Personal notes
 This is me, Luca Gallina |
 I was born in Asolo... a small but beautiful town celebrated by the italian poet Carducci ("the city of one hundred horizons"), home of exile Caterina Cornaro (Queen of Cyprus) since 1489, of Eleonora Duse (the great theater actress, died in 1924), of Freya Stark (the famous English female explorer, died in 1993). In 1985, to celebrate Freya's birthday, the Queen Elizabeth II sent to Asolo the Royal Household Cavalry. Roots of Asolo are very ancient, from the top of the hill the old Roman-origin fortress still watches the medieval aspect of the town that you can admire nowadays. See http://www.asolo.it/ENG/index.php |
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| The Gallina families presence in Maser dates back at least on 1490. Documents confirm that there were many of them at that time so it is likely that the Gallinas settled in Maser long before. Family name origin is not yet clear, one track leads to the Asiago plateau and Germanic roots. Other researches lead to noble families in Venice (by the way, Giacinto Gallina was a famous comedy writer born in Venice in 1852). |
 Maser is also located along the "mount Grappa - Piave river" battle front of World War 1. The hills still preserve a series of trenches, tunnels and observatories.
From 1917 through 1918 a French artillery unit was deployed at my grandparents house.The very first shell they fired hit and destroyed an old olive tree in the barnyard (their aim eventually improved in the next shots).
The King Vittorio Emanuele III visited the battle front in 1918 and took a rest at my grandparents house. |
now I live in Volpago del Montello |
Aviation related
Indeed, I am a big aviation fan.
Among the large count of military facilities in the area (should the Communist block invaded Italy, the Treviso county was charged to oppose to the enemy as it did during the Great War), we had two Italian Air Force airports plus an USAF airbase not so far away. I grow up with jet noises, especially the GE-J79 engines that powered the F-104 Starfighters and F-4 Phantoms.
Nowadays, the Communist invasion is no more a threat so many facilities and barracks have been closed. The Treviso airport (former 2nd Wing) is no more military operational, but Istrana's 51st Wing is still busy, hosting two squadrons of AMX plus, when needed, foreign forces (during the Kosovo war in 1999, French Mirage 2000 and Jaguar squadrons were deployed at Istrana).
 One of the last operational Starfighters in the world!
I love this plane, a legend! F-104 ASA-M, 4° Stormo
(normally based at Grosseto).
Istrana Air Force Base, January 20, 2003 |
 In the cockpit of an operational F-104 ASA-M,
37° Stormo (normally based at Trapani-Birgi).
Feet on pedals, hands holding stick and throttle, face showing a real aviation enthusiast smile! Istrana Air Force Base, January 20, 2003. |
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 A shot before the unique flying Wright's Flyer replica in Europe!
The photo was taken at Giancarlo Zanardo's "Jonathan Collection".
Behind the Flyer, barely visible, there are also a
real 1941 Tiger Moth, a Fokker DR1 replica, a P51D replica...
all flying! Nervesa della Battaglia (TV), December 20, 2003 |
In the cockpit of an operational
of 132° Gruppo, 51° Stormo AMX plane. |
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Arts
The musical branch
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My grandfather was one of the founders of the Maser brass band in 1925. He's the one sitting in the center of the photo. .He also used to play a guitar he made by himself. Click here to see some photos of the band along the years. |
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 My father played that guitar when he was young (he's here depicted in 1946), then spent several years in the brass band playing bass. |
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As a child, I didn't like much the wind instruments so I started playing watever else was available at home or at relatives' home...mandolin, guitar, piano. At 18 I joined a friends' rock band and played bass guitar for three years: I have very few pictures of that time, here is one shot taken in a relaxed (and funny) situation.After 20 years (meanwhile I switched to synthesizers) we re-united the band for the most of our pleasure. Pink Floyd, Marillion and PFM (italian progressive rock band) were the pieces of choice. The band was actually a group of friends, there's no boundary line between our playing music and our living a long friendship. Both my two daughters are now studying piano, which make them the fourth generation of musicians. |
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Laser devices
I recently have been asked to develop a laser beam show device by a tribute band that wanted to recreate the exact show of the Rockets, a French space-rock band very famous in Italy from 1978 to 1984. The laser is a a class IV 3.5 Watt argon tube, some shots and videos are at http://www.plasteroide.com (look for photo and media sections)