Random Friday Thoughts — July 26, 2024

I shared some random thoughts last week after a few months and I appreciate those of you that took the time to read them and respond.

I have a few more today. Happy Weekend!

THANK YOU PRESIDENT BIDEN!

President Joe Biden gave into growing pressure from leading Democrats and dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.

He endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his choice for the Democratic nominee.

President Biden, thank you very much for your 50-plus years of service to Delaware and the United States and for serving as Vice President from 2009-2017 and President since 2021.

Also, thank you, thank you, thank you for evolving and pushing marriage equality forward in 2012.

And, I’m grateful that in early-1976, you were the first senator, a young one (33) at that, to endorse my idol, Jimmy Carter, in his successful presidential run in 1976.

SO LONG REDBOX!

While The Buggles scored a #1 hit worldwide with “Video Killed The Radio Star”, the song only reached #40 in the United States, making the group a one-hit wonder.

On August 1, 1981, the song became infamous in the U.S. as it was the first video played on the new music network, MTV.

Well, if video killed the radio star, streaming services killed DVDs and Redbox.

I absolutely loved Redbox and rented many movies from the company since it was founded in 2002.

Earlier this month, a bankruptcy judge ordered the company that owns Redbox to liquidate. This means over a thousand employees will be out of work and more than 26,000 Redbox kiosks will shut down forever.

At its peak, in 2013, Redbox’s revenue was at $1.97 billion (B)!

‘TIS THE SEASON EARLY

It may still be summer and Christmas is five months away, but you can get a taste of winter now!

International Delight’s winter holiday flavors are already in stores and the “Grinch” theme of last year is being replaced with “Home Alone” this season.

A new flavor, Hot Chocolate Marshmallow (milk chocolate, vanilla and marshmallow) will join perennial favorites, Frosted Sugar Cookie and Peppermint Mocha. There’s also a “ready-to-drink” peppermint mocha iced coffee.

The Gingerbread Cookie Dough creamer was dropped this time around.

MOVIES

When it comes to movie genres, my go-to is usually dramas.

I’ll watch comedies and over the years, horror has dropped much lower on my list, except when a new “Halloween” movie comes out — good (“Halloween 2018”) or bad (“Halloween Kills”).

Recently, I checked out two romantic comedies. It seems older women dating men sixteen years younger is hot now. I guess if I luck out in same way, watch out mid-40s studs!

“A FAMILY AFFAIR”

I’ll start with the second one I watched since I’ll expand on the better one. I watched “A Family Affair” only because I love Nicole Kidman.

Zac Efron plays a very annoying, self-centered Hollywood actor (a stretch?).

His assistant is Kidman’s daughter. She quits working for him because he’s a jerk. He goes to talk to her and meets her mother and romance happens.

I’ll admit that Efron’s body is great to look at, but by the end of the movie I became distracted by his face (not in a good way, especially if you believe the rumors).

“A Family Affair” is an okay movie and it was great to see Oscar winner Kathy Bates again and I loved the Christmas scenes.

Instead of the trailer, I’ll just post an image following a very funny scene that led to this.

GRADE: C+

“THE IDEA OF YOU”

I haven’t watched Anne Hathaway in a movie since 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises” and her Oscar winning performance in “Les Misérables” the same year.

And, the reason I even gave this one a chance was because of Nicholas Galitzine (“Red, White & Royal Blue).

Hathaway plays an art dealer in Los Angeles. As her 40th birthday approaches, she plans a camping trip to get away, but instead has to take her teenage daughter to the Coachella music festival.

Looking for a restroom, she accidently stumbles into the private trailer of Hayes Campbell, of the boy band, August Moon. They flirt at a meet & greet. Then, he shows up at her gallery and buys her out.

They have a whirlwind romance across Europe and the media finally catches on and all hell breaks loose — older woman, a teenage daughter, online bullying, and a young pop star stud.

GRADE: B

I COULD REALLY SEE THIS HAPPENING

Okay, while watching “The Idea of You”, I can’t imagine that Solange (Hathaway) would have been able to get into Hayes’ trailer before the concert by accident? One word — SECURITY!

But, it’s a rom-com and a movie, so let’s pretend it could happen. The part I could really see happening is falling for a boy band pop star. Believe me!

In my fantasies, it happened with me and Jordan Knight of New Kids on the Block. I saw them in concert three times from 1988- 1990. In real life, I never met Jordan.

It probably didn’t happen because only six years separates us in age! LOL

“RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE”

While Nicholas Galitzine has starred in many popular movies and shows, I discovered him in Amazon Prime Video’s 2023 hit, “Red, White & Royal Blue”.

It’s now an Emmy nominee for Outstanding Television Movie!

I’ve now watched it several times and I think it’s time again! (I’ve read the book, too!)

Here’s what I said about the movie last September: “It’s been some time since I watched a LGBTQ movie that really touched me and made me want to fall in love again... Both leads, Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine, were sexy and charming and Perez has a beautiful butt! (Okay, he did!)

The movie starts at a royal wedding and a scandal ensues when the $75,000 wedding cake crashes to the ground after a shoving match between Alex Claremont-Diaz, the son of the U.S. president, and England’s Prince Henry.

So, they’re called in to do “damage control” and prove to the world that they’re friends and not enemies. Well, one thing leads to another and since it’s a love story…”

GRADE: A

“THE BEAR”

I just watched the third season of Hulu’s hit series, “The Bear”. I loved the first two seasons. The new season was enjoyable, but a little uneven.

My favorite episodes this season were “Tomorrow” (episode one), “Napkins” (episode six), “Ice Chips” (episode eight), and “Forever” (episode ten).

“Napkins” tells Tina’s backstory and it’s so touching and real!

When Emmy nominations were announced earlier this month, “The Bear”, for season two, picked up a comedy record of 23 nominations.

Last year after seeing Jamie Lee Curtis’ performance as Donna Berzatto, the mother of the Berzatto siblings, I said, “just go ahead and give Jamie Lee Curtis an Emmy for next year.”!

Season one earned 13 Emmy nominations.

Season 1: GRADE: A-

Season 2: GRADE: A-

Season 3: GRADE: B

“MY LIFE BY GOLDA MEIR”

Last week I shared some interesting things I learned from Former Israeli Prime Minister’s Golda Meir’s 1975 autobiography.

Here are a few more:

Meir spoke very highly of the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations and their support of Israel.

However, her thoughts of the Eisenhower administration were not flattering. She referred to Eisenhower’s Secretary of State John Foster Dulles as “that cold gray man”.

After becoming Prime Minister in 1969, Meir tried to meet and negotiate with Arab leaders to no avail. In June 1969, one Jordanian newspaper wrote, “… Mrs. Meir is prepared to go to Cairo to hold discussions with President Nassar but, to her sorrow, has not been invited. She believes that one fine day a world without guns will emerge in the Middle East. Golda Meir is behaving like a grandmother telling bedtime stories to her grandchildren.”

In March 1973, President Nixon held a State Dinner for Prime Minister Meir and she called it, “from start to finish, one of the most wonderful evenings of my life”.

In the days that followed Egypt and Syria’s sneak attack on Israel on October 6, 1973 (The Yom Kippur War, The October War), Meir said and would repeat several times in her life, “However history judges Richard Nixon — and it is probable the verdict will be very harsh — it must also be put on the record forever that he did not break a single one of the promises he made to us [Israel].”

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony

Random Friday Thoughts — October 7, 2022

Halloween is just weeks away and it’s looking and feeling a little spooky and creepy out there.

Enjoy your fall weekend and thank you for checking out my random thoughts.

ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK!

I appreciate all of my friends! Your color, gender, social class, who you sleep with or don’t sleep with, and so on and so on doesn’t matter to me. You treat me with respect and I’ll do the same.

We live in a world where progress is being made each day with regards to racism, sexism, homophobia, and all of the other -isms and -phobias. Yet, with progress comes backlash and hate.

I know there are more good people than bad in this country and the world, but it’s the bad ones that make more noise.

I am who I am and I know most of you like me or love me just the way I am. I know there are those that don’t.

A lifetime ago when I got married, a friend that still keeps in touch with me basically told me she likes me, but she didn’t approve of marriage because it was to a man. Oh well!

Guess what, that’s your problem, not mine.

But, not all attacks for people like me are physical or with hateful words.

SADLY, “BROS” IS A BOX OFFICE BOMB!

Sometimes, actions speak louder than words or inflicted pain that heals over time.

“Bros”, the first gay romantic comedy from a major studio with a wide theatrical release featuring an almost entirely LGBTQ principal cast, bombed at the box office last weekend!

The $22 million dollar movie made a paltry $4.8 million opening weekend and finished in fourth place! (It’s now up to $6.4 million.)

Was it homophobia? Lack of diversity? People aren’t ready for a Billy Eichner-led movie?

Those were some of the social media reasons given for “Bros” poor opening.

I saw the movie and it’s definitely homophobia — America, sadly, still doesn’t want to see two men kiss, fall in love, have sex, and be happy!

Here are some of the opening weekend stats: 60% of the audience were men; 63% were between the ages of 25-44; Diversity demos — 61% Caucasian, 19% Latino and Hispanic, 6% Black, and 14% Asian/other.

“Bros” played well in the big cities (New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco), but performed poorly in the Midwest and the South!

The best response to the poor box office returns for the movie with a CinemaScore grade of “A” and a 90%+ rating on Rotten Tomatoes is from “Bros” star Dot-Marie Jones.

At a recent charity benefit, she told “Variety”, “There’s so much heart and so many wonderful good laughs… I don’t know if it’s because it’s, you know, LGBTQ. It’s not contagious – fuckin’ go see a movie, you know what I mean? It’s crazy.”

“BROS”

My sister, Tammy, and I saw the movie this week and it was funny as hell and I’m not a comedy movie fan. I’d much rather see a drama.

I laughed out loud several times, smiled many other times, and rooted for the abrasive Bobby (Eichner) and quiet Aaron (Luke Macfarlane) to actually fall for each other and stay together.

I loved that the movie showed an aging gay man (at 40, Good Lord) and how difficult it is to fall for someone after being alone so long, being tired of empty apps hookups, and taking a chance of falling in love and having your heart broken again.

And, heaven forbid, there were sex scenes — all sexy, awkward, and funny. Yes, sex can be sexy and awkward — gay, straight, or somewhere else on the Kinsey scale.

There were guest appearances in “Bros” and my favorite was Debra Messing! Her reaction to Bobby when her first met her was priceless!

GRADE: B

MY BIGGEST COMPLAINT

Seeing “Bros” was the first time I’ve been to a theater since early-2020, pre-pandemic.

AMC Theaters, what the heck is up with this little bag of popcorn you call a “large”? It’s nothing more than a glorified “medium”.

I want my large bucket again!

I don’t mind paying $9 for it and getting my free refill, but please on those little bags you call “large”!

“QUEEN OF COUNTRY MUSIC” DIES

Loretta Lynn, one of the original queens of country music and a Kentucky-born legend, passed away earlier this week at the age of 90.

After touring for almost sixty years, she stopped after suffering a stroke in May 2017 and breaking a hip on New Year’s Day in 2018.

I never saw Loretta in concert. However, as a kid, I heard her perform. The Purchase District Fairgrounds was located just down the road from our apartment in Mayfield, Kentucky, and I could hear her singing.

Loretta scored her first Billboard Country hit in 1960 with “I’m A Honky Tonk Girl”. It peaked at #14.

She ruled the charts in the mid-1960s through the 1970s as both a solo artist and in duets with Conway Twitty.

As a solo artist, Loretta scored 55 country hits. Of those, 39 reached the Top Ten and 11 of them reached #1.

All 12 of her duets with Conway Twitty reached the Top 10 and the first five made it to #1.

Later on, I’ll share my five favorite Loretta Lynn songs!

“QUEEN OF OUR TIMES”

Last week, I highlighted Tina Brown’s 2022 book, “The Palace Papers”. It’s great, but it equally covers Camilla, Catherine (Kate), and Meghan.

Just before Queen Elizabeth II died in early September, I checked out the 625-page new book by Robert Hardman, “Queen of Our Times”.

This is an excellent read.

A few things I learned:

Hardman is not a fan of “The Crown” and the creative liberties it takes with the Queen.

Her Majesty’s favorite presidents were likely Barack Obama, George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan.

My idol, President Jimmy Carter, got one mention in the book and it wasn’t a good one: He broke protocol at the Queen’s 1977 reception for NATO leaders. William Shawcross says President Carter greeted the Queen Mother with a kiss on the lips! She later recalled, “I took a sharp step backwards. Not far enough.”

If you want to read a very well researched and written book just on the life of the longest-reigning British monarch, this is the book! However, where Brown is a little jaded toward the monarchy, Hardman sugarcoats a little too much.

TWO AWESOME QUEEN ELIZABETH II QUOTES

Queen Elizabeth II was rather witty and here are two quotes I loved from Hardman’s book:

• (Upon learning her father, King George VI, had died, while she was in Kenya, she was asked what name she would go by as Queen): “My own name, of course. What else?”

• (Once Prince Elizabeth became Her Majesty, she would to have to pay some of the Queen Mother’s bills because of her overspending habits. Queen Elizabeth II jokingly said, “I’ll be quite a wealthy woman when my mother dies”.

“SPOILER ALERT” MOVIE

A few weeks ago, I shared my random fall thoughts and the movies that excited me.

This one stars Jim Parsons, Sally Field, and new to me, sexy English actor Ben Aldridge. The trailer dropped late last week.

If you’re unfamiliar, it’s Michael Ausiello’s beautiful, funny, and heartbreaking 2017 memoir, “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies”.

I’m reading it again NOW!

Here’s what I wrote about the book then:

“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 oil” 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.

Sadly, after “Bros” bombed at the box office, I’m not holding high expectations for this one.

As I stated earlier, Middle America (and mainly the South) is still not ready for two men to fall in love on screen! (And, especially two white men!)

“THEY/THEM”

This Peacock original (pronounced “They Slash Them”) was much better than I expected.

The slasher film takes place at a LGBTQ conversion therapy camp for teenagers out in the woods led by a husband and wife team played Kevin Bacon and Carrie Preston (“Claws”).

It also stars Emmy-nominated actress Anna Chlumsky (“VEEP”) and non-binary actor Theo Germaine from downstate Illinois!

After a murder on a scary road in the woods at the start, the movie forgot it was a slasher film until late in the feature.

But, the psychological creepiness of Bacon and Preston’s characters offering the kids an “inclusive safe place” was there all along.

GRADE: B-

MY FIVE FAVORITE LORETTA LYNN SONGS

Loretta Lynn scored an amazing 67 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Country charts. Of those, 51 reached the Top 10, and 16 topped the chart.

She was very honest and would say whatever was on her mind. That often got her into trouble and she even courted controversy in song.

“The Pill”, in 1975, about birth control, was considered very risqué and several country stations banned the song and it stalled at #5 in the U.S. on the country chart. However, it reached #1 in Canada.

It’s my sixth favorite Loretta song. Here are my five favorites!

“YOU AIN’T WOMAN ENOUGH (TO TAKE MY MAN)” (#2, 1966)

“DON’T COME HOME A DRINKIN’ (WITH LOVIN’ ON YOUR MIND)” (#1, 1966)

“SILVER THREADS AND GOLDEN NEEDLES (WITH DOLLY PARTON & TAMMY WYNETTE)” (#68, 1993)

“ONE’S ON THE WAY” (#1, 1971)

“LOUISIANA WOMAN, MISSISSIPPI MAN (WITH CONWAY TWITTY)” (#1, 1973)

This #1 duet from 1973 is not only my favorite Loretta Lynn song, but it’s also one of my favorite songs of all-time.

In the fall of 2020, I put together a list of the 13 biggest events of the first 35 years of my life (1964-1999), along with my 101 favorite songs from that era.

And, this song, was #81.

“I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY”

The trailer for the December 21, 2022, Whitney Houston biopic, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” came out a couple of weeks ago.

I’m excited about it and the song is still my favorite Whitney song.

I’m posting the video to the two-week #1 hit from 1987 again to get the stench of the worst cover of the song I’ve ever heard!

WORST COVER EVER!

I’m not familiar with the new crop of country singers today.

After the sexist and ageist genre stopped playing new music from some of my favorites (Reba McEntire, Patty Loveless, Pam Tillis, Lorrie Morgan, Dolly Parton, and the late greats Loretta Lynn, and Tammy Wynette to name a few), I decided it was time move on and quit listening to country.

Despite scoring nine Billboard Top Ten country hits over the past decade, I came across Jon Pardi’s “CMT Campfire Sessions” cover of Whitney and got excited.

It would be been a great instrumental cover, but wow, that was painful!

Your thoughts?

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony