Meredith Quill August 24, 2014 Share August 24, 2014 The Small Talk topic is for: Introductions Off-topic chatter Having virtual tea with forum buddies This is NOT a topic for actual show discussion. When you want to talk about the show: Figure out the nature of the topic you want to talk about Look for an existing topic that matches or fits If there is NOT an existing topic that fits, CREATE ONE! Examples of topics that populate show forums include (but by no means are limited to): Character topics Episode topics Season topics Spoiler topics Speculation topics In the Media topics Favourite X topics ...you get the idea Happy trails beyond Small Talk! Link to comment
AuntiePam February 28, 2016 Share February 28, 2016 Had a light bulb moment the other day. I'd been wondering how Gates and crew managed to find all those newspaper articles about the guests' ancestors. I'm picturing hundreds of people, poring over newspapers in basement libraries and newspaper morgues, going blind trying to find items. Then I found out that my own little county newspaper has gone digital, with an excellent Search function. D'oh! So all they need to know is a location, the names of the newspapers, and there ya go! I've spent several hours looking stuff up. My county paper filled space with "social" news. "Mr. and Mrs. John Doe spent Christmas the the home of -- other guests were -- ." The paper also printed a list of names of people who were admitted to the hospital. Can you imagine? I've learned that my mom was a champion speller in 1929 at her country school, and that my grandpa put up hay in September 1930. And I found the issue with my grandma's picture on the front page -- she had grown a lemon bush from the seed of a store-bought lemon. The article said that grandma placed a basket of clothes under the plant, to cushion the lemon when it ripened and fell off. How cool is that? 3 Link to comment
riverblue22 February 28, 2016 Share February 28, 2016 I found lots of great articles on Newspapers.com. It all depends on where your ancestors lived however. I hit the jackpot on some, and completely missed on others. 1 Link to comment
PRgal February 29, 2016 Share February 29, 2016 I wonder how easy it would be for them to find my ancestors - other than my paternal lineage. One of my great-grandfathers on my mom's side (mom's mom's dad) was an orphan and I know very little of his (first) wife (simple things like bound feet, barely literate, lived to 95 and was one of three or four sister wives. Basically what my grandmother and my mom told me). I guess it's harder on the female side in some countries? Link to comment
PRgal February 29, 2016 Share February 29, 2016 What country? China, mostly. Though my maternal grandmother was born and raised in Macau. My great-grandfather was an orphan and I don't know whether he had any siblings other than an older sister. Chinese families are supposed to have written records of family history, but as I said, I only have access to my dad's (where I learned that I'm a descendant of diplomats). Link to comment
riverblue22 February 29, 2016 Share February 29, 2016 My understanding is that the Chinese kept meticulous records of the male family line, but no records of the female ancestors. Link to comment
PRgal February 29, 2016 Share February 29, 2016 My understanding is that the Chinese kept meticulous records of the male family line, but no records of the female ancestors. Yes, but I should be able to find things out about the men on my maternal side. Except I don't know if the records still exist. I would REALLY love to know about my great-grandfather (maternal grandmother's dad) and HOW he went from being an orphan to being a successful businessman. Everything about him is so vague. Parents and kids - especially girl children - weren't exactly that close back in the 1930s in middle class/upper middle class households. And because he died when my grandmother was in middle school, I don't think she could have found out too much more even if parent-child relationships were different back then. Link to comment
QueBueno March 4, 2016 Share March 4, 2016 Had a light bulb moment the other day. I'd been wondering how Gates and crew managed to find all those newspaper articles about the guests' ancestors. I'm picturing hundreds of people, poring over newspapers in basement libraries and newspaper morgues, going blind trying to find items. Then I found out that my own little county newspaper has gone digital, with an excellent Search function. D'oh! So all they need to know is a location, the names of the newspapers, and there ya go! As long as there isn't a pay wall for the newspaper. It's especially distressing when most of the paper is free online, but the obituaries are managed by a service where after a few months you have to pay to see them. Sorry, I am not going to pay a monthly fee for something I am going to use once. How can this be a good business model? Charge me a buck per obituary and I would probably pay it. But for newspapers that are either free online or have a liberal policy for how often you use it before you have to pay, I have found some interesting things. I found a NY Times article about how one of my ancestors "murdered" a buddy of his. Judging from the article, I think these days it might be considered manslaughter, as it sounded like an accident. 1 Link to comment
AuntiePam March 4, 2016 Share March 4, 2016 Yes to the above. Newspapers.com seems to have a lock on this. Here's the link to the free website that includes my county newspaper -- http://clarion.advantage-preservation.com/ I haven't checked, but maybe this "advantage-preservation.com" has digitized other newspapers. Might be worth a look. Link to comment
Peanutbuttercup March 6, 2016 Share March 6, 2016 (edited) I just started watching this show regularly this season. I'm thinking about going back to buy some episodes to watch on Amazon Instant from season one (I can watch season two for free as part of Prime). I'd love to know if anyone has any favorite episodes from season one to recommend? I bought the one with Cory Booker because he's one of my favorites, are there any other especially good ones? Edited March 6, 2016 by Peanutbuttercup Link to comment
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