Hollywood, California, 1994
I can still remember very clearly when I saw a film for the first time ever showing on the TV: it was the time of Star Wars and Superman. I must have been pretty young, but I was so much impressed by the adventurous theme, amazing special effects and level of acting. I grew up watching TV series like Mac Guyver, Hulk, Knight Rider, Automan, Flash and Beverly Hills 902010. It was then 1990 or ’91 when my parents brought the first VHS recorder home. Since I was only allowed to stay up till 10.30pm the VCR has been a useful device that accompanied me for almost 10 years of my life. I didn’t have a big collection of cassettes as I remember I was always watching the same movies over and over. Those were Superman trilogy, Star Wars trilogy, Trashin, Gleaming the Cube (aka skate or die), The Flash, Karate Kid, Terminator, Commando, Rambo, Rocky and some other movies of the beginning of the nineties.
My AGV helmet, simply beautiful
It was probably during the beginning of the nineties, 1991 or 1992 , I was spending the summer holidays in my grandparents villa, Guanzate, Italy. One day while playing hide and sick in the garden, with some local kids, we found a very old and small motorbike under a dusty cloth in my grandpa’s garage. The bike was looking more like a bicycle with a tiny engine on it. It was a 1970 model of Piaggio Ciao. My pals seemed to be quite expert on those mechanical things and I trusted them: we had to clean the carburetors and the fuel pump. In order to run, the engine was in need of at least 90 octane petrol mixed with 2% of oil. So we created that mix somehow, with 4 strokes oil for cars and some petrol sucked from the lawnmower :) . Ok in less than one hour we managed to start the engine! I was so excited…but unfortunately the minimum age to drive a 50cc motorbike in Italy was 14. I was just 12 or 13 , so my grandmother allowed me to use it only around her propriety and around the nearby country roads and the grain fields. I was so happy to drive it , and I was spending almost all day practicing on turns and stability. Finaly, when I turned 14 my father gave me the best present ever: an Aprilia RS 50, a small scale replica of Max Biagi motorbike , 6 gears , 50cc engine but capable of a 100 km/h top speed. List of the motorbikes I owned so far: Piaggio Ciao (1991), Aprilia RS 50 (1995), MBK Booster 50 (1996), Cagiva Supercity 50 (1997), Malaguty Fifty Top (1998).
In 1998, I gloriously bought my first car, a Fiat Uno’89 in 1999 for less than 1000$. Finally, I could have practiced many maneuvers without worries, as the car was already old and spoiled. So I went several times at a big car parking to practice some driving under extreme conditions, at high speed, under the rain, or with the snow. Practice made me a lot better than many other drivers, In 2001 I opened a small online business for trading second hand sport cars, so I had the wonderful chance to try a lot of different models of great cars. By the way my first real drive on the first wheel was back in 1994, druing a trip to Malibu, California, with my parents, they brought me to a gokarting ring where I even got certified! Some cars I owned: Renault 19 16v, 3 Opel Calibras, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Rover 114GTI.
Alan Rooster at Holliwood, California, Michael Jackson star , 1994
I have been listening to music since very young, first initiated by my parents who, while traveling by car, were playing classical tapes like Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Albinoni, Richard Clyderman and some jazz by Glenn Miller or Frank Sinatra.
However, the first time I started to listen to some music by my own, in my room, with my own tapes, started around my 11th or 12th birthday, when my best friend (Antonio U. “Tony”) got me the album Dangerous (Michael Jackson). It was the first musical experience in my walkman and in my room’s stereo. Soon after, I turned on the radio and started to learn many different kind of music, especially eurodance during the ’90 (Regina, Corona, Double You, Alexia, ATB, Snap, Ace of Base etc…), and the general pop at the time. Queen, Backstreet boys, Britney Spears, Pink Floyd, Metallica, Nirvana, Oasis, Thake that, Spice Girls and the other big names in the pop scene.
After couple of years, I moved my attention to the ’80 with Bee Gees, and the other oldies.
Some italian artists in my personal collection are Lunapop, Laura Pausini, 883 and Articolo 31.
Let’s say, till now, im still stuck back at the 80′ and 90′, it seems nowadays there are not so many great artists as they used to be before, dont know why.
