Speaking of The Sopranos, I had a guy in my cab the other night who grew up in the town of Verona, New Jersey, which is apparently the town the show is based on. He was a guitar-player-turned-money-manager and I picked him up from the Allman Brothers concert at Beacon Theater. He told me that growing up Irish in a predominantly Italian neighborhood was no small feat. In fact, most of his friends and neighbors suggested he change his name by taking the "O" from the front and putting it on the back, going from O'Corman to Cormano, to make him sound more Italian.
He also told me a story about how his best friend's old Italian grandfather stole their next-door-neighbor's pet rabbit from the backyard, skinned it, cooked it, and ate it. Was that customary in Italy in the old days? I doubt we'll ever see any meals of cooked pet rabbit on The Sopranos, though it'd certainly be more fun than watching the characters eat all that boring old pasta.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Pictures from a New York City cab driver.
58 comments:
You're so funny. ;)
-www.montgomerymaxton.com
Mhh poor bunny. I have to say I don't watch the sopranos, my hubby likes the show.
Love the blog.
LOL - That's great. I actually have a couple of stories like that, but I grew up in the deep South.
It's funny how many arguments are settled by a boiling pot of water and some cooked pets.
this post is dull, but thanks for giving us something. -ma
Stealing, killing and eating someone's (presumably a child's) pet? I hope that old Italian grandfather is being cooked --slow-cooked -- himself in the afterlife.
If the neighbors whose bunny was stolen were Italian themselves, I wonder if nonno's appetite set off an Old World-style vendetta that lasts to this day.
i have been driving a taxi in nyc for over 20 years and find your blog to be boring don t you really have more interesting pictures to show and better stories to tell
Travis, if you can do better, please go ahead and show us.
m.p.-- i have 2 unrelated questions, which i feel like this is the only place i can ask them at the moment.
do cabbies in your experience hate when people get in with multiple drop-offs? or also what about if they change their mind mid-trip and tell you a different drop-off locationa?
because what happened to me today, was i was with a business client, and we got in a cab on 61st & 5th. the guy wanted to get dropped off in times square to walk around. but after a few minutes, he said he'd rather go to his hotel. so we told the driver, "excuse me, we're going to 33rd & 7th instead". no answer. "excuse me, we're going to 33rd & 7th instead, did you hear me? no answer. "we're dropping him off first, then i'm going to brooklyn.". no answer. so i thought he was pissed for some reason and ignoring us.
Love your blog. Write longer.
RIP little bunny.
looks like Travis is trying to start an arguement.
That rabbit senario reminded me of "Roger and Me" the documentary that Moore did... it showed how some people in Michigan was so desperate to make money that this lady bred rabbits, grew them, and skinned them to sell as food. The sad thing was that he showed how she brutally beat the poor thing, then skinned him alive. T___T
But good blog, missed the pictures though. :D
I love your blogs. o and is it fun being a cabbie?
I drove cab here in Vegas,years ago, had plenty of stories. Love your New York Stories, yes I'm Italian..
Just wanted to let you know that I am a dispatcher/cabbie in Biloxi MS and enjoying reading your post in the evening when I come to work. Also my phone operator also looks forward to new post. Here the cab industry is not as exciting as there I am sure. Thanks for the blogs.
I love the insight of today's NYC - thanks
fuck you reedeal stereotypical redneck.
fuck you reeldeal stereotypical redneck.
I liked hearing about this fare because it is apparent you really enjoyed having him in your seat.
Someone worth sharing!
Keep up the good work girl. Your pics and stories are great.
Ignore the hater up there.
Peace.
I've never watched an entire episode of The Sopranos but love Gandolfini, great actor!
My favorite mob movies? Casino, The Godfather (the first one), Scarface, and now.. A History of Violence (not "really" a mob movie but great anyway)...
Great stuff, MP.. keep it up!
yeah MP, never mind the haters. your blog is set on my yahoo and i read it everyday along with the daily news. i like yoour stories better, they have more of a real perspective of the world, keep them coming.
robert from delaware
you guys must be blind. "reeldeal" is a members name
Ok Melissa, now do people stick up for you this hard in real life, or do they somehow only flex their digital muscles for you on the 'net?
People making comments about the people making comments about the people making comments ... I need a Geritol.
Troublemakers ... sheesh.
-ma
I don't know about the "stealing the neighboor pet" part, but here in italy rabbits are considered "edible", just like cows and chickens, they're part of our culinary tradition and there are many delicious (if you're not
veggie, that is) dishes based on rabbits...
Anyway, we don't usually go on a pet-slaughtering spree, you can find rabbit meat wherever they sell meat.
There's a place (vicenza) where they used to cook cats as rabbit surrogate, but that's another story...
Marcello
There is a movie that shows a woman coming home to find her daughters pet rabbit boiling in a large pot in her kitchen.
hey anonymous i was just expressing my opinion as a 20 plus years veteran nyc cab driver m p has been driving for less than a year the pictures she shows and the stories she tells do not compare to what myself and fellow hardworking cabbies have seen and heard over the years do you have a problem with that as far as can i do better i have had my stuff published already take a look on the internet there are plenty of nyc cabbie photo books poetry books books on cabbie stories m p isn t the first the difference is she is looking for publicity since she also works for a publishing company and the rest of us could care less since we are cab drivers first also i see alot of comments from people outside of nyc but none from her peers p s are you her mother
My grandfather grew up in Sicilly and after moving to the states he was unimpressed with the lack of rabbit at the grocery stores so he used to raise his own in the backyard and kill them for Sunday dinner every week.
Not one of my better childhood memories.
If Travis is so bored, why doesn't he go somewhere else? Or start his own blog?
Silly me I have be running around the woods with a shotgun when I should be in my neighbors yard
bah, rabbits taste like chicken!
Good punctuation there Travis
Hey, Travis: you talkin' to her, huh? You talkin' to her? You talkin' to her? Then who the hell else are you talkin' to? Go back to the movies...
MP: Tony Soprano is now pigging out on Sushi in the new season.
Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off of the street......
Ease back, Travis. She's a cabbie with a blog. No big deal. You have more - and better - stories than she does after 20 years in the business? Wow, that's amazing. What an insightful observation. Who would have thought that 20 years would generate more stories than one year?
As for all the other published cabbies - what's your point? Drive-by Shootings came out years ago, so she should just give up and not have a blog and not take pictures? Maybe everyone should stop writing about everything since, you know, people have already written stuff.
And just to snot it out a wee bit more - alot is not a word. I knew that 25 years ago, in third grade, before you ever flipped a meter. You can't fool a hater, and I'm a prime hater - dude, you're just hating on her. Stop hating and get your own steez going, you'll feel better.
Catching, killing, and skinning a domesticated rabbit is for pussies. Do that with a grizzly bear, and then the world will be impressed.
lol chucky you ever watch the movie taxi driver
Back hurt?? Try us....
http://www.JesusChristRx.com
"how's you'r chaueffers license?"
"Clean.....real clean...just like my conscience"
I love this blog. I love the Sopranos. It reminds me of growing up on Long Island. I had a guy in my high school class whos father was a mafia guy. This kid had some amazing cars and one of those real fast speed boats, I think It was called a Donzie ? boat. No one asked any questions. I am still alive, now in California.
I love Italian food.
Hey Travis, why don't you stop the jealous, whining like a bitch routine. If it bores you that much, why the fuck do you continue to read it ?
More ethnic groups should eat rabbits. They are stupid and hateful and they scratch! (I've got some scars from my first pet, Mr. Floppy. I wish my Uncle Digiovanni had cooked him up and saved me some misery)
Like your blog.
Hey Travis, next time you're driving around in YOUR taxis, stop and pickup some punctuation. You know, a few commas, some periods. I can handle the lack of caps, but the lack of a pause makes your thoughts just go on and on with no change or what if or what for just keep going and going with no stop or pause anywhere anyhow – you know what I mean? Do you drive that way? You talking to me? I'm the only one here.
Me and my good friend Elmer Fudd both appreciate the need for a good rabbit stew. 'Ol Thumper and dumplings, yum-yum. I doubt that boostin' said bunny from your neighbors backyard is some type of tradition, but if it is, it's got to be an Italian one. Being that I'm an Irishman named Patrick I'm going out now and enjoy my ethnic traditions and have a wee dram or two and dance with the lassies. They called stereotypes for a reason! Erin Go Braugh ya'll!!!
p.s. Don't worry, I'll call a cab!
No kidding Travis...some punctuation would be good. High time you got organazized.
After reading this blog entry and the comments...I think of Thumper and "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."
Just a thought: when people start criticizing you, that's the time you know you're famous
you are all right this blog sucks so i am outta here see ya p s check out the new show cash cabs on the discovery channel 6 pm new york time
Hey Travis - we're all looking at ya.
btw - this blog is fab. Being a real estate broker i take taxi's all the time so love your stories. I have plenty from the other side. Always hoping i get in your taxi but our hours are different.
Regards,
Downtown Pearl
funny - haha.
Thanks for keeping it real for us M.
-t
Hahaha MP you have more drama in your comment columns than in your blog!
Not that I don't love your blog...
I like any style you choose to write, whether your tired from a long hard day, or still pumped from a busy day...
Keep it up ;)
When we were kids our neighbor had a pet rabbit named Bullet. We used to go over to his cage & give him grasshoppers for a snack. Then one day, Bullet wasn't in his cage anymore. Later when we were older, we figured it out.
I live a town away from Verona in West Orange, NJ. I am also Irish. My neighbor's rabbit was killed by another neighbor.
Funny, those coincidences.
Rofl! I agree with Catherine. I'll bet M P has a good laugh over some of these posts...... at least, I hope so. She deserves it..... :o)
Jack
Wabbit...yum...kill the wabbit...kill the wabbit...hehehehe.
At least the wabbits tip better the "Ze French" eh?
Cool.. a celeb in the cab.. who'd a thunk it? ;)
Thanks for the fun read!
Love your blog. . . .they only advice my east coast cousins gave me in NYC last fall was "Stay out of the way of NYC cab drivers because they'll run ya down"
you have to watch the movie "Down by Law" by Jim Jarmusch... it has a great scene with Roberto Benigni talking about his grandmother cooking rabbits and then he does it himself while out "camping" with his "criminal" cohorts.It's one of my favorite movies and is by the same guy who made "Night on Earth", which is story vignettes about cabbies with Wynona Ryder doing a great part as a young L.A. cabbie in the opening story.
:D you're great....
I'm Italian..I'm from Bari..and I don't like rabbits...
But here is a "specialità"..
It's only a different custom....
In Korea, people eat dogs....
You were wrong, Artie shot one last night and cooked it up for his costumers!
travis keep a close watch on your bunny
Post a Comment