04/19/2007
News: Hairspray, Knut, Day of Silence, Cannes Film Festival
"Day of Silence" tensions, combined with the recent fever over violence at Virginia Tech, lead to lockdown at Indiana High School: "The Day of Silence at New Castle Chrysler High School coincided with a national Day of Silence and aimed to support gay, bisexual and transgender students. 'People were in their shirts for it, people were in their shirts against it, and it just caused a lot of drama that I didn't think was needed,' said student Kayla Boyles."
Berlin's global warming icon, Knut the baby polar bear, is the target of an anonymous death threat.
Middlebury College in Vermont, one of the Advocate's top 100 colleges for gays and lesbians, is tagged with anti-gay graffiti.
Netflix cashes in on Virginia Tech killings, featuring Oldboy, film killer modeled himself after.
Line-up announced for Cannes Film Festival: Wong Kar Wai's My Blueberry Nights to open fest; Gus van Sant back in competition with Paranoid Park...
ERUPTING: Thousands flee Colombian volcano.
Purported David Beckham nude an instant internet hit!
Gaydar founder Gary Frisch, who plunged to his death from an eighth-floor balcony in early February, was found to have raised levels of ketamine in his body: "Estate agent Stephen Ruddock was standing outside a nearby building when he saw Mr Frisch's body hit the ground. He said Mr Frisch shouted 'Waheey' moments before he plunged to his death. Mr Ruddock said: 'It was a celebratory thing. I saw his body come into my line of sight. It arced in the air and hit the ground.' Pathologist Dr Peter Wilkins said raised levels of ketamine were found in Mr Frisch's blood and liver. He added: 'It can have similar effects to LSD, confusion and hallucinations.' Recording a verdict of misadventure, the coroner, Dr Paul Knapman, said: "I don't think that it can be said he intended to kill himself. 'This is not suicide at all. He jumped to his death from the balcony of his flat on the eighth floor while under the influence of drugs.'"
Baby pilot whale found swimming in Brooklyn, dies.
Hairspray trailer hits the internet Aqua Net.
Kathmandu, Nepal gets its first gay beauty salon: "The salon, which offers regular beauty parlour services like haircuts, facials, manicures and pedicures, is also a training academy for members of the gay community who want to train as beauticians. The first batch of 10 young metis - gay men who dress as women - is running the salon under the aegis of the Blue Diamond Society (BDS), Nepal's sole gay rights group." The Blue Diamond Society recently received two awards from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission for grassroots groups making an impact in gay rights.
The Emma dilemma: "A 7-year-old girl is at the center of a court battle that is equal parts gay rights struggle, jurisdictional quandary and legal ethics question."
Posted 2:15 PM EST by Andy in Colombia, Education, Film, Gay-Straight Alliances, Georgia, Global Warming, Great Britain, Grooming, Indiana, John Travolta, John Waters, Natural Disasters, Nature, Nepal, New York, News, Polar Bears | Permalink
Like it?
Subscribe to FREE Towleroad daily headlines with our RSS feed!
RECENT STORIES:
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Please!! Do not endorse any reports about rental numbers rising for Oldboy!! The killing spree at VT has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with the story of the film!
It is only a coincidence!!!!!!
As a film, I can only recommend it because it is simply a great film (although violent, but aren't you Americans used to violence depicted) by Chan-wook Park
Posted by: Schnurzelpups | Apr 19, 2007 2:44:36 PM
Schnurzelpups:
1) I don't think reporting the NetFlix story qualifies as an "endorsement". On the contrary, the author notes that NetFlix is "cashing in" on the tragedy--in other words, exploiting it for financial gain.
2) Not all of "us" Americans revel in, are inured to, or seek out violence, fictional or otherwise.
Posted by: Andrew B | Apr 19, 2007 3:04:21 PM
Since I'm quoted in the linked article about Middlebury, i should probably mention that the homophobic graffiti has escalated: we have now had one student's door defaced with "God Hates Fags" and another, I've heard, with worse.
What the reporter left out, unfortunately, was the part of my message in which I suggested that the College administration is not without blame. Two years ago we had a college-wide discussion of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the presence of military recruiters in campus facilities, which directly contradicts our nondiscrimination clause. Students, Faculty, and Staff all agreed that our policy should change, and the President, fearing lost $$ through the Solomon Amendment, overturned our motion.
This past fall the College invited Chief Justice Roberts with much fanfare to announce a new endowed chair named for Wm. Rehnquist, who as late as 2003 found putting homosexuals in prison constitutional. Many faculty and students were outraged that we should honor someone whose opinions on the court solidified discrimination for years.
So it's not too surprising homophobes on campus thought they could get away with expressing homophobic views.
Posted by: KevinVT | Apr 19, 2007 3:56:22 PM
Apparently, the post on TMZ has been removed after too many comments flooded in about it being ridiculous and untrue...
Posted by: Schnurzelpups | Apr 19, 2007 4:30:01 PM
I really liked TMZ backing out of its Oldboy claim but keeping up their stories about the "maniac" and "monster" killer. Those TMZ people are such brave fools.
Posted by: RD | Apr 19, 2007 4:52:37 PM
That poor child. The judge seems to care more about his politcal agenda than the welfare of a 7 year old girl.
Posted by: Daniel | Apr 19, 2007 5:38:49 PM
Daniel - so true, his ego takes precedence.
Re: Hairspray. Uh, this movie was already made, 1988, Ricki Lake? Anyone? Hollywood is so pathetic these days they can't come up with new material.
Posted by: shane | Apr 20, 2007 8:58:44 AM
How pathetic is a person that threatens a baby bear?
Posted by: griffin1573 | Apr 20, 2007 1:37:57 PM
1) the baby bear is adorable.
2) I'm glad they made Hairspray into a musical and now into a movie musical. The original is a classic, sure, and originally, I hated knowing that a knock off was being taken to Broadway and that it would go on to win 8 Tony's. However, after seeing it, it was one of the bes tmusicals I've seen, and I am glad they are remaking it into a movie. Producers, on the other hand, I could've done without (it too was a movie then a musical then a movie-musical for those who aren't aware of the original).
Posted by: Britt | Apr 20, 2007 6:51:56 PM