Jazz for Cows

If it works on cows, would it work on Republicans?

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The Next Big Thing: Transparent TV

Still puzzling over what to get that guy who has everything?  Well, here you go.  On sale now in L.A. for only 60 grand. Get 'em while they last - and before those tariffs kick in.

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Around and Around and Around

Does the holiday rush make you feel like zoning out for a while?

 

 You're welcome.

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Mormon Church Comes Out for Gay Marriage

 

Huh, that's a shocker.  (Remember the Prop 8 fight?)  Read all about it in the Salt Lake Tribune.

And for your information, the Respect for Marriage Act was first introduced in Congress in 2009. and has been reintroduced several times.  But this year, the bill was finally passed in the House last July by a vote of 267-157, with the support of 47 Republicans.  

Now it's up to the Senate, if 10 Republicans will vote for the bill, and Democratic leaders think the votes are in the bag. So we should have more reason to celebrate soon; in fact, the Senate is holding a preliminary vote today.  So stay tuned and keep your fingers crossed.

Update, 7 p.m.:  The preliminary vote passed 62-37, with 12 Republican senators voting in favor of it.  A final vote on the bill is expected on Friday, after which the Senate version will be sent to the House for approval.

 

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Sunday Drive: Oh Me! Oh My!

Jump-start your Sunday with this hopping little tune from the 1950 film Tea for Two, sung and danced (!) by Gene Nelson.  This you have to see, fellas: 

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What I'm Watching: A Trip down Market Street, 1906

 

Only in San Francisco: a world without rules!  The libertarian's dream.  What would that look like?  This film shows you clearly, with a camera mounted on a streetcar proceeding leisurely through the heart of the great city in a very casual mix of streetcars, horses, buggies, automobiles, bicycles, and fleet-footed pedestrians - a jaw-dropping sight sure to raise the hair on your head.

Just four days later, it all came crashing down.  Alas, Babylon!

The film speed has been corrected, and a bit of sound and color added.  The video description on the YouTube page explains how the film was made and much later found and restored.  A priceless piece of American history you won't forget.

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Pope Comes Out for Civil Unions

Whoa.  In a breathtaking departure from Catholic teaching up till now, Pope Francis has unofficially stated his approval of civil unions for gay couples.  The Catholic News Agency reports:

In a documentary that premiered Wednesday in Rome, Pope Francis called for the passage of civil union laws for same-sex couples, departing from the position of the Vatican’s doctrinal office and the pope’s predecessors on the issue.

The remarks came amid a portion of the documentary that reflected on pastoral care for those who identify as LGBT. 

“Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family. They’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out, or be made miserable because of it,” Pope Francis said in the film, of his approach to pastoral care.

After those remarks, and in comments likely to spark controversy among Catholics, Pope Francis weighed in directly on the issue of civil unions for same-sex couples.

“What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered,” the pope said. “I stood up for that.”

The remarks come in “Francesco,” a documentary on the life and ministry of Pope Francis which premiered Oct. 21 as part of the Rome Film Festival, and is set to make its North American premiere on Sunday.

Well, I'm stunned, and I'm not even Catholic.  However, it does seem in line with Pope Francis's kindly personality and humane approach to pastoral issues.  For us Americans, this change of tune comes a bit late; but then no doubt in some other, less-evolved societies, people may feel it comes too soon.  Be that as it may, we'll take it, and I for one will count Pope Francis as a "gay ally" from here on out.

Don't reject goodwill or friendship just because it doesn't arrive on your timetable.  Despite the incessant gay-hooray of American media, the fact remains that we are a tiny minority of the population both here and all around the world.  (You can look it up for yourself.)  And who knows what the legal and judicial atmosphere will be after this election.  

We need all the friends we can get, fellas.  And we don't have to be Catholic to realize that Francis has done a beautiful thing:  he has affirmed that we gays are human beings, after all, and children of God - just like everybody else.  Our essential humanity, our right to exist, does not, of course, depend on his say-so; but coming from the Pope, this will open some hearts that have been hitherto closed against us.  

Thank you, Your Holiness.

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Update:  See my post from 3/13/21, Pope Francis Nixes Gay Unions.

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How Colors Got Their Names

A fascinating look at the anthropology of color terms.  Before you watch the video, what do you suppose the first three color names were?

Spooky Sun

From NASA:

Active regions on the sun combined to look something like a jack-o-lantern’s face on Oct. 8, 2014. The image was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, which watches the sun at all times from its orbit in space.

The active regions in this image appear brighter because those are areas that emit more light and energy. They are markers of an intense and complex set of magnetic fields hovering in the sun’s atmosphere, the corona. This image blends together two sets of extreme ultraviolet wavelengths at 171 and 193 Ångströms, typically colorized in gold and yellow, to create a particularly Halloween-like appearance.

Invasion of the Flying Mattresses

It happened in Denver, last Saturday.  Coming soon to a neighborhood near you.

Get out of Bed

This is a real thing.




Available at Amazon, but reviews are mixed.  I'm retired, so I'll pass.  Cute idea, though.

Waitin' for the Weekend

Amazing, isn't it?

Mr. Overton

I may give out, but I never give up.

Austin resident Richard Arvin Overton, now age 111 and America's oldest living World War II veteran, attributes his longevity to a daily regimen of cigars, whiskey, and ice cream.  Watch this wonderful little biography of him and listen to his philosophy of life that keeps him going.





Earlier this year, the City of Austin marked his birthday by renaming the street he lives on:

Coming Out at 95

Ronan Blank is a Holocaust survivor, father of two, and a grandfather.  He has been happily married to his wife, Ruth, for over 60 years.  And he just came out of the closet.




The website for the upcoming documentary film made by Ronan's grandson is here.

Stonewall Inn Now a National Monument

Last Friday, President Obama announced that he has designated the Stonewall Inn in New York City, along with Christopher Park across the street and some other properties in the vicinity, as America's newest national monument, commemorating the modern gay rights movement that began there 47 years ago last night.

The official text of the presidential proclamation is here. 

The Park Service site is here.

The New York Times article is here.

These two announcement videos overlap a bit:






And here's a report from CBS New York:




Ya know, guys, it continues to take my breath away to realize how far we've come just in my lifetime - when Stonewall happened, I was a closeted, totally isolated teenager in a world where merely the word homosexual was loathsome and unmentionable. But now that I'm an old man, the President of the United States has declared a gay bar a national monument.  Incredible.

And I have lived to see this day.

Got Wine?

Amazing:

The Elephant's Trunk

Oh my, all the way back in the 1950's they were getting this far out?

NASA Says: Water on Mars!

Yawn.  Of course we knew that over a hundred years ago. But the canals! Where are the pics of the canals?

A Brief History of Everything

A mind-boggling summary by astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City:

Alone in the Taiga

Smithsonian magazine published a couple of years ago this fascinating article about a Russian family who fled Stalinist persecution to live in a remote area of Siberia in the 1930's and remained there with no other human contact for four decades, grubbing a living out of the wilderness and practicing their fundamentalist Old Believer faith - they didn't even know that World War II had happened until they were found by a team of Russian geologists exploring the area by helicopter in 1978. But they still refused to return to "sinful" civilization - now only one is left, 70-year-old Agafia, who is shown in this 2013 video.



This story brings up many profound reflections on human nature, society, religion, and materialism - but I will leave you readers to explore your own thoughts on those things. Your Head Trucker will say only that on some days he can well sympathize with the desire to find a remote, happy little spot far from the madding crowd - but he would damn sure pick a warmer spot than Siberia to exile himself to! Aruba, maybe.