Culture on doismiu - dispatches from the infernal archive

I Am Learning Japanese. Here Is the Map (Month 0)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0200

千里の道も一歩から Even a journey of a thousand ri begins with a single step.

Tomorrow, September 1st, I start studying Japanese. The deadline I gave myself is August 31st, 2029. Three years, thirty to sixty minutes a day, starting from absolute zero. And starting today I’m going to publish a monthly update here, every month, for thirty six months, so the whole thing is documented in public and I can’t pretend in month nineteen that I never said any of this.

How Pain Created Torino's Identity

Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0100

I need to tell you about a football club that died and refused to stay dead.

Not metaphorically. Literally. On May 4th, 1949, a Fiat G.212 aircraft carrying the entire Torino FC squad crashed into the Basilica of Superga, just outside Turin. Thirty-one people died. The team that had won five consecutive Serie A titles, the backbone of the Italian national team, the greatest club side Europe had ever seen, was obliterated in an instant.

Vince Gilligan and the Art of Slow Cooking in a Microwave World

Wed, 24 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0100

My wife and I have a new Friday ritual. We sit down to watch Pluribus. Phones off. Lights dimmed. No second screen.

In 2025, this is an act of rebellion.

The Problem

Modern television is terrified of you. It assumes you have the attention span of a caffeinated goldfish. Netflix front-loads every plot point in the first five minutes. Cliffhangers hit every seven minutes. The editing is so frenetic the show itself seems to be having a panic attack.

Confeugo: The Vertical Flame of Genoa

Sat, 20 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0100

“Bon sabbo à tutti! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 !” (Happy Saturday, everyone!)

I recently moved to Italy, specifically to Liguria, where Genoa sits like a scarred sentinel watching over the Mediterranean. This afternoon, December 20th, I stood in the heart of the city to witness the Confeugo. It is a ceremony of fire, prophecy, and linguistic ghosts, and it forced me to look past the postcard version of Italy to something much more abrasive and real.

The Bernabéu is an Airport: When Success Kills Identity

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0100

Have you seen the new Santiago Bernabeu?. It is a technological marvel. It has a retractable pitch that hides in a cave. It has a 360-degree screen that makes Las Vegas look subtle. It generates money with the efficiency of a Swiss bank.

It is also dead.

Marc Augé coined the term “Non-Place” to describe spaces of transience. Airports. Supermarkets. Hotel chains. Places where human relations are suspended and you are defined solely by your credit card limit.