Happy Mother’s Day weekend!
I’ll take a moment to remember my mother, Dessie, and be thankful that I still have my sister, Tammy, in my life.
Thank you for taking the time to check out my random thoughts!
STICKS & STONE MAY BREAK MY BONES…
…but words shall never hurt me!
As kids, we’ve all heard that saying (or something like it). And, I believe, for the most part, it’s true.
I know that when you’re young and impressionable or if you’re a grown-up with insecurities (who doesn’t have some), hurtful words from parents, friends, lovers, or spouses can hurt. Actually, words said in anger do have a lasting impact.
However, being called a “f***ing fa**ot” by a speeding car driving by definitely doesn’t hurt my feelings. It just pisses me off.
This happened last Friday afternoon on one of my many daily walks around Lake Decatur.
It was from a group of youngsters and the man/boy in the back seat yelled it out the window. This person had no clue who was on the other side of busy U.S. 36. He was just being juvenile and ignorant.
I’m sure if it was a woman walking, he’d yell something sexist and stupid.
I was a teenager and young adult in the conservative dark Reagan-era years when homophobia was rampant and the world was scared of gay people and AIDS. (It didn’t help that it took President Reagan almost six years to mention it publicly!)
So, “f***ing fa**ot” is something that most LGBTQ people have heard before. However, it was scarier back then (in the 1980s and 1990s) because those people threatened us with baseball bats!
I’m a very secure person and my immediate reaction last Friday was to go back to reading my book and enjoying my day, while the thought bubble above my head said, “f***ing idiot”!
This is a perfect time for Heather Mooney! 🙂
Before I move on, I just hope that it made his day a little better to yell that out the window at a stranger. And, I hope he becomes more educated before he spawns a child and projects his ignorance onto another generation!
While I know there are others here (and in the U.S. and across the world) that share that narrow-minded mentality, Decatur and Central Illinois, I’ve met so many of you and I know there are so many more loving, caring, and beautiful people that make the world a better place!
Let’s carry on…
GOODBYE OLYMPIA DUKAKIS
Academy Award and Golden Globe winner (“Moonstruck”) Olympia Dukakis passed away last weekend at the age of 89.
In her almost 60 year career, she acted in more than 130 stage productions, over 60 movies, and in 50 television series!
I remember her most fondly as Anna Madrigal, the transgender “mother” of the tenants at 28 Barbary Lane in the “Tales of the City” series.
I always wanted to move into an apartment complex like 28 Barbary Lane and have Mrs. Madrigal as my landlady!
Armistead Maupin’s book series is my favorite and I’ve read it many times over the years. It was made into four continuing series (1993, 1998, 2001, and the most recent on Netflix in 2019).
And, as a gay man, I must mention her role as Clairee Belcher in 1989’s classic, “Steel Magnolias”!
Come on, you know the rest of it!!! All together now…
“…come sit by me.”
And, if you want to watch the entire 30-second scene…
DID YOU KNOW?
- The 2020 U.S. presidential election is estimated to have cost $14 billion dollars, that’s with a “B”!
- Gay and bisexual men are seven times more likely to report binge-eating than straight men and 12 times more likely to binge and purge. (National Eating Disorders Association)
- Kenta Seki is a Los Angeles-based fitness guru? Neither did I, but I do now! 🙂
“THE MEANING OF MARIAH CAREY”
As you know, I love Mariah Carey. I’ve been a huge Mariah Carey fan since the spring of 1990 when I first heard “Vision of Love”.
I’ve seen her go through the highs with international success and we’ve see her hit the lows — the ice cream cart ordeal on MTV.
So, when Mariah’s biography, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey” came out in the fall of 2020, I didn’t know what to expect.
Once I read it, I love Mariah even more — if that was even possible.
I knew her life and career was a rags to riches story, but I never realized just how hard she had as a child.
Not only was her family poor, but she also had a very difficult time of being biracial — she wasn’t Black enough for some family members and too white for others.
I was astounded at some of the things her sister made her do as a teenager and some of the things she did to Mariah! And, once Mariah became an international superstar with money flowing in, I was saddened to hear how her family tried to siphon that money away.
And then, there’s the whole creepiness of her first husband (and manager), Tommy Mottola!
Here’s a review of the book I read and it sums it up perfectly: “improbable and inspiring journey of survival and resilience as she struggles through complex issues of race, identity, class, childhood, and family trauma during her meteoric rise to music superstardom.”
“The Meaning of Mariah Carey” is an excellent book! Read it now!
Here are a few things I learned:
Since I now live in Central Illinois, it’s interesting that Mariah’s mother was born in Illinois’ capital of Springfield and grew up there in the 1940s and 1950s, which Mariah describes as “a center of insidious institutional racism”.
After years of racially-motivated crimes in the early 1900s in Springfield, the city had a strong Ku Klux Klan presence in the 1920, which Mariah summed up this way, “Springfield was a city openly cloaked in hate.”
On a happier note, I loved the wine quote about working with David Morales. “I’d have a couple splashes of wine, and we would just go wherever the spirit took us — which were almost always high-energy dance tracks with big, brand-new vocals.”
A couple splashes! What a cool description! 🙂
And, it was interesting to read who the song “My All” was written about!
I finally got to see Mariah in concert in December 2017 with her “All I Want For Christmas: A Night of Joy and Festivity” show in Las Vegas at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.
Mariah was phenomenal, beautiful, and she sounded flawless and the sets were incredible!!!!!!!
After my separation and eventual divorce, that show lifted my spirits and it would be the most magical 90 minutes I’ve enjoyed in the past few years!
FINAL NOTES ABOUT MARIAH & CHRISTMAS
About “All I Want For Christmas”, that she wrote in her early-20s for her fourth album, 1994’s “Merry Christmas”: “I wanted to write a song that would make me happy and make me feel like a loved, carefree young girl at Christmas.
Mariah added, “I wanted to sing it in a way that would capture joy for everyone and crystallize it forever. Yes, I was going for vintage Christmas happiness!”
HOW DID I MISS THIS???
I’m usually on top of pop culture, but I totally missed this bus on this!
Recently, I was catching up on magazines and I was shocked to learn that Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy died a year ago this weekend (May 8, 2020) of COVID-19! He was 75.
The famed Las Vegas entertainer’s publicist announced on April 28, 2020, that Horn tested positive for the virus and was responding well to treatment.
I also didn’t know that Siegfried (Fischbacher) announced on January 11, 2021, that he had terminal pancreatic cancer and died two days later in Las Vegas at the age of 81!
As you recall, Roy (on the left in the photo) was the one that was attacked at the Mirage on October 3, 2003, by a seven-year-old white tiger named Mantecore. It was on his 59th birthday!
As the story goes, Horn held his microphone to Mantecore’s mouth and told him to say “hello”. The tiger bit Horn’s sleeve. Horn swatted the tiger and barked “release!”.
Horn, became dizzy, tripped, and fell onto his back. (He ended up having a stroke.)
Mantecore moved to stand over him and then bit into Horn’s neck and dragged him offstage!
SO WHAT HAPPENED TO MANTECORE?
Horn asked that nothing happen to the tiger and it was re-integrated back into the duo’s pack of cats.
Mantecore died more than a decade later, in March 2014, at Fischbacher and Horn’s Little Bavaria estate in Las Vegas at the age of 17!
“THE ROAD TO JONESTOWN: JIM JONES AND PEOPLES TEMPLE”
Last week, I talked about Jim Jones and shared some interesting things from Jeff Guinn’s compelling 2017 book.
Here are a few more tidbits from that great book.
The bisexual Jones believed that everyone, women and men, desired him. One follower in his close knit managerial team was not afraid to stand up to him. Harriet Tropp told him that she didn’t desire him because “You are 47 and fat”, but she added, “I don’t have romantic illusions. They say the greatest orgasm is death, so I hope we have the great pleasure of dying together.”
Once in Jonestown, the cost to feed almost a thousand people was extravagant and they began to see less meat and more watered down rice dishes and beverages, like water and cheap Flavor Aid.
As Jonestown began to fall apart in the fall of 1977, Jones and his inner circle were already thinking of how to conduct a mass suicide. Some suggested people being shot, but Jones preferred poison.
In early August 1978, Jones told his followers that he had terminal lung cancer. However, there was no evidence of this — yet another deceit by Jones to his cult.
“JONESTOWN: TERROR IN THE JUNGLE”
If you don’t have time to read Guinn’s book, this SundanceTV documentary following Jones’ life was incredible!
I saw it in the fall of 2018 and gave it an “A”!
“DA 5 BLOODS”
The latest Spike Lee movie garnered mix reviews.
If you know what to expect from one of his movies, you’ll enjoy it. After the compelling opening montage, the first hour dragged a bit. However, the second hour was riveting.
It’s about four older Black American vets returning to Vietnam to search for the remains of their fallen squad leader and buried treasure.
Delroy Lindo’s performance as Paul was insane! He deserved an Oscar nomination.
Now there was talk that Chadwick Boseman might get an Oscar nomination for his supporting role in the movie, but that didn’t happen.
GRADE: B-
FAVORITE MARIAH CAREY SONGS
Before I share my five favorite Mariah Carey songs, let me tell you how difficult this was to narrow down.
Here’s how much of a superstar she is:
She’s had 36 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 since 1990. Of those, 28 reached the Top Ten and 27 made the Top 5!!!
And, 19 went on to top the Hot 100 and she’s had two different runs of five or more consecutive #1 songs!
Mariah also had at least one #1 song on the Hot 100 for eleven straight years (1990-2000) and she’s had the most #1 singles on the Hot 100 than any other solo artist!
If that’s not impressive enough, Mariah has sold more than 200 million records worldwide and is the biggest selling certified female artist in the United States.
“DREAMLOVER”
“VISION OF LOVE”
“MAKE IT HAPPEN”
“ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU”
“EMOTIONS”
What’s your favorite Mariah Carey song?
THAT’S IT
With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!
Anthony
P.S. My full Mariah Carey blog is here:
What's Peeps Thinking About Now? It's Probably Random! 