My grandmother wore black the rest of her life when my grandfather died at 52 (I never knew him) My grandmother lived into her 80s. To see her in a bright colored dress (her request) at the funeral was so strange.

I remember old timers of that generation taking notice of Italian widows who didn't wear black for a year or (God forbid) at all. )



TIS

Edit

Italians are pretty similiar to us, Croats, in a lot of ways. I recognize a lot of these things haha.

Foots, are you going to video or take photos of the Festa? Read your pm.

One thing that many Italians don't realize is that Italy is just a short trip across the Adriatic Sea to Albania and the mix of other ethnic based slav countries. I had a student from the east side of the Adriatic who worked in an Italian restaurant and spoke broken Italian. I called him Quasi-Paisan.

Of course. Slovenes too are very similar to native Italians.

You know you're Italian if you're more embarrassed by "Saturday Night Fever" than by "The Sopranos" or "The Untouchables."

So true. Giggle.

You know you're Italian if you had to ask a staff member at Barnes and Noble to get a book down for you on the top shelf because you were too short to reach it.

Boy, can I relate!!! I have a step stool to reach the top cupboards.



TIS

Talk about short. My paisan mother was just 4'11".

Listen to Patrizio Buanne




https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LinbIqpVhuA

I like when he plays Bella Bella Signorina and does his dance. Meow. But I didn't see it in the video. He has such a fun energetic personality and his singing is pretty good. Thanks for sharing, Foots.

YOU too TIS!! I'm glad I'm not the only one

Look at this video of Jerry Vale when he was only twenty making his first appearance on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour in 1950. He's such a nice young man huh. RIP

https://youtu.be/IjyzTqqJNcw

Jerry vale use to buy his suits in Italian Harlem some place near or on 3rd ave and a Hun 6.

When I got older I bought mine in the same place I bought my first shark skin suit from that place.

I saw him at the Copa years and years ago.

I heard Patrizio on the Wiseguy show on radio when he introduced that album. Like they had that video in the coliseum. But the scaffolding took away from the beauty of the place. They could have had the same affect doing it outside the coliseum without that stuff.

Yes alfanosgirl I will have someone make a video of the Giglio feast at Mt, Carmel. You know what's crazy I have been looking for a three bedroom apartment near Rao's. So I have less traveling to get to the fiest and to Rao's.

I saw a place on 2 ave and a Hun 16 street. Then I go on one of my soccer sites that I post on. There is a picture of the place that I am interested in renting on that site. I went wild I can't look up something on the Internet without every advertiser on the Internet knowing about it?

I hate that shit.

A-Girl,

My parents loved Jerry Vale. One of my dad's favorites. In later years I believe they saw him perform on cruise they went on.


TIS

I get a call from my older brother Ralphie yesterday he is almost 80. I stopped talking to him almost a year ago. He has words with my oldest son and wants me to tell a grown man to apologize to him. I told him my son is a 45 year old man it's between you and him not me.

So he gets upset with me and tells me he won't talk to me again. I said that up to you.

He called to tell me he had a triple bypass a month a go. He is okay now he was walking and stuff last week. He was always a weak willed person. I guess he thought he was going to die so he wanted to get back on speaking terms with me again.

I ask him if he got laid since he has been home. He tells me no. So I ask him did you get the nurses to jerk you off doing the bed bath. He laughs tell me he did think of it. I say you are getting old.

So I say lets go lift the Giglio at mt Carmel on August 14.

He tells me I just had triple bypass I say so? If you die I can't think of a better way to go.

Another feast comming up in Brooklyn Santa Rosalia on 18 ave. from August 18 until August 28.

A different feast every minute here. I go to all of them. No soccer tournament unfortunately.

Ok, great thanks Foots. Please don't get anybody in the video that doesn't want to be seen. I don't want Johnny Fingers to come looking for me Then, I can put it on my channel or link to it. I am very interested in capturing the giglio and at least one Neapolitan song if you can manage that for me, I'll be all smiles. Anything else would be a plus! This is the same feast that they used to do in Cliffside many years ago when my family would take part in it. So it means a lot to me.

In 2014- At the Saint Rocco Festa in NYC, I got Cha Cha to say a few words for me. It made my video better. RIP Cha Cha. So if someone wants to commentate a little bit that would be nice.

You can rent an apartment over there for the weekend?

Yes but you can also rent it for the year. It's not cheap. I think I will find out if Roastbeef is comming in for it. If he does he can comment on it.

Ok, Foots, sounds good. Thanks.

You know you're an Italian girl if you NEVER had your date kiss you good night at the front door. You had to park 3 blocks away to do your kissing there. This was to ensure your date would get home in one piece.

Isn't he so wonderful! That must have been so nice to go on a cruise AND get to see Jerry Vale perform. Wow!

Yes, A-Girl, they were thrilled to have been able to see Jerry Vale. Tho not Italian, they saw Steve & Eydie once too. They liked them as well.

Not sure if this was only an Italian thing or not, but back when I was a kid, for special occasions Italians rented a Knights Of Columbus or American Legion Halls. My sister and I (we're a year apart) made our confirmation at the same time. My parents rented an American Legion Hall for the occasion. Heck between both sides of the family, Aunts/Uncles, 1st, 2nd cousins, there'd be at least 100-200 people.

My wedding (way way back) was at a Knights of Columbus Hall.
Nowadays, I'm not even sure where or if they are still around.




TIS

We had both. We attended christmas parties at the Legion Hall. But we also had the Italian Club where they held a heck of alot of festivities.

TIS, I really like Eydie Gorme's voice. She sings with Los Panchos too and together they sing two of my fave Spanish songs, "Noche de Ronda", and "Nosotros". I think she is part Italian. But I'm not 100% certain. If you ever get a chance listen to those songs, they're just beautiful .

Yes, renting out the halls is what my family did too. And their yearly bash was always for New Year's Eve. Some of the men would come in dressed as women swinging their pocketbooks. And then one of the uncles would dress up in a diaper and hat like the Baby New Year. Then, they'd dance and parade around. They were a bunch of nuts I swear. I actually have a few pics of the party so I'll share one so you know I'm not making this stuff up

Seems like you had a huge family too. Those were the days!

Here's one of the pics.

A lot of Croatians who live in Istria region of Croatia(and the better part of Dalmatia) speak fluent or broken Italian. Real Istrians speak fluently, but those who live in Dalmatia speak broken Italian. It's because Istria is(still today) in some part owned by Italy, as well as Slovenia and Croatia, although majority of the territory belongs to Croatia. However, Italians had a stronghold in Istria for quite some time and the language was, as it goes, passed on generation to generation. In Dalmatia, the tourist center of Croatia, they have to speak at least a little bit of Italian because of the tourists.


Yeah, there's an entire section filled with Italians in a smaller part of Slovenia, but Slovenia was also under Italy's rule at one point in history, just like Istrian/Dalmatian part of Croatia.

Paolo Maldini, great Italian center/full back was of Slovenian descent.

It's great fun eating or drinking al fresco in Italy and watching the waiters trying to attract customers.

It's like watching a performance. It's very entertaining.

Ha ha ha!!! How fun! Some of those old pictures are wonderful. When I look back there are certain photos, that I treasure.

I know you Italians know that drink that was always served in a shot glass at weddings? Anisette? (Didn't Vito Corleone have a shot?) Anyway I never did care for the taste of it, but was quite popular at old-time Italian weddings.

TIS