The Column of Life

The most important upcoming event is the election. Get out and vote! [source: McClatchy] By Lisa Zagaroli | McClatchy Newspapers CHARLOTTE, N.C. — U.S. Senate candidate Kay Hagan launched legal action against Sen. Elizabeth Dole's "godless" attack ad Thursday as a chorus of critics joined her in accusing Dole of crossing the line with the controversial TV spot. Democratic challenger Hagan, in a new ad of her own, accused the Republican incumbent of "bearing false witness against fellow Christians" when Dole suggested she was affiliated with a group of atheists who want to remove references to God from the public arena. Dole continued to defend the ad, saying it "in no way attacks her faith, it questions her agenda." But even Republicans — including strategists Ed Rollins and Carter Wrenn — roundly criticized Dole's eleventh-hour strategy for winning re-election to her Senate seat. "When you're making ads that say, 'There is no God,...

OK, the election may be starting to get on everybody's nerves. It's been two years since the process started. OK, Republicans are doing their optimistic thing, as well they should. The most nerve racking individuals are the doom and gloom people. Those who support Obama but are afraid of defeat. Stop it. Get out the vote the best way you can and stop predicting unforeseen calamity. Creating a negative atmosphere is just as bad as being overconfident. Both keep people away. Being afraid to die is tantamount to being afraid to live. It doesn't matter if you don't get it, just stop trying to drag people down. OK, if you need a happy place to go to, here's John Barrowman at a recent press conference for Torchwood doing what he does best.

In this election season, remember to vote a resounding NO! on Proposition 8 in California. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Main Entry: cou·pling Pronunciation: \ˈkə-pliŋ (usual for 2), -pə-liŋ\ Function: noun Date: 14th century 1: the act of bringing or coming together : pairing ; specifically : sexual union 2: a device that serves to connect the ends of adjacent parts or objects 3: the joining of or the part of the body that joins the hindquarters to the forequarters of a quadruped 4: a means of electric connection of two electric circuits by having a part common to both Some people just want to get married. Gay marriages to begin next month in Connecticut By SUSAN HAIGH Associated Press Writer HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Officials are gearing up for the day next month when gay and lesbian couples can begin tying the knot in Connecticut. Attorneys involved in the gay marriage case said Tuesday that couples can begin picking up marriage license applications sometime o...

Colin Farrell talked about the hideous flop that was 2004's Oliver Stone-helmed Alexander while at a Rome Film Festival [actually the Third International Rome Film Festival] press conference for new film Pride and Glory . " Alexander hurt, you know -- and again people are going to say 'Get over it, you were well paid' and all that. But Alexander hurt," Farrell told reporters. "The response that it got was really painful and all of us got a really hard time, and I didn't come across too well either in the majority of reviews and even with the audiences -- people did not respond to it. "It was a film that was made to be seen by many people. Not many people saw it and they weren't particularly fond of it, and that was s----, it was really s----," he said... Farrell, along with co-stars Angelina Jolie and Val Kilmer, was nominated for worst actor for his portrayal of the ancient Greek military leader at the 2005 Razzies... "I took it to ...

[source: DNA magazine] The man who has replaced the dead Austrian ultra-right-wing politician Joerg Haider as party leader has essentially outed himself as Haider's lover. Here's how Britain's Daily Mail reported it: Haider, 58, who was pictured cuddling a man in a gay bar where he had his final drinks before the death crash which claimed his life, was long suspected of leading a double existence during his years in power. Now Stefan Petzner, 27, who recently replaced Haider as leader of the right wing party, Alliance for the Future of Austria, effectively outed himself as the far right leader’s gay lover while being interviewed on the country’s O3 radio channel breakfast show. 'I had to go to him. I had to go to him,' Petzner said in his highly emotional interview as he recalled how he rushed to the hospital where the dead body of 52-year-old Haider was lying after his fatal crash in early October. Admitting that he felt a 'magnetic attraction' for Haider...

There's something decadent about the song, "What's New, Pussycat?" It was a top ten hit in 1965 for Tom Jones and the most successful element of the anarchic film comedy of the same name. The sound is evocative of the Weimar Republic and might have been sung at the cabaret by Joel Grey or somebody like him. Jones' popularity had a lot to do with his sensual delivery and what many might have imagined to inhabit his tight fitting trousers. Nothing wrong with that. What seems to get lost in the translation is Mr. Jones' powerfully talented voice. He has sung every kind of pop music and sing all quite memorably well. Also included here is a beautiful ballad from the same movie, "Here I Am" by Dionne Warwick, as well as "Are You There (With Another Girl)" which one of those Bacharach songs that only seems simple. It's musicality is unique and complex. "Um pah-pah, pity the girl" is a brilliant vocal refrain imbedded in the producti...

Sleep it tight.

No, there will not be pictures of Yosemite Sam in speedos, but here are a couple more recipes from Dr. Rau. In keeping with the the healthy message of his book, here are also pics of a healthy specimen. A specimen perfectly capable of whetting the appetite.

This comes from Dr. Thomas Rau's book, The Swiss Secret to Optimal Health . It may be healthy, it is definitely very tasty and comforting. Polenta is Italian grits in a manner of speaking, except that it has more sustenance in that it is less refined. Manchego is La Mancha's contribution to the world of cheese and we are all the better for it. If nothing else, many of you will take comfort in the fantasy inducing images accompanying Dr. Rau's recipe.

There are worse things you could wake up to!

Well known in the life for starring in the ground breaking gay Israeli film, Yossi & Jagger , Yaniv Moyal was recently featured thus: David Stern's crew over at In Los Angeles magazine did their neighbours in Southern California a wonderful service in bringing this wonderful actor to the fore. There is a website , as well there should be. And there you will find this quote: "After one year in the 'real' acting world I started to do some TV and indie films. One indie film in particular that was meaningful to me was Yossi & Jagger I was always looking for challenging roles that would allow me to experience the character and share it with an audience." It's no wonder that even some Italian mothers encouraged their daughters to marry Jewish husbands.

Main Entry: awareness Part of Speech: noun Definition: knowledge Synonyms: acquaintance, acquaintanceship, alertness, aliveness, appreciation, apprehension, attention, attentiveness, cognizance, comprehension, consciousness, discernment, enlightenment, experience, familiarity, information, keenness, mindfulness, perception, realization, recognition, sensibility, sentience, understanding Antonyms: ignorance, insensitivity, unconsciousness Kudos to John Schneider, Adam Grimes, Loretta Devine, Sherri Lewis and Carrie Southworth.

Virtually a month ago, Dylan Bruce was in Manhattan helping Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS last Thursday he was in West Hollywood at a great cocktail party held at Trip Wilmot's East/West Lounge in West Hollywood. The personable, fetching and very friendly young man was doing his bi-coastal thing in the company of kindred spirits, like Adam Grimes, Billy Miller, Ted Detwiler, Brandon Barash and Kristoff St. John just to name a few.