Random Friday Thoughts — August 4, 2023

August is here and that means fall is just around the corner. Oh wait, decorations are already in stores, so I must be right.

Thank you for taking the time to check out my thoughts. You can definitely disagree, just do it diplomatically.

RETIRE NOW & LIVE YOUR LIVE!

I’m a realist! I’m no longer a “spring chicken” and for the first time in my life, I’m starting to think about retirement. (It’s still years away!)

While I love being a television meteorologist, I also think about what life will be like to enjoy not working and having fewer responsibilities!

With that in mind, I want to talk about politicians not knowing when to leave the party before death takes them out of the game and I’m being non-partisan here.

With recent meltdowns of 81-year-old Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and 90-year-old U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California making news, it’s time for them to retire and spend time with their families.

Seriously, these are people making laws that affect all of us and they need to be mentally competent!

And, it doesn’t stop there. Both front runners for the next presidential race will be 81 (President Joe Biden) and 78 (Donald Trump) on Election Day 2024!

WORST KEPT SECRET EVER & I’M VERY HAPPY

Rumors have been swirling since last November that iconic superstar Kylie Minogue would be doing a Las Vegas residency.

In May, Kylie announced her new album “Tension” would arrive in September. It features “Padam Padam”, her first hit in America in almost 20 years.

One song stood out when the track listing of the new album was revealed. The song “Vegas High” confirmed to me she’d be doing a Vegas residency.

Late last week, the worst kept secret became official. Kylie announced her residency at the Venetian Resort as the Voltaire nightclub’s first act.

It’s being billed as “More Than Just A Residency” with Kylie performing most weekends in November, December, and January!

“VEGAS HIGH” — I’M READY!

In that announcement, we got a first listen to “Vegas High”. For years now, I’ve been wanting to see Kylie — it’s the last concert on my bucket list!

I’m so ready to buy my ticket and head to Vegas.

The last time I was there was in September 2021. I went twice that summer once the pandemic eased a bit when vaccines became available. (I didn’t visit Vegas in 2022 because I made the mistake of visiting Atlantic City, New Jersey instead!).

Anyways, back to Vegas. Seeing Kylie would be my first concert since the pandemic.

In December 2019, I saw Paula Abdul and it was a great time. It was also during that visit that I last ate at the Wicked Spoon, my favorite dining experience in Vegas.

So, I’ve already got my trip planned, I just don’t know the dates yet — win big on the slots, bottomless mimosa brunch at the Wicked Spoon, see Kylie and maybe another show, and come home to my crazy pug, Xanadu!

JACKIE KENNEDY & CLINT HILL

Secret Service agent Clint Hill was on First Lady Jackie Kennedy’s detail on that fateful day in November 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

He worked for five presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Gerald Ford.

Once he retired from the Secret Service in the mid-1970s, he kept his silence about the Kennedy assassination.

However, he started writing books with Lisa McCubbin (now his wife) in 2012. He’s now written four books.

I went on a Clint Hill reading spree, but I didn’t read them in order. I’d highly recommend them all. They’re very informative and easy to read. If you want gossip and dirt, you won’t find it.

I read them in this order: “Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford” (2016); Five Days in November (2013); “Mrs. Kennedy and Me” (2012), and “My Travels with Mrs. Kennedy” (2022).

Some stories overlap, but you still learn new things.

“THE DIPLOMAT”

Now that Hollywood writers and actors are on strike, we have the chance to binge watch shows we’ve been wanting to check out.

I just finished the first season of “The Diplomat” on Netflix with Keri Russell (“The Americans”). She picked up an Emmy nomination in the Best Actress Drama category.

Kate Wyler (Russell) and her husband, Hal (Rufus Sewell) are both career diplomats. She is sent to U.K. to smooth over an international crises –a British aircraft carrier was bombed in the Persian Gulf killing 41 service members. Iran is the main suspect.

What she doesn’t know is that she was chosen instead of her husband because the American president is wanting Kate’s profile raised because he’s going to replace his vice-president with her.

And, I absolutely loved every scene with the very stunning and sexy Austin Dennison, the U.K. Foreign Secretary (David Gyasi) and his sister, Cecilia (T’Nia Miller).

Oh, by the way, who tailors his suits? Peachy! 🙂

“The Diplomat” was renewed for a second season.

GRADE: B

“THE NIGHT AGENT”

This was a very enjoyable and action-packed political thriller.

Sexy Gabriel Basso was easy to watch over the ten episodes and the show has a great creative force behind it, Shawn Ryan (“The Shield”).

Basso plays Peter Sutherland, Jr., an FBI agent working at the White House as a Night Action telephone operator. He answers the phone for “Night Agents” — undercover agents and spies for the government.

One night a call comes in that exposes a major conspiracy inside the White House.

“The Night Agent” was renewed for a second season.

GRADE: B+

“NOT THAT FANCY”

Just in time for my birthday in early October, Reba McEntire will be releasing her new book, “Not That Fancy: Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, and Dusting Off Your Boots” (October 6th). An album will accompany that book.

The album will be acoustic versions of some Reba’s biggest hits.

It’ll also feature 3 new classic stripped-down songs that have never been released. It’ll also feature a brand new song, “Seven Minutes in Heaven.”

Since I didn’t buy Reba’s 2021 triple CD “Revived Remixed Revisited”, maybe I’ll get this one.

I really wish Reba would release a new CD of all new music.

However, after country radio totally ignored her incredible Grammy Award-nominated, “Stronger Than The Truth” album in 2019, why would she put out another album of new material — except for fans!

“THE HAMMER”

I should have seen the red flags flying when “A Lifetime Original Movie” popped up on the screen.

While I enjoyed Reba on season three of ABC’s “Big Sky” as Sunny Barnes, this one is worth skipping — unless you just want to see Reba and Melissa Peterman (Barbara Jean on the “Reba” TV series).

GRADE: C

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony

Random Friday Thoughts — September 30, 2022

September is basically over and Christmas is right around the corner!

Oops, I meant Thanksgiving and Halloween! 🙂

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

FALL IS COMING!

I just love this time of the year and, clearly, being morbid and twisted!

THRIFTY IS MORE LIKE SHIFTY!

If you’re traveling soon and are renting a car, spend a few dollars more and avoid Thrifty Car Rental (part of The Hertz Corporation)!

I used them when I went to Atlantic City last month. I drove the car from the Philadelphia airport to my hotel in Atlantic City, parked it, and then drove it back to the airport.

They checked the car upon my return and all was good. Once the bill posted to my credit card and it matched my invoice, I threw away my three toll receipts from the Atlantic City Expressway.

Thrifty offered me their “PlateGlass All-Inclusive Tolling” option ($16.49/per day) to drive through the E-ZPass lanes, but I refused because I brought cash for tolls.

Two weeks after I returned home, I got a bill from Thrifty telling me I “declined” the service… but, I “activated the transponder device affixed to the car windshield and traveled through the toll facility”.

Because of that activation, they were going to charge me $49.47! (It showed up on my credit card this week!)

I never touched the device and the three toll agents that I talked to asked if I wanted to use E-ZPass and I said no and paid cash. The fourth toll was coin only (no agent) and the final toll near the airport to return the car was a cash only option.

I disputed the claim by email and two business days later, they replied they would drop the charge to $16.30 ($1.30 for the toll plus a $15 administrative fee).

I told them I’d rather pay $16.30 than the $49.47, adding “And, that $1.30 you paid was a toll with NO attendant and yes, I did stop and pay the toll with coins!”

I concluded with “I’m totally disgusted with my first (AND ONLY) experience with your rental company.  I’ll never use you again and I’m definitely going to make sure others know about it!!! … TOTAL SCAM!”

Two days later, I got this response, “The Toll Authorities reported the rental vehicle going through 1 toll without payment. I have reviewed the toll and see that there is a cash payable option at this location.  As a courtesy, I am adjusting the account in full in the amount of $49.47. Please allow up to 5 business days for the adjustment to post back to your account.”

So, the $49.47 charge posted Thursday (9/29) and I called and they said the “refund” of $49.47 was being processed. I just checked this morning (9/30) and it is pending!

Bottom line: I’ll never use Thrifty again and I’ll save every receipt longer! For my upcoming December car rental, I went with Alamo!

“THE PALACE PAPERS”

It’s now been more than three weeks since Queen Elizabeth II died.

This summer, I read the incredible new book, “The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor — the Truth and the Turmoil” from journalist and author Tina Brown.

It’s a look at the Royal family over the past 25 years since Princess Diana’s 1997 death.

From a monarchy standpoint, this is the follow-up to awesome 2007 book, “The Diana Chronicles”.

Since I know Brown’s reporting pedigree is legit, I believe what she reports and writes.

The book covers how Her Majesty botched the handling of Diana’s death with the Queen basically vowing that no one else in the future (Camilla, Catherine, or Meghan) would have the uncontrolled media spotlight that surrounded the Princess of Wales in the 1980s and the 1990s.

Since the book came out this past spring, it covers everything up to the Queen’s “Platinum Jubilee”, the celebration for her seventy years of service to the people.

One final note about the book: Her wittiness (and saltiness) came through in the first few pages when she attended a 2006 memorial service for the Queen’s cousin, Lord Lichfield, in Westminster.

Brown describes Princess Anne as “dowdy and gruff”, the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla’s (now Queen Consort of the U.K.) outfit as a “box-shaped hat capped off a dour air stewardess suit”, her ex-husband, Andrew Parker Bowles, as a “walking pink gin”, a fashionable English cocktail in the mid-1800s!

But, what made me LOL was the overall description of the group of royals and their family, “This was a crowd that could well afford the best Harley Street dentist, but you could root for truffles in the forest of bad teeth!”

Come on, Tina, how do you really feel? 🙂

“THE DIANA CHRONICLES”

Can you believe that Princess Diana died 25 years ago last month?

If you’re still intrigued by the Royal family, I definitely recommend Tina Brown’s “The Diana Chronicles”, which was released in the summer of 2007.

Here’s what I had to say about the book in August 2019: “Brown’s book is very comprehensive and easy to read.  It’s much more journalistic, thorough and fair (i.e. honest).  However, she could be catty!  Meow!

Although the front and back cover featured the same collage of photos of Princess Diana’s life, I really wish the book featured photos inside!

One thing that Brown talked about that intrigued me was Diana and Charles’s divorce settlement: a lump sum of £17 million (roughly $20.5 million) and £400,000 annually for Diana’s office (nearly one-half million dollars).”

GRADE:  A

ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS RIGHT NOW!

I’ve been a fan of Charlie Puth for years now and he’s so adorable. Now I can say that I’m on the BTS bandwagon, sort of!

Charlie’s latest hit, “Left And Right” features Jungkook of the South Korean band. BTS. 

The song is a #1 hit in India, the Philippines, and Vietnam, and a Top 5 hit in Hungary, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan.

Here in the U.S., it’s up to #10 on the Top 40 radio airplay charts.

HITS AND MISSES!

HITS: “The Crown” season five arrives November 9th.

HITS: Part one of the fourth season of “YOU” debuts February 10, 2023 with part two arriving one month later on March 10th!

MISSES: Sadly, Peacock cancelled the latest “Queer As Folk” reboot after the first season! We’ll never know what happened after that shocking kiss in the rain at the end!!!

“BIG SKY”

I’m excited for the third season of ABC’s “Big Sky” because Reba McEntire joined the cast.

It’ll be great having her back on television after the incredibly funny six seasons of “Reba” (WB & The CW, 2001- 2007) and the disappointing season of ABC’s “Malibu Country” (2012-2013).

And, I love the fact that she’ll playing a bad person!

I’m also hoping that we’ll be seeing more of Jesse James Keitel that I fell in love with on the Peacock’s” Queer As Folk”. I’m still waiting to see if she’ll on the third season!

I binge watched the first two seasons recently because of Reba’s arrival and Jesse James, so here are my thoughts:

Season 1: I absolutely love the two female leads on the series, Jenny Hoyt (Katheryn Winnick) and Cassie Dewell (Kylie Bunbury).

The first season covers the disappearance of two white teenagers traveling through Montana. We find out that there are many more missing women, but because of their race and profession (sex trade), their disappearance didn’t get the same commitment from law enforcement. Shocker!

One thing I love about the series is that when it’s time for a character to die, they’re dead! This is something that is not dragged out forever on like most series. That was evident when a big name was killed off at the end of the first episode of the series.

Something that I found rather jolting was that after the first nine episodes, there is a three-month time jump and a new storyline is introduced for the final seven episodes to play alongside the first half of the season’s main plot.

GRADE: B

Season 2: While the bloodshed continued, I found the second season very disjointed.

The search for the baddie in season one continued. Some of the characters introduced for this season’s drug trade storyline were so annoying (two of the teenagers) and some were great (the other two teenagers).

And, that whole new Legarski storyline was too much and too silly. I’m a fan of John Carroll Lynch (“American Horror Story”), but not of Rick Legarski’s twin brother, Wolf!

GRADE: C+

After watching the first two seasons, I won’t get too attached to Reba’s Sunny Barnes because one thing about “Big Sky” is that it’s not afraid to unexpectedly kill characters off!

Although the third season is already airing, I’m going to avoid spoilers and wait until the mid-season finale airs and then binge watch the first half of season three.

I’m disappointed to learn that my hottie Omar Metwally will not be a regular in the third season because of a scheduling conflict! 😦

FINAL “HALLOWEEN ENDS” TRAILER

Is it October 14th? That’s rhetorical, I know it isn’t! 🙂

The final trailer for “Halloween Ends” dropped this week! I can’t wait.

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony

Random Friday Thoughts — August 19, 2022

It’s Friday and that means I’m back with some things that I’ve been thinking about over the past week.

I appreciate you taking the time to check them out. If we disagree, that’s cool. Feel free to tell me about it — diplomatically.

Enjoy your weekend!

GAME, SET, MATCH*

(* Changes are pending on this policy, so this story is developing and could change at any time!)

In another life (in other words, if I could have a “do over”), I would have played basketball in high school and perfected my tennis game.

As a teenager, I loved (and lusted for) Swedish legend Bjorn Borg.

Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, and Martina Navratilova were also my favorites.

I didn’t care much for John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors and after reading their autobiographies recently, my teenage feelings remain intact! 🙂

I’ve always been a fan of Serbian hottie and 21-time Grand Slam winner, Novak Djokovic.

However, I disagree with his views on being vaccinated against Covid-19.

Although I wish that everyone had gotten vaccinated back in the spring of 2021 and we would have saved more lives and altered the state of the pandemic. But, it is what is and that didn’t happen.

While Djokovic is not associated with the wider anti-vax movement, he RIGHTFULLY believes it’s a personal choice and an individual’s right.

He didn’t get to play the 2022 Australian Open, where he was the defending champion for the past three years, because all players had to be vaccinated.

And, at the time, he’s not getting to play in the U.S. Open in New York City later this month into early September for the same reason — he’s unvaccinated.

This is not a vaccine mandate from the U.S. Open, it’s from the American government — unvaccinated non-U.S. citizens cannot enter the country. 

Here’s my problem with his whining. When I traveled to Greece last fall and to Costa Rica this spring, the U.S. government required me to test negative within 3 days of returning home last fall and test negative a day before returning home this spring.

I didn’t want to take that test to return home for fear of being positive and being stuck in a foreign country. But, I paid for the tests both times and both were negative. I did it because it was U.S. policy.

If the imaginary Joe Smith, a minimum wage worker from Birkenhead, outside of Liverpool, England, wanted to visit his cousin in Newark, New Jersey, he’d have to vaccinated to enter the U.S.

Just because Djokovic is a multi-millionaire and one of the top tennis players in the world doesn’t give him any more right to come into the U.S. unvaccinated than any other non-U.S. citizen!

Djokovic, it’s the way it is!

“BIG SKY”

Last week, I talked about the Peacock reboot, “Queer As Folk”.

I fell in love with Jesse James Keitel and I’m now going to check out the ABC series “Big Sky” to see more of the non-binary, trans actress.

Plus, Reba McEntire has joined the crime thriller for the third season!

If that wasn’t enough, I have a sweet tooth for “eye candy” — Ryan Phillippe, Omar Metwally, and Jensen Ackles!

GRACE AND FRANKIE

I finally got around to watching the seventh and final season of Netflix’s “Grace and Frankie”. While I love Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Martin Sheen, I was ready for it to end.

While four episodes dropped last August and the final twelve episode debuted this past spring, I just wasn’t too excited to jump back into it (plus I was watching other series at the time).

Well, I’m done. I was very happy with the final season dealing with memory loss, aging, and fearing death.

I wasn’t thrilled with the storyline of a psychic telling one of the leads that she was going to die on a certain day and it became the focus of the last season!

My favorite characters other than Grace (Fonda) were Brianna (June Diane Raphael) and Joan-Margaret (Millicent Martin).

And, the two characters (*not actors*) that made my patience wear very thin were Frankie (Tomlin) and Sol (Sam Waterston) — just too eccentric and whiney, respectively!

BIRTHDAY GIRL…

Earlier this week, Madonna turned 64.

To celebrate her birthday, the “Queen of Pop” on Friday released “Finally Enough Love”, a 50-track, three disc collection, which is a 40-year retrospective of remastered and remixed songs.

Madonna is the only artist in music history to score 50 #1 hits on a single Billboard chart — hers is on the Dance Club Songs chart.

Here’s a fun version of “Music”, one of the songs that’ll be on the compilation, from a recent visit with Jimmy Fallon.

& DEATH ANNIVERSARIES…

Last week, I mentioned the 45th anniversary of Elvis’ death is this week and shared my three favorite Elvis songs: #3 “Kentucky Rain”, #2 “Suspicious Minds”, and at #1, “Blue Christmas”.

This week also marks the 4th anniversary of the passing of Aretha Franklin. So, in honor of the “Queen of Soul”, here’s my favorite Aretha Franklin song (a #1 duet with George Michael from 1987).

And, my favorite Aretha solo hit, “Freeway of Love” (#3, 1985).

Ironically, both Elvis and Aretha died on August 16th, Madonna’s birthday.

THE REIGN OF TELEVISION!

While the 1982 book “America in Search of Itself: The Making of the President 1956-1980” by Theodore H. White is mostly about presidents and presidential campaigns of that era, the chapter on television was a great read.

According to White, only 4.4 million American households had television sets in 1950. But, by 1980, that number was at 80 million — as close to saturation as statistically possible!

A turning point for television and newspapers was in 1963 when network evening news on CBS and NBC expanded from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. It was estimated that by the end of that year, about two-thirds of Americans were getting ALL of their news from the three networks — 50 million to 60 million viewers!

That was also the first year that Americans relied on television for news more than newspapers forcing some big city papers to cut out afternoon papers.

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony