Monthnotes 30 Jun 2025

Wade Winningham -

It's getting down to decision time for a bit of stuff for our house. And we're feeling the pressure a bit, but things seem to be coming together. And traveling down part of Route 66 is always a nostalgic time.

Snow Cap on Route 66 in Seligman, AZ

Las Vegas

This was a bit of a last minute trip. We needed a tile sample to finalize our selections, and mailing samples was going to take too long. Since a showroom existed in Las Vegas for what we were looking for, we drove out for a long weekend.

Red Rock Canyon

We did find what we were looking for, but also got a chance to visit one of our favorite places out there, Red Rock Canyon.

The Mob Museum

We did want to check out someplace new while there, so we visited the Mob Museum. It's worth a visit, especially if you have an interest in anything mafia related, or Al Capone, or Goodfellas, or whatever.

A real highlight was a talk by real-life, former, mobster, Frank Calabrese, Jr. His dad was in the mafia. He talked about what it was like growing up and then getting pulled into with this dad. He had quite a scary sounding upbringing, but his own kids put him into family mode and realized he never wanted to subject his kids to that kind of life, so he changed. He did spend time in prison, but has made it out and transformed his life.

House Construction Update

We did have a successful trip in that I believe we finalized our flooring and tile selections for the house.

Tile and flooring selections

Overall, things are coming along. Most of the progress is inside the house as they pull wires for electrical and get all the framing completed. Oh, and the roof, which, being flat, isn't a good photo. They have wrapped the house to prepare it for stucco at some point over the next month.

Movies

It wasn't intended, but June turned out to be the month for documentaries.

  • Georgia O'Keefe: The Brightness of Light showed me just how little I knew about the artist. Especially how much of a trailblazer she was. Really insightful documentary.
  • Ballerina, set in the world of John Wick, was really great. Loved it and how it expands on the universe of John Wick.
  • The Phoenician Scheme was pure Wes Anderson. Had a lot of fun, but can't quite say I made sense of the entire thing.
  • Predator: Killer of Killers is an animated feature film on Hulu at the moment. It was better than I thought it would be. Telling three tales from three different times and then has a conclusion that expands on that universe and sets up for a sequel.
  • Ron Delsener Presents is a documentary about the famous NYC concert promoter. While it was about him, seeing the famous musicians talk about him and the footage from a lot of classic acts was really neat to watch.
  • A Man with Sole: The Impact of Kenneth Cole was a bit eye-opening and twisted my view of the man completely. Thinking he was more related to fashion, it seems he mainly has a business to help fund his true calling, which are his social causes. He was a chairman for amfAR for AIDS research once, and now is more involved with mental health issues.
  • M3GAN 2.0 was a blast. No it won't win any awards but was a really fun flick. First one was horror, but this one went full on spy/action thriller.