Sydney Opera Goes Red in 'World AIDS Day' Campaign

Eighty landmarks in 13 countries including Sydney's Opera House and Harbor Bridge will be floodlit red to mark World AIDS Day (December 1) as part of Bono's '(RED)' campaign.

Some amateur video, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: Humpback Whale, Simpsons, Outrage, Scottish Male Barbie

Kirby Dick's Outrage hopes to shake anti-gay Republican hypocrisy to its core.

Father and Son: "My life has been redefined by this statistic, 'The odds of getting pregnant from a one-time sexual encounter are about 11%.' I often think if it can happen, yes, it will happen to me. Now, I’m a single gay dad under thirty, that didn’t adopt, didn’t get married and isn’t bisexual, and inadvertently ends up with a best friend getting pregnant from the solitary experience."

The #1 male Barbie of Scotland.

Not a clue: "Here is another great moment in A.P. history. In its quest to become the RIAA of the newspaper industry, the A.P.’s executives and lawyers are beginning to match their counterparts in the music industry for cluelessness. A country radio station in Tennessee, WTNQ-FM, received a cease-and-desist letter from an A.P. vice president of affiliate relations for posting videos from the A.P.’s official Youtube channel on its Website."

Humpback whale spotted in Hudson River near Manhattan.

Madonna donates $500,000 to Italian earthquake victims.

Speculation over a city council run for openly gay Fox 2 anchorman Charles Pugh has Detroit buzzing.

New Hampshire House passes anti-discrimination bill extending protections to transgender persons, by one vote: "The House debated more than three hours before voting 188-187 to send it to the Senate. Republicans call it the 'bathroom bill' based on the argument it would open all bathrooms to both men and women." 

Anybody need a Brazilian?

Napa's neighbor Yountville, California passes resolution opposing discrimination of any kind, including the prohibition of same-sex marriage.

Tell your Coming Out story to Showtime.

Bono checks for crabs.

Ken Blackwell and Christopher Hitchens spar over the end of Christianity in America.

The Simpsons to get their own postage stamps.

Polish sausage bitten off: "Horrified Marian Milczarek, 53, from Lesna in south west Poland, was attacked following a row with his friend - apparently over borrowing a trailer. 'He began hitting me with a chain and then pulled down my trousers and started biting. It was agony,' he said. Police and medics could find no trace of Marian's missing genitalia, and believe his attacker Wojciech Sowinski - now facing 10 years in jail - may have eaten it. 'If we'd had the other bit of his penis we could have sewn it back on,' said Dr Adam Domanasiewicz from the hospital in nearby Trzebnica, where Marian is recovering."

Stonewall Library & Archives to have grand opening in Fort Lauderdale on April 23. you may remember that moving SLA to this new space became a national story during the anti-gay campaign of Fort Lauderdale’s former mayor, who opposed a city building, which is leased by Broward County, providing space to the library. The move required the approval of the Fort Lauderdale City Commission and the Broward County Commission.

Music News: Will.i.am Got It From Daft Punk, Plus Radiohead, Britney Spears, Morrissey, Spice Girls, Kylie Minogue

Please welcome Robbie Daw, who will be penning occasional music posts for us here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own pop music site called Chart Rigger.

Some of hip-hop's more luminary figures have been sampling French house duo Daft Punk in recent years -- Busta Rhyme's "Touch It" contains a sample of the outfit's "Technologic", while more recently Kanye West wrapped "Stronger" around the melody of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", and took it to #1 in several countries. But the buck apparently stops with will.i.am.

The Black Eyed Peas singer's solo album dropped last week, and a new video for a remix of his latest single, "I Got It From My Mama" (below) -- which is basically a mash-up with Daft Punk's 1997 hit "Around The World", and contains a humorous solo by blonde singer Aria -- has began circulating online. Will.i.am apparently didn't get permission before using the hook, and it seems Daft Punk's lawyers are now involved.

Today, Pitchfork Media posted an interview with the duo's Thomas Bangalter, done over email, and noted that questions regarding the will.i.am remix were left unanswered by the robotic Frenchman.

Despite all this, and whatever the outcome, it's still a damn catchy mix.

As mentioned here yesterday, Radiohead are offering up their new album In Rainbows, available next week, at whatever price buyers wish to pay. British rock journal NME are asking readers to write in and explain how much they plan to plunk down for the record, and they've already begun posting the wide-ranging answers on their website.

While country trio Rascal Flatts look set to have the best-selling album on the charts this week, Britney Spears has maintained the top download on iTunes for the past five days with her single, "Gimme More." Depending on the amount of radio airplay it's receiving, "Gimme More" could be a contender for the #1 position on Billboard's Hot 100. The song is currently at #68 on the chart tallied before the single became commercially available.

Morrissey (pictured right) says he'll release his ninth studio album next year: "The plan is to make a new album after this tour. It's absolutely written and completely ready."

An "insider" claims Bono has written a new track to be included on the Spice Girls' Greatest Hits, due out in November: "There's been a bit of unease as to how the album will perform, and if there's still a solid Spice Girls fanbase out there. However, Bono's involvement has lifted the whole camp, and he's delighted to have been asked to add this experience."

Kylie Minogue has axed a few scenes from White Diamond, the upcoming documentary on her recovery from breast cancer: "In one scene you can see a glimpse of Kylie’s boobs. She wanted to show other cancer survivors there is nothing to be ashamed of. No scarring is visible because she had clever reconstructive surgery after the partial mastectomy to remove her cancer. But she felt it was too much and was extremely unhappy so it got chopped."

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES: New singles from Seal ("Amazing," produced by Madonna's Confessions On A Dancefloor collaborator Stuart Price), Natasha Bedingfield ("Love Like This," also featuring Sean Kingston) and David Gray ("The World To Me").

Bruce Springsteen's Magic, Annie Lennox's Songs Of Mass Destruction, PJ Harvey's White Chalk and Siouxsie Sioux's solo album, Mantaray.

Young R&B singer J. Holiday's Back Of My Lac'.

A ton of hits: Matchbox Twenty's Exile On Mainstream, Amy Grant's Greatest Hits, The Very Best Of Mick Jagger, Faith Hill's The Hits, Elton John's Elton 60 - Live At Madison Square Garden and Frankie Valli's Romancing The 60s.