News: Harry Potter, Jamaica, Frank Bruni, Jiu Jitsu, John Barrowman
Walter Cronkite dies at 92.
Gay overtones in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?
WATCH: Cyndi Lauper and Lil' Kim deliver Nelson Mandela a birthday performance of "Time After Time".
Former Lt. Dan Choi speaks at premiere of Silent Partners, a mini-doc on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", in L.A.
NYT restaurant critic Frank Bruni on his unhealthy relationship with food: "I’d read some of the articles [on Karen Carpenter. I’d actually taken a weird sort of
comfort from them, because they included details like her possible use
of ipecac to make herself vomit. I’d never even heard of ipecac before.
The articles included pictures of her looking cadaverous. I’d need
several three-day fasts or two weeks of protein shakes to close in on
bony."
Paula Abdul plays hardball: demands $20 million for Idol return.
Graffiti artist imploring New Orleans to READ.
Registered nurse in Australia calls for elimination of gays: “I certainly wouldn’t want him giving me my dose of morphine."
Coalition of groups opposing 2010 marriage ballot measure to over turn Proposition 8 in California grows: "The Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club -- the nation's oldest LGBT
Demo club -- thinks 2012 would be better, too. After hearing a
presentation from San Francisco pollster Amy Simon this week, the
club's board decided -- after much debate -- that there might not be
enough time to right the wrongs of the last campaign."
Gay-bashing thrives in Jamaica: "It is impossible to say just how common gay bashing attacks like the
one against Sherman are in Jamaica — their tormentors are sometimes the
police themselves. But many homosexuals in Jamaica say homophobia is
pervasive across the sun-soaked island, from the pulpit to the floor of
the Parliament."
Male model fix: Evandro Soldati.
The homoerotic undertones of mixed martial arts: "Brazilian jujitsu doesn't just look like gay sex, it feels an awful lot like it too."
CBS censoring Big Brother 11 slurs. Houseguest: 'If someone's a racist, they should be portrayed as one. You shouldn't edit it to make them look good.'
South Florida lesbian couple celebrates 70 years together: "In 1939 Leto and Magazzu met at a party in New York. Caroline thought Venera was stylish. Venera thought Caroline was funny. After a courtship of about a year, Magazzu, a teacher, and Leto, a telegraph operator, moved into a tiny house in New York. They spent most of their lives there, with only close family members and closer friends knowing about their relationship. Magazzu, a former Army medic, said she often fought the urge to tell others, but feared what 'outsiders' would think. She believes society back then was more receptive to two women living together than two men -- or at least less inquisitive."
Angela's Ashes novelist Frank McCourt dies.
WATCH: New trailer for Where the Wild Things Are.
Actor John Barrowman walks away from on-set 80 mph car crash.
NYT on Torchwood: Children of Earth: "Russell T Davies, the Welsh writer and producer who revived “Doctor Who” and created 'Torchwood,' has thrived by taking the low-rent, knockabout style of the original “Doctor Who” and giving it a nighttime-soap-opera gloss. This has meant, for one thing, employing much better-looking actors...It has also meant amping up the sexual tension and pushing against some of the same boundaries Mr. Davies did in his breakout show, 'Queer as Folk.' On 'Torchwood' Capt. Jack Harkness (Mr. Barrowman) and his aide-de-camp, Ianto Jones (Mr. David-Lloyd), are now a full-fledged, kiss-on-the-lips couple."




I've seen that trailer for Where The Wild Things Are 100 times online (Yes. I'm obsessed), but I saw it on the big screen for the first time this weekend. It was thrilling.
Posted by: MT | Jul 20, 2009 4:02:30 PM
If that nurse were in enough pain she would take a dose of morphine from anybody.
Posted by: Mike | Jul 20, 2009 4:04:14 PM
My heart sank when I saw the John Barrowman crash article. I hope that gorgeous homo is back in Torchwood soon.
Posted by: Zach | Jul 20, 2009 5:47:41 PM
Wow, seeing that stupid Harry Potter photo manip placed right beneath your Walter Cronkite obit link is just wrong.
Posted by: bierce | Jul 20, 2009 8:00:42 PM
That is not a new trailer for Where the Wild Things Are.
Posted by: Jordan | Jul 20, 2009 8:17:12 PM
I have a good friend who does Brazilian Ju Jitsu, which he calls "BJJ." So when he goes to competitions I wish him luck at the "Blow Job Jamboree!"
Posted by: NoSleep4Sam | Jul 20, 2009 9:35:57 PM
That article about Harry Potter seems like it's trying TOO HARD to read into it, rather than actually giving homosexual under/overtones...
Posted by: Yuki | Jul 20, 2009 11:04:55 PM
Mike, you so need to go read the article.
Posted by: Mike in the Tundra | Jul 21, 2009 2:17:58 AM
No tourist dollars for Jamaica or the Bahamas!
Posted by: Perry | Jul 21, 2009 8:47:50 AM
Agreed, Perry. I've written letters to the Jamaican Consulate Office here in NYC and to the Jamaican Embassy in D.C. I've written to a local Caribbean-interest paper called The Gleaner which in the past has criticized gay groups for condemning the violence in Jamaica and a few other Caribbean nations that are former British colonies with the archaic laws from the Victorian era. The Gleaner claims, among other things, that gays ("mostly who are wealthy white men" who "prey on innocent boys when they go to the Caribbean") simply do not understand Jamaican culture, which is "family-oriented" and "deeply religious and bible-based". Jamaica is a cesspool of homophobia. Jamaican political and religious leaders stoke the fires of anti-gay bigotry and do not condemn the violence when it happens. They usually defend the perpetrators by claiming their actions are justified to preserve Jamaica's "uniquely moral" society. Something needs to be done. The fellow in the picture is lucky. He is still alive. There dozens in Jamaica who have not survived the violence.
Posted by: mike | Jul 21, 2009 2:26:55 PM