Liberal Redneck: Thanks Obama

Comedian Trae Crowder in his trademark vulgar way says farewell to President Obama:

Waitin' for the Weekend

Happy New Year, 2017

Though ominous clouds seem to be gathering all around this weary old globe of Earth, here's wishing health, wealth, peace, and prosperity to all my truckbuddies in the coming year, along with sincere thanks for keeping up with my scribblings here in the Blue Truck. God bless.

Sung by Dougie Maclean.

2016 in Review

The world has seemed to your Head Trucker to be sliding inexorably downhill at an alarming rate for quite a long time now, but 2016 took the cake, and may be looked back on as a great watershed in history for all the wrong reasons.

What a terrible year it was - unspeakable horror and violence close to home and all around the globe, with some momentous turning points that bode very ill for the future of this nation and the world. These videos don't quite capture all of the jagged feelings and upsets we've been through this year, but I'm posting them here as a reminder to posterity - if there is any.










Some celebrities who died in the past year, not noted in the videos above, whom your Head Trucker remembers fondly for one reason or another:

Natalie Cole (died December 31, 2015, age 65)
The exquisite songbird, daughter of Nat King Cole

Dan Haggerty (d. January 15, age 73)
The big, burly, wonderfully bearded Grizzly Adams

Glenn Frey (d. January 18, age 67)
Co-founder of the Eagles and solo artist

Patty Duke (d. March 29, age 69)
The beloved Oscar winner, one half (or two?) of a pair of adorable "identical cousins"

Merle Haggard (d. April 6, age 79)
One of the great legends of country music

Alan Young (d. May 19, age 96)
A fine, underrated actor, who played Wilbur Post, owner of "the famous Mr. Ed"

Noel Neill (d. July 3, age 95)
The best Lois Lane ever

Robert Vaughn (d. November 11, age 83)
Who could forget the Man from U. N. C. L. E.?

Florence Henderson (d. November 24, age 82)
Beloved mom of the Brady Bunch

Bernard Fox (d. December 14, age 89)
The amusing Dr. Bombay on Bewitched

Zsa Zsa Gabor (d. December 18, age 99)
The one and only, dahling

George Michael (d. December 25, age 53)
Impossibly handsome, talented, and gay

Carrie Fisher (d. December 27, age 60)
Princess Leia, and a tough old survivor

Debbie Reynolds (d. December 28, age 84)
Unsinkably beautiful, talented, and glamorous at every step from fresh-faced youth to old age:  one of the last real movie stars


Here is an affectionate tribute by Carrie to her mother that aired on Turner Classic Movies, circa 2012:

Waitin' for the Weekend

In Memoriam: Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher

This summer and fall, M.P. and I have enjoyed watching a number of old Debbie Reynolds movies, remembered from our childhood or newly discovered by us - and now we are saddened to learn of her death. The world's light has been dimmed by the loss of these two stars, mother and daughter, just a day apart.  May they rest in peace.



In this undated interview from ABC, Carrie talks about her admiration for her mother:



Last year, Debbie was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but was unable to accept the award in person due to ill health:



Here's a poignant glimpse of Debbie as a glamorous young star and mother in a 1961 episode of This Is Your Life, with her children Carrie and Todd brought on at the end:

The Queen's Christmas Broadcast, 2016

Her Majesty the Queen, who turned 90 this year and has been on the throne for 64 years, broadcast her annual Christmas message to the nation and the Commonwealth yesterday, continuing a tradition begun by her grandfather, King George V, in 1932.

Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.

Sunday Drive: O Come, All Ye Faithful

The Adoration of the Shepherds, Gerard van Honthorst, 1622

Christmas Day, 2016

The Epistle for the day, I John 4:7-16 (NIV):

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.  And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.  If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

As performed by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge:

Merry Christmas 2016

This week, my housemate M.P., who is more in tune with the younger set, has introduced me to this remarkable a cappella group, who apparently have made a record or two and are trying to break into the music business; love their sound, but this old fuddy-duddy can't stand to look at them.

(Kids these days, with their outlandish hair and weird clothes, sheesh! What is the world coming to?)

See what you think, fellas - and meanwhile, from our house to yours, have a very merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas from the President and First Lady, 2016

In typical upbeat style, the Obamas send the nation their Christmas greetings from the White House for the last time with a message of hope, compassion, and service:

Waitin' for the Weekend