Waitin' for the Weekend

Clint Collide celebrates the male gaze.  Boy howdy!

Historical note:  The height of fashion when I was in high school, say from 1965 to 1969, is exmplified by the two young men at the :30 mark.  A very neat look:  the still-short hair parted on the side and falling over the forehead a bit; shirts tucked in, even when not in school; belt worn at the traditional waistline, instead of down around the hips; and tapered legs ending a couple inches above the ankle, the better to show off your cotton socks, which came in a rainbow of colors in the late 60s.  It was extremely chic to have your socks match your shirt, so it looked as if you were poured into your pants.  Though outside of school, it was de rigeur to wear your penny loafers without socks - and believe me when I tell you, there is nothing quite so enticing as the sight of a well-turned bare ankle, preferably tanned from spending weekends in the sun.  Seriously.

Contrary to careless artists' depictions, men and boys and even hippies did NOT wear bell-bottoms in the 1960s, at least not in the Deep South where I grew up - but go study some movies made in the 60s and you will find confirmation.  Girls started with the bell-bottoms in 1965 or so - a la Cher - but we guys had to wait until the fall of 1969, and even then, what the stores were selling were flares, not true bell-bottoms, which were hard to find, even in jeans.  I remember all this distinctly, since I was at the age when fashion first becomes all-important to a young (gay) man.  

The hair got a little longer year by year, and then in the fall of 1969, mustaches and mutton-chop sideburns were all the rage for those who could grow them.  I was still shaving just once a week or so, bummer.  Plus I was in a very strict, fundamentalist church which forbade long hair and all such sinful things (the Bible says!).  

(O/T)  But I made up for it later, after I left the church:

Junior college graduate, 1977

Ready for fun in the sun, spring 1979 - 
my arms and legs were hairier than they appear in the strong sunshine.

Another bright spring day in 1979, before I came out.
Twenty years later, I was getting a cowboy buzz cut.
(See photo under "My Story" in the sidebar > > >)
Nowadays, it's anything goes, I guess.

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The History of Homosexualty, Part 2

The second of four lectures delivered earlier this year by Sir Noel Malcolm, political journalist, historian, and research fellow at Oxford University.   These lectures are based on his new book,  Forbidden Desire in Early Modern Europe: Male-Male Sexual Relations, 1400-1750.

Sir Noel is soft-spoken, so when I watched it, I turned up the volume, slowed the playback speed to 85%, and turned on the captions - which, however, are often ludicrous when he is quoting a foreign phrase.  I'll be posting the rest of the series once a week. 

You can see last week's episode here, along with my recommended reading list in gay history.

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Todd and Rob Do Homo Depot

See more mountain home videos at ToddandRob.com.

Special Report:  Just how do those crazy, wild-eyed, radical homosexuals go about destroying the American family, bringing down the wrath of God, and ruining everything for everybody?  See the facts for yourself in this Blue Truck report  . . . 

In spring, teh gayz get all misty-eyed at the thought of a rainbow of blooming flowers in the yard.  So these boys went a-huntin' for plants and bulbs this past weekend, and added some new ones to their cabin garden, up in the scenic North Georgia mountains.  They also did a bit of renovation work in the upstairs bathroom.  A sweet couple - I admire their manual skills and home-loving hard work.  

M.P. and I used to go plant shopping in the spring, but we're older and tireder now, and once we get down on the ground, we can't get back up again!  We really need to find a studly sturdy young man to help with the lawn and garden this year - can't pay much, but we'd feed him well. 

 Anybody know someone? 

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"Shame! Shame!" Rep. Larson Blasts Musk and Complicit Legislators

Rachel Maddow reports:  Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) last week loudly called out Republicans in Congress who are enabling the Trump-Musk attack on Social Security.  Finally, someone in Congress got hot and bothered!

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Sunday Drive: The Water Is Wide

Pour vous, M.P., très cher ami--

By request, a traditional folk song performed by Orla Fallon of Celtic Woman:

 

N. B. -- The lyrics shown in the video are incorrect.  Here are the actual lyrics as sung by Orla (there are many versions):

The water is wide, I can't cross o'er

And neither have I wings to fly

Give me a boat that can carry two

And we shall sail, my love and I

Oh, love is gentle and love is kind

And love's a flower when first it's new

But love grows old and waxes cold

And fades away like morning dew

There is a ship, and she sails the sea

She's loaded deep as deep can be

But not as deep as the love I'm in

I know not how I sink or swim

The water is wide, I can't cross o'er

And neither have I wings to fly

Give me a boat that can carry two

And we shall sail, my love and I

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From Canada with Hurt and Anger

Jim runs a vintage radio repair shop in a small town north of Toronto. He rightly feels utterly betrayed by America right now. 

[America] has become a predator and we have become prey. . . The trust between me and Americans is gone, and it will never come back. I won't live long enough to ever trust them again. We've been played for fools by the Americans.

 

This American is deeply ashamed and totally disgusted, Jim, by what the American Tyrant is doing to your country and all our friends around the world. There is no excuse, no good reason for it, just one evil man's greed and lust for supreme power over the whole North American continent. I know saying "I'm sorry" isnt good enough. 

But please remember, all of you out there, that half of us VOTED AGAINST THE TYRANT.  We foresaw clearly what he would do if elected.  And we are all outraged at the way he is destroying our own government day by day. We share your hurt, your anger, and your dismay. We just don't know how to stop him yet.  We are sheep without a shepherd at the moment.

Notice the difference in the popular vote - only 1.5 percent.
So never forget there are many millions of Americans who oppose the tyranny.
From Wikipedia.

But you have to stand up to the bully.  The only thing any bully respects is strength, and a punch in the nose.  We know you have to protect yourselves, so do what you have to do.  Don't go down without a fight.  We'll understand, and keep praying for a speedy return to "sunny ways" between our nations.

P. S. -- I must not omit to say Thank You, Canada for all your many acts of kindness and brotherhood over the years.  I well recall that your people in Tehran sheltered some of our people during the hostage crisis back in the 70s.  And how you sheltered hundreds of our stranded citizens during the no-fly period after 9/11.  And how I watched and wept with joy when your Parliament legalized gay marriage long before it was possible down here.  This Southerner couldn't live in your fierce winter climate - but I've kept a friendly eye on Canada for many years now.  You're my secret valentine.  God bless and protect you all.

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Waitin' for the Weekend

Shut up and kiss me.

Honk to Fearsome Beard.

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The History of Homosexuality, Part 1

The first of four lectures delivered earlier this year by Sir Noel Malcolm, political journalist, historian, and research fellow at Oxford University.   These lectures are based on his new book, which I've not read yet:  Forbidden Desire in Early Modern Europe: Male-Male Sexual Relations, 1400-1750, but it's now on my to-get list.

The subject has always been fascinating to your Head Trucker, for obvious reasons, and I have read quite a bit about it.  Sir Noel looks just as you might expect an Oxbridge professor to look:  old-fashioned haircut, wire-rimmed glasses, and slightly rumpled suit; but he's not stuffy at all, and he really knows his stuff, so what he has to say is well worth your time.  

This lecture gives an overview of same-sex relations in the Mediterranean countries in the early modern period (the era formerly known as the Renaissance).  Sir Noel is soft-spoken, so I turned up the volume, slowed the playback speed to 85%, and turned on the captions - which, however, are often ludicrous when he is quoting a foreign phrase.  I'll be posting the rest of the series once a week. 

Bonus:  Your Head Trucker recommends these books for further reading in gay history.

• Allen Bernstein, Millions of Homos (Our Queer America), 1940 (unpublished typescript available in PDF format).

• Louis Crompton, Homosexuality and Civilization, 2003.  (A 640-page masterpiece, surveying homosexuality in major cultures from East to West, and from antiquity to the 18th century.)

• Kenneth Dover, Greek Homosexuality, 1978.

• Jonathan Ned Katz, Gay American History, 1976.

• Rictor Norton, The Myth of the Modern Homosexual, 1997.

• A. L. Rowse, Homosexuals in History, 1977.

However, your Head Trucker does not recommend anything by Michel Foucault, for reasons which will become apparent as this lecture series goes on.

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OPINIONS, 3/12/25

Presented as a public service by the Blue Truck. Your Head Trucker may not agree with every word these guys say, but I like the way they say it. 

 Liberal Redneck: 

 

Stephen Colbert with Ezra Klein:

 

Lawrence O'Donnell with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI):

 

Robert Reich: 

  

 

Tom Powell, Jr.: 

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Today's Toon

Paul Noth in the New Yorker:

"We'll have to stop research now that the Neanderthals are back in charge."

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World's Richest Asshole Says You Don't Deserve Social Security

They are trying to break this agency in order to turn the public against it, so they can privatize it, liquidate it, and steal at least a portion or all of the 2.7 trillion that’s in the trust fund. 

--Martin O'Malley, former Commisioner of the Social Security Administration 

Deadline White House:

 

Morning Joe:

Just wait till Ma and Pa in Hooterville, or Houston, stop getting their monthly checks and have to pay the doctor in cash. If this horrific news doesn't provoke a spontaneous MAGA uprising against the Tyrant, I don't know what will.

And what's happening with all your personal records in the federal files?  Who's got all the private, personal information about you now, and what will they do with it?

Not to mention that shithead and his asswipe henchman are doing their damnedest to crash the whole American economy.  I'm afraid it's going to be a long, dark night ahead, fellas.  Buckle up and hang on.

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