The merger of Mondo Beat and Onda Verde gave wings to the magazine "Mondo Beat".
It must be understood that the youths of Mondo Beat, on the run from family and school, hitchhiking from one city to another so as not to be caught by the police, often in prison, rarely wrote articles for the magazine Mondo Beat. Instead there were secondary school students who wanted to publish, but they have often written nonsense. As I have already said, there was a deafening publicity on the Beat Generation, mainly on Allen Ginsberg, which was orchestrated by Fernanda Pivano with the aim of confusing the Italian provincials, to prevent them from participating in a true revolution, the one triggered by Mondo Beat. Of course, Fernanda Pivano, who was a CIA agent, was put on the altars by the Establishment media and many of those students who wanted to publish their writings in the magazine Mondo Beat, such as Renzo Freschi, were influenced by Fernanda Pivano. Melchiorre Gerbino had a saintly patience to bear them, because they did not only write nonsense, but also believed they were vanguard intellectuals.
But finally, thanks to the merger of Onda Verde and Mondo Beat, the articles written by Antonio Pilati and Marco Maria Sigiani brought the wind of true counter-information to the pages of the magazine Mondo Beat. Pilati and Sigiani wrote on the Dutch Provos and on the events at the University of Berkeley and, on the other hand, focused their criticism on the conditions of the Italian school. They were original intellectuals, some of whom, Gianfranco Sanguinetti and Marco Maria Sigiani, were precursors of the Situationist International, of which they would become famous representatives. So, one can well understand how the contribution of Onda Verde to the magazine Mondo Beat was precious and how, thanks to this, the Magazine has taken deeper roots in the schools of Milan.
"Mondo Beat/Onda Verde - Numero Unico" (Issue 2) - December 30, 1966 - print run 5,200 copies
Note:
The first two pages of this issue were printed by letterpress, the others were mimeographed.
Contributors - Comments on the articles:
page 1-
The cover was conceived by Melchiorre Paolo Gerbino. The text reads 'Vittorio Di Russo imprisoned in San Vittore'.
page 2-
"Paolo", who signs the editorial, is Melchiorre Paolo Gerbino. I dedicated the cover and the editorial to Vittorio Di Russo, reminding how he was in prison due to an unconstitutional police injunction and a consequent unconstitutional sentence by the judiciary.
On the same page 2, there is an article written by Gianni Milano, entitled "Why these cannons?" (POURQUOI CES CANNONS?). The title of this article was written in French by Gianni Milano because he was from Turin and the Piedmontese pseudo-intellectuals suffer from French cultural complexes. Now, let's say a few words about Gianni Milano. As I have already said, at the beginning of November 1966, Fernanda Pivano, Vittorio Di Russo and I were in Verona at Mr. Donà's house, and I have described how Vittorio Di Russo had a paranoia crisis in that circumstance. Together with us in Verona, there was also Gianni Milano, who gave me this article, asking for its publication in the magazine Mondo Beat. I did it and later, after meeting Gianni Milano again, by chance, in Piazza Duomo in Milan, I asked him if he wanted to join the editorial staff of Mondo Beat magazine. But, after consulting Fernanda Pivano, Gianni Milano rejected my offer. And, since shortly afterwards it would have been evident that there was an irremediable contrast between Melchiorre Gerbino and Fernanda Pivano, Gianni Milano would have taken a position in her field. In fact, Gianni Milano would have taken a negative position towards Mondo Beat during the whole time of its story. But, over the years, Gianni Milano has understood what historical significance Mondo Beat has had and therefore has tried to appear as one of its significant characters. At one point, Melchiorre Gerbino has felt compelled to expel Gianni Milano from the history of Mondo Beat, kicking him in the ass officially. In the reconstruction of Mondo Beat's history in Italian, there are details on this kicking (here) but I don't think Gianni Milano is such an interesting character that I should translate all this into English.
page 3-
"The castrated choices" (LE SCELTE CASTRATE) (1) by "Agor" (Antonio Pilati).
This article was about the illusion of making choices in a system in which, in reality, one cannot, since the choices have already been made by the institution. This is one of the most brilliant articles published in the magazine Mondo Beat. Thanks to this article, Melchiorre Gerbino was facilitated in obtaining registration in the Special List of Lombard journalists, as director of the fortnightly student magazine "Mondo Beat". In fact, a copy of this second issue of the Magazine was delivered to Luigi Marinatto, a councilor of the Order, who had to decide whether to authorize registration or not. Luigi Marinatto liked the entire line of the Mondo Beat magazine and so much this article, "The castrated choices", that he expressed his congratulations to Antonio Pilati. But Luigi Marinatto would have had problems due to his approval of the ideological line of the magazine Mondo Beat and his authorization to have it registered in the Special List of the Order. Remember, we were in Italy, where the Vatican ruled politics with corruption and Mafia murders.
Luigi Marinatto
page 4-
"The castrated choices", (LE SCELTE CASTRATE) (2) by "Agor" (Antonio Pilati).
On the same page 4, "Letter to the Party" (LETTERA AL PARTITO) by Antonio Mariani. With this, Antonio Mariani distanced himself from all political parties, interpreting the position of the Mondo Beat Movement, which rejected all the political parties represented in the Italian parliament at the time. Antonio Mariani was the main character of a group of Beats in the city of Monza.
page 5-
"Letter of resignation" (LETTERA DI DIMISSIONI) by Lorenzo.
Lorenzo, following fashion, has written a protest poem, in the Beat Generation style. As he needed a starting point, he imagined resigning from an inhuman company, for not to be deprived of the best years of his life. See the consequences due to the massive brainwashing done by CIA agent Fernanda Pivano! Lorenzo was one of her victims. With so many problems he surely had in his life, he imagined one he didn't have.
page 6-
"Beatniks today" (I BEATNIKS OGGI) (1) by Renzo Freschi.
And again on Fernanda Pivano, Renzo Freschi was still feverishly copying her writings.
page 7-
"Beatniks today" (I BEATNIKS OGGI) (2) by Renzo Freschi.
But, due to the articles of the Onda Verde contributors, published in this issue of the Magazine, Renzo Freschi would finally have understood that, until then, he had written nonsense. So, in the next issue of the Magazine, he would write about the conditions of the Italian school, which he had suffered on his skin. Finally!
On the same page 7, "Think hard about it, Giacomino" (PENSACI BENE, GIACOMINO) and "Mondo Beat for children" (IL MONDO BEAT DEI PICCOLI). These were mockeries that Melchiorre Gerbino did respectively to the publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli (who sold buttons with protest slogans, applied by the provincials on their clothes) and to those who attended Fernanda Pivano's literary salon.
page 8-
Poems by Tella (Tella Ferrari) and Anita.
Tella Ferrari, a 16 year-old Israelite girl, did the precious job of typewriting all the mimeograph matrices of this second issue of the Magazine, making two copies of each page. Unlike my gross way of typewriting, which I did for the first issue of the Magazine, Tella Ferrari's was clean and error-free.
page 9-
"God exists/God does not exist" (DIO ESISTE/DIO NON ESISTE) by "G.F.S.".
Gianfranco Sanguinetti on the existence of God. This was the only article that Gianfranco Sanguinetti published in the magazine Mondo Beat. As I have already mentioned, he would have become one of the most famous representatives of The Situationist International.
On the same page 9, "Introduction to Buddhism" (INTRODUZIONE AL BUDDISMO) (1) by Gennaro De Miranda.
As I have already documented, the body of Gennaro De Miranda, the author of this article, was found in a ditch between two roads, not far from Umberto Tiboni's apartment, where he used to sleep. At the beginning of the investigations, the scientific police expressed doubts about the dynamics of the death of Gennaro De Miranda, whether he had been hit by a car and his body pushed into a ditch near the place of the accident, or if he had been killed elsewhere and his body was transported and abandoned where it was found. But then a lady, who lived in a house in view of the street where Gennaro De Miranda's body was found, said she heard a loud noise that night, like that of a man's body hit by a car. The moment when that lady heard this noise coincided with the moment when the scientific police calculated that Gennaro De Miranda had died. So, the case was classified as an accident.
page 10-
"Introduction to Buddhism" (INTRODUZIONE AL BUDDISMO) (2) by Gennaro De Miranda.
This article was in one of Gennaro De Miranda's pockets when he was found dead. He intended to write about Buddhism in the Magazine, being himself a Buddhist. After his death, no one would have written on this subject. Indeed, Melchiorre Gerbino and the newcomers Antonio Pilati and Marco Maria Sigiani, were far from Buddhist contemplation. They had, as a reference, Bertrand Russell, Wilhelm Reich, Jean-Paul Sartre, Peter Cadogan, Mario Savio and, of course, Bernhard de Vries, who launched the first smoke bomb on the occasion of the marriage of Crown Princess Beatrice with Claus von Amsberg.
page 11-
"For a social grammar on sex" (PER UNA GRAMMATICA SOCIALE DEL SESSO) (1) by Marco Maria Sigiani.
A brilliant essay on a taboo subject. Marco Maria Sigiani has contributed to giving an original line to the Mondo Beat magazine more than any other. And he was not only the most original, but also the best informed on significant international scenarios.
page 12-
"For a social grammar on sex" (PER UNA GRAMMATICA SOCIALE DEL SESSO) (2) by Marco Maria Sigiani.
This essay is based on the function of the conjunction "and" in evoking different sexual situations between Carlo and Anna, depending on whether Carlo is rich or poor ... Anna married or single ... as programmed by the code of morality of power.
page 13-
A text by Andrea Valcarenghi on the merger between Mondo Beat, Onda Verde, Sacco e Vanzetti Provos, which took place in his home.
As I have already said, the meeting was attended by Antonio Pilati, Gianfranco Sanguinetti, Marco Maria Sigiani, Andrea Valcarenghi representing Onda Verde; Giuseppe Pinelli representing Sacco e Vanzetti Provos; Gunilla Unger, Umberto Tiboni, Melchiorre Gerbino representing Mondo Beat. The procedure of the merger was officially open by two butlers in livery, to the surprise of Giuseppe Pinelli and Melchiorre Gerbino who, during the many bows of the two butlers, exchanged amused glances. Thus, Melchiorre Gerbino has believed that Andrea Valcarenghi, with this, wanted to clarify that he had no complexes because of his aristocratic status. In fact, one of the fathers of Anarchism, universally recognized as such, that is Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin, was a Russian prince who never suffered anarchist complexes because of his aristocratic status. But Melchiorre Gerbino would soon have understood that Valcarenghi's case was different from that of Kropotkin, due to a different intelligence quotient of the two. However, those were the days when we were very optimistic and Gerbino believed that one could stimulate more intelligence in Valcarenghi. But Gerbino harbored illusions, since Valcarenghi would have shown how the stupid gets worse over time.
We will have the opportunity to talk about it later.
page 14-
Under the Onda Verde logo, there is a text by Andrea Valcarenghi, in which he wrote that Onda Verde wanted what young people want.
Note:
The Onda Verde logo was created by Enea. With a pin, he has drawn it on a mimeograph matrix. Enea, a 17-year-old Milanese boy, had previously created the Mondo Beat logo.
