Sunday Drive: Dream a Little Dream of Me

Ella and Louis are the magic.

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Waitin' for the Weekend

Well, howdy!

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Trae Crowder: The Self-Inflicted Shame Parade

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Pete on Politics in 2024

An interview with Ezra Klein of the New York Times. Gosh, how nice it is to hear an intelligent man talking on the internet. 

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Sunday Drive: Brahms, Waltz in A-Flat

We heard this lovely tune played last night in the movie Old Acquaintance (1943), but neither of us could remember the name of it.  After some searching, I found it - a nice tune to begin the first day of autumn with.

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Coach Fixes His Truck

I love it:  this is a brilliant piece of campaign advertising.  The monologue might have been a little better written, but the point is clear:  Walz is a regular guy, a man of the people, and the Democrats care about all us ordinary, middle-class folks.  Unlike the other guys.  Sure, it really doesn't have anything much to do with the issues - but it is a very appealing portrait of Walz's humanity and decency,  

It's an old, old strategy in the US of A.  All through the 19th century, parties loved to paint their candidate as a true-blue American, born in a log cabin, a drinker of hard cider, not fancy French wines, a real man of the people, not some rich, out-of-touch snob from the big city who doesn't care about working folks.  The more things change . . . 

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Waitin' for the Weekend: Art Lesson

Is it art or anatomy?  You decide.

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Trae Crowder: Plumb Ignorant and Truly Insane!

The Liberal Redneck recaps the week in MAGA politics:

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Cavalcade of Food: Visit to the Rambler Ranch 1960s House

Samantha and her Flair

Ralph and Kevin from Cavalcade of Food visit the Rambler Ranch House in Colorado, full of groovy 1960s decor, furniture, and appliances.  Ralph also bakes a Mexican Wedding Cake in a 1964 Frigidare Flair oven just like the one in Samantha's kitchen on Bewitched - remember?  The recipe is in the video description.

Your Head Trucker remembers that 1960s stuff very well, although it's not my favorite period, aesthetically or otherwise.  And I don't know about other parts of the country, but shag carpeting was not a thing in the Deep South until the 1970s.  But it's a fun fantasy for the owner and his visitors, and maybe for you, too, if you don't mind some shaky camera work.  Enjoy.

P.S. - Your Head Trucker used to have a recipe for that cake.  It was delicious, and a big hit at get-togethers.  I'll have to dig through my old cookbooks and see if I can find it again.

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Sunday Drive: You're Only Lonely

We close out the summer with this haunting tune by singer-songwriter J. D. Souther, who penned many hits for the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, and others.  He was born in Detroit but grew up in Amarillo, and this song has a certain poignant sound just right for a long drive across the wide-open Texas prairie, thinking about loves lost or found.  

Here Souther performs it at a Farm Aid concert in Austin on July 4, 1986.  Enjoy. 

 

If you prefer the purity of the original radio version, here it is:

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Waitin' for the Weekend: Steve Kelso

A treat for my truckbuddies:  a few carefully edited minutes of the 2002 Colt Studio film Waterbucks, featuring the great Steve Kelso.  His portion of this film is one of the most beautiful, dreamlike things your Head Trucker has ever seen, and I recommend you watch it before summer slips away.

The film is still available to watch or purchase at the Colt Studio website, if you go look for it.

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Election Convictions, Predictions, and Fictions

Screen shot from Voice of America report at a debate-watching party in a restaurant.  The video can be seen on Wikipedia here.

Well, despite my reservations expressed in yesterday's post, all the left-of-center journo types are still shouting hallelujah over Kamala's performance, and the repubs are crying and whining about "unfair moderators" - "it was three against one" - so I guess the debate was a win for Kamala.  It still bugs me, though, that she evaded several very direct questions about her change of mind on certain policies, and offered no coherent, large-scale plan for her presidency.  And though she expessed her commitment to democracy and the rule of law, there was no stand-up-and-cheer moment, no clarion call to arms, which  I suppose is what I was hoping for.

Election campaigns are always more show than substance.  Even some of our greatest presidents got into the White House not solely because they were wise and honest men, but because they were great showmen too.  

But for someone who had no idea of campaigning for the presidency two months ago, I think Kamala did her best - and did it damn well.  She's smart, articulate, experienced in national politics and foreign affairs, and, I believe, sincere in her allegiance to the Constituion and all that we expect a president to do and be.  And of course, she is the only candidate we've got - the only candidate worthy of the office.  So I support her 100 percent, and I hope all my truckbuddies will, too.  A victory for Trump and his legion of snarling trolls would mean the end of the American experiment, and I hope I don't live to see that.

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There's been so much commentary since the debate that I couldn't decide on a video to post today, so here's a potpourri you can choose from - some serious, some ridiculous, but each one has a noteworthy nugget or two of information or reaction.  A snapshot of America at this historic moment.  Enjoy.

 

You'll be amazed when you see what a sexy hunk this old guy was fifty years ago; and he's still going strong - mentally and physically:

 

And just for laughs, here's a very creative re-do of the debate - I won't say musical, because it hurts my old ears, but very creative nevertheless:

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First Harris-Trump Debate, 9/10/24: Who Won?

Screen shot from the ABC News telecast of the debate.

The first debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump took place last night at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, hosted by ABC News and moderated by reporters David Muir and Linsey Davis.  The debate was televised live with no audience in the hall.  The Boston Globe gives some highlights of the nearly two-hour debate:

 

In case anyone who missed it wants to watch the whole debate, it's available from ABC News here.

What I Say: I was disapointed in Kamala's performance; I say that knowing she must have been under tremendous pressure to perform well, and no doubt prepared arduously for this debate. All the talking heads on the Left are jubilant this morning, saying she "cleaned Trump"s clock" and suchlike. She spoke well, and she got in a few zingers, true. But five minutes in, I was shouting at the TV screen:  Answer the question, for God's sake!

To me, the whole thing was rather like watching Eleanor Roosevelt debate Al Capone. She was nice, and he was nasty. She came across as very smart, very articulate, and very high-minded, which warmed every Democrat's heart.  She did not descend to Trump's level, which was right; but time and again I thought her answers were vague, evasive generalities that changed nobody's mind or vote.  (Where is Joan Crawford when you need her?)

What would have changed minds and votes? I don't know, exactly. I just feel that Trump's rhetoric was simple, direct, and forceful - things any old shitkicker could understand, and many would cheer. Harris's approach, on the other hand, was to my way of thinking a bit abstract, a bit muddled, a bit lofty, a bit Elizabeth Warren-ish. That don't sit well with the plain folks, and there are millions of 'em.

Yes, Kamala said a lot of things to Trump's face that all of us sensible people have wanted to say for years; but what did that accomplish? Criticism rolls off him like water off a duck's back. What did Kamala say that made anyone want to vote for her, as distinct from voting against Trump? 

Now, maybe I'm all wet, and she really did trounce him in the debate. But I was listening expectantly to hear something that would get the attention of the folks who live all over the very red state of Texas - and not just the rural areas, either. And I didn't hear it. 

Perhaps I am too critical;  I do dearly want Harris and Walz to win this election, and Trump to just blow away like the tumbleweeds far out in the West Texas nothingness.  Maybe Kamala did do just fine; but maybe my down-home intuition is right.  I guess we'll see what happens.

What did you think of the debate, my truckbuddies? I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  

P. S. -- Whoa now.  That David Muir is a fine journalist.  Never heard of him before, but I sure did like what I saw:  smart, strong, suave, and not too bad looking, either.  

Actually, I thought both he and Linsey Davis did an excellent job as moderators, despite Trump's continual mike-hogging.  They both fact-checked him a number of times, in a calm and dignified way.  Excellent.

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What We're Watching: Hauser in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall

Hauser is a great favorite of M.P.'s, and I like him too.  He played this outstanding concert of classical and popular music last May in London with guest artists Caroline Campbell, Aida Garifullina, and Lara Fabian.  As M.P. says, he's a superb cellist and a real showman to boot. Quite a treat for music lovers.

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Message from the Princess of Wales

Catherine, Princess of Wales, in 2022

 

Two years on, yesterday, from the death of Queen Elzabeth II, the Princess of Wales has released a charming and remarkably informal video message announcing the end of her chemotherapy treatments.

It's lovely to see a happy family at leisure.  I'm sure all people of goodwill join me in wishing them the very best.

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Sunday Drive: In an 18th Century Drawing Room

The Reception by Arturo Ricco
Click to enlarge.

I'm sure this charming piece is a swing version of a classical tune, but I can't remember what the original was.  Little help, fellas?

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Waitin' for the Weekend

Damn, now who's calling?

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Trae Crowder: We're All in This Together

The Liberal Redneck wonders why working-class people support Republicans who don't give a damn about them.

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The Pork Boys Do M.P.'s Birthday

Owing to spells of illness and sundry domestic crises, we had to put off M.P.'s birthday dinner until last Sunday, which turned out to be a nice, peaceful day here in Texas, the temperature outside merely a balmy 90 degrees.

As per our custom, M.P. - resident cook and chef extraordinaire - asked your Head Trucker to prepare the birthday repast, featuring a childhood favorite of his:  Cajun chicken fricassee over rice, accompanied by sweet peas in butter sauce, fried garlic corn, and toasted garlic bread.  And I am always glad to have a chance to cook for M.P. who, as my longtime truckbuddies know, routinely serves up so many delicious meals for me.  M.P. really loves to cook; he thinks and plans and even dreams about it all the time.  It's his glory and chief delight in life, and he is entirely self-taught.

Your Head Trucker's talents in the kitchen, as in all other areas of life, are few and small.  But I believe I can safely say now that I have mastered the fricassee.  When I first made it for M.P. a couple of years ago, he pronounced it delicious, saying it was just like his mama made it.  But this time, after I've improved the recipe a bit, he declared it excellent and perfect.  He even said with a guilty grin (shhh!) it was better than his mama's!  You can't get higher praise than that.  So now he has given yours truly the accolade of Honorary Cajun with Two Stars, which I shall bear proudly.

Enough talk, here's the pictures - I do wish I could hand you boys a plate.  It's plain cooking, all right, but it will fill you up.  Click the pics to enlarge.

M.P. likes to use a seashore theme for our summer Sunday dinners.  This week, he crafted a whimsical lighthouse out of empty seasoning jars.

Our pretty Sunday dinners, not to mention birthday and holiday meals, always feature wine and candlelight and some festive theme of M.P.'s devising.

Sweet peas and butter on the left, gen-yew-ine Cajun chicken fricassee on the right.  If any of my truckbuddies want the recipe, let me know in the comments and I'll post it.  (First you make a roux . . .)

Fried garlic corn topped with parmesan cheese on the left, plain white rice on the right, fluffy and moist.  And just so you know, the stovetop was spotlessly clean when I started cooking, three-and-a-half hours before this picture was taken.  I can cook or clean, but not both at the same time.

Toasted garlic bread, hot out of the oven, ready to serve.

Lightouse on the rocks.

Alas, your Head Trucker's talents do not extend to cake decorating.  But it's the thought that counts, right?  M.P. was delighted with the strawberry cake, the cream cheese icing, and the watermelon wine.
(Try it, you'll like it!)

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Sunday Drive: The Lord's My Shepherd

This metrical version of the beloved Psalm 23 was a favorite of the late Queen's.  Mine too.

 

Today I add this reflection from Forward Day by Day, the Episcopal quarterly of daily readings and prayers.  I used to read them most days when I was new to the Church; now I dip into their website once in a while when I need a little inspiration.  I found this reading deeply moving.

Click to enlarge.

Despite what you may have heard on television or read on the intertubes, this is the Christian religion: to love our neighbors as God loves us.  God is Love.  That is my hope, my faith, and my belief.  And there's nothing wrong with that.

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