And Rafa's only just about to turn 24. If he stays healthy, he can add to that total for years to come.

I hope Rafa gets to rest up after this win and I wish him so much success at Roland Garros this year. I really hope he makes it to the French Open final, so I can be there watching him play for the title on June 6th! Fingers crossed. Vamos Rafa!

Roman Emperor: Rafa Wins Again!

(Don't Rain on Rafa's Parade!)

Success again! Today Rafa won his fifth Rome Masters title in six years, beating David Ferrer 7-5, 6-2 in the twice rain-delayed final. I was not too surprised, given that he was playing against a fellow Spaniard. Nadal holds a special mental edge against the other Spanish players. I think they look up to him too much to be able to beat him when he's playing near the top of his game, despite their own prowess on clay. For instance Nadal's won the last 7 matches against Ferrer. He has similar records against his other compatriots on the tour.

With the win, Nadal improved to 10-0 on clay this year. It's a really encouraging sign looking ahead to the Madrid Masters and then Roland Garros, even if he didn't dominate his matches this week quite as mercilessly as he did two weeks ago in Monte Carlo. Nadal's dominance on clay remians staggering. No other player in history has won more than three titles here and Rafa's already got five. It's crazy!

Alos, this marks the 17th Masters Series title of Rafa's career, He's now tied Andre Agassi's record, and has a chance to pass it before the month has passed. Agassi was 34 when he reached that record. Nadal is still only 23! If he can stay healthy, he has the ability to blast that Masters Series record completely out of the water.

I'm so happy to see Rafa back in top form. Here's wishing him him some rest this week and a great tournament following that in Madrid!

Roman Holiday Part 12 - Parting Gifts

Previously: I had a seat on a flight home and then suddenly I didn't. Time to find a new one!

The line at the ticket counter was so long. Apparently a lot of people were having Alitalia flight issues that day. When I was next in line to talk to an agent, the line came to a complete halt and I waited around 2o minutes to get seen. I joked with the people behind me that the wait itself wasn’t so bothersome as the fact that all the people in front of me had been talking to their agents for at least 20 minutes, so it wasn’t as if right when I got to speak to someone I’d be done lickety split. It never takes this long on Amazing Race! Editors, you make this part look so easy, when it is not! "Reality" TV, my ass!

Finally it was my turn. The ticket lady gave me the option of flying into Paris and then to NYC which got in about 90 minutes after my original flight or the one through London which was a lot later. I opted for the Paris flight. Just then this crazed woman came running over to my counter completely skipping the line and shouted/asked my agent what terminal had the Alitalia flight to Turkey. Her flight was supposed to leave in only 25 minutes. The ticketing lady told her it was Terminal C. The building we were in housed terminals A and B. Terminal C was next door, but you had to go back outside and around to get to it. “You’re sure it’s not B?” the crazed lady demanded. The ticketing lady and I both shot the woman death glares. “Miss, I’ve worked here for 20 years,” the flight attendant said (which I thought had to be impossible because she looked young). “I’m telling you it’s terminal C. “

“Do you think we’ll make it?” the woman screeched. The check-in lady was done with her. “I don’t think so. The flight has probably stopped boarding. You will have to go to Terminal C to find out.”

The crazy lady threw up her hands. “But we have to get on this flight!!” "Then don’t show up less than a half hour before your flight, bitch," is what I wanted to say. I was there two hours early for mine and that wasn’t early enough. Plus, who’d this lady think she was just ignoring my place at the ticket counter and also disregarding the line of people behind me. Some people are such assholes.

After the crazy woman left, we got back to the business at hand. “I can issue you your ticket to New York, JFK through Paris," she said, "and I will also give you 600 euros cash for the inconvenience." My eyebrows flew up to the top of my forehead and I slammed my hand down on the counter. “Done!” I exclaimed. 600 euros to get in 90 minutes later than I planned? That’s more than half the cost of my total trip returned to me! How amazing was that?? She tells me that right now we’re near terminal A and I need to go to terminal B to get the flight to France. It’s boarding soon, so I don’t have a ton of time.

With 600 euros in hand and a gigantic smile on my face, I rushed over to Terminal B. They tell me when I get there that, in fact, I needed to go to terminal C. This was funny to me because my ticketing lady who claimed to have been there for 20 years when talking to the crazy woman headed for Turkey, had given me the wrong terminal information, and I wondered if she screwed up with the other woman too. I kind of hope she did, because that woman was so nasty.

I got to Terminal C and realized just how lax the security was in the Rome airport screening department. I went through the metal detector with my shoes on and a half empty bottle of drinking water. Nobody made me get rid of it. It was weird. I couldn’t get away with shit like that flying out of Kennedy.

The flight from Rome to Paris was very nice. We left late and that meant all my layover time in Paris was eaten up. This resulted in another mad dash carrying luggage from one end of the Paris airport where we disembarked, to the other end of the airpoer where the flight for New York was waiting. This run was long enough and hectic enough to work up a proper sweat.

Once I got on the flight to JFK, everything went smoothly. On my little personal TV in my seat I watched two episodes of the Simpsons, two episodes of Sex & The City (the post-it note episodes), I Love You, Man (so good!) and Transformers 2 (SO terrible!) . I only subjected myself to Transformers 2 because it was equal in running time to how much time was left in the flight. Even still, I found it such a tedious and offensive movie. There were plenty of times when I talked back to the screen saying “that’s disgusting.” And I think it concerned the dude sitting next to me. The end of the movie got cut off as we started our descent, and I couldn’t have cared less to know how it all turned out.

After disembarking and making my way through a very long customs line, I was finally officially back in New York City. Hooray! Home soil. At this point, I was still laughing to myself about getting so much money for my overbooked flight. I made my way home via subway, which might have taken longer but was cheaper than a taxi and I didn’t want to deal with nighttime airport traffic which can be a total nightmare at JFK.

Upon arriving back at my apartment, I plugged all my equipment back in – my blackberry, my laptop, my camera and my ipod – all of which had run out of juice along the journey. Then I went through my luggage and dumped my dirty clothes in the laundry and unearthing the snow globe of the Colosseo I had stored in bag for safe keeping. I gave it a good shake and as the little white flecks floated down through the water to settle on the ancient structure below, I placed in on my living room mantle for display. Then I collapsed into bed. What a fun and crazy couple of days it had been! It was really an unforgettable time and I’m so glad I did it. Rome will always live in a special place in heart has a beautiful city where I had my first independent travel adventure. It reinforced the importance of travel in my mind, and the idea that you should see the places you want to see, and not wait forever for the "right time.” I certainly hope I make it back to that city and my beloved Colosseo sooner rather than later.

(Three days in Rome/Where do we go?/I'll always remember/ Three days in Rome. - Sheryl Crow, "The Book.")

I know the minutia of my adventure probably did not make for the most exciting reading and who knows if anyone actually got through it, BUT it was something I told myself I would do, and I wanted to keep that promise to myself and finish the project before I went on my next solo trip to Paris in June. It’s only a few weeks away! Best case scenario I'll see Rafa win The French Open LIVE at Roland Garros! HELL YEAH! I'll keep you (blog)posted!

My previous adventures: My Flight There, Emperor Palpatine's Hill, Good Times at the Colosseo & Vatican, SPB & The 39 Steps, The Pantheon, Gays and Dining Out. Owen & Nilor Take Via Borghese, The More Than 39 steps of Vittoriano, The Battle For Aventine Hill, Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!, Finding The Mouth Of Truth, and A Change of Flight Plans

Roman Holiday, Part 11 - Please Standy By...

(Me and my last gelati in Rome. Apple and Pear. Such delicious memories.)

Previously: As I finally got on the metro to head out of Rome, the rain began to fall...

By the time I got to Termini Station, where I had to change from the subway to the rail system, it has started to downpour. It’s the kind of rain that makes umbrellas useless because the rain is bouncing up off the ground with so much force. I waited a few minutes and it calmed down enough so that I could drag my carry-on the 200 yards between the metro and railway entrances and not get completely drenched in the process. I got inside and bought my ticket and waited for them to announce what track the train would leave on. With only a few minutes left before departure, they finally announced the track and of course it is the last possible track, clear on the other side of the giant facility. So everyone had to grab their bags and run to get there on time. I ran as fast as I could and was thankful I was in top shape from my marathon training, so that a sprint with luggage was not super-taxing. I’m glad I ran too, because shortly after I boarded, the train left the station. I’m sure that anyone who didn’t run for the train got screwed. The train was an express to the airport so we moved swiftly along, and the sun came out again on the way.

When I arrived at the airport, I still had two hours before my flight and figured I was good to go. I went to the Alitalia windows to check in and I noticed there was a very long line. After a minute or two, I realize that the line I’m standing in is for another Alitalia flight and that the window for my flight has NO line. Curious. I went over to that counter and there’s the random guy standing nearby and he says, “Oh, I bet you’re flying first class, right?” and I responded with a “No…(asshole)” I mean, seriously, WTF is that kinda comment? What’s it matter to him what section I'm sitting in?

I handed my ticket and passport to the check-in lady and she looked at it and then handed it back to me. “I’m sorry,” she said. “your flight was overbooked and there is no room lieft. I am going to have to put you on stand by.”

I blinked at her. “What?” She repeated herself. I furrowed my brow. “That doesn’t make sense. I have a reserved seat. I selected it and checked it with the airline. “ But she shook her head. “No, all seats are now full.”

“But when did they give it away? It’s still –“

“The flight was overbooked by 36 passengers. Check-in started at 10am and your seat is now full.”

It still didn’t make sense to me. “What’s the point of going online and selecting a seat, if it’s not here for me when I show up?”

The woman was at a loss. “I cannot explain it to you better, because I think like you. It does not make sense. I do not know why they do this. They want the flight to be full and some people cancel, so they overbook the flight.”

“By more than thirty people?” I ask incredulously. “Yes," she responds, "and now there is no seat for you. You are on stand-by.”

I’m getting nowhere so I change tracks. “Is there actually a chance I’ll get on the plane? How many people are ahead of me?” “You are fourth on the list. There are a few seats in first class. We are holding to make sure everyone who is supposed to make a connecting flight will be arriving here on time first.”

I considered this. “So 30 more people could show up after me, and they would all have less of a chance of getting on this plane?” “Correct, sir.” She confirmed, “I know. It’s crazy.”

“What if I don’t get on the flight?” I asked. She gave me a level look. “There are no more direct flights to New York today There’s a flight through Paris and a flight through London later today. You can try to get on either of those at the ticketing counter, or they can put you up in a hotel for the night and send you home on the first direct flight out in the morning.”

“I have to go home TODAY.” I implored her. In theory, the idea of being in Rome longer was nice, but I was already mentally in the zone to travel home. I didn’t want to have it not happen and then have to go through the whole process again the next day.

“I understand. You are not late for the flight.” She said, in a don’t-blame-yourself tone of voice. Then this other couple came up behind me, got the same speech, but reacted with a lot more anger. They stormed off to the ticketing counter without waiting to hear about stand-by. I think the check-in lady appreciated that I had not totally flipped out on her. I think she gets that a lot in her job.

So, as it turned out three people on stand-by got on the flight, including that annoying dude who asked me if I was the one traveling first class. I, being fourth on the list had to go over and sort out an alternate plan with a ticketing agent. Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion!

My previous adventures: My Flight There, Emperor Palpatine's Hill, Good Times at the Colosseo & Vatican, SPB & The 39 Steps, The Pantheon, Gays and Dining Out. Owen & Nilor Take Via Borghese, The More Than 39 steps of Vittoriano, The Battle For Aventine Hill, Pizza! Pizza! Pizza! and Finding The Mouth Of Truth

Roman Holiday Part 10 - The Mouth of Truth!!

Previously: I had some pizza and wine and I hugged the Pantheon and then I went to sleep.

When morning arrived, I hopped out of bed and put on the one set of gym clothes I brought with me and my sneaks. I put on my ipod (which has been on battery rest since Friday) and headed out for a run around Rome. The NYC Marathon is only a few weeks away at this point in time, and though I’ve been walking my ass off for the past couple days I haven’t gotten a proper run in since Thursday. That just won’t do! Since I saw several people training in the circus Maximus over the weekend, I decided to go down there. It was really cool! It was a neat thing to get to run around the place where chariot races used to be held. There was a noticeable amount of party debris that had been littered along the stairs from some celebration the night before, but other than that it looked lovely. I did several loops around the area and then ran back up the hill to the Colosseo. After that I ran back to the hotel, showered and changed, and picked up my camera to once and for all get a picture of me in front of the Mouth of Truth.

I get to the proper piazza, which is only a little bit away from where I was just running laps, and I have to laugh at myself for missing it before. I’d walked through this area at least twice before over the weekend, and had no idea I was so close to the Mouth of Truth. I locate the correct church and go inside. I don’t see it. The church is very pretty, but there's no Mouth of Truth in here! I look all over the place, and I can’t find it. I go into the gift shop and there is all sorts of Mouth of Truth memorabilia on sale. This is definitely the place. Where the hell is it hiding? I go outside to retrace my steps. And there on the far wall on the outside of the entrance is the Mouth of Truth just waiting for me, looking at me as if to say, “I’m right here, dummy.”

Finally! I got this other tourist dude to take my picture, but it’s on the disposable so I can’t tell if it turned out okay, but I figured I’d just have to chance it. I strike the customary pose of sticking my hand in the actual mouth. As legend has it if you try to tell a lie while your hand is in the mouth, the stone will bite your hand off. Good times! I depart from the Mouth of Truth feeling very satisfied at having uncovered the last of the many attractions I set out to see while in Rome.

(I'm so happy to have found the Mouth of Truth, and that's no lie!)

On my way back to the hotel, I find that I’m right at the base of Aventine Hill. I decided since there was still time, I’d make another trek up the hill to look the keyhole in the green doors one more time. It really was such a treat. I which I could’ve take a picture of it, but I only had a few shots left and I really didn’t think the image would come through.

When I got to the top, the soldiers with their big guns were still there guarding… whatever. I really don’t know who they think is going to attack this place nor what secret they might be protecting inside, but clearly it would make a good plot for a Dan Brown novel. I looked through the keyhole again and the sight was as awesome as the first time. After I get a good look, I take a stroll through San Anselm, a beautiful church that is on the other side of the street from the Green Doors. When I left San Anselm, something unexpected and awesome happened. A maintenance truck was entering the Big Green Doors! I gasp as I realize this is my chance to escape into Narnia, if I can just run along side the truck and not be seen by the armed guards. Surely the pay off would be worth the risk of getting riddled with bullets. Unfortunately, the guards are posted everywhere and I can’t make a move. I was able to get a better look at the space when the doors were opened. I stood at a place where I could see inside and the guards didn’t raise their weapons on me, so I assumed that meant it was okay. Seeing it not through the keyhole lessens some of the mystique of the rows of shrubs, but the view of St. Peter’s Basilica is still a marvel. I want to live on Aventine Hill!

Time was ticking away, so I made my final trek back down the hill, knowing this will be last bit of time allowed for exploring. I checked out some more great churches and church grounds as I wound my way down to Circus Maximus below. Then it’s once again back up to my hotel where I gather my bags and check out. I really had a lovely stay at the Mercure Roma Delta Colosseo.

As I’m dragging my suitcase down the street to the metro station, storm clouds are rolling in. NOW it decides to rain? After so many beautiful days where it was predicted I’d have nothing but rain, the one day they predicted sun, was the one that was stormy. It held off as long as it took me to see all I wanted to see. Divine intervention, I’d say. Thanks again, mom!

I passed by the Colosseo one last time as I headed into the metro, blowing it one final kiss on the way. Before I went down into the station I had time for one last gelati – this time apple and pear! Mmmmm! Then finally I had to board the subway, and just then the rain starts to fall.

Next time: Planes and trains, but no automobiles. And maybe I leave Rome, and maybe I don't.

My previous adventures: My Flight There, Emperor Palpatine's Hill, Good Times at the Colosseo & Vatican, SPB & The 39 Steps, The Pantheon, Gays and Dining Out. Owen & Nilor Take Via Borghese, The More Than 39 steps of Vittoriano, The Battle For Aventine Hill and Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!