Random Friday Thoughts — September 5, 2025

I always appreciate you taking time to see what’s on my mind in my random thoughts each Friday (or whatever day you read them).

I have a few more things I’ll share this fall, but this is it for a while for my “Random Friday Thoughts”.

CHANGE

Change — it can be fun, scary, stressful, unnerving, and many more adjectives. But, I’ve always embraced it.

Two years ago today, Miss Xanadu and I faced with a big decision — to shave or not to shave! At that time, 6 months together, she’d never seen me without a mustache!!

While it was time for it to go — ahead of “No-Shave November” — I enjoyed it since I couldn’t grow one in my younger days!

PRINCESS DIANA TIME CAPSULE

Last weekend was the 28th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death.

A time capsule was put together by Diana and two children in 1991 to represent the 1990s decade.

It was recently opened and included a pocket TV, a snowflake hologram, a solar-powered calculator, a passport, a photo of Diana, and Kylie Minogue’s 1990 CD, “Rhythm of Love”!

Speaking of the icon, Kylie just wrapped her 2025 “Tension Tour” and she announced a live CD of the tour and she released this live version of “Tension”.

The live show be released on digital platforms September 26th.

I’ll be waiting for the tour DVD & CD. I saw the show in Chicago on April 2nd!

And, Kylie walked by me during the show. We were this close!

HOT KITCHEN TALK

As you know, I love to cook and bake fun-flavored cheesecakes.

On the Food Network, I love Aarti Sequeira, Bobby Flay, and Ted Allen. However, when Carson Kressley comes on, I turn it off.

I have a love/hate relationship with him — I love to hate him. Okay, hate is too strong of a word. I strongly dislike him after several near encounters on a Holland America Caribbean cruise in December 2014. (Snooty and rude!)

I’ve never watched any iteration of “Queer Eye”. However, I’m totally crushing on Antoni Porowski of the latest Netflix version of the show. Antoni is the food and wine expert.

I recently checked out his second cookbook and I can say I’ve never been this put together when I’m cooking in my kitchen! 🙂

From “Let’s Do Dinner” (2021), I can’t wait to try his recipes for Sheet Pan Chicken with Rosemary and Grapes, his Coconut-Cauliflower Korma,

and his “My Favorite Shakshuka”.

“LOCKED”

This was a very interesting movie starring Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins and Pennywise (“It”) himself, Bill Skarsgård.

Skarsgård plays Eddie, a jobless, down on his luck criminal that makes the mistake of breaking into an expensive SUV sitting in a parking lot. What he doesn’t know is that the owner, William (Hopkins), has had his car broken into many times.

So, William rigged the car to lock the next criminal inside. Eddie is that unfortunate person.

He tortures Eddie until they finally have a face to face confrontation.

GRADE: C

“THE MONKEY”

I love seeing Theo James in anything. In this horror movie, he plays two roles.

So, I thought I was getting a bargain. However, what I got was losing 90 minutes of my life I’ll never get back!

This movie was horrid. But, some of the kills were clever and dramatic.

That saves the movie from getting an “F”!

GRADE: D

“MONKEY”

I’ll take this “Monkey” instead.

George Michael took this song to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (two weeks) and the Dance Club songs chart (two weeks) in 1988.  

“Monkey” became Michael’s sixth solo single to reach number one in the U.S., and the fourth single to do so from the “Faith” album!

“MARATHON: THE PURSUIT OF THE PRESIDENCY 1972-1976”

Jules Witcover’s massive 1977 book is a great analysis of the 1976 presidential election.

I shared some tidbits last week and here are a few more things I learned from the 656-page “marathon” book:

Hamilton Jordan, Jimmy Carter’s 1976 campaign manager, expressed many times that Carter had what he called “the weirdo factor” (Carter’s differentness) — “off-beat style of political evangelism, a Southern accent, and, above all, an out-front religiosity”, which were seen as negative factors outside the South.

While Carter and U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy considered each other “friends”, there never really was a lot of love for each other. Carter once said, off the record that made its way public, that he wasn’t obliged “to kiss his ass” [Kennedy’s].

In Ohio, ABC’s Sam Donaldson and other reporters bought sweatshirts showing a donkey’s rear and it read, “Kiss My Ass”. They gave one to Carter and he smiled and said, “Don’t give one to Ted Kennedy.”

Diplomatically, Carter added, “Thank you. You’ve treated me well.” When a reporter asked, “Compared to what?”. Carter grinned again and said, “Compared to the way you treated Nixon the last year.”

In the contentious race for Republican nomination between incumbent President Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, Reagan misspoke about the conflict in Rhodesia and if American troops would be involved. The press began to question him and so did politicians.

President Ford’s team hit the airwaves with a hard-hitting commercial: “Last Wednesday, Ronald Reagan said he would send American troops to Rhodesia. On Thursday he clarified that. He said they could be observers, or advisers. What does he think happened in Vietnam… When you vote Tuesday, remember: Governor Reagan couldn’t start a war. President Reagan could.”

An innocent statement made in the fall of 1976 would become much more ironic after the 1980 presidential race when then President Jimmy Carter lost to his Republican challenger Ronald Reagan.

In the 1976 fall campaign, Republican President Ford was running against Jimmy Carter and the Democrat stated, “We’ve seen an almost unbelievable spectacle in Washington, the President of the United States deeply concerned about an ex-actor…”

While that “ex-actor” lost to Ford in the Republican nomination race in 1976, he’d make Carter a one-term president in 1980.

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony

Random Friday Thoughts — August 2, 2024

Happy August! This year is really zipping by.

I think it’s because I’m getting older. While true, it might also be that I worked a lot over the past two months.

NEVER TOO EARLY!

Thank you for taking time to check out my random thoughts.

HISTORY DOES REPEAT ITSELF!

Those words are from the sixth President of the United States John Quincy Adams in September 1840!

What would he think about the 2016 and the 2024 presidential election if he were alive today?

JEAN SMART

Actress Jean Smart is coming up on 50 years in the entertainment business and she’s always been an ally to the LGBTQ+ community.

Her late-1980s/early-1990s series, “Designing Women”, was one of the first to address HIV and AIDS.

Earlier this year, while accepting an award from the Human Rights Campaign, Smart deeply touched me when she told the crowd, “in a world where children are starving and dying because of war, it seems insane and beyond understanding that any of us should be concerned with someone else’s sexuality.”

2024 OLYMPIC GAMES

Three of the reasons I know the 2024 Olympics are going on: Lady Gaga, Celine Dion, and the opening ceremony drama some took as a mockery of Christianity.

I didn’t watch it, so I read about it and I wasn’t offended. And, yes I pray every night.

Organizers apologized, “Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group… we really did try to celebrate community tolerance… We believe that this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offence we are, of course, really, really sorry.”

Almost a week later, it’s hardly even being talked about it anymore. I have two things to say: Pet a cute puppy or a bunny and move on.

Or, just think of Jean Smart’s quote from above, “in a world where children are starving and dying because of war, it seems insane and beyond understanding that any of us should be concerned with [insert woe here that doesn’t affect you directly]!”

LOVED THIS RESPONSE TO THE CONTROVERSY

ANOTHER REASON I KNOW THE OLYMPICS ARE GOING ON

“HACKS”

Back to Jean Smart: If you haven’t seen her incredible award-winning series, “Hacks”, I highly recommend it.

She plays 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), her young comedy writer, is amazing, too.

While season three of “Hacks” has already aired on Max, I’m waiting for it to come to DVD to watch.

I’m hoping season three features more of sexy Damien (Mark Indelicato), Deborah’s personal assistant.

Smart is a five-time Emmy Award winner (two for “Frasier”, one for “Samantha Who?” and two for “Hacks”). Interestingly enough, she was never nominated for “Designing Women”!

GRADE: A- (Seasons 1 & 2)

FIRST CONCERT IN ALMOST FIVE YEARS

My last concert, pre-pandemic, was Paula Abdul in Las Vegas in December 2019.

It was a fantastic, fun show.

And, as she was making her way through the crowd singing “Forever Your Girl”, she hugged me!

Last weekend, I saw Straight No Chaser at the Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater in Decatur, Illinois.

The A cappella band is on its “Summer: The ’90s Tour”.

It was an entertaining time with their versions of some of the biggest songs from my 20s and 30s: Britney, the Spice Girls, the Backstreet Boys, Hanson, Ricky Martin and an encore of some of the biggest dance club hits of the ’90s!

While “Africa” is an ’80s song, I was hoping they’d sneak it in and I held out for an off-season Christmas song. Why?

Straight No Chaser is probably known more for their several Christmas albums than their pop music, which I enjoy.

If you get a chance to see the band, do so! What a fun group of guys!

Hello there Jasper, Mike, and Luke Bob!

And, opening act Jon McLaughlin was very talented, entertaining, and sexy!

“OPPENHEIMER”

I finally got around to seeing last summer’s blockbuster, “Oppenheimer”, that grossed almost a billion dollars ($977 million) worldwide.

The movie earned a leading 13 Academy Award nominations, making it Christopher Nolan’s most Oscar-nominated movie.

It won for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.), Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Score.

It was an incredible movie, even with a running time of almost three hours. That’s the reason I waited to see it at home. I will NOT go to a theater and sit for any three-hour movie!

While amazing, from the acting to the cinematography, when I post my favorite movies I saw this year in January 2024, it won’t be #1 or maybe even in the top five. WHY NOT?

In addition to the quality of a movie, a bigger factor for my movie ranking for the year is, “Would I watch it again? And, again?” The answer is: NO.

GRADE: B+

STRAIGHT NO CHASER — CHRISTMAS!

With Christmas now just over four months away, here’s a little holiday taste from Straight No Chaser!

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony

Random Friday Thoughts — April 21, 2023

It’s Friday and I’m sharing some of my random thoughts.

I’m actually introducing a new topic today that incorporates something I touched on last week.

As always, we don’t have to agree. But, we have to disagree diplomatically.

Thank you for checking out my thoughts and for sharing yours.

COUNTRY MUSIC & MY RESERVATIONS

When country music programmers gave up on playing new music from Reba McEntire, Patty Loveless, Trisha Yearwood, Pam Tillis, Lorrie Morgan, and other women I love, it was a perfect time for me to stop listening to the genre.

Except for Christmas CDs from Dolly and Reba, the last country CD I bought was Reba’s amazing 2019 Grammy-nominated and radio-ignored “Stronger Than The Truth”.

Recently, I started listening to 99.3 WXFM in Mount Zion, Illinois, in my car and I’m actually enjoying most of it.

However, I’m always hoping not to hear who’s singing, especially the men, since I didn’t want to like a song from racist Morgan Wallen. (No, I’m not buying that he only used that word in a drunken stupor. Alcohol lowers our inhibititions to say, do, or express how we really feel — right or wrong — something our sober mind says “no” to!)

But, Wallen isn’t the only problem and why I have reservations about embracing country music again.

Not only is the format pretty ageist (it stops playing women getting older before it does the men), but it’s still very sexist. Of the 40 most played songs this week on country radio, only seven are by women and one of those is a duet with a man!!!

And, last week, I mentioned that some people are getting bent out of shape after Anheuser-Busch (Bud Light) announced a partnership with trans social media star Dylan Mulvaney.

Kid Rock took his frustrations out by shooting Bud Light cans and “has been” country singer Travis Tritt is not happy either.

He announced he’ll no long work with Anheuser-Busch and drop its products from his hospitality rider and he’s also down on Jack Daniel’s for promoting drag queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race (in a years old campaign).

MY PARTING THOUGHT TO TRAVIS TRITT

Hey Travis, “Here’s a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)”!

KUDOS TO HOWARD STERN

Speaking out on the uproar from Kid Rock, Travis Tritt, and other conservatives, the radio talk show host Howard Stern said, “I’m not bothered by gay people or transsexual people. They don’t impact my life, they don’t hurt my life. I love when people are in love. You wanna be a woman? Be a woman. You wanna be a dude, be a dude. Be whatever you f*cking want. As long as you ain’t hurting anybody, I’m on your team.”

EVEN REBA IS SPEAKING OUT

Although her songs have touched on some heavy topics (sex work in “Fancy” and AIDS in “She Thinks His Name Was John”), my country music idol Reba McEntire normally doesn’t take sides in politics or on controversial topics.

However, she did speak out on Tennessee’s anti-drag bill saying she was “disappointed”. Reba adds, “I wish they would spend that much time and energy and money on feeding the homeless children in those two counties.”

When the reporter addressed that her views on the anti-drag bill could alienate some country music fans, Reba responded, “Boy, why? I mean, we’ve got a real problem in this country, and to be worrying about men wanting to dress up as women? God bless ’em to wear those high heels — I feel for ’em. But let’s center our attention on something that really needs attention.”

LOVING THIS COUNTRY SONG

I’ll close on a happy note and get off my soap box with a song that I’m really loving. Thank you again 99.3 WXFM for turning me on to Cole Swindell’s “Drinkaby”.

After I abandoned country music, Swindell blasted onto the charts in 2013 with “Chillin’ It”. It went on to hit #1 and sell more than a million copies!

Since then he’s become a country superstar. He has a total of 17 Top 40 country hits. Twelve have reached the Top Ten and two made it to #1. And, on the country airplay chart, eight have been the most played in the U.S.

His latest, “Drinkaby” is the follow-up to “She Had Me At Heads Carolina”, a remix with JoDee Messina.

Messina even makes an appearance in the video as the bartender!

JoDee’s original, her 1996 debut hit, “Heads Carolina, Tails California” reached #2.

I saw JoDee in concert in the Quad Cities in 2011. It was an incredible show, but I didn’t get a picture. She was very adamant about no photos!

DOG BITES IN ILLINOIS

No, Xanadu (my pug) I’m not calling you out! But, if the shoe fits Cinderella!

Last week was “National Dog Bite Prevention Week”.

In the U.S., 69 million households own a dog and State Farm reports that Illinois is ranked second in the nation for claims of dog bites (255 claims which cost the insurance company $17.5 million in 2022).

Only California leads Illinois (400 claims and $32.2 million dollars).

SPEAKING OF MISS XANADU

The pug is almost four-months-old now and we’ve been a family almost two of those months.

She’s now up to 10 pounds (4.4 pounds when I got her in late February).

“ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT”

I highly recommend the 2022 German war (actually, antiwar) movie, “All Quiet on the Western Front”.

It was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The movie won four Oscars, including Best International Feature Film.

At first, I thought it might just be another war movie, but once you got to know the characters and see the pain and sadness of a long, deadly war, the movie carried a powerful punch!

GRADE: A–

OTHER WAR MOVIES

Over the past decade or so, I’ve enjoyed other war movies.

“The Hurt Locker” was my #9 movie I saw in 2010, I gave “Zero Dark Thirty” a “B+” in 2013, “Unbroken” was my #12 movie of 2014, I gave “Hacksaw Ridge” an “A” in 2017, “Dunkirk” was my #14 movie of 2017, and “1917” was my #16 movie in 2020.

“GEORGE & TAMMY”

Recently, I had free Showtime, so I checked out the six-episode series “George & Tammy” about country music legends George Jones (Michael Shannon) and Tammy Wynette (Jessica Chastain).

Chastain won a Screen Actors Guild Award for the performance and will likely be an Emmy contender when the nominations are announced.

If you’re of a certain age, you know George & Tammy were married from 1969-1975 and are two county music legends.

GRADE: B

MY FAVORITE GEORGE & TAMMY DUETS

Since I’m not a fan of George Jones (the man or the singer), I’ll just say that my favorite song of his is “He Stopped Loving Her Today”. It reached #1 in 1980.

As duet partners, George and Tammy scored 13 Top 40 country hits. Eight reached the Top Ten and three made it to #1.

“We’re Gonna Hold On” was my second favorite.

And, “Golden Rings” was my favorite. It topped the chart in 1976 and I still love it today.

MY FAVORITE TAMMY WYNETTE SONGS

Tammy Wynette is one of my all-time favorites. From the 1960s to her last country hit in 1988, she racked up 44 Top 40 solo country hits. 31 reached the Top Ten and she topped the chart 17 times.

My six favorite solo hits from her are: #6 “‘Til I Can Make It on My Own” (#1, 1976), #5 “Stand By Your Man” (#1, 1968), #4 “Til I Get It Right” (#1, 1973), and #3 “I Don’t Wanna Play House” (#1, 1967).

“D-I-V-O-R-C-E” (#1, 1968)

“Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad” (#3, 1967)

TAMMY WYNETTE BONUS

While Tammy scored 57 Top 40 country hit as a solo artist and as a duet partner with George Jones, only one of her country hits crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100.

“Stand By Your Man” reached #19.

And, then in 1991, the British band The KLF reached out to Tammy and asked her to be a guest on their song, “Justified & Ancient (Stand By The JAMS).

That song reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Billboard Dance Song Chart.

It also topped the charts in Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, and Sweden.

Honestly, how many of you remember this song?

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony