While I posted one blog in the past few weeks, it’s been over a month since I shared my random thoughts. It’s time for a few more.
Have a great weekend and thank you for checking out what’s on my mind today.
XANADU — SEVEN WEEKS TOGETHER
I can’t believe I’ve been a “Dog Dad” going on two months now.
Pug Xanadu and I love each other dearly, but boy she can be a stubborn little (b**ch) puppy.
She’s learning right from wrong, but it seems like she intentionally chooses wrong and then stares at me with those innocent little brown eyes that say, “What are you going to do about it?”
We’ve had more wins than losses when it comes to potty training, but we’re definitely not there yet!
MORE MASS SHOOTING, NEXT….
Just two weeks after three nine-year-old students and three school officials were gunned down in Nashville, Tennessee, another mass shooting in Louisville, Kentucky, left five people murdered and nine other injured earlier this week.
Yet, many just turn a blind eye or “pray for <insert city>”, and then move on.
MEANWHILE, GUESS WHAT PEOPLE ARE STRESSED OVER?
Politicians and conservatives are losing their minds over nakedness and art in Florida…
drag queens in Florida and Tennessee…
books to ban across the country…
and a trans woman representing Bud Light beer.
People, get a f*cking clue and focus on things that we ‘re losing sleep and loved ones over!
“BEEF”
This ten-episode Netflix series about road rage and its aftermath is incredible.
It stars Oscar nominee Steven Yeun (“Minari” and “The Walking Dead”) and Emmy-nominated comedian and actress Ali Wong.
You might think that a series focusing on a road rage incident might wear thin by the end of ten episodes, but no way.
Once you get to know Danny and Amy and what’s going on in their lives, you realize it could happen to any of us. Well, they do carry it to extremes!
GRADE: A–
TWO MORE “BEEF” THOUGHTS
Joseph Lee, who plays Amy’s husband, George, is absolutely gorgeous!
And, Yeun sings in the series and it’s amazing (grace)!
TASTY TREATS
I can’t recall the last time I had a Dairy Queen Blizzard. However, there are three that I really want to try.
One is new — “Peanut Butter Puppy Chow”. It’s crispy puppy chow pieces, peanut butter topping, and chocolate chunks.
The other is the “Choco-Dipped Strawberry” — a combination of sweet strawberry topping and chocolate chunks.
And, the “Cotton Candy” one sounds fun, too.
“YOU” SEASON FOUR, PART TWO
Thank God, season four of the stalker series, “YOU” is over! This was easily my least favorite season. Luckily, there’s a chance for redemption because it was renewed for a fifth and final season!
When the first five episodes of this season dropped on Netflix February 9, 2023, I gave it a “B” and said, “Joe’s teaching at a university and gets involved with a crowd that I absolutely despise. Well, there’s one in the group that I like and she has an interesting candle collection!Season four is a cat and mouse game like the first three seasons, however Joe is the one that’s being creeped on this time!”
In Season 4, Part 2, it goes off the rail. As much as it was an interesting concept, it was VERY CONFUSING, especially episode 8. Afterwards, I had to read the summary to fill in the blanks. I thought I had fallen asleep and missed something!
While I’ve enjoyed the creepy (love story!) and Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), I’m glad season five will be the last.
Season three was my favorite and I gave it an “A-“. Season one would rank second and season two would be third!
This is the trailer for part one of season four. (I didn’t want to give anything away by showing the trailer for part two!)
SEASON FOUR, PART TWO — GRADE: C-
SEASON 4 — OVERALL GRADE: C
MY OSCAR PICKS
Since my last “Random Friday Thoughts” was before the Oscars, I did very well on my Oscar picks for the major awards.
I correctly picked Best Picture (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) and Best Director (The Daniels for “Everything Everywhere All at Once”).
Also, I was right on all four acting winners (Best Actress Michelle Yeoh for “Everything Everywhere All at Once”; Best Actor Brendan Fraser in “The Whale”; Best Supporting Actor Ke Huy Quan and Best Supporting Actress Jamie Lee Curtis, both for “Everything Everywhere All at Once”).
And, I won $50 for my picks.
THAT’S IT
With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!
Hope your June is off to a great start as we’re already one-third of the way through it.
Have a fantastic weekend and thank you for checking out my random thoughts.
BREAKING NEWS….
CNN reports that President Biden is expected to announce Friday (June 10) the CDC “will end COVID-19 testing requirement for air travelers entering the country”.
This will go into effect midnight Sunday for U.S. bound flights.
Interestingly, I blogged about wanting this policy dropped just four weeks ago! And, it was just earlier this week that I tweeted the President, the White House, and the CDC! 🙂
I know this has nothing to do with the change, but it feels nice to think you might be heard!
GUNS! GUNS! GUNS!
It’s now been just over two weeks since an 18-year-old with no criminal record and no documented mental illness killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
His shooting spree also injured 18 others (fifteen students, two police officers, and his grandmother at home).
Since then, there have been more than three dozen mass shootings in the U.S.!!!
Democrats are screaming tougher gun control and Republicans want more done about mental illness. Well, both are right. But, nothing gets done from either side of the aisle with just talk, talk, talk and soundbites!
About gun control, I don’t want your damn guns. But, I don’t think civilians should have access to Glocks or AR-15-style rifles, which the National Rifle Association calls, “America’s rifle”! How sweet!
Just think of how many more mass shootings have been added to that list!
LET’S TALK MENTAL ILLNESS…
Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter worked hard to bring mental health issues to the forefront.
President Jimmy Carter signed the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980 into law in October, a month before the 1980 presidential election.
Ronald Reagan, seven months after taking office, signed The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 into law.
This repealed most of the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980!
ENTERTAINMENT & MASS SHOOTINGS
In the wake of the Texas school shooting, CBS pulled the season four finale of “FBI” because the storyline involved a suspected student’s participation in a deadly robbery.
This has happened many times in the past.
I was a huge fan of NBC’s “Hannibal”. In the spring of 2013, show producer Bryan Fuller decided to pull the original “fourth” episode of the first season, “Oeuf”, most likely because of the Newtown, Connecticut school shooting in December 2012.
In this episode that aired in international markets and on streaming services, Molly Shannon plays the “criminal of the week”, a teacher who brainwashes foster kids into killing other kids and their old families.
At the time, my problem with this was that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings took place almost five months earlier. If the producers were that uneasy about the theme of this episode, they knew that back then and could have done some editing or re-shoots to maintain continuity in the show!
I guess it worked out for them. I ended up buying the season one DVD just to see that missing episode!
“QUEER AS FOLK”
The eight-episode reboot of “Queer As Folk” debuted on Peacock Thursday.
I watched the first episode and it’s incredible. I loved the LGBTQ+ and racial representation that the two original versions lacked! I’ll be watching the rest of it this weekend.
Did you watch the 10-episode U.K. original in 1999-2000 with a very young Charlie Hunnam (“Sons of Anarchy)?
Or, the five-season, 83 episode, U.S. version on Showtime from 2000-2005. (I watched the first few seasons of the U.S. version and finally caught the U.K. version.)
Okay, I digress.
I’m mentioning the new reboot for three reasons — it’s Pride month, it’s new programming, and because the storyline revolves around a Pulse nightclub-like shooting and rebuilding a community after a tragedy.
What are your thoughts on when entertainment is a little too close to reality?
DOING A DOUBLE TAKE!
Okay, let’s lighten the mood!
I posted my senior picture from high school last week on Facebook and I had someone say I looked like a young Keanu (Reeves). When I was younger, I heard that a few times — and thank you! 🙂
A few weeks back, my friend, Steve, sent me a photo and at first glance, I thought, when was that taken and who are those men?
Well, I clicked on it and realized it wasn’t me. Well, unless I’m a really young and muscular, sexy, porn star! (Or, so I’m told that he’s in the adult film industry!)
We sure like that high hair! 🙂 This was on my first trip to Vegas in the early-1990s!
THE PICK TO PLAY MADONNA
It looks like Ozark’s Julia Garner will be playing Madonna in the new movie following the early years of the icon’s life!
“What are you looking at?/ Strike a pose / Strike a pose/ Vogue (vogue, vogue)”
WHY THE RAINBOW FLAG?
When the LGBTQ movement took off in the 1970s, there was no widely accepted symbol.
Some used the Greek symbol for lambda, but not many knew what it meant. Others want to use the pink triangle, which is how gays during the Holocaust were branded. Yet, people that was too bleak.
Gilbert Baker decided to make a new symbol for the movement and debuted the rainbow flag at San Francisco Pride on June 25, 1978.
While there have been variations of the flag since then, six colors are readily acceptable today on most rainbow flags.
Baker’s original flag had eight colors.
“FIRE ISLAND”
I’ve never been to Fire Island and I’ll probably never go. If I could travel back in time and know then what I know now, I’d love to be there back in the late-1970s and early-1980s during my teenage years.
This Pride month, Hulu is offering a new LGBTQ movie following a group of friends heading to the gay mecca for what could be their last time together there.
The biggest names in the movie are comedian Margaret Cho, “Saturday Night Live” breakout star Bowen Yang, and Conrad Ricamora from “How To Get Away With Murder”.
While the movie is a romantic-comedy, it’s more of a buddy movie. It’s about friends looking out for each other and fighting for each other when the going gets tough.
And, it’s about flaunting what you’ve got.
After a sluggish start, the movie found its footing and ended up being enjoyable, even if the ending wasn’t all that believable!
It was great seeing very sexy Ricamora again (I’d so date him and his character) and the very adorable Charles Scully (“You”). And, “Fire Island”, thank you for introducing me to Zane Phillips and Miss Peppermint!
GRADE: B
MISS PEPPERMINT, “IF” YOU’RE NASTY
Okay, I had heard of Miss Peppermint before “Fire Island”.
Earlier this spring to celebrate Janet’s birthday (Miss Jackson if you’re nasty”), Peppermint released an incredible remake of “If”.
“If” reached the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the fall of 1993. It’s still one of my all-time favorite Janet songs!
Here’s the original video.
And, I saw Janet on her “Unbreakable World Tour” in October 2015 in Omaha. Here’s some of “If” live!
SAL MINEO
Most people, if they remember Sal Mineo, know him from “Rebel Without A Cause” from 1955.
After just turning 17-years-old, in 1956, Mineo became the second youngest to get an Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category for “Rebel”.
Sal was nominated again in 1961 in the Best Supporting Actor category for “Exodus” — becoming the youngest actor, at that time, to have two nominations.
And, some might remember him as the actor stabbed to death outside his apartment in early 1976 after returning home from theatre practice with less than $22 in his pocket and a cupcake he’d bought for his dinner!
I recently read two books about the actor. He was much more successful than he’s remembered for!
Michael Gregg Michaud’s “Sal Mineo: A Biography” (2010) was a great book.
One of my favorite tidbits was a conversation between two of Sal’s girlfriends.
Susan Ladin told Jill Haworth: “If it wasn’t for you, I’d be the first Mrs. Mineo”. And Jill replied, “If it wasn’t for Bobby Sherman, you’d be the second Mrs. Mineo”. (Jill told the author that she walked in on Mineo and Sherman having sex ending her sexual relationship with Sal.)
The other book was by a writer that claims to have had ongoing sexual encounters with Mineo.
Here are some revelations from H. Paul Jeffers’ 2000 book, “Sal Mineo: His Life, Murder, and Mystery”.
While many thought that James Dean was having an affair with both of his co-stars from “Rebel Without A Cause” Sal Mineo and Natalie Wood, Mineo denies they had sex.
In 1973, Jeffers claims Sal told him, “If I’d understood back then that a guy could be in love with another one, it would have happened. But I didn’t come to that realization for a few more years, and then it was too late for Jimmy and me.”
DON JOHNSON & SAL MINEO
Also, from Jeffers book….
Future “Miami Vice” star Don Johnson acted in a 1969 Los Angeles theatrical production directed by Mineo. It was a gay-themed prison drama with nudity and Mineo’s character raping Johnson’s much younger character.
A few years later, in 1973, Johnson said, “Basically, I guess I’m an exhibitionist. I’m very proud of my body. I’m pleased with the way I look and the way I carry myself. I feel that it’s all there to be used — the looks and everything else. Some people have great minds, and they were given them for a reason. I have never been accused of having a great mind, but I do have my looks.”
Johnson lived with Mineo at the time and there were rumors that they were lovers.
Johnson says, “Of course there were some wild stories that went down because of us, which was fine, because they helped sell a lot of tickets. And there have been some outrageous stories about us! God, God, God!”
SUMMER BREAK
Like those that have the summer off, I’m taking a late spring break.
I hope it’s a nice one for you and I’ll be back soon with more random thoughts.
Bon Appetit this Pride Month!
THAT’S IT
With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!
What's Peeps Thinking About Now? It's Probably Random! 