Random Friday Thoughts — July 25, 2025

It’s summer and there are still almost two months left of the sizzling season, but mark your calendar — Christmas is now just five months away!

AND, THE HEAT IS STARTING THE PROCESS!

AND, BEFORE CHRISTMAS MARIAH….

Mariah Carey announced her first album since 2018’s “Caution” will arrive September 26th!

“Here For It All” will feature Mariah’s current Top 40 and Urban hit, “Type Dangerous”, and her new single, “Sugar Sweet”, that came out today!

THERMOSTAT SETTINGS — NO WAY!

If you read my blog on a regular basis, you know that Miss Xanadu and I have had a rough summer with the apartment being way too hot.

“Professionals” have been four times (the first two visits to fix one problem). The next two times were to follow-up on my complaints.

The complex management summed it up as “third floors are notorious for being hot” and basically, “deal with it”!

Whatever!!! We’ll be relocating March 1, 2026, and I won’t make that mistake again.

Moving there, I realized it’d be warmer with morning sunshine. But, it never crossed my mind that the Central unit wasn’t big enough to cool the bedrooms.

Moving on… the U.S. Department of Energy says the “sweet spot” is 76° when you’re home. It also recommends 82° when you’re sleeping. WHAT?

I want it cooler when I’m sleeping, not hotter? Your thoughts?

I’m ready for this!

STAMP PRICES

Earlier this month, the price of a first-class stamp went up again in the U.S. It’s now up to 78 cents!

I did something really insane. I went to the post office before that price increase and bought 200 stamps since I love sending out Christmas cards, which is pretty much the only time I use stamps and the postal service.

Once these are gone, no more Christmas cards!!!

Most of the people I send cards to now, I’m friends with on social media and they have access to my Christmas letter and greetings!

Now, if I had stocked up on “forever” stamps in 2019, it would’ve saved me a fortune.

R.I.P. U.S.P.S.!

I honestly think the U.S.P.S. is a losing battle with many people using online bill pay and banking.

Years ago, I suggested the U.S.P.S. could save money by cutting out weekend mail service. But, that may be a union issue?

Now, I have friends that work for the postal service, so I hope they figure things out.

Also, I have a gorgeous substitute mail carrier and it makes my day to see him. And, he knows Xanadu well. He always addresses her by name. Okay, I got sidetracked.

“ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER”

Last week, I talked about the 1972 Olympics massacre in Munich, Germany and I mentioned Simon Reeve’s 2005 book, “One Day in September”.

A couple of other interesting notes I learned from Reeve’s book: Many countries negotiated with terrorist organizations in hopes they wouldn’t commit acts of terrorism in their country. Germany secretly released the three surviving terrorists of the 1972 Olympics games to “protect” themselves.

Even the United States negotiated with Ali Hassan Salameh, the chief of operation for Black September, the group that coordinated the Olympics massacre. Reeve reports the American government offered Salameh three million dollars in cash one time and a blank check another time.

Also, Salameh was rumored to be the eventual successor to Yasser Arafat, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Salameh was a playboy that loved sport cars, designer clothes, and had many homes and villas across Europe. However, Arafat’s luxury splurge — a spoonful of honey in his tea!!!

MY CURRENT FAVORITE SONG

I love Calvin Harris’ music.

“18 Months” was my #3 album of 2012 and the follow-up, “Motion” was one of my favorites of 2014.

If dance music isn’t your thing, Harris is also a model.

Okay, back to music. His two biggest radio hits in America both feature Rihanna: “We Found Love” (2011 — ten weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100) and “This Is What You Came For” (2016).

His latest, “Blessings” with British singer Clementine Douglas, reached #3 on the U.S. Dance chart and #1 in Guatemala, Honduras, Latvia, and on the U.K. Dance chart.

It’s reached the Top Ten in, at least, 18 other countries.

“HEADS OF STATE”

You know how it is when you know you shouldn’t do something because you know it’s going to be bad.

That’s how I felt when I heard about this movie. I love Idris Elba and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, but I’m not a John Cena fan.

This is what I wrote about the last John Cena movie I watched: “And, the absolute worst movie I watched this year was “Jackpot”! While I loved Awkwafina in my favorite movie of 2019 “The Farewell” in a dramatic role and I loved her in my #5 movie of 2018, “Crazy Rich Asians”, “Jackpot” was horrible.”

I summed it up with, “It was like a night at a casino and losing all your money and never getting a bonus round on the slots!”

Well, even Idris and Priyanka couldn’t save this one. Painful!

GRADE: D

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony

Random Friday Thoughts — June 20, 2025

This weekend is the first weekend of summer 2025!

For those that love the sun glaring down on you and making you sweat, enjoy it. And, more importantly, enjoy it for me and Pug Xanadu.

We’re counting down to fall already!

SCORE!

A few weeks ago, I was making dinner for my sister and I forgot to get shredded potatoes for a dish I was making, so I ran to the Save A Lot near my house.

The $4 potatoes ended up costing me an additional $57!

The store was having a huge liquor mark down which I was told that they do twice a year!

The winner alone was the bottle of Dewar’s White Label Scotch (that I don’t drink). I got it for five dollars and it usually runs around $25.

And, those boxes of Jack Daniel’s country cocktails are typically $16 a carton!

ALREADY FELT LIKE FOUR YEARS

Last month, at this time, I was thinking that the past four months already felt like four years.

Hoping for miracles! Or, more wine!

“ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR”

The sequel to 2018’s “A Simple Favor” is out now on Amazon Prime.

I loved the first one and gave it a “B+”, writing “It was much darker and funnier than I expected.” It ended up being my #18 movie of the year.

This one is so much better. I’m ready to watch it again.

I loved the story line and I figured out one of the major subplots early and was very pleased to see I was right.

Hello, Lorenzo de Moor, nice to meet you!

Anna Kendrick was very funny in this one and Blake Lively was humorous and so sexy in the movie, especially in the outfit she wore at the fountain! WOW!

A lot of money was definitely spent on wardrobe.

And, while I’ve given up on the “Crazy Rich Asians” movie sequel, it was great seeing Henry Golding again — seeing pretty much all of him!

GRADE: A

SPEAKING OF BLAKE LIVELY

I’m glad “Another Simple Favor” is out because Lively’s name lately has been in the news more for the lawsuit with her director/co-star of the hit “It Ends With Us”, which was my #5 movie last year.

I’m saddened by the lawsuit, especially if Justin Baldoni was that creepy and mean.

While the movie was about domestic violence, it was a great movie — from the storyline to the acting.

When that movie was released, there was talk of a sequel, “It Starts With Us”. While it may happen, I’m not optimistic.

So, I decided to read the two books the movie (series?) is based on by Colleen Hoover. Both were quick reads and enjoyable.

I’d love to see the sequel just to see more of Brandon Sklenar, who plays Atlas Corrigan.

“CHALLENGERS”

I’ve watched three of Italian director Luca Guadagnino’s movies.

The first was my favorite movie I saw in 2018, “Call Me By Your Name”. I watched it again this spring and I still love, love, love it.

The second, also starring Timothée Chalamet, “Bones And All”, I didn’t really dig.

The third, “Challengers”, starring Zendaya (“Euphoria”), Josh O’Connor (“God’s Own Country” and “The Crown”) and Mike Faist was my #3 movie of 2024.

I highly recommend it.

GRADE: A-

“THE MAKING OF THE PRESIDENT: 1964”

This is the third book I’ve read from journalist and author Theodore H. White. I read his books on the 1960 (Kennedy and Nixon) and 1968 (Nixon and Humphrey) presidential elections.

I chose those because both were so close and there was so much drama behind the scenes, especially in 1968.

Originally, I hadn’t planned on reading his books about the 1964 and 1972 presidential elections because both were landslide wins for Presidents Johnson and Nixon, respectively. However, I thought, “Why not? I might learn something”.

The 1964 book focused a lot on the Republican nominee U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona and his primary fight for the nomination against New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. (After the election, Rockefeller went on to be vice president under President Gerald Ford and Goldwater became Kryptonite to the Republican party!)

One thing I learned is that President John F. Kennedy observed that if it had been Rockefeller running again him in 1960 instead of Nixon, Kennedy says he would have lost.

I was surprised at how abrasive White described metropolitan Black life in the early-1960s, “One can roam the streets of the Negro core ghettos and the eye can, of course, pick up the classic symbols of despair: the mid-morning wino on the corner staggering about with his bottle in a brown-paper sack; the cluster of half a dozen unemployed sitting on a curb watching the sun move across the sky, with nothing to do today and tomorrow or the next day; and the sluts.”

CHRISTMAS IS COMING EARLY THIS YEAR

Mariah Carey is the undisputed “Queen of Christmas” and in just a few months “All I Want For Christmas” will return and top the Billboard Hot 100 once again.

However, the “Christmas coming early” reference today means that Mariah is finally releasing a new studio album!

“Caution”, her last, dropped in 2018!

Her latest single, “Type Dangerous”, is her first hit at Top 40 radio since 2013 when “Beautiful” with Miguel reached the top 20 (excluding “All I Want For Christmas”, which charts each fall and winter).

“Type Dangerous” is a multi-format smash! It’s already a hit on the Top 40, Hot Adult Contemporary, Urban, Urban/R&B, and Rhythmic radio charts.

Mariah definitely has a way with words in the song: “Hit the little girls’ room to powder my nose/Then came in three hatin’ ass hoes/They don’t know the meaning of water nor soap”! 🙂

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony