Welcome to May!
With all of the heavier rain many of us saw in April, I hope that means a lot of beautiful May flowers.
Hope you have a fantastic weekend and thank you for checking out my random thoughts.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
The last one I celebrated with my mother, Dessie, was May 13, 1990.
Instead of going out to the local Golden Corral, which my mother loved to do, we took a little road trip two-and-a-half hours away to Nashville, Tennessee, to have champagne brunch at my favorite restaurant, the 101st Airborne.
This was a big deal for my mother because she never got to do much traveling.
We enjoyed our brunch with everything from caviar to prime rib to desserts. The funny thing about the day is that my mother didn’t drink and champagne is one of my favorite spirits.
I would drink my glass of champagne and start drinking my mother’s. Every time the server would come around, my mother’s glass would be empty and they would fill it and top off mine. I didn’t keep count of how many times this happened. All I know is that they probably thought my dear mother was a lush!
Mom, I hope you’re smiling about that now.
And, by the way, my sister, Tammy, was pregnant and didn’t go. But, she eventually got to experience the 101st Airborne brunch.
“FREE” COVID TEST KITS
While we’re dropping mandates and masks across much of the country, we’re seeing another surge in the number of COVID-19 cases.
The other morning while shopping at Kroger, I was baffled by the high price of the at-home COVID-19 testing kits.
I’m definitely not bashing Kroger for selling them for $17.99. I’m mystified that people would actually pay that because you can get free test kits from the U.S. government mailed directly to your home — again, for free.
The first four I received were these exact tests, but the second four I got were a different brand.
“OZARK” FINALE
Well, as with everything, the world is divided and I’m sure there are those that are pleased with the way “Ozark” ended (raises hand) and those that aren’t pleased.
I hate knowing that the four-season run is behind us and I won’t see the incredible Laura Linney playing the cold-hearted, but loving Wendy Byrde!
Give this woman her first “Ozark” Emmy (she’s won four from other series).
Linney made her directorial debut in the 11th episode of the final season (“Pound of Flesh and Still Kickin'”).
It’s this episode that could very well earn Jason Bateman his first acting Emmy (he’s won two Screen Actors Guild Awards for acting for “Ozark” and won an Emmy for “Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series”).
No spoilers please for those that haven’t watched the ending yet!
“HOLLYWOOD BABYLON: IT’S BACK”
I probably would never have read this book, but one of my friends loaned it to me and said that I had to read it.
This 2008 book by Darwin Potter and Danforth Prince is “Hot, Unauthorized, and Unapologetic!” — their words, not mine.
Also, in their words, “All Those Celebrities! All Those Scandals! All That Nudity!… and All That Sin!”, it’s all there.
Like reading a Kitty Kelley biography, which is also not authorized by her subjects, this book is full of outrageous dirt on Hollywood legends — most of which are dead and can’t fight back!
Also, like a Kitty Kelley book, I know it has to be based (somewhat loosely) on factual information or interviews to avoid lawsuits. But, I’m sure in Potter and Prince’s book, there is A LOT of “he said, she said” and “I heard this from a friend of a friend of a friend”.
Now, if only a fraction of these salacious stories are true, Hollywood, then and now, especially then, was full of tramps, a very active “casting couch”, prostituting, “homosexual” marquee names, lesbians, and for sure, “size queens”.
And, for there to be size queens that gossiped freely, the book claims that many of the legendary leading men were you know what! (Insert eggplant emoji!)
Was it fun and gossipy at first, yes! Did it grow tiresome and become a lot less credible the more you read? Yes, but what a read! 🙂
So, take this with a grain of salt. Since it’s already in print, so it must be true (right?), I’ll throw out a couple of names that shocked me the most to be in the list above: Lucille Ball and Nancy Davis (who became Nancy Reagan)!
And, Tom Cruise. (Well, this part was not shocking because we’ve all heard the rumors!)
Oh wait, those rumors about him are absolutely not true! Definitely, most certainly not true, never was a homosexual, never had an affair with a gay porn star — never, never, never.
So, that validation of him being straight should keep me from being sued. He likes to do that, you know, if you make accusations.
In case you don’t remember: In 2001, in a $100 million lawsuit against the porn star, the “Risky Business” star’s lawyer stated, “While Cruise thoroughly respects others’ rights to follow their own sexual preference, he is not a homosexual…”!
“TOP GUN” SEQUEL
Can you believe that “Top Gun”, with star Tom Cruise, came out, oops, strike that, hit theaters 36 years ago this month? Geez, I was barely old enough to drink!
It made an astounding $357.3 million on a budget of only $15 million! (That $15 million would be about $39 million in today’s world.)
The long-awaited sequel, “Top Gun: Maverick”, will blast into theaters this Memorial Day weekend. Boy, have times changed. This movie’s budget is $152 million!
Are you interested in seeing it?
While I went to “the movies” and saw the original, I might watch this one on DVD one day????
LADY GAGA — “HOLD MY HAND” & “THE CHROMATICA TOUR”
Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away”, with music by Giorgio Moroder and lyrics by Tom Whitlock, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song from the original “Top Gun”.
The theme song in the sequel by Lady Gaga, “Hold My Hand”, could follow in Berlin’s footsteps down the red carpet and up on the Oscars stage.
The song was released Tuesday morning and is slowly gaining airplay at Top 40 radio. Slowly!
This summer, Gaga, will embark on her pandemic-delayed 17 date “The Chromatica Ball” Tour. She’ll play in fifteen cities across the world (two dates in Tokyo, Japan and London, England).
“THE 355”
This crime caper was panned by critics, but I really enjoyed it!
Was it totally realistic? No, but most movies are not. Just look at the Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Comics, etc.
Oscar winner Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”) is a total bad ass in this movie and leads an all-star cast including Penelope Cruz, Lupita Nyong’o, and Sebastian Stan.
Having been to Marrakesh, Morocco, and Shanghai, China, I especially loved those parts of the movie.
GRADE: B
“THE GREAT” FUNNY
This Hulu original dramedy is too funny and crazy!
While I’m finishing up season two (it’s been renewed for a third season), I have to share this funny interaction between Catherine The Great (Elle Fanning) and Lady Marial (Phoebe Fox), my two favorites on the show.
When a very pregnant Catherine was picking out her dress for the coronation, she clearly chooses a dress that didn’t suit her friend and former maid, Marial.
Marial replies, “It’s what our grandmothers used to wear before they were beaten to death for wearing something so ugly.”
Okay, when I said that Catherine and Marial are my two favorites on the show, there’s also Nicholas Hoult. He’s very sexy and funny, as Peter III of Russia.
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! 