My Adventure Cruising The Rhine River

If you follow my personal Facebook page, I posted hundreds of photos (462 to be exact) of my recent European River Cruise, my second. (I also posted several on my work Facebook page).

While the saying is “a picture is worth a thousand words”, I’m sharing some stories behind some of the photos and some stories of the photos you didn’t see (and I hope they don’t exist)! You know, what happens in EuroVegas stays in EuroVegas!

Thank you for coming along for the trip again — in words and photos.

My first European River Cruise was on the Danube River in the fall of 2013. I had an amazing time and here’s what I wrote afterwards, “The food was amazing on the “MS Sound of Music” cruise and the staff was incredible”.

In retrospect, the food was amazing and the staff was incredible.

However, I had nothing to compare it to. Now that I do, it’s like comparing the Bates Motel (that first cruise) to a five-star hotel (this Rhine River cruise on the “Emerald Dawn”)!

A “WORKING” TRIP TO EUROPE

This adventure was different for me for two reasons.

The first river cruise was my also my first time in Europe and my first major trip (other than Cancun, Mexico, in 1993, when a passport wasn’t needed).

Also, this was a “working” trip. Since work promoted the trip, I was acting as a “Tour Group Leader” of forty people — most of them from Central Illinois.

OUCH!

While being responsible for 40 people, guess who was injured first! That’s rhetorical — of course, it was me! Let’s get that out of the way, so we can focus on the beauty of the trip.

As soon as we got to O’Hare Airport in Chicago, we were told to go downstairs from the drop off to get our tickets that were ready for us. They didn’t tell us about the elevator and pointed to the escalator.

A few of the people needed help getting on the escalator safely with their luggage. After successfully getting one person on, I was helping another and I was making my way back up the three or four moving steps.

Remember, I’m walking “up” the escalator that’s going “down”. And, I stumbled forward on the next to last step to the top!

Luckily, I had jeans on and the damage wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been! (Yes, I said every variation of my favorite 4-letter “f-word” inside my head with a smile on my face!)

I got everyone downstairs and went into the bathroom and cleaned my knee and bandaged it and the trip went on and I didn’t miss a beat.

The moral of the story — DON’T walk up a moving escalator going down!

I’m a quick learner — I didn’t attempt it again in Zurich, Amsterdam, Washington D.C., or Chicago on the return!

Three weeks later, I’m almost healed although it will leave a small scar — a free trip souvenir!

READY FOR DEPARTURE

Once we boarded our 9-hour flight to Zurich, Switzerland, I counted my people and two were not in their seats.

The flight attendant told me that they hadn’t closed the doors, so they may still be boarding.

I didn’t take that chance and I walked to front of the plane and started looking at everyone to find my two people that I’d just met that morning. And, there they were. They upgraded their seats!

“All Systems Go” for Zurich and I was ready for them to take off and “Dim All The Lights”! Whew, “She Works Hard For the Money” counting to 38! (The last two people in the group met us in Zurich.) “Heaven Knows” I’d have the shortest “Tour Group Leader” career if I left two people in Chicago at the start of the trip!

I sat back, enjoyed two glasses of white wine and watched the documentary, “Love to Love You, Donna Summer”! (See what I did there — I used four Donna Summer song titles in that last paragraph!

SWITZERLAND

While we were only at the airport on this trip, this was my second time in Zurich.

Back in 2013, my first real international trip was to start in Budapest, Hungary.

However, I’ve been intrigued by Switzerland since I was a youngster and since it was close, I arranged a pit stop for a day and night and boy, it was worth it!

Back to 2024, my group boarded two busses for the short drive from Zurich to Lucerne, one of the oldest cities in the country, to begin our European adventure.

We arrived in the morning and couldn’t check into the hotel until afternoon, so it gave us a chance to explore Lucerne.

While I didn’t nap on the overnight flight, I wasn’t tired when we arrived. How could you be with this view across from the hotel?

Before I got to Europe, I looked to see what was near the hotel and I noticed an Aldi. Yes, Aldi as in the ones we have here in the States. Once there, I set off to explore and find it.

I’m glad I did. Unlike the Aldi stores I’ve been to, the one in Lucerne had a bakery!

I bought a Coke Zero and several baked goods and sat by Lake Lucerne eating my feast for lunch. The pretzel cost one Swiss Franc (about $1.09) and it was incredible.

I went back the next day and bought three more (two came home with me)!

Once we were all back to hotel that evening, the group had our first dinner together. The salad was pretty and the chicken was tasty, but the Crème Brulee dessert was amazing.

Actually, I had two! I don’t know if the kitchen manager thought I looked like I needed it or maybe he sensed I love desserts, but he walked by and handed me another one.

On the second day in Lucerne, our walking tour took us to the famous 14th-century Chapel Bridge where we saw the Gutsch Castle in the background.

We also visited “The Lion of Lucerne”. “The Dying Lion” attracts 1.4 million tourists each year.

CONTINUING MY SWISS TRADITION

In Zurich, back in 2013, I stopped at the most awesome grocery store, Coop and stocked up on wine, cheese, bread, and two desserts to snack on. However, it turned out to be dinner.

After stopping at a restaurant to have an authentic Swiss dinner, the Cordon Bleu I wanted was not chicken, but deer! Looking closer at the menu, it consisted mainly of deer stew, deer this, and deer that.  And, if deer wasn’t your thing, there was something with boar!

A decade ago, I was just beginning to travel internationally and I wasn’t as adventurous trying new things. Today, I would have eaten one of the entrees.

But, that night, my buffet of wine, bread, cheeses, and desserts from Coop was perfect for a Zurich Saturday night. 

So, since I was in Switzerland again, I decided to continue the tradition.

At Aldi, while buying more pretzels, I bought chorizo, cheese, couscous, an English cucumber, grapes, apples, bread, and wine (I brought the lemon cake home to share with Miss Xanadu).

My 2024 feast at Lake Lucerne with a view of the Alps was perfect as the sun set on a great start to “holiday”!

ÄSS BAR

When I visit foreign places, I like to walk around and explore.

Many in my group visited Mount Pilatus overlooking Lucerne. I walked around and dipped my feet into the cold waters of Lake Lucerne, went to the Farmers Market and checked out the Äss Bar!

When I posted this photo on Facebook, it got many smiley face emoji responses. Get your mind out of the gutter!

Äss Bar is a play on the Swiss-German word for “essbar” — meaning “edible”.

So, Äss Bar goes to restaurants and bakeries collecting leftover desserts and sandwiches and sells them at highly reduced prices. This cuts back on waste!

I came out of Äss Bar with these desserts on my two visits within an hour. (Yes, they added more treats between visits!)

Along with my leftover cheese, chorizo, and cucumber from the night before, my Äss Bar treats and wine made for a tasty lunch before we boarded the bus to take us to the cruise ship in Basel and to unlimited food!!!

BASEL & CRUISE

As we approached Basel and the Emerald Dawn cruise ship, we basically drove through Switzerland, France, and Germany in a short stretch of roadway.

The lobby on the very clean and gorgeous cruise ship was a spectacle. Check-in was quick and then we were off to make our way “down” the Rhine River, which was actually north!

As we passed through the first of four locks that first evening, we enjoyed the first of many delicious meals.

My first meal was seared hake fish fillet and poppy seed with sautéed vegetables and broccoli puree.

For dessert, I ordered a cheese platter to share with others at my table to go along with my lemon and nougat profiteroles, custard and chocolate sauce.

It set the bar high for my culinary adventure in the week ahead!

And, my first server on the Emerald Dawn, Ivan, was also working his first cruise.

He was very attentive and professional. Ivan is a great addition to an amazing crew. (It didn’t hurt that he was attractive and very sociable.)

Later in the cruise, when I was walking and reading on the Sun Deck, he nicknamed me “Professor”!

BREISACH, GERMANY

Breisach, Germany, and Neuf-Breisach, France, two towns divided my the Rhine River, was our first stop on the cruise.

While there was a nice scenic view of the beginning of the Black Forest from the German side, I certainly would have preferred to keep sailing on to Strasbourg, France, so that we could spend more time (or all night) in Cologne, Germany later in the cruise.

In one garden, I found a fig tree that was the opposite of mine at home.

This one, outdoors in Germany, had many figs on it and just a few leaves, while mine at home has plenty of leaves on it. However, in all the years I’ve had it, it’s only produced one fig that didn’t even mature before it fell off!

In Breisach, I did get this photo, which is one of my favorites on the trip.

The highlight of this stop from a shopping standpoint was a bakery on the French side and an ice cream shop and a souvenir store on the German side. It was here that I bought my first of three souvenirs to bring home.

I plan on having one of the miniature liquors each day leading up to Christmas this year because the packaging gives me a holiday feel!

STRASBOURG, FRANCE

Our next stop was in Kehl, Germany and we crossed the river by bus to visit the capital of the Alsace Region of France — Strasbourg.

I definitely loved the historical city centre with all the canals!

And, this captured my attention and imagination inside one of the beautiful churches.

It was also outside a candy store there that I met one of the best looking men in Europe! He was the best kind of man — he didn’t talk!

I took a cue from him not to smile to work on my sullen, sultry look.

In Strasbourg, I made the second of my European souvenir purchases.

In Branson, Missouri, last October, my sister, Tammy, and her boyfriend bought me one of these plaques in English. Miss Xanadu was not impressed — whether in English or in French!

That night at dinner, I had one of my favorite appetizers. Asparagus is in season there and the white asparagus was incredible.

I could have eaten just asparagus that night and been in heaven. On the other plate, grilled vegetables, shaved Parmigiano and balsamic sauce.

I worked it off that night by feeling like an extra in “Mamma Mia” and dancing to almost every ABBA song Benny performed. I think the last time I danced was about ten years ago in Chicago!

LUDWIGSHAFEN, GERMANY

As we cruised along the Rhine River, I enjoyed another fantastic breakfast.

Before the trip, I hoped that smoked salmon and capers would be served for breakfast. The “Emerald Dawn” did NOT disappoint and I had it for breakfast all seven days of the cruise.

While I had already sampled the real thing, at this breakfast I made my own version of Black Forest Cake with a chocolate swirl cake and cherries (and walnuts).

We visited Schwetzingen Palace, which featured pretty gardens and a beautiful fountain.

Once we toured the palace, I had one of my best meals (for lunch, even) — Pangasius fish Finkenwerder style with bacon, shrimp, onion, dill, potatoes and leaf spinach!

KOBLENZ, GERMANY

As we sailed through the Rhine Gorge, it was breathtaking seeing the lush green fields and vineyards on both sides passing medieval castle after castle.

We docked in the 2000-year-old town of Koblenz, where the Rhine and Moselle Rivers come together.

After the walking tour, I took a fun cable car ride over the River to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress.

This fortress was part of the Prussian defense against the French in the 1800s. The American military used it a headquarters during WWII.

Then it was back to the ship for “Tea Time” before I went back out to walk around near the River.

COLOGNE, GERMANY

Don’t get me wrong — the trip was amazing and the food was unbelievable. However, my only disappointment (or the one thing I’d change) is something I mentioned earlier — skipping the first stop and spending more than just a few hours in Cologne (Köln) — the fourth largest city in Germany.

Even while walking around the Old Town of the city founded by the Romans gazing at the UNESCO World Heritage gothic cathedral, I’m sidetracked by baked goods!

We then visited the gorgeous Cologne Botanical Gardens.

The beauty was just a preview for the mind-blowing Keukenhof Gardens near Amsterdam, the Netherlands the next day.

While people started boarding the bus back to the ship, I noticed a Ferris Wheel and walked over to look at the Cologne Zoological Garden entrance and watched this adorable creature having salad for lunch.

Back at the ship late that afternoon, I gathered my group for a cocktail and a group photo. I had a “Ginger Spritz” (Prosecco, ginger and mint).

That evening, it was the Captain’s Farewell Reception and Dinner and maybe because I was a “Tour Group Leader”, I was asked to join the Captain at his table for a five-course dinner.

You probably gathered earlier that I love, love, love smoked salmon since I had a large portion at breakfast all seven days. I also had it in another form at lunch one day.

And, for the Captain’s Dinner, I had it as an appetizer.

That’s Smoked Salmon Carpaccio (salmon mousse, apple celery salad & citrus vinaigrette). It was followed by a Grilled Watermelon & Rocket Salad with a goat cheese crostini & raspberry vinaigrette.

The third course was something out of a Hannibal Lecter dinner party (sans human body parts) — lemon sorbet with sparkling wine and rose flower.

For my entrée that night, you can take the boy of Kentucky and put him in Europe, but he’ll still find white beans!

That’s seared pollock fish fillet with a bouillabaisse sauce and creamy white beans. And, for dessert, we had chocolate fondant with a berries sauce.

Once the captain departed, our stomachs were full and the wine glasses were emptied, it was time to dance it off at “Disco Night”.

While I danced again and there was no Donna Summer (yet, we heard “YMCA” by the Village People), Benny did play “Padam Padam” by Kylie Minogue for me — so European!

At last, the night was over and the glow stick was retired. The next morning would be the last full day of our European adventure.

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS

Back in the summer of 2017 on my way to Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, I was at the airport in Amsterdam.

But, flash forward back to 2024, this time I saw Amsterdam in all of its glory and beauty.

As we arrived at the world-famous Keukenhof Gardens (the “Garden of Europe”), it was cold and rainy.

That didn’t dampen our spirits with the stellar beauty of 7.5 million tulips smiling at us. How could you not smile back?

For six weeks in April and May, these tulips are center stage for an average of 13-thousand visitors each day!

We also heard why the gardeners at Keukenhof were “beheading” the beautiful flowering tulips. (It allows the plants’ energy to make the bulb stronger so it grows to top size.)

Here were two of my favorites: This one looks like Jack Frost visited overnight!

And, this one may not even be a tulip (?)!

And, I bought my final souvenir at the garden, a bouquet of wooden tulips!

Back on the boat at lunch, I had herring for the first time. While fishy, the cream cheese and garlic made it tasty and edible.

It must not have been that bad — I had herring again for dinner that night as an appetizer. This is marinated herring, potatoes, red onion, quail egg & vinaigrette.

But, before dinner, a group of us took a boat canal ride to see Amsterdam.

By the way, Amsterdam has more canals than Venice!

THE FLIGHT BACK TO THE U.S.

Luckily, the flight to Europe and the two flights back to the U.S. were on time, even though it was a 25-hour day on the return.

On the flight back, the Mediterranean chicken dish served by United Airlines was tasty and so was the Pesto Pizza Twist snack before we landed in Washington D.C.

During the flight home, I watched the first season of Max’s “Julia”, about Chef Julia Child.

Why not? I had just gained four pounds eating French and European food and drinking many glasses of wine!

While the meals were tasty, the dessert makes it into the next topic.

MARY SUMMED IT BEST

On the evening of the Captain’s Farewell Dinner, I had a lot going on — getting my group together for a drink and a group photo and sitting at the Captain’s table.

I got dressed and I rushed out of my room and ran into Mary, a woman in my group, in the lobby by the reception desk. She alerted me I still had a Q-Tip in my ear! LOL

She said to me, “We can’t take you anywhere”!

And, that was before the flight home when I let the meal dessert — the European version of “Hershey Kisses” — melt in my seat pocket. Not knowing that, I gracefully placed the opened package in my lap.

Let’s just say, I’m glad most of the chocolate was on the front of my jeans than on the back!

Needless to say, I used my jacket to try to hide the mess and after we got through customs, I grabbed a pair of jeans out of my suitcase before re-checking my luggage!

HELLO MISS XANADU — IS DADDY FORGIVEN FOR LEAVING?

Once I knew I was getting Xanadu in early 2023, I didn’t even renew my expiring passport when I returned from Turkey in November 2022.

Although I said when I got #Pug20-something, I’d still travel and not have a problem boarding her.

That was easier said than done once the trip got closer. I was a basket case worrying how she’d handle being away from me for the first time and away from her home for 12 nights!

She handled it much better than I did and actually enjoyed herself.

Our reunion was great just nine hours after I returned home.

Now, I’ve decided if I get a chance to see Kylie Minogue in Vegas, Miss Xanadu can go visit her puppy friends again.

During the trip, a friend shared this with me and it made me smile.

WOULD I DO IT AGAIN?

A few days after we returned from the amazing trip, I had a post-mortem (that sounds so ghoulish — how about “ex post facto” meeting?) with Becky from Tour Group Planners in Decatur, Illinois, that organized the trip.

She asked if I’d be a “Tour Group Leader” on another trip and without hesitation, I said, “Yes”, and then she asked where I’d like to go.

While I mentioned two trips on my “bucket list”, an extended visit to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, and a trip to India, I don’t think those would be high on other people’s dream vacation list.

So, if another opportunity arises to be a “Tour Group Leader” again, I’ll go.

Becky, if a trip to Iceland, South Africa (with a safari) or another cruise comes up (Alaska or Mediterranean), you have my number!

By the way, here is my group (all but two people) on the Tulip/Rhine River adventure.

ONE MORE REGRET IN LIFE…

Now that I experienced being a “Tour Group Leader”, I wish I had pursued a venture in the travel industry in my 20s instead of waiting tables while waiting for my television news career to start.

I would’ve seen the world in youth instead of waiting until I was 49-years-old!

However, since I got that first passport in 2013, I’ve been fortunate to use it many times. Here are a few photos of my favorite trips:

Israel (2014)

While I’ll never top my 50th birthday with a Seine River Dinner Cruise, going to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and sipping champagne at the historic Moulin Rouge right at midnight, my few days in Tel Aviv on that same trip were fun.

This was my post-50th birthday dessert at Yotveta — waffles, chocolate syrup, bananas, diced fruit and whipped topping with coconut, pistachio, caramel, and vanilla ice cream!

But, one of my favorite meals ever was also in Tel Aviv at Benny the Fisherman, right on the Mediterranean.

This was the “salad” before the entrees!

Scandinavia (2017)

Morocco (2018)

Greece (2021)

Turkey (2022)

That’s Eleanor and Allison with me with Greece and a beautiful sunset behind us.

We had such a great time together in Turkey that Miss Xanadu and I are planning to visit them next summer, which will be my first visit to New England!

THANK YOU AGAIN!

Becky and Amy of “Tour Group Planners”, thank you again for organizing this incredible trip and allowing me to be a part of it!

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony

Change of Plans — New Passport Needed!

In early November 2022, when I returned from almost two weeks in Turkey, I knew that would be my last international trip for a LONG time.

My passport was set to expire in May 2023 and I decided not to renew it and I became a “dog dad” to a silly little pug, Xanadu, in late February this year.

Well, things change! I was approached and asked to go on a work-related trip. Initially, it was going to be Hawaii. Of course, I said yes.

However, Hawaii didn’t make it past the planning stage. And, the excursion became a European trip with a cruise on the Rhine River in April 2024. So, I renewed the passport!

Although I went to Cancun, Mexico, in 1993, it was before passports were required there.

When I got my first passport in 2013, I was fortunate enough to use it often over the past decade with trips to Turkey, Greece, Morocco, Bangkok (Thailand), China, Israel, Scandinavia, and Europe, along with Mexico and Canada.

I used that passport for the first time ten years ago this month. I’m walking down memory lane and I’m taking you along with me.

After work that October 2013 morning, I was off to Chicago for my first trip to Europe. Although the trip was a Danube River cruise, I’ve always been fascinated with Switzerland.

And, since it didn’t cost anything extra for flight changes to Zurich, I made a 24-hour whirlwind visit to the global city and one of the world’s largest financial centers!

SWITZERLAND

Once I got to Zurich, it was too early to check into the hotel, so I walked around and explored the “Old Town” district.

Once showered and settled into my room, I walked for hours (about 12 miles) to Lake Zurich for a better view of the architecture, the people, the Lake, and the Swiss Alps.

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped at the most awesome grocery store, Coop.   The place was packed with Zurich residents and tourists getting stocked up for a weekend night.  The wine department was very popular.

I bought two bottles, a cheese platter, two loaves of bread (an olive variety and a Pane loaf), and two desserts (one was a caramel torte and the other was basically creme-filled donuts).

This Saturday evening Swiss snack ended up being dinner.

While I’m a very adventurous eater (especially now), I gave up beef more than a decade ago. (I also don’t do internal organs or deer).

As I looked at the menu at a restaurant I stopped at, the Cordon Bleu was deer and not chicken! There was also deer stew, deer this, and deer that.  If deer wasn’t your thing, there was something with boar!

So, the Swiss buffet of wine, bread, cheeses, and desserts was perfect for a Zurich Saturday night.  And, after being up for 39 hours from work Friday morning, to driving to Chicago, traveling across the Atlantic Ocean Friday night, and touring Zurich Saturday, sleep was nice.

The next morning, the hotel hosted a nice complimentary breakfast.

It was glorious waking up and seeing the Alps in the background and hearing chiming church bells all morning.

My observations about Zurich:  If I spoke German, I would definitely live there if given the opportunity; the city is beautiful and the backdrop of the Lake and the Alps is incredible; I didn’t run into Zurich resident and international pop star Tina Turner (RIP); and finally, Zurich men are very thin.

I don’t know if it’s because they walk a lot or ride bikes (very popular here) or eat deer and moose, instead of beef, but I couldn’t believe how thin a majority of them are.  Sorry America!

And, a final note, there were so many DDG (drop dead gorgeous) Europeans walking around strutting their stuff in their jeans of many colors!

That is snow on the Alps from the Zurich flight to Budapest.

Originally, the cruise was to start in Budapest, Hungary, but there was a mechanical problem at a dam and the cruise ship couldn’t get there, so I landed at the airport there and took a two-hour bus ride to embark on the cruise in Bratislava, Slovakia!

BRATISLAVA

Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, is one of the youngest capital cities of Europe, yet its history dates back more than 2,000 years.

Once in Bratislava, a maintenance problem at a lock delayed our cruise from departing the first night.

This gave us a chance to view the city and we finally left Bratislava around 11 p.m. the next night.

Here’s a dessert on the “MS Sound of Music” cruise boat. It’s called “Somloi” (a duo of Drunken Sponge Cake in Black and White with Vanilla Pudding and Chocolate Sauce).

VIENNA

We finally set sail and I awoke to a foggy morning on the Danube River docked in Vienna, Austria.

Vienna is well-known for classical composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Strauss.

It was here also that psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud made his name.

There was an exhibit on display in Vienna honoring his artist grandson, Lucian Freud, who died in the early-2010s.

His works are known for their “psychological penetration and for their often discomforting examination of the relationship between artist and model”.  Needless to say, unflattering photos of naked men and women grace the city.  Sexuality isn’t taboo there like in the United States.

Along with this advertisement for the show highlighting Lucian Freud, boobs and penis art and mannequins grace the windows in many stores. (I censored this photo with the blue star!)

And I witnessed something very cool. The Austrian Military and the Police were outside the Chancellor’s office.  The U.S. Ambassador to Austria was in Vienna presenting her credentials to the country’s Federal President.

They even played “The Star-Spangled Banner”!

I’ll leave you with a couple of interesting notes about Austria:

Vienna is the capital and the largest city in Austria.  Of the five million that live in the country, 1.8 million live in Vienna.  (The second largest city in the country is populated by only 265,000 people.)

And, of those almost two million, 82% live in rented apartments, 11% live in townhouses/condos, and only 7% of people in Vienna own homes.  Of course, those number change outside of the city.

I close out the Austrian part of my trip by honoring another of Vienna’s stars, the late singer Falco, with one of his hits, “Der Kommissar”, although he’s better known for “Rock Me Amadeus”.

DURNSTEIN AND MELK

Since the cruise started, we traveled at night.  After another night of cruising the Danube, we arrived in Durnstein (wine country in lower Austria) and another short cruise took us to Melk (also in lower Austria).

It was another foggy morning as we walked through the very small village of Durnstein, which is known for its wines and apricot brandy.

After sampling free shots and chocolates, we sailed along the Wuchau Valley and it was spectacular. 

We then arrived in Melk, Austria, to tour a monastery that is almost 1,000 years old and it was incredible. 

It was one of the most beautiful churches in the world.  (Okay, I haven’t spent a lot of time in churches except while traveling!  But, it was spectacular.)

PASSAU

We then traveled to Passau, Germany.

While I’ve seen some beautiful sights in my travels in the United States, like Lake Tahoe, California, the boat cruise today out of Austria into Germany had to be one of the most breath-taking views I’ve witnessed.

In the afternoon, we docked in Passau, also known as Dreiflüssestadt, “the city on three rivers”.

We walked along the Danube, the Inn, and the Ilz rivers, visited the shopping district, and St. Steven’s Cathedral, which houses the world’s largest cathedral organ.

While very interesting, Passau was the least favorite city we visited, so far.  We still have two more days in Germany with stops in Regensburg and Nuremberg.

REGENSBERG

After visiting Passau, a community that was heavily damaged by summer floods that year, we woke up to another foggy morning that promised sunshine.

However, as we toured Regensberg, the 56th largest city in Germany, the sun deceived us and it remained overcast and very cool.

But, shopping was vibrant on my walk through town.

I loved the bridge of locks where lovers have their names inscribed on locks and they put them on the bridge and throw the key into the river.  Should they break up, the locks are then cut off!

NUREMBERG

When we started our Nuremberg tour Saturday afternoon, we stopped by Zeppelin Field, which had been a central part in rallies for Adolf Hitler. 

Since the fall of Nazi Germany, the area has lost its flashy look from the 1940s and is rather bleak, just like the time it symbolized under Hitler!

We visited another castle that overlooked the city and the site where the Nuremberg Trials took place in 1945-1946 to prosecute prominent members of the military and political leadership of Nazi Germany.

On a happier note, I checked out the Farmer’s Market and had a drink in a small cafe.

I’ve always been intrigued by what a Campari and soda would taste like so I ordered one and it was HORRIBLE.  (Campari is a bitter infusion of fruit and herbs in alcohol and water.)  Yuck!  It was too bitter for me. So, I had a Jever beer and it was much better (and I’m not a beer drinker)! 

Then, it was time to board our boat for the Captain’s Farewell Dinner.

My meal started with the appetizer, Pan Fried Scampi with Beet Root Risotto, and ended with Baked Alaska “MS Sound of Music” style!

And, of course, plenty of local wines! Why choose one?

The next day started with a two-hour bus ride to the airport in Munich, Germany, to start my trip back to reality.

And, on this trip, I met Barbara, who was celebrating her 70th birthday and her daughter came along.

Barbara (on the left) and I still stay in touch!

IN SUMMATION

My favorite city was definitely Zurich, Switzerland, and my second favorite was Bratislava, Slovakia, and luckily I spent almost 24 hours in each of those cities.

It was interesting going on the local tours of villages and hearing the history and seeing all the castles and brightly colored buildings.

The food was amazing on the “MS Sound of Music” cruise and the staff was incredible.

With breakfast and lunch buffets daily, cake and coffee each afternoon, free-flowing wine at the amazing four and five-course dinners, along with a cheese spread after dessert each night, I only gained three pounds on the cruise!

My final thoughts are that we need to brightly paint all of our houses in the U.S. to add some color and fun.

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony

Behind the Scenes of My Costa Rica Holiday

We work to pay bills and live our lives. When we’re lucky, there’s extra money left to buy new clothes, furniture, homes, cars, or whatever you like spending money on.

I live a simple, no frills life, so I spend my money on traveling when I can.

After vaccinations became available and a majority of Americans protected themselves against the Covid-19 pandemic (before the Omicron strain stressed us out), I jetted off to Greece for my birthday in October 2021. It was amazing, even without seeing the gorgeous beaches (I’ll have to watch “Mamma Mia” again for that!)

Once I got back, a great deal on a trip to Costa Rica presented itself, so I booked it.

I didn’t get to mark another continent off my list since Costa Rica is in Central America. As for continents, four down (North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa) and three to go (Australia, Antarctica, and South America). For the record, Antarctica won’t happen and the other two are unlikely!

A couple of weeks ago, I added that new stamp to my passport!

While you may have seen some of the pictures, here are some stories behind those photos — one is scary (and hilarious) from my last night in the country!!!! 🙂

The Wikipedia page on Costa Rica perfectly sums up the country in a soundbite: “Costa Rica is a rugged, rainforested Central American country with coastlines on the Caribbean and Pacific. Though its capital, San Jose, is home to cultural institutions like the Pre-Columbian Gold Museum, Costa Rica is known for its beaches, volcanoes, and biodiversity. Roughly a quarter of its area is made up of protected jungle, teeming with wildlife including spider monkeys and quetzal birds.”

Surprisingly, because some people are loud when they should be quiet in nature, I did snap a few pictures of spider monkeys in the wild in the Arenal Volcano National Park…

and a cute little White-Nosed Coatimundi.

I posted that description of Costa Rica because it plays a big role in the beauty, yet the frustration of traveling there.

My Gate 1 Travel trip was the “9 Day Kaleidoscope of Costa Rica with Guanacaste”, which was a step up from the “7 Day Classic Costa Rica”. And, I’m so glad I did that because the two days in Guanacaste (Tamarindo) was definitely worth it for the gorgeous hotel, my room and balcony, and the Pacific Ocean sunsets.

However, of that “9 Day” trip, two were travel days, which were exhausting. Heading there, I drove an hour from Decatur to the airport in Bloomington, Illinois, for the first of three flights! It was a short flight to Chicago, three hours of sit time, then a three-hour flight to Miami, sitting three more hours, and then the final three hour flight to San Jose, Costa Rica.

The return trip was just as long: driving to the airport in San Jose, sitting three hours, a three-hour flight to Miami, trying to get through U.S. Customs in less than two hours to catch a three-plus-hour flight to Dallas. Once there, five hours of sitting before the flight to Bloomington, Illinois, and then the one hour drive home!

But, it was worth it to see Costa Rica. Here’s some of that biodiversity!

I absolutely love taking photos and the one below is one of my favorites. While the church in Zarcero was gorgeous, this is what captured my eye and my imagination!

In my travels, I’ve often talked about how much I love, love, love Mediterranean food and, especially, Mediterranean breakfasts.

This one is from Tel Aviv, Israel…

and, this one is from Greece.

Well, Costa Rican breakfasts are much simpler. One interesting staple of the diet there, even at breakfast, is beans and rice!

While I love beans and I love rice, I don’t eat them too often at home. But, since it’s part of the diet in Costa Rica, I had beans and rice each morning with my eggs. Also, the papaya was incredible!

My favorite meal there was a sea bass, which was preceded by a delicious shrimp and lobster bisque, and followed by pineapple cheesecake.

My favorite dessert was raspberry panna cotta, which came after a tasty Greek salad, and salmon with pesto linguine, my second favorite meal.

Costa Rica was my sixth trip with Gate 1 Travel. The other five were a Danube River cruise (2013), Scandinavia (2017), Morocco (2018), Bangkok, Thailand (2019), and Greece (2021). (My 2016 China trip was through another company and my 50th birthday excursion to Paris, France, and Tel Aviv, Israel was a trip I planned on my own.)

On many of these trips, I meet people that I’ve kept in touch with over the years! Hi Barbara, Maureen, Izzy, Katrina, Marcellus, Matt, Cortney, Shirley, and Robert.

In Costa Rica, I met four amazing people that I’ll be keeping in touch with from southern California. I spent most of my time socializing with Bill and Sandi…

and Kathy and Tim.

An interesting side note is that the four of them live within thirty miles of each other and Costa Rica brought them together!

The most scenic experience was the Arenal Volcano National Park, where I took this selfie.

One of coolest adventures was walking across eight hanging bridges, some of which were hundreds of feet long and hundreds of feet over the vast forest of trees.

Sadly, I was most disappointed with the Rio Frio River Boat Tour because of not seeing too many reptiles and creatures. We did see some small crocodiles, “Jesus Christ” lizards, birds, a sleeping sloth, and a few howler monkeys.

But, a stop for a bathroom break gave me the opportunity to see this beautiful macaw!

And, the flowers and plants were stunning. This was my favorite!

And, this one was the most intruiging!

One of the negatives to the trip was the horrible infrastructure. It took many hours to travel just a distance of 60-100 miles, and even longer in a large tour bus!

If you added up all the hours on the bus from one stop to another, we probably lost two to three days. But, we did see gorgeous landscapes along the way and sadly, forest fires that were burning up parts of Coast Rica.

One shocking (and interesting) thing I learned visiting the Pre-Columbian Gold Museum in San Jose on my last night in town was back in 1944, due to the fear of contagion from tuberculosis and leprosy, special currency was minted or pierced for internal use inside sanatoriums and leper asylums!

That’s just crazy!

But, there’s some justification to this paranoia. Almost a century before, in 1856, Costa Rica was under attack by a group of mercenaries led by American William Walker. Walker ended up dumping bodies into the wells which polluted the water supply. This caused a cholera outbreak that killed almost 10% of Costa Rica’s population (nearly 10,000 people)!

And, now that scary and funny story!

My trip started and ended in San Jose, the capital and most populous city (2.1 million of the country’s 5.1 million residents).

Since I had to get up at 2:30 a.m. for my return trip home, I went to bed around 9 p.m. While this may be TMI, it’s important to the story and adds the humor to it.

I sleep naked and usually I have my lounge wear on the bed with me. But, since it was a very early wake-up call, I had the clothes I was wearing home sitting out — across the room.

At 10:30 p.m., I woke up and I thought I heard a noise. I listened for a bit longer and I realized that someone had opened my door! In hotels, I always put the safety lock across the door and I’m so glad I did.

With the new visitors arriving at the hotel that evening, the reception desk must have programmed my room number onto the magnetic key for someone else.

Since I couldn’t reach my clothes, I yelled out, “Hello”, and I heard someone say, “There’s someone in there!”.

I’m totally convinced that it was a mistake downstairs and it scared them as much as it did me. If it had been burglars, I don’t think they would have responded and just left.

So, I almost had someone in my room, but not in the way I wanted! 🙂

Thank you for coming along to Costa Rica with me through this travelogue!

If you ever get a chance to visit the country, the people are very nice and it’ll make you appreciate all that you have even more.

Anthony

My Big Fat Greek Holiday 2021

It’s often said that “a picture is worth a thousand words”. I don’t plan on writing a thousand words, but I want to share some stories behind the photos I posted from my recent visit to Greece. (P.S. I lied, before I wrote this additional line, it ended up being 1,761 words!) 🙂

I always say that “it’s nice to get away, but it’s also nice to come home”. Well, I didn’t say that when I visited Morocco in the fall of 2018 or when I was ready to leave Greece last Sunday.

I wish I could have stayed longer and island hop along the Mediterranean. Hopefully, I’ll do that with my sister, Tammy — sooner rather than later!

From the time I left for the airport in Bloomington, Illinois, for my three flights to the time I arrived at the hotel in Athens, Greece, it took about 25 hours (not counting the time change).

The return home took three hours longer — an early wake-up call, the drive to to the airport, three flights, two delays, sit time before the first flight and between flights, and an hour drive home.

But, it was all worth it!

Back to my arrival at the hotel in Greece. The room was great and the rooftop view of the city was incredible!

I could see the Acropolis and I was mesmerized by the houses and buildings as far as the eye could see. About half of Greece’s 11 million people live in Athens.

After getting settled into the hotel, I took a walk to see what was nearby and I got lost! As it neared the time to meet my tour group for the introduction, I freaked out a little, but I found my way back.

The Greece trip was the fifth excursion I’ve taken with Gate 1 Travel — Danube River cruise (2013), Scandinavia (2017) , Morocco (2018), and Bangkok, Thailand (2019). My trip to China was through another company and my 50th birthday excursion to Paris, France, and Tel Aviv, Israel was a trip I planned on my own.

The nice thing about these tours is that you normally gravitate toward a few people that you spend more time with touring the sites, eating meals, and sharing laughs and life stories. And, you usually keep in touch with them years after the trip is over!

For me, my Peeps on this trip were (from left to right), Matt, Marcellus, and Cortney.

We talked a lot about relationships and travel.

Well, there was one other topic that became a running joke (or was it a joke?) — certain museum statues and some souvenir options kept that topic alive. 🙂

As the trip progressed, I bonded with Jessica and her mother, Cheryl, from Iowa.

It should come as no surprise that there’s so much history in Greece — from the start of the Olympics (in Olympia), attacks from foreign empires, and the discovery of many of the ruins after earthquakes and mud from floods buried many of the sites for more than a thousand years!

Some of them were only discovered in the late-1800s and entire towns were moved for the excavation. Hello Delphi!

While visiting the Acropolis, it was so relaxing to look out across Athens and seeing the Aegean Sea was so peaceful. This is one of my favorite photos I took on holiday.

After visiting the Acropolis and its museum, our fantastic tour guide, Elena, treated us to baklava and Greek coffee. I love desserts and the one piece of baklava I had was divine.

Okay, here’s a funny story. I actually had two pieces!

Two people from our tour group were off on their own shopping or spending more time at the museum and there was an open seat next to me at our table. That piece of baklava was just staring at me saying, “eat me”.

As we were ready to leave, I gave up on them coming back and their friend said “eat it”. It was my birthday, so I didn’t need to be told again. Midway through that second piece, they walked in!

Oh well! 🙂

By the way, I didn’t care for the Greek coffee. When I get to the bottom of my coffee, I don’t want muck in my cup! Muck = Yuck!

That visit was earlier in the day. For dinner that night, I tried Ouzo for the first time.

OPA!

For scientific reasons, I added ice cubes to the Ouzo because the chemical reaction makes it “cloudy”.

And, in full disclosure, there was Ouzo left on the table, so I had a second one at the end of the meal!

OPA!

While I had some amazing food (eggplant in tomato sauce topped with feta, Greek salad, and a pork gyro to name a few), my absolute favorite meals were the breakfasts.

There’s just something about Mediterranean breakfast that I love (I still salivate thinking of my Israeli breakfasts in Tel Aviv).

However, both mornings in Athens, I finished my two plates of breakfast with a large bowl of Greek yogurt with honey, nuts, dried fruit, and even a candied fig! And, a few pastries!

Yes, I love plating food for photos and I don’t waste. I take bites of many things and only what I’ll eat!

Oh, by the way, a true Greek salad doesn’t include lettuce — just tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, peppers, olives, olive oil, feta cheese, and seasoning.

The fresh veggies, the olives, and feta in Greece are amazing!

One thing I didn’t eat on the entire trip was a fish dish. I was told by my dear Greek friend, John, in the Quad Cities, that fish is more popular on the Greek islands!

The most scenic part of the trip was the drive from Olympia to Delphi, up in the mountains, along the breathtaking Corinthian Bay.

My favorite hotel views were in Olympia (second floor balcony with a grove of pomegranate, orange, and olive trees below)…

and this Delphi hotel balcony view (also from the second floor).

These three photos were some of my favorites I took on the trip.

Those two are from Nafpaktos, where we stopped for herbal tea and honey, which was refreshingly tasty.

This next one was from a surprise lunch complete with a cooking demonstration, in which some in our group made our three appetizers, and a Greek dancing lesson with participation!

Thank you Lillian for the photo! It was nice hanging out with you, too!

And, see the whole religious correlation — wine, water, and bread! 🙂

As my trip to Greece was coming to an end, we were back in Athens for a farewell evening organized by our knowledgeable, personable, and amazing guide (and historian) Elena.

On the rooftop of our hotel, The Stanley, many of us pulled together tables with the expansive view of Athens and the Acropolis all aglow surrounding us as we enjoyed appetizers and several bottles of Greek wine!

Along with the great company and laughs, I loved the dessert — a chocolate mousse atop chocolate crumbles, and a very tasty violet! I love how the floral flavor just popped as you chewed it.

Of the many countries I’ve visited, I’d go back to Morocco and Copenhagen, Denmark, in a heartbeat.

Greece is another one.

There’s still so much in Athens I didn’t see and I want to have my “Mamma Mia” experience in the Greek Islands (Mykonos, Santorini, and Paros, for starters) — the beauty, the food, and maybe even the “dot dot dot”! 🙂

A cruise on the Aegean Sea would also be amazing!

Three of my big international trips were to celebrate my birthday. There was Paris, France, complete with a dinner cruise on the Seine River, a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and sitting at the stage of the historic Moulin Rouge sipping champagne as I turned 50!

And, my 54th in Marrakesh, Morocco. Turning 57 in Athens was also memorable.

As you read this you may have wondered about the closeness of my new friends in some of the pictures. A co-worker asked what it was like with COVID-19 over there.

Well, most of the museums required proof of vaccination, we needed a negative COVID test coming into the country, and upon arrival at the airport, you could have been randomly chosen to take a test.

We were required to wear masks at all times on the bus, at the hotels, museums, and restaurants (when not eating and drinking), and on the flights.

Here’s one last funny story to share.

Those of us leaving Greece Sunday had to meet before breakfast in Olympia Friday for our COVID test to return to the United States.

While we were all negative coming into Greece and we expected the tests to come back negative, it was still a little stressful.

We took the tests and had breakfast. Then we were off to see the home of the first Olympics and settle in for a three-hour ride to Delphi.

As we neared the town, I laughed because my phone was down to 15% and thought my sister would be proud of me. I never let my phone drain that low. It then hit me!

I recalled unplugging my charger and cord (black) that morning after the test, but I didn’t remember taking my power adapter/converter (ivory) out of the wall! Guess what, I didn’t and I still had two more nights in Greece without an adapter!

Well, my new buddy, Marcellus saved the day and loaned me his converter that night and the next night in Athens before the farewell party.

My phone was now at 80% and that would be enough to get me onto the plane for the flight back to the U.S. where I could fully charge it.

That’s when I saw our flight out the next morning was delayed an hour and then I started thinking too much and couldn’t fall asleep.

So, I watched “Coyote Ugly” dubbed in Greek!

So that’s a recap of my birthday/holiday trip to Greece!

Now that I’m back, I keep telling myself, “Must not book new trip, must not book new trip, must not book new trip…”

OH WAIT!

One last funny story — when we arrive in Delphi on the next to last night, they met us with a tray of refreshing drinks. It was a beautiful, colorful “wine”.

I took a sip and it was so tasty. I took a second sip and it was gone!!! I thought, I can’t believe I gulped that down in just two sips. I seriously thought I might have to visit Betty Ford!

It wasn’t until breakfast the next morning when I realized it was CHERRY JUICE! Whew! 🙂

Anthony

My Life – The Next Era (1999-2021)

It’s time for the sequel of my life!

If you’re a regular reader of my random thoughts, you know I love making lists and countdowns.

On September 11, 2020, I posted a blog of the 13 biggest events of my first 35 years. (13 because I was born on the 13th and it’s my favorite number).

Along with that, I intended to share my 35 favorite songs of those first 35 years. Well, the initial list ended up with 236 songs, so I decided to be like the Billboard Hot 100 and share my top 100 songs of that era of my life.

In case you didn’t see it last year or last week when I posted it again, here it is:

https://anthonypeoples.wordpress.com/2020/09/11/my-life-the-first-35-years/

Well, it was well-received, so why not be like Hollywood and make a sequel???

So, here are the top eight events that shaped the next era of my life (1999-2021) along with not my just my 22 favorite songs of the past 22 years, but my 100 favorites of that era!

EVENTS THAT SHAPED MY LAST 22 YEARS

MEETING REBA McENTIRE (APRIL 2005)

While Reba McEntire became a powerhouse superstar in the mid-1980s, I was all about dance and pop music in my 20s during her rise to super stardom.

However, I discovered her at Sidetrack, in Chicago, on country night in 1990.  That voice singing “Rumor Has It” blew me away and I’ve been a huge fan ever since.

Regardless of what was happening in my life, good or bad, when Reba released a new album, there were songs I felt she recorded just for me.

I’ve now seen Reba in concert thirteen (13) times and I got to meet her in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 2005.

MOVING BACK TO CHICAGO (JUNE 2002)

After my mother died in November 1990 and my grandmother, Helen, passed away in November 1993, I felt it was time to leave Kentucky and I moved to Chicago the following summer.

I stayed for two years before kicking off my television news career in the summer of 1996 in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. After jobs in Lubbock, Texas, and Mansfield, Columbus, and Youngstown, Ohio, working for a homophobic, racist, and sexist news director, I felt it was time to take a break from television.

So, Miss ABBA, my golden retriever, and my ex, Christopher, headed back to Chicago, where we had met in early 1995. (Look at how youthful we were 26 years ago!)

It was a very enjoyable return to the “windy city”.

I had a great time at Roscoe’s Tavern (a very popular gay bar on Halsted), worked as a freelance writer for the morning show at Fox News Chicago, and went back to school to earn my meteorology certification.

By the way, I don’t make it a point to lie, but I saw that sticker and it was just too much fun not to stick it on my shirt for a photo op! 🙂

In the summer of 2004, Christopher and I realized our nine-year relationship had run its course, so I took a job in Salisbury, Maryland, and Miss ABBA and I moved to Delmarva for a year-and-a half before returning to the Midwest in November 2005.

When I started putting together the recap of my second era (1999-2021), I thought about the events that shaped the past 22 years of my life and I started thinking of my favorite songs of the past two decades-plus.

That list started with 221 songs and after the first cut, it was still at 155. After thinking long and hard, I narrowed it down to one hundred, just like the Billboard Hot 100!

Here’s to you, Casey Kasem! (Hint, the other 60 are at the bottom of this blog, along with some surprises!)

#40 “LOVE YOURSELF” (JUSTIN BIEBER) (2015)

#39 “I’LL BE” (REBA McENTIRE) (2000)

#38 “WOMANIZER” (BRITNEY SPEARS) (2008)

#37 “FADED” (ALAN WALKER) (2015)

#36 “THE EDGE OF GLORY” (LADY GAGA) (2011)

While that’s the official version of “The Edge of Glory”, here’s the version I love more. And, I “borrowed” the sparklers idea for my wedding reception!

#35 “WHO WOULDN’T WANNA BE ME” (KEITH URBAN) (2003)

#34 “CAN’T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD” (KYLIE MINOGUE) (2001)

NOW, BACK TO MY LIFE EVENTS….

LIVING NEAR MY SISTER AGAIN (AUGUST 2011)

Other than my years of living on campus at Murray State University in the 1980s, less than a half hour from where I was born and raised, I never lived apart from my sister, Tammy, until I moved to Chicago in 1994 and she moved away, too.

My career took me all over the country and my sister made Clarksville, Tennessee, home. After her marriage with her L-O-S-E-R husband ended and life dealt her several bad hands, I convinced her to move to the Quad Cities (Moline, Illinois) in 2011.

While she wasn’t thrilled to have to make her home there and deal with more snow than she was used to, it was nice to be in the same city again. We could now see each other whenever we wanted and we’d spend holidays together again.

After I moved away for 3.5 years, she joined me in Decatur, Illinois. It’s nice to have my best friend around again!

Love you Tammy!

MY 50TH BIRTHDAY TRIP TO PARIS & TEL AVIV (OCTOBER 2014)

While I don’t remember my first birthday, you see from the picture above that it happened and it was celebrated.

Other birthdays that stand out for me are my 30th, in Chicago, when I met a very attractive man that ended up being a psycho that try to kill me (stalker much?), my 48th, in Las Vegas, in 2012, seeing Elton John the night before and Madonna on the big day…

… and my 54th on an incredible solo trip to Morocco with a surprise birthday cake from my tour group!

However, it’s going to be really hard to top my 50th birthday!

In 2013, I took my first “real” international trip (officially, Cancun was the first in the early-1990s, but North America doesn’t really count any more!).

For my ex’s 50th, he chose a Danube River cruise of Europe. The following year, for my 50th, I chose to celebrate the milestone birthday with a trip to Europe (Paris, France) and the Middle East (Tel Aviv, Israel).

While the trip was incredible and I paid my own way, my actual birthday present was like a fairy tale. (He did well!)

I was treated to a dinner cruise on the Seine River, followed by a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower at night to see the sprawled out city of Paris twinkling in the distance.

And, the night didn’t end there. 

It was then off to the historic Moulin Rouge for a show and champagne. 

At midnight, I turned 50 during the show sitting right at the stage staring at boobies, acrobatic routines, and a woman in a water tank with snakes!

For the record, years later, in the spring of 2019, I’d have my own encounter with a beautiful albino python in Bangkok, Thailand. I called it my Britney Spears moment! Britney is now free!

Then it was off to Tel Aviv for three days. From the hotel room, you could see the sandy beaches of the Mediterranean Sea!

Each morning, I looked forward to the Israeli breakfasts, which are world-renowned and very tasty and filling! 

However, my favorite meal was at בני-הדייג, which translates to Benny The Fisherman, right on the Sea.

That was just the salads and “starters” that they brought out.  Yes, fifteen of them, including the bread basket!

Sadly, I didn’t get a stamp on my passport from Israel.

This was during the 2014 Ebola scare and the customs agent was so flustered from ranting at a woman in front of us for sticking her passport in her mouth that he forgot.  He refused to let her go through his line because he wasn’t going to touch her passport.  And, I really don’t blame him.  However, his approach was a little abrasive.

On the return flight home, the snow-covered Alps were beautiful!

This crazy song went viral in 2013 and ended up being my third favorite song of that year. It didn’t make the Top 100 on this countdown, but it was on the initial list. So, it’s a bonus. 🙂

Now, back to the countdown of my favorite songs of the past 22 years!

#33 “LOOKIN’ FOR A GOOD TIME” (LADY A) (2008)

#32 “TURN ON THE RADIO” (REBA McENTIRE) (2010)

#31 “I KNEW I LOVED YOU” (SAVAGE GARDEN) (1999)

#30 “TOXIC” (BRITNEY SPEARS) (2004)

#29 “YOU BELONG WITH ME” (TAYLOR SWIFT) (2009)

And, of course, there’s a cute and sexy alternative version of the Taylor teen love story!

#28 “IF I DIE YOUNG” (THE BAND PERRY) (2010)

#27 “MUSIC” (MADONNA) (2000)

#26 “LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT” (KYLIE MINOGUE) (2002)

#25 “LIFE GOES ON” (LEANN RIMES) (2002)

#24 “BECAUSE OF YOU” (REBA McENTIRE & KELLY CLARKSON) (2007)

#23 “IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS” (MICHAEL BUBLE) (2011)

What! A Christmas song made it onto the countdown!!! Don’t be shocked!

My fourth favorite song of my first 35 years was Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”!

NOW BACK TO MY LIFE EVENTS OF THE PAST 22 YEARS!

MEETING PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER & ROSALYNN CARTER (JULY 2017) …

In September 2016, I got to visit the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library & Museum in Atlanta, Georgia.

However, it would take a major change in my life and relocation to meet my childhood idols, President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter.

In the summer of 2017, I was living in Panama City, Florida, and I drove 180 miles (3.5 hours) through the backwoods of Florida, Alabama, and Georgia in the darkness of night to fulfill that life-long dream.

Once I arrived in Plains, Georgia, at the Marantha Baptist Church, I was one of the last people to make it in to hear a Sunday school lesson from President Carter.

After his lesson and the Sunday service from the pastor, I got to meet the man and woman that I helped put in the White House in the 1976 presidential election.

For the record, I was just a 12-year-old boy, but I got to go into the voting booth with my grandmother Helen back in Mayfield, Kentucky.  She let me choose her candidate and, of course, it was Jimmy Carter.

My vote four years later didn’t keep the Carters in Washington D.C. and they headed back to Plains.

You might notice that the photo is autographed! I sent a copy of the photo inside of an anniversary card to the lovely couple and they signed it and sent it back!!!!!!!!!!

… AND HILLARY CLINTON (JANUARY 2016)

I’ve admired Hillary Clinton since she became the First Lady of the United States in January 1993.

There is no politician that hasn’t been raked over the coals in their career.  And, now with 24-hour news channels and less objectivity in their reporting for higher ratings, it’s easy to vilify people, especially if it’s a strong woman — like Hillary.

I went to hear Hillary speak on a cold winter’s day in Davenport, Iowa, in January 2016.

When she finished, I politely edged my way through the crowd toward the roped off area in front of the stage.  I lucked out and we talked a little – we exchanged hellos and I wished her success.

“Politely edged” sounds nicer than “aggressively made” my way through the crowd! 🙂

Now, my 22 favorite songs of the past 22 years!

#22 “I WANNA GO (BRITNEY SPEARS) (2011)

#21 “CAN’T FIGHT THE MOONLIGHT” (LEANN RIMES) (2000)

#20 “SURRENDER” (LAURA PAUSINI) (2002)

#19 “IF I FALL YOU’RE GOING DOWN WITH ME” (THE CHICKS) (2001)

I’ve never met Natalie Maines of The Chicks and it’s one of the biggest regrets of my life.

When I took my second television job in Lubbock, Texas, (Natalie’s hometown), in 1997, as a reporter and Saturday anchor at the CBS affiliate, her sister, Kim, was the 10 p.m. weekday producer.  What a sweetheart!

1997 was also the year that Natalie and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison exploded onto the country music scene with “I Can Love You Better”, which went on to reach #7 on the Billboard Country chart.

I had a chance to see them and meet the unknown band and real life prevented me from going! Bummer!

#18 “MY BOYFRIEND IS GAY” (HAILEY ROWE) (2013)

#17 “SOMEBODY LIKE YOU” (KEITH URBAN) (2002)

#16 “YOUTH” (TROYE SIVAN) (2015)

#15 “WE’RE SO GOOD TOGETHER” (REBA McENTIRE) (2000)

#14 “SOME DAYS YOU GOTTA DANCE” (THE CHICKS) (2001)

#13 “SILENCE” (MARSHMELLO & KHALID) (2017)

#12 “YOU’LL THINK OF ME” (KEITH URBAN) (2004)

NOW, BACK TO MY BIGGEST LIFE EVENTS OF THE PAST 22 YEARS!

MEET, FALL IN LOVE, GET MARRIED, AND THEN DIVORCE (2009-2017)

We’ve all been there (well, at least half of us).

You meet someone that’s an Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) to your Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts) — with or with sex work involved!

You fall in love and sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t.

I got to have a wedding, a beautiful reception, and a gorgeous cake!

And, I was a “like a dad” and I got to experience helping to raise a child. I loved and was loved in return, we traveled the world — Europe, Israel, China, and Scandinavia — and my golden retriever, ABBA, had two more people to shower her with love, and I got to foster 60 koi and goldfish!

While things didn’t work out, I’m glad that I got to experience the good before the bad.

There are many things I miss about those days and there are things I don’t miss. The serenity of the koi pond is definitely high on the list of things I miss!

This is a feeding frenzy in the summer of 2016!

Oh, if you were hoping for sordid details, there were several circumstances leading to the demise of the relationship. Those are being saved for the book (which is being written)!

WE NEED A BREATHER!

Now, back to my favorite songs of the past 22 years!

#11 “SOMETHING” (LASGO) (2001)

#10 “TILL THE WORLD ENDS” (BRITNEY SPEARS) (2011)

#9 “BAD ROMANCE” (LADY GAGA) (2009)

#8 “BLANK SPACE” (TAYLOR SWIFT) (2014)

#7 “EVERYTIME WE TOUCH” (CASCADA) (2005)

#6 “EVERYTIME” (BRITNEY SPEARS) (2004)

NOW BACK TO THE BIGGEST EVENTS OF MY PAST 22 YEARS

MISS ABBA (MAY 2000-FEBRUARY 2012)

My golden retriever, ABBA, and I traveled down many roads together. 

From the llama farm in Ohio where I picked her up in July 2000 to swimming in Lake Michigan when we lived in Chicago to the salty waters of the Atlantic Ocean on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and then back to the cold, snowy Midwestern winters in the Quad Cities, Miss ABBA loved it all and she loved life!

She didn’t mind doggie sitting (or walking) her blind Shar Pei friend, Panda, and she loved road trips so much that you had to spell out R-I-D-E. She loved her fast food hamburgers and she loved treats and cakes!

And, she was the perfect drinking buddy!

From that first ride from the Ohio llama farm to her new life away from Dolly and Fletcher (her mom and dad) and her siblings to the last fateful ride, she enjoyed life so much and never met a stranger.

I wish we were more like ABBA!

As I was lying on the bed comforting ABBA on those final two days in early 2012, these words just came to me and I put them on paper.

While I’m not a poet, I still love this — my goodbye to Miss ABBA!

If you can’t read my writing through the tears:

The fog hangs in the air shrouding the light, not only in the sky, but in your eyes

You look lost and just want to sleep with me close by your side

I listen to you breathe and each breath sounds deeper

Is it the end or just a peaceful sleep

As I caress your neck and shoulder blades,

You snore even louder as I try harder to hold back the tears

I don’t want you to hear me cry,

I want you to let go and not fight for me

You’ve been there for me all your life

And I want to be there for you now, my love.

My best friend — ABBA (May 22, 2000-February 3, 2012)

This is one of my favorite pictures taken of Miss ABBA in her last month with us…

The song in the video tribute below is “Over My Shoulder” by one of my favorite singers, Patty Loveless, from her 1994 album, “When Fallen Angels Fly”.

Okay, this silly photo will take the sadness away…

FINAL BONUS TRACK!

When I put together a recap of my first 35 years and my 100 favorite songs of that era of my life (1964-1999), Olivia Newton-John placed four songs on the countdown: #3 “Xanadu”, #47 “Let Me Be There”, #50 “If You Love Me (Let Me Know)”, and #68 “Magic”.

I finally got to see her in concert at The Flamingo in Las Vegas in May 2014.

As a bonus, I’m featuring two of my favorites in one video — Olivia and Las Vegas.

In 2015, DJ Dave Aude re-worked Olivia’s hit “Magic” and “You Have To Believe” became a #1 dance song for Olivia and her daughter, Chloe Lattanzi.

And, one final fun fact, Olivia met her future husband and Chloe’s dad, Matt Lattanzi, on the set of the movie, “Xanadu”!

Just a random thought, since you know me for random thoughts, I think #Pug2020, which became #Pug2021, and then #Pug20-something, needs to become a reality in 2022!!!

I need a new drinking partner or, at least, a movie and television binge-watching partner!

When I was in Bangkok, Thailand, in the spring of 2019, I saw this in the taxi and I know it was a sign!

NOW BACK TO THE COUNTDOWN OF MY FIVE FAVORITE SONGS OF THE PAST 22 YEARS!

#5 “SOMEBODY” (REBA McENTIRE) (2004)

#4 “NOT READY TO MAKE NICE” (THE CHICKS) (2006)

#3 “CONSIDER ME GONE” (REBA McENTIRE) (2009)

Before I reveal my two favorite songs of the past 22 years, how about another bonus track!

This one didn’t make the list of my Top 100 favorites, but it was one of the 221 on the initial list and was my 13th favorite song of 2014! 🙂

As I reveal my two favorites from 1999-2021, both are two of the most underrated songs that radio should have sent to the top of every chart!

#2 “ALL THE LOVERS” (KYLIE MINOGUE) (2010)

This one did top the airplay chart in Poland and it reached #1 on the Billboard Dance Club songs chart!

And. it’s so naughty and scandalous! 🙂

#1 “DANCING ON MY OWN” (ROBYN) (2010)

This one only topped the chart in Robyn’s native Sweden!

NOW, THE BIGGEST EVENT OF MY PAST 22 YEARS…

THE DEPLORABLE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION! (NOVEMBER 8, 2016)

While this could be a divisive discussion starter, that is not the purpose.

We know “what happened”, since there’s a book about this with that title. It’s been five years now — almost half of the country was on the winning side, but a majority of us were on the losing end.

That statement, “a majority of us were on the losing end”, doesn’t just mean the almost 66 million people that voted for Hillary Clinton.

I’m talking about America’s reputation on the world stage and the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the first months — a major misstep that had now resulted in more than 700,000 deaths since early 2020 in the United States.

DISCLAIMER: If Hillary Clinton had been elected president, we would still likely have seen a significant death toll from Coronavirus. However, I believe with all my heart and intelligence, it wouldn’t be at 709K and counting…

But, is that why the 2016 U.S. presidential election is the biggest event of my past 22 years? In part, yes. However, it ranks above ABBA’s death and the failure of my relationship because it’s partly to blame for the separation and divorce.

That loss affected me greatly as 2016 turned to 2017. In the five years since, I’ve accepted it and moved on. Does it still bother me? Yes. Is there anything I can do about it? No.

Michelle Obama, in her 2018 autobiography, “Becoming”, sums it up best the day after that shocking loss: “And I will always wonder about what led so many women, in particular, to reject an exceptionally qualified female candidate and instead choose a misogynist as their president. But the result was now ours to live with.”

If you want to share comments about how/if that win or loss affected you, feel free. Do it diplomatically with respect to me and my friends.

The point was not to discuss politics, I’m just sharing my life — the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Thank you for taking the time to travel down the road of the second era of my life!

Before you leave, if you’re not interested in #41 to #100, scroll down a little for some of my favorite photos of the past 22 years!!!

Will I write a third? Probably not. Do you know how old I’d be by then! 🙂

However, if I had two front-runners for favorite songs for my final chapter of life — the new Kylie Minogue and Elton John songs rock my world and are on repeat!

Now, that’s it…. except for some of my favorite photos of the past 22 years!

Wait, my friends, let’s keep going. They haven’t made “last call”!

You know I love lists and I’ve mentioned 100 favorites songs several time in this life recap even though the countdown started at #40 like “American Top 40”.

Scroll down and see which songs just missed out.

You might find one of your favorites on here, you might discover several songs you’re not familiar with, and some that might make you say, “Anthony has some very interesting tastes”, or “No <musical act> on the countdown?”

#41 “MY LOVE IS YOUR LOVE” (WHITNEY HOUSTON) (1999)

#42 “NEED YOU NOW” (LADY A) (2009)

#43 “THAT’S THE KIND OF MOOD I’M IN” (PATTY LOVELESS) (2000)

#44 “MURDER ON THE DANCEFLOOR” (SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR) (2001)

#45 “SAY SOMETHING” (KYLIE MINOGUE) (2020)

#46 “CHOW DOWN (AT CHICK-FIL-A)” (WILLAM BELLI, DETOX, VICKY VOX) (2012)

#47 “YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN” (TAYLOR SWIFT) (2019)

#48 “OH SANTA” (MARIAH CAREY) (2010)

#49 “KING” (YEARS & YEARS) (2015)

#50 “ALL FOR YOU”(JANET JACKSON) (2001)

#51 “TEQUILA MAKES HER CLOTHES FALL OFF” (JOE NICHOLS) (2005)

#52 “WHAT DO YOU SAY” (REBA McENTIRE) (1999)

#53 “SUDS IN THE BUCKET” (SARA EVANS) (2004)

#54 “GOOD DIRECTIONS” (BILLY CURRINGTON) (2006)

#55 “DANCING” (KYLIE MINOGUE) (2018)

#56 “DAME OTRO TEQUILA” (PAULINA RUBIO) (2004)

#57 “THE WAY YOU LOVE ME” (FAITH HILL) (2000)

#58 “WHAT WAS I THINKIN'” (DIERKS BENTLEY) (2003)

#59 “BORN TO FLY” (SARA EVANS) (2000)

#60 “LONG TIME GONE” (THE CHICKS) (2002)

#61 “REMEMBER WHEN (PUSH REWIND)” (CHRIS WALLACE) (2012)

#62 “HOME” (MICHAEL BUBLE) (2005)

#63 “COWBOY TAKE ME AWAY” (THE CHICKS) (1999)

#64 “BORN THIS WAY” (LADY GAGA) (2011)

#65 “LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO” (TAYLOR SWIFT) (2017)

#66 “FREE AND EASY (DOWN THE ROAD I GO)” (DIERKS BENTLEY) (2007)

#67 “I’M YOURS” (JASON MRAZ) (2008)

#68 “FREE” (FAITH HILL) (2002)

#69 “CAN’T FEEL MY FACE WITHOUT YOU” (THE WEEKND) (2015)

#70 “POKER FACE” (LADY GAGA) (2008)

#71 “TURN UP THE RADIO” (REBA McENTIRE) (2012)

#72 “HIGHER LOVE” (KYGO & WHITNEY HOUSTON) (2019)

The original by Steve Winwood and Chaka Khan from 1986 also made my list of my favorite songs of my first 35 years — #91!

#73 “LOT OF LEAVIN’ LEFT TO DO” (DIERKS BENTLEY) (2005)

#74 “I DON’T FEEL LIKE DANCIN'” (THE SCISSOR SISTERS) (2006)

#75 “DON’T TELL ME” (MADONNA) (2000)

#76 “WHAT DO YOU MEAN?” (JUSTIN BIEBER) (2015)

#77 “BLEEDING LOVE” (LEONA LEWIS) (2007)

#78 “WORK FROM HOME” (FIFTH HARMONY) (2016)

#79 “CALL ME MAYBE” (CARLY RAE JEPSEN) (2011)

#80 “SORRY” (MADONNA) (2006)

#81 “SIT STILL LOOK PRETTY” (DAYA) (2016)

#82 “I NEED YOU” (LEANN RIMES) (2000)

#83 “CRAZY IN LOVE” (BEYONCE) (2003)

#84 “SORRY” (JUSTIN BIEBER) (2015)

#85 “FIREWORK” (KATY PERRY) (2010)

#86 “AIRWAVES” (BRETT KISSEL) (2015)

#87 “I RUN TO YOU” (LADY A) (2009)

#88 “I DIDN’T JUST COME HERE TO DANCE ” (CARLY RAE JEPSEN) (2015)

#89 “PLAY” (JENNIFER LOPEZ) (2011)

#90 “YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL” (JAMES BLUNT) (2005)

#91 “TOUCH MY BODY” (MARIAH CAREY) (2008)

#92 “CRUSH (1980 ME)” (DARREN HAYES) (2003)

#93 “MUST BE DOIN’ SOMETHIN’ RIGHT” (BILLY CURRINGTON) (2005)

#94 “HAVEN’T MET YOU YET” (MICHAEL BUBLE) (2009)

#95 “DON’T CHA” (THE PUSSYCAT DOLLS) (2005)

#96 “DON’T SAY GOODBYE” (PAULINA RUBIO) (2002)

#97 “LET ME LOVE YOU” (DJ SNAKE & JUSTIN BIEBER) (2016)

#98 “WHEN GOD FEARING WOMEN GET THE BLUES” (MARTINA McBRIDE) (2011)

#99 “RAIN” (BEN PLATT) (2019)

#100 “ON THE FLOOR” (JENNIFER LOPEZ) (2011)

Now, that’s it….

Anthony

Random Friday Thoughts — April 23, 2021

Two weeks ago in my “Random Friday Thoughts”, I jokingly posted about breaking up with winter because summer is hotter!

It snowed earlier this week here in Central Illinois!!! That’s what I get! 🙂

Oh, if winter looked like this in the real world, I’d be all for it twelve months a year!

Thanks Gus (Kenworthy) for making my day!

And, thank you for taking the time to check out my thoughts this week! (Oh, apologies to the uninitiated to my blog about the pictures above, but my thoughts are really random!)

REMEMBERING WALTER MONDALE

Earlier this week, the world lost a great man when former Vice President Walter Mondale passed away at the age of 93.

Before become President Jimmy Carter’s vice president from 1977-1981 and running as the Democratic nominee for President in 1984, he served as the U.S. senator from Minnesota from 1964-1976.

Here are some interesting facts from Jonathan Alder’s 2020 book, “HIS VERY BEST, JIMMY CARTER, A LIFE”:

President Carter changed the role of Vice President. Before Carter, it was basically a useless role — other than becoming the leader of the free world in the case of the president died or became incapacitated.

But, Carter made Vice President Walter Mondale’s role real. He invited him into meetings, gave him real responsibilities, and valued his opinions.

At a farewell dinner before President Carter left office in 1981, Mondale said, “Never once did you put me down. Never once did you fail to treat me with dignity.” He made a toast and added, “We told the truth. We obeyed the law. We kept the peace.”

AND, ON A MORE INFAMOUS NOTE…

While on a high school trip to Washington D.C., future serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer called the White House and talked his way into a tour and met Vice President Mondale!

AMERICA, GET ON WITH YOUR BAD SELF!

Even though thousands are still being diagnosed with COVID-19 daily in America and the death toll continues to rise, more and more of us are fully vaccinated!

In the U.S., 26.7% of us are fully vaccinated! That’s slightly more than one-in-four!

In Illinois, we’re at 26.9% and up to 43.3% for those with at least one shot.

While this is great news, I personally feel that some are getting a little too comfortable a little too soon. However, I’m happy to see things moving toward the “new normal”.

With that being said, more and more artists are announcing fall 2021 tour dates.

In the past few weeks, Eric Church, Kane Brown, Andrea Bocelli, and Sammy Hagar announced new tour dates and Elton John and James Taylor posted new dates for their previously postponed tours.

Meanwhile, last week, Reba postponed her 2021 road concerts to 2022 and Michael Buble did the same for his 2021 U.K. dates.

I’m still waiting for Kylie Minogue to announce dates for her late 2020 critically acclaimed album, “Disco”. As I said before, she’s at the top of my concert “bucket list” and I want to see her in some foreign city!

Call it wanderlust!

How comfortable are you attending concerts with 100% capacity later this year?

I’m ready for us to safely travel again. However, it may still be a while for international travel.

At this point, only 2.8% of the world is fully vaccinated!

REBA ANNOUNCEMENT

Oh, back to Reba! When she announced the postponement of her summer arena tour, she also dropped something that made me very happy!

Yes, new music!!!!!

“ARMY OF THE DEAD”

My two most highly anticipated movies this year are “Halloween Kills” (October 15, 2021) and Netflix and Zack Snyder’s “Army of The Dead” (May 21, 2021).

I’m excited for two reasons: (1) it’s about zombies and (2) it’s set in Las Vegas!

Let’s just hope the excitement for me when I visit in June is winning big bucks (or breaking even) — no explosions or zombies, please!

The full trailer is now out and if you love Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler”, take a look and listen!

RIP JIM STEINMAN

Earlier this week, the same day that Vice President Mondale died, the rock music world lost a legendary producer.

Jim Steinman produced some of the biggest hits in pop and rock music including Bonnie Tyler’s four week #1 smash “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in 1983 and Meat Loaf’s “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That) in 1993, that topped the charts in 28 countries, including five weeks in the U.S., and Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now”, which hit #2 in 1996.

He also wrote and produced my favorite Air Supply song from 1983, “Making Love Out of Nothing At All”. It peaked at #2 for three weeks behind Bonnie Tyler’s “Eclipse”!

“ANOTHER ROUND”

Earlier this week, I checked out the 2020 Danish movie “Druk” (which means “binge drinking”) on Hulu.

While most of you haven’t heard of it, it’s actually nominated for two Oscars this year, including Thomas Vinterberg for Best Director.

My interest in the movie is that it stars Mads Mikkelsen (“Hannibal”).

It’s the story of four high school teachers in Denmark going through mid-life crises.

They decide to do an experiment with alcohol, since a leading psychiatrist believes that an alcohol blood content level of 0.05 makes you more creative and relaxed.

They test the theory and push it to the limits.

While a very interesting movie, I probably wouldn’t watch it again. However, the final scene is amazing!

Spoiler Alert: The captured image above is part of that incredible last scene.

GRADE: B

MORE MADS

If you love Mads Mikkelsen and you’re going through “Hannibal” withdrawals like me, check out “Arctic”, my #9 movie of 2019.

Awesome movie!

THEY SAID WHAT???

Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace to Texas Governor Greg Abbott: “There were thousands of complaints of sexual abuse at migrant shelters during the Trump years. Not to say what’s going on now is right, but we couldn’t find one instance of you complaining & calling that out when President Trump was president.”

“ME”

I’ve read several book about and from Elton John, but his 2019 autobiography, “Me”, is by far the best!

I absolutely loved this book and I’d highly recommend it.

I was very intrigued about what he had to say about Michael Jackson (“He was genuinely mentally ill, a disturbing person to be around.”) and Tina Turner.

In 1997, he and Tina had planned to tour together but found her very difficult to work with. His band called her a “f**king nightmare” and Elton agreed!

Elton says she called him at home and told him, “She didn’t like my hair, she didn’t like the color of my piano – which for some reason had to be white – and she didn’t like my clothes.” And, then Elton says, she added, “You wear too much Versace, and it makes you look fat – you need to wear Armani.” 

I loved that he and Rod Stewart have female nicknames for each other.

And, I was so touched when he told the story of how he and his husband, David Furnish, met in October 1993. (Elton was feeling down, so he called a friend and said bring others over for a dinner party before they went out to celebrate Halloween. David was one of the people his friend brought along to dinner!)

He and David are now the dads of 10-year-old Zachary and 8-year-old Elijah.

Since I haven’t had a date in more than two years, I should try that when the “new normal” post-pandemic world begins!

Also, I was curious about what he’d have to say about Madonna.

If I recall correctly, Elton mentioned her four times and three were positive. The other time he spoke of Madonna was about his anger toward her and he said he apologized to her!

THE NIGHT I SPENT WITH ELTON JOHN

Ha! That’s just tease writing! I never spent the night with Elton John — just the evening! 🙂

For my birthday weekend in 2012, I had tickets to see Madonna’s “MDNA Tour” in Las Vegas.

Earlier that year, Sir Elton John was forced to cancel nine shows due to health reasons and it was announced in the summer that he would make up those dates in October.  But, I didn’t have tickets.

As luck would have it, just hours after arriving in Las Vegas, I searched ebay one last time and found fantastic rear orchestra seats for a great price. And, just like that, two hours later I was sitting there waiting for the show to begin!

I’ve always been a fan of Elton’s from the days of my childhood and his poppy ’70s songs, the fun, yet sometimes, moody hits of the ’80s, the more mature themed music of the ’90s when radio began to move away from playing his new songs (except for “The Lion King” and his tribute to Princess Diana), to his recent adult contemporary fare.

Elton closed out his 19-song set with his award-winning “Circle of Life” from “The Lion King”.

It was two hours of pure gold entertainment!!! 

LAST CHANCE TO SEE ELTON

In January 2018, Elton announced his final “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour that would play more than 300 shows worldwide.

The North American leg kicked off that September and ran through March 2019 and then moved to Europe for the summer and then back to North America though November. The show moved “down under” to Australia and New Zealand from late 2019 to March 2020 when COVID-19 shut down the tour and the world!

Dates are now rescheduled and the tour is expected to resume in Europe on September 1, 2021, and return to the U.S. and Canada in January 2022 for 43 shows through April!

MY FAVORITE ELTON JOHN SONGS

On the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., Elton has scored 58 Top 40 hits. Of those, 27 reached the Top 10 with 19 making it to the Top Five. Nine reached #1!

And, he’s had even more hits on the American Adult Contemporary charts. He’s scored 74 Top 40 hits with 40 of them making the Top 10 and 33 of those reaching the Top Five! Eighteen topped the charts!

So, it was so hard narrowing the list down….

“I’M STILL STANDING”

“THE LAST SONG”

“SAD SONGS (SAY SO MUCH)”

“EMPTY GARDEN (HEY HEY JOHNNY)”

“I GUESS THAT’S WHY THEY CALL IT THE BLUES”

What’s your favorite Elton song?

If you want to see the full blog and my other 15 favorite Elton John songs, here it is! (It should open in a new window!)

https://anthonypeoples.wordpress.com/2021/04/20/finding-my-next-love-with-help-from-elton-john/

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 2, 2020

The holiday seasons are fast approaching with Halloween up next!

I’m sure you’ll agree that it’ll be nice to put 2020 behind us and hope for a better 2021!

Just a clarification before you read it. I’m calling someone “scum of the earth” and I’m following my own advice of being “diplomatic”. The words I’d like to use would show far less diplomacy! 🙂

But, first…

HELEN REDDY, YOU’RE ALREADY MISSED!

International superstar, Grammy Award winner, Golden Globe Award nominee, and feminist Helen Reddy passed away earlier this week at the age of 78!

A movie honoring Helen and her iconic song, “I Am Woman” is out now and will be released on DVD on November 3, 2020.

I submitted an entry this summer on what Helen’s music and that song meant to me for an advertising campaign promoting the movie. I was chosen! 🙂

Here’s my original and unedited 1 minute, 10 second submission!

Here’s a little bit about my favorite Helen Reddy song!

While the song was included on her 1971 album, she re-recorded it and it was shipped to radio in May 1972. 

It stalled out at #97 and dropped off the chart! Months later, it was released again.

This time, it took off and by the end of 1972, “I Am Woman” topped the chart becoming the first #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 from an Australian-born artist and the first song written by an Australian to win a Grammy Award!

Helen, thank you for the music and you’ll be missed even though you’ll be in our hearts and souls! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

SCUM OF THE EARTH

Read this clearly: Most of us already know which candidate we’re going to vote for on November 3, 2020, so this isn’t about Joe Biden or Donald Trump!

But, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is scum of the earth!

In no time following the recent death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, McConnell was on the fast track to have her replacement named and confirmed before the 2020 Election — just a little over a month away!

Again, I don’t care if you’re supporting Biden or Trump (well, I really do, but that’s not the point of this post!), it’s the principle.

SCALIA’S DEATH

Because it was a presidential election year, when Justice Antonin Scalia died in February 2016, McConnell was such an obstructionist!

He and the Republican-controlled Senate declined to take any action on President Barack Obama’s nomination, Merrick Garland, one month later.

That nomination expired with the end of the 114th Congress in January 2017 and #45’s nomination later that month was confirmed in the spring.

The bottom line is that “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander”!

While a nominee has already been announced, we SHOULD WAIT for the outcome of the 2020 presidential election to move this process forward. The winner should be nominating the next Supreme Court justice!!!

THE “MILLENNIUM” SERIES

Although this Swedish crime series came out more than a decade ago, the three books have been sitting on my bookshelf.

I finally read the Stieg Larsson’s series — “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, “The Girl Who Played with Fire”, and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest” — and loved them!

The first book was my favorite and I felt the quality dropped off a little with the next two books.

I also watched the first two Swedish movies based on the books and Noomi Rapace was amazing as Lisbeth Salander.

I remember seeing David Fincher 2011’s English version of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and it not making an impression on me. I’ll have to watch it again now that I’ve read the books!

“BETWEEN SUMMER’S LONGING AND WINTER’S END”

Leif G.W. Persson’s 2002 book was translated to English in 2010.

On the back cover, here how it’s described: “acclaimed as one of the greatest Swedish crime novels of all time” .

Well, based on the four that I’ve read, after the three “Millennium” books, I disagree! Halfway through the 638 page book, I was ready to discard it!

So, skip it!

There are definitely better Scandinavian crime novels out, like Norwegian Jo Nesbo’s “The Snowman” (2007, translated to English in 2010)!

And, totally irrelevant, 60-year-old Nesbo is so hot! 🙂

That’s just a bonus! 🙂

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

I normally read autobiographies, biographies, and books on real events, so my familiarity with fiction isn’t that great.

However, in the four Scandinavian crime novels that I read this year from Stieg Larsson and Leif G.W. Persson, one thing I appallingly noticed was the degradation and the violence directed toward women.

But, just the description of women in these books was gross and unjust.

Is it a crime novel thing? Heaven forbid, I can’t imagine that Scandinavian women would put up with this from men! Now, granted, these four books were written before the “Me Too” movement.

However, earlier this year, this was addressed by Nesbo in an interview with “The Guardian”.

He says, “Violence against women is a problem in society – it is something we should talk about. I would be more worried if there was an absence of violence against women in fiction, because it’s a problem in real life. Of course, it’s a question of how you do it, but in general I would be more worried if fiction pretended it wasn’t a problem.”

“MAGIC”

On a lighter note and one that excites me so much, Kylie Minogue treated us fans to the second single from her upcoming “Disco” album coming out November 6th!

“Magic” is the new single!

“MAGIC” BONUS TRACK!

I hope you took a few minutes and watched the amazing Kylie video.

So, now you know it’s not a remake of Olivia Newton-John’s four-week #1 smash from the “Xanadu” soundtrack from 1980!

MEGYN KELLY “SETTLE FOR MORE”

I enjoyed reading Megyn Kelly’s 2016 autobiography.

Along with stories about her childhood, her career as a successful lawyer, and how she gave it up to become a television reporter and anchor with no experience (really, I mean no real experience!), she spent a lot of time talking about her abuse from Donald Trump and his supporters in the 2016 presidential election!

She also talked about how great of a guy that toxic, creepy, nasty, dead pervert Roger Ailes was! He’s the one that sadly brought Fox News and Donald Trump into our lives!!!

By the way, “toxic, creepy, nasty, dead pervert” are my words, not Kelly’s!

It wasn’t until the end of the book that she addressed the sexual allegations that brought Ailes down. It felt more like, “Oh, I should mention that!”.

In fairness, Kelly shared a 2006 meeting with Ailes in his office when he once again came on to her. She said he tried “to grab me repeatedly and kiss me on the lips”.

Kelly got away from him and as she moved toward the door, Ailes allegedly (I’ll say that word for legalities even though the scumbag likely said it with venom) said, “When in your contract up?”

She also states that Ailes earlier said, “I don’t like to fight, but when I do, I fight to kill.”

MORE THINGS SHE SHARED IN “SETTLE FOR MORE”

When she moved to Chicago in 1995 to take a law firm job, she looked out her Navy Pier apartment window drinking white Franzia boxed wine and listened to Tina Turner’s “I Don’t Wanna Fight” CD. She said that her “real life” was starting! (I only shared this one because I loved Franzia boxed wine!)

She told Roger Ailes that while she was raised in a Democratic household, she was “apolitical”. She went on to share a passage from her 1988 journal, “Am I a Republican or a Democrat? I seriously don’t know.”

There were rumor of her having an affair with married Fox News anchor Brit Hume. He thought it was funny and said people wouldn’t believe it. She disagreed by saying, “people love to dismiss potentially threatening women as ‘nuts or sluts’. Evidently, I didn’t pass as a nut, so I was to branded a slut…”

“BOMBSHELL”

If you haven’t seen the 2019 movie, “Bombshell”, check it out.

Here’s what I said about it in January.

“Even after seeing ‘The Loudest Voice’ on Showtime last year, watching ‘Bombshell’ was a different viewing experience about the toxic environment at Fox News.  (Oh, and about the toxic, creepy, nasty Roger Ailes!)

While John Lithgow was incredible as Ailes, it was definitely the women who made the movie — Charlize Theron (as Megyn Kelly), Nicole Kidman (as Gretchen Carlson), Margot Robbie (as a composite character created from many of the women that Ailes victimized), and Kate McKinnon (a co-worker, Jess Carr).

I expected Oscar nominations for Theron the Best Actress category and for Robbie in Best Supporting Actress category and they got them!”

GRADE:  B

“Bombshell” was my #13 movie of 2019!

“CHOW DOWN”

Although this parody of Wilson Phillips’ #1 1990 debut hit, “Hold On”, came out in 2012, I can’t watch it enough — even today! 🙂

The drag queen trio of Willam Belli, Detox, and Vicky Vox take on the anti-gay agenda of the Georgia chicken restaurant chain, Chick-fil-A.

Disclaimer: Yes, it’s hilariously funny and R-rated.

***It includes adult language and adult situations***!

The bottom line and I couldn’t have said it better myself:  “we just want a little meat without your Bible!”.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN!

While I wished my idol, President Jimmy Carter a Happy 96th Birthday last week, I’ll do it again since his birthday was October 1st!

In 2016, I left this message for the Carters when I visited the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, Georgia.

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony

ABBA: The Iconic Band, The Dog, & The Six Degrees of Separation

ABBA — those four letters are iconic!

Yet, for me, they have an added, special meaning.

If you follow me on social media or if you’ve regularly read my blog over the years, “ABBA” instantly makes you think of my beautiful late golden retriever.

If you’re seeing this from anywhere else across the world, the four letters, “ABBA”, instantly identifies one of biggest and the best musical acts ever!

My love of Agnetha, Anni-Frid, Benny, and Bjorn inspired me to name my dog ABBA and it’s the inspiration for today’s blog — a love letter to the foursome and a big “Thank You For The Music” and for the memories!

As I get into the meat and potatoes of today’s blog, I’ll be sharing a few personal stories that connect me to ABBA — the super group and the dog!

This was my dinner in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2017, which is where Bjorn was born and a city that played a big part in ABBA’s musical history. (Okay, that’s a slight deviation there, but I said this was going to be personal!) 🙂

ALMOST 50 YEARS ALREADY!

We’re not quite there yet, but it’s mind-boggling to think that we’re approaching the 50th anniversary of ABBA’s world domination!

They scored their first Swedish hit, “People Need Love”, in the summer of 1972 as “Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid”, then recorded “Ring Ring” for the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest.

But, it was winning Eurovision the next year, in 1974, with “Waterloo” that propelled ABBA to international fame!

I still listen to ABBA’s music regularly and it brings me just as much joy today as it has over my lifetime!

However, I was inspired to share my stories and my love of Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny, and Frida (Anni-Frid) after reading Carl Magnus Palm’s 2001 biography called, “Bright Lights, Dark Shadows: The Real Story of ABBA”, which sat on my bookshelf for almost two decades!

Crazy, right?

What a great read! Check it out!

Growing up in the southern United States (Kentucky) in the early-1970s, I was country when country wasn’t cool!

I was still infatuated with Tanya Tucker, while my teenage cousins (our summer baby sitters) were dancing around to the Carpenters, Olivia Newton-John, and ABBA. But, I was slowly coming around to pop music!

Somehow I acquired the 45 rpm single “SOS” and I was hooked on ABBA!

It was just two years earlier that I bought my first pop single, “Delta Dawn” by Helen Reddy, at the age of eight!

And, just as I was getting on the ABBA bandwagon as a fan, the international super group was coming undone and were calling it quits.

In the summer of 1980, they released the single, “The Winner Takes It All”.

It was the lead single from the upcoming November album, “Super Trouper”, with Agnetha singing lead.

While Bjorn says the song is about divorce and it’s fiction, he and Agnetha divorced early that year.

Yet, that wasn’t the end. The group would release what would become their last studio album, “The Visitors”, in November 1981.

The lead single in America was “When All Is Said And Done” with Frida singing lead.

Like “The history book on the shelf/Is always repeating itself”, Frida and Benny ended their relationship and divorced earlier in the year!

With both couples in ABBA divorced, new relationships pursued, and outside musical ventures already underway, there was no reason for the band to make new music together.

1990s ABBA-RENAISSANCE

While they hadn’t charted on the American singles charts since early 1983, the world would experience an ABBA-renaissance a decade later!

It started in the summer of 1992, when my favorite English pop group of the 1980s, Erasure, released “Abba-esque”.

That four-song EP featured remakes of the ABBA hits, “Lay All Your Love on Me”, “SOS”, “Take a Chance on Me”, and “Voulez-Vous”.

The duo scored an American Top 10 Dance Club Songs hit with “Take a Chance on Me”.

An ABBA revival was just getting underway and was ready to sweep the world!

After eight studio albums and countless compilation and greatest hits albums in the 1970s and 1980s, the real ABBA was ready to claim their rightful place again in music history.

“ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits”, featuring 19 of the group’s biggest hits, was released in September 1992.

It has gone on to sell more than 30 million copies worldwide making it the best-selling ABBA album ever!

In the spring of 1994, I was getting ready to make the biggest (and best) decision of my life.

I was moving from my small hometown of Mayfield, Kentucky (population around 10,000) to Chicago, the third largest city in the U.S. This move would lead to my career as a television meteorologist and it opened the world of international travel to me.

That spring, while packing to move, “ABBA Gold” was on repeat and the song I remember most vividly was “Knowing Me, Knowing You”.

THE BIG SCREEN LOVE AFFAIR WITH ABBA

After the international success of the Erasure album and “ABBA Gold”, the band’s profile would be raised even more in 1994 and 1995 with the release of two Australian dramedies — “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” and “Muriel’s Wedding”.

In “Priscilla”, the movie centers around three drag queens on a cross country trip across the Australian Outback. One of the queens is obsessed with ABBA and two of them perform “Mamma Mia”.

In “Muriel’s Wedding”, socially awkward Muriel spends much of her time fantasizing about a glamorous wedding to get out of Porpoise Spit, Australia, by listening to ABBA (and 1970s music)!

Like in “Priscilla”, Muriel and her friend, Rhonda, perform an ABBA number. They choose “Waterloo”!

After seeing “Muriel’s Wedding” in 1995, I decided that my next dog would be named “ABBA”.

That became a reality in the summer of 2000, when I got my golden retriever. And, yes she was named ABBA!

October 2011

With their chart domination and stardom in the 1970s and with “ABBA Gold” and those two Australian movies in the 1990s, the world already had two chances to fall in love with iconic group.

However, the music of ABBA was getting ready to conquer another entertainment staple and a whole new audience!

ABBA 2.0 — “MAMMA MIA!”

The musical “MAMMA MIA!”, featuring a story line based around the music of ABBA, opened in London in April 1999. Almost a year later, it made its North American debut in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

My personal connection with the musical: Before it opened on Broadway in the fall of 2001, it played at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago that summer, where I first saw it.

Since we got to the venue early, we stopped in at Dunkin’ Donuts, right around the corner. And, you’ll never guess who was standing right in front of me?

It was Louise Pitre, who was playing Donna in Chicago and would originate the role on Broadway! I so wish I had said “hello”, but I let her be!

Pitre earned a Tony nomination in 2002 in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role category!

Worldwide, since 1999, based on limited available data, ‘MAMMA MIA!”, the musical, has grossed almost $2.1 billion (yes, that’s BILLIONS)!!!

BUT, WAIT!!!!

In the summer of 2008, the movie version of “Mamma Mia!” with Meryl Streep in the lead role became an international blockbuster bringing in $615.7 million at the box office.

It spawned a successful sequel in 2018, “Mamma Mia!: Here We Go Again” ($395 million).

There’s even talk of a third movie that may feature new ABBA music!

And, before I share my ten favorite ABBA songs, I have the ultimate connection to the group as if naming your dog after them, isn’t enough. 🙂

It’s like “life imitates art” or “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”!

In late 2016, being the planner that I am, a trip to Scandinavia was booked for August 2017 to see much of Norway, some of Sweden, and Copenhagen, Denmark (loved it)!

However, in early 2017, my ex and I decided to end our eight-year relationship, but the big down payment on the Scandinavian trip was already paid!

So, in true ABBA fashion — the band with their last two albums and us with our trip — we honored our commitment to travel together even as divorced or separated couples!

That was us in Gothenburg, Sweden.

We parted amicably with fond and beautiful memories of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark!

A LITTLE CHART HISTORY FIRST

Okay, let’s kick off the countdown with a little ABBA chart trivia.

Ironically, Australia was one of the ABBA’s biggest success stories, while the U.S. was one of their biggest disappointments! It’s no secret that the band didn’t enjoy touring and that’s vital to success in America!

On the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, ABBA scored 14 Top 40 hits.

Of those, four reached the Top Ten (“Waterloo” #6, 1974; “Dancing Queen” #1, 1977; “Take a Chance on Me” #3, 1978; and “The Winner Takes It All” #8, 1980).

Shockingly, in the U.S., “Dancing Queen” was the band’s only #1 song on the Hot 100. Yet, when you add in sales and other variables, “Take a Chance on Me” was their biggest hit in America!

MY TEN FAVORITE ABBA SONGS

I narrowed this list down to 23 songs and it was so hard cutting it down to just my ten favorites!

“DANCING QUEEN”

INTERESTING TIDBIT: Original working title was “Boogaloo”!

“GIMME! GIMME! GIMME! (A MAN AFTER MIDNIGHT)”

INTERESTING TIDBIT: ABBA rarely allows artists to sample their music, but Madonna was permitted to use the instrumental introduction of this ABBA hit in her #1 2005 smash “Hung Up”!

“SUPER TROUPER”

“TAKE A CHANCE ON ME”

“WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE”

“FERNANDO”

INTERESTING TIDBIT: Originally recorded for a Frida solo album!

INTERESTING TIDBIT #2: Spent a record setting 14 weeks at #1 in Australia!

“KNOWING ME, KNOWING YOU”

“WATERLOO”

INTERESTING TIDBIT: Original working title was “Tango”!

FROM “MURIEL’S WEDDING”

“MAMMA MIA”

FROM “THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT”

“SOS”

INTERESTING TIDBIT: Considered as Agnetha’s first “heartbreak classic”!

INTERESTING TIDBIT #2: I still think Pierce Bronson should be sued for slaughtering (not slaying) the song in the “Mamma Mia!” movie! 😦 🙂

Now that you know my favorite ABBA songs and my history with the band, I have one more confession to make… as a teenager, I had the biggest crush on Benny!

Thank you for taking the time to ready my love letter to ABBA. What are you favorite ABBA songs or memories?

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony

‘Tis the Season, My Friends!

Christmas is my favorite time of the year.  This year, I put my tree and decorations up earlier than usual.  I really needed the beauty of the sparkling lights and the sounds of Christmas music to get me through my toughest year since my mother died 27 years ago!

After eight years together, Ray and I decided to go our separate ways earlier in the year.

It wasn’t just one thing that brought us to this conclusion.  The outcome of the 2016 election was very difficult for me and it took its toll on us. (I’m still not at peace with it!)  Also, it turns out I was a better dad to a golden retriever than his teenage daughter.  And, Ray realized he wasn’t happy some time ago, but he didn’t address it.

So, I took a morning meteorologist position in Panama City, Florida.  I still love what I do, but with the changes in my personal life and the move, it hasn’t been easy.  I’m miserable and it’s not just because of the split. I miss my sister, my friends, my koi/fish pond, and the snow in the Midwest!

With that being said, life is too short to feel this way and if things don’t change soon, I’ll make a change for myself and not just accept a “Band-Aid” to cover something that needs more attention – my happiness.

Enough with the “Hard Candy Christmas”, let’s make it a “Holly Jolly Christmas”!  There were fun things in 2017!

Meeting my childhood idol was the highlight of my move.

In July, I drove hours through the Southern “backwoods” to Plains, Georgia, and enjoyed a church sermon from President Jimmy Carter.

Not only did I get my picture taken with him and his wonderful wife, Rosalynn, but they sent me an autographed picture of us!

Since paying bills isn’t the only reason I work, I traveled, too!

You know how much I love Las Vegas.  In March, I saw Britney Spears for the second time.

And, I caught the Australian Bee Gees, a cover band.

Of course, splurging on buffets is a huge draw for me. I’ve now made the scrumptious Wicked Spoon at the Cosmopolitan and the incredibly delicious Spice Market Buffet at Planet Hollywood part of my Vegas tradition!

In August, Ray and I traveled to Scandinavia together since we had already booked and paid for the trip.  Copenhagen, Denmark was gorgeous and Norway was beautiful, too (I loved Bergen and Oslo and seeing snow on Sognefjord (“King of the Fjords”).  We also spent one night in Gothenburg, Sweden.

My sister, Tammy, is still in the Quad Cities. She and her boyfriend, Gerald, came down for a week to visit in October.

Just after she got home, her family expanded in October with the birth of twin grandsons.  Now, her two granddaughters are big sisters.

I hope life is treating you well and that you have so much to be thankful for — not just at the holidays, but every day.  With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!  Here’s wishing us great health and happiness in 2018 as we travel down this road of life!

“May hope and faith conquer fear and hate this Christmas!”

Love, Anthony

Random Friday Thoughts — September 29, 2017

After a month long absence, I decided to share a few random thoughts.  I hope you enjoy them and this last weekend of September.

“LESBIANS, WE’RE UNDER ATTACK”

That was the funniest line I heard on television since my last “Random Friday Thoughts”.  With out Googling it, do you know what it’s from?

In the episode, a blackout hits a neighborhood and a frantic gay man runs next door to and shouts this to his lesbians neighbors.  Of course, the immediate blame goes to Russia or Isis!

The answer is at the bottom of the blog. 🙂

STAND, KNEEL, OR SIT

A huge national debate is underway about something that’s been going on for more than a year now.

Are NFL players or professional athletes being disrespectful to the American flag and veterans for not standing and saluting the flag during the National Anthem?

You have your opinion and I have mine, but this is not what I’m talking about today.

#45 tweeted that the NFL should fire players for disrespecting the flag.

Let me just say that we live in a country where you should NOT be fired because a PRESIDENT disagrees with you or you disagree with him or her.  That’s ANY president!

However, we do live in a country where you can be fired in 28 states just because you’re LGBT!

Now, there’s some food for thought!

OH, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY! 🙂

OLD MEMORIES, NEW BEGINNINGS

Now that the dust is settling after the blog I shared with you last week about our break up and pending divorce, it’s time to move on.

But, it just so happens that the return of “Random Friday Thoughts” also coincides with our six year wedding anniversary.

Since it’ll officially be history next year at this time, I’m going to share this video of our reception party one more time because it was one of the most exciting times in my life.

We organized it all — from beginning to end — and it was a “magical” evening not just for us, but for our friends.

Remembering the past and looking to the future — for us and for everyone!

Ironically, after five years, I see that the “s” was left out in the “Anniversary” title on the video, but spelled correctly under the video.  Oops!

NORWAY

Oslo was a beautiful city and I loved the scenic bus ride to the snow-covered mountains. Bergen was also an amazing city.

It was fun to climb all the way to the top of Floyen, a mountain inside the city of Bergen.

We also sampled fresh Norwegian fish and chips.

We were told that Norway is one of the most expensive cities in the world.  We found that out when we bought two 3-liter boxes of wine (one red and one white).

In the U.S., those two boxes might have cost $36.  There it was about 775 Norwegian Kroners  (98 U.S. dollars)!!!

Our next box in Sweden cost only about 20 U.S. dollars!

SWEDEN

While on one of our restroom stops in Sweden, Ray and I took advantage to get steps in.  We saw a nursery across the street and went in.

What was strange is that we entered through the side with the outdoor plants.  We looked at them and then walked through the store.  As we approached the front of the store, Ray mentioned that we hadn’t seen one employee during the entire time.

I looked at the front door and it didn’t open until 10 a.m. and it was only 9:30 a.m.

We casually walked very fast to the back of the store and back out the way we came in!

Could you imagine getting arrested for being inside the store without our passports or identification on us since it was on the bus across the street?

Fun times. 🙂

DENMARK

Copenhagen was the most incredible city.

There was a farmer’s market that featured the most amazing produce, fresh seafood and meats, sandwiches, olives, and desserts.

The University of Copenhagen Botanical Gardens were beautiful.

The next day, we explored the city on our own and found the “Copenhagen Food Truck”, an indoor building featuring all kinds of cooked delicacies.

Also, there was the Yoko Ono exhibit called the “Wish Tree Garden”, where you could post a message on a piece of paper and tie it to the tree.

If you ever get a chance to visit Scandinavia, you’ll love it!

“THE BRAVE”

I checked out one of the new fall series, “The Brave”, on NBC, mainly because I have a crush on Mike Vogel (“Cloverfield” and “Under The Dome”).

It was very entertaining and suspenseful and the pilot episode ended with a major cliffhanger, so I’ll be back next week to see what happens.

Anne Heche also stars.

Sadly, only 6.2 million people checked it out.  It followed the lowest-rated season premiere of “The Voice” in that franchise’s 13-season history!

“ELLE”

Isabelle Huppert earned a Best Actress nomination at this year’s Oscars in this chilling movie about a woman being raped in her home.

Instead of reporting the crime to police (there’s a back story), she takes another route to ensure her safety.

While a great movie, Huppert’s performance definitely makes it stronger.

A well-deserved nomination.

GRADE:  B+

“IT COMES AT NIGHT”

This horror movie was a box office disappointment.

As the movie opens, we see a family attending to a dying elderly man, the wife’s father.  We know that he’s dying of a mystery virus.

With all the silly horror movies directed at teenagers that make so much money, I was bummed to see a movie of this caliber of story telling and acting fall by the way side.

Joel Edgerton (“Animal Kingdom”, “Zero Dark Thirty”, and “Loving”) and Christopher Abbott (“The Sinner” and “Girls”) star.

GRADE:  B

PICK HIT

I love this song from Dutch DJ Armin van Buuren and American singer Josh Cumbee.

It’s already reached the Top 5 in the Netherlands and the Top Ten in Belgium.

“LESBIANS, WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!”

It’s from “American Horror Story: Cult”.

After three so-so seasons, “Freak Show”, “Hotel”, and “Roanoke”, “Cult” is one of my favorite seasons.

Sadly, it could be because of theme — the 2016 presidential election.

It also feels like salt in a wound!

If you haven’t started watching it, episode four is mind-blowing!

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony