But it's funny to remember back and realize how closely he must have been watching me, because right after they sent him up (Joe Bell showed me his picture in the paper. Blackhand. Mafia. All that mumbo jumbo: but they gave him five years) along came this telegram from a lawyer. It...
The family (la famiglia) rested at the heart of Italian society. Family solidarity was the major bulwark from which the rural population confronted a harsh society, and the family unit (including blood relatives and relatives by marriage) became the center of allegiances. Economically and socially...
The Brinks Jobwas edited by my old pal Bud Smith. Jere Huggins, another friend once told me that while they were working on it, on location in Boston, a group of Mafia thugs came into the cutting room. It seems that while filming in down...
She appeared in 1991’s Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter is Dead, 1996’s Mars Attacks, 1998’s Mafia, and 2015’s Vacation sequel. She is no stranger to comedy, and was the brilliant antagonist (Veronica Corningstone) to Will Ferrell’s Ron Burgandy in Anchorman. Anchorman is set in 1...
27. Mafia Economy The Mafia is no joke. Their network in Italy is so large, it's estimated that they make up 7% of the country’s entire GDP. Shutterstock Advertisement 26. Fast Cops There is no escaping the Italian traffic police. Not because they are that good, but because they somet...
Giovanna & Angiolino: a pop song (yes, it’s relevant) A Note on Blasphemy Some of these words and phrases fall into the category ofbestemmie(blasphemy): taking the Lord’s (or Jesus’ or Mary’s) name in vain. Be aware that these may be considered particularly offensive by some peop...
For fans of Caravaggio, two of his paintings can be found in Messina and Siracusa, while a third, found in the Oratory of San Lorenzo in Palermo, exists now merely as a replica, but with a fascinating backstory involving a Mafia robbery. Following an earthquake in 1693 that devastated much...