Happy September! Goodbye summer!
Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself since a new heat wave is building across the country, including Illinois!
Thank you for taking the time to check out my random thoughts.
NOW THAT IT’S “METEOROLOGICAL FALL”
“Meteorological fall” is September, October, and November, the three months between the hottest and the coldest months.
Some call Labor Day the “unofficial end of summer”, but if you want to just stick to the autumnal equinox (fall), that’s September 23rd at 1:50 a.m. CDT.
Photo Credit: Shairaa/Shutterstock
EMMY AWARDS POSTPONED
With the Hollywood writers and actors strike going on, this year’s Emmy Awards have been pushed back to NEXT YEAR on January 15, 2024.
I guess this gives you time this fall to binge watch shows and performances that have been nominated.
“MONSTER: THE JEFFREY DAHMER STORY”
When the true crime series, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” hit Netflix in September 2022, it was a huge success.
The series and its stars — Evan Peters as Dahmer and Niecy Nash as Glenda Cleveland, Dahmer’s neighbor — started winning huge industry awards. The series and stars are nominated for 13 Emmy Awards (seven in the Creative Emmys category).
I watched it and it was an excellent crime series and the acting was superb!
GRADE: A-
CONTROVERSY
However, Netflix, the producers, and even the stars faced backlash from the families of the victims. They’re accusing those involved in the series of “profiting off their traumatic experiences” and “retraumatizing” the family all over again.
One victim’s relative stated, “I want people to understand this is not just a story or historical fact, these are real people’s lives.”
I fully understand that and they’re right. For them, I know the pain will never go away and seeing shows or documentaries about it dredges up the horrible memories.
However, it’s been 30-plus years and dramatizing events for television or movies are not new and it’s not unique to the Dahmer case.
I know if it was my family member, I wouldn’t be watching!
MY CONNECTION (?) WITH DAHMER
Back in the summer of 1990, at the age of 25, I moved from Kentucky to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While I was only there for a few months into the fall, I enjoyed my job as a bartender at “Partners”, one of the oldest LGBTQ bars in the city.
One night I went out drinking with my friends and co-workers in the seedier part of the gay district at C’est La Vie and Club 219.
Needless to say, I had way too much to drink and the scary alley, while unsavory, was a great place to puke before we moved on elsewhere!!!
I didn’t think too much about it at the time, but when serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested, I got chills. Club 219 was one of his favorite haunts and he picked up some of his victims there!
I used to keep journals and my night at Club 219 coincided with the stalking and murdering timeline of one of his victims.
He very well could have been lurking in the corner that night I was totally wasted!
“THE GREAT”
I just finished season three of the Hulu hit, “The Great”.
Both leads, Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult were nominated for Emmys in the lead comedy categories last year.
While I loved the first two seasons, I only liked this one. It had its moments.
As I watched this season, I found myself hoping this would be the last season. And, then when a major character was killed off (?), I realized three seasons were enough.
Well, be careful what you ask for. Earlier this week, it was cancelled.
If you haven’t watched it, I highly recommend it.
SEASON 3 GRADE: B-
“GOLDA”
While “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” are still dominating the box office around the world, “Golda”, the movie about Israel’s first (and only) female prime minister opened to a decent box office.
In only 883 theaters, it made $1.7 million in its opening weekend. (For reference, “Barbie” was played on 3,700+ screens.)
I definitely want to see the movie, but I may have to wait until it streams or is released on DVD since it’s not playing in Decatur, Illinois.
“GOLDA: THE LIFE OF ISRAEL’S PRIME MINISTER”
For many years, I’ve been obsessed with Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.
Peggy Mann’s biography is like a lover letter to the late prime minister. While a very easy and informative read, the book came out in 1971, which was bit of letdown for me.
It ended before the 1972 Olympics slaughter of Israeli athletes and how Meir handled that tragedy and it didn’t cover the last seven years of her life. Meir died in 1978.
One of the most interesting things I learned about Meir is that while she was born in the present day Ukraine, she grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Denver, Colorado, before heading back to Palestine in 1921 to help found the state of Israel (in 1948).
Her first job offer was teaching students English, but she turned it down. However, when she and her husband joined a kibbutz (a collective community based on agriculture), she took a job picking almonds!
In the 1930s, Meir went to work for a union that was one of the first to offer insurance to its workers called “womb to tomb” coverage!
Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion said of Meir: “Some day, when our history is written, it will be said that there was a Jewish woman who raised the money which made the state possible.”
In 1956, Ben-Gurion asked Meir to take the job of Foreign Minister, the second most important job in Israel. B.G., as he was known, said “She’s the best man in my Cabinet.”
When a reporter asked Meir how it felt to be a woman minister, she tartly replied, “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been a man minister.”
When she took the Foreign Minister job, she chose the name “Meir”, which meant “illuminate” in Hebrew. (It’s pronounced May-EAR). Her married last name was Myerson.
I’ll share more things I learned about Meir next week.
THAT’S IT
With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!
Anthony
What's Peeps Thinking About Now? It's Probably Random! 