Goomba

Who here is an ILX goomba?

Poops McGee/Oops/Buttch, of course!

http://www.mkdadams.com/ihsband/pumbaa.jpg

(Oddly enough, I had a professor in college who looked like that.)

(man, I wish more people outside Australia knew Eric Bana's Poida character, I wonder how it'd affect his star status? heh)

A "goomba", techinically, is either the godfather to your children, or the father of your godchildren. In Italy, being a Godfather is the greatest sign of respect you can give to someone (Amerigo Buonasera to thread), so if someone is your Goomba, you obviously hold them in great esteem.

However, in the south of Italy (Naples, Calabria, Sicily) "goomba" is just another term for thread, much in the same way as, say, "guv" is in the South of England.

Goomba = shit.

Now the carnage begins in earnest.

I'm giggling like a schoolgirl.

For the stars of the new reality TLC series, "Mama's Boys of the Bronx," growing up doesn't mean saying goodbye to mom -- or even leaving the nest.

Frankie Pairulli is a 38-year-old construction worker, a polite and eligible bachelor, who still lives at home with his parents in a working-class neighborhood near the Bronx. And he has no plans of moving out.

"Why get my own apartment when I can be right here with my mother and my family who I love?" Pairulli asked "Nightline." "Why move?"

Across the country, as many as three in 10 adult children live at home because of the bad economy. But it's not money woes that keep Pairulli living at home. He doesn't pay rent, but he helps around the house and helps pay bills.

"The economy has nothing to do with it," he said. "I have a great job. I'm a union worker. I make good money. My union is pumping with work."

His mother, Gina Pairulli, caters to his every need, cleaning up after him and making him home-cooked meals every day. Pairulli isn't embarrassed. In fact, he's proud of it.

Simply put, Pairulli is a mama's boy. And now, he is a part of yet another reality TV series about a cast of Italian-American characters, along with Anthony, 36, an aspiring cartoonist, Chip, 36, a personal trainer, Giovanni, 38, an aspiring fashion designer and Peter, 28, an aspiring actor. All of the boys live at home with mom, with the exception of Giovanni and Peter, who live at home with their Aunt Gina and father, Gus, respectively.

"Mama's Boys of the Bronx" is another addition to a reality TV world of "Cake Boss," "Mob Wives," "Real Housewives of New Jersey" and, of course, "Jersey Shore." But some Italians feel that reality shows like "Jersey Shore" only perpetuate negative stereotypes about Italian-Americans.

"I am angry," Pairulli said. "I won't go out drunk, go crazy, I am not a gangster, a mobster. ... And after that, you have 'Jersey Shore,' and I don't even want to go into that.

"Everyone is looking at it like this is the Italian life," he said. "It's not what the Italian life is about. ... Half of the people aren't even Italian."

Pairulli and the rest of the stars of "Mama's Boys" said their lives are more true to the real ways of Italian families.

"There is no show like 'Mama's Boys,'" Pairulli said. "It's to show the world a little more of our heritage. ... We are showing our traditions and values and showing how we were really raised."