Matinee idol and LGBT legend Tab Hunter has died at the age of 86.
Hunter was the hottest sex symbol is the 1950s and was usually seen in public with beautiful ingenues, like Natalie Wood.
It was all a front to hide his sexuality and maintain his matinee idol status.
In his book, the 19th that I’ve read this year, Hunter doesn’t go into any sordid details about his sexual escapades, but he did talk a lot about his relationship with “Psycho” star Anthony Perkins.
One interesting story that Hunter shared was when an ex-lover tried to blackmail him. The man, desperate for money, threatened to sell all the letters Hunter had sent him to the “Enquirer” in the late-1970s.
Hunter paid him off ($10,000) and the man asked to keep them because they meant something to him!!!! Um, yeah, blackmail material. However, the man died a few years later.
Hunter expanded his resume by starring in two John Waters’ films with Divine in the 1980s: 1981’s “Polyester” and 1985’s much underappreciated “Lust in the Dust”.
He also spent six-weeks at #1 on the Billboard pop charts in 1957 with “Young Love”.
Hunter was just three day shy of his 87th birthday when he died Sunday. He was with his partner, film producer Allan Glaser, for more than 35 years.
I hope you had a great Fourth of July and you’re ready for the weekend.
In retrospective, my “Random Friday Thoughts” last week were a little bleak. This week, it’s happier. Well, once you get past the second one!
Thank you for checking out my thoughts and feel free to share yours.
HAPPY 72ND ANNIVERSARY
My favorite president and his wonderful wife are celebrating their 72nd wedding anniversary this weekend.
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were married on July 7, 1946, at the Plains Methodist Church.
He was 21 and just out of the Navy and she was 18.
Interesting tidbit: Just months earlier, she said “no” when he first asked her to marry him. 🙂
THE “TRANSGENDER” STATE
In America, it’s pretty much a given that straight, white men run the country and most businesses. That’s slowly changing.
Even in the LGBTQ community, it’s usually white, gay men at the forefront when it comes to being more privileged and in positions of power. That’s slowly changing, too.
Sadly, it’s the “T” part of LGBTQ, our transgender brothers and sisters, that feel the brunt of hysteria and discrimination from not only straight America, but even from within our own community! It’s shameful!
It’s bad enough that the government is trying to keep the trans community out of the military, but they also have to fight just for the right to use bathrooms without people thinking there are ulterior motives like child molestation.
That’s only the tip of the iceberg. As of 2009 worldwide, at least one transgender person is murdered every three days on average!
Here in America, there’s been an increase in the number of transgender men and women killed and a large number of those are transgender women of color!
In 2017, there were at least 28 trans people murdered!
So far this year in the U.S., there have been thirteen trans people killed, including three in Jacksonville, Florida, prompting some there to think a serial killer is targeting the trans community!
I have several transgender friends and one is a very dear friend. She’s bright and she’s very vocal in pointing out all of the atrocities that she and the community go through in daily life.
I hope she remains safe and always WOKE!
“POSE”
Our trans friends are just like everyone else and they want the same things everyone else wants! Some lead quiet lives and some want the glamour and fame!
That’s the focus of uber-producer and Hollywood heavyweight Ryan Murphy’s latest FX series, “Pose”.
It’s set in New York City in the late-1980s and focuses on the underground world of “ball culture”. (Oh, there’s also corporate greed and “white privilege” — compliments of those in Trump Tower!)
Most people are unfamiliar with “ball culture”. It’s basically drag contests in the underground world where contestants compete for trophies to see which “house”, usually a group of outcasts seeking security from a family and a “mother”, the queen of that house.
“Ball culture” is the topic of Jenny Livingston’s landmark documentary, “Paris is Burning” and the inspiration for Madonna’s 1990 career-defining worldwide hit, “Vogue”, that made “posing” and “voguing” mainstream!
In “Pose”, we have the prominent “House of Abundance” led by Elektra (the amazing Dominique Jackson), which takes most of the trophies at the balls. Elektra is like the Alexis Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan of “Dynasty”.
Yes, “Dynasty” is brought up — it’s the late-1980s.
The drama escalates when one of her “children”, Blanca (Mj Rodriguez), leaves and starts the “House of Evangelista”. She becomes the Krystal Carrington, if you will.
While I love Dominique Jackson’s evil (and she truly is) portrayal of Elektra, Mj Rodriguez’s Blanca is my favorite. She’s loving, caring, hard-headed, and heartbreaking.
Billy Porter (“Kinky Boots”) is fabulous as the emcee of the balls and Blanca’s friend.
“Pose” features the largest transgender cast ever assembled on television.
What I love about “Pose” is the real story lines. You’d think you were living right there with them — from the transphobia directed at them not only from straight America, but also the yuppie, white gay boys.
One of the characters is diagnosed with HIV early on and “Pose” does not hold back on showing how many in the medical field dealt with those dying of AIDS.
Ronald Reagan doesn’t get a “free pass” for his ignorance, denial, and handling of the AIDS plague either.
And, the music is fantabulous!
I hope “Pose” is renewed for a second season. However, ratings for the series are really low. 😦
“DON’T JUST STAND THERE — STRIKE A POSE!”
In 1990, Madonna’s “Vogue” topped the charts in more than 30 counties and became the biggest selling single in the world that year with more than six million copies sold!
MINNESOTA STATE FAIR FOOD
Once I landed the job in Duluth, Minnesota, in early April, I stayed in Panama City, Florida, to fulfill my apartment lease and to get my old station through the May ratings period.
Now I wish I had moved here earlier to take time off to go to the Minnesota State Fair for the “Life Tour” — Boy George and Culture Club, The B-52s, and Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey — all on the same bill on Labor Day!
And, I’d love to sample some of the new food this year — Za-Waffle Sticks (waffles blended with pepperoni and mozzarella, topped with a parmesan herb blend and served with pepperoni-infused maple syrup or marinara sauce) and Sweet Greek Cheese Puffs (flaky phyllo dough filled with feta and ricotta cheese, deep-fried, drizzled with honey and topped with powdered sugar.).
But, my favorite new offering there is one I think I can make at home with a little experimenting — Firecracker Shrimp Stuffed Avocado!
It’s Gulf white shrimp tossed with lime, onion, black beans, tomato and fire-roasted corn in a garlic aioli (mayonnaise seasoned with garlic), drizzled with cilantro-infused olive oil, stuffed in avocado halves and served open-face with flatbread!
That’s similar to one of my favorite appetizers to make — Shrimp Ceviche , which is pictured here! (Yes, I made these!)
WHITNEY: CAN I BE ME
This Showtime documentary was incredible!
It didn’t shy away from Whitney’s drug use as a teenager, her fear of disappointing God, the rumors about whether she was a lesbian or bisexual, and her spiral out of control that ultimately cost her her life in early 2012.
It was mind-boggling hearing that people were more comfortable ignoring her abuses of drugs and alcohol than it was to accept that she might be a lesbian black woman!
A new “Whitney” documentary hits theaters this weekend.
If you’re a Whitney Houston fan, what are your favorite songs?
Here are my ten favorites. Of course, it was hard making this list because she had so many amazing songs.
By clicking on this link, it’ll open in a new window!
Since moving to Duluth a month ago, I’ve been a little nostalgic about my previous times living in the Midwest and Great Lakes back in the 1990s.
When I visited Chicago over Memorial Day weekend 1994, I made my decision to move there and six weeks later I was living in the “Windy City”.
While there for Memorial Day, we partied at the Gentry on Rush and I heard “Dreams” by English singer Gabrielle and I fell in love with the song and, ultimately, the album.
While the song hit the Top Ten in more than a dozen countries in 1993 and 1994, it only reached #26 on the Billboard Hot 100.
However, it did top the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart here in the U.S.
THAT’S IT
With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!
It’s hard for me to believe that July is almost here. Summer just started and it seems like it’s quickly passing by!
Thank you for taking the time to check out my “Random Friday Thoughts”.
I’ve done well not talking about “that man” too much lately, but I am today. If you disagree and want to tell me, that’s fine as long as you do it diplomatically. I feel that I’m voicing my thoughts that way!
45’S DULUTH RALLY
Last week, 45 visited Duluth, Minnesota, and I was teased by friends about the visit.
Hey, there’s no wall here in Minnesota to keep him out! There was nothing I could do about it! 🙂
45 was heckled by a couple of protesters that made it inside and he quickly had them thrown out. They still intimidate him!
45’S SPIN ON WINNING MINNESOTA
Since I was forced to listen to some of his speech, I’ll comment on something he said and I’ll clarify it for DJT.
During the pep rally, 45 mentioned that he almost won Minnesota in the 2016 election. Other than Illinois, it was the only blue state in the Midwest.
What he selectively forget to say was that he lost Minnesota by 44,765 votes. He said, he was “this close” to winning.
However, our bordering state, Wisconsin, separated from Duluth by just a bridge, was much closer to going to Hillary Clinton! She only lost Wisconsin by 22,748 votes.
So, he was much closer on “this close” to losing Wisconsin than actually winning Minnesota!
Sounds like he’s guilty of “fake news”, too! You’re shocked, right?
But, it is what it is! The results are the same. 😦
“ROLLING STONE” DULUTH DISS
Let me reel it in — I got sidetracked!
The point of talking about “that man” is an online “Rolling Stone” article about 45’s visit by Ana Marie Cox.
Cox really had nothing nice to say about Duluth or even neighboring Wisconsin with its “greasy…imports”!
She stressed, “Duluth is a struggling post-manufacturing cipher with the highest drug overdose rate in the state” and talked about the city’s “poverty rate (21 percent) that would rank it among the most desperate counties in West Virginia and per capita income just below that of Wheeling”.
And, if that wasn’t brutal enough, she described the area around Lake Superior as “stolid, brutalist mid-century relics and precarious-seeming industrial shipping contraptions, rusty and mostly silent” and the downtown area where “every surface is covered with a thin layer of grime.”
She summed it all up, “in other words, potential Trump Country.”
I’ve only lived in Duluth for four weeks now. I feel very welcome and comfortable here –much more than I did in Panama City in the Panhandle of Florida. Ana Marie Cox, let me tell you, that is true “Trump Country”.
And, the statistics she used, which were likely Googled, may be true. I can’t and won’t say that Duluth is perfect city or utopia, but look around at many other cities in the country! Take a visit to Youngstown, Ohio!
The issue with the article that fired me up the most was referring to Duluth and the Northland as “potential Trump Country”.
45 talked to a near capacity crowd of less than 9,000 people in the Amsoil Arena with more turned away outside.
I know there are fervent 45 supporters in Minnesota and Wisconsin and many of them drove for hours to see him.
Cox referred to Duluth as “the small city of 80,000”. I can work with that number for the point I’m going to make.
It’s needs to be stressed that the Duluth MSA (metropolitan statistical area — grossly simplified as adjacent counties to an urban core with commuters) has a population of roughly 279,771. That’s the second-largest in Minnesota!
So, when you’re taking about 10-thousand people at the arena for his visit out of “80,000” in Duluth or more than one-quarter million in the Duluth MSA — this is not “Trump Country” or “potential Trump Country”.
Hundreds of thousands living here could have cared less about him visiting!
NEXT!
MARRIAGE EQUALITY
This week, in 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States made “marriage equality” the law of the land.
“Gay marriage” and “same sex marriage” simply became marriage.
On the night of the ruling, Barack Obama’s and the people’s White House was aglow in rainbow colors.
Boy, that iconic institution stands for much different things today than it did three years ago! 😦
AN END OF PRIDE MONTH DOWNER!
Earlier this week, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced he was retiring.
Ironically, it was one year ago this week that I wrote this about Kennedy: “Rumors are swirling that Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) Anthony Kennedy, almost 81-years-old, might be ready to announce his retirement.”
This is a major blow to the LGBTQ community and for women!
Three years ago, Kennedy authored the SCOTUS decision to make “marriage equality” a reality.
He eloquently stated: “No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”
What all this means now is “that man” will get another conservative justice to solidify the divisiveness not only in the country, but at the highest court in America, too!
A “GOLDEN” PICK ME UP!
Damn, this blog is a downer and there’s still more below! 😦 Here’s a pick me up, even if just for me. 🙂
International and gay icon Kylie Minogue closed out this year’s New York City Pride.
If I only see one concert this year, I want it to be Kylie. However, that probably won’t happen until 2019 when she’ll likely tour the U.S.
Here’s her latest hit and title track from her new country-tinged dance album is “Golden”.
“We’re golden/Burn like the stars/ Stay golden/
Straight from the heart/We’re the voice that’ll never give in/
Getting knocked down, back up again/We’re golden/That’s who we are/”
“LARRY KRAMER: IN LOVE & ANGER”
Sadly, most people don’t know Larry Kramer.
What’s even sadder is that most of the youth in the LGBTQ community today don’t know the pain and sacrifice this man went through to give them chances that he and his friends never had back in the 1980s and 1990s.
Kramer was a Hollywood screenwriter and gained fame in 1969 penning the Oscar-nominated film “Women in Love”.
But, his fortune came four years later on the flop, “Lost Horizon”. That film gave Kramer the financial security to do something he wanted to do: write about the gay community.
He did and his 1978 novel, “Faggots”, about the out and open gay community of New York City in the 1970s before AIDS was controversial.
Middle America was shocked about the easy come and easy go world of sex and drugs and the gay community shunned him because he exposed their lifestyle.
But, Kramer became a beacon of hope for gay men dying of AIDS in the 1980s by starting the Gay Men’s Health Crisis Center (GMHC) and ACT UP, an activist group that put the heat on politicians (most notably President Ronald Reagan, President George H.W. Bush and New York Mayor Ed Koch) to get off their asses and start fighting AIDS!
Kramer was so outspoken and blunt that he was forced out of GMHC, the group he founded!
His biggest literary success was the autobiographical Off-Broadway play, “The Normal Heart”, in the 1980s. It played on Broadway in 2011 and was made into a hit movie in 2014.
Kramer turned 83 earlier this week. He’s still writing and is still a major force in the LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS communities.
“THE NORMAL HEART”
If you didn’t catch this Emmy, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and Critics Choice Television Award winner, please do so now!
It stars Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer, Jim Parsons, Taylor Kitsch, and Julia Roberts. It was directed by Ryan Murphy.
RETROSPECTIVE REGRETS
As many of you know from my blog and social media, I’m outspoken on matters of LGBTQ equality and for HIV/AIDS.
We all have a voice and with the platform I’ve been given, I feel it’s only right that I use it to educate people and spread the word that LGBTQ people are just like everyone else — we work, we pay taxes, we hurt, we love, and we want happiness.
It’s probably the fact that we love and want physical intimacy that alarms many people on the “right” (in other words, in the “wrong”).
So, if I educate one person at a time and maybe that person sees things more openly, then I’ve succeeded.
However, watching the Larry Kramer documentary brought a feeling of regret for me of wasted years.
Back in the early-1980s when gay men in San Francisco and New York City started dying at an alarming rate, I was in small town Kentucky. It felt like a world away from this unnamed “gay cancer” killing “homosexuals”.
It wasn’t until the late-1980s that I knew a person that died of AIDS.
In the early-1990s, I started reading “The Advocate” and I learned about the big gay world and all of the hideous things LGBT people were fighting for and against (AIDS, funding for AIDS medication, homophobia, gay bashing, etc.).
Even then, in my 20s, I lived my life without the worries of the real world — other than the occasional hurled slurs, “faggots” or “queers”, toward me and my friends if we were leaving or going into the gay bar or hanging out at the Paducah Riverfront.
We can’t go back and change things.
But, if I could, Larry Kramer, I’d be with you in New York City and Washington D.C. fighting the system. I’d be at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue chaining myself to the fence in a “die-in” or I’d be yelling at Reagan to fight for the lives of all Americans and pleading with Nancy to make him listen!
Larry, thank you for your sacrifices and I want to thank you for me just being here today!
“PATRICK MELROSE”
Some of you may only know Benedict Cumberbatch as “Sherlock” from television or as “Doctor Strange” in the Marvel Universe!
I’ve never seen either of those roles, but I was blown away by his Oscar-nominated performance as Alan Turing in 2014’s “The Imitation Game”.
I think that Cumberbatch now needs to clear some space on his mantle for his second Emmy Award!
He rightfully earned it in the first episode of Showtime’s five-part drama series, “Patrick Melrose” from this spring!
It’s 1982 and Patrick (Cumberbatch) heads off to New York City to retrieve the ashes of his father, David.
The episode shows Melrose strung out on almost every drug imaginable and in an alcohol-fueled insanity!
Also, the incredible Jennifer Jason Leigh will likely be getting some Emmy love herself, playing Melrose’s drunk and lousy mother, Eleanor.
Hugo Weaving plays Melrose’s father and earns every bit of hate directed toward him.
An excellent “Tour de force” for every actor in the series!
However, I’m now very torn because this will likely pit Cumberbatch and Jason Leigh against Darren Criss and Judith Light (“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”) in the Emmy race for Limited Series or Movie categories!
GRADE: A
90s NOSTALGIA
Since moving to Duluth, Minnesota, this month, I’ve been a little nostalgic about my previous times living in the Midwest and Great Lakes back in the 1990s.
After moving to Milwaukee for the summer of 1990 and then back home to Kentucky, this song became popular in 1992. Remember it?
While the song only reached #36 on the Billboard Hot 100, it was one of the first techno hits to make the chart.
However, “Love U More” topped the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart for two weeks in early 1993.
It was the first of four #1 Billboard Dance songs in America for the British band. They also had two others to reach #2 on that chart!
THAT’S IT
With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!
It’s officially summer now and that can only mean one thing!
Yes, this Moscato Sangria will work just fine, thank you! 🙂
I appreciate you taking the time to check out my random thoughts.
PRIDE EVERYDAY — ESPECIALLY IN JUNE
As many of you know, June is “Pride Month”. Yet, Pride festivities happen at different times of the year depending on where you are.
The Duluth Superior GLBTAQI Pride Festival will be held Labor Day weekend (August 30-September 2) this year.
I plan on attending, but I can guarantee it won’t be Chicago! 🙂
Speaking of my “second home”, here are two of my favorite Pride photos that I took in Chicago back in 2010.
So, cheers queers and to all of our “straight, but not narrow friends”!
THANK YOU BRETT KISSEL
I’m a very liberal thinking person, but there are still things that I learn everyday — even about being more inclusive.
There are good people and bad people in every walk of life — regardless of demographics or whatever group they belong.
Country music is one of those genres that typically gets a bad rap (oh wait, rap is another) for not being very inclusive when it comes to the LGBTQ community.
Yes, there are exceptions: Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Kacey Musgraves, and others.
Now, add sexy Canadian country music singer Brett Kissel to that growing list!
For years now, since I discovered his “Pick Me Up” album, I’ve written about Kissel and his amazing voice and stage presence.
Yes, he’s sexy, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to drop $10 for a CD! But, he has what it takes to warrant buying his music — not just good looks!
He’s incredible with a beautiful wife, Cecilia, and two daughters, Mila and Aria.
I like him even more knowing he supports all people, including me and my LGBTQ brothers, sisters, and they.
Here’s his latest single, “Guitars & Gasoline”.
Come on America, start playing Kissel! He’s already had eleven Top Ten hits on the Canadian Country music chart.
“THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE: AMERICAN CRIME STORY”
If you didn’t catch this amazing FX series during its winter run earlier this year, watch it now!
I’ve written several times about the series and I’m bringing it up again as we near the Emmy nominations in July because it popped up in a recent issue of “Entertainment Weekly”.
Here’s what I wrote on March 30, 2018:
“Sadly, this excellent series is over. I think when Emmy nominations are announced in July that Darren Criss and Judith Light will get acting nods for their roles of Andrew Cunanan and Marilyn Miglin.”
In the new “Entertainment Weekly”, critic Kristen Baldwin chose “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” as her #1 best TV show of 2018, so far.
Baldwin adds, “And if Darren Criss (who played Cunanan) and Judith Light (as the wife of one of his victims) do not win big come Emmy season, it will be (ahem) a crime.”
DIANA ROSS “MEMOIRS”
Since moving to Duluth, I haven’t had a chance to read a book and I’m starting to fall behind on magazines.
But, before moving, I read Diana Ross’s “Memoirs: Secrets of a Sparrow”.
It was interesting hearing her version of how she became the face and name of The Supremes and how that and other behind the scene dramas ended the successful trio.
She talked extensively about the racial tensions in the South in the 1950s and 1960s and how it made touring there scary.
Ross also talked about AIDS and her gay fans and friends.
An interesting story she told was going on her second honeymoon. Since her husband owned the Tahitian island, they ran around naked! 🙂
At times, she sounded a little out there, but she comes across as a genuine woman and entertainer.
It was a little gossipy when she talked about her working relationship with Lionel Richie when they recorded the iconic ballad “Endless Love”.
Ross says, “the working relationship between us was difficult.” She added, “I am a perfectionist. I like to be on time always. Lionel was not always on time.”
LIONEL THEN (?) AND NOW
I don’t doubt Diana Ross’ story of working with Lionel. He was young and coming off huge success with the Commodores and was launching his solo career.
I know him as a gentle, fun man that I met in Las Vegas last December. When I went to shake hands with him, he grabbed me and said, “I’m a hugger”.
Earlier this week, Lionel turned 69! To honor that, here’s my favorite Lionel Richie song.
If you want to know what my other 19 favorites are since you know I love countdowns, click here. It’ll open in a new window!
Living in Duluth, my television market covers parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin and two counties in Upper Michigan.
My part of the state is called the “Northland”, which is not to be confused with the “Northwoods” of northern Wisconsin!
My first Wisconsin experience was in the late-1980s visiting a friend’s family in Merrill. In the summer of 1990, I moved to Milwaukee for four months before moving back to Kentucky.
In July 1996, I took my first network affiliate television job in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. I was there for just about five months.
However, moving back to the upper Midwest makes me nostalgic about those times even though they were short.
So, over the new few weeks, I’ll share some of the songs that were impressionable to me during those times!
Remember this one from 1990?
That was Taylor Dayne’s seventh consecutive Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 hit. It was the third release from the “Can’t Fight Fate” album.
THAT’S IT
With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!
It’s been a few weeks without a new “Random Friday Thoughts” as I moved across the country to Duluth, Minnesota.
This now marks my third weekend in the “Northland” and I’m looking forward to making it my home.
Thank you for taking the time to check out my thoughts.
TWO YEARS LATER
Earlier this week, we marked the two year anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida.
49 people were massacred while out having a good time with their family and friends. At the time, it was the worst mass shooting in modern American history. That distinction now goes to the Las Vegas shooting last October.
Former President Barack Obama, in 2016, said, “This is a sobering reminder that attacks on any American — regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation — is an attack on all of us and on the fundamental values of equality and dignity that define us as a country. And no act of hate or terror will ever change who we are or the values that make us Americans.”.
No comment from #45 this year on the anniversary.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRESIDENT BUSH
On a happier note, earlier this week, the nation’s 41st President George Herbert Walker Bush turned 94-years-old.
He’s now the oldest living president and the first former president to live to age 94.
It’s been a tough year for him with numerous health issues and hospitalizations on top of losing his wife of 73 years, Barbara, back in April.
My favorite president, Jimmy Carter, is now the second oldest living president. He’ll turn 94 on October 1, 2018.
“HALLOWEEN” IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK!
Excitement is building for Halloween and it has nothing to do with what costumes will be popular and how much candy you’ll get.
The reboot of the “Halloween” series hits theaters Friday, October 19, 2018, and it’ll pick up as the sequel to 1978’s original.
In this movie universe, none of the other sequels even happened! After Rob Zombie’s very rancid and painful to watch “Halloween II” (2009), it’s time for a fresh start!
The trailer was released last Friday and had almost a million view in just four days!
“TAB HUNTER CONFIDENTIAL”
Movie icon Tab Hunter was the hottest sex symbol is the 1950s and was usually seen in public with beautiful ingenues.
It was all a front to hide his sexuality and maintain his matinee idol status.
In his book, the 19th that I’ve read this year, Hunter doesn’t go into any sordid details about his sexual escapades, but he did talk a lot about his relationship with “Psycho” star Anthony Perkins.
One interesting story that Hunter shared was when an ex-lover tried to blackmail him. The man, desperate for money, threatened to sell all the letters Hunter had sent him to the “Enquirer” in the late-1970s.
Hunter paid him off ($10,000) and the man asked to keep them because they meant something to him!!!! Um, yeah, blackmail material. However, the man died a few years later.
Hunter is almost 87-years-old now and is still with his partner of more than 35 years, film producer Allan Glaser.
CELINE DION GOES ON AND ON
The 18th book I read this year and shared a blog about was “Celine Dion: My Story, My Dream”.
I really enjoyed reading about Celine’s life story and I don’t want to give too much away in case you want to read it.
I was surprised to hear that she’s the youngest of fourteen (yes 14!) children!
I became aware of Celine in the early-1990s at the same time as most Americans. We also learned around that time that she was in a relationship with her manager and future husband, Rene Angelil. (They married December 17, 1994 in Montreal, Quebec.)
It was still a little weird reading about the love affair — with the 26-year age difference. She was the one that fell in love first and pursued him! But, knowing that the love was real made me smile. We all want that!
I love how Celine was upfront and honest about the nastiness of the press about things such as her love life and her weight (calling her anorexic). Being a recovering food addict, I feel for her having endured that.
While Celine has been a multi-millionaire for much of career (after hitting it big worldwide), I’m glad she didn’t sugarcoat her love of spending money. She earned it!
Celine is definitely a survivor and one of the greatest entertainers of all time! Definitely check out “Celine Dion: My Story, My Dream”!
And, I shared my ten favorite Celine Dion songs. Here’s my all-time Celine favorite!
You can read about how the book saved two ducks from a turtle and see my other nine favorites by clicking here:
Before beginning my journey north, I did get a chance to check out the musical “The Greatest Showman”.
It was very entertaining and Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron looked and sounded amazing.
Many people know Jackman as Wolverine from the “X-Men” series, but he does have a background in musical theater and musicals (“Les Miserables” in 2012).
He gained worldwide attention playing flamboyant Australian entertainer Peter Allen on Broadway in “The Boy From Oz” in 2003, which earned Jackman a Tony Award for “Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical”.
In “The Greatest Showman”, he plays P.T. Barnum, a down on his luck showman and entrepreneur that started the world famous circus.
The song, “This Is Me”, won the Golden Globe Award for “Best Original Song” and it was also nominated for an Oscar.
It’s an incredible life affirming number!
My other favorite was from Jenny Lind, the “Swedish Nightingale” (Rebecca Ferguson), “Never Enough”, with real vocals by Loren Allred.
GRADE: B
“SANTA CLARITA DIET”
If you’ve never watched this Netflix zombie comedy, what are you waiting for?
Season one was funny and season two was outstanding — even funnier and more crisp and cutting.
It’s the story of a typical California family that wakes up one day and the wife/mom begins violently vomiting and then starts craving human flesh.
The main cast, Drew Barrymore (Sheila Hammond), Timothy Olyphant (Joel Hammond), and Liv Hewson (Abby, their daughter), are incredible.
However, the one that cracks me up the most is Eric Bemis (Skyler Gisondo), the Hammond’s teenage neighbor and friend/love interest for Abby.
Small ahead!
In one scene, Eric is about to lose his virginity to Ramona, a Rite-Aid employee, and tries to sound more experienced than he really is. 🙂
Ramona : “There are a million things I wanna do to you.”
Eric Bemis : “There’s a million things I’ve had done to me. But I did all of them myself. Actually, it’s just one thing a million times.”
“Santa Clarita Diet” will be back for a third season in 2019.
HUGH GRANT & BEN WHISHAW MOVIE
Hugh Grant goes gay again (“Maurice” in 1987 and “Our Sons” in 1991) and this time with my major crush Ben Whishaw.
In “A Very English Scandal”, a three-part series, Grant plays former British Liberal political party leader Jeremy Thorpe, who went on trial for the attempted murder of his ex-lover, Norman Scott (Whishaw) in 1979.
Spoiler! 🙂
The limited series was written by Russell T. Davies (“Queer as Folk”) and directed by Stephen Frears (“Florence Foster Jenkins” and “The Queen”).
If you’re not familiar with my major crush Whishaw (other than as the voice of Paddington, the bear), check out “London Spy”…
and my favorite movie of 2015, “Lilting”.
THAT’S IT
With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!
With my last “Random Friday Thoughts”, I was done writing for a while to prepare for the upcoming move.
However, I just had a duck drama that I have to share and a Facebook post would be too long.
As I await the heavy rains from Subtropical Storm Alberto to keep me inside the rest of the afternoon, I was out getting my 25,000 steps in this morning.
Walking across the complex, I saw a mama duck and an hawk fighting in the middle of the parking lot.
Obviously, the hawk swooped down to grab a baby for lunch. I scared the hawk off and the mother and the babies scurried away.
Well, one baby had fallen over onto its back and I flipped it over. It starts to head off with the mommy.
She jumps up on an embankment to go into the pond and the babies cannot figure out how to jump up there.
This same baby that I flipped over rolls over onto its back again and I went to help it again.
However, this time, the mother ticked off because of the hawk comes charging at me!
I swatted her with my magazine and it doesn’t hold her back. She was still charging toward my face!
Luckily, I was carrying a book, too, and I swung at her and three feathers went flying into the air as she flies away.
But, as that’s happening, I fall backwards onto the pavement landing on both hands and my left butt cheek.
My biggest fear was that I was going to fall backwards and hit my head on the pavement! I didn’t!
Now, where is TMZ and its cameras when you need this crazy video!?!?
So, now I’m walking off a very sore ass and two wrists just two days before I have to load a truck by moving everything down a flight of stairs and drive across the country!
This is the fourth duck drama that I’ve had since I moved here! I’m too much of a treehugger wanting to help!!!
Hopefully you’re laughing along with me, even though I’m the one in pain!
Aren’t you glad that I only shared the photos of my wrist and the ducks? 😁
May is almost over and it’s Memorial Day weekend, which is the “unofficial” start to the summer season.
After today’s blog, I’ll be going on “hiatus” to get moved to Duluth, Minnesota.
When I make new friends up north, I hope that some of them grill out!
In addition to missing companionship, my friends and family, and my koi pond, grilling out is another thing I’ve really missed since leaving the Quad Cities!
How are you doing on those “New Year’s Resolutions”?
I’m sure many are history and some of you are still paying for those unused gym memberships! 🙂
I decided to look back at my first two blogs of the year, “2018: Looking Ahead, Not Back” and “Random Friday (2018) Thoughts”, to see how I’m doing on my resolutions and predictions.
If you want to see the pictures, videos, and read the complete blogs, both links are here and they’ll open in a new window, so you won’t lose your place in today’s blog.
In the January 1st blog, I wrote, “The highlight of my Christmas season was the 90-minutes-plus I spent in Mariah Carey’s Christmas wonderland for her “All I Want For Christmas” show in Las Vegas a few weeks ago.”
It’s now almost summer and that night still crosses my mind. It was truly magical!
I also talked about battling bulimia and how I used to be so spontaneous.
While visiting Chicago over Memorial Day weekend in 1994, I had a “Come to Jesus” moment. A little over a month later, I left Kentucky and moved to third largest city in the U.S.!
But, that was then, this is now. Somewhere along the way, I became a “planner” and lost my spontaneity and I want to find it again!
As last year ended and 2018 began, I needed change and the words of my favorite song of 2017, “Silence” by Marshmello featuring Khalid, hit me hard while I was reflecting on my life:
“I’m in need of a savior, but I’m not asking for favors/My whole life, I’ve felt like a burden/I THINK TOO MUCH, I HATE IT/I’m so used to being in the wrong, I’m tired of caring/Loving never gave me a home, so I’ll sit here in the silence”
I do think too much.
I wrote that it was time to “shake it off” and leave Panama City if I wasn’t happy, “I have four cities in mind for a fresh start. Two of them, I’d move to with or without a television job…”
The two I would have moved to without a television job were Palm Springs, California, and Las Vegas.
Well, it’s funny how you make plans and set a timeline and then God sits back and laughs.
I said if I didn’t have a television job by Halloween 2018, I’d be out of here anyways.
Well, I’m leaving Florida next week and I’ll be moving into my new apartment in Duluth, Minnesota, on June 2nd, to call the “Northland” home!
I’m so thrilled to not only start the next chapter in my life, but to start living again! Cheers!
In “Random Friday (2018) Thoughts”, (posted 1/5/18), I stated that after seeing five concerts in Las Vegas in 2017 (The Australian Bee Gees, Britney Spears, Tanya Tucker, Lionel Richie, and Mariah Carey), I’d like to see Rod Stewart, Ricky Martin, and Jennifer Lopez this year.
Those shows aren’t going to happen for me now, but I’m still holding out that if I only see one concert this year that it’s Kylie Minogue.
Come on Kylie, add Saint Paul, Minnesota, to your North American tour dates when you announce the “Golden Tour”.
As for movies, I’ve already seen the first two on my list, “Call Me By Your Name” and “Love, Simon”.
I can forget “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” (7/20) now — unless I find out for sure that Donna Sheridan (Meryl Streep) is alive in more than a couple of scenes!
I’ve replaced it “Crazy Rich Asians”, which could be the new “Pretty Woman” — well, without Julia Roberts and turning tricks in Los Angeles.
Also, I’m excited about “Halloween” (10/19) with Jamie Lee Curtis returning as Laurie Strode.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” about Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury has been moved up to November 2nd from Christmas Day 2018. It stars the incredible Rami Malek of “Mr. Robot”.
Here’s the new trailer!
And, finally, on Christmas Day 2018, there’s Emily Blunt and Ben Whishaw in “Mary Poppins Returns” (12/25).
So, it looks like I’m doing okay on my resolutions and my prospects of being a happy person again!
And, I’m looking forward to snow and a “White Christmas” again!
THAT’S IT
With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!
Okay, the headline might be a little misleading and be construed by some as “fake news”! 🙂
Let me clarify that the words of Celine Dion in the hardback version, “Celine Dion: My Story, My Dream”, saved two little ducks!
While I have many of Celine’s CDs and I’ve had this 2000 autobiography forever, I just now got around to reading it and it’s a good thing I was reading it on a recent walk.
As I was making my way around the pond, I heard a commotion.
A mama duck chased one of those creepy turtles (them again) into the water.
As she flew away, it came charging back out of the water at two small ducks.
I raced down the embankment and the turtle didn’t slow down even with me approaching it. Finally, I swatted at it with the Celine book!!!
Here’s the dirt and mud to prove it. 🙂
The ticked off turtle went back into the water and I got the ducklings back with the mother.
So, thank you Celine for being there! 🙂
I really enjoyed reading about Celine’s life story and I don’t want to give too much away in case you want to read it.
I was surprised to hear that she’s the youngest of fourteen (yes 14!) children!
I became aware of Celine in the early-1990s at the same time as most Americans. We also learned around that time that she was in a relationship with her manager and future husband, Rene Angelil. (They married December 17, 1994 in Montreal, Quebec.)
It was still a little weird reading about the love affair — with the 26-year age difference. She was the one that fell in love first and pursued him! But, knowing that the love was real made me smile. We all want that!
I love how Celine was upfront and honest about the nastiness of the press about things such as her love life and her weight (calling her anorexic). Being a recovering food addict, I feel for her having endured that.
While Celine has been a multi-millionaire for much of career (after hitting it big worldwide), I’m glad she didn’t sugarcoat her love of spending money. She earned it!
She talked about building and furnishing her dream home (the Jupiter, Florida, estate sold for $28 million last year), her lavish wedding to Angelil, and the renewal of her vows in a January 2000 ceremony at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
The couple’s son René-Charles is now 17-years-old and fraternal twins, Eddy and Nelson, were born in October 2010.
Sadly, Rene passed away from throat cancer in January 2016 at the age of 73. Two days later, Celine suffered another heartbreak when her brother Daniel died, also of cancer. He was 59.
Celine is definitely a survivor and one of the greatest entertainers of all time! Definitely check out “Celine Dion: My Story, My Dream”!
Now, let’s talk about her music.
Celine released her first single in 1981 at the age of 13.
While many of her singles throughout the 1980s charted well in Quebec, it wouldn’t be until 1989 before she would see her name on the mainstream Canadian charts. (There was an exception — a Top 5 hit in France in 1982.)
Celine’s American debut came in early 1990 with the “Unison” album and her breakthrough American single, “(If There Was) Any Other Way”, which reached #35 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100, she’s had 18 hits with 11 reaching the Top 10, and 4 topping the charts.
She’s also won five Grammy Awards.
Celine has released over 150 singles worldwide and I’m going to share my 10 favorite songs of her.
Since five is her lucky number, I was going to choose five. But, she’s had so many amazing songs, I’m going with ten, which is five times two! 🙂
However, I’m only going to choose from the songs that have charted in the U.S.!
“THAT’S THE WAY IT IS” (1999)
“MY HEART WILL GO ON” (1997)
“I DROVE ALL NIGHT” (2003)
“THE POWER OF LOVE” (1993)
“ALL BY MYSELF” (1996)
“IF YOU ASKED ME TO” (1992)
“IT’S ALL COMING BACK TO ME NOW” (1996)
“LOVE CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS” (1992)
“WHERE DOES MY HEART BEAT NOW” (1990)
Since this one didn’t chart (why, I don’t know?), it’s still one of my favorites, so it’s a bonus!
“HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER)” (2013)
“BECAUSE YOU LOVED ME” (1996)
Here’s hoping that I finally get to see Celine’s Las Vegas show!
It’s past the middle of May now and the unofficial start to the summer season is getting closer — Memorial Day!
Have a great weekend and thank you for taking the time to check out my random thoughts.
REPUBLICAN HATE & JOHN McCAIN
I voted against Senator John McCain when he ran for president in 2008 and there are many things that he says and does that I disagree with.
However, I appreciate all that he did for the United States as a veteran and a former Prisoner of War.
It saddens me that he’s battling brain cancer. What makes me equally sad (and mad) is the total lack of respect he’s getting from the Republican Party.
Recently, Utah Senator Orrin Hatch stated that he wants McCain to reconsider not wanting Donald Trump at his funeral.
With all of the mockery and the snide comments #45 made about McCain, I wouldn’t want him at my funeral either! When that time comes, I hope that his family forbids Trump from attending.
And, then late last week, White House aide Kelly Sadler said in meeting, “It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway.”
Seriously, if there’s a time and place to use a derogatory term for a woman (Sadler), it’d be now!
And, recently on Fox News, retired Air Force General Tom McInerney called McCain “songbird John” for allegedly providing information to the North Vietnamese while he was a POW!
DECENCY HITS “ROCK BOTTOM”
Here’s what former Vice President Joe Biden had to say the day after Sadler’s comment.
BANNING THE MEDIA
I’ve made it a point to mention #45 as little as possible over the past eighteen months.
I know it’s denial. If I don’t talk about it, maybe I’ll wake up and realize it was all a bad dream. Wait, that was on “Dallas”! 🙂
Last week, he tweeted (shock!) about taking away press credentials.
He’s sounding more and more like #37, Richard Nixon. We all know how that one ended!
In case you don’t — resignation from office in disgrace!
ENOUGH ABOUT THEM
SOMETHING ABOUT THE ROYAL FAMILY!
There’s a big Royal wedding this weekend and I’m sure there’ll be cake.
This is what I wrote in December 2012, “Sir Paul McCartney orders a fruitcake from cake designer Fiona Cairns each Christmas and, in early 2011, Cairns was tapped to make the royal wedding cake for Prince William and his future bride, Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge.”
THIS SHOULD MAKE YOUR SMILE
This video still rocks my world and makes me smile! 🙂
Why? Because (1) “It’s Britney, Bitch” and (2) I still find actor Aaron Milo drop dead gorgeous!
I’ve featured “Eating Out: Drama Camp” and “Eating Out: The Open Weekend” actors Aaron Milo (from Rockford, Illinois) and Daniel Skelton’s fun video to Britney’s “Big Fat Bass” three times over the years of my blog.
So, why not a fourth time?
If you’ve never watched it, treat yourself now! 🙂
CREEPY CRUSHING
Okay, it’s a little creepy because, sadly, (1) he’s dead and (2) if he were still alive, he’d be turning 93-years-old this November.
So, it’s not a real crush. But, look at how sexy Bobby Kennedy was in his 30s and, even at 42, when he was gunned down in June 1968.
Kennedy was the father of eleven and his widow, Miss Ethel, just turned 90-years-old in April.
“BOBBY KENNEDY FOR PRESIDENT”
When I saw that Netflix debuted this documentary, I thought it’d be an hour or two. But, it’s four one-hour episodes and it’s incredible!
It covers Bobby’s life campaigning for his brother, John F. Kennedy, the nation’s 35th president, and becoming his attorney general.
After JFK’s death, Bobby had to decide whether to become President Johnson’s vice president in Johnson’s 1964 presidential run or venture out on his own.
He chose the latter.
When the documentary gets to Bobby’s assassination inside the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in June 1968 after winning the California Democratic Primary, it gave me chills and goosebumps.
We’ve all seen the Dallas footage of JFK’s assassination, but it’s in black and white and from a distance.
But, when Bobby raises his hand and his head is cradled, the blood and the blood red color of television is chilling!
Watching this documentary, I was thinking of what a great president Bobby Kennedy would have been if not for his senseless murder.
And, could you imagine Richard Nixon going over the deep end if he had lost to two Kennedys in his bid to be president?
I guess it would have kept him from resigning in shame in 1974 after the Watergate scandal!
GRADE: A
ANOTHER CRUSH AND IT’S NOT JUST ME
Actor Josh Brolin who plays the villain Cable in the upcoming “Deadpool 2” movie out May 18th tells “Entertainment Weekly” of a crush he developed after seeing 2009’s “The Proposal” many times.
Brolin says, “I told Ryan [Reynolds]. I was like, ‘I don’t know why this is, and I don’t know what this means psychologically, behaviorally, emotionally, but I have kind of a crush on you.'”
Brolin, get in line!
“TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE”
I just finished reading my 17th book of 2018, Mitch Albom’s 1997 debut bestselling novel, “Tuesdays with Morrie”.
It’s a beautiful, life-affirming, platonic love story between two men — an aging, dying college professor and one of his former students.
Sixteen years passed from college graduation to when sports writer Albom found out his sociology professor, 78-year-old Morrie Schwatrz, was dying from ALS (aka Lou Gehrig’s disease).
It’s a beautiful book that needs to be read. It’ll give you a more positive look at life.
Here are a couple of my favorite words of wisdom from Morrie:
“Dying is only one thing to be sad over, Mitch. Living unhappy is something else.”
“If you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too — even when you’re in the dark. Even when you’re falling.”
Mitch learned the most valuable lesson of all from Morrie, “there is no such thing as ‘too late’ in life”!
Years ago, I read Albom’s second novel, 2003’s “The Five People You Meet in Heaven”. I highly recommend both books!
“THE POST”
This Steven Spielberg-directed film starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks is based on the true story of the Washington Post’s fight with President Nixon in early-1970s over publishing the “Pentagon Papers”.
It got two Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Actress (Streep) and six Golden Globe Award nominations.
Streep plays Katharine Graham, the heiress of the Washington Post and the company’s television stations after the death of her father and her husband. Hanks plays Post editor-in-chief Ben Bradlee.
It’s a great historical movie with superb acting! However, I hated seeing Sarah Paulson in a throwaway role as Bradlee’s wife!
The last moments of the movie before the credits (two phone calls is all I’ll say so there are no spoilers) gave me goosebumps. I was screaming, “Yes”!
If “The Post” was your typical “summer popcorn movie”, that final scene screamed “SEQUEL”. But, if you know history, you know what happened next! 🙂 You could also say that the “sequel” came out in 1976! 🙂
GRADE: B+
“PETER RABBIT”
This live action-computer-animated comedy starring James Corden (“Into The Woods”) and Rose Byrne (“Neighbors”) was very successful.
The $50 million movie brought in an incredible $320 million worldwide.
However, it did come with controversy. The movie was accused of “allergy bullying”.
In one scene, a bad person (Domhnall Gleeson) is trying to kill Peter Rabbit and his family. The rabbits learn that the person has an allergy and they use this allergen as a weapon in war.
I know allergies are serious, but if someone is trying to kill me, all is fair in love and war!
But, I know the movie is directed at kids and it may give them bad ideas! Wait, does that mean no more movies, television, music, books, video games, or internet for them, too? 🙂
I loved the movie and highly recommend it.
GRADE: B+
HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY!
This month, 20 years ago, Madonna entered the Billboard Hot 100 with her 37th Top 40 hit with the second single and title track from the “Ray of Light” album.
It also became her 21st chart topper on the Billboard Dance Club songs chart. (She now leads all artists on that chart — a record-extending 46 #1 songs!)
“Ray of Light” won two Grammy Awards and five MTV Video Music Awards.
It was also voted one of the best songs of the 1990s!
BREAKING NEWS: It seems that a new Madonna single is coming soon and her 14th studio album is finished!!!!!!!
THAT’S IT
With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!
I always appreciate you taking the time to check out my thoughts and I want to hear your thoughts, too!
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY
To all my female friends and any dads that fulfilled both roles as a parent, I hope you have a special weekend!
While it would be easy just to forget Mother’s Day altogether since my Mom has been gone for almost 28 years, I’m remembering her today.
There have also been other “Moms” in my life that deserve a special mention today: Betty, Donna, D’nell, and Linda.
But, I really want to say Happy Mother’s Day to a special person in my life that never gets the love, respect, and appreciation that she deserves on this day and every day — my sister.
Tammy, I’m so impressed with all that you’ve accomplished in life, especially the past seven years.
While you’re not alone in dealing with setbacks (we all have those), I want you to always appreciate all that you’ve done, all that you’ll do, and look for the silver lining in life and don’t focus on the clouds.
Happy Mother’s Day!
KANYE WEST’S EGOTISM
I’ve never been a fan of Kanye West and I don’t put him in the musical genius category as many do.
Also, I could care less if he’s a fan of Donald Trump and why.
In the same token, there are people that say the same thing about me being on Team Hillary!
However, when West basically says that 400 years of slavery was “a choice”, he went too far for publicity. And, I’m not alone in my disappointment over that comment.
I’m not going overboard in bashing him over it because I don’t know if he’s saying all these things to bring attention to himself to drop new music or if he’s suffering another mental breakdown or exhaustion like back in 2016.
MICHELLE WOLF’S ROAST
The hoopla over comedian Michelle Wolf’s hosting the White House Correspondent’s Dinner is beginning to calm down.
Some thought she was too abrasive to White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
I think her bit on abortion was a little harsh, but the final punchline was spot on about powerful people getting abortions for their mistresses!
And, life Wolf said, I think it was a little soon for the Southwest Airlines joke.
But, the comments about Sanders were well within the safe zone. Look at the some of the comments #45 and his supporters have made over the past few years (and still make)!
Bitch about it and move on!
WAS IT BULLYING?
A friend and loyal reader of my blog posed these questions to me, “Is roasting another form if [sic] bullying? Where does the line get drawn before roasting becomes rude and distasteful? Should the press hold itself to a higher standard? Would love to read your thoughts.”
Some could say that roasting is a form of bullying. However, roasts have been going on for generations and we know what to expect from them.
We’ve become such a divisive nation that being mean or hateful is just common. With social media, it’s even easier and more instantaneous to be nasty.
As for where to draw the line and was it crossed, it really depends on which side you’re on. I thought many of Wolf’s jokes were funny and a couple were too strong. (I mentioned them above.)
But, when it comes to comedians, when do they play it safe?
As for Sanders, before she agreed to attend in the place of #45 who was afraid to attend last year and this year, did she really think it would be warm and cuddly?
“THE TERROR”
The latest AMC series, “The Terror”, is very enjoyable.
It’s based on a true story (with creative dramatic liberties taken) about two navigation ships exploring the Arctic Circle in the 1840s. The ships get stuck in the ice for several years.
The crews not only face “cabin fever” and starvation, but also a mysterious illness and a beast (imagined or real) that’s stalking the ships.
While the first episode starts out slow and talky, it definitely develops into a great and creepy series!
And, it does feature a very cruel and graphic flogging scene!
From an acting standpoint, thank you Adam Nagaitis, as Cornelius Hickey, for sharing your talents and assets! Yikes!
Another thing that creeps me out is that the surgical procedures are conducted without gloves (it’s the 1840s) — all that blood and disease!
Nagaitis is sexy (especially without all the welts and blood), but he isn’t the only sexy standout in “The Terror”.
There’s also Ronan Raftery and Liam Garrigan!
REMEMBERING TAMMY WYNETTE
Last month marked the 20th anniversary of the death of Miss Tammy Wynette, the “Queen of Country Music”.
If you’re not a country music fan, you probably don’t know that she had 44 solo hits on the Billboard Country charts with 31 of them reaching the Top Ten. Seventeen topped the chart!
And, with former husband George Jones, she scored 13 more hits with eight of them making the Top Ten and three reaching #1.
However, she also hit #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Billboard Dance chart in 1991 with the British duo, the KLF on “Justified and Ancient”.
How many of you remember this one?
The song also reached #1 in Austria, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, and Sweden, and make it all the way to #2 in Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the U.K.
“CRAZY RICH ASIANS”
I’ve now seen the first trailer for “Crazy Rich Asians”, which I first talked about last November, and I’m so excited to see the movie.
Back then, I wrote, “You may not know the name ‘Henry Golding’ now. But, you will when ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ hits theaters August 17, 2018! Golding is a 30-year-old British-Malaysian actor and he got married a year ago in August! 🙂 😦”
I think “Crazy Rich Asians” could be the new “Pretty Woman”! Well, without Julia Roberts and turning tricks in Los Angeles!
I’m so excited to see MUCH MORE of Henry Golding and the chemistry between his character, Nick Young and Rachel (Constance Wu).
Also, I hear that Goh Peik Lin (played by Awkwafina), Rachel’s Singaporean college best friend, is hilarious.
“Crazy Rich Asians” opens Friday, August 17th.
LIES LIES LIES
I just finished my 16th book, “Lies: And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them” by LIBERAL former U.S. Minnesota Senator (2009 to 2018) and “Saturday Night Live” comedian.
He resigned earlier this year after several women accused him of sexual misconduct.
In this funny and factual book, he takes on right-wing lunatics Ann Coulter, Bill O’Reilly, and Sean Hannity.
But, he also expresses his dislike for former President George W. Bush and his cronies, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld, and Condoleezza Rice, mainly over the lies told about the “weapons of mass destruction” that led us into the Iraqi War in 2003.
While he’s also tough on Colin Powell, he shows that he has more respect for him than the others.
There is a humorous quote from Franken (especially in the wake of #MeToo and the allegations against him) when trying to expose the fake Bob Jones University in South Carolina, when he says, “I never lie. That is, unless it’s absolutely necessary”.
I’d advise Republicans that toe the party line to skip the book because many of the FACTS will startle you. Or, as Coulter, O’Reilly, or Hannity would call them, “Lies”.
REMEMBER THIS ONE?
The English trio The Thompson Twins first hit the American Top 40 in the spring of 1983 with “Lies”.
That song would peak at #30 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it topped the Billboard Dance charts.
They went on to score seven Top 40 hits in America with three of them reaching the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100: “Hold Me Now” (#3, 1984), “Lay Your Hands on Me” (#6, 1985), and “King for a Day” (#8, 1985).
“Doctor! Doctor!” just missed out on the Top Ten peaking at #11 in 1984.
THAT’S IT
With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!
ahead!
What's Peeps Thinking About Now? It's Probably Random! 