Towleroad Guide to the Tube #333

BRITNEY/PARIS: The ladies of The View school Elizabeth Hasselbeck.

JOHN MCCAIN: We're proud of that commercial.

EWAN MCGREGOR: McGregor's documentary series about his motorcycle trip through Africa, Long Way Down, begins tomorrow night on the Fox Reality Channel.

ARRRRRR: A Saratoga call from Tom Durkin.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

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News: South Carolina, Mormons, Driving Test, Rafael Nadal, Atlanta

Italian man wins $157,700 in damages in driving test lawsuit: "When 26 year-old Danilo Giuffrida told doctors he was gay at his medical examination for military service, they passed the information to the transport ministry, who told him he must repeat his driving test or have his license withdrawn due to his 'sexual identity disturbance.' Giuffrida agreed to re-take his test, passed it for a second time, but the ministry renewed his license for just one year rather than the usual 10 years because of his homosexuality."

Man who created 'Men on a Mission' Mormon beefcake calendar faces excommunication from the Church of Latter Day Saints by council of elders...

Mayor of Nice, France holds press conference to show off birth certificates of the latest members of the Brangelina Bunch, Knox and Vivienne.

Carry on: The new season of Project Runway has eight out gay men.

Report: Retailers shunning Victoria Beckham's men's jeans line. "The delay comes just months after the denim range was relegated to the bargain basement bins of several US boutiques while many announced they would no longer carry it because of poor sales."

Gay Atlanta upholstery/design store owners targeted by vandals: "Beginning late last month, someone has returned to the couple's upholstery and design business in Buckhead over and over, using spray paint or permanent markers to write anti-gay messages on their windows, according to an Atlanta police report."

South Carolina has pulled a gay tourism campaign created by an overseas contractor unaware of the state government's homophobia. Agency investigating ways to discipline employees who signed off on it. Greenville County GOP State Sen. David Thomas: "From my own perspective, it's bad for the state to make such statements about the state, to assert that South Carolina has gay beaches. . "I think that sends a cross message when we're saying, 'Come to South Carolina for its family-friendly beaches.'"

The L.A. Times takes a look at the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center's HIV/AIDS web soap meant to educate young men about prevention.

Apple claims sales of one million iPhone 3Gs in first weekend, 10 million downloads from App Store.

Australia: Pope to apologize for sex abuse by priests.

Rafael Nadal: buff on the beach.

HGTV Design Star host Mikey Verdugo is an out gay police officer with a gay bondage porn past. Here are the photos (very NSFW)...

Prince Harry following in the footsteps of Diana...

120,000 take to the streets for Gay Pride in Vienna: " Thirty-degree heat and sunny weather ensured record attendance for the 13th edition of the march, which like almost all other events this year in Austria had a football theme, even two weeks after the end of Euro 2008. 'No more offsides!' organisers urged, calling for legalised gay marriage and an end to discrimination, although daring high heels, rather than soccer boots, were the choice of footwear on the Ring boulevard where the Fan Mile recently stood."

Ewan McGregor out of Africa.

The world's oldest known blogger, 108-year-old Olive Riley, died on Saturday: "An Australian woman described as the world's oldest Internet blogger has died at the age of 108 after posting a final message about singing "a happy song" in her nursing home. Olive Riley 'passed away peacefully on July 12 and will be mourned by thousands of Internet friends and hundreds of descendants and other relatives,' a note on her website said. Riley had posted more than 70 entries on her blog from Woy Woy on the east coast since February last year, sharing her thoughts on modern life and her experiences living through the entire 20th century." Watch a video of Riley here.

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I Love You Phillip Morris Billboard Up in Cannes

In Cannes, where the film festival has just kicked off, studios are flaunting their upcoming projects.

Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor get snuggly on a billboard promoting I Love You Phillip Morris, the gay prison romance that's currently being shot in and around Miami.

Earlier this month I posted shots of Carrey and McGregor shooting a scene off the Florida Keys and Carrey and Rodrigo Santoro walking arm in arm in some period Versace threads.

The three have also been spotted in gay nightlife hangouts doing "research" for their roles.

(via Cinematical)

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Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor Have Windblown, Key West Romance

Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor (who's now a strawberry-blonde) were spotted have a windblown moment off the Florida Keys while shooting their film, I Love you Phillip Morris. In the film, Carrey stars as Steven Russell, a married father/conman who finds himself in the Texas prison system where he falls in love with his cellmate Phillip Morris, played by McGregor. The romance prompted four escape attempts and a lifetime jail sentence for Russell.

According to Metro UK, "In this scene, the two stars are filmed during a fumbling man on man moment aboard their dinghy, bobbing off Florida Keys. Carrey was left with his legs sprawled in the air and his pants around his ankles, as McGregor looks on suspiciously."

Earlier this week, Carrey and Rodrigo Santoro were spotted shooting a scene in Miami Beach. The three actors were seen the week before at a popular gay 'martini' night at Halo Lounge in South Beach doing research.

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Jim Carrey and Rodrigo Santoro Play Gay in I Love You Phillip Morris

Last week I reported that Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, and Rodrigo Santoro had been spotted doing some "research" at Edison Farrow's popular gay Martini Tuesdays at Halo Lounge in Miami Beach.

Here's your first look at Carrey and Santoro flaunting their Versace in the film I Love You Phillip Morris, which just began shooting in Miami.

In the film, an adaptation of the Steve McVicker novel I Love You Philip Morris, Jim Carrey plays Steven Russell, a married father/conman who finds himself in the Texas prison system where he falls in love with his cellmate Phillip Morris. The romance prompted four escape attempts and a lifetime jail sentence for Russell. McGregor plays Morris, and I don't have the details on Santoro's role.

Those Versace fashions really up the cheese factor. Let's hope they don't Chuck & Larry it.

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Ewan McGregor and Jim Carrey Gay it Up at South Beach Lounge

Ewan McGregor, Jim Carrey, and Rodrigo Santoro reportedly caused a stir when they popped in to South Beach's Halo Lounge off Lincoln Road for Edison Farrow's Martini Tuesdays this week.

While none of them drank martinis, (McGregor drank Champagne, Carrey drank water, according to the Miami Herald), they apparently used the visit to do research for their upcoming film I Love You Phillip Morris, a true story about a married father/conman who finds himself in the Texas prison system where he falls in love with his cellmate.

I'm not sure what that has to do with drinking martinis with a bunch of South Beach gays, but if McGregor walked into my bar I surely wouldn't have a problem with it.

More on the film here.

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News: Neil Patrick Harris, Hip-Hop, Kevin Rudd, PETA, Zac Efron

Australian PM Kevin Rudd presented with first major gay rights challenge of his administration as ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope asks him to allow same-sex civil unions.

Tiny Wookie takes leak on the ruler of the Naboo people.

Anti-gay South American Anglican Archbishop defies requests to stay away from Canada: "Archbishop Gregory Venables, who claims to represent 15 breakaway Anglican congregations in Canada, will speak Friday at a gathering in Delta of the conservative Anglican Network in Canada. Venables, who has been criticized as a rogue archbishop by Anglican colleagues in South America and elsewhere, is recruiting Anglican congregations in Canada and the U.S. that have opposed the ordination of homosexuals and the church blessing of their relationships. The primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, Fred Hilz, wrote a public letter to Venables on Monday urging him to stay home and saying that entering his North American jurisdiction 'will further harm the strained relations' between Canadian Anglicans."

Ewan McGregor makes light of skin cancer scare: “It was great fun having skin cancer, it was great, I really enjoyed it.”

Richard's Quest: The CNN reporter's Central Park thought process flowchart.

Zac Efron gives big to cancer patient in the UK.

A night out with Neil Patrick Harris at The Magic Castle: “I’m not the guy who goes to Skybar,” Mr. Harris said. "I’m not good with that random small talk with people I’ll never meet again. I prefer to take a friend somewhere eventful." He also says he's looking forward to welcoming Britney back to his show.

PETA offers $1 million prize for test tube meat: "The organization said it would announce plans today for a $1 million prize to the 'first person to come up with a method to produce commercially viable quantities of in-vitro meat at competitive prices by 2012.' The idea of getting the next Chicken McNugget out of a test tube is not new. For several years, scientists have worked to develop technologies to grow tissue cultures that could be consumed like meat without the expense of land or feed and the disease potential of real meat. An international symposium on the topic was held this month in Norway. The tissue, once grown, could be shaped and given texture with the kinds of additives and structural agents that are now used to give products such as soy burgers a more meaty texture."

Former MTV executive Terrance Dean promises to out DL players in the hip-hop industry in new book.

Investigators suspect gay angle in New Delhi murder.

Janet Jackson, who is set to receive a GLAAD award in L.A. this weekend, talks to E!'s Marc Malkin about AIDS, drag queens, Ellen Degeneres, and Lawrence King: "He was finally coming into his own and being himself and being OK with who he was. He was feeling good about that and not living in this shell and pretending to be someone else. He was letting all of that go and saying, 'This is me.' But being murdered for being who you are, for being real—we were crushed by that."

Neil Haskell, from So You Think You Can Dance, has joined the New York cast of Altar Boyz.

Clay Aiken is Tyra Banks' reward for 500 episodes.

ACLU asks Florida judge to reopen case on Okeechobee gay-straight alliance: " The lawsuit was recently dismissed by U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore after its lead plaintiff Yasmin Gonzalez graduated and the club itself dwindled down to zero members, leading the judge to drop a requirement that the group be allowed to meet while the lawsuit was pending. The lawsuit was initially filed in November 2006 under the federal Equal Access Act after the student group claimed the school district would not allow it to meet at Okeechobee High School. The school district claimed it was banning the club in part because it was a 'sex-based' club and could conflict with abstinence-only education."

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Ewan McGregor and Jim Carrey to Make Love in Prison

In June I reported that Jim Carrey was to star as Steven Russell in the film adaptation of the Steve McVicker novel I Love You Philip Morris about a married father/conman who finds himself in the Texas prison system where he falls in love with his cellmate Phillip Morris. The romance prompted four escape attempts and a lifetime jail sentence for Russell.

Variety reports that Ewan McGregor has signed on to play Philip Morris: "Mad Chance's Andrew Lazar will produce with Far Shariat. Luc Besson's EuropaCorp is fully financing, and Besson is exec producer...Glenn Ficarra and John Requa wrote the script, based on a book by Houston Chronicle crime reporter Steve McVicker. Production will begin in spring, once Carrey completes starring in "A Christmas Carol," playing multiple roles in the Robert Zemeckis-directed performance-capture film for Disney."

Of Russell, Variety writes: "His love for Morris motivated his escape from prisons four times, once by using a green pen and bucket of water to change his prison outfit into what appeared to be surgical scrubs, another time by faking his death from AIDS and signing his own death certificate. Morris eventually got out, but Russell's escapades got him a 144-year sentence."

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(image source)

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Sneak Peek: Ewan McGregor's Long Way Down

Have a peek at a screenshot from Ewan McGregor's Long Way Down which is currently airing in the UK, but won't hit the U.S. until July 2008 on the Fox Reality Channel. It will also be broadcast internationally at that time on the National Geographic channel.

The series chronicles McGregor's 15,000 mile journey from Scotland to Capetown, South Africa by motorcycle. Of course this shot has nothing to do with riding through Africa on a motorcycle, but I thought it might be appreciated anyway.

Damn that Diary Camera.

(image source)

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Scent of Scruff: Ewan McGregor to be Face of Davidoff Adventure

Ewan McGregor will put his image as a round-the-world motorcyclist to commercial use as he becomes the face of Davidoff's new "Adventure" fragrance.

The scent is set to come out in early 2008. Expect to see McGregor's beautiful mug everywhere.

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Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor Make Love But No Small Talk

Yeah, it was obvious something was up on that Toronto red carpet.

Ewan McGregor joked to Metro UK: "Me and Colin Farrell lovers? Yes. You heard it here first. Friends, lovers, all of those things."

Said Farrell: "We're lovers, but only physically. No movies, no dinners, or long meaningful conversations caring about how the other person is doing in their lives. We just like to make love every now and then. Once a year is going to be the deal, like Woody Allen makes his films. We're going to make love once a year. He does look well, doesn't he? Very dapper. It's the accent as well that gets me."

Added McGregor: "I'm going to watch a film [tonight] with people who like to watch films. Then Colin and I are going to go crazy!"

What we'd pay for that tape.

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Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell Wet Dream in Toronto

Love was flowing at the Cassandra's Dream premiere in Toronto as well, as Ewan McGregor laid one on his co-star Colin Farrell (or at least made an effort). Now that's a dream. Where's the shot right after this one?

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Ewan McGregor Plays Whack-a-Mole

Stop the presses! Ewan McGregor showed up to the Venice Film Festival sans a defining facial feature. It appears the actor headed to the Enrique Iglesias school of cosmetic surgery and had a forehead mole removed.

The Daily Mail reports that McGregor recently discussed how he stays looking youthful: "I've found ways to cheat the ageing process. I shave my chest because having it hairy makes me look older."

McGregor does seem to be looking fresher than ever, though every time we see him we can't help wondering if he's got a Wonderjock on beneath those trousers.

And on the red carpet, Colin Farrell even appeared to admire the handiwork.

And for those of you wondering what they're doing in Venice together, here's the trailer for the forthcoming Woody Allen film, Cassandra's Dream:

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Ewan McGregor's Tools of Self-Promotion Revealed

Anyone who has seen Trainspotting, Velvet Goldmine, or The Pillow Book knows Ewan McGregor is anything but bashful when it comes to flaunting his member, so maybe this report is no surprise:

"The Star Wars actor has been spending a fortune on designer Aussie pants which help guys show off their lightsabers. The Wonderjocks are made by a firm called AussieBum, which boast that the undies 'help lift and promote' men’s assets. Its adverts claim the posing pouches do for men what Wonderbras do for women’s boobs."

Said AussieBum founder Sean Asby: "We found out that Ewan McGregor was buying them only because he made such a huge order and we had to do a credit check. The Wonderjocks were originally done as a bit of a joke after someone said to us: ‘Could you do something that makes me look a bit larger?’ And now it’s just taken off.”

I do want to note that AussieBum is a Towleroad advertiser. We thank them for their support, as apparently does Ewan McGregor.

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Hampstead Heath to Lose Scenes of a Sexual Nature?

Soon George Michael may have to find another place to get his rocks off.

There's an effort underway to clean up London's Hampstead Heath and its 791 acres of wooded glade, ponds, and rolling meadows. The Independent reports that last year the city of London spent £40,000 removing "condoms and other sex-related waste" from the park.

Said Bob Hall, the park's caretaker: "We accept that cruising takes place on the West Heath, but it is completely unacceptable beyond there. We will certainly not tolerate the kind of behaviour that goes on in the men's bathing area."

He said that an "uneasy truce" between neighboring residents, police, and those who frolic in the bushes may not last much longer, though some, like gay activist Peter Tatchell, say it's not only the gays that use the park for hooking up: "The management of the heath is obsessed with gay cruising and totally ignores heterosexual sex."

Of course it doesn't help Tatchell's argument to have George Michael caught emerging from the foliage like a deer in headlights spouting off to the paparazzi: "I don't believe it! F*** off! If you put those pictures in the paper I'll sue! Are you gay? No? Then f*** off! This is my culture! I'm not doing anything illegal. The police don't even come up here any more. I'm a free man, I can do whatever I want. I'm not harming anyone."

In the new film Scenes of a Sexual Nature, Ewan McGregor plays a gay man with the same habits as George Michael. Scenes reportedly celebrates Hampstead Heath in a way no film has before. The film is released in the UK on November 3.

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Gay for Pay: Ewan McGregor on Hampstead Heath

Ewan McGregor has taken a major pay cut to play gay again, according to the London Evening Standard. In Scenes of a Sexual Nature, which "follows seven couples discussing their love lives on a hot August afternoon," McGregor plays one half of a gay couple who are thinking about adopting a child. His onscreen partner is Douglas Hodge who co-starred with McGregor in the London stage production of Guys and Dolls. McGregor is reportedly being paid minimum wage for the role, which he took because the script was so good.

McGregor (who has also locked lips with Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in Velvet Goldmine) told Britain's Daily Express:"I've never been a soldier but I've played a soldier. My character Billy is a human being - if he is gay or straight, it doesn't make any difference."

He also joked that he enjoyed practicing for the kiss with co-star Hodge: "We would run it a few times between shows."

First-time feature director Edward Blum describes the film as being as much about the relationships as it is about Hampstead Heath itself: "This city has beautiful parks but it is such a wonderful place. People talk about their lives, relationships and emotions on Hampstead Heath. You can see all of the major sights of the capital there and the film gives a wonderful idea of London."

Hampstead Heath has also made the papers recently, as it's where George Michael played out a few "scenes of a sexual nature" himself. I'm not sure if that aspect of the park will make it into this film, however.

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