Waitin' for the Weekend

Something for every one -- "Simply Irresistibles #1" by Clint Collide:

 

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In Memoriam: Barney Frank, 1940-2026

Official photograph of Representative Barney Frank, 2008.

Former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank, one of the first openly gay congressmen and a champion of gay rights, died yesterday at his home in Ogunquit, Maine.  He was 86 and had been receiving hospice care.  A mainstay of the Democratic Party for many years, he brought his considerable intelligence, shrewd pragmatism, and outspoken personality to bear on many important issues during his thirty years in the House, and was the co-sponsor of the landmark Dodd-Frank reform bill in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

Frank is survived by his husband, Jim Ready, two sisters, and a brother.  He was a hero of our community who will be much missed and long remembered. Here are some videos recounting his life and accomplishments:

The Associated Press:

The Washington Post:

NBC10 Boston:

CBS 60 Minutes interview, 2008:

Frank was the author of a number of books on political subjects; his final work, The Hard Path to Unity:  Why We Must Reform the Left to Rescue Democracy, will be published by Yale University Press this fall.

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Tired Old Queen at the Movies: Blithe Spirit (1945)

Click to enlarge.

Steve Hayes reviews the classic celestial fantasy, filmed in glorious Technicolor in England at the end of World War II, based on the play by the great Noel Coward.  Never mind what the critics said at the time, or later - this is a beautifully filmed, delightfully upper-crust comedy of the kind that isn't made anymore.  And darling Margaret Rutherford, the old dear, is a complete hoot!  If you've never seen it, your're in for a treat - enjoy!

Bonus:  The English country house that was used for exterior shots is still standing just outside London, and just as lovely as it looks in the film.  Check out the real estate listing from 2019 to see some stunning photos of the inside and outside.

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Pete Speaks at Montana Town Hall

On Sunday, Pete Buttigieg spoke at a town hall in Butte, Montana, once the copper capital of the world, where a citizens' initiative, the Montana Plan, is a lively topic just now.  He's been going around the country in recent months making speeches and taking questions at events like this.  I haven't watched any of them because I know I would agree with just about everything he says; and also because I'm sick to death of political speechmaking, which seems so futile in the face of the calamity that has engulfed our country.  

But I said to myself, you ought to listen to him and post his video for others who just might want to hear what he has to say.  So here you go, fellas.  I will just add that I admire Pete tremendously, and he will certainly get my vote for president, if I live long enough to see another free and fair election.  

In my estimation, Pete is a damn good man, a fine man, honest, honorable, intelligent, compassionate, and courageous.  A man at once humble and inspiring.  I wept listening to his simple speech, which seemed to me the prologue to a noble story:  David versus Goliath, perhaps.  He is marked out for some high destiny, I do believe.  

But what do I know.  Listen and judge for yourself.

P. S. -- I will note here that I don't quite agree with Pete's thesis that "the system is broken."  When a man's body is overwhelmed by a filthy contagion, it's not his system that is broken.  Our body politic has been overwhelmed by disease and corruption that may prove fatal unless a remedy is found, and soon.  That's how I would put it.

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Sunday Drive: Welcome to the Future

In 2009 and again in 2011, President and Mrs. Obama hosted a series of concerts in the East Room of the White House, each one showcasing a different genre of contemporary American music.  In the July 2009 concert, country star Brad Paisley debuted his new single "Welcome to the Future," which your Head Trucker thinks ought to be counted one of the all-time great country songs:  full of hope, optimism, love of country and of our fellow human beings.  

The song and video together constitute a brilliant work of homegrown American art - celebrated in the White House by a decent and dignified President, and not for his own glory.  At that time, we still had hope, the country was still holding together, and the misty future seemed a green and pleasant land.

But here in this gray, grim, and ghastly future, this performance makes me weep for our country and the world - for several reasons.  Do I really have to explain why?

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Waitin' for the Weekend

Okay, fellas, hot weather will be here soon, and you know you need to buff up to look your best at the beach.  Just follow this easy buddy routine, and you'll both be pumped up before you know it.

Presented as a public service by the Blue Truck. Watch out for those rug burns, though.

Many and many a year ago, I remember a summer when a buddy and I would drive down to the coast every weekend to lie out on the sand, drink beer, and broil ourselves brown. We also had a workout routine we often practiced in the living room of his pad . . . but, um, not quite like this one.

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Johnny Mac: Pork Chops and Gravy

Johnny promises you'll have something good in your mouth in just five minutes.

In recent months, M.P. and I have become fans of Johnny Mac, the Sauce and Gravy Guy on YouTube.  Not only does he really know his stuff (he has a diploma from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris), but he's a Southern boy like us and really loves what we call home cooking.

It grieves M.P. and me no end to hear of so many people today who have no idea how to cook for themselves, and are afraid to try.  So they send off for factory-made food that comes in a box, and spend twice as much money to eat half as much food!  I tell you, we sometimes sit around the kitchen table and just cry our eyes out, thinking of the terrible waste and ignorance afflicting this country.  It's so sad!

So as a public service, I propose to present some of Johnny Mac's videos here to encourage all the poor, helpless non-cooks to give it a try.  Cookery is NOT HARD.  (Baking is tricky, but that's another story.)  And the beautiful thing about Johnny Mac - apart from his studly big beard - is that he shows and tells you all you need to know, quickly and simply, without fuss or fanfare.

As the first in what may become a series on this blog, here's a simple, delicious dinner idea that anyone can make who can cut butter with a knife:  first the pork chops, and then the gravy to go over them.  This is something our mamas used to cook often, only they made a much simpler gravy from just oil, flour, milk and/or water.  If you want to learn to cook for yourself, this is a great place to start.

Here's how to fry pork chops - but if you don't have a meat thermometer as Johnny does, just cook the chops until they begin to brown and all the meat inside is white, but not longer; pork chops get tough when overcooked.

And here's Johnny's deluxe gravy recipe:

For a simple side dish, make a box of mac & cheese, or some instant mashed potatoes; easier still is to bake a potato or two in the oven or microwave.   For your second veggie, open a can of beans, peas, greens, carrots, or corn, which are already cooked and only have to be hotted up on the stove or in the microwave.  Butter a piece or two of plain bread, pour yourself a beverage, and there's your dinner - for less per person than the cost of burgers and fries at McDonald's.  Enjoy!

P. S. -- For an even quicker and simpler dinner:  when your pork chops are about done, open a can of pork & beans, blackeyed peas, or creamed corn, and pour over the pork chops. Stir around in the hot oil and let bubble a couple of minutes until all is hot, then turn off the fire and help yourself.  This method mingles the pork flavor with the veggies in a delicious way.  

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Sunday Drive: Debussy, Clair de Lune

As performed live by Liberace, 1983.  Somewhere along this same time, I took my mom to see him when he brought his show to our town.  I knew she would enjoy it, but didn't think I would get much out of it - Liberace was very old hat by that time . . . and besides, he was more a than a little, um, flamboyant.  You know what I mean, fellas?  I wasn't comfortable with that.  Just keep it to yourself, I thought.

But we went, and both of us had a grand time.  He truly was Mr. Showmanship - a consummate entertainer, and from the moment he stepped onto the stage in a glittering sequined suit and fur-lined cape, he enthralled everyone in that huge arena, individually and collectively, and held them spellbound until he played his last note.  Virtuosity.  Spectacle.  Magic.  

I've never seen anything like it, before or since.  Not a dull moment in the whole show, musically or visually, and the outfits kept getting more and more flamboyant - oh Mary, don't ask!  But never a hint of vulgarity, and the audience just begged for more, blue-haired ladies and manly men alike.

So this is for you, my darling red-haired Mama. I miss you so.

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Waitin' for the Weekend

"Shape of My Heart" by Osvaldo:

Music by Sting.

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R. I. P. Ted Turner, 1938-2026

There's just something about a man with a cigar . . .
Ted Turner, 1977 

Ted Turner, the colorful billionaire and philanthropist, 6 feet tall with a rakish mustache and a cocky, Rhett Butler swagger, has died at the age of 87 at his plantation home in northern Florida.  A shrewd, talkative businessman full of boyish exubarance, with big dreams and big wins, he was called "The Mouth of the South" for his sometimes outrageous public comments. Among many other accomplishments, he was the father of CNN and Turner Classic Movies, and for some years was the owner of the champion Atlanta Braves baseball team.  He wasn't born in the South, but we'll claim him anyway.

I recollect when he started his first TV station in Atlanta, where I was living at the time.  Channel 17 was a low-budget start-up that I chiefly remember because it would play Top 40 songs all morning? / afternoon? on Saturday - producing the first music videos, all done in-house by using special effects with the TV cameras - like mirror images, upside-down dancers, a rain of polka dots, and so forth.  Primitive, but fascinating at the time.  I watched them on my nifty little Sony TV with a 5-inch screen, which was the last word in cool back then.

He was married three times and had five children.  His third wife, from 1991 to 2001, was Jane Fonda, who has written this lovely tribute:

He swept into my life, a gloriously handsome, deeply romantic, swashbuckling pirate and I’ve never been the same. He needed me. No one had ever let me know they needed me, and this wasn’t your average human being that needed me, this was the creator of CNN, and Turner Classic Movies, who had won the America’s Cup as the world’s greatest sailor . . . 

He was a good-looking rascal, but straight as a board, and therefore typically boring:  not someone I kept track of; I hadn't thought about him in years.  But as far as I know, he wasn't hateful or malicious, nor was he a thief or a rapist, as we hear so much about today.  And looking over his obituaries, I am struck by all the many good things he did or tried to do for the country and the world.  He actually cared about other people - what a concept - and had a big heart.

If you can spare the time to look at some of these retrospectives, you will see that, unlike some other big-mouthed billionaires, he actively promoted world peace, nuclear disarmament, environmental regulation, wildlife protection, responsible journalism, and other noble causes.  He put his money where his big mouth was, too - lots of it.

So I have to say, Good on you, Ted.  You used your time on earth wisely and well, and your treasure too.  Rest in peace.

TCM: 

PBS: 

WSB (Atlanta, 1988): 

 

And a 52-minute interview with Charlie Rose from 2004 - it's most interesting to hear Turner's condemnation of Bush's invasion of Iraq, and contrast that with the insane, homicidal ravings of the current occupant of the White House:

P. S. -- Turner was no dummy, either.  He wanted to major in classics (Latin/Greek literature and history) in college, until his daddy threw a fit and made him choose something else.  In one of the videos above, Turner quotes from memory a famous passage from "Horatio at the Bridge" by Macaulay:

To every man upon this earth, death cometh soon or late;

And how can man die better than facing fearful odds,

For the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods . . . .

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Sunday Drive: Strolling through the Park One Day

. . . in the merry, merry month of May!

And I know what you're thinking.  I was, too.  Here's a compilation of those Looney Tunes we all remember:

 

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