Armchair Ascends 98,268 Feet to the Edge of Space

In a stunt having nothing to do with Richard Heene, Toshiba has sent a chair to the edge of space for a new commercial. The chair, lifted by a helium balloon, was monitored by a ground crew using four GPS systems and was filmed by the cinematographer who shot Mamma Mia. According to Toshiba:

The shots were taken at a staggering 98,268 feet above the earth and the weight of the rig had to be carefully managed to a weight of no more than four pounds. The chair is made of biodegradable balsa wood by a company called Artem and cost about £2,500. It was launched 12 miles North-East of the town of Gerlach, Nevada. The temperature dropped to minus 90 degrees when the chair reached 52,037 feet. The chair took 83 minutes to reach an altitude of 98,268 feet where it broke and took just 24 minutes to fall back down to earth with the rig.

The commercial extolls the virtues of the company's LCD TV and the enhanced "armchair viewing" it provides. Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: Nevada, Scholastic, Rihanna, Malta, Sean Hayes, GOP

Repeal of HIV travel ban in final stages.

Marriage equality campaigns push for early vote in Maine.

Scholastic bans gay-themed book from book fairs: "Luv Ya Bunches, about four elementary school girls who have little in common, but bond over the fact that they’re all named after flowers, is the first installment of a four-book series. But Scholastic says the book, released on October 1, failed to meet its vetting process because it contains offensive language and same-sex parents of one of the main characters, Milla."

The fleshjack for fangbangers.

New Yorkers plan calling party this Friday for Maine marriage equality.

GOP moderate who supports marriage equality in New York state in race seen as test for 2012 presidential elections.

Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth coming to Broadway in revival of Promises, Promises.

George W. Bush will never shut up about his rug.

Silhouette and initials of Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz shot at by Southeast Republican Club at gun range event: "Among the approximately 40 people at the event was Robert Lowry, a Republican seeking his party’s nomination to run against Wasserman Schultz next year. Lowry shot at a target bearing the letters 'DWS' next to the silhouette head. Lowry said he didn't know who wrote Wasserman Schultz' initials on his target, but said he knew they were there before he started shooting. He initially described it as a 'joke,' but after answering several questions he said it 'was a mistake' to use a target labeled 'DWS.'"

James Franco: Just don't ask him to pronounce Versace.

Rated R: Album cover drops for Rihanna's latest.

Billy Bell drops out of So You Think You Can Dance due to illness.

Scientists discover gene that makes rodent's cells "cancer-proof".

President of Malta condemns anti-gay discrimination: "He said he had LGBT people specifically in mind when referring to minorities and various families during his inaugural speech. President Abela stressed the important of anti-discrimination legislation in employment and agreed that Malta EU membership is a positive factor contributing towards greater debate on diversity and acceptance."

Daytime TV to see mass gay wedding of 22 couples on One Life to Live.

Ricky Gervais to host the Golden Globes.

Ang Lee has fond memories of the Brokeback kiss: "I was directing Heath kissing [Jake Gyllenhaal] and I told him that you would never kiss a woman that hard. He needed to do it in a heroic Western way, more passionately. I remember seeing Michelle watching while we filmed - at that point they were already 'friends' - and she had a look of concentration on her face because she also thought he should be stronger with Jake."

Madonna hits Malawi to break ground for her girls' school.

More than 1,000 couples have registered as domestic partners in Nevada: "he law took effect Oct. 1, and more than 700 couples pre-registered and picked up their certificates that day. Nevada's constitution bans gay marriage, but the partnership law extends certain rights previously enjoyed by only married couples to couples who live together. That includes community property and the right to seek financial support after a breakup."

News: Nevada, Sarah Palin, Donuts, National Parks, Tammy Baldwin

Nevada issues first domestic partnership certificates.

Jeffrey S. Crowley, the Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy: Website to accept public input through November 13 on National HIV/AIDS Strategy

Harper Collins out gay marketer Jonathan Burnham hired virulent homophobe Lynn Vincent to ghost write Sarah Palin's new book: "The Palin book, moreover, is clearly being styled as a work of polemic, appealing to the Christianist base, thereby fanning homophobia, and empowering those who would like nothing more than to push gay people back into the closet, out of marriage, out of the military, and out of the workplace. Burnham is now directly party to this effort."

Tom Cruise will do his own stunts.

Chair of the Iowa chapter of Marriage Equality USA arrested for embezzlement; Phyllis Stevens and partner donated money to progressive and LGBT causes.

Man arrested at Apple store after threatening to shoot his iPhone with a gun.

McCain strategist Steve Schmidt on Palin 2012: "I think that she has talents, but my honest view is that she would not be a winning candidate for the Republican Party in 2012, and in fact, were she to be the nominee, we would have a catastrophic election result."

First look: George Takei and Brad Altman on The Newlywed Game.

Bet you never thought you could play Ohio like a piano. Instrument.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS launches new website.

AfterElton interviews Sam and Dan McMillen from The Amazing Race.

Revisiting Mark Salling's shirtlessness on Glee.

Homophobic donut shop owner in Pittsburgh airs his views: "This crowd will not rest until Homosexuality is mainstream; until the Second Amendment is done away with; until abortion on demand is as common and accepted as going to the dentist; until sexual images and strip clubs line our streets and suburbs; until government education is started in the womb; until disagreement with their political party is “hate speech” and becomes a crime..".

Mariah Carey hits Rockefeller Center for the Today show.

This land is your land: The National Parks go interactive.

Dear Abby: Out gay man runs into his closeted straight past on Facebook.

Helen Thomas digs in.

Record crowd expected for Fort Worth Pride this weekend in wake of Rainbow Lounge raid.

Catholic Bishop on the lam over child porn charges is arrested by Canadian border guards.

Are anti-gay forces in Washington state waiting until the last minute for a well-funded media barrage on Referendum 71?

Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduces new AIDS legislation: "Baldwin's new legislation, 'The Ryan White Grantee Payment Equity Act' (H.R. 3665), would authorize increased Medicaid funding to health care providers. The HIV/AIDS population would benefit from a higher Medicaid reimbursement rate. A higher rate would enable clinics to expand operations and care for the growing number of people living with the disease."

Feel the Burn

A series of time-lapses shot at this year's Burning Man in the Nevada desert.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

(via the daily dish)

News: Caster Semenya, Lockerbie, Ted Kennedy, Shark, Marc Jacobs

Lockerbie bomber freed...

Terminally-ill Ted Kennedy wants his replacement chosen swiftly. Deval Patrick: "It’s typical of Ted Kennedy to be thinking ahead and about the people of Massachusetts, when the rest of us are thinking about him."

New 800m World Champion Caster Semenya asked to take gender test: "The South African athletics federation insist it is "completely sure" that the 18-year-old Semenya is a female. 'We would not have entered her in the female competition if we had any doubts,' said a statement. Semenya won World Championship gold in impressive fashion on Wednesday."

Revolutionary pair of pants makes your ass wink.

Domestic partner registry in Nevada to begin next week.

Tom Ford's A Single Man vies with 13 other films for Queer Lion prize at Venice Film Festival.

Gay and lesbian residents of NYC apartment building file discrimination lawsuit: "Tensions boiled over when a flyer Uhrin had distributed in January 2004 about the repairs was taped to his door with the word 'fags' written on it, Uhrin said. 'It's like being raped,' said Uhrin, who claims he's been called homophobic slurs by former board members and heard his floor referred to as the 'AIDS floor.'"

First look at Madonna's "celebration" promo.

Oprah to kick off 24th season with Whitney Houston.

Fired Miami newsman Charles Perez wins two-year restraining order against ex-partner believed to have leaked an email which was intended to hurt him professionally.

TIME: Why does Obama keep flip-flopping on gay marriage?

Ryan Gosling out and about but refuses to show off the guns.

Great White Shark attack on seal observed by kayakers off Chatham, Cape Cod.

Police promise to uphold order during Belgrade Pride parade in September: "In this country, no one is allowed to threaten or bother anyone."

Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone to wed this weekend in Provincetown.

Justin Timberlake refused to be on the D List.

Swimmers to take on 3 1/2 mile bay between Sayville and Fire Island Pines for Stonewall Foundation benefit.

New app: Browse the photos on your home computer from your iPhone.

The latest on gay One Life to Live cop Scott Evans.

Michael Moore to the Hollywood Reporter: "I'm still in a stupor of stunned ecstasy that Obama won. And I approve of most everything he's done, from apologizing to the Iranians for America overthrowing their democratically elected president in 1953 to appointing Kumar to a White House position. He is doing the best he can with the mess he inherited, and I and millions of others are counting on him never to forget that he came from the working class and that his people need him now more than ever. As for the congressional Democrats, what a bunch of losers -- weak, scared, stupid. They had better get a clue pretty quick or the Dark Forces will return."

GOP Senator Ensign Admits Extramarital Affair

Nevada GOP Senator John Ensign, who has been a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, supported a constitutional amendment banning it, and called on President Clinton to resign over the Lewinsky affair
(“I came to that conclusion recently, and frankly it’s because of what he put his whole Cabinet through and what he has put the country through. He has no credibility left.”), acknowledged having an extramarital affair with a former campaign staffer yesterday. Her husband had formerly worked in Ensign's Senate office.

Ensign also called for Larry Craig's resignation after the Minneapolis men's room incident.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...