XL REPUBBLICA - how Mika keeps himself busy ;-)

From now on I'll call him mokasounds

Or CappaMika, or FilterMika-with-cream.

Who wants to be his 'Coffee Mate'? *queue starts to form*

Or CappaMika, or FilterMika-with-cream.

Who wants to be his 'Coffee Mate'? *queue starts to form*

Hey I need one since I lost mine at work:thumb_yello:

ok, and I need my coffee now till I can read something about his coffee-talk

they chosen a draw made from a writer of Il Sole 24 ore

Can you rephrase it, please. I don't understand what you mean. Do you mean the published a drawing by someone who works for Il Sole 24 ore?

Or CappaMika, or FilterMika-with-cream.

Who wants to be his 'Coffee Mate'? *queue starts to form*

Not me, I dislike coffee but I love tea

I'm not sure that I will love this column if Mika just wrote about coffee and I think it will be the same if it was about tea:roftl:

Or CappaMika, or FilterMika-with-cream.

Who wants to be his 'Coffee Mate'? *queue starts to form*

Ahahha!!! CappaMika!!

Can you rephrase it, please. I don't understand what you mean.

Sorry, as I said, I was in a hurry!

They choose a fan illustration to go with the article this month and they choose one made by a person who works for an italian paper called Il Sole 24 ore.

Not me, I dislike coffee but I love tea

 

I'm not sure that I will love this column if Mika just wrote about coffee and I think it will be the same if it was about tea:roftl:

I didn´t like all of the topics he wrote before, but I must admit, I liked to listen to his opinion... but to be honest... about coffee, Mika??

So, you are cooking your new album, you said on twitter you would drop some info about it, and now... about coffee????

God I love him :roftl:

They choose a fan illustration to go with the article this month and they choose one made by a person who works for an italian paper called Il Sole 24 ore.

Thank you for explaining:flowers2:

I knew it would be something like this...

So random fan who works for a liberal newspaper in Italy... odd:cool:

Is he/she a graphic artist or a columnist/writer?

I didn´t like all of the topics he wrote before, but I must admit, I liked to listen to his opinion... but to be honest... about coffee, Mika??

 

So, you are cooking your new album, you said on twitter you would drop some info about it, and now... about coffee????

 

God I love him :roftl:

Too much coffee it's not good for inspiration

May be he wrote a song about his love for coffee

Too much coffee it's not good for inspiration

 

May be he wrote a song about his love for coffee

:aah:

with sugar, Meeks?

Or CappaMika, or FilterMika-with-cream.

Who wants to be his 'Coffee Mate'? *queue starts to form*

I'll queue up for a MIKAcchino or a tall MIKAtte

Thank you for explaining:flowers2:

 

I knew it would be something like this...

So random fan who works for a liberal newspaper in Italy... odd:cool:

 

Is he/she a graphic artist or a columnist/writer?

You're welcome sorry for the confusion!

I don't know exactly because I haven't read it fully, my friend told me something about the drawing.

He should be a 50 (or something like that don't remember his age right now) y.o. male who works for this paper...

Too much coffee it's not good for inspiration

 

May be he wrote a song about his love for coffee

As he said 'Pas de café l'apres-midi' and all is well with his inspiration

I read a couple of pages, but I didn't get it. What's the thing with coffee?

I read a couple of pages, but I didn't get it. What's the thing with coffee?

It´s Mika

I read a couple of pages, but I didn't get it. What's the thing with coffee?

I guess we can't read it yet... Italian fans have already seen the latest XL, so waiting for some more details. But it's about coffee

I guess we can't read it yet... Italian fans have already seen the latest XL, so waiting for some more details. But it's about coffee

Hope he's writing in in an interesting way. I don't like coffee:D

Hope he's writing in in an interesting way. I don't like coffee:D

I'm lucky, because I absolutely love coffee but don't worry, the way he writes his columns is always interesting

I haven't got the article in front of me, so I'll sum up quickly what I can remember when I read it at lunch. Yes, it's about coffee. It starts off with his sort of ritual when it comes to drinking coffee, he says that when he's been recording the album - which is at a "good point" - he's been drinking a lot of coffee, in big paper cups. He then goes on to say about the history of coffee, when people first started drinking it, how it was introduced into Europe, and how various people wanted to ban it over the years. The last bit focuses on Italy, and the difference between the Starbucks coffee culture in the US and how it's drunk in Italy. Starbucks is in France, even though people thought it wouldn't succeed because of the differences in coffee culture, but there aren't any Starbucks stores in Italy.

The drawing, as Sarina mentioned, is by someone who writes for the Sole 24 Ore, a financial paper in Italy. I've already forgotten the bloke's name, but he's 56 years old, and also describes himself as a writer.

I don't have a scanner, but if someone posts a scan I'll write a longer summary, if not, I will do when I get home

I'll queue up for a MIKAcchino or a tall MIKAtte

Those names are great!

Leonardo Cosmai, the winner

http://it-it.facebook.com/people/Leonardo-Cosmai/1391426325

not a beginner, let me say

Thanks Robi, I'll add a few details to what I wrote earlier.

So he's been busy working on his album, in the States, Montreal and Stockholm. Some of the problems of living in a recording studio is that his hearing has been becoming worse and also that he's been living on take away food, and lots of coffee. He says coffee helps to sort of distance himself from the music, drinking it gives him time to think. And once he's finished his coffee he feels fine again.

The second part covers the history of coffee, starting with how hyperactive goats made an Ethiopean shepherd connect the coffee bushes they were eating from with their energy. During the centuries coffee spread up to the Middle East, and a sort of link between coffee and Islam was created. Coffee beans were then imported into Venice from Istanbul. The various attempts to ban the drink failed, and it spread throughout Europe.

In the last part he writes about the coffee culture in the States. In Venice Beach, LA, there's a coffee shop, Intelligentsia Café that always has a queue outside it, the wait for a coffee is 45 minutes. LA is the home of coffee shops. But even in Europe he says that every 3 blocks he finds a Starbucks - everywhere but Italy. In France people thought that it'd be difficult for Starbucks to compete with the coffee culture of the country, but everyone was proven wrong. He says Italy does well though to resist, and should be proud of this, but he says the new American obsession with fair trade and organic coffee makes him think. He says that the queue at Intelligentsia isn't just because the coffee's good, but also because it's bought directly from the people who produce it - small companies. Biological products are also good for the environment, and he says Italy would do well to learn from the queues at Venice Beach.

He ends by saying that considering that behind every coffee bean there's centuries of history and 25 million families in the world who depend on the drink, it pays to have a bit of patience.

Leonardo Cosmai, the winner

 

http://it-it.facebook.com/people/Leonardo-Cosmai/1391426325

 

not a beginner, let me say

Italy being very Italian as always

Thanks for the scan, robertina.

EDIT: and thank you, Nezza, for the summary, of course!

why not?

I had quite a few reasons to be honest. First I'm really short on time these days, so I would probably not have been able to come up with anything remotely satisfactory for this purpose anyway.

But more importantly, I was convinced that whatever I might have sent, it would not be considered, because what would make more sense for an Italian magazine in Italian language than choosing an Italian entry. It seems only logical to me, so I'm really not surprised.

What surprises (and disappoints) me is neither the image itself (because I totally see Mika choosing that, he had blogged about artists committing themselves to that sort of image years ago), nor the fact that in the end it didn't have to fit the literal frame (because I know Mika adapts to what he's given when having to make a choice).

I'm really annoyed that this result is giving the impression of some sort of a mini pitch for professional illustrators rather than an opportunity for a talented fan to get the recognition they are hoping for. From their idol.

I know that the idea as such was not sold this way in the actual article. But the fact that the article including the request for illustrations was copied to his own mikasounds blog is a bit irritating. Because there he does not talk to the Italian Repubblica readers but to his international fan base. I'm glad I didn't send anything. But regardless, I would have loved to see something brilliant by a real fan rather than that. I'm sure he got lots of great stuff and also different images than the usual fan art genre as in pencil Mika faces (not implying that it's bad). But maybe I do them all wrong, the mag, Mika and Leonardo Cosmai, and maybe the latter is not only a pro, but also the biggest Mika fan ever, wishing for nothing more than this accolade by his idol. I doubt it, though.