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On March 29, 1971, The Godfather, considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made, began principal photography in New York City. Because the film is a period piece,The Godfather actually presents a fascinating record of what 1940s-era New York City locations still existed in the early-1970s. Sadly, many of them are now gone. What still remains? Let’s take a closer look.

Did you see Lady M’s “shout out” to Big Guy’s dedicated “grassroots army?”Not only was it an opportunity to thank OBOTS everywhere, butt it provided the little people with the first up close and personal look at the rest of the presents MO got from Big Guy for her Fabulous 50 birthday:An eyebrow lift and new eyebrows: Eyebrows from the exclusive road kill caterpillar linea little lip enhancement:Lips from the duckbill collectionand a bit of a cheek lift with filler:Cheeks from the chipmunk pouch-filler collection Unfortunately, the little eye is congenital and while we try out best to minimize it...

These are five of my favorite movies with Father and Son. Name yours.

Most press accounts of Barack Obama's speech in Osawatomie, Kansas, Tuesday described it as delivered by the "president of the United States." And indeed the person delivering it analogized himself to Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and Bill Clinton. In fact, the Osawatomie speech was not given by the President of the United States. It was given by the leader of the Democratic Party. Most of the time, this distinction isn't a problem in the United States because historically people have tended to think that the office of the presidency represents "all the people." This doesn't mean everyone...

(snip)John-boy and BO have both been able to get in touch with their girly sides, it looks like they’ll be able to get together and work through their feelings on the pending fiscal Armageddon. I predict they’ll reach an amiable agreement on both tax increases and spending cuts. I smell an $18 trillion debt ceiling for Christmas! (snip)I can report that Big Guy’s already thinking about his next gig.(snip) (snip)Why can’t a two-bit politician who hit the political jackpot likewise be able to ply his trade in Hollywood?(snip) [A reading from the unreleased script for The Godfather IV(snip) Don Obama:...

Business owners Dee and Gene Liboff of Woodland Hills, California, just wanted to show their support for Mitt Romney in the coming election by putting up a handmade sign in front of their home. But what they were shown in return is the ugly side of some Obama supporters. Ever since putting up the sign, the Liboffs, who are members of the San Fernando Valley Patriots, have been engaged in a running war with vandals who have cut, pulled down, torn apart and ripped the sign out of the ground. Every time it happens, the Liboffs get out the tape...

The first reason is easy: Barack Obama. It is shocking to think that a Marxist could ever be president of the United States. But it happened. People always ask, “How could those people have sat back while ________________ came to power. That could never happen here.” Well, it did happen here. As a nation, we sat back and let Barack Obama win in 2008, and look at what we got. Granted, John McCain was not much of an alternative. Some people might argue that the reason I don’t like Barack Obama is because he’s black. There’s no truth it. There...

Paramount and the estate of Mario Puzo have come to an understanding on the release of the long-disputed, Puzo-outlined prequel novel The Family Corleone, after the latter made the studio a mediation offer it couldn't refuse, and other allusions to the movie that will soon follow. After the book detailing Vito Corleone's rise to power in Depression-era New York debuted in bookstores and online last Tuesday, the late author's son revealed that Paramount and the estate had reached a deal "several weeks ago" to put all of its profits in escrow until they can reach an agreement on the publishing...

A Charlotte County man is accused of injuring his girlfriend during a domestic dispute over cannolis, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office. According to reports, Scott DeCesare got into an argument with his girlfriend because she ate all of the cannolis. The girlfriend told deputies he was so angry he flipped over a coffee table in the living room, causing damage to it. She said she threw his dinner in the trash because she was mad at him. He then allegedly threw the food at her, hitting her in the shoulder and the face, reports said. DeCesare allegedly then...

A top Democrat in the Senate took a rare direct shot at GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney on Tuesday, arguing that Romney's past support of health care reform means the issue is "off the table" during the fall elections. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, the Democratic Conference vice chairman and former head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, blasted Romney during an outdoor press conference near the Supreme Court. The court is spending this week reviewing the constitutionality of the 2010 health care reform law that is President Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement. Schumer said Romney's support of a...

One reason for the longevity of "The Godfather" over the past 40 years is that, behind its gangster plot, is a classic story of an American family, tracing its journey from immigration and poverty toward assimilation and success. In fact, it's not just the story of the Corleone family, but of the Coppola family as well. The movie feels like a personal glimpse into a family album, but it's director/co-screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola's family album as much as it is the fictional Michael Corleone's. True, the characters came from Mario Puzo's novel. But, on screen, Coppola not only invested them...

The primary’s on Saturday the 21st. He’s promising to endorse on Thursday the 19th at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, which happens to be hosting a presidential debate that same day. He’s timing it for maximum impact, in other words, right down to his choice of which primary to target: As a Georgia native, he might have a bit more sway over voters in SC than he would have had over Iowans, assuming he has any sway left over anyone. Question: Who would value his endorsement the most? Perry’s desperate for positive buzz of any kind but Cain’s already ruled...

In an interview with Wolf Blitzer, Herman Cain said a new accuser would be coming forward to accuse him of having a 13-year affair with him. No links yet as the story is currently breaking and details are still being released. Apparentally a Georgia TV station has the exclusive.

Starting with the "top of the fold" Japanese Version of the daily "Wall Street Journal", the Japanese vernacular press is brimming full of articles mentioning Herman Cain is the new front runner in the GOP race for the party's nomination for 2012. This news seems to have exploded overnight.It will be quite a task to translate all these in full. Here are some representative samples from today I saw, using "Google Japan (News)". I shall endeavor to provide a URL link and title translation for just a segment of them, which have all appeared in the last 48 hours, particularly...

I admit that when five of the Republican candidates for president appeared at their lecterns in the first televised debate of the season, I said to myself, oh no. Not another black guy. We’ve already been snookered into electing the first black president who has turned out to be a total flop at managing the country. I watched the entire debate, however, and by the time it was over, I was convinced we should have waited and made this guy our first black president. We should have withheld the honor until a black candidate appeared whose job application showed him...

Former pizza chain CEO, tea partier and potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain closed out CPAC on day two, declaring that "the American Dream is under attack," and that "stupid people are ruining America." Cain said that the American Dream is being attacked by what he calls "the -ations" -- legislation, regulation, and taxation. He continued that Republicans need to repeal and replace health care reform, and also "throw out" the "messed up tax code" and replace it with a new system. The "objective of the liberals is to destroy America," he Cain continued, but "if you can get...

Caan, who appeared in the classic mobster film "The Godfather", even offered to stand bail for alleged Mafia hitman Andrew "Andy Mush" Russo. He revealed the alleged killer is godson to his son Scott, star of the TV crime series Hawaii 50. The 76-year-old Colombo family crime boss was among the more than 125 suspected mob members seized in a series of coordinated raids across New York and New Jersey last week. The takedown was the biggest operation mounted by US authorities to smash the five crime families running organised crime in New York. Russo is alleged to have killed...

Movie fans already know the "Godfather" house, located in the New York City borough of Staten Island, inside and out. It's where Don Corleone lived. But few ever imagined that they themselves could live in mafia high style. Curbed.com has the scoop. It takes a lot to get us interested in Staten Island property -- at least until that subway becomes a reality -- but when a house hits the market with its own English pub in the basement, and that's the second most interesting thing about it, we definitely take notice. The "Post" 's Jennifer Gould Keil reported today...

Arches of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral rise 85 feet. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/12/03/2010-12-03_new_day_at_old_st_pats_pope_designates_historic_church_citys_first_basilica.html#ixzz175QlZeFn You can just picture Martin Scorsese as an awestruck boy inside St. Patrick's Old Cathedral on Mulberry St. - its arches flying heavenward, sunlight peeping through stained-glass saints, its organ pumping.He paid homage to Old St. Pat's in "Mean Streets" and in "Gangs of New York," where he depicted a night in 1844 when Archbishop John Hughes filled the street with 3,000 armed Catholics ready to fight an approaching mob of Protestants.When Francis Ford Coppola needed a beautiful sanctuary to contrast with his operalike multiple-murder scene in "The...

Everyone knows everything about the Godfather trilogy. Its quotability, alone, is astounding: legions of fans know every line, plot, subplot, and sub-subplot and can mimic the mannerisms of Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro. But as familiar as the trilogy may be, there are still plenty of nuggets of Godfather goodness that may surprise you. Here are ten things you may not have known about Francis Ford Coppola's epic triptych. 1. Marlon Brando, James Caan, and Robert Duvall enjoyed mooning the cast and crew. The trio of actors engaged in a mooning competition during the course of the...