Happy 2021! Yes, I know it’s the first weekend of February (where did January go?)!
However, other than my Christmas wishes in December and my favorite movies of 2020 in January, I haven’t had a “Random Friday Thoughts” blog since November 20, 2020!
So, here goes and thank you for checking it out!
SUPER BOWL WEEKEND
Who cares? While I don’t care, I know there are many that do.
The only time I’m even remotely interested in the big game is when there’s someone on the halftime show I want to see (J Lo in 2020, Lady Gaga in 2017, Madonna in 2012, and Janet Jackson (and her boobie) in 2004!
Again, it was NOT planned — it was a “wardrobe malfunction”! (I actually typed that with a straight face without laughing out loud!)
This year, it’s The Weeknd!
So, here’s my favorite The Weeknd song — my #9 song of 2015.
GUACAMOLE
While I’m talking about the Super Bowl, this weekend is the biggest selling weekend of the year for avocados!
It’s estimated that the United States alone eats enough guacamole this weekend to fill the Super Bowl stadium!
Meanwhile, the biggest selling food for other holidays: corn (Fourth of July), turkeys (Thanksgiving, duh!), and strawberries (Valentine’s Day).
Those interesting facts are from one of the most intriguing books I read last year — Michael Ruhlman’s 2017’s “Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America”!
A few fun other things from that book…
In the 1930s, inland Americans only ate about 10 pounds of chicken per person per year compared to about 50 pounds of beef and pork.
Two of the biggest changes in the way we shop came in 1988 thanks to Walmart Supercenters and Whole Foods Market!
While the grocery section accounts for a large portion of a store’s sales, produce (second in sales) is the most profitable.
It’s hard to educate ourselves to eat better because while there 535 lawmakers in Congress, there are more than 10,000 lobbyists in Washington to persuade (con) them — 20 lobbyists to each politicians!
“MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM”
The Golden Globes nominations were announced earlier this week and it comes as no surprise to me that Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman were nominated. I expect them to get Oscar nominations, too.
This was my #5 movie of 2020. As I wrote in January when I posted my 20 favorite movies I saw in 2020, “I could watch Oscar and Emmy winner Viola Davis act her way through a phone book.”
When I started hearing all the Oscar buzz about Boseman, I was hoping it wasn’t because he had just died in late August. Well, give that man his posthumous Golden Globe and Oscar now. Incredible performance!
You can see it on Netflix.
GRADE: A-
“PIECES OF A WOMAN”
And, speaking of the Golden Globes and the Oscars, Viola Davis will have some stiff competition from Vanessa Kirby (“The Crown”).
This movie is downer, but Kirby’s performance in the opening 24 minutes of this drama is amazing!
It’s on Netflix.
GRADE: B+
KYLIE & DUA LIPA
While we look forward to see what the “new normal” will be in 2021 as the world tries to get a grasp on the Covid-19 pandemic, it’ll be interesting to see what awaits us in the world of entertainment.
For me, I want Kylie Minogue to announce a “Disco 2021 Tour” to support her critically acclaimed album (and my favorite of 2020), “Disco”.
The third single, “Real Groove”, features a fantastic version with chart-topper Dua Lipa!
And, the Studio 2054 remix is incredible!
WALKING AND READING
I spend a lot of time walking and reading (12-plus miles daily) — yes, both at the same time. So, I get a lot of books read.
Although they weren’t new books (within the last few years), a disturbing trend I noticed was the lack of quotation marks with dialogue. It was so offsetting and hard to follow! Please stop this! 🙂
The first time I noticed it was in “LaRose”.
“LaROSE”
Over the years, when “Entertainment Weekly” gives a stellar review for a book that sounds interesting and I jot it down to read.
Over the years, that’s how I found Sarai Walker’s “Dietland”, “The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins, and “Sweetbitter” by Stephanie Danler.
This summer, I read three more from that old list.
Louise Erdrich’s 2016 “LaRose” was a very informative fictional book about the Ojibwe tribe.
It tells the story of a hunting accident that leaves a little boy dead and it’s heartbreaking what the hunter’s family has to do to make things right with the family that lost the child.
“THE IMMORTALISTS”
Chloe Benjamin’s 2018 best seller “The Immortalists” was a great book.
Four brothers and sisters in 1969 New York City go to see a fortune teller that specializes in telling people the day they’ll die.
The book follows the youngsters as they maneuver through life trying to deal with the fact that she might be right and how it shapes the decisions they make and how they live their lives.
I have to hand it to Benjamin on her amazing description of gay love and sex with one of the characters!
“THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR”
And, another book on that “EW” list was Canadian author Shari Lapena’s 2016 crime caper, “The Couple Next Door”.
Marco and Anne are heading to dinner at their duplex neighbor’s townhouse when their baby sitter cancels on them at the last minute.
Since they live in a nice, safe neighborhood, they decide to leave their baby Cora at home with a baby monitor and they take turns checking on her every 30 minutes.
When they finally get home after midnight, Cora is missing! Was she kidnapped for ransom? Was she taken and murdered?
Of these three, it was the best.
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! 