Hi ladies and gents. I have a confession to make. Until AMC's Godfather marathon weekend before last, I had never allowed myself to watch the Godfather series.

I've always known plenty of people who like the series as well as the book. And I suppose being from rural south Georgia and having predisposed ideas about the Mafia are the reasons why I never had watched them. I've seen a couple of episodes of the Sopranos. But I pretty didn't allow myself to catch on to it for the same reservations that I had about the GF series.

But a week and a half ago, I was absolutely mesmerized by it all. First I watched them out of order and in bits and pieces. Then I started GFII from the beginning before being interupted. But I saw enough to make me care about the characters - especially Michael.

I've been reading this board now for 10 days. And I know that I have a long way to go. I've already learned a lot from all of you. And have taped the movies so that I can go back and watch some of the scenes and characters discussed.

I've been transfixed. And I think it's a safe bet that I'll be watching the movies again and again, trying to figure out the answers to all of my questions.

I'm not Italian. But count me in as a definite fan. I guess I'll have to read the book now. ;-)