The first weekend of April is upon us and this will be it for a while. I appreciate you taking the time to check out my thoughts and sharing yours.
THIS WILL NOT ME THE NEXT TWO WEEKS!
Normally, I exercise and I eat healthy. But, I still enjoy my desserts and wine.
I’ll be indulging in plenty of food, desserts, and wine soon as I eat and drink my way across Europe.
You won’t hear me ask this question until I return!
FINAL EASTER THOUGHT
The Easter Bunny didn’t visit us and I didn’t go looking for half-price candy the next day. During our little Easter photo shoot, Miss Xanadu didn’t hide her desire for it to be over.
In human terms — I’d call this “RBF”! In pug terms, it’s “expressive”!
I’M IN THE DOG HOUSE
And, she wasn’t impressed with my April Fools’ Day humor on Facebook.
“MADONNA: A REBEL LIFE”
Barbra Streisand was 81-years-old when she released her autobiography in November 2023.
Who knows how long it might be before Madonna finally publishes her memoirs since she’s rather busy at 65, with her “The Celebration Tour”.
With that in mind, I accidently came across Mary Gabriel’s October 2023 biography, “Madonna: A Rebel Life”, and thought I’d give it a chance, even at 800-plus pages.
I’m so glad I did. It was so enjoyable.
While she didn’t have access to Madonna, the book was well researched and well written.
With a 40-year career and a life spanning 65 years, there was a lot to cover.
Since real life gets in the way of things, this book gave me details I had missed when I was living my life and Madonna wasn’t front and center. A MUST READ!
Here are a few things I thought were interesting:
Before her career took off, a record executive hearing her early music said she could be as big as Olivia [Newton-John]! I love Olivia, but Madonna did indeed become as big — actually, bigger than ONJ!
Also, many thought Madonna’s career would quickly fizzle and that Cyndi Lauper would be the bigger star! And, again, I love Cyndi, too.
I don’t know Guy Ritchie, Madonna’s second husband, so this is only based on what I’ve read and seen. Do I think he’s homophobic? Probably.
But, damn, I’d almost wear blinders (almost and just for a moment) when I see this photo — my favorite of him!
Joking about the divorce settlement (around $92 million) years later, Madonna said, “If I think about it for even five seconds it’s more than I can take. Did he deserve a hundred million for putting up with me? Hell, if I thought he was going to get ‘that’ much, I would have been a ‘much’ bigger bitch to him. ‘Much bigger!'”
As much as I love Madonna, seriously, no pre-nuptial when you’re worth almost a billion dollars????
YES, PLEASE!
I love traditional nachos, but these Banana Split Nachos are more up my alley.
And, while I love airline flights and margarita flights, I really love mimosa flights. But, I’m really into this new trend — ice cream flights.
This is from a Grand Rapids, Michigan, ice cream shop, Love’s. And, when I finally visit my dear friend Emily there, I’m definitely stopping in!
“ANATOMY OF A FALL”
This 2023 French film was nominated for five Oscars this year — Best Picture, Best Director (Justine Triet), Best Actress (Sandra Huller) and Best Editing. I t won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
In France, it was nominated for eleven Cesar Awards (basically, the French Oscars) and it won six, including Best Film, Director, Actress, Supporting Actor (Swann Arlaud), and Best Original Screenplay.
A woman is indicted and goes on trial for killing her husband, but he may have fallen/or jumped to his death from the upper level of their home.
I loved the movie. It was full of suspense and drama. But, it made me feel very claustrophobic if this movie truly represents how trials are held in France — so open and free and not having the defendant take the stand in front of the court.
My only complaint — the ending. I’ll leave it at that and not spoil it for you before you watch it.
GRADE: A-
“HACKS”
I watched the first season of this HBO Max series on an international flight and I just loved it.
Emmy Award winner Jean Smart was incredible as Deborah Vance, a legendary Las Vegas stand-up comedy diva needing to change her act so she doesn’t lose her residency at the Palmetto Casino.
Ava (Hannah Einbinder) as her young comedy writer is amazing, too.
My other favorites are Deborah’s sexy agent Jimmy (Paul W. Downs, who is also a co-creator of the series) and his assistant Kayla (Megan Stalter).
And, I also hope that in May’s season three that Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins) and Wilson (Johnny Sibilly) get back together. Oh, spoiler alert!
GRADE: A-
I’M SO… SILLY (AND YOU THOUGHT I’D SAY “EXCITED”)!
That’s your shout out to the Pointer Sisters today!
I just watched the second season of “The Flight Attendant” and decided to read the book again and I enjoyed it just as much the second time.
And, then I decided to watch the first season of the HBO Max series again just because.
This is Xanadu while I was watching it. She thought, “that girl is f**ked up” and I said, Xanadu, “don’t say that”. She then thought, “well that girl’s got more problems than I do”.
She’s right and it has nothing to do with waking in bed with a dead hottie.
I sure didn’t look like this when I walking down the streets in Bangkok!
And, I sure didn’t have this waiting for me either.
But, then again, he didn’t end up like this either!
Trust me, it was much bloodier in the series reveal.
Oops, you know it!
NOVELTY HITS
“Physical” by Olivia Newton-John was the #1 song of 1982, the year I graduated high school. It was also the year of novelty hits.
The other day, I heard Buckner & Garcia’s “Pac-Man Fever” on the radio! It reached #9 in March 1982 and was the 42nd biggest hit of the year on the Billboard Hot 100.
At that time, too, Bob & Doug McKenzie (actors Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas from “SCTV”) reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Take Off”. I actually bought this 45! (Don’t hold it against me, I was 17!)
And, in the summer of 1982, Moon Zappa, the 14-year-old daughter of Frank Zappa, hit #32 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Valley Girl”. I love, love, love this one.
MY FIVE FAVORITE MADONNA SONGS
In the fall of 2015, before I saw Madonna in concert for the fourth time, I ranked my 33 favorite Madonna songs (33 because that’s how many years into her career she was at the time).
While they didn’t make the list, two more recent songs, “Living For Love” and “Crave” might be considered for an update, but not in the top 30.
Here are five favorite Madonna songs.
#5 “RAIN” (1993)
#4 “EXPRESS YOURSELF” (1989)
#3 “OPEN YOUR HEART” (1986)
#2 “LIKE A PRAYER” (1989)
#1 “BORDERLINE” (1984)
If you want to see my full list of my 33 favorite Madonna songs (as of 2015), click here (it’ll open in a new window):
https://anthonypeoples.wordpress.com/2015/10/08/my-favorite-iconic-madonna-hits/
SPRING BREAK!
While technically not “Spring Break”, this is it for “Random Friday Thoughts” for a month or so. Life-permitting, more thoughts are coming in May or June!
In the meantime, there are three blogs I’m working on that I’ll be investing a lot of time in.
The first arrives in late April, which’ll explain why there won’t be any random thoughts until then.
The other two — one in July and the other in October — will celebrate milestones in my life.
THAT’S IT
With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!
Anthony
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