221. Queen Of The South, Choir! Choir! Choir!, Thrillist, Desserts, And The New Puzzle!

    

         

1. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Binge Music Watch And Listen Suggestions!
Three Venues Are Hosting A Wealth Of Creative Music For The End Of May!
June Music Tune-ins Are Included, Too!
Golden Duets, Pub Choir, And Choir, Choir, Choir!

Since this column originated at The University Of The Arts, the Music Making Capital of Philadelphia, it is only natural that we kick off this issue with some new worldwide music favorites.

The Toronto based Choir, Choir, Choir, is a musical idea started by Nobu Adilman and Daveed Goldman in 2011. They said: Let’s invite 200 people (strangers) to Clinton’s Bar, rehearse a song with this group for an hour, sing the song, record the song, and then upload it to the Internet. Worldwide recognition soon followed as their groups increased from 200 off the street singing strangers to 2,000 strangers in an airport hangar. Then, Choir 3 was off to concert halls throughout Canada and the northeastern United States to make must watch, amazing, spur of the moment music.

             

It wasn’t long before music stars were invited to their various performing locales with Nobu and Daveed, then, being invited all over the world to perform with put together choirs. There are over twenty of their song selections and performances on You Tube, Vevo, and Spotify. Our two favorites have Patti Smith (age 73) in a powerful performance singing Power To The People (www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Wz3i_BYUc) and Rick Astley singing Never Gonna Give You Up (www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJRsWJqDjFE).
Hopefully, you will find one of your song favorites in their various cover song renditions.

        

For those meeting Patti Smith for the first time, Patti has been described as the Poet Laureate of Punk Rock. After hearing Power To The People, you will want to hear more and will eagerly explore her 50 years in music for a number of outstanding selections to add to your play list. She has duet…ed with all the rock superstars.

Rick Astley featured with the link above was number 1 in 25 countries with Never Gonna Give You Up. Astley has sold over 40 million records and was voted Best Act Ever by the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2008. His most recent album 50 debuted at number 1 in the United Kingdom. Don’t give up on him! You will enjoy his music portfolio!

       

The Pub Choir concept was put together by Astrid Jorgenson and Megan Bartholomew in Brisbane, Australia in 2017. Their thoughts on forming Pub Choir was similar to the ones that created Choir, Choir, Choir. They, too, have taken a small idea practiced in New Zealand and Australia and have grown their music into a worldwide phenomenon. Astrid, Megan, and their quickly formed three part harmony choirs have performed with over 20 of the top singers from their region. Pub Choir’s participation ticket is one of the most sought after tickets in Australian entertainment.

          

Don’t forget to visit Adele’s Take Fire From The Rain (www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjqYTpE6Qdg).
Adele sings Fire on five different stages. The song is super smooth. Very few people notice the five different outfits she is wearing from the different performances of the same song. The song has no glitches and the five locales are stitched together perfectly.

    

Golden Duets has present day music stars singing with deceased musicians from Freddy Mercury to Elvis Presley to Michael Jackson. The duets are coordination magic. We follow with the Queen duet and encourage you to explore the ten others on YouTube.
Golden Duets Queen…(www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cH5htm6T4E). It unique to see how present day performances are stitched together perfectly with past performers.

          

3. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Binge Watch Suggestions!
39 Queen Of The South Episodes To Help Pass A Rainy Day Away!
Alice Braga Leads 10 Worldwide Drugs Cartels With Guns, Doubles Crosses, Exotic Travel, Jewelry, Fashion, And Intrigue!

 

Alice Braga (age 37) and her aunt Sonya Braga (age 69) are Brazilian award winning and acting royalty. Between the Bragas, they both started performing at age eight, Alice and Sonya have appeared in over 60 television series and movies.

    

Queen of the South would have been really special if Alice and Sonya starred in the series and batted heads like Alice Braga (Teresa Mendoza) does with Veronica Falcon (Camila Vargas) Mexican cartel ruler.

Queen of the South is the story of drugs in Mexico, drugs in the United States, and drugs internationally. The Vargas cartel leadership consist of Camila and her husband Don Epifanio Vargas (Joaquim de Almeida). The Vargas husband and wife team are competing with an alliance of five other Mexican cartels and each other for control of the Mexican and and Texas drug trade.

      

Teresa’s boyfriend was a pilot and Vargas drug mule. He was murdered for skimming from the cartel. Teresa was immediately taken from a life of riches to a poor person on the run from the cartel. The cartel catches her and gives her a choice of prostitute or drug mule. Queen of the South is the story of an epic climb from drug mule to cartel head. Throw in drug carrying drones, the DEA, the FBI, Interpol, and the CIA and you have covered it all. No animals were harmed in making this show. The human toll, however, is catastrophic.

     

It, also, is the story of two strong women who know how to run a business, create alliances, overcome obstacles, out-smart competitors, and out-tough everyone that has dealings with them. New faces like Mark Consuelos (Kelly Ripa’s husband and the cartel’s money man) are added each year as session five is about to begin. Each season becomes more picturesque and brutal as the business stretches to France, Monaco, and Malta.

   

3. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Binges On Thrillist!
A Great Morning Read For Your Favorite’s List Or A Thrillist Sign-up!
Do You have Time To Read A List Of Everything You Need To Know About Everything?!

         

Thrillist is an online compendium of everything you wanted to know about food, fashion, drink, entertainment, travel, education, and the arts. It was founded in 2004 by college friends Ben Lerer and Adam Rich. Housed in New York City, it recently had a staff of 200 with a starting salary of $50,000.

     

After a sign-up, a colorful and informative issue of Thrillist arrives in your mailbox every morning. It usually contains five lists and unique stories about people, places, and products in quick list form. The lists sometimes have five suggestion on a topic or thirty. It is a fast read or an extensive read if you are looking for the best of the best or want to plan a visit to all the top bars, pizza joints, fashion salons, museums, or state parks throughout the world or in your city. Your taste palette will enjoy the food and drink selections.

    

Past issues of Thrillist are easy to access and contain an all encompassing packet of material on everything that might interest you. Try Thrillist for a couple of days before dropping your email in their sign-up box. A box for your research suggestions is on the horizon. Putting Thrillist to work for you would be a hoot.

         

     

4. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Dessert Favorites…
The Dessert Is The King Even In Our New Take-out Only World!
Chocolate Everything And Key Lime Pie Step Forward!

Our staff’s dessert top five:
1. Chocolate chip cookies
2. Ice Cream Sundae
3. Key Lime Pie
4. Fudge anything (cookies, cakes, chunks, candies)
5. Cheesecake/Cinnamon apple pie

      

As our office staff trains and prepares for our annual July 4th pie eating and hot dog eating (hope Philadelphia’s city and region-wide color changes twice by then so we can distance and get together) contests some conflicting news and research has come down the eating pipeline. One study says that 50 percent of Americans do not order dessert at a restaurant while another survey says that even in the toughest times dessert consumption does not wane. Who to believe!

       

The local Cheese Cake Factory’s restaurant manager estimates that 90 percent of their customers order dessert and most would skip the meal to get to the dessert. Should a take out business be part of the survey was a good point. Dessert doesn’t appear as a purchase on the check, but a visit to the delight counter on the way out of the restaurant shows a big time fill-up of sweets and pastries. Chocolate cake and fudge lead the at home dessert menu. Cheesecake and apple pie lead the most restaurants dessert choice’s list.

   

Hot dog statistics are even crazier. If you divide the number of hot dogs sold yearly by the population of the United States, it comes to 1,000 hot dogs being eaten every minute in the US. This can’t be true! Edith the winner of last year’s office eating contest ate three hot dogs to win: two with sauerkraut and one with some type of taco like covering. The Coney Island World Wide Championship is Edith’s next stop, if we can raise the funds for her trip to New York. Division does not lie in the world of hot dogs!

    

5. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Wonders!
Does History Repeat Itself Every Hundred Years?!
A Timeless Poem Written In 1869 Or Maybe Not!

The Pandemic
And people stayed at home
And read books
And listened
And they rested

       
And did exercises
And made art and played
And learned new ways of being
And stop and listened more deeply
Someone meditated, someone prayed

       

Someone met their shadow
And people started to think differently
And people healed
And in the absence of people who lived in ignorant ways
Dangerous, meaningless, and heartless

    

The earth began to heal
And when the danger ended and the people found themselves
They grieved for the dead and made new choices
And dreamed of new visions
And created new ways of living
And completely healed the earth as they were healed.

      

6. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Will Stump You With Its Latest 2 Minute Puzzle!
You Do Not Have To Be Artistic To Solve Our Art Word Clues And Puzzle!
Set Your Timers To Two Minutes And Begin!

     

Can you use the clues below to find the word ART in the beginning, middle, or end of words. The answers are in item 8 in this column.

What art is:
Example…Intelligent…smart

1. A large group of weapons…
2. Creative…
3. A group fishing boat…
4. Means to prevent…
5. A bold color…
6. Gives you complete freedom…
7. To bargain…
8. To begin…

   

9. A woman’s undergarment…
10. A boy’s name…
11. A girl’s name…
12. A map…
13. 2 different body parts…
14. An old remnant…
15. An achy disease…
16. Money…

       
17. One who takes a role in something…
18. A skin growth…
19. A bakery item…
20. A type of store…
21. A deer…
22. A law firm goal…
23. An alcoholic drink…
24. A Phoenician city…
25. Underground snakelike creature…

    

    

7. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Call-Out For Column Submissions!
30,000 Readers On Five Continents Are A Great Audience For Your Ideas!
Two Paragraphs About Your Occupation/Avocation And Six Pictures!
Our Connections Are Surely Worth Thirty Minutes Of Your Time!

  

Our Let’s Talk Philadelphia column has emerged from classroom discussions at Philadelphia’s University Of The Arts in 1994, to a one page newsletter handed out on the corner of Broad and Walnut Streets, to a column now read by 30,000 plus readers across five continents.

  

A Once Again Reminder: Every Let’s Talk Philadelphia column encourages readers to contribute their photography, art, fashion, travel, education, sports, food, book, and local business news to this column at tjpalumbo@aol.com. Everything is FREE and the column is a great connector for a contributor’s two paragraphs and six pictures to tjpalumbo@aol.com. 30,000 Connections count toward success for your business, new book, art, or photography!

    

If you read past columns, you will see 20 different contributions and writing styles highlighting the above topics and more. How about the rarest fish in the world, Queen Elizabeth of England owning a Mac Donalds, or tree house hotels, or the musical style…ings at Daryl’s House? And you thought you have heard it all!

       

8. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Answers To Art Words Its Latest Puzzle!
What Was Your Puzzle Solving Time In Minutes And Seconds!
How Many Did You Miss! How Much Help Did You Need?!

   

Have someone read the clues to you to find the word ART in the beginning, middle, or end of words if you haven’t completed the puzzle yet.

What art is:
Example…Intelligent…smart
1. A large group of weapons…artillery
2. Creative…artistic
3. A group fishing boat…charter
4. Means to prevent…thwart
5. A bold color…chartreuse
6. Gives you complete freedom…carte blanche
7. To bargain…barter
8. To begin…start
9. A woman’s undergarment…garter
10. A boy’s name…Martin/Carter/Artemis/Bart
11. A girl’s name…Martina/Marta/Martha
12. A map…chart

   

13. 2 different body parts…arteries and heart
14. An old remnant…artifact
15. An achy disease…arthritis
16. Money…quarter
17. One who takes a role in something…participant
18. A skin growth…wart
19. A bakery item…tart
20. A type of store…department
21. A deer…hart
22. A law firm goal…partner
23. An alcoholic drink…martini
24. A Phoenician city…Carthage
25. Underground snakelike creature…earthworm

9. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Weekly Humor Share!
There Are 100’s Of These Being Shared Across The Internet!
Here Are Our Two Favorites!

          

220. Grace Potter, Jessica Chastain, Mary Shelley, Titus Welliver, Robert Frost, And The Monthly Survey!

        

        

There is but one solution to the intricate riddle of life; to improve ourselves, and contribute to the happiness of others. (Mary Shelley)

   

1. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Salutes Poetry Month (April)
Mary Shelley And Robert Frost Are Two Keepers!
Don’t Miss The Movie Mary Shelley With Elle Fanning!

    

Yow!
What person keeps her husband’s heart in a shroud and carries the heart in her purse for thirty years? Further, on her death from a brain tumor, she gives the heart to her son who then has the heart for thirty more years before it is buried with him.
You can’t make this stuff up!

Mary Shelley, wife of poet Percy Shelley, Mother of Science Fiction for her novel Frankenstein (1818), and writer of The Last Man (1826), a story of how a plague destroys the human race, is the heart keeper.

   

After losing three of her four children in childbirth and to diseases, then her husband in a boating accident, Mary Shelley goes on to make her husband famous by posthumously publishing his poems in Posthumous Poems (1824) and Poetical Works (1839).

The books History of a Six Weeks’ Tour (1817), Valperga (1823), The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck (1830), Lodore (1835), and Falkner (1837) add to her legacy. Rather then highlight these works and an amazing life story, we borrowed her poem Spring from the twice weekly publication Brain Pickings (another great sign-up) to start our April poetry salute.

       

Winter passed away;
And spring, led by the months, awakened life in all nature.
The forest was dressed in green;
The young calves frisked on the new-sprung grass;
The wind-winged shadows of light clouds sped over the green cornfields;
The hermit cuckoo repeated his monotonous all-hail to the season;
The nightingale, bird of love and minion of the evening star, filled the woods with song;
While Venus lingered in the warm sunset, and the young green of the trees lay in gentle relief along the clear horizon.

    

2. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Two Poetry Questions!
What Poet Would You Select To Highlight During Poetry Month!
What Two Poems Of Your Choice Would You Share? (A Great Family Activity)

 

Robert Frost’s 88 year history is a revealing research project.

A. The Britannica Encyclopedia (www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Frost) seems to be the on line leader in reviewing Frost’s career, works, and awards. A brief peek at this site will take you into Frost’s writing and, then, links to the lives of writing award winners like Frost in 8 different categories. Remember to sign up for Britannica’s daily newsletter when on their site.

B. Frost’s (1874-1963) first forty years depicts his struggle as a father, New England farmer, and a writing failure with just two poems in minor publications. He married his high school sweetheart (Elinor White) and had six children with her with two dying in early life.

 

C. In 1912, at age 40, and with no perceptible writing outlets in the United States wanting to publish his works, he picked up his family, a tome of his poems, and sailed to England. He was told by other writers that England would be much more receptive to his type of writing and his rural themes. His immediate success their and three year stint publishing in England lead to word of his works traveling back across the Atlantic to America. When he returned to the United States in 1915, his new acceptance and writing skyrocketed.

  

D. Four Pulitzer Prizes For Poetry and the first poet to ever present at a presidential inauguration (John F. Kennedy, 1961) are nice caps to his early struggles and to his writing history.

E. Most reviewers of Frost’s works would feature his The Road Not Taken and Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening. We chose Fire and Ice and Nothing Gold Can Stay to give readers another glimpse into his poetry. What two poems of Frost’s other than these four would have been your choices to add to your story of Robert Frost if you were writing for this column?

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.

  

But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.

 

Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

         

3. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Monthly Survey!
Time Well Spent Or Something Or Other!
How Has Your Stay At Home Time Changed?!

       

In this time of stay at home that is being practiced throughout the world, we sent home an email survey to office workers, family, and friends. We asked them to rank the percentage of increase of television watching, book reading, listening to music, audio book listening, exercising, and game playing (not on a computer) at home. They were to be ranked 1-5 with 5 being the most change. We were not interested in hours participants did these things, just the estimated percentage of increase. We knew the hours watching television (not our interest in the survey) would lead by miles. Everyone wanted to put sleep in the survey, but we were looking for active activities.

               

We totaled the survey and found that these were the percentage of increase rankings:
game playing (a large number started playing games which they had not done before)
music listening
television watching
book reading (five people said their reading would be more if libraries weren’t closed)
exercising
audio book listening.

Sixty percent of those surveyed put sex at the top of the list thinking they would be the only joker to do so. What would your pick six or seven list look like? Can you think of another survey for an at home period of time (phone, eating, writing not texting, cleaning, house or apartment repairs or new work, meditating)?

   

4. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Researches The Last Is First Binge Watch!
Bosch Season Six Might Be A Good Choice For Your Start, Too!
Harry Bosch Is A Los Angeles Detective That Will Pique Your Interests!

      

An office staffer shared, a while ago, that he watches the most recent year or last year of a binge watch series rather than the first year. He said the characters are better formed, the story line is crisper and more varied, and the quality of the show or movie tells you if you want to go to year one to see how the journey started. At first, this seems silly because you don’t see how characters develop and change nor do you see how story lines develop and change. Then, it started making sense to some staffers. Some is the optimum word here.

        

The Amazon Prime series Bosch starring Titus Welliver and introducing newcomer Madison Lintz as his daughter, reviewed here when it premiered six years ago, would be a good test case for the last season theory. Bosch, a Los Angeles detective is a character created by author Michael Connelly and developed for television by Eric Overmyer. The television series features Harry Bosch as he appears in Connelly’s books The Concrete Blonde, City of Bones, and Echo Park.

      

Each episode in the ten part series has four different scenarios going on at the same time. This multi-focus gives supporting stars Mimi Rogers (the super slick defense lawyer for the worst criminals), Lance Riddick (the police chief now running for Mayor), Jamie Hector (Bosch’s partner chasing the killers in new and cold cases), Amy Aquino (Bosch’s boss looking for respect as a woman on a male dominated police force), and Madison Lintz (a school student and a potential lawyer looking for direction after her mother’s death) give a chance to let Bosch interact with a strong supporting cast and help the departments members fight demons in all directions.

We think Bosch 6, that just opened this week, is a good test for the last is first theory. Season 6 has four different new and old murders to solve, nuclear waste going missing with the FBI getting in the way, wives killing their husbands for giant sums of money, missing daughters, gangland rivalries, and the worst coffee and doughnuts a police station can offer. Season 7 will be the series’ last year and the season debuts in April of 2021.

5. An Actor Binge Is Let’s Talk Philadephia’s Next Television Trial!
Please Write Down The Three Female And Male Actors You Enjoy The Most!
Then Fellow Irene’s Directions Below! Good Luck!

       

Irene, an officer staffer who seems five times smarter from home than she is in the tight confines of an office, suggested and explained an actor binge. She said the AB binge is a basic part of her television regime. She outlined how it will take hours off  your searches for good shows and movies. You can type your favorite actor’s name in the search function of Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus, Apple TV, or any other service and all the films with that person in it will appear (usually in alphabetical order). The other site she uses is Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB). On this site, every movie and show that actor has been in and their life history shows up in chronological order. If they are still alive, you can see their first venture into film or television, their most recent work, and any future projects. Irene’s last three binges were Idris Elba (Luther series is a good start), Jessica Chastain, and Corey Haim. We stole Jessica Chastain from Irene to start our new binge watch routine. Chastain’s newest projects from IMDB appear next. Ten more years of quality work and a myriad of awards are listed on the IMDB site.

        

Jessica Chastain has received over fifty movie awards. Even though everyone remembers her for Academy Award nominated roles in the Help (best supporting actress) and Zero Dark Thirty (best actress), she is by far more screen stealing, interesting, and enigmatic in Molly’s Game and Miss Sloane.

           

In Molly’s Game, Molly Bloom’s expertise is poker, not playing it, but organizing poker games for the richest, best, and many times the dumbest poker players looking for cash and the rush. We think, however, that poker may be illegal in your own suite at the fanciest hotel in your town. Did Molly know this? The trial will quickly ensue! She will need Idris Elba’s help!

                       

Miss Sloane takes place in Washington D.C. where Jessica Chastain is a high priced and ruthless lobbyist who practices winning at all cost for the groups that hire her. Her company headed by Sam Waterson (George) and David Wilson Barnes (Daniel) want her to embrace the gun lobby and work to make mothers and women love the guns that have been killing their children and family members. She laughs at the million dollar business the gun lobby would bring her firm and decides to leave for the other side (Mark Strong, Rodolfo) taking members of her staff with her.

       

Here we meet a column favorite, Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Esme), who hid in the school closet while 20 of her high school classmates were being gunned down. Esme becomes the face and voice of the anti-gun lobby while working with Jessica. The Senate bill that they want to pass makes gun checks mandatory, but does not take the right to bear arms away from anyone. Enter John Lithgow (Senator Sperling) secretly working for the gun lobby and with the help of Alison Pill (Jane) a past associate of Jessica’s they will do anything to bring her down…even a trumped up federal trial!

    

In the movie’s opening monologue, Chastain explains her role as a lobbyist. She emphasizes that she and her opponents use their best maneuvers until the opponent plays their winning trump card. She lays, then, in wait to play her best gambit over theirs. There are a number of great moves in this movie, but Jessica Chastain may be out of moves in the end!

     

6. When Was The Last Time Let’s Talk Philadelphia Was In Iceland?!
We Would Not Be Any Help In Their Murder Solving Department!

      

The Valhalla Murders were filmed in Reykjavik the capital of Iceland. Valhalla is a true story updated from 1940 to the present with added killing and slashing. Here is what you should know about Iceland before your foray into a number of the murder scenes in Reykjavik and surrounding areas. Its population is 365,000 which makes it the smallest populated country in Europe. Two million tourist visit Iceland each year despite it being one of the the most expensive countries to visit in Europe. Hotel stays are often $400 a day. Valhalla watchers will probably cause a nice uptick in tourists to the island.

    

Most visitors come to Iceland in the summer when for two weeks there is 24 hours of daylight. Volcanoes, geysers, lava fields, glaciers, hot springs, and breathtaking landscapes are, also, an attraction. Even though Iceland is just below the Arctic Circle, its winter temperatures in the south of the 40,000 square mile island average a surprisingly 32 degrees. The north of the island is a far different story in the winter. Sometimes the north is the king of below zero temperatures in Europe. Because of the surrounding ocean, the weather is entirely unpredictable at any time everywhere on the island.

     

The Valhalla Murders stars Nina Dogg Filipusdottir (Kata, an accomplished Icelandic detective overlooked for promotion) and Bjorn Thors (Arnar, a quirky Norwegian serial crime expert brought in to help on this serial murder case.). The Valhalla Murders was selected as the best of the overlooked shows on Netflix and has been renewed for another eight part series for season 2. A children’s home that has been closed for years seems to be the center of the murders. Bodies with slashed eyes are appearing all over the island. It is not as grisly as it sounds and definitely worth watching. Family and work clashes don’t seem to hinder the investigation in this series as much as other true crime stories. Let us know about Netflix’s first journey to Iceland and maybe your visit there, also.
        

7. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Opens With The Sounds Of Spring!
The Vocal Style…ings Of Grace Potter Should Be Added To Your Listening!
How Can A Music Fan Not Watch Live From Daryl’s House!

    

Before we introduce Grace Potter, it is important to introduce stuck at home music fans to the best music show on television and you tube, Live From Daryl’s House. The show features 82 in home concerts from Daryl Hall’s actual house and a local bar in Pawling, New York. Daryl Hall was for years the second member of the legendary, multiple award winning Daryl Hall and John Oates duo.

       

Daryl and his crew of six musicians and technicians play with new and established single performers, duets, and groups. The setting is informal but the collaborations and music discussions in the studio and at dinner following each performance are enlightening. Musical styles, performer histories, family, and food are just some of the topics discussed. 50 million people have watched these hour long shows featuring performers from all over the world. Our favorite shows highlighted the O’Jays, Smokey Robinson, Grace Sewell, Kenny Loggins, Daughtry, and Aaron Neville. Daryl and his musicians sang along with their songs while together they did different renditions of his. There are seventy six other performers with every style of music imaginable. They are all ready to perform for you and share their world of music. What a musical binge watch!

      

We met Grace Potter in 2011 on the 45th edition of the Live From Daryl’s House show. Her song Goodbye Kiss was playing in the office long before we saw her on television. Our office Grace kept on playing Grace Jones, Grace Slick, Grace Potter, and recently Grace Vanderwaal the America’s Got Talent winner from four years ago.

       

Here is the link to Grace’s Goodbye Kiss (www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJSn8i5rJ9M). Baby you will never work for me is a great lyric from Goodbye Kiss that everyone in the office used while pointing to an unsuspecting person  We think you will watch the whole Daryl’s House show featuring Grace after seeing this three minute clip. Low Road is our second favorite from the show.

            

I Shall Be Released (www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyLcyqrmF3o) from her most recent album is linked here, as well as, a 53 minute clip from here 2016 show in Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqbbm7P8Wxk). Grace’s songs are soothing, smooth, and great bed listening selections. However, the Denver Post said Potter screamed like Janis Joplin, worked the brazen sass of Joan Jett, strutted like Stevie Nicks on steroids and sang powerfully as that other members, the Nocturnals, gave great back-up support. Hey, if we could hear someone that was all that Denver, we would stop and listen…a lot!

    

8. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Call-Out For Column Submissions!
30,000 Readers On Five Continents Are A Great Audience For Your Ideas!
Two Paragraphs About Your Occupation/Avocation And Six Pictures!
Our Connections Are Surely Worth Thirty Minutes Of Your Time!

    

Our Let’s Talk Philadelphia column has emerged from classroom discussions at Philadelphia’s University Of The Arts in 1994, to a one page newsletter handed out on the corner of Broad and Walnut Streets, to a column now read by 30,000 plus readers across five continents.
      

Every LTP column encourages readers to contribute their photography, art, fashion, travel, education, sports, food, book, and local business news to this column at tjpalumbo@aol.com. Everything is FREE and the column is a great connector for a contributor’s two paragraphs and six pictures to tjpalumbo@aol.com. Connections count toward success! If you read past columns, you will see 20 different contributions and writing styles highlighting the above topics and more. How about the rarest fish in the world, Queen Elizabeth of England owning a Mac Donalds, or tree house hotels, or the musical style…ings at Daryl’s House? And you thought you have heard it all!

     

 

219. Bad Boys III, Steve McQueen, Aeronauts, Global Warming, David Baldacci, And Nancy Watson Art!

               

       

1. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Celebrates The Super Bowl!
Miami Hosts This 54th Classic!
There Is No Off Week To Rest And Recuperate!

    

Congratulations Andy Reid for taking the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl and now the Kansas City Chiefs. The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco Forty-niners are waiting to bang helmets next week. Everything surrounding the Super Bowl on January 26, 2020 in Miami, including Jennifer Lopez’s and Shakira’s halftime show, is massively staged and upscale. The international viewing audience of 114 million is an enormous number. The Fox Network that is broadcasting the Super Bowl is garnering 11 million dollars a minute for advertising.

   

All that is the good news surrounding the Super Bowl!

        

The bad news is that the next day, Super Bowl Monday, 18 million employees will miss work. That figure amounts to 14 percent of the American workforce and a five billion dollar loss in productivity.

              

The workforce company Kronos, Inc. that is commissioned to compile these work statistics calls it their Super Bowl Fever Survey.

  

We think, as do others, that Super Bowl Monday should be a national holiday.

          

2. Let’s Talk Philadelphia And The Bad Boys III Phenomenon!
100 Million Dollar Was More Than Bad Boys I and II Combined!
Philadelphia’s Will Smith Shoots and Explodes With Another Winner!

    

What made Bad Boys III such a huge unexpected hit?

1. Bad Boys III has tripled the gunfights, explosions, and super fast car driving scenes in BB IV. Its two predecessors are tame compared to this shoot-fest.

    

2. Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, and Joe Pantoliano  added a great support cast to their new adventures into the world of crime and drugs.

3. Paola Nunez (the Captain), Alexander Ludwig, Vanessa Hudgens, and Charles Melten form an independent, four person task force that saves Will Smith and Martin Lawrence twice. We are hoping their roles will be expanded in Bad Boys IV. Their shooting skills, computer skills, and tracking skills are mind boggling. There is no kissing in Bad Boys III, so hopefully Nunez and Smith will take their playful connection to dating then kissing in Bad Boys IV. Lawrence is a new grandfather and retired, committed to family man. Smith is too old not to have a female connection.

         

4. Miami is just a great location for fast car sequences, fast guns, great ocean views, and sunbathing. All those points are played to the maximum in Bad Boys IV.

       

5. Kate del Castillo perfectly plays a murderous witch with sacrificial candles, devil beads, death cards, and more. She brutally escapes from prison and flees to Mexico City, Here she, then, dispatches her son to Miami to kill everyone involved in sending her to prison. A cadre of judges, lawyers, policeman, and court personnel are killed in quick succession by her son (Jacob Scipio). It takes the Bad Boys a while to catch on. The movie intensifies threefold when the search for Scipio begins.

     

Note: Don’t leave the movie early. There are two outtakes of what is to come in Bad Boys IV. The new movie is reported to, already, be in the planning stages.

       

We think Vanessa Hudgens, Paola Nunez, and Gabrielle Union should make the spin-off movie Bad Girls: What You Gonna Do. They shoot and fight better than any female actor we have seen. It will make an excellent addition to the Jerry Bruckheimer, Sony, and Bad Boys franchise.

      

        

3. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Celebrates Another Anniversary!

   

Let’s Talk Philadelphia is celebrating its 26th anniversary while Elvis Presley is celebrating his 85th anniversary.

           

Here is Let’s Talk’s story! You can read tomes of writing about Elvis on the Internet or see his movie Elvis Presley: That’s The Way It Is now showing at your local theater. It shows Elvis recording and rehearsing in the studio without any of the tech help that is used now. The studio session featured in the movie is 30 minutes and it is followed with an hour of one his Las Vegas concerts.

          

Two great listens at the office this week were the duets between Elvis Presley and Helene Fischer on Just Pretend (www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbmeRP116jw) and the Andrea Bocelli and Helene Fischer duet on If Only (www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZDBTAdRV1o). Listening to these two dynamite performances and seeing their inspiring locales will make your week!

          

In 1994 Joan Rivers had a part of her concert where she asked the audience…Can We Talk? We, at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, thought Can We Talk Philadelphia would be the good name of an international themed entertainment column until we found Can We Talk was copyrighted by Rivers.

The Let’s Talk Philadelphia column then emerged and went from classroom discussions, to a one page newsletter handed out on the corner of Broad and Walnut Streets, to a column now read by 30,000 plus readers across five continents. Every column encourages readers to contribute their photography, art, and local business news to the column at tjpalumbo@aol.com. Everything is free and the column is a great connector for a contributor’s two paragraphs and six pictures to tjpalumbo@aol.com.

            

Everyone in the office wants us to enter into the spheres of religion and politics, but the vote still says, no.

   

4. Let’s Talk Philadelphia And The David Baldacci Dimension!
The Five Book Camel Club Series Is One Of His Best Works!

     

David Baldacci is turning 60 in 2020. His 20 books and 15 movies have racked in  close to 60 million dollars in sales. Baldacci writes mysteries, love stories, and now science fiction. If you have not met him yet, his Camel Club series in hard cover and audio CD are a nice start.

     

The Camel Club is a four member group of eccentric friends that gravitate to and work in the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. They seem to be in the middle of everything political and criminal that is happening in Washington. They have friends with ears and eyes everywhere that always pick up on that rare find to help solve a mystery or political undertaking. The Camel Club is lead by Oliver Stone an X-federal agent who is joined by a computer genius, a member with perfect memory, and a literary guru. Their housing from tents to a graveyard cottage are just as eccentric as their physical and mental characteristics.

Baldacci’s stories rapidly take you to the final solution from three or four angles at a time. You will not fall asleep waiting for something to happen. Read the series in order. It will help you to understand the connections of all the characters and the history of newly elected members to the Camel Club.

   

5. Let’s Talk Philadelphia And Weather!
The Aeronauts Introduces The Unknown Concept Of Weather Forecasting!
Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones Tame The Skies In A Balloon!

    

Aeronauts, an Amazon Prime movie, is the story of the advent of weather predicting. Eddie Redmayne, a dreamer of the skies’ scientist, and Felicity Jones, a hot air balloon pilot are attempting to break the 28,000 foot accent record in a balloon.

   

Redmayne tries to explain to his scientific society friends that it is possible to predict climate and climate change. Just like the hurricane chasers of today, he believes a little know balloon concept will lead the way to weather forecasting. The laughter from this lock minded scientific group resonated blocks away from their meeting hall.

    

Eddie Redmayne is an Academy Award winner (The Theory Of Everything, 2015) and Felicity Jones is an Academy Award nominee (The Theory Of Everything, 2015). Felicity was awarded the Best New Actor Award in Great Britain to go along with her six other best actor nominations.

Redmayne’s and Jones’ first meeting is at a carnival that is the launch site for this exploratory balloon. The movie has this mismatched duo flying into a handful of unknown dangers as they fly to heights not attained before their attempt.

    

The science and the actors in this movie are a great match as they were in award winning The Theory Of Everything.

     

5A. Do You Believe Global Warming Can Be Stopped Or Prevented?!
Let’s Talk Philadelphia Thanks Silvia Levy For Sharing This Must See Video Clip!
Young Greta And George Will Have You Planting A Tree After Seeing This Video! (https://youtu.be/aUCD_24cygQ). Please Watch The Video And Help!

      

     

6. Let’s Talk Philadelphia And Nancy Watson Art!
Art Teachers And Beginning Painters Unite!
Thank You Nancy For Brightening Up Our Column!

    

Dear Tom,

       

Thank you for asking me to submit some art work. My name is Nancy Watson and I grew up in Catonsville Maryland, Long Island, New York, and currently live in Orlando, Florida. I am primarily an art teacher, so my personal art is more of a hobby. I love to capture the places I have visited and try to express the feelings I had being in that place. I love to paint nature scenes, especially in watercolor. Lately I have been producing pet portraits for friends, very carefully as pet owners know every whisker on their pets.

           

After teaching art classes for many years at ASM Studios in Orlando, I have switched to private art lessons for all ages. I have found that I can tailor the lesson to the interests of the student and by letting them explore different mediums they can use to achieve their ideas which were once only in their minds. The private format works especially well for students who may be shy, there is less pressure to perform and this relaxes them. It is also effective for students with learning disabilities and developmental disabilities. Many of my students have worked on art portfolios and are now in art schools around the country.

      

7. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Steve McQueen Salute!
Car Clues And The Bullitt Auction!

    

Steve McQueen’s original Ford Mustang that was used in the movie Bullitt (1968) just sold for 3.4 million dollars. The chase scenes are worth the admission to the movie, if you can find somewhere it is playing in an old movie house. To salute this movie and car sale Tom Palumbo has designed a two-minute puzzle called Car Clues. The clues below generate a word that has CAR in it in exact order. The word CAR can be in the beginning, middle, or end of the answer. See how many answers you can get in the two minutes allotted.

     

Car Clues

       

Example:
1. This car is Mickey Mouse related…Cartoon
2. This car is not plentiful…
3. This car is a movie award…
4. This car is an Egyptian medallion…
5. This car is a box

    

6. This car goes with ox…
7. This car is an exquisite jewelry make…
8. This car is an ace…
9. This car is a fish…
10. This car is a hard worker…
11. This car is a fighting ship…
12. This car is an ace…
13. This car is a British author that writes spy novels…
14. This car is an American president…
15. This car is a neck helper…

    

16. This car is a sweater…
17. This car is a cemetery worker…
18. This car is a vegetable…
19. This car is a bad arrest…
20. This car is in a ship’s hold…
21. This car is a writing mark…
22. This car is an ace…
23. This car is a drive-ins waiter…
24. This car is a boy’s name…
25. This car is a girl’s name…

       

 

218. 21 Bridges, Turmeric, Office Bonding, Judy Viorst, And The Knight Before Christmas!

             

Happy Thanksgiving And Holidays To One And All!

 

1. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Annual Holiday Poem Of Wisdom!
May The Holidays Bring You Friendship, Understanding, Joy, and Wisdom!
Thank You Nick Kenny For Your Wisdom Poem!

    

The troubles that beset us,
Along life’s winding road,
Are sent to make us stronger,
To share another’s load.

     

We cannot share a sorrow,
Until we grieved awhile,
Nor can we share another’s joy,
Until we have learned how to smile.

    

Sweet mysteries of music,
Great masters and their art,
How well we understand them,
When we have known a broken heart.

      

Let tyrants lust for power,
Sophisticates be wise,
Just let me see the world, Dear God.
Through understanding eyes.

         

2. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Has Met Some Famous Knights!
Josh Whitehouse May Be The Best Of All!
Time Travel, Love, And A Great Book For Gift Giving!

   

If you have seen all 20 of the Hallmark Channel’s Christmas movies and still need more commoners meeting soon to be kings and then falling in love fare, then Netflix’s The Knight Before Christmas is a winning book and movie you will enjoy.

   

Josh Whitehouse (Sir Cole, 1334 Norwich England) is a 14th century knight that is sent to the future by a friendly witch to learn the most important secrets of knighthood. Sir Cole, in his knightly garb, lands in the middle of a carnival and then on an Ohio road. Josh is hit by Vanessa Hudgens’ car. A trip to the hospital, a crazily shared medieval story, and a diagnosis of brain trauma quickly set the stage for Vanessa (Brooke) bringing a somewhat nice/deranged person, with no memory, home to her parent’s guesthouse.

 

The minstrels, horseback riding, no longer empty guesthouse, verbal jousting, mistletoe kiss, and family festivities for Christmas rival all of Hallmark’s offerings. The question, of course, at the movies’ end, is Sir Cole going to stay in the future with Brooke or go back in time. The old lady that sent him to the future (only to midnight on Christmas eve) said he was only going there to become a better knight. If he goes back in time will he take Brooke with him. What happens if he is whisked back in time before he wants to go and without Brooke? There are more questions, but we are running out of space.

      

3. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s New York Connection!
21 Bridges…If He Counted Them All!
Maybe Chadwick Boseman Will Fight Crime In Philadelphia Next!
Hopefully, He Will Bring Sienna Miller And J. K. Simmons With Him.

      

Andre Davis (Chadwick Boseman) is a New York police detective. His father, also a policeman, was killed in the line of duty. In past movies Chadwick has, always, played the superhero. In 21 Bridges he is a character your not sure if you want to root for or not. He is violent and the police force and Captain McKenna (J. K. Simmons) use him every time violence is needed in getting a job done.

       

The 21 Bridges’ story revolves around seven police officers and 1 passer-bye that are killed by two thieves in a botched cocaine heist. Ray Jackson and Michael Trujillo played by Stephan James and Taylor Kitsch are the thieves. A massive manhunt lead by Boseman ensues with five subplots and five backstories, even those of the thieves, dotting the movie landscape.

       

Sienna Miller, as a narcotics detective, brings a nice female presence to a male dominated police force and male dominated movie. How helpful, good, or evil is she as the manhunt progresses? Just a question! The Internet has some nice interviews with Miller and Boseman talking about their just released crime movie (November 21).

       

In pursuit of the killer, Detective Davis thinks that closing Manhattan’s 21 Bridges for a night will prevent the killers from escaping. We think there are other ways in leaving an island that doesn’t include crossing a bridge. If we weren’t afraid of flying, we would take a helicopter or tunnel. Maybe they will be manned and closed, also?

    

   

4. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s And The Ultimate Office Bonding Experience!
Was It The Dinner Dance?
Was It The Weekend Splash The Beach Retreat?
Was It The Company Softball Game Victory?
Or Was It Backward Hat Monday?

            

If you said this is the one to any of the suggestions above, you will get a chance for correctness in our next issue. The winner, by far, this year is Dress Down Friday with an office lunch in Chinatown (a block from the movie), and a trip to the new Terminator, Dark Fate movie. You, too, can make it happen!

    

In a quick review:
1. Linda Hamilton (Sarah Conner) at age 63 just knows how to kill terminators.
2. Gabriel Luna the REV-9 and most sophisticated of the plastic like terminators is a challenge for everyone. He just keeps coming back…as if you didn’t know or suspect.
3. Arnold Schwarzenegger Is Back as both an anti-hero and hero. He will need assistance from everyone to permanently bring down Rev-9.
4. Mackenzie Davis is a newest addition to the Terminator franchise. She is half robot, half human. She was created to protect Dani Ramos from all obstacles…terminators and their sidekick robots included.
5. Natalie Reyes (Dana Ramos) is humanities only hope in the future. Her leadership will destroy the Terminator program when she reaches adulthood, if she ever grows up and gets there. The Rev-9 has been sent to prevent this.

    

Don’t worry newbies. Flashbacks will help first timers and Terminator fans, alike.

   

5. We Again Repeat…Let’s Talk Philadelphia Is Good For Your Health!
We Continue Our Medicine Watch!
Our Turmeric Trials Continue!
Is Turmeric The Wonder Elixir?

   

Every medical and cooking show in the last six months has extolled the virtues of Turmeric. It seems to cure at least ten maladies of the young and the old. Memory enhancement, weight loss, and body inflammation seem to be the big three of the ten benefits we always see listed.

       

After ninety days our staff has seen the memory and body benefits, but no one has lost any significant weight. Staffers have reported being far less stiff in the morning and Jennifer, our always late new staffer, is finding being on time a thrill…a thrill…her words? Was it Turmeric? Maybe Turmeric’s memory enhancing properties do eliminate tardiness?

   

Turmeric comes in tablet and powder form. Black pepper seems to be an ingredient that activates the Turmeric. Some bottles say you have to take it with black pepper, but don’t provide the pepper. We bought the supplement tablets that already had black pepper in them. Cooking shows show a dish of Turmeric and a dish of pepper next to it to be added together. That is good for cooking later but not for rushing out in the morning. Two to four a day caplets were our main choice. PS…Be careful to wash any spilled Turmeric off your counter tops. It does leave a tough to remove stain.

     

6. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Holiday Book Suggestions!
Poetry…If I Were In Charge Of The World!
Judy Viorst’s Comical Dynamite For The Mind…And More!

     

Ten different writing projects can be generated from the creative content in Judy Viorst’s poem If I Were In Charge Of The World. See what your family members or classroom would do if they were in charge of the world. Poem Hunters (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/if-i-were-in-charge-of-the-world) is a great Internet site to find that poem you couldn’t place that was sticking in the far reaches of your mind. The site has the great feature that every poem (5,000 and counting) in their collection is spoken to you when that particular poem is highlighted.

     

If I Were In Charge Of The World By Judy Viorst

If I were in charge of the world
I’d cancel oatmeal,
Monday mornings,
Allergy shots, and also Sara Steinberg.

If I were in charge of the world
There would be brighter nights lights,
Healthier hamsters, and
Basketball baskets forty eight inches lower.

     

If I were in charge of the world
You wouldn’t have lonely.
You wouldn’t have clean.
You wouldn’t have bedtimes.
Or “Don’t punch your sister.”
You wouldn’t even have sisters.

     

If I were in charge of the world
A chocolate sundae with whipped cream and nuts would be a vegetable
All 007 movies would be G,
And a person who sometimes forgot to brush,
And sometimes forgot to flush,
Would still be allowed to be
In charge of the world.

    

        

7. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Christmas Puzzle!
The Mas In Christmas Will Be A Challenger!
Two Minutes Isn’t Very Much Time!

    

Here is the latest two-minute puzzle from Tom Palumbo. The business and education site LinkedIn, also, has a slew of his creations. Each clue below will generate a word that has MAS in it in exact order. The MAS may be in the beginning, middle, or end of the word. See how many clues you can solve in two minutes then go back and finish the ones you passed on immediately solving.

       

Example…An American state…Massachusetts

1. To gather a large amount…
2. A big four golf tournament…
3. A record completed again for the better…
4. Something really big…
5. Famous 1800’s French author…
6. One of the three musketeers…
7. Gaining a good hold over a subject…
8. A disguise must…
9. A shot in pool…
10. Medical relief giver…

   
11. To crush…
12. A Catholic ceremony…
13. A type of dog…
14. To hit really hard…
15. Sideline symbols for sport teams…

      
16. A type of woman’s make-up
17. Male property…
18. Person that like to hurt themselves…
19. Pretending to be someone else…
20. A rubdown giver…
21. No more in Spanish…
22. Part of a ship…

2017. Falling Inn Love, Frozen, Maren Morris, Eating For Beauty, And Dyslexia!

             

        

You Really Should Visit Amazing Philadelphia In The Fall! Please!

     

     

1. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Call-out For Articles And New Ideas!
Join The Discussion With A Unique Idea Or A Creative Project!

    

   

Let’s Talk Philadelphia, now, has over 27,000 followers on LinkedIn and five hundred re-listers. Your submitted project and work ideas will reach a large local and international audience. Please join our 25th Anniversary (1994-2019) as we salute outstanding writing, art, photography, businesses, and creative discussion. You can contribute a story, book review, movie critique, art piece, award notice, your photography, a challenging game, business tidbit, multimedia overview, travel tip, or theater write-up that world-wide readers will enjoy. We hope!

    

Your ideas make us look better as Cigdem Knebel (item 6) did below with her article on combating dyslexia. Your ides should be sent to: Tom Palumbo at tjpalumbo@aol.com. Please send six photos with your two-paragraph description of your work. Please look at past column contributors to see how the wrote up their books, businesses, vocations, and avocations. Remember to include the links where you and your ideas can be found. Thank you for your contributions!

Here Are Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Best Bets Of The Month!

1. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Says Everyone Needs Falling Inn Love!
Move Over Hallmark Channel! Netflix Is Getting Better With Kissing Movies!
New Zealand May Be Your Next Destination After This Netflix Feature!

   

Christina Milan (Gabriela Diaz in the movie) has just lost her job in big city USA. Her boyfriend was next to go. Gabriela sees this Win an Inn contest on the Internet. Why not enter, flashes through her mind! A five hundred word entry essay and a bit of entry fee money later, she miraculously ends up in New Zealand as the new owner of a really run down inn (Bellbird Valley Farm). Naturally, she didn’t expect run down and the old love letters (1916) in the wall, either…….PS…Gilbert the goat is a scene stealer!

   

Luckily for Gabriela, the best contractor in town is Adam Demos (Jake in the movie). He is gorgeous and even more so 35 minutes into the movie when he takes off his shirt on the Inn’s construction site. Gabriela makes Jake a partner on the inn, because she is quickly running out of renovation money and could use his free labor. He gives Gabriela and the audience some great lessons on the beauty of small things in every house as he tries to help restore the inn and create a relationship.

             

The mystery of the hundred year old love letters (1916 and the house’s talisman), the contentious relationship between Gabriela and Jake, and the beauty of Thames, New Zealand where the movie was filmed, will make a great sit in bed and think feature. Tourism in Thames, New Zealand will definitely increase after this movie!

     

2. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Staff Visits Frozen In New York!
The St. James Theater Hosts Elsa And Hordes Of Anxious Children!
The Best Let It Go Singers Are Featured Below!

     

We were going to write a long article about visiting New York in the Fall and all that New York has for visiting adults and children. The play Frozen, of course, is a standout and was going to be featured in this column. However, one of the mother’s on the trip stole our thunder when she said:

    

$300 for theater tickets…
$115 for lunch at FAO Schwartz…
$100 for Willa the American Girl Doll…
$75 for parking, bridge, and turnpike tolls…
Seeing my four year old daughter’s face when Elsa (Caissie Levy) sang Let It Go…
Priceless!
Frozen II, the movie, is out in November…

      

3. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Lets The Music Play On, Play On!
Top Demi Lavoto, Jennifer Nettles, Idina Menzel, And Maren Morris!
Your Pick Four In Music For This Month Will Not Come Close To Ours!

       

A. Marren Morris is our new find this month. She sounds like Reba McIntyre’s daughter. Like Reba, her last two albums Hero and Girl opened at #1 on the Billboard Magazine’s Top Music Chart. Her song: I Could Use A Love Song which we featured below has fifty million hits. The well done videos of all her songs actually relate to the lyrics rather than flying into space in a cloud of smoke that most singers are now using for song representation.
Marren Morris’s Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErdZ_W35xRs

        

B. Demi Lavoto’s song book on Vevo has 1/2 a billion hits each time she posts a song. The link below is for Demi Lavoto’s version of Let It Go from the 2013 Frozen movie  It has a new verse that was incorporated into the Broadway play. The link provided for you has the two versions and some nice research information on the new verse. Paste the link below in your address bar for two great listens before seeing all the major music stars Demi has collaborated with recently. It is a treat!
Demi Lavoto’s link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHue-HaXXzg
We like the version above because the sing along lyrics are included with Demi’s performance.

       

C. Jennifer Nettles and Idina Menzel’s version of Let It Go is, also, a great watch with the link below. Two powerful voices in a knockout ABC Holiday Show performance.
Idina Menzel and Jennifer Nettles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vjqZ9-2b3c

   

Runner-up listens this month are: Sugarland and Sara Bareilles’s cover of Come On Eileen (www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMDqkBjvdMg)
Carrie Underwood’s The Champion, with lyrics… (youtube.com/watch?v=HgknAaKNaMM&list=RDjbbIvGVQqKk&index=4)

              

4. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Champions Naomie Harris In The New Black And Blue Movie!
One Woman Against The Whole Police Force And Every Criminal In The City Sounds Like A Sure Win For Her!
This Former James Bond Girl Learned A Thing Or Two From The Master!

     

Naomie Harris plays black rookie police officer Alicia West in the October release of the movie Black and Blue. Alicia is told to stay in their patrol car by her lead officer as he makes a stop. This happens in 50% of the movies we review. Why doesn’t she just stay in the car? If she did, you wouldn’t be in for a two hour thrill ride, we surmise.

     

Alicia, in her out of the car exploration, comes upon her lead officer and five co-officers that are about to kill a drug dealer…as Alicia inadvertently records the slaying on her vest camera. Alicia is immediately shot. Her bullet proof vest and fall into the floor below save her. Her pursuit begins with a bounty on her head that every police officer and criminal in the city sees. There is nowhere to turn except to semi-criminal Tyrese Gibson, an old friend. Tyrese and Naomie against the masses does not sound like a good fit!!!

           

Black and Blue received rave reviews at the New York City Urbanworld Film Festival (September 18-22, 2019). This was the 23rd year for the afro-centric film and television festival. Black and Blue made the top five must see choices which included the films and television shows:
Harriet (Harriet Tubman still stampless)
Just Mercy (The criminal justice system taken apart)
Black And Blue (A black female police rookie against the world)
First Wives Club (Move over Goldie Hawn, black women do friendship better)
The Apollo (The 85th Anniversary of this famed theater had to be chronicled in a new movie).
The trailers for these movies and television shows can be previewed on the Urbanworld Internet site (www.urbanworld.com) .

5. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Is Good For Your Health!
Eating For Beauty Is Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Book Choice For The Month!
This Book Should Be In Every Doctor’s Office And On Every Kitchen Table!
David Wolfe Is A Nutritionist’s Nutritionist!

         

Eating For Beauty is in its third edition with a ton of new eating must dos. Issues 1 and 2 can be found on Amazon at half their original price…or hopefully you can find this must read tome at your local library. If your library doesn’t have it, they will get it for you!

         

The book is a must read and in-depth look at what you should be eating to power, cleanse, beautify, and nourish your body. In addition to Eating For Beauty’s 30 easy to implement recipes, the book covers everything from food choices to yoga to sleep. If you follow even half of David Wolfe’s suggestions you will be a new person and will look and feel light years better. We, especially liked these two hints:
Never eat the fat on anything from bacon to steak.
If there isn’t a green on your food plate…don’t read this book. You are helpless!

         

6. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Features Dyslexia And Books For Dyslexic Children!
Cigdem Knebel Tells Her Story And Her Special Need’s Children’s Stories!
A Great Source For Parents And Teachers (simplewordsbooks.com)
Invite Cigdem To Your School Or Library For A Speaking Engagement!

         

Simple Words Books was born out of my dyslexic son’s frustration for lack
of decodable books and his desire to read big-kid chapter books as his
friends did. As a mom, I wanted my son to see the results of his hard work
to learn to read.

    

I knew this was possible with high-interest books that
matched his lower reading skills. But all the books he could read were
babyish books. And he had no interest in them. So I began to write easy to
read yet engaging stories for him. And we saw his fluency and
reading-confidence soar. And for the first time, he began reading for fun!

          

Our books today are sold in every county in the US and over ten countries
around the world. Many schools began implementing them in their reading
curriculum. These books help not only struggling readers but also kids
with various learning differences or have English as a second language.

          

The main characters in our books are always a female and a male to ensure
the stories are not gender-specific and the characters come from diverse
backgrounds. A word list for each book is included in both the paperback
and the e-book versions as well as on our website <simplewordsbooks.com>.
Easy to read vocabulary allows readers to practice fluency. A downloadable
comprehension workbook makes these books ideal to practice comprehension
skills. And the fun stories presented in a big-kid chapter book format
builds reading and self-confidence.

     

7. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Revisits Reign In Its 5th Season And On Netflix In Its We Feature Section!

 

If Dracula and Van Helsing don’t give you enough 19^th century fashion and creative historical settings to fill you thirst for history, Reign on the CW network might be a good second choice for your ‘looking for amazing history’ channel surfing. You did see The Tudors, Borgias, and Game of Thrones??? Reign is the story of a young Mary Queen of Scots (Adelaide Kane). Her story highlights the plight of the young before they become the pinnacle of royalty. Naivety rules this show. The future queen (and king) do not understand courtship, palace intrigues, and the world outside Their cloistered upbringing. Mary has to be dizzy with the number of times they tried to poison her and rid her from this world too many times in this series.

Every European country has an interest in the arranged marriages and the partnerships that have to be forged for their protection. Catherine de Medici (Megan Fellows) is plotting against everyone and everything. Mary thinks she is a friend. She doesn’t realize that the Scotland she represents, in this setting, is not a key player compared to France, England, and Spain. The show is a good history lesson and presents a novel point of view for the 16 to 90 year old history lover.

 

The use of a modern soundtrack is really fascinating as it supports the various pieces of the story. It is a challenging task to take a top twenty song and integrate the song into the show’s various way back then years backdrops.

216. Brad Pitt, Jennifer Lopez, Gina Torres, Lauren Daigle, And Justin Derosa’s Photography!

    

    

Do not forget to read past columns of Let’s Talk Philadelphia if you enjoy history, fashion, television, music, books, movies, sports, fishing, bingo, chocolate, the arts, and creative articles and points of view from people throughout the world!

    

1. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Monthly Reach Out!

             

Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s 27,000 readers are looking for something new and different in shopping, technology, multi-media, sports, art, theater, photography, business, literature, music, movie, or fashion news. Do you have any creative ideas in these areas? Participation is FREE and your connections would be far-reaching.

        

Please send your best two paragraphs and six pictures on a topic of your choice to Tom Palumbo at: tjpalumbo@aol.com. Justin DeRosa’s photography write-up in this issue is a good example of a reader’s submission. Don’t forget your links and contact information. Before writing your ideas, review past Let’s Talk Philadelphia columns and see how other contributors shared their projects, businesses, likes and dislikes, and points of view.

   

2. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Adopts Brad Pitt!
Now To Find Somewhere For Brad And His Once Upon A Time In Hollywood Friends To Stay!
New Staffer Portia Said She Would Take Brad Pitt Not Them Home With Her!

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood ‘s 100 million dollar world-wide opening was an all time best for Quentin Tarantino (17 previous movies). Once Upon A Time In Hollywood cost eighty million dollars to make.

       

Before seeing Once Upon A Time In Hollywood…the movie just opened this weekend…here are eight things you should know about the movie.

1. It is 1969 Hollywood with Tarantino’s (written and directed) look at 1969’s characters, cars, fashion, parties, movies, theaters, houses, and eateries.
2. Leonardo DiCaprio is an aging movie and television star that can still act but may be past his prime. No one wants DiCaprio for their new leading man roles, except Al Pacino for his Italian Spaghetti Westerns. Brad Pitt is DiCaprio’s long-time friend, confidant, advisor, and stunt double.
3. Brad Pitt’s, a fifty five year old, takes his shirt off while doing roof work to audience clapping and staff fawning. However, there are no kissing or sex scenes with heart throbs DiCaprio and Pitt anywhere in the movie. What was Quentin thinking???

   

4. The second and third best scenes in the movie after the fight scene with Brad Pitt feature 10 year old Julia Butters (Trudi) and Leonardo DiCaprio (Rick Dalton). Before a new cowboy movie scene together, Trudi counsels despondent (over missed lines) DiCaprio telling him there is no such thing as perfection in acting. Trudi invigorated, Dicaprio then acts as Trudi’s kidnapper in the best scene of his acting career. After the scene, Trudi commends DiCaprio for his work with her. Cute plus!
5. The packed-house movie audience jumped three times at Brad Pitt’s fight scene.
6. You may want to research Charles Manson and Sharon Tate’s (Margot Robbie in the movie) brutal murder at the Mansion’s group’s hands. It is an underlying theme throughout the movie.
7. Buy the free refill bag of popcorn and soda. The movie and previews are three hours long. Stay for the ending credits and the mini-feature with Leonardo DiCaprio.

     

3. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Needs Lauren Daigle For Its Choir!
We Will Find Room For Her Eight Billboard Awards!

        

While looking for a lead singer for our University of the Arts’ Philadelphia traveling choir, we thought we had a column find when we discovered Lauren Daigle. Unfortunately, to our dismay, a half a billion listeners discovered her before us. You will say lead singer when you listen to the two songs of Lauren’s we have highlighted for you in the Vevo presentation links below. Mark our words though, we will find an unknown music discovery for you in our next issue!

    

If you are only go to listen to one song of Lauren’s, then the spirit lifting You Say featured below should be your choice…be careful Daigle addiction will follow!

Here is the link to Lauren’s You Say video and its 150 million viewers/listeners. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIaT8Jl2zpI)

Here is the link to Lauren’s Trust In You video and 100 million listeners. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_aVFVveJNs)

Lauren’s world tour dates can be found on her website!

        

4. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Votes Pearson Television’s New Number One!
Gina Torres (Jessica Pearson) Is Tough, Intelligent, and Will Battle Anyone!
Chicago Politics…You Do Not Have A Chance!

Laurie Lighfoot is Chicago’s new and first female black mayor. Gina Torres would make a good addition to Ms. Lightfoot’s staff if Gina were not an assistant to the mayor of Chicago in the new USA Network series Pearson.

        

The Chicago Film Office deserves many kudos. Pearson now joins three other television shows highlighting the people, places, and things Chicago has to offer a viewing public.

• Chicago Fire (2012–present). NBC
• Chicago Med (2015–present). NBC
• Chicago PD (2014–present). NBC

     

Jessica Pearson is a disbarred New York lawyer that comes to Chicago to be the Chicago mayor’s new fixer. No one knows, with her checkered past, why she was selected. Gina Torres should make a movie with George Clooney called The Two Fixers. They both have outstanding, matching and competing skills.

         

Torres immediately goes up against the mayor’s staff (why her), the police department (Pearson is a two bad Chicago cops 4 million dollar suit winner), truckers, family (lost lawsuit), and the local grafters waiting for a handout or deal with the mayor (Simon Kassianides). Bethany Joy Lenz is the mayor’s lawyer and sleeping partner when the mayor is not with his wife and kids. Bethany bangs heads with Jessica really hard! Three times in the first two episodes! Though, the program is only starting its third episode this week. Head banging seems likely to continue.

You can catch the first two offerings in the Pearson series on free USA Rewatch. The series has the features that will bring you back for more: Chicago at its finest and poorest, hard to solve conflicts, family strength, the Cubs, White Sox, Bulls, Bears, and Gina Torres as an everywhere dynamo for change and the status quo.

5. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s A Quick Note In Passing!
We Join Jennifer Lopez’s Three Celebrations!
Happy 50th Birthday…Your New Red Porsche Looks Good On You!

       

Your First Album On The 6 Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary!
On The 6 Was An American Style Setter For Latin Music!
Your Song On The Floor With Pitbull Passed 1 and 1/2 Billion Views On Vevo!
Here Is The Song’s Link (www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4H_Zoh7G5A)

     

Jennifer Lopez is now on a thirty city tour. Check your local listings, please!

           

6. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Marvels At Justin Derosa’s Photography!
Our Whole Column Should Feature His Photography!
It Is That Good When You Research His Websites!
Bucks County Is Pennsylvania’s Second Most Picturesque County!
It Is A Great Venue For Your Next Family Outing Or Photo Shoot!

    

Here is what Justin said about his photography and work. We left out the Legos which you can explore from Justin’s website link below.

     

Good afternoon Tom,
My name is Justin we met a few days ago at Tyler Park. We talked briefly about photography and you suggested I email you 6 photos with two paragraphs about my work.

     

I’m a self taught photographer from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Growing up, I was always interested in art and loved to create whether it be drawing cartoons or writing stories. Wanting to try something new, I picked up a video camera for film making in my late teens but ended up using it for photography. I quickly became hooked, eventually getting my hands on a Digital Single Lens Reflex camera and I’ve been taking photographs ever since.

         

Although I explore all different types of photography, nature photography has always been my primary focus. There is just something special about nature that resonates deeply with me and I can’t pull myself away from it. One of the great blessings with photography is being able to combine two passions – nature and art into one. Over the past few years, I have gotten into LEGO photography as a fun side project. My work has been featured in Pennsylvania State Park calendars and maps as well as various online and print publications.            https://www.justinderosaphotography.com

     

7. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Wants To Prepare You For The Next Genetically Upgraded Zombie Incursion!
Emma Stone Will Bite Back In This One!

Emma Stone is about to star again with Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, and Abigail Breslin in Zombieland: Double Tap a ten year later remake of the original Zombieland. It is strange that Stone picked this vehicle over ten other movie offerings. Every director and production company in America and Europe wants here in their next film. It is said Stone wants to write the 2029 version of this popular series (10-10 years separation…2009, 2019, 2029). While we are waiting for Emma to vanquish truckloads of Zombies next month with newbies Rosario Dawson and Luke Wilson, here is a free On Demand movie of Stone’s you may have missed.

    

                            

8. Movies…Irrational Man…Woody Allen Writes/Directs Murder And Sex!
One Murder And Lots Of Consensual Sex! Not By Woody, Though!

                 

Joaquin Phoenix is having sex with Emma Stone and Parker Posey in the middle of Woody Allen’s new murder mystery. Posey is the wife of the college’s philosophy department chairman and Stone is the girlfriend of an Oxford bound college senior. Emma Stone is the agog classroom student flattered by Phoenix’s attention and his compliments. Posey needs a divorce excuse and someone to take her to live in romantic Spain. Anyone would do. She wants out! A small college campus is not Parker Posey’s milieu. Maybe not Joaquin’s either.

                

Joaquin is an noted author, alcoholic, and philosophy professor presently without any direction for his existential philosophies or his college teaching. Everyone on campus wants to sleep with the new guy. Joaquin needs a muse and Woody dangles Stone and Parker as possible candidates. As the movie progresses, everyone in the audience is voting for their favorite and contemplating in which way Phoenix’s life will be changed for the better or worse by the two woman. The key to movie enlightenment is if Phoenix is worthy of all this attention. The girls obviously think so!

               

Love is about to happen for one of the female leads. While the audience is guessing, Woody Allen, then, throws in a murder most foul. Hopelessly hooked, you will then join the lovers on the road less traveled. Enjoy!

      

9. Here Is A Late Addition To Our Let’s Talk Philadelphia Column, But A Great Chance To Add Additional Money To Your Talk Home Pay!
Give Kate A Call And Make A Difference In A Child’s Life!

    

Hi Tom,
Rhonda asked me to share our tutoring flyer with you. We have many students who are waiting for services and she thought you might be a good resource for recruiting more tutors for our student tutoring program. We would really appreciate it if you could spread the word by getting the message out to friends, family and other contacts. See message below that you can use and the attached tutoring flyer.

          

Foundations, Inc. is seeking Certified Teachers, Reading Specialists, and Speech & Language Therapists to join our team of tutors to work one-on-one with students in the Philadelphia area who need support to improve their skills. Tutoring takes place after school and on weekends.  For more information or to apply, contact Kate DeValerio at 856-533-1613 or kdevalerio@foundationsinc.org.

     

Thanks in advance for supporting this effort!
Best,
E.
Elizabeth A. Cieri
Executive Director, Teaching and Learning
Foundations, Inc. | 701 East Gate Drive, Suite 300 | Mount Laurel, NJ 08054
Main: 856-533-1600 | Direct: 856-533-1649  | Toll Free: 888-977-5437
www.foundationsinc.org

215. Game Of Thrones, John Wick, Aladdin, Halle Berry, And Drake!

    

                      

1. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Readership Continues To Grow!
The Bottle Of Wine Giveaway To New Readers Was An Awesome Idea!

         

As our readers get younger and our writers get older, Let’s Talk Philadelphia is zooming through its 25th year. Let’s Talk Philadelphia has joined 1 billion other site creators who use WordPress. Our five continent readership far exceeds the readership we generated by handing out our latest issue in a one page newsletter at the corner of Broad and Walnut Streets in 1994 Philadelphia or in graduate classes at The University of The Arts. This was, of course, before the Internet’s reach made everything we do universal. 26,705 readers now follow us on LinkedIn the world-wide business and education site.

     

Let’s Talk Philadelphia is always looking to feature your art, photography, business, or fashion news. How about a book or movie that you have loved for a submission? Participation is great for a college student’s resume, too. Please send your best two paragraphs and six pictures to Tom Palumbo at: tjpalumbo@aol.com. Before writing your ideas, review past Let’s Talk Philadelphia columns and see how other contributors shared their ideas, businesses, and points of view.

        

2. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Spring/Summer Travel Tips To Our Great City!

Ten million people will be visiting Philadelphia this Spring/Summer! Don’t worry we room and have done this before at the rate of forty-four million visitors a year.

Our first stop suggestions for your visit include:

A. The Philadelphia Visitor Center at 5th and Market Streets is a great stop for all the information, brochures, and maps you need to tour Philadelphia’s sport, entertainment, food, cultural, art, and historic sites. The PHLASH tour bus runs close to everything on your agenda.

The Visitor Center’s best historic tour presents you with a flag of the thirteen colonies and thirteen historic sites that they recommend…and take you to visit. Each visit location has an amazing guide with a mini-talk on the historical significance of the location and a star for your flag. Thirteen sites, thirteen stars…spectacular locales and great information!

    

B. The Liberty Bell and Independence Hall are just across the street from the Philadelphia Visitor’s Center. Years ago you could actually touch the Liberty Bell on your tour. Now, it is protected from hands that were wearing it away. What an historic rush it was to touched the bell on your first visit to Philadelphia! These multiple buildings are far more than the birthplace of American history, the Declaration of Independence, and The Constitution!

    

C. The Barnes And Philadelphia Art Museums are two blocks from each other on Benjamin Franklin Parkway’s museum row. Four other museums are within four blocks of these sites starting at 2oth and the Parkway. These art museums are two of the tops in the world with their permanent and visiting collections. Check their websites for the dates you will be visiting. The Barnes’ audio and video tour is a great start on your computer before venturing out to the majestic Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

       

3. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Says Rock And Roll Is Dead!
Never! Never Ever! Not Ever!

For the second year in a row Rap/Hip Hop (22% of the market) has topped Rock and Roll (21% of the market) across all billboard charts that keep track of store purchases, free and purchased downloads, and listens. This, of course, wouldn’t be true if you combined Country Rock with Rock and Roll the way Rap is combined with Hip-Hop.

   

   

Drake (Rap), Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran (Rock and Roll), and Lil Nas (Country) are light years ahead of the pack for 2019. Where other top recording stars get 10 million hits on their free site song listens, these four tally billions of listens and downloads. It is simply amazing to get 1 billion people to listen to your new song! You can’t go wrong featuring the new songs of these four in a column. Drake is such a hot commodity that the Fargo Airplane Service gave him as a gift a 200 million dollar 747 to fly around the world for free in for his personal use or on his tours. The company said the money was well spent as part of their new advertising campaign.

To join these four, here are some of our newest music recommendations for hours of great listening and entertainment:

     

All Together Now is an English music competition on BBC One. The interesting concept was put together by Geri Halliwell Horner of The Spice Girls. The set-up is strange…then all of a sudden you are singing along. Four contestants are singularly singing in competition in front of a wall of 100 judges. Each contestant starts their song and after 15 seconds the judges can vote for them as they stand as their judge’s square lights up. Then, the judges from a distance start singing along for the remainder of the song! Crazy! Votes are tallied from one to a hundred and while contestants are sitting in chairs next to their acquired voters number, the fourth contestant tries to knock one of the contestants off…finally with the top contestant moving on to the finals. 24 shows and sixty singers are in the books for your On Demand or You Tube watching enjoyment. You can get the feel of the show by starting at the beginning or at the end with two already crowned winner’s follow their every song journey tapes for 2017 and 2018 (www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4vuq2U9Bis) .

     

CMT Crossroads is 63 of the best hour long music episodes you can find on your computer or television. Each episode pairs a country star with a star from another musical classification (rock, rap, soul, classical, easy listening, and R&B).

    

This is the link to an hour broadcast on CMT Television featuring Stevie Nicks and Lady Antebellum (www.youtube.com/watch?v=icGTc-ZtgH8). We think it is one of the best of the 63 programs. In each hour long segment, the artists sing each others songs and collaborate on others. Just as interesting as the music are the sit down sessions where the artists talk about their music, relationships, and the creative process. Look for one of your favorites in the 75 artists featured, while, also, trying a recording duo a little out of your comfort zone. Everyone’s music seems comfortable on this show, as each performer’s art blends together perfectly. Rihanna with Stevie Nicks and Lady Antebellum is grand addition to your music library!

           

       

Jessi J’s Ten Year Old Singing Partner Is Drop Dead Spectacular!
This Truly Is A Masterpiece Of Music!

Jessie J is a British singer with a new single (Masterpiece), thirty million dollars in the bank, and Channing Tatum on her arm. Jessie, Celine Dion, Idina Menzel, Keith Urban, and a host of other singers have a segment in their shows where they bring an audience member on stage to sing with them. Sometimes it is rehearsed, sometimes not. This event in a Jessie J concert in Romania is unrehearsed, unbelievable, and utterly fantastic. A little ten year old Romanian girl (Adalia) disappears from her mother and while in the front of the stage viewing her idol, she gets invited to sing with her (Jessie).

Once on stage, Jessie whispers to Adalia to see if she wants to sing this particular song. Adalia says, no, she wants to sing Masterpiece. Masterpiece just happened to be the next segment of the show with back-up singers and more. As you can see from the 8 minute video, it takes the crew 3 minutes to get Adalia’s earphones in, but from then on this little imp steals the show. Adalia has the voice, the stage appeal, and presence of a 30 year old. She has the audience following her every move. Take a peek, please!

                                     

This is the ten minute segment of the show as Jessie runs all over the stage trying to get this ten year old girl miked up for singing…and follows with their dual performance. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dZ6eVGtvME).

                

This is the share of a concert fan who saw Adalia’s frantic mother searching for her child in an audience of 20 thousand people.

Diana Marcu 1 month ago

I was in the front row when it all happened. 30 minutes before Jessie’s concert, Adalia’s mother was looking for her daughter in the crowd with her picture on the phone asking people if they saw her because she had gone lost. Adalia actually left her mother to see her idol from the best spot. Eventually, her mother found her when Jessie invited her on stage.

    

This is the whole write-up of the concert event from Inspire the on line magazine: (www.inspiremore.com/jessie-j-masterpiece-romania).

By the way, Channing Tatum is worth 60 million dollars. Channing’s Magic Mike Las Vegas stage show should significantly add to that number!

   

4. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Features One Man’s Courage In The Face Of Tremendous Hardship!
Robert Guliani, A Column Friend, Has An Astounding Story To Tell!
His Story Is In Paperback And Audio Book Form!
A Miraculous Read Or Listen!

    

Never Quit is Robert Guliani’s story of heartbreak and courage that began in 1973 when a sixteen-year-old boy dove through a wave off Tobay Beach and emerged a quadriplegic. His struggle to graduate with his Syosset High School class, to graduate from Long Island University, to find gainful employment working for Aetna in the nascent days of computer programming, his eventual marriage, and his physical setbacks are all highlighted in vivid prose and with personal anecdotes in this autobiography.

   

For anyone struggling with physical ailments, personal problems, ordinary hardships, Robert’s book is nothing but inspirational. The title succinctly captures Robert’s can-do attitude, his strength of mind, and his unwavering courage in the face of enormous difficulties.

    

Never Quit by Robert Guliani is a must read for anyone searching for the means to pick themselves up and dust themselves off when faced with the vicissitudes of life. His love of life, zest for living, and a quest for adventure, while boldly confronting his physical limitations, can only make us want to celebrate our every breath. Many times, the road we are on is filled with detours and dead-ends. In the end, what defines us is what we make of it. Take a journey in Robert’s shoes and like him never quit.

Steve Bellafiore (Amazon review)

5. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Is Lobbying For The Game Of Thrones Movie!
A Home Box Office Game Of Thrones’ Movie Write-in Is In Progress!
Game Of Thrones Withdrawal Is A Batch!
Of Chocolate Chip Cookies!

          

The 10,000 articles written about The Game Of Thrones over the Home Box Office’s series’ ten year run are worth reviewing. Thank goodness for interns! The writers of the Game Of Thrones’ Movie are going to have to be miracle workers as they pick a theme that will allow them to re-feature the myriads of actors and regions destroyed or killed off in the series. Everyone wants their favorite dead person to be restored somehow for the movie.

 

The fifteen million dollars for each final episode and the 700 actors credited in the ten year run are two great statistic for fans that want to know everything about the show.

The winner of the best Game Of Thrones’ featured article followed intense lobbying at our Friday office meeting. The winning article was taken from Esquire Magazine’s April 2019 issue. Kit Harrington, King of the North, downloaded eight personal, never seen before, pictures from his life and his interaction with the show’s cast. His comments about the first time he saw Emilia Clarke are a great springboard to seven other of his interesting perspectives about the show, the show’s creators, and the cast.

       

Your office or friends at your next dinner should vote on who their favorite actors were on the show. Our office poll was compiled with the following results:

1. Kit Harington!
2. Emilia Clarke Naked!
3. Emilia Clarke!
4. Sean Bean! There must be a large English contingent in the office.

     

6. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Cringed At All 307 Of John Wick’s Killings!
Smiled At Five Killing!
Were Amazed At Three Killings!
Were Astonished At Halle Berry’s Two Dog’s Killing Abilities!

If you are not familiar with the Keanu Reeves’ John Wick Series, Paramount Television is showing John Wick 1 and John Wick 2 back to back once or twice a week. John Wick is an assassin for hire who wants out of the business to spend time with his wife. Naturally, everyone surrounding John Wick has different plans for him.

           

The John Wick series is approaching one half a billion dollars in revenues. With John Wick 3 zeroing in on 250 million dollars worldwide, JW Three has equaled the take of the first two movies combined. John Wick four, already shooting, is to be released on April 24th in 2021, so unlike Game Of Thrones, we can prepare for the next movie.

       

The 100 kills by John Wick in 3, are precipitated by the seven million dollar bounty put on his head that even Laurence Fishburne and Halle Berry, new additions to the series, will have trouble helping Wick overcome. Just when you think you have seen every killing possible in John Wick 1 and 2 along comes a Russian novel and two amazing German shepherds that are Halle Berry’s sidekicks. Nine dogs were used to film the dog scenes and their feats will amaze everyone in the audience. Our audience jumped twice as the dogs were set loose to do their deeds. Bets are now being taken on your visit. If you are squeamish, Bambi and Aladdin are next door in your local cinema.

    

7. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Knew Will Smith Could Sing And Dance!
They Should Not Have Kept Him In That Magic Lamp For So Long!

Will Smith is a Philadelphia native, so we have to give a call-out to everything he does. He was born in the city’s Wynnefield section in 1968. He has done the city proud with remarkable career in television (Fresh Prince), movies, and music. He had nominations for eleven awards with four wins…five Golden Globes, two Academy Awards, and four Grammy Award wins. His last 10 movies have each made over a million dollars.

      

In a tale as old as time, Will Smith has brought Aladdin with the help of Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott) and Aladdin (Mena Massoud) to the local cineplex.

       

Aladdin is a centuries old tale from India. In the original versions, Baghdad was the story’s home. In the new version, the fictional Arabian city of Agrabah and surrounding areas are featured in the movie. The King of Agrabah is getting old. He wants a successor, but not his daughter…how about her not yet husband? Suitor mania is not going well!

   

Jafar ( Marwan Kenzari), the king’s trusted advisor (who can’t be trusted) wants Jasmine and the kingdom. Everyone wants the magic lamp and magic carpet rides. The period pieces in clothing and jewelry are must haves. The Bollywood dancing in the movie and after the final credits are deserving of Gene Kelly’s praise…Beyonce’s, too, if you don’t know who Gene Kelly is. The box office take is 400 million and growing. Now you see why we support Will Smith in everything he does even as minority owner of the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team. Smith is more than a three point businessman. Will Smith’s net worth is over 300 million dollars.

8. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Loves The International Eurovision Music Contest!

      

Read up on the Eurovision 41 country best singer contest held in Israel three weeks ago. You will then know what we are talking about in our next issue. It is the 45th year the contest has been held. Listen to the music from three of your favorite I should visit countries! What would you have picked as the best song. This year’s song videos are light years ahead of previous selections.

    

9. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Summer Reading Starters!

Here are two summer starters for girls doing amazing things!

Sadako And The Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr!

         

Millicent Min Girl Genius By Lisa Yee!

                

Sadako And The Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr

August 6^th is Peace Day. It is celebrated throughout the world and in a giant celebration each year in New York’s Central Park. Purchasing the book and true story Sadako And The Thousand Paper Cranes will give the celebration greater meaning to the young or older reader. Sadako is an athlete that is slowed down from the bomb sickness that was prevalent in Japan after the war. The contamination from the two atomic bombs we dropped on Japan was still prevalent ten years after the initial destruction.

   

While dying in a hospital from this sickness, Sadako reads an old Japanese legend of hope. The legend voices that if you make 1,000 paper cranes in your lifetime, you will get one wish. Her wish was the wish of life. The 644 paper cranes that she fashioned before her death on October 25^th 1955 were remember in a book passed around Japan called Kokeshi. It contained Sadako’s letters and was accompanied throughout Japan by her doll of the same name. Her classmates made the 356 cranes she couldn’t finish and the thousand cranes were buried with her.

        

Children throughout Japan collected money to commemorate her life. In 1958 a statue of Sadako, with outstretched hands, holding a golden crane, was erected in Hiroshima Peace Park. On August 6^th children from all over the world and Hiroshima’s Folded Crane Club will leave their cranes at the granite base of her statue. In Central Park there will be a giant exchange of peace cranes in all forms from origami like Sadako’s cranes to special new commemorative designs. Directions for making paper cranes accompany the Sadako book.

Can you write up Millicent Min Girl Genius for our next issue. Give it a try!

 

 

2014. Martin Luther King, Jr., Jennifer Lopez, Kevin Hart, And Masha And The Bear!

           

               

        

1. Let’s Talk’s Philadelphia Says Thank You!
A Philadelphia Column That Talks To The World!
The World Has A Sense Of Humor! We Hope!

       

Thank you for joining us on our 25th anniversary with the  214th issue of Let’s Talk Philadelphia using WordPress. Let’s Talk has joined 1 billion other site creators who use WordPress. Our five continent readership far exceeds the readership we generated by handing out our latest issue in a one page newsletter at the corner of Broad and Walnut Streets in 1994 Philadelphia or in graduate classes at The University of The Arts. This was, of course, before the Internet’s reach made everything we do universal. 26,515 readers now follow us on LinkedIn the world-wide business and education site.

     

Let’s Talk Philadelphia is looking to feature your art, photography, business, or fashion news. Please send your best two paragraphs and six pictures to Tom Palumbo at: tjpalumbo@aol.com. Before writing your ideas, review past Let’s Talk Philadelphia columns and see how other contributors shared their ideas, businesses, and points of view.

        

2. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Annual Photo And Caption Contest!
Two Families Head To Disney World For 4 Days/3 Night’s Of Cold Avoidance!

      

The two winning photos and captions below come from Dushore, Pennsylvania and Miami, Florida. Their captions were:
1. Oh! What A Beautiful Morning sung by the cast of Oklahoma…and
2. Mommy, can we take her home? Please!

       

A Side Note…The original Oklahoma movie is being shown on February 3rd and 17th in movie theaters throughout the United States. It is a part of their in theater See-A-Classic Program. Casablanca on the big screen was an enjoyable office bonding trip. Previews of upcoming classics are shown on billboards in the lobby and are inserted in your screen previews every time you visit your local theater. Big screen, small screen? We pick big screen every time.

                      

      

3. Let’s Talk Philadelphia’s Preview of Masha And The Bear!
Masha Is A Delight And Heart Grabber Times Ten!
A Great Watch For Young And Old!
A Syndicated Cartoon Series Shown In Ten Countries!

         

         

What was your favorite television cartoon growing up? If you had to list your top four cartoon choices, what would they be? Local Philadelphia classrooms voted these four cartoons into their recommendation list:

1. Dr. Mc Stuffins
2. The Mickey Mouse Club
3. Thomas The Train
4. Shimmer and Shine

If you are a parent or grandparent Let’s Talk Philadelphia strongly endorses Masha and The Bear as your next child in your lap watch. This Russian series is in its fourth year with an additional Masha Tells Fairy Tales and Masha Tells Scary Stories series. Masha can be found on Netflix and your On Demand channels.

       

The Bear is a circus bear that just wants to enjoy his retirement (featuring lots of sleep) in a cozy house in the woods. The Bear doesn’t realize that the most playful, kind, caring, in your business, adventure making, imp lives down the road.

             

Every creature in the neighborhood from squirrels to pigs to rabbits are involved in Masha’s zany new and everyday adventures. Masha can turn everything into a catastrophe, even simple house cleaning. Even the friendly and not so friendly wolves that live in a trailer at the top of the meadow are driven a fun-filled crazy by Masha.

Masha products are all over stores on the Internet. The Masha nightshirt is a must for a Masha fan as is Dr. Mc Stuffins’ medical outfits. This cartoon is a must see. You will become addicted, so please be careful.

     

4. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Salutes Martin Luther King With Great Resources!
Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. All Year Long
Find A Grave Is A Researcher’s Dream (www.findagrave.com)
Scoop-It Will Do All Your Research For You! Forever (www.scoop-it.com)!

     

Martin Luther King, Jr….Two novel ways to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.’s epic contributions can be found in the Clerihew format and at www.findagrave.com by posting a poem or a message in virtual flowers at the bottom of the page that features Martin Luther King, Jr.’s portrait and grave site. Write a Martin Luther King, Jr. Clerihew and send it to your mailing list while encouraging your list-mates to forward your Clerihew or to write one of their own for forwarding. Make copies of your Clerihew and give it out at your community workday programs. Here is my simple Clerihew salute:

Martin Luther King
His message of peace and freedom did ring.
Throughout the land and in all places,
To every hue and for all the races.

               

Clerihew poems (A, A, B, B) by E. Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956) are four line poems that use a person’s name to generate a creative and descriptive writing form. Most Clerihews start with just that person’s name. If the key name isn’t easily rhymed like Rick Orange, the name can be placed anywhere in the first line (Rick Orange is a teacher, His mother wanted him to be a preacher). If you are looking for other neat poetry formats please go to our site (thomasjpalumbo.wordpress.com) and download their directions in Poetry from the tool bar. Click follow me at the bottom of the page for additional holiday ideas that will be coming up, especially our salutes to Harriett Tubman and Sylvia Plath.

Scoop-It at http://www.scoop-it.com is a research site that will do all your research for you in any subject area from business to education to entertainment. The Scoop-It site asks you about your interests and how many times a month you want to be up-dated on that subject. Scoop-It then scours the web and presents the best ideas on your topic to you in the time frame you requested. Scoop-It is like having an artificial intelligence companion at your fingertips. Your Scoop-It becomes larger with each title you add. You are creating a mosaic of the best information on the Internet with your themed Scoop-Its.

      

             

5. Let’s Talk Philadelphia Supports Second Act And Second Chances!
Which Education Is Better, Life Or College?!
Jennifer Lopez Tells Us That College Isn’t The Be All!

       

Jennifer Lopez’s newest movie, Second Act, will soon be out in DVD and on your On Demand channels. You might, also, catch it at your local multi-theater. It is the story of a astute business women who runs a Wal-Mart like store. She is, however, passed over time and again for promotions, because she doesn’t have a college education.

      

Lopez quits her job and ends up on the job seeking you don’t have the right education roller coaster. Her friends phony up her resume and Facebook page and send her to an advertising/consulting  agency where she looks great and shares ideas even better than her looks. Will she be found out at this new job by jealous staffers or will she continue to impress is, of course, the theme of the story!?

           

Lopez is surrounded by a creative staff of minor stars at her Wal-Mart like store and at her consultant job. Everyone likes the underdog at both work places and you will root for Jennifer as the underdog in this movie, too. Her present love Milo Ventimiglia is a great or not so great support as will be her past love Vanessa Hudgens. You will revel in interactions with both stars.