Is it too late for Geoff to add this thread to that contest??

You think we're related??

I went through Part II quickly (don't have the energy now) to see that hairstyle in it.... I'm sure its there somewhere (in the flashback scenes).

Same woman (from that 1900 photo) some 40 years later:

SC, That woman in that pic above is the spitting image of The Col's dad's mom. She wore her hair the same way in a bun. I never got to meet her cuz she passed on before I met him.

Thanks SC, Gina, TIS and Beth. You are all too kind.



Thanks Turnbull!

Yes, these belong to Haft-seen (7 S's) table. We put seven items that begin with letter "s" in Persian on a tablecloth and right at the moment of beginning of spring that even can be in odd hours of the morning sit around it to observe our New Year. The items are primarily wheat sprouts (sabzeh), apples (seeb), vinegar (serkeh), sumac, garlic (seer), senjid (silverberry, of oleaster tree perhaps), samanu (a dish) or coins (sekkeh).

We also put candles, mirror, colored eggs and gold fishes on this tablecloth as well. These items symbolize health, love, affluence, patience, cleanness, rebirth and fertility which everyone invites to their lives once again with coming of each New Days (Nowruz).

OMG, now... after Alistair, I want a beautiful daughter like this!!

Unfortunately... but hopefully the "judges" will find it...

Afs, your pics are breathtaking. Thanks for sharing, hon.

Thanks Ice.

Thanks JG! Her name would be Elizabeth, remember? Maybe we should send our pix to Conan O'Brien and ask him what our kid would look like if we mated.

HE would be beautiful! (as long as you had 99% influence)... so would his future sisters....!

Either way they should end up fine, but with Conan you never know.

We don't need Conan to name our kids, thanks...

Not name them, just predict what they would look like with the machine he has bought from FBI.

And why would they (except, of course, having my DNA)... not be perfect?

How's about we send a representative or two to meet with these "judges" and...ah...persuade them to find it?

Besides, I thought our Don had all those judges in his pocket...

Seriously, though, there have been some wonderful pictures posted here. Reading the histories behind the photos has made this old cynic a bit teary-eyed on several occasions. SC came up with a real winner with this one.

Signor V.

I cannot get over SB's story about her mother meeting her uncle for the first time. I can't imagine the emotion of the old man suddenly realizing he's seeing (for the first time) his own brother's daughter. I literally get choked up just thinking about it.

I would pay to see something like that (and, hell, I don't even KNOW these people).

Really sorry to keep coming back to this post, but goosebumps again!

That hadda be awesome!

It was amazing, SC. We got off the plane, in this absolutely beautiful country, and hoping maybe this priest will be there to show us around, and there's this huge crowd, waving banners and chanting my mother's name, and their holding huge bouquets of gladioli for my mom.

And then to meet Zio Vincenzo! My mom was very close to her dad, and she really took his death hard. To see this man, her father's brother for the first time, was just amazing. We only got to see him one more time after that trip before he passed away, and by then he had had a major stroke, but that blood tie is incredible.

Mr. Babe and I have been back to Sicily three times. We tease Mr. Babe that I'm the blood and he's just the water, but they adore him, too.

Great stories guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SC's right, it really is goosebump time. I'm tearing up, and I don't know any of these people. I can only imagine the emotions of the actual day.

Blood is blood. It's simply amazing.

Having met Mr. Babe a few times that doesn't surprise me.

It's so true. I experienced this when I was in Italy. Whenever a local in one of the cities or towns would ask me if I was an American, I would tell them, in Italian, that I have Italian Blood, SANGUE italiano Nelle Mie Vene, in my veins. And they would embrace me as if I were a part of their family.

You're practically paisan.

Well, I haven't been to Italy but it is true. I can tell from parents, and grandparents while growing up. A certain pride in their heritage (probably everyone from every background has this pride, I don't know). If someone is Italian that made him/her a little more "special". When I was a young girl dating someone new they'd ask, "Is he Italian?"

One tv show a few years back in the credits listed a writer with the same last name as mine (maiden name). My parents got such a kick out of it. They watched the show every week to see it. ha ha ha. They're so cute.

TIS

I was showing a friend some of the pics in here, and it was really difficult to explain why they mean so much to me/us. Ah well, I guess we're our own biggest fans here. Haha..

I hope the momentum of this thread continues, and we get to see some more pics of our BB familia. Aside from our "elder statesmen/women" and Italian paisini, the BB is truly international. I hope that we get to view "GodFather-Era" pics of our other overseas friends, as well as our friends who are 1st-2nd generation Americans. This thread is a very educational experience for us ALL.

Thanks, afs! Very interesting! Another value of this thread is the cultural insights we get from people all around the world.

I have just this moment discovered a "hidden" setting on my scanner that will let me make higher-resolution scans. And, I do mean "hidden". If it's not staring me in the face, chances are I'll never find it.

I will try and re-scan the small b&w pictures I've previously posted, then edit the posts.

Meanwhile, here's a great shot I just found:

Time: Very early 1940s (most likely)
Place: The rooftop of an apartment building in Brooklyn

Obviously, a gag shot. (I hope!) Some, er, "friends" of my mother's younger brother (my Uncle Phil). The man holding the gun is Phil's lifelong friend Milton. The man kneeling may be my uncle, but I have my doubts. (He never would have been caught!)

This proves, without a doubt, that the Jewish gangsters were every bit as tough as the paisans!

Edit: I resized the picture. Also, the schmendrick on his knees is definitely not my uncle!

Cool picture!!

That coulda been practice for Abe Reles' flight from the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island.

Note to others viewing the picture: Click on the "link", and that'll open the picture in another window; Click on that picture to enlarge it.... much better resolution with this setting, SV!

Jeez!! What happened?? The picture shouldn't have been that big! I edit my images in PaintShopPro, and it should have only been around three and a half inches high! The earlier (smaller) pictures posted actual size.

I'm gonna have to do a little experimenting (and post editing)and find out more about what settings translate into what image size on the BB.

Signor V.

The bigger the better, SV... just not *too* big

And I was always told that size didn't matter...

I can't seem to figure out this resizing thing (as I mentioned to SC in the Help forum).

I tried two different smaller sizes for the photo I posted above. (I wanted a larger image than what I ultimately settled for.) There was a 15% difference between the two. However, they both came out the exact same size when I posted them here. (First I posted one, then replaced it with the other.) In fact, the larger of the two resizings actually had a slightly smaller file size that the smaller one.

Go figure.

Signor V.