It’s the first week of April and I hope you weren’t fooled too much earlier this week.
Have a great weekend and thank you for checking out my random thoughts.
KUDOS CHICAGO!
Lori Lightfoot’s election win earlier this week to become Chicago’s new mayor is historical!
Not only will she become the city’s first African American woman mayor, but she’s also part of the LGBTQ community! She and her wife, Amy Eshleman, have one daughter!
Best wishes Lori!!!!!!
CHICAGO’S OTHER WOMAN MAYOR
Jane Byrne was the first woman elected as Chicago’s mayor and she served four years — from April 1979 to April 1983.
“A MIGHTY HEART”
I remember the tragic story when it was developing back in early 2002 and when the Angelina Jolie movie came out in 2007.
However, reading “A Mighty Heart: The Inside Story of the Al Qaeda Kidnapping of Danny Pearl”, Mariane Pearl’s account of the abduction and beheading of her husband in Pakistan by Islamic and religious extremists, is harrowing and heartbreaking.
If you don’t recall, Daniel worked for the “Wall Street Journal”. He was reporting on the United States’ “War on Terrorism” following the 9/11 attacks just months earlier.
He disappeared on January 23, 2002, at a Karachi hotel where he was meeting a contact. A terrorist group claimed he was an American spy. Once they found out he was Jewish, his fate was sealed.
He was beheaded nine days later in a video that surfaced three weeks later. His body, cut into ten pieces, was found in a shallow grave in May.
One very interesting note I learned from Mariane’s book is that for a 40-day training session at a Taliban camp to learn “how to terrify, torture, kill”, it only cost about $20/day ($50/day with weapons)! 😦
SYMPATHY FROM VLADIMIR PUTIN — COUGH!
The last part of Mariane’s book, “A Mighty Heart”, featured comforting letters to the Pearl family from around the world from everyday people and politicians, including President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush and Laura Bush.
But, the one that struck me the wrong way all these years later was from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In light of all the atrocities he’s orchestrated (oops, I mean, that he’s accused of), this part of his letter didn’t set well with me, “We will do everything to root out this evil, eliminate the threat of terrorism, find and neutralize all those who bring death and destruction.”
Earlier in the letter, he was more honest — like he was looking in a mirror, “International terrorism knows no borders or nationality.”
JOURNALISTS, MAINSTREAM MEDIA & HATRED
Many times while reading “A Mighty Heart”, I thought of 45’s constant attack on the “mainstream media” and his calling journalists that don’t pander to his rhetoric “the enemy of the people”!
No, Donald, jihadists like the ones that kidnapped Daniel Pearl because he was bringing news of their inhumane actions to the world stage are the enemies!
I know that past presidents of both parties have disliked the media. It’s no secret that Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, just to name a few, disliked reporters and the news outlets.
But, they never went so far as screaming “fake news” to any group that wasn’t Fox News!
We don’t need more blood on our hands with journalists, like Danny Pearl and countless others, being killed just because one man or one group dislikes what they report!
“HOMELAND”
I finally got caught up on the Emmy Award-winning Showtime series “Homeland” with the incredible Claire Danes.
I had watched up to season four, but now that I have premium cable, they’ve added seasons five, six, and seven.
And, in a casting note that I love, Hugh Dancy (NBC’s “Hannibal”), who’s also Danes’ real-life husband will have a multi-series arc!
The eighth and final season comes out later this year. They’re currently shooting in Morocco, which is substituting for Afghanistan!
While I’m thrilled that Dancy will be joining the cast, I hope they bring back James D’Arcy and make him Carrie’s love interest. He’s already mine!!! 🙂
FUNNIEST “HOMELAND” LINE
In a series about homeland security, terrorists, shady politics and being bipolar, there usually aren’t a lot of laughs.
However, in season seven, I had to LOL at one of Carrie Mathison’s (Danes) lines.
She’s knows that her body has built up a tolerance to the lithium that’s keeping her sane. Storming into her therapist’s office with her head bleeding after a fight with a man blackmailing her, a manic Carrie tells the doctor she wants to try new medication.
The doctor is freaked out about the surprise visit and Carrie’s head bleeding asks her repeatedly how it happened.
Carrie’s response: “Can you focus?” 🙂
“HANNIBAL”
Speaking of “Hannibal”, the amazing NBC series that was probably too intelligent for television was cancelled after three seasons.
There’s still talk of bringing back the critically acclaimed show with a Clarice Starling story line! Because of contractual blah blah blah, that wasn’t possible in its first run.
I want more Hugh Dancy (“Will Graham”), Mads Mikkelsen (“Hannibal Lecter”) and Gillian Anderson (“Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier)!
“STRONGER THAN THE TRUTH”
Reba McEntire’s 33rd studio album, “Stronger Than The Truth” is out now!
If you’re planning on buying it, Target has an exclusive disc with two additional songs!
“THE FAVOURITE”
This Academy Award nominee for Best Picture is set in the early 18th century and is very quirky!
At the beginning of the movie, Olivia Colman’s Queen Anne makes a humorous comment about the war, thinking it’s over.
But, once you realize that she has very serious health issues that affect her ability to make decisions for the country, it becomes darker.
Best Supporting Actress nominees Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz were fantastic.
Now that I’ve seen all five Oscar nominees for Best Actress this year, I’m okay that Colman won.
Ideally, I would’ve been happier if it had been a tie between Colman and Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”)
GRADE: B+
“IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK”
And, since I was talking about Best Supporting Actress nominees in “The Favourite”, Regina King won the Oscar this year in that category for this movie.
This is director Barry Jenkins’ follow-up to the Oscar-winning Best Picture “Moonlight” (2016).
“Tish” (KiKi Layne) and “Fonny” (Stephan James) have been friends all their lives and a romantic relationship develops when they’re a little older.
Fonny is falsely accused of raping a woman and his mother-in-law, Sharon Rivers (King), tries to track down the woman and convince her to recant her story and clear Fonny.
Layne’s performance, in a weaker Oscar race, could easily have been nominated!
GRADE: B
“BRITNEY: INSIDE THE DREAM”
If you’ve been following the news this week, Britney Spears checked herself in a mental health facility to relax and help her cope with her father’s failing health.
Recently, I recently read Steve Dennis’ 2009 biography on the pop princess and it was more entertaining than reading about Britney on Wikipedia.
However, the book ends after her meltdown more than a decade ago and before she reclaimed her pop throne with “Femme Fatale”, my favorite album of 2011.
Additionally, Dennis didn’t have access to Britney, so much of it was speculation and the parts of the book where he had a psychologist analyze Britney without talking to her were a little awkward.
MY THREE FAVORITE BRITNEY SONGS
BONUS BRITNEY
This song was never released as a single, but it should have been!
THAT’S IT
With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!
Anthony
What's Peeps Thinking About Now? It's Probably Random! 