Random Friday Thoughts — July 11, 2025

As always, I appreciate you taking time to check out my random thoughts on Friday (or whatever day you come across them).

Two more installments are coming this month before I take a little summer holiday!

FOOD NETWORK

Now that I don’t have cable, I miss the Food Network the most. It was my go-to channel and I never watched anything else.

My favorite shows are “Beat Bobby Flay” and “Chopped” with Ted Allen. But, the person I love the most is Aarti Sequeira (I once wrote: “I’m totally mesmerized and I could sit and listen to her read the phone book all day! Well, okay, maybe a cookbook!”).

Earlier this year, I posted this cheesecake I made on X and tagged her and Bobby. Aarti replied!

Okay, it might have only been “Yum” with a yellow heart emoji, but she replied. It made my day!

“FROM SCRATCH: INSIDE THE FOOD NETWORK“

This 2013 Allen Salkin book is subtitled, “Big Personalities, High Drama — The Extraordinary Behind-The-Scenes Story” and it’s a very interesting read.

Several Food Network stars came away rather scathed.

One was Ina Garten. I’ve never watched her, so I knew little about her. Salkin painted her as difficult and that she “requires a lot of maintenance to keep her functioning”. 

INA GARTEN

In the 13 years of my blog, I only mentioned her once.

In March 2021, while talking about Jonathan Alter’s 2020 biography, “His Very Best, Jimmy Carter, A Life”, Ina’s name came up.

I wrote, “Finally, famous celebrity chef and TV star Ina Garten (“Barefoot Contessa”) was an analyst in the Office of Management and Budget in the Carter administration to study nuclear weapons!!!” And, then I shared this…

ONE MORE THING ABOUT INA GARTEN

“‘Southern Living’ says Garten always keeps these three things in her freezer: vodka, vanilla ice cream, and bread! Those are definitely three of my favorites! (Well, I love flavored ice cream and flavored vodka!)”

“BE READY WHEN THE LUCK HAPPENS”

While she started writing columns for “Martha Stewart Living” and published her first cook in 1999, she didn’t release her memoirs until 2024.

It was very enjoyable read: her childhood and the strained relationship with her mother; meeting Jeffrey (her husband of almost 57 years) at the age of 15; and the ups-and-downs of their long distance relationship once she left the White House and bought the specialty store, Barefoot Contessa, (a cheese shop and bakery) in Westhampton Beach, New York in 1978.

It was interesting to learn about how she didn’t want to do television and who cares if she might have been difficult when the TV crews were destroying her home and life while recording the episodes.

And, the story about her catering gig when no one touched the food was hilarious. Why and what happened then was even funnier!

I also checked out her first two books, “The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook” (1999) and “Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ideas and Recipes For Easy Parties That Are Really Fun” (2001) just to look at the food and the recipes.

Now I’m going to have to start binging on “The Barefoot Contessa” reruns.

“THE BEAR”

“The Bear” is coming back for a fifth season.

I’ll come right out and say it: As I was watching the fourth season of the Hulu’s hit series, I was hoping this would be the last season.

While I loved the first two seasons (GRADE: A-), the third season was enjoyable, but a little uneven (GRADE: B), and this season was interesting and very uneven.

My favorite episodes were one (“Groundhogs”), three (“Scallop”), and nine (“Tonnato”).

I absolutely didn’t care for the season four finale (“Goodbye”). I felt so uncomfortable watching it and I couldn’t imagine being stuck in a situation of having to watch that episode play out in real life!

Will I be back for season five? Of course.

THIS SEASON’S GRADE: B- (and that’s being generous!)

“CONCLAVE”

I’m not Catholic and I’m vaguely familiar with the process of choosing a new Pope, so the movie was enlightening — even if it’s Hollywood’s version of a conclave.

And, that surprise at the end was indeed a shocker since it came out of left field and I was able to avoid the spoilers online.

I thought it was going to be that the old Pope was murdered instead of dying from a natural death. Nope!

GRADE: B

AN AMERICAN POPE

So, if you’re Catholic, what do you think of the world having its first American Pope, Leo? And, from Chicago!

“THE MAKING OF THE PRESIDENT: 1972”

This is the fourth book I’ve read from journalist and author Theodore H. White. I read his books on the 1960, 1964, and 1968 presidential elections. And, there is one more.

The main drama in the 1972 presidential election was after Democrat George McGovern won the nomination and then chose Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his running mate. Less than two weeks later, Eagleton was dropped from the ticket because of his past treatment for mental issues, including electroshock therapy.

In the November election, President Nixon won in a landslide in 1972 over McGovern. And, then the kicker, the bumbling of bugging the Democratic National Convention headquarters that led to Watergate and Nixon’s resignation in August 1974.

If you were around at the time or are a history buff, you know all that. What did I learn of interest that I didn’t already know?

On the flight back from California to Washington D.C. after voting, Nixon served a Napa Valley California champagne (Schramsberg 1970) and a Mexican-American lunch — the same lunch Nixon had taken with on his Peking, China, trip earlier that year in February.

As Nixon steamrolled to victory on Election Night 1972, White writes, “J. Caleb Boggs of Delaware… [was] “being defeated for the Senate by a young man, Joseph Biden, Jr., who would reach the Constitutional Senatorial age of thirty only a few weeks before he was due to take office.” Yes, the same Joe Biden.

PARTING SHOT — THEN AND NOW!

In White’s 1973 book, he wrote of the 1972 presidential election, “But the problem in the public mind was, simply, his competence [McGovern]. Americans take their vote for the Presidency very seriously — a sense of obligation weighs on that vote.”

Boy, how times have changed — “competence” and taking the presidency seriously!!!

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony

Random Friday Thoughts — November 12, 2021

Thanksgiving is now less than two weeks away.

Even though I’ve already decorated for Christmas (I did it on Halloween this year since it was on a weekend), I’m so ready for the turkey feast with my sister, Tammy.

So, here are some Thanksgiving funnies before I share a few random thoughts.

This is still one of my favorites!

And, as a meteorologist, this will totally be me on Wednesday for the morning and noon shows!

WORLD AIDS DAY

Although World AIDS Day isn’t until December 1st, I’m talking about it today since this will be my only random thoughts this month.

“World AIDS Day” originated in 1988 to raise awareness to the spread of HIV and AIDS.

We now live in an age where, with proper medication and taking it as prescribed, HIV is a treatable disease and those that are HIV-positive can live with “undetectable” viral loads, which mean they CANNOT spread the virus.

Still, in 2019, almost 35-thousand people in the U.S. and six dependent areas (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the Republic of Palau, and the US Virgin Islands) became HIV-positive.

And HIV isn’t the only thing sexually active people have to worry about.

STIs are on the rise! In 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the highest number of STIs EVER in the U.S. — for the sixth consecutive year!!!

People, have all the sex you want. But, use condoms!!!

“ALL THE YOUNG MEN”

This 2020 memoir by Ruth Coker Burks is subtitled, “How One Woman Risked It All To Care For The Dying” is an incredible and heart-tugging book.

Burks was a single mom of a little girl in small town Arkansas (Hot Springs) back in the mid-1980s when the AIDS epidemic was sweeping the nation and the death toll of mostly gay men was skyrocketing.

She was at the hospital visiting a friend when she heard moaning coming from a room down the hall. Upon closer inspection, she noticed the door painted red and the room cordoned off with caution tape. Inside, a young man was dying, totally ignored by the nurses and hospital staff.

Against the advice of the close-minded and ignorant nurses, Ruth went inside and comforted the man as he died. It started a quest of making the last months of life more livable for the men that searched her out for comfort and compassion.

While shunned by those in town for her fight for those that most of America would rather forget, Ruth befriended a gay bar manager and his drag queen partner and realized that your chosen family can bring you as much love and comfort as a given family.

“All The Young Men” is a must read!

Ruth and I follow each other on Twitter and have corresponded. I’m honored to be in the same company as this treasure to the LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS community!

FINAL THOUGHTS ON HIV

If you don’t know your status, get tested!!! 

It’s painless and knowing one way or the other is the first step to healthy or healthier living!!!

“YOU” (SEASON 3)

On a lighter note — stalkers and murderers looking for love. 🙂

Back in September, after reading the latest book from Caroline Kepnes, “You Love Me” (2021), I wrote “there was very little I enjoyed about [it]!”

That was being diplomatic. I hated it!

After enjoying the first two books in the series, “You” (2014) and “Hidden Bodies” (2016), “You Love Me” left me dreading the third season of “You”.

I wrote, “I hope the new season deviates greatly from the book. Also, I hope Kepnes expands her writing resume and leaves the ‘You’ series behind!!!”

It’s now with glee when I mention season three of the Netflix hit, “You”!

As it turns out, the book wasn’t ready when the new season was being prepped and that makes us all winners!

Season 3 was the best season yet and Netflix has renewed “You” for a fourth season.

GRADE: A-

“ARMY OF THIEVES”

The Netflix prequel to the summer hit, “Army of the Dead”, Zack Synder’s zombie apocalypse in Las Vegas, was the #1 movie or show on the streaming service in its opening weekend.

It takes place just as the zombies are taking over Vegas and before Ludwig Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer) is recruited to crack a safe there and tries to avoid being eaten by the undead on the Strip.

“Thieves” was much more cohesive and entertaining than “Dead”. However, that’s sort of like comparing apples to oranges because “Thieves” is more of a suspenseful heist movie and “Dead” is more of a zombie flick with a heist.

Ludwig was my favorite character in “Dead”, so it was nice to see a movie focused around him. And, Schweighöfer also directed “Thieves”.

GRADE: A-

“ARMY OF THE DEAD”

It’s that “G–damned zombie tiger”!

After watching “Army of the Dead” in May 2021, this is what I had to say:

“I’ve been so excited ever since I heard about it. It’s a heist movie featuring two things I love — Las Vegas and zombies. Maybe I was too excited for it!”

“While enjoyable, I was a little surprised with its 2.5 hour running time. It was definitely over the top with violence (great for a zombie movie), but there were several parts that could have been cut. A two-hour running time would have worked better.”

I went on to say, “Would I watch it again? Maybe. I definitely recommend it, but Snyder’s 2004 remake of “Dawn of the Dead” was better!”

GRADE: B

MY NEXT VEGAS CONCERT

While I don’t have a Las Vegas trip planned, I already know what my next show there will be.

I’ll be seeing Whitney Houston in concert!!!! Confused?

The show, “An Evening with Whitney: The Whitney Houston Hologram Concert”, is a new residency at Harrah’s.

While Whitney is a hologram, “she’ll” be performing with real dancers and musicians!

So, with this hologram experience, it’d be interesting to see where you’d have to sit in the showroom to have the most real visual experience!

The show is scheduled through at least the spring of 2022.

WHITNEY’S RADIO RESURGENCE

Whitney Houston last hit at Top 40 radio was in 2000 with “Could I Have This Kiss Forever”, a duet with Enrique Iglesias.

The song reached #34 on the Mainstream Top 40 airplay charts, yet failed to reach the Top 40 on the Billboard 100.

After scoring a hit with Kygo in 2019 (more on that shortly), Whitney is once again on the radio with the English band, Clean Bandit.

In early 1986, Whitney hit #1 with “How Will I Know”. Now, in 2021, the song is once again racing up the Hot Adult Contemporary airplay chart and the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

In 2019-2020, Norwegian DJ Kygo took Whitney’s vocals of Steve Winwood and Chaka Khan’s #1 1986 hit, “Higher Love” and remixed the song.

It topped the dance chart in the U.S. and was a hit at Top 40 radio. It reached the Top Five in many countries around the world.

“AMERICAN CRIME STORY: IMPEACHMENT”

The third installment of the F/X series just wrapped up and good riddance.

While I voted for Bill and Hillary Clinton in every presidential election, this was my least favorite of the “American Crime Story” series.

2016’s “The People vs. O.J. Simpson” and 2018’s “The Assassination of Gianni Versace” were phenomenal.

No, that’s not an asinine photo, it’s just random and it’s Darren Criss as Andrew Cunanan in “Versace”. 🙂

Focus Anthony! Back to “Impeachment”…

I expect Emmy nominations for Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp and maybe one for Clive Owen, who was spot on as Bill Clinton. I could also see Beanie Feldstein getting a nom for playing Monica Lewinsky and there’s buzz for Annaleigh Ashford as Paula Jones.

The series was very skewed toward making Lewinsky look as good as possible (she was a consultant) and Tripp come across as truly evil (and she probably was).

I’m now going to read Tripp’s 2020 book, “A Basket of Deplorables: What I Saw Inside the Clinton White House”, which was released eight months after she died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 70.

The one true “Impeachment” about the series was Edie Falco as Hillary Clinton. Lame!

I know Falco is a four-time Emmy Award winner (I plan on watching “Nurse Jackie), but she just phoned in this performance and didn’t even try to become Hillary Clinton. It takes more than a few wigs!!!

GRADE: C+

LAST “AMERICAN CRIME STORY” THOUGHTS

At one time, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was going to become a season of “American Crime Story”, but it was scrapped. I was looking forward to that!

Rumor has it the next season will focus on Studio 54, the iconic New York City disco.

That should be fun and scandalous!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony