Random Friday Thoughts — February 24, 2023

Happy last Friday of February! I hope you have a fantastic weekend and thank you for checking out my random thoughts.

PRAYING FOR PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER

As I put this week’s thoughts together, it was a wait and see on how I was to write this first entry and how it would change.

Last weekend, it was announced that my idol President Jimmy Carter was entering home hospice after a series of short hospital stays.

I’m fortunate to have meet President Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter in Plains, Georgia, in July 2017.

Once I got back home, I sent a photo of the three of us together along with an anniversary card.

Weeks later, I was pleasantly surprised to get the photo back signed by both of them!

In 2016, while visiting Atlanta, I took a tour of The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.

There was a message board where you could leave a note for the Carters.

While I’ll be saddened when the time comes, I know that he had a long, amazing, and accomplished life.

At 98, he is the longest living U.S. president is history — a record that’ll be hard to beat.

I FEAR FOR OUR FUTURE!

Last week, I said that Olivia Newton-John was probably rolling over in her grave, this week it’s Whitney Houston! She did sing on her #1 1985 hit, “Greatest Love of All”, “I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way”.

I was just reminded of and I’m still amazed at a survey I saw last fall. It found that 3 in 4 college students were not prepared to clean on their own upon arriving to campus!

Seriously!!!!!! Do they think dorms come with maids and butlers?

“THE BEAR”

If you’re a fan of the Food Network or intrigued by the cutthroat world of the restaurant business, you’ll really enjoy the Hulu series, “The Bear”.

For the longest time, I didn’t even give it a second thought because of the name. I didn’t realize it was about cooking and food.

It’s incredible!

I absolutely love Jeremy Allen White’s intensity as “Carmy”, a New York City chef that comes back to Chicago to run his late brother’s restaurant that’s about to go under.

White won the Critics’ Choice Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Comedy. I expect the same when the Emmy Awards are announced.

My other favorite character is Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri), an inexperienced chef with her own demons, but she wants to learn.

While the first season is eight episodes long, the second season, which is expected in mid-2023, is ten episodes.

GRADE: A-

NEW OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN MUSIC

I’m looking forward to the first release of music from Olivia Newton-John following her death last August.

“Just The Two of Us: The Duets Collection Volume One” will be released May 5, 2023.

While two of the singles were released before Olivia died (one with her daughter, Chloe Lattanzi and one with Paul Anka), the third release is a remake of “Jolene” with Dolly Parton.

Other duet artists included on Volume One are Mariah Carey (“Hopelessly Devoted To You”), Jim Brickman (“I Honestly Love You”), Jon Secada, Richard Marx, David Foster, and Barry Gibb.

Although I can’t wait to get the CD, I’ll probably won’t watch the video again because it saddens me.

I know that Olivia was fighting for her life while this was being recorded and that’s evident with her sitting down while doing her vocals.

And, then there’s the pained look on her face at the end of the video as the camera moves away!

REMEMBERING BURT BACHARACH

Legendary musical composer, songwriter, producer, and pianist Burt Bacharach passed away earlier this month at the age of 94.

In his long career, more than a thousand different artists recorded his music.

He was nominated for six Oscars and won three and he also won six Grammy Awards.

Some of his #1 songs were “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” (B. J. Thomas), “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” by Christopher Cross, and “On My Own” (Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald).

That one was my 18th favorite song of my first 35 years (1964-1999).

In 1963, he also co-wrote, “(They Long To Be) Close To You”, which would top the charts in 1970 for the Carpenters.

As you know, I love Karen Carpenter and feel a close connection to her since we both dealt with eating disorders.

It’s hard to believe that she died 40 years ago this month!

“VIOLENT NIGHT“

Christmas was two months ago, but I recently watched this holiday movie because it’s now on Peacock.

A group of bad guys are going to rob a very rich and vile family of a hidden and illegal fortune on Christmas Eve.

It just so happens that Santa Claus (David Harbour of “Stranger Things”) happens to be there at the same time.

This Santa is over Christmas and is very bitter about the holiday.

There are three really great kills (spoiler alert: ice skates and a snow blower are involved in two of them) and I won’t even tease the final one. 🙂

I’m glad I watched the movie, yet I’ll never watch it again.

The $20 million movie made $76.3 million and a sequel is already in the works.

GRADE: B-

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony

Random (Fall) Thoughts — September 16, 2022

Fall officially begins next week, but many people consider Labor Day the “unofficial” end of summer.

It should come as no surprise to you if you regularly check out my thoughts that I’m ready for fall and what comes after it — the holiday season and winter!

Today, my random thoughts are dedicated to fall (and more).

DECORATED VERY EARLY THIS YEAR

All of my pumpkins and scary decorations are out and have been since July! (There’s a reason for the madness and I’ll share it later this year.)

These two metal decorations are my favorites and are hanging on the wine rack! I love the vintage look!

While I love wine and booze (boos), I don’t want to miss out on my candy corn, too, especially “Harvest Mix”!

“BROS”

I’m ready to see a movie in a theater again!

The last time I saw one on the big screen was in early 2020, pre-pandemic lockdown.

I plan on enjoying my large popcorn and large Coke Zero (and free refills) with “Bros”.

It’s “the first gay romantic comedy from a major studio featuring an almost entirely LGBTQ principal cast”! It’s hard to believe it’s 2022 and this is the first!

Hotties Billy Eichner (who co-wrote the movie, along with director Nicholas Stoller) and Luke Macfarlane (“Brothers & Sisters” and “Single All The Way”) are the leads.

The movie is co-produced by comedy giant Judd Apatow, which adds great visibility to the LGBTQ movie. And, what’s really cool is that Apatow retweeted my tweet about the movie!

When I saw the first trailer, I thought, “cute”. When I saw the second trailer, I was totally sold!

“Bros” hits theaters September 30th!

MY AFTER-BIRTHDAY BIG TRIP

In the past, I’ve celebrated my birthdays in Athens, Greece (2021), Morocco (2018), Paris, France (2014), and in Las Vegas (2012) with Madonna and Elton John (the night before) on stage, of course.

This year, I’ll be going to bed early on my birthday to get up at 2:30 a.m. for work the next day!

However, I have a big trip planned to a secret location before my passport expires!

WISHING I WAS IN CANADA THIS FALL

While I’ve never been to Toronto or Montreal (I’ve been to Ottawa), I’d still like to visit. However, the reason I wish I was there this fall is for a Frosty!

Yes, a Wendy’s Frosty. I last had one — chocolate-vanilla swirl — almost seven years ago.

This fall, in Canada, and for a limited time only, Wendy’s is replacing the vanilla Frosty with “Caramel Apple”!

It’s described as a “classic vanilla base, infused with apple syrup. On top is a healthy drizzle of caramel syrup.”

Yes, please! Bring these to the U.S. next fall!

“HALLOWEEN ENDS”

I’m definitely excited for my birthday to get here. It’s not because I’ll be traveling or turning 39 (again and again), but because Michael Myers returns to theaters (and Peacock) the next day, October 14th, with his latest (and hopefully greatest) killing frenzy.

This is the 13th movie in the “Halloween” franchise that started in 1978. It’s the third and final movie in the latest installment from Blumhouse Productions.

This latest trilogy is 50-50 with me. I loved “Halloween” (2018) and was less than thrilled with “Halloween Kills” (2021). Here’s the short of my reviews.

“HALLOWEEN” (2018)

“It was very entertaining and I loved the winks back to all of the other movies in the franchise that this one pretended didn’t exist.

I loved that the movie was very violent (Michael Myers as a practicing dentist!).  It could be because he’s psychotic and has been locked up and drugged for 40 years!

While the movie was great, it didn’t scare me since nothing can compare to the 1978 original!”

GRADE:  B

& “HALLOWEEN KILLS” (2021)

In my review last year…

“After a year delay because of the pandemic, I was excited to see “Halloween Kills”. After seeing it, I’m glad I watched it for free on Peacock instead of paying to see it in the theater.

The next to the last kill in the movie was phenomenal and the moment of death is classic. Also, the final kill was surprising and shocking!

Now what I didn’t like about it!

For starters, the lack of a storyline for Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode! After seeing this movie, I get it that they’re saving her for the “finale” (yeah, right) of the franchise.

The whole mob scene at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital went on way too long.

While I enjoyed the movie as a whole, I’ll never watch it again!

Final thoughts: The trailer is better than the movie, you see many of the kills, you saved money by not going to see it, and you didn’t waste almost two hours!”

GRADE: C

Here’s the trailer if you haven’t seen “Halloween” (2018).

“THE CROWN”

I absolutely love Netflix’s “The Crown” about Queen Elizabeth II’s monarchy since 1952.

The fifth season, which is expected in November, will cover the early-to-mid 1990s, and should focus on the crumbling marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, his relationship with Camilla, and Diana’s relationship with Dodi Fayed.

Season six will likely focus on the death of Princess Diana in 1997 and the aftermath of that tragedy.

It’ll be interesting how much of the past 25 years will be covered in the final season — the marriages of Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry, the death of Prince Philip, and now the recent death of Her Majesty!

I need the team behind “The Crown” series to consider this for the final scene of the series: “We have breaking news this evening… we can now confirm that Her Majesty, the Queen has died. Repeating, Queen Elizabeth II has passed away. We go live outside Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.” (FADE TO BLACK AND CREDITS!)

“SPOILER ALERT: THE HERO DIES”

I can’t believe that I didn’t know Michael Ausiello’s beautiful, funny, and heartbreaking 2017 memoir, “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies”, is being made into a movie!!!

Jim Parsons and Sally Field are the top-billed stars and it’ll introduce me to sexy English actor Ben Aldridge.

I finally got around to reading the book in November 2020 and here’s what I shared:

“I’ve been wanting to read it since it came out, but real life and my own drama (D-I-V-O-R-C-E) got in the way.

By page eight, I was ready to date and fall in love in again. By page 26, I had tears streaming down my cheeks and I was happy no one was close enough to me as I was reading and walking by Lake Decatur to see me crying!

The book is amazing. While it’s a heartbreaking story of finding love, fighting for love, and then losing that love in a painful, year-long death sentence, it’s a beautiful love story!

Many will never experience the love that Michael and Kit did.

Ausiello knew just when to drop a funny line, a pop culture reference, or a naughty memory to bring a smile to my face alongside the tears.

One of the “other four-letter words” could be my favorite word (think “F”). Another is one I absolutely love, but I can’t use it without offending someone! (I won’t even give you a hint on that one, but if you’re busy this weekend and on Monday, I’ll see you next Tuesday!)

Also, after reading this beautiful book, “olive juice” takes on a whole new meaning and I hope to get to use it one day! 

While the movie opens in limited release earlier, a wide release is set for December 16, 2022.

AND, WHILE TECHNICALLY NOT FALL…

“I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY”

And, on December 21, 2022, the big screen biopic about Whitney Houston hits theaters.

Naomi Ackie stars as Whitney and the always sensational Stanley Tucci plays Clive Davis, the legendary music maker that discovered Houston.

And, my week was made Thursday when the official trailer finally dropped!

While thrilling and beautiful, it didn’t give much away about her personal life with Bobby Brown or Robyn Crawford, except maybe when Whitney exclaims, “My dream, sing what I want to sing, be how I want to be”.

“I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY (WHO LOVES ME)”

So, go away summer, I’m ready for fall and the holidays!

HAPPY FALL!

Here is a photo I took at Scovill Zoo last fall, in Decatur, Illinois.

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony

Random Friday Thoughts — May 6, 2022

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