Full Speed Ahead

I had a good day off yesterday. although busy as hell.  I did manage to get everything done and get 8 hours of sleep.  I hit the ground running this morning and so far it is Full Steam Ahead as we cruise into another busy truck night at work.  Then comes the Weekend, hoo-fucking-ray!!  I actually have the Weekend off so I am looking forward to that.  As it is I have to get this up and then get ready to run out the door for said truck night.  

Before I rush out the door though, I have some Marvelous Music and Gorgeous Guys to share with you today.  Starting with the video below, I have a wonderful live performance with Leonard Bernstein Conducting the Vienna Philharmonic at the Musikverein in their performance of Symphony Number 1  in E Minor by Jean Sibelius.  Over on my tumblr, I have Anne-Sophie Mutter performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto accompanied by Andre Previn conducting the Dresden Staatskapelle.  

For Art in the male form, it is time to feed that imagination of yours and this week's edition of Fantasy Fuel down below should just fit the bill just fine.  Over on my tumblr, the Hottie of the Day! wants you to reveal his 'Hidden Treasure'.  Thanks for the visit, now it is Full Steam Ahead!  See you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

Marriage Equality and the Texas Nut Jobs

Now that the dust is settling around the Marriage Equality palpitations/ vows to resist compliance/ general apoplexy of those who fear anyone who is not them, most places are returning to normal everyday activities.  Here in Texas it is a mixed bag of good and bad with the usual cast of villains: Governor Gregg 'Fuckhead' Abbott, AG Ken 'Lapdog' Paxton  and every one's favorite Senate Nut Job Ted 'Holier than thou' Cruz getting in on the verbal sparring.  Senator Cruz went on Glenn Beck's show and spouted bile and bull shit about the propaganda effort by Hollywood that has set America on the Path to Destruction.  Of course Glenn Beck is no friend to the LGBT community, far from it.  So when the two of them get together the bs gets deeper than the deepest ocean trench.  You can watch it here if you have the stomach for that much bile and bs in one sitting.  

Meanwhile, there are still 5 Texas Counties that are resisting compliance with the SCOTUS Ruling in Obergefell: Hamilton, Irion, Hartley, Loving and Roberts.  In fact Irion County Clerk Molly Criner issued a “Declaration of Obedience to Law and Defense of Natural Marriage,” in which she wrote:

1. I will continue to defend Natural Marriage as recognized by the People of Texas, in the Constitution and Laws of the State of Texas, consistent with the Declaration of Independence; the written United States Constitution; the Ninth, Tenth, and Fourteenth Amendments; and higher Natural Law..

2. Natural Marriage between one man and one woman remains the law in Texas, regardless of any court decision to the contrary. Any court decision purporting to strike down Natural Marriage, including Obergefell v. Hodges, is “unauthoritative, void, and of no force.”

3. I, as County Clerk, in faithful execution of the laws of Texas, shall resist unlawful federal or state court encroachments upon the prerogative of the People of Texas to protect Natural Marriage, and shall only issue marriage licenses consistent with Texas law, so help me God.

4. With a firm reliance upon the providence of Almighty God and the support of my fellow citizens, I call upon all of the Officers of the State of Texas, the Governor, the Attorney General, and the members of the Texas Legislature, to join with me, and utilize all authority within their power to protect Natural Marriage from lawless court opinions, wherever the source.

Of course none of these statements will hold water in court and sooner or later MS Criner and the other four County Clerks who are resisting compliance will either comply or be swatted bown by the government. like Orville Faubus and George Wallace before them.  Then there is right wing media darling and nut job Mat Stave of the Liberty Counsel who had this to say in a press release:

“The Supreme Court has historically made a number of bad rulings that time and justice have been able to realize and overcome,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “The opinion of five lawyers regarding marriage is another example of an unjust law that will be overcome as people stand together, individually, and as States,” Staver continued.

“Like Molly, each of us should vow not to be intimidated but, instead, to stand united for our God-given liberties and the Rule of Law,” Staver advised.

If any of these Neanderthals were actually interested in the 'Rule of Law', then they would understand that their God-given liberties end where mine begin.  The 'Rule of Law' states I have Freedom of Religion, that is to believe or not to believe as I so choose with the government forbidden to make any law restricting that freedom.  I can be religious or not, but no one else has the right, express or implied to force their beliefs on me or any other person.  Of course they are only interested in the 'Rule of Law' as long as it agrees with their position, warranted or not.

There has been some positive news here in Texas as loving couples are joining together in matrimony all over the state.  Even the Hood Count Clerk Katie Lang relented and allowed one of her Deputy Clerks to issue a license to a gay couple of 27 years, Jim Cato and Joe Stapleton who had sued her for failure to do so.  And then there is the hunky Gay County Clerk in the small conservative town of Paris, TX who is delightedly issuing licenses to all who come.  So soon or later, everyone will have to comply whether they like it or not.  They can not like it, they have that right, they just don't have the right to deny me my rights.  Progress, one step at a time, or maybe one pulled tooth at a time would be more appropriate, when dealing with nut jobs and homophobes.

Just for curiosity's sake, you may want to take the quiz over at Slate to see if you can tell which of 15 different statements by various nut jobs was made about segregation or marriage equality.  You will find most of the statements very similar in vein, so read carefully.  I got the average score of 9 out of 15 correct.  How well will you do?

Moving on to the Music for today, I have featured the talents of Anne-Sophie Mutter on many occasions in these pages, but I have yet to feature any Music by her former husband, Pianist, Composer/Conductor Andre Previn.  So today I thought I would feature both.   Previn composed two Violin Sonatas, the second of which leads off this play list with a performance by Anne-Sophie and frequent accompanist Lambert Orkis.  While Previn was married to Mutter, he composed a Violin Concerto appropriately entitled "Anne-Sophie".  To my knowledge Ms Mutter is the only artist to record this Concerto.  Today's performance has Previn at the Podium with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and of course Anne-Sophie as the Soloist.  For a little different take on  Previn's Music, over on my tumblr you may join the Xavier de Maistre for his performance of Previn's Harp Concerto accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of  Danielle Gatti.

Finally for today, Random Hotness abounds in the post down below as well as in the Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr who is a 'Mahogany Man of Mystery' ready to lead you on a secret adventure!  Thanks for the visit, see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

Monday's Miscellany

Well, it has been  a busy morning for me already today as I have already gone to the dealership to get the recall work done on my car and returned home.  This is my first day off in two weeks and it is as chock full of activity as any work day.  Next up is a trip over to the downtown campus of Tarrant County College so my buddy J can talk to someone about his course load for this next semester.  After we get finished there, hopefully I can work in some nap time before starting the evenings activities.  

I am making chicken fried chicken breasts for dinner with sides of half-mashed potatoes, stuffing, organic corn  and some yummy chicken gravy.  That will involve a little work and probably a lot of mess.  Any time I mess with flour it seems to get everywhere no matter what I do.  So I just accept it and clean up the mess.  I am going to slow fry the chicken in my electric skillet with the cover on using my special double dipped recipe.  I have my own 'secret herbs and spices' and slow frying with the lid on mimics the pressure cooker results you get with the Original KFC recipe.  People tell me I resemble Colonel Sanders a lot.  When they do I ask them if they know why the resemblance is so remarkable.  Then I just say "I'm old, I'm wise and I am finger lickin' good!  This always gets a wry laugh or spontaneous lascivious thoughts in those in hearing range of my comments.  

At any rate, dinner should be simply delicious despite the work necessary to get it on the table.  I find that cooking relaxes me, and the sound of happy forks on dinnerware gives me a great deal of pleasure.  After dinner, then I hope to catch something interesting on Net Flix or hang with my buddies J & D over across the sidewalk from me.  My whole goal today is to have a stress free, relaxing and entertaining day.  Wish me luck in my endeavors, lol.

Your Monday with Mozart features a recording of a live 1990 concert in Munich, Germany by Friedrich Gulda performing Mozart's Piano Sonatas KV 332, 375 and 457.  For additional musical manipulations by the master, check out Mozart's Sonata for 2 Pianos, K448 with a performance by Alicia de Larrocha and Andre Previn over on my tumblr.  

Then to kick off this weeks collections of muscly men in various evocative poses and amounts of flesh revealed is this week's edition of Monday's Undies featuring lots of lithesome lads strutting their stuff for your visual appreciation.  Additional inspiration can be found in the Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr.  Thanks for starting the week with me, see you again tomorrow when the man art will feature a retrospective of the imagery of photographer Biron which he has sent me from time to time.  Until  next time as always, Enjoy!