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Showing posts from November, 2006

It's About the Children:Stockings With Care

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' Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there ... Created by ABC/Touchstone Casting VP Rosalie Joseph and TV producer Tom Fontana (Oz), Stockings with Care "grants the gift wishes of children while preserving the dignity of parents or caregivers," according to press notes. In its fifteenth year, Stockings With Care works with various agencies that help families in crisis. The children make their wish lists. Social workers provide the name, gender, and age of each child. Individual donors, corporations, and a small army of volunteers come together to purchase and wrap the gifts (This year on December 14, 2006) . They are then delivered to the parents so that they can personally present the gifts to their children. Last year 3,000 children woke up to a miracle on Christmas morning. Through Stockings with Care, e

Men Loving Men: Staying Warm in Canada

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According to our Canadian Correspondent: Tories plan December vote on same-sex marriage, Last Updated: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 | 9:46 PM ET CBC News The Conservatives will follow through with their election promise to revisit same-sex marriage, with debate expected to begin as early as next week. The government confirmed Tuesday they will begin debate Dec. 6th with a vote planned before the House breaks for the holidays. The motion is expected to ask MPs to reopen discussion on same-sex marriage, but will not directly challenge the existing legislation. However, it may ask whether parliamentarians wish to repeal or amend the existing law. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said if the House votes against changing the law to allow same-sex marriages, the matter would be settled. Same-sex marriage became legal in Canada last year when Parliament passed Bill C-38 in response to a series of court rulings that gay people had the right to marry. During the election campaign, Harper promise

All My Children: As If

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In today's New York Times this 'brief' appeared in the Arts section: Sex Change Is Planned on All My Children It has been 18 years since the fictional character Hank Elliot made his debut as the first openly gay male in an American soap opera on As the World Turns . Now it’s time for a different sort of coming out. On All My Children Zarf, a male character to be played by the actor Jeffrey Carlson, will begin making the transition from male to female in a new plot set to begin on Thursday on ABC, The Associated Press reported. According to the soap’s executive producer, Julie Hanan Carruthers, the show was looking for something new and felt that its audience would be interested in a story on the themes of sexuality and gender. The producers consulted with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and also sought out some transgendered people for advice. Damon Romine, a spokesman for the alliance, said he had not seen the show yet but had the sense that All My Childre

Song of the Week: The Supremes

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Yes, Dreamgirls does have some elements in common with the chronos associated with The Supremes, but it is not the fictionalized story of The Supremes. It has a lot to say about Crossover Rhythm 'n' Blues and the history of Popular Music in The United States of the mid-20th century. There is something that Pop Music historians are fond of referring to as the Girl Group Sound, which in reality was much more than that. However one wishes to define that era in American Pop Music, it is definitely something that fell in the wake of not only the so called British Invasion but also in the wake of the ascendancy of Motown and Atlantic Record's eclectic R'n'B. The Dreams represent the story of many a performer who was also the stellar result of production, songwriting and marketing in addition to raw talent. The Supremes and The Dreamettes are very different. Effie is not Florence Ballard, yet, as different as they are, so many parallels can be drawn and the fictionaliz

The Penile Code

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Saturday Beefcake: Love the Second Time Around

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Anything good worth having once is more often than not even better the second time around. Leftovers have much to do with the spice that is life's variety. Last Saturday's salad made a look into one of the options available thatJulee Rosso provides. Once again a variation on one of her recipes makes its way here. Turkey & Brown Rice Salad Extra Virgin Olive Oil Fresh Orange Juice, 4 tablespoons White Wine Vinegar, 1 tablespoon Fresh Basil, Minced Ground Black Pepper Zest from 1 Orange 1.5 cup of Cooked Whole Grain Rice (Basmati or Wild Rice is okay or a mixture) Dried Apricots, finely chopped, 2 tablespoons [or substitute chopped currants and pine nuts of equal amount] Cooked Turkey Breast, sliced thinly, 250 grams 4 Fresh Apricots, pitted and cut into thin wedges Fresh Washed Green Beans, quartered 1. Combine the olive oil, orange juice, vinegar, basil, pepper and orange zest into a small bottle, shake and set aside. 2. Combine the rice and dried apricots, toss well and th

Another Love Affair Continues: Thorsten Kaye

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The Love Affair with Mr. Craig Continues

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General Hospital

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A Burgeoning Gay Classic

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Here is Frank Rizzo's Review in its entirety from The Hartford Courant Tony-Winning Take Me Out Puts Gay Ballplayer In The Lineup Theater Works ,Hartford, CT Oct. 19 through Dec. 3 October 19, 2006 By Frank Rizzo, Courant Staff Writer In Richard Greenberg's Tony Award-winning play Take Me Out , Darren Lemming, a superstar Major League Baseball player, matter-of-factly announces to the world he is gay. The moment at the beginning of the play comes not out of trauma, blackmail or shame but as a so-what-let's-get-on-with-the-game attitude that is stunning in its matter-of-factness. "Don't expect the daily update," says Darren in the play. "I'm just here to play ball." Is this a likely sports scenario or strictly a feel-good fantasy? While there are many out gay athletes, professional team sports do not have an out gay male player. Billy Bean of the San Diego Padres in the '90s and Glenn Burke of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics in

How Did Sotheby's Fail

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... to sell this Warhol painting of Cristina Aguilera's Mae West imitation?

Positively Naked

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Song of the Week: My One and Only Love

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John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman gave the world what is clearly a great musical achievement. Here is a critique lifted from Music Direct: John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman (1963-IMPULSE) " ... Hartman's voice is right there and full-throated; again, I've never heard all the subtleties of his vibrato or all the slight accents in his phrasing. Coltrane's saxophone is in the room. Elvin Jones' drums bang and whisper. (Listen to that brush-wooshing! You get every wisp and sizzle.) Even McCoy Tyner's piano, often hooded in Van Gelder sessions, rings clear. Jimmy Garrison's bass may be a little forward, but it sounds like the pick-up amp, not a recording artifact. This is a gorgeous album, gorgeously mastered and essential." - Fred Kaplan, The Absolute Sound, June/July 2005, Issue 154 The clarinetist Tony Scott, who trod the same musical path as Billie Holiday and Charlie Parker, once called the number “Lush Life” “the Mount Everest of Jazz soloists.” Tho

Saturday Beefcake: 'Tis the Season to Gobble

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As the countdown toward 2007 continues, many inhabitants of the United States continue on a gastronomical journey that reaches climax on December 25th with a continuing afterglow into the first of January. Too often the fruits of those labours provide a lot of commerce for the weight loss industry in all of its shapes and forms. Speaking of shapes, forms, gobbling and fruit we provide images of two young men which might help festive gobblers keep their eyes on the prize, so to speak, rather than have those eyes grow bigger than the proverbial tummy. They, of course, caught the eyes in these parts while thumbing through magazines in the local news stand. While thumbing Bernice, CoL's Manhattan correspondent, liked one because she thought he was muscling up bi-sexuals. Not to quibble, but the bi's in the caption were more than likely biceps. 'Tis not quibbling anyway that is today's emphasis, but gobbling. In keeping with that theme, here is also a variation on one of Jul

Tuc Watkins

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As if One Life to Live could afford to have another good actor depart, the charming Tuc Watkins takes leave very soon for his home on the West Coast. To his credit, Mr Watkins doesn't seem to take himself too seriously, but that doesn't mean he isn't armed with some serious talent: his ad libs certainly add to a viewer's enjoyment. They don't make 'em much more fetching or more fit than him and NYC's loss will be difficult to replace. While he will be missed by more than a few people here, his poetry in motion will simply be on another coast. David Vickers, Watkins' character, is a unique creation and there isn't another like it on the Daytime TV map. As Carolyn Hinsey states in today's New York Daily News: "Watkins has been appearing on [ One Life to Live ] on and off since creating the role ... in 1994. In the interim, he has also worked ... as a series regular on Showtime's Beggars & Choosers from 1997-2001. [ Where he played

Ausiello Tells Us

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Question: I completely agree that Brothers & Sisters is the best show right now on TV period . Got any scoop?— D.J. Ausiello: As I reported in the new issue of TV Guide ... a big gay romance is on the horizon for Scotty-free Kevin. I'm not allowed to reveal who his new admirer is, but I can say that it's someone with ties to Kitty, and it's a really fun twist. And this new guy is not the one-night stand Kev picks up in an upcoming episode.

We Already Knew That

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Jack Matthews of the New York Daily News says: Fans of anyone other than Sean Connery who has played James Bond may want to look away, because admirers of Ian Fleming's 007 novels are almost bound to agree that Daniel Craig is the best Bond since Sean. Craig, who makes his Bond debut in Martin Campbell's Casino Royale , has the craggy good looks attributed to him by Fleming in his first novel, which happens to have been "Casino Royale." He is the most athletic, has the hardest edge, and he looks like he could lock his jaws on any of the others and shake them like a martini.

We Are Everywhere

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In the not so distant past an opening article like this in a national entertainment magazine would have been unheard of. It is gratifying to have lived long enough to see it and to have it begin to be something that is matter of fact.

Which One Plays the Dog?

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is it Spartacus? (asks Bernice Clifton)

Not About Anyone From CSI

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Last night I caught a performance of the recently opened (and very gay) play, The Little Dog Laughed , on Broadway here in glitzy old New York. And it’s pretty darn great. Written by super-cool gay playwright Douglas Carter Beane , the play is a slashingly funny look at Hollywood, closeted actors, how deals are made, and all kinds of fabulously shady showbiz schmoozing. It’s sharp and witty, sexy and fun, and you’ll be laughing throughout. Really. Here are the basics: Julie White (who you loved on Six Feet Under as the uber-bitchy funeral home magnate Mitzi Dalton Huntley) plays Diane, a Hollywood agent, whose client, Mitch (Tom Everett Scott), is a big, wrangly, handsome, and closeted gay up-and-coming movie star. Mitch gets involved with a hustler, Alex (Johnny Galecki—of Roseanne fame) which threatens to undermine his Hollywood image; meanwhile, Alex’s hipster gal-pal Ellen (Ari Graynor) has issues of her own. That’s just the beginning of the intrigue in this catty, c

Song of the Week: Flim Flam Man

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Everybody's got a little devil in their soul and nothing proved that more than this past election season. You'd think that acting like a parody or caricature of one's self would be on the down swing. Not So. According to Daily Kos: Reportedly James Dobson has bailed from the attempts to "de-gay" Haggard, and no less than Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition has now admitted that he--and other dominionist leaders--knew about Haggard's affair with Mike Jones for months before it broke the mainstream news but kept it under the rug. This likely explains why Dobson--after agreeing to be on a "dream team" of "reparation therapists" who would try to de-gay Ted Haggard--rather dramatically bailed from the "dream team" recently claiming time constraints. There has been speculation in the anti-dominionist community that Dobson may have been afraid that personal scandals of his own might be revealed; if Haggard is admitting that &

Flim Flam

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Evangelical Haggard Claims He Was Molested By Republican Congressman November 10, 2006 | Issue 42•46 COLORADO SPRINGS, CO—Evangelical leader Ted Haggard, who stepped down last week after confessing that he purchased methamphetamines and various services from a male prostitute, revealed Wednesday that he was repeatedly molested by an unnamed Republican congressman in the late 1990s. "We would communicate on the Internet and then meet in his Washington office to, I thought, discuss faith-based initiatives," said Haggard in a tearful admission in which he asked for the forgiveness of God and his congregation. "Before long, he had progressed from praying alongside me to having me sit on his lap at his desk, and then to touching me in my bathing-suit area. I trusted the congressman, and he violated that trust." Authorities have not acted on Haggard's allegations, saying that Republicans are often accused of wrongdoings simply because so many of them lead secret gay o

Vitelloni: Saturday Beefcake

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According to The Queens' Vernacular (A Gay Lexicon by Bruce Rogers), "chicken" is gay slang for a young male beneath the age of consent. It came to mean almost anyone who even looked young. It's seems appropriate for those who can't vote, but there's a population greatly appreciated by those in the life that hovers between boyhood and manhood. Federico Fellini, late Italian director of note, came to notice with a fine flick in 1953 called I Vitelloni , which translates "the young bulls." It is also a reference to older veal "from an animal that's 18 to 20 months old, and has cut its first two permanent incisors. The meat is deep pink to fairly deep red, firm, and considerably more flavorful than milk-fed veal, though not as flavorful as that from mature animals. In Tuscany many prefer vitellone for grilling." The young men in Fellini's film were pushing 30 and its plot had to with their avoidance of maturity. Be that as it may,