The Wolverine

We went to see The Wolverine. Predictable. Reluctant hero. Very thin love story to bring in female audience and/or sex sells. Mash-up of Samurai, Ninjas, and Gundams. All that was needed were pirates. All rolled up into a movie that was an hour too long and one sequel too many. Overall, a generous meh.

Plant ID Help

My SIL sent this beautiful basket containing a peace lily, ivy and elephant ear. Anyone out there know what these tiny white flowers are? Is this plant harmful to cats? Can it be planted outside?

Wordless Wednesday

If You Are A Member of the Sinistral Minority

Happy Southpaw, Kak-hander, Left-handed Day!

The Theory of Relativity and Spelling

45th Anniversary Bruno Gaetano Society
Sons of Italy
15. November 1953

A discussion began on my (2nd) cousin's Facebook page about how we could be cousins but our family surname is spelled differently. I thought I'd explain that here because I needed a blog topic for today and because, my cousin and I only recently "met." So, PT, this is for you and your sister, too.

Our great-grandfather, Antonio Donato Zeferino Todisco was born in 1855 in the town of Torre Le Nocelle in the province of Avellino in Italy. Proof of the spelling of the name can be found from the cemetery photos on The Genealogy of Torre Le Nocelle blog. Great-grandpa's gravestone is the 39th photo on the page, and the name chiseled in stone is spelled Todisco with an "i".

The major players in our story are the three sons of Antonio Todisco, (the three older gentlemen in the front row of the photograph) .Left to right (my grandfather, your great-uncle) Achille Todisco (b. 1889), then (my great-uncle, your grandfather) Alfred Todesco (b. 1891), and (our great-uncle) Guiseppe "Joe" Todesco (b. 1887). My father was named after Great-uncle Joe.

If the young man, Joseph Todisco, in the front row center looks familiar to you, it's because he is your father's first cousin and is my dad. Your dad and my dad looked a lot alike.  The man to my father's right is his brother, Mario Todisco (my uncle and your first cousin once removed). Since our fathers were first cousins, our relation to each other is second cousin. Your father and I are first cousins once removed. My dad is your first cousin once removed.

Now the spelling of the name. When I asked Dad why his Uncle Alfred's (your grandfather's)  last name was spell differently from ours, I was told:

When Uncle Alfred came to this country and had to sign his name at customs, he made a loopy "i" and dotted it, but the customs officer read it as an "e" and when he recorded it, he spelled Todesco. As an aside our grandfathers, Achille and Alfred, and our great-uncle Joe came to this country through the port of Boston, Massachusetts and not Ellis Island, New York.  If you do a search for Alfred Todesco on the Torre blog, you will find a copy of his WWII Draft Registration card and the family name clearly spelled with an "e".

So, that is how we are related, but spell our family surnames differently.

Battleship Cove

sail and gun mount of submarine
 USS Lionfish

While in Fall River, Massachusetts, Teague and I went to Battleship Cove.  This is a maritime museum of decommissioned WWII vessels. A must to visit if you have little boys, big boys, or a naval history buff. Visitors get to roam above and below decks, and vist the bridges of the battleship USS Massachusetts ("Big Mamie", the destroyer, USS Joseph P Kennedy, Jr, the corvette, Hiddensee, formerly of the East German Navy. There was also an exhibit of a couple of restored PT Boats. My favorite exhibit was the diesel submarine, USS Lionfish.

The Friday Five - In Memoriam

17. March 1919 - 4. August 2013

Last Sunday, my dad quietly passed away. He was 94 years old. Five facts about my dad.

1. Dad served in the Army Air Corps. during World War II. Attained the rank of Sergeant. He was in New Guinea and the Philippines. Was in the battle of Luzon. Dad got to be with his hero, General MacArthur. Pulled sentry duty to guard the General's residence in Manilla and occasionally chauffeured the General in his staff car.

An amusing story Dad told was while on sentry duty. Mrs. MacArthur and young son accompanied the General to Manilla after the island was retaken and secured. She didn't like to see the guard soldiers standing out in the rain, so she had the General order a small shelter to be built. After a long day of drilling Dad was sitting down while on guard duty when a Major came by. The Major called Dad on the carpet for sitting down and then roared, "And where did you get the chair?" "Mrs. MacArthur brought the chair to me, sir..." The Major threw his hands up in the air and walked away.

2. In 1951, Dad graduated from Portia School of Law (now New England School of Law) and in April of that year, passed the bar exam. Though he practiced general law, his specialty was criminal law. In 1968, he was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States. Not many lawyers attain this. The highlight of his trip to Washington DC, was a tour of  Speaker of the House, John McCormack's office (Mr. McCormack was from Massachusetts) and the House of Representatives. Dad was also invited to sit in the Speaker's chair in the House. In 1970, Dad was admitted to practice before the U.S Military Court of Appeals.

3. He was a Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus and a District Deputy. Loved history, political debate and politics; was a Town Meeting member. He self-published a political newsletter, The Iconoclast, and was instrumental in getting Proposition 2 1/2 passed.

4. When I first saw the picture of Dad as a young man (taken when he was about 20 years old), I thought with his dark eyes and thick, wavy, dark hair, he resembled the actor, Tyrone Power. Dad loved that. comparison.

5. Besides the law, Dad's passion was singing, and he had a beautiful voice. He had some classical training and wanted to be the next Pavarotti. He sang in his church choir, and his signature solo was Schubert's Ave Maria. He also sang with the Senior Center Goldenaires and eventually became the musical director. I have no doubt Dad will be taking over as the director of the Heavenly Choir.

He was wicked smaht and a fun guy to be with. Click on Joseph Todisco to read his obit.

I'll miss you, Pal, and yeah, you were as handsome as Tyrone Power.