Random Friday Thoughts — June 27, 2025

Three weeks in a row sharing my random thoughts and I have, at least, three more coming.

As always, I appreciate you checking them out and you sharing your opinions — even if we disagree!

CHECK YOUR FREEZER

No, this isn’t about a recall of something you may have in it even though there seems to be a food recall almost daily.

Late last week, I noticed the soda in my refrigerator was not cold and my glass of milk tasted sour many days before the expiration date. Then, I noticed the funky smell.

I put a thermometer inside the fridge and it was 67°!!! (Refrigerators should be around 35°!) However, everything in the freezer was still frozen!

Maintenance came and he diagnosed the problem as soon as he opened my freezer — it was packed too full!

Since the thermostat is in the refrigerator, it never occurred to me the fan and the two vents that cool the fridge are IN THE FREEZER! After the freezer was defrosted and the tubes de-iced, the refrigerator worked fine!

The more you know!!!

EARLY SUMMER HEAT WAVE

Fall is now less than three months away and it can’t arrive soon enough! I know that last weekend was only the first of the summer!

This winter, I’ll love the fact that full sunshine comes through our living room and main bedroom window from sunrise through early afternoon.

However, that’s a VERY BAD thing in the summer and, especially, with the heat wave Central Illinois is now experiencing.

My central air was checked and repaired because it wasn’t working properly. However, I believe there’s a bigger problem — I think the unit’s size is inadequate to cool the two bedrooms at the other end of the apartment or there may be a tear in the ductwork.

Even with the shades closed, it does nothing to block the sun and it gets up to 85° every day! So, I ordered blackout curtains for all the windows!

On Monday, I white-trashed it — or black-pugged it — until the curtains arrived later in the day. 🙂

Verdict: No difference in keeping the apartment cooler. So, when they come to check the ductwork, hopefully it cools off in the apartment!

Thus, we’re hating summer!

CHEESECAKE DELIGHT!

Back in early March, I made two Chocolate-Cinnamon-Caramel cheesecakes with a Cinnamon Graham Cracker Crust for late Christmas presents.

I tagged my two favorite Food Network stars Bobby Flay and Aarti Sequeira on X (formerly Twitter).

And, Aarti responded. Yes, Chef!!!!

Okay, while it may have only been “Yum!” with a yellow heart emoji, that’s enough for me! 🙂

TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Marriage equality became a reality for ALL Americans ten years ago this week in 2015.

While several states had already made marriage equality law by court rulings or at the polls, there were still 30 states with statutory or constitutional bans on same-sex marriage.

My marriage back in the fall of 2011 was in Davenport, Iowa.

The Hawkeye State became the third U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage on April 3, 2009, when the Iowa Supreme Court voted unanimously to uphold a lower court’s ruling.

Sadly, three of the judges that made the decision were voted out of office in judicial retention elections in November 2010.

“OVERCOMPENSATING”

The eight-episode Amazon Prime Video comedy-drama from out actor-creator-writer Benito Skinner is hilarious.

Benny, a golden boy back at his high school in Idaho — star athlete and valedictorian — is now a freshman at Yates College, where his older sister, Grace attends. In orientation, he befriends Carmen, and together they navigate college life together.

Benny has a big secret he keeps from his family, his friends back home, and at college, while developing a huge crush on Miles (Rish Shah), understandably!

Okay, it’s not a big secret to you now. 🙂

And, that final scene of season one — WOW! Amazon Prime, renew the series now and Emmys, nominate Skinner!

GRADE: A

“LATTER DAYS”

Since it’s Pride month and I just mentioned Idaho, one of favorite movies of all-time, “Latter Days”, features a kid from Pocatello, Idaho.

He’s a Mormon missionary trying to navigate Los Angeles, while struggling with his sexuality and a strict religious family.

I’d call this a dramedy because it’s comedic and very touching and heartbreaking at times. One of my favorite funny scenes is when Lila (Jacqueline Bisset) walks into room and her servers are trashing a famous customer in the restaurant.

Here’s the transcript since you may not watch the movie and I can’t find the clip on YouTube!

“THE HANDMAID’S TALE”

The Hulu series completed its six season run.

I was tired of the series after the fourth season, but I absolutely loved season five and then I couldn’t wait to see how it ends. 

The first four episodes picked up where last season left off and set the stage for this season. Episodes five through nine were incredible and intense. And, that shocker at the end of episode six was heartbreaking.

My favorite episodes were six (“Surprise”) and nine (“Execution”) (my absolute favorite).

The finale: One storyline was wrapped up with a happy ending. And, it effectively set up the spin-off series, but fell short in the main running storyline for this series.

FINAL SEASON GRADE: B

“THE TESTAMENTS”

Yes, a spin-off series based on Margaret Atwood’s 2019 book “The Testaments” is coming! 

I won’t say if June (played by Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss) plays a role in the sequel that takes place 15 years after the events of “The Handmaid’s Tale”.

Spoiler alert: ”The Testaments” focuses on Aunt Lydia and Emmy-winner Ann Dowd will reprise her role.

STILL MISSING DONNA SUMMER

Thirteen years ago this spring, in 2012, the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer, died.

I’m so happy I still get to enjoy her music.

This week back in 1989, she was enjoying her 14th (and last) Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, “This Time I Know It’s For Real”.

It’s one of my favorite songs in my first 35 years.

Before that surprise hit from the fantastic album, “Another Place and Time” (great title track song, too), her last Top 10 Hot 100 hit was “She Works Hard For The Money” that peaked at #3 in 1983.

THAT’S IT

With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!

Anthony

Random Friday Thoughts — February 16, 2024

Wow, two weeks in a row with new things to share and talk about! 

Hope you had a nice Valentine’s Day and your sweetie treated you well. 

If, like me, there is no sweetie, I hope you treated yourself well and also bought some half-price candy the next day!

“GOTCHA DATE”

Pug life is going well, but not without challenges. 

Miss Xanadu is now up to 18 pounds. I can’t believe when I got her February 25, 2023, she weighed four pounds.

She’s definitely mischievous and naughty. She can be so sweet and so mean, usually within minutes of each other. 

While she celebrated her first birthday in late December, we’re celebrating the “Gotcha Date” next week! But, do we really need a reason for cake?  

Here’s to many, many more years of fun, pug kisses and a little maturity. 

SUPER BOWL AFTERTHOUGHTS

Reba McEntire looked and sounded amazing singing the National Anthem. 

But, boy did you see her outfit on arrival at the game? WOW!

I enjoyed the last part of Usher’s performance with the roller skates and Alicia Keyes looked amazing.

NEXT YEAR’S HALFTIME PERFORMANCE

My prediction is they’ll do a multi-artist country concert. 

This makes sense because artists like Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, and the racist/not racist (with an apology) Morgan Wallen are staples at Top 40 radio.

BEYONCE GOES COUNTRY

While not exactly Super Bowl-related, in a Verizon commercial last Sunday, Beyonce teased her new album “Renaissance Act II” (March 29). 

She also dropped two new country-tinged songs – I’ll pass on “16 Carriages”, but “Texas Hold ‘Em” is incredible.

And, shockingly, it’s getting some airplay at country stations. As of this morning, it gained 1,163 plays since last Sunday at country stations and 1,614 plays at Top 40 radio!

JENNIFER LOPEZ IS INCREDIBLE 

Superstar Jennifer Lopez is one of the most beautiful and talented women in the world. 

She was actually the focus of a blog I shared four years ago this month called “When I Was Young (and Ignorant)”. 

After she performed at the Super Bowl, I realized how much 50-years-old has changed from my youth (the Golden Girls) and now with J Lo!

After beginning her career as a dancer (a “Fly Girl” on “In Living Color”), she was incredible in 1997’s “Selena” and 2019’s “Hustlers” (even “The Mother”, although it was nominated for the Razzies!)

But, she’s had a few misfires in her career — most recently, the movie “Shotgun Wedding”! 

Musically, she’s scored ten Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits with four of them reaching #1: ”If You Had My Love” (1999), “I’m Real” (2001), “Ain’t It Funny” (2002), and “All I Have” (2003).

Her latest single, “Can’t Get Enough”, is one of the Top 30 most played songs in the U.S. this week from the new album, “This Is Me… Now”, which was just released. 

Her Amazon Prime Video special, “This Is Me… Now: A Love Story” is also out now. This is part of a self-financed, $20 million project!

I’ll be watching it this weekend.

Here’s that 2020 blog entry I talked about earlier about how “50” has changed: 

https://anthonypeoples.wordpress.com/2020/02/05/when-i-was-young-and-ignorant/

While I’ve written about her many times in the past, I still haven’t seen her in concert (yes, I missed her Vegas residency)! 

I may get my chance since she announced her summer tour this week and I’m eyeing two cities and two dates. 

And, one more “girl crush” note: in 2016, I ranked my 20 favorite J. Lo songs when I thought I’d see her in Vegas. 

Click on the link below for that countdown and it’ll open in a new window: 

https://anthonypeoples.wordpress.com/2016/07/27/my-20-favorite-j-lo-songs/

FOREIGN TELEVISION

I finished “The Crown” and while I await the final season of “You” and the new season of “Bridgerton”, I’ve been bingeing on a four foreign LGBTQ series. 

My favorite was “Smiley”, which was cancelled after one season of eight episodes. 

While the other three were “coming of age” and “coming out” series dealing with high school, private school, and college, I still found them enjoyable. 

One is the Swedish series, “Young Royals”, which will conclude with the third and final season on Netflix in March. 

“Heartstopper” is a cute English series that will continue with a third season, which wrapped production in December 2023. The release date has not been announced.

And, the other is a two-season Spanish series called “Merli: Sapere Aude”, which also stars the sexy lead from “Smiley”, Carlos Cuevas.

“GOOD GRIEF” 

If you’re a Daniel Levy fan, you’ll love this movie.

If you’re having “Schitt’s Creek” withdrawal, don’t expect the zaniness from this movie, just the angst. 

At a Christmas Eve party in London, Marc (Levy) is enjoying the evening as his husband Oliver (Luke Evans) leaves for Paris and is killed in a car crash down the street from the party. 

After a year, Marc heads off to Paris with his two best friends. 

He’s there to close out matters in his relationship with Oliver and he finds that his future would have been much different if Oliver had not been killed.

GRADE: B+

“THE HANDMAID’S TALE”

If you’re a fan of the Hulu series, you’ll have to wait quite a bit longer for the sixth and final season of the Emmy-winning dystopian series. 

Elisabeth Moss told Jimmy Kimmel they’ll start filming the final season this summer. However, it’ll probably 2025 before we see it. 

While I was tired of the series after the fourth season, I absolutely loved season five and can’t wait to see how it ends… before “The Testaments” begins! 

Yes, a spin-off series based on Margaret Atwood’s 2019 book “The Testaments” is coming! Spoiler alert: This is focused on Aunt Lydia and Ann Dowd will reprise her role.

SPEAKING OF GOOD GRIEF & DYSTOPIAN

I saw this headline on Forbes X (formerly Twitter) page and thought, no thanks, I’m good!

Well, the album dropped and is expected to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200. Oh well, he’s back! 

LEAVING YOU ON A PARTYING NOTE

After those bleak thoughts, I’ll leave you with my favorite song now (it was also one of my favorites in 2002). 

Sophie Ellis-Bextor made her American television debut earlier this week on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” with her new-found hit, “Murder on the Dancefloor”. (Thank you “Saltburn” and TikTok!)

You can definitely tell she was singing live and having a blast!

THAT’S IT

With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!

Anthony

Random Friday Thoughts — July 28, 2023

Be careful out there as we head into the weekend. A major heat wave is underway across the country, including Illinois.

Thank you for taking the time to check out my random thoughts.

EGYPTIAN DOG OWNERS

It’s estimated Egyptians own more than three million dogs.

But, owing a dog in Egypt could get a lot harder and the cost of having one could become more expensive.

In May, the House of Representatives approved a bill that regulates owning dangerous dogs after a man died after being attacked by a neighbor’s pit bull earlier this year.

These dangerous dogs include Pitbulls, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Huskies, Caucasian Shepherds, Bullmastiffs, Dobermans, Alaskan Malamutes, Great Danes, Akitas, and others.

On the other hand, only 10 breeds were exempt from the list: the Cocker Spaniel, Labradors, Poodles, Malinois, Pomeranians, Jack Russell terriers, Great Danes, White German Shepherds, Maltese, and Samoyeds.

As part of the registration process, pet owners must pay a fee of up to 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,620 U.S.) to Egypt’s General Organization for Veterinary Services!!!

Yikes, I won’t complain about $15 a year for a rabies tag!

XANADU — SEVEN MONTHS OLD NOW

My crazy pug, Xanadu, is now seven months old and is up to a whopping 16 pounds. Her weight gain is slowing so I think she’s be around 20 pounds full grown.

While she’s so adorable, she’s a total brat.

She loves to snap leaves off my plants and then run under the dining room table wanting me to come after her.

It’s a game to her, but it ticks me off because I don’t want her eating leaves that may not be good for her. Time to buy some bitter, nasty spray for them!

CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS IN A HEAT WAVE

As August approaches, Christmas is now less than five months. If you regularly read my blog, you know I love Christmas!

And, damn you Kim Kardashian, you’re not going to change that! Thankfully, you’ve given me a reason to skip the new season of “American Horror Story”. And, now, you and your family are recording a Christmas album? BAH HUMBUG!

On a brighter holiday note, there are two interesting albums I’m very excited about this holiday season that’ll likely have us dancin’ around the Christmas instead of rockin’.

A month ago, Cher hinted a Christmas album was coming and she had two songs left to record. Since she’s done dance, pop, and rock, the album could go in any direction.

However, since “Believe” is the biggest hit of her career and the #1 song of 1999, I’m going with a dance-oriented Christmas album.

Meanwhile, Terri Nunn says Berlin is working on a Christmas album, too!

Many of you know the 1980s new wave band for their Oscar-winning, #1 hit in 1986, “Take My Breath Away” from “Top Gun”. The band’s only other Top 40 hit in America was 1984’s “No More Words”, which hit #23.

While both are amazing songs, as a 18-year-old, I was mesmerized by their second album, “Pleasure Victim”, from the fall of 1982.

The synthesizer-heavy album included the iconic tracks “The Metro”, “Sex (I’m A…), and “Masquerade”.

“THE HANDMAID’S TALE”

I’m looking forward to the sixth and final season of the Emmy Award-winning Hulu series, “The Handmaid’s Tale”. But, with the writers and actors strike, it may not arrive until 2024 or 2025!

I wasn’t a big fan of season four, so I was hoping the series would end with season five. However, season five was incredible!

“THE HANDMAID’S TALE” (BOOK)

This summer, I finally read Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel that was very much ahead of its time. Just look at how women’s rights are being dictated by the government in 2023!

Had I read this book back in Reagan’s conservative America when it came out, I would’ve been blown away.

However, reading it after seeing the first five seasons of the television series, the book didn’t shock or surprise me.

“THE TESTAMENTS” (BOOK)

However, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Atwood’s long-awaited sequel, “The Testaments”, that came out in 2019.

I won’t say if June (played by Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss in the television series) plays a role in the sequel that takes place 15 years after the events of “The Handmaid’s Tale”.

But, a television spin-off is being prepped and Aunt Lydia plays a major role (played by Emmy winner Ann Dowd on television).

40 YEARS ALREADY!

Madonna’s self titled debut album was released 40 years ago this week.

The eight-song album produced her first three Top 40 hits: “Holiday” (#16), “Lucky Star” (#4) and “Borderline” (#10).

However, before the radio hits, she charted with two #3 hits on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart

However, before the radio hits, she charted with two #3 hits on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, “Everybody” and “Burning Up”.

Even after four decades of hits, “Borderline” is still my favorite Madonna song.

REMEMBERING SINEAD O’CONNOR

Irish singer Sinead O’Connor passed away earlier this week at the age of 56.

In the music world, she was a “one-hit wonder”, but it was a huge one!

Her 1990 remake of “Nothing Compares 2 U” by Prince only took six weeks to reach #1 in the U.S. It stayed there for four weeks and it also topped the U.K. charts for four weeks.

“Billboard” magazine called it the “#1 world single” in 1990.

Years later, she’d mostly be known for ripping up a photo of Pope John Paul II on “Saturday Night Live” in October 1992, speaking out about child sexual abuse in the Catholic church, and being vocal about her mental illness.

She told Oprah in October 2007 that she had been diagnosed as bipolar four years earlier and had also attempted suicide on her 33rd birthday in December 1999.

SHE SAID WHAT?

Since my blog started in 2012, I’d only written about O’Connor twice.

In October 2013, I shared quotes of her spat with Miley Cyrus over the “Wrecking Ball” video.

After O’Connor posted a two-page open letter about Cyrus being “pimped out” in the music business, Miley tweeted the “SNL” Pope incident with “Before there was Amanda Bynes.” 

O’Connor fired back at Cyrus:  “I mean really really… who advises you?  Have you any idea how stupid and dangerous it is to mock people for suffering illness? You will yourself one day suffer such illness, that is without doubt. The course you have set yourself upon can only end in that, trust me.”

O’Connor added that Cyrus was dangerous and irresponsible, “Have you no sense of danger at all? Or responsibility? Remove your tweets immediately or you will hear from my lawyers.  Mockery causes deaths. Period. It is an unacceptable form of bullying, no matter who it is doing the bullying.”

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST — SHE SAID WHAT?

Then in July 2015, I posted this Facebook rant from O’Connor about the “Rolling Stone” cover with Kim Kardashian (West, at the time):  “What is this c**t doing on the cover of Rolling Stone? Music has officially died.  Who knew it would be Rolling Stone that murdered it? Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh can no longer be expected to take all the blame. Bob Dylan must be f**king horrified. #BoycottRollingStone”

THAT’S IT

With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!

Anthony