Posts Tagged ‘Wendy's’

Random Friday Thoughts — August 11, 2023

August is moving along and that means we’re one day closer to fall.

There are rumors that Wendy’s may be introducing a new Frosty flavor this autumn — pumpkin spice.

Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s, created a “light chocolate” Frosty as one of the five original items in 1969.

In 2006, a vanilla flavor was introduced and the chain can only have two flavors at a time.

In the summer of 2022, strawberry replaced the vanilla, and last fall, peppermint replaced vanilla. I’ve only had chocolate, but would try the pumpkin spice.

Thank you for checking out my random thoughts.

XANADU’S RECOVERY

Last Friday, Miss Xanadu went through a puppy “rite of passage” and was spayed.

All went well and the little critter was so pathetic when I picked her up.

While she’s feeling well, she developed an infection, an adverse reaction to the stitches, and is now on antibiotics. Also, once it got infected, she discovered the surgical spot on her tummy, and started licking it.

She’s now white-trash bandaged and will wear the “cone of shame” while in the crate when she’s unattended. This is not going to be pretty!

Before the infection, she did experience her first rainbow last Sunday.

She has a lot in common with my sister — not following medical advice. She still wants to jump and run.

TAMMY’S RECOVERY, TOO!

Speaking of my sister, Tammy had a stroke about two weeks ago and finally went to the emergency room days later because her arm was still numb (she thought she slept on it the wrong way).

Tests showed one carotid artery was 99% closed up, which caused the stroke.

A risky surgery (with her history of heart attacks and COPD) was performed and the surgeon cleaned it out. She’s feeling better now.

The aftermath of the surgery makes her look like a hapless survivor of Michael Myers in a “Halloween” movie.

Like every time before when a major medical crisis occurs, she was told she has to stop smoking, eat healthier, and exercise.

I desperately want my BFF to prove me wrong and do it this time. Otherwise, like every time in the past, it’s “blah blah blah”!

ONE YEAR ALREADY

I can’t believe it’s already been a year since Olivia Newton-John passed away after a long battle with breast cancer.

I was fortunate enough to see her in concert in Las Vegas in 2014.

“CALL ME CRAZY”

It was also one year ago today that actress Anne Heche died six days after a horrific car accident and fire in Los Angeles.

This 2001 memoir came out after her high-profile relationship and break-up with talk show host/comedienne Ellen DeGeneres and her psychotic break with reality in Fresno, California.

After reading about her childhood and her Emmy-winning years on a soap opera, I can definitely understand her mental breakdown especially after the way the press badgered her and Ellen after their coming out as the most famous gay entertainment couple and their breakup.

I’ll also be reading her 2023 follow-up “Call Me Anne”.

“ON NIXON’S MADNESS: AN EMOTIONAL HISTORY”

I just finished this new book from Zachary Jonathan Jacobson.

It was informative, but, overall, not a fun read because it came across as too clinical.

Here are some of the interesting takeaways:

In his first debate in the 1960 presidential race against John F. Kennedy, seeing Nixon’s flop sweat and his shifty and darkened eyes and cheeks, his mother thought him “sickly” and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley exclaimed, “My God, they’ve embalmed him before he even died!”

Former President Harry Truman called Nixon a “shifty-eyed, goddamn liar” and a “son of a bitch”.

In 2014, Bob Woodward, who helped bring Nixon down as a reporter for the Washington Post said, it “was a White House full of lies, chaos, distrust, speculation, self-protection, maneuver, and counter maneuver”. He added Nixon’s regime had “a crookedness that makes Netflix’s ‘House of Cards’ look unsophisticated.”

Near the end of a television news conference in the fall of 1973, after a nuclear scare in the Middle East, Nixon was getting agitated and he was asked about his “rumored disturbed temperament” and the president replied, “Don’t get the impression that you arouse my anger. You see, one can only be angry with those he respects.”

“9-1-1: LONE STAR” & “9-1-1

I finally got around to watching the fourth season of “9-1-1: Lone Star” and the second half of the sixth season of “9-1-1”.

While I enjoy both of them, “Lone Star” is my favorite. A lot of it has to do with the diversity of the cast and the character’s lives.

And, I just can’t get enough of T.K. and Carlos!

And, getting back to the second half of the last season of “9-1-1”, I just didn’t care about the characters any more!

Do you watch the two series? If so, which is your favorite?

“DOG DAY AFTERNOON”

I decided I’m going to start checking out some classics, so I started with the Oscar-winning 1975 movie, “Dog Day Afternoon”.

Academy Award-nominee Al Pacino plays Sonny, an amateur bank robber trying to steal enough money for his “wife”, Leon, to have a sex change operation.

Leon was played by Oscar nominee Chris Sarandon (former husband of Susan).

The movie definitely captured the grittiness and dirtiness of 1970s New York City and 34-year-old Pacino was smoking hot!

While entertaining, the outcome was too predictable — especially with who lived and died!

GRADE: B

THAT’S IT

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

Anthony

Random (Fall) Thoughts — September 16, 2022

Fall officially begins next week, but many people consider Labor Day the “unofficial” end of summer.

It should come as no surprise to you if you regularly check out my thoughts that I’m ready for fall and what comes after it — the holiday season and winter!

Today, my random thoughts are dedicated to fall (and more).

DECORATED VERY EARLY THIS YEAR

All of my pumpkins and scary decorations are out and have been since July! (There’s a reason for the madness and I’ll share it later this year.)

These two metal decorations are my favorites and are hanging on the wine rack! I love the vintage look!

While I love wine and booze (boos), I don’t want to miss out on my candy corn, too, especially “Harvest Mix”!

“BROS”

I’m ready to see a movie in a theater again!

The last time I saw one on the big screen was in early 2020, pre-pandemic lockdown.

I plan on enjoying my large popcorn and large Coke Zero (and free refills) with “Bros”.

It’s “the first gay romantic comedy from a major studio featuring an almost entirely LGBTQ principal cast”! It’s hard to believe it’s 2022 and this is the first!

Hotties Billy Eichner (who co-wrote the movie, along with director Nicholas Stoller) and Luke Macfarlane (“Brothers & Sisters” and “Single All The Way”) are the leads.

The movie is co-produced by comedy giant Judd Apatow, which adds great visibility to the LGBTQ movie. And, what’s really cool is that Apatow retweeted my tweet about the movie!

When I saw the first trailer, I thought, “cute”. When I saw the second trailer, I was totally sold!

“Bros” hits theaters September 30th!

MY AFTER-BIRTHDAY BIG TRIP

In the past, I’ve celebrated my birthdays in Athens, Greece (2021), Morocco (2018), Paris, France (2014), and in Las Vegas (2012) with Madonna and Elton John (the night before) on stage, of course.

This year, I’ll be going to bed early on my birthday to get up at 2:30 a.m. for work the next day!

However, I have a big trip planned to a secret location before my passport expires!

WISHING I WAS IN CANADA THIS FALL

While I’ve never been to Toronto or Montreal (I’ve been to Ottawa), I’d still like to visit. However, the reason I wish I was there this fall is for a Frosty!

Yes, a Wendy’s Frosty. I last had one — chocolate-vanilla swirl — almost seven years ago.

This fall, in Canada, and for a limited time only, Wendy’s is replacing the vanilla Frosty with “Caramel Apple”!

It’s described as a “classic vanilla base, infused with apple syrup. On top is a healthy drizzle of caramel syrup.”

Yes, please! Bring these to the U.S. next fall!

“HALLOWEEN ENDS”

I’m definitely excited for my birthday to get here. It’s not because I’ll be traveling or turning 39 (again and again), but because Michael Myers returns to theaters (and Peacock) the next day, October 14th, with his latest (and hopefully greatest) killing frenzy.

This is the 13th movie in the “Halloween” franchise that started in 1978. It’s the third and final movie in the latest installment from Blumhouse Productions.

This latest trilogy is 50-50 with me. I loved “Halloween” (2018) and was less than thrilled with “Halloween Kills” (2021). Here’s the short of my reviews.

“HALLOWEEN” (2018)

“It was very entertaining and I loved the winks back to all of the other movies in the franchise that this one pretended didn’t exist.

I loved that the movie was very violent (Michael Myers as a practicing dentist!).  It could be because he’s psychotic and has been locked up and drugged for 40 years!

While the movie was great, it didn’t scare me since nothing can compare to the 1978 original!”

GRADE:  B

& “HALLOWEEN KILLS” (2021)

In my review last year…

“After a year delay because of the pandemic, I was excited to see “Halloween Kills”. After seeing it, I’m glad I watched it for free on Peacock instead of paying to see it in the theater.

The next to the last kill in the movie was phenomenal and the moment of death is classic. Also, the final kill was surprising and shocking!

Now what I didn’t like about it!

For starters, the lack of a storyline for Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode! After seeing this movie, I get it that they’re saving her for the “finale” (yeah, right) of the franchise.

The whole mob scene at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital went on way too long.

While I enjoyed the movie as a whole, I’ll never watch it again!

Final thoughts: The trailer is better than the movie, you see many of the kills, you saved money by not going to see it, and you didn’t waste almost two hours!”

GRADE: C

Here’s the trailer if you haven’t seen “Halloween” (2018).

“THE CROWN”

I absolutely love Netflix’s “The Crown” about Queen Elizabeth II’s monarchy since 1952.

The fifth season, which is expected in November, will cover the early-to-mid 1990s, and should focus on the crumbling marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, his relationship with Camilla, and Diana’s relationship with Dodi Fayed.

Season six will likely focus on the death of Princess Diana in 1997 and the aftermath of that tragedy.

It’ll be interesting how much of the past 25 years will be covered in the final season — the marriages of Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry, the death of Prince Philip, and now the recent death of Her Majesty!

I need the team behind “The Crown” series to consider this for the final scene of the series: “We have breaking news this evening… we can now confirm that Her Majesty, the Queen has died. Repeating, Queen Elizabeth II has passed away. We go live outside Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.” (FADE TO BLACK AND CREDITS!)

“SPOILER ALERT: THE HERO DIES”

I can’t believe that I didn’t know Michael Ausiello’s beautiful, funny, and heartbreaking 2017 memoir, “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies”, is being made into a movie!!!

Jim Parsons and Sally Field are the top-billed stars and it’ll introduce me to sexy English actor Ben Aldridge.

I finally got around to reading the book in November 2020 and here’s what I shared:

I’ve been wanting to read it since it came out, but real life and my own drama (D-I-V-O-R-C-E) got in the way.

By page eight, I was ready to date and fall in love in again. By page 26, I had tears streaming down my cheeks and I was happy no one was close enough to me as I was reading and walking by Lake Decatur to see me crying!

The book is amazing. While it’s a heartbreaking story of finding love, fighting for love, and then losing that love in a painful, year-long death sentence, it’s a beautiful love story!

Many will never experience the love that Michael and Kit did.

Ausiello knew just when to drop a funny line, a pop culture reference, or a naughty memory to bring a smile to my face alongside the tears.

One of the “other four-letter words” could be my favorite word (think “F”). Another is one I absolutely love, but I can’t use it without offending someone! (I won’t even give you a hint on that one, but if you’re busy this weekend and on Monday, I’ll see you next Tuesday!)

Also, after reading this beautiful book, “olive juice” takes on a whole new meaning and I hope to get to use it one day! 

While the movie opens in limited release earlier, a wide release is set for December 16, 2022.

AND, WHILE TECHNICALLY NOT FALL

“I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY”

And, on December 21, 2022, the big screen biopic about Whitney Houston hits theaters.

Naomi Ackie stars as Whitney and the always sensational Stanley Tucci plays Clive Davis, the legendary music maker that discovered Houston.

And, my week was made Thursday when the official trailer finally dropped!

While thrilling and beautiful, it didn’t give much away about her personal life with Bobby Brown or Robyn Crawford, except maybe when Whitney exclaims, “My dream, sing what I want to sing, be how I want to be”.

“I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY (WHO LOVES ME)”

So, go away summer, I’m ready for fall and the holidays!

HAPPY FALL!

Here is a photo I took at Scovill Zoo last fall, in Decatur, Illinois.

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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