Christmas 1940-something

Home movies over several years of Christmas morning with one apparently well-off family and their kids. Rather charming to see how the kids grow from year to year. There are actually two sets of parents here - I wonder which kids belong to which, and what the relationship is.

Marriage News Watch, 12/9/13

Matt Baume of the American Foundation for Equal Rights reports:

Sunday Drive: Kings' College Choir, Once in Royal David's City

Today is Advent II.

In Memoriam: Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013

"Madiba," by Kadir Nelson.

The world has lost a great leader and a great man. I have nothing of my own to add to the many eloquent tributes being made all around the world, but three that you might want to consider are these:

1. Rachel Maddow gave an excellent summary of Mandela's life and career, followed by an interview with American civil rights leader John Lewis. Her videos are no longer embeddable since MSNBC moved the show to a new website, but you can find it over on Towleroad.

2. Archibishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who also struggled against the apartheid regime in South Africa, remembers his friend Mandela in this essay.

3. South African novelist Nadine Gordimer's memoir of her fellow countryman in the New Yorker.


Unfortunately for South Africa, as this Time article makes clear, greatness is not heritable.

Waitin' for the Weekend

With Bells On

I reckon everybody has seen the Kmart Joe Boxer ad already.  Here's the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles with a fabulous response:

Winter Storm Warning - WTF?

I don't often check the weather reports - your Head Trucker is of the old school that prefers to look out the window and see if it's rainy or sunny. But it does seem that just a day or two ago I glanced at the forecast and it was all 40s to 60s and clear. Last night I had some reason to look again, and OMG a shitload of icy nastiness is bearing down upon my locality.

Your Head Trucker grew up further south, where snow just doesn't happen - a couple of flakes once every ten years or so, maybe, which sends everyone into a great panic. Otherwise, it might get cold but no ice, no sleet, no hail, no snow. Which is just the way I like it. Somehow though, the road of life led me to this place of exile out on the prairie, so I have to bear it. Just hope I have enough essential provisions to get by until the ice melts again.

And yeah, I know I sound like a total wuss to all you big, bad dudes who grew up in the frozen North - but then, you guys totally wimp out in the summer heat down here, so there.

Speaking of warmer climes, I ran across this charming compilation of home movies from about 1940 - some jolly tourists from up Nawth are vacationing at a resort on the Atlantic coast of Florida.  They must be pretty well fixed because they traveled on the all-Pullman, extra-fare Florida Special. No sound, thank God - I hate cutesy, anachronistic soundtracks added to silent films - but it's quite intriguing to me.  Who are these people, where are they from, and what are they talking about, thinking about?

It's also pretty amazing to see people on vacation lounging about and walking the beach in suits, ties, and smart frocks. Nowadays, not even the super-rich do that; but with all the comfort we've gained by relaxing the dress codes, what have we lost, I wonder?



P.S. - Even in Miami, further south from where these people stayed, it's much too damn cold to go swimming in the wintertime - the air temp is okay, but the water temp will turn your balls blue in a hurry. And then when you get out of the water, you really start to shiver as the ocean breeze evaporates the water on your skin. Your Head Trucker knows because he tried it on Christmas Day in Miami Beach one time, back when he was young and stupid.  But the Yankees in this film seem to be having a big time - they must think it's warm.

Today's Quiz: Justice Joslin

Straight or gay?





Or does anybody care?

Tired Old Queen at the Movies: The Adventures of Robin Hood

Steve Hayes dishes up a review of the 1938 Technicolor classic, which if you've never seen - you should, if only for the delight of watching the athletic swashbuckling of superstud Errol Flynn:

Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland make movie magic in William Keighley and Michael Curtiz's 1938 spectacular, The Adventures Of Robin Hood. Sumptuously shot in Technicolor and featuring an unbelievable supporting cast featuring Claude Rains and Basil Rathbone at their villainous best, along with Alan Hale, Eugene Pallette, Una O'Connor and a cast of hundreds, it's the action/adventure epic of a lifetime and a perfect way to celebrate Thanksgiving with the whole family!

Catch more fabulous movie reviews at Steve's YouTube channel.

Marriage News Watch, 12/2/13

Matt Baume of the American Foundation for Equal Rights reports:




And from makeitequal.org:

Click to enlarge.

World AIDS Day 2013

I posted this video a couple of years ago, but I like it so much, I'm posting it again. I can never forget when my first husband and I visited D.C. to see the Quilt displayed in 1992 - as soon as we arrived on the Mall and I saw all those acres of panels spread across the grass, I burst into tears, and wept off and on all afternoon. My best friend Tommy had died of the plague a couple of years before, and of course we knew others who were soon to die.

It seems to be a forgotten issue now, since there are the pills to control the virus - but I've known people who have to live with that pill routine, which means taking handfuls two or three times every day, and dealing with all the side effects too. It may keep you going, but it's not a great way to live.

Of course, that's if you can get the pills. Millions all around the world can't. So the fight goes on - do something if you can.

For Tommy and all the others--




Update, 12/2: President Obama today announced the launch of a $100 million initiative to find a cure for AIDS: