When witnessing a crime should we look the other way? Or call them out?
What Would Betty Do?
Videos
Fearsome entertainment
Proud Mary Keep on Rollin’
President Biden has hit the road and he’s a rollin’.
Let’s keep the steam pumpin with not one, not two but three wonderful versions of a Fearsome favorite, Proud Mary.
Broken Peach – Proud Mary – 2017
Tina Turner – Proud Mary – 2009 (49 years after she first charted a tune in 1960 and 38 years after she & Ike made their cover of this tune famous, she is 70 years old in this performance.)
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Proud Mary – 1969
Keep on rollin’ Joe. You are doing a good man’s work and we support you.
Leaders
We here at Fearsome Beard the blog thingy believe in recognizing and even promoting those who we feel are working not only to improve themselves but the world around them.
Yesterday we had the honor of witnessing a break out moment for a rising star of our future. We were so moved by Amanda Gordon that the moment we could find a clip of her poetry reading on YouTube we posted it. Today we learned more about her from Anderson Cooper. We hope to learn lots more about her in the future as we watch her rise into a leader. A leader worth listening to.
She gives us hope.
Inaugural Poet
Amanda Gordon / Youth Poet Laureate 2017 – The Hill We Climb – Presidential Inaugural Reading January 20, 2021
Spellbindingly beautiful.
“For there is always light if only we are brave enough to see it, if only we are brave enough to be it.”
Happy Days Ahead
I’ve been saving this famous clip of Judy & Barbra just for today.
Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand – Happy Days Are Here Again / Come On Get Happy – 1963
Congratulations President Biden and Vice President Harris. Thank you for your service to our country. The world breathes a sigh of relief.
Appropriate
Emotional doesn’t even start to describe my feelings. My feelings are appropriate.
I think I’ll just let myself feel the emotions as these tears of joy still stream down my cheeks as they have off and on all day today.
Filled with hope I tuck myself into bed tonight, for tomorrow will finally arrive when I awake.
It’s been a long cold lonely winter. Thank all of you for sticking with me through it, I couldn’t have done it without you.
The Beatles – Here Comes The Sun – 1969
A Weight is Lifting
I awake this morning filled with hope. A hope that has me shedding tears of joy. A joy that comes as a weight that has been hard to bear is being lifted. I’m finding it hard to express the depth of this hope.
The hope that I feel comes from my belief that inherently humankind is actually kind at it’s heart. While I recognize the faults, folly and imperfections of us, I see that kindness, love and understanding prevail over time.
I believe in sharing, promoting and focusing on the good. I believe this because I value that you get what you focus on the most.
There is a lightness to my shoulders this morning. There is an easier feeling than what I’ve felt in the past 4 years. My angst is receding. A feeling of relief, calm and serenity is coming over me.
There’s a kind of Hush – Herman’s Hermits – 1967
This tune is one I enjoyed as a child. It’s a tune that takes me to a simpler place. It brings me joy today.
Peace.
We Reap What We Sow
This is a monumental week for me as a liberal left leaning democrat. I must remember to be careful, careful of my expectations. Utopia cannot happen at once but must be built. Patience and an open mind will benefit me as we move forward.
I am ready to lay this burden of angst down and lift my wings and fly. However I will remember that I do reap what I sow.
Annie Lennox – Little Bird – 1992
Pack Your Shit and Go!
Bill Maher’s latest children’s book just in time for January 20.
Bill Maher – Pack Your Shit and Go – 2021
Because I need a break this morning
The news cycle is important to keep up with. However for my mental health I must take a break for diversion, fun and some eye candy.
Broken Peach is my answer this morning.
Broken Peach – Take On Me – 2021
I’ll just leave this here…
It was worth my time, hopefully it’s worth yours.
Leaders
Well it’s 2021. We are still here.
There is a light at the end of this here tunnel and on this here blog thingy we hope to inspire in the coming year. It is time we got back to our roots, took stock of what we have and commenced to grow into what we wish to become.
Fearsome is still growing, I desire to follow his lead.
John Lennon has always been a leader who inspires me, so I’m handing it to him to kick us off on this very New Year’s Day 2021.
John Lennon / The Plastic Ono Band – Instant Karma! ( We All Shine On ) – 1970
Don’t aim for the finish line
Aim past it!
Keeping with our friends Stephen & Rab, The Kilted Coaches, Fearsome and I have some attitude adjustment to do in order to keep us on track. Today we are reminded that in order to achieve our goals, we need to aim beyond them.
Now that Fearsome is at belly button, his next goal is belt buckle. Therefore he’s aiming for mid fly.
My next fitness goal is to regain the strength and muscle I’ve lost in the isolation and closed gym of the pandemic, so I am in my garage setting up my new home gym and am going to aim for 10lbs beyond my last lifting best, but will safely start lifting far below that and aim to gain slowly to 10 lbs beyond. My next financial goal is to pay 70% of the cost of my new Cybertruck in cash January of 2022, so I’m going to aim for paying 100% cash!
Let’s get this party started!
The Viking Mindset
Fearsome has recently been reminding me that I’ve been lacking in motivational posts.
Personally I need to feed my mind motivational video, books, podcasts and affirmations in order to stay positive, grow and move forward. I find it helps me stay on track and avoid stagnation. I agree with Fearsome that I’ve dropped that ball along the way and, of recent, have become stagnant.
Since we have a new year upon us therefore, not to be cliché but maybe to be cliché, I’m going to follow Fearsome’s suggestion and seek out motivational things to occasionally share on a more frequent basis. You have been forewarned. 😉
To start our little self motivational endeavor we turn to our old friends Stephen & Rab who are better known as The Kilted Coaches.
“A Viking never seeks hardship, but is always ready for it. The thing is…in order to be ready for it, he must seek it out. This is the Viking mindset.”
…The Kilted Coaches
“Growing is never easy. If we don’t seek growth, there will not be growth.”
…Fearsome Beard
Jack Frost Nipping At Your Nose
When settling down for a quiet holiday evening, no one does it better than Nat King Cole.
Nat King Cole – The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) – 1961
Slay Bells
We here at Fearsome Beard love our Drag Queens, and Manila Luzon never lets us down. She simply outdoes herself with her sickening version of Slay Bells!
Manila Luzon – Slay Bells – 2015
Damn she’s beautiful!
Time to Twist!
That highly anticipated week is here and that means it’s time to have fun. So let’s get this week into high gear and get our tush in motion!
Si Cranston – A Christmas Twist – 2015
Pure fun!
May Peace Be With You
It’s a beautiful winter solstice evening here in San Diego California. We’ve just returned from a 4.7 mile walk as the sun set over the Pacific ocean to our west for its final time before our earth begins its tilt northward marking the beginning of winter. Today was a stunningly beautiful 75 degree F day here with crystal blue skies, warm but with a refreshing nip in the air. Simply the optimum Southern California winters’s day, kind of a cordial welcome to longer days that are on the horizon as we march toward spring.
Moments after arriving home we found this a cappella recording of Veni Veni Emmanuel. It’s simple yet refreshingly stunning. We found it an appropriate to welcome winter.
Enjoy!
The Gesualdo Six – Veni Veni Emmanuel – 2014
Happy Winter Solstice…
May peace be with you.
That Hippo Song
Long time Fearsome Beard readers pretty much expect this one to pop up somewhere in the Fearsome holiday play list. It’s a tradition as well as a favorite!
Take it away Gayla!
Gayla Peevey – I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas – 1953
I Still Believe
Dolly has been a guiding light throughout my life.
I still vividly remember the very first time I heard her sing Jolene through the speaker of the AM radio of my mother’s white 1967 Buick Electra 225 as we drove through the back county of Tennessee late at night on the way to my uncle’s house in Missouri. I also remember being at my friend Melissa’s house when she played Dolly’s new 45 of Two Doors Down as we danced to it in the living room of her mother’s small apartment, as well as hearing Dolly and Kenny Rogers sing Islands In The Stream while running the cash register at my very first “real” job at the corner convenience mart gas station.
I consider her a blessing to not only my life, but to our society as a whole. She’s a kind and giving soul. May her message of hope light up your holidays as it is lighting up mine.
Dolly Parton – I Still Believe – 2020
I still believe in Dolly Parton.
Peace.
