News: David Beckham, Estrogen, Gambia, Rupert Everett, Alzheimer's

Is estrogen the secret to containing the spread of HIV?

Seconds, please: Is David Beckham the hottest waiter of all time?

The two Spanish nationals detained late last week in the west African country of Gambia have been released: "Two Spanish men detained in Gambia for allegedly making homosexual proposals to taxi drivers have been released after five days in jail, a Spanish official said Wednesday. The men were released late Tuesday and left the West African country, said Nicola El Busto, an official with Spain's embassy in Gambia. El Busto declined to give further details, and Gambian authorities could not immediately be reached for comment."

Gossip Girl couple shops, scowls.

Redwood City, CA man who hurled gay slurs, patio table at neighbors, pleads not guilty in court: "Herbert Santos-Coy is facing multiple felony hate crime charges after he allegedly physically attacked his two neighbors on March 30. If convicted he faces up to eight years in state prison, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office. Santos-Coy was arrested by Redwood City police after he allegedly came into the carport where the couple was working on their car and began yelling homophobic slurs at them, according to the district attorney's office. He then repeatedly struck one of the victims in the face and swung a wrought iron table at the couple, which missed, according to prosecutors. When police arrived, Santos-Coy resisted arrest, according to police. He was allegedly drinking at the time of the altercation."

In California, assemblyman Mark Leno is expected to become the first openly gay state Senator in California history.

Does Brad Pitt have good taste in tables?

Wisconsin Supreme Court calls suit brought against gay group by Christian activist Reverend Grant Storms frivolous: "Anti-gay activist Rev. Grant Storms of New Orleans sued gay rights group Action Wisconsin after it took excerpts from a 2003 speech Storms made in Milwaukee and claimed he was advocating the murder of gays. Storms' lawsuit was dismissed in 2005, and he was ordered to pay court costs and attorneys' fees. The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld that decision, which had been reversed by an appeals court. The high court's 4-3 decision means Storms' attorney James Donohoo will have to pay more than $87,000 in court costs and fees because the court said he should have known the lawsuit was frivolous."

There must be something about the name Kern.

An interview with Banksy?

Alzheimer's patients are kept from wandering off from a German nursing home by a fake bus stop outside the center: "It sounds funny but it helps. Our members are 84 years old on average. Their short-term memory hardly works, but the long-term memory is still active. They know the green and yellow bus sign and remember that waiting there means they will go home. We will approach them and say that the bus is coming later and invite them in for a coffee. Five minutes later they have completely forgotten they wanted to leave."

That lesbian kiss at Safeco field in Seattle I posted about last month is getting a lot more attention. Sirbrina Guerrero, who was almost kicked out for it, is now speaking out.

Rosie O'Donnell and Howard Stern had a little chat yesterday.

Six in ten Americans say same-sex marriage a private choice that should not be regulated by the government: "As same-sex couples line up to get marriage licenses in California on June 17, the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll found that 63% of adults say same-sex marriage is 'strictly a private decision' between two people. That the government has the right 'to prohibit or allow' such marriages was stated by 33%, and 4% had no opinion."

Religious Knesset members initiate amendment to ban gay pride in Jerusalem.

Rupert Everett's anti-American rant: "I'm totally off the States now. The reaction to 9/11 and then George Bush - really, they've got very blobby as a nation. Now they (the Americans) are whiny victims whose language is entirely taken from two TV shows - Friends and Sex And The City - and there's nothing sexy about them any more. And that kind of semi-blindness about the rest of the world, which was attractive when America was exciting, is really unattractive now."

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News: Dianne Feinstein, Rendition, Tim McGraw, Channing Tatum

Rupert Everett shocks British morning talk show with comment about gay sex in the back row of a theater.

Army policeman says he is being targeted because the military perceives he is gay: "The charges alleged that Mastromarino sexually harassed other male soldiers in his unit with unwanted touching and verbal comments. He was ultimately convicted of three counts of simple assault. The military court's ruling, however, has yet to be approved by the regiment's commanding general, and Mastromarino has appealed the decision...In addition, according to sworn testimony during the trial, two prosecution witnesses said that they did not consider the physical contact between themselves and Mastromarino to be an assault, although the command chose to bring those charges forward against him. 'You are supposed to have some kind of credible evidence,' Mastromarino said. 'That leads me to believe that they were on some kind of agenda.'"

Tim McGraw fan steals ring off the country heartthrob's hand - video.

New trailer for the upcoming Jake Gyllenhaal/Reese Witherspoon/Meryl Streep drama Rendition is released.

Charles Simic is named 15th Poet Laureate of the United States: "The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet succeeds Donald Hall and joins a list of distinguished poets who have served in the position, including Ted Kooser, Louise Gluck, Billy Collins, Stanley Kunitz, Robert Pinsky, Robert Hass, Rita Dove and Robert Penn Warren."

Vanity Fair gives it up for young Hollywood hunks Channing Tatum, Henry Cavill, Shia LeBoeuf, and Zac Efron.

Dianne Feinstein breaks with Democrats, votes to confirm judge in Mississippi who believes children should be taken from gay parents.

Ring the alarm: Paula Abdul's bird's nest is done.

California Supreme Court asked to consider case regarding a physician who refused treatment to a lesbian based on his religious views: "The dispute arose in 2000 after San Diego-area doctors Christine Brody and Douglas Fenton refused to artificially inseminate Benitez, a lesbian who lives with her partner, Joanne Clark, in Oceanside, north of San Diego. By that time, Benitez had been a patient at the clinic for 11 months and been taking fertility drugs prescribed by Brody. The clinic was the only facility covered by Benitez' health insurance plan. 'I was very distraught,' Benitez says. 'I was very confused. I couldn't even bear to think that possibly I was never going to be able to have children.' In 2001, Benitez sued the doctors, claiming that they violated California's anti-discrimination laws that protect gays and lesbians."

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Looking at the Business of Gay "Celebrity" Books

Citing numbers from Nielsen BookScan, the Washington Blade's Katherine Volin looks at the disappointing sales of gay "celebrity" books and what's behind the numbers.

Says Charles Flowers, executive director of Lambda Literary Foundation: "The publishers are looking for a way for someone to sell the book and that’s part of the attraction of a celeb book, they’ve got this platform. I’m not sure people make the leap to, ‘Do I want to read a whole book about this person, or by this person?’ So I think it’s something to be careful about in acquiring a celebrity book. If they’re over-exposed, people may not buy a book about them or by them. They already have their opinion made or think they know the person."

I was a bit surprised by the low numbers, though I'm not sure why. It seems all the promotion in the world can't do as much for book sales as a single appearance on Oprah.

A few of the notable books and their sales numbers:

38,000 — "The Confession" by James McGreevey

19,000 — "Silent Partner" by Dina Matos McGreevey

15,000 — "A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style" by Tim Gunn and Kate Moloney

14,000 — "Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins" by Rupert Everett

9,000 — "Man in the Middle" by John Amaechi
9,000 — "Now It's My Turn" by Mary Cheney

8,000 — "There's Nothing in this Book That I Meant to Say" by Paula Poundstone

6,000 — "Tab Hunter Confidential" by Tab Hunter and Eddie Muller
6,000 — "Here's What We'll Say" by Reichen Lehmkuhl

3,000 — "Alone in the Trenches" by Esera Tuaolo and John Rosengren
3,000 — "Include Me Out" by Farley Granger and Robert Calhoun

1,000 — "I Had to Say Something" by Mike Jones with Same Gallegos
1,000 — "La Dolce Musto" by Michael Musto

Gay books a bust [washington blade]

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Rupert Everett Comes Down on Gay Parenting

Rupert Everett has been quoted by Britain's Daily Express as saying he doesn't believe that gay men would make fit adoptive parents:

"Oh God, I could never do that to a child. Can you imagine what it would be like, having your two dads coming to school speech days? And hearing those awful queeny rows while you are trying to get to sleep?"

The Arizona Republic also notes he has a low opinion of his potential for being a decent father: "I love kids. I have 10 godchildren. But I'm not a very good godfather. I'm not good at remembering birthdays. I don't believe in Father's Day or Mother's Day. I don't even like Christmas - I find it all a bit sick. People are emotionally tricked into spending so much money. So I don't think I will adopt. I don't think it's for me."

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Rupert Everett Channels Camilla Parker-Bowles for Trinians [tr]
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Rupert Everett Channels Camilla Parker-Bowles for Trinians

Rupert Everett is playing the headmistress Camilla Fritton in a remake of the 1954 film The Belles of St. Trinian's. But Everett says it was a more modern Camilla that inspired him for the role:

"I really enjoy dressing up like this, I call it my Parker-Bowles look."

According to the Daily Express, also starring in the movie about a "posh but anarchic girls school" are "Russell Brand, as Flash Harry, a womaniser first made famous by George Cole. Stephen Fry, Emily Watson and Colin Firth are appearing, too – and Kate Moss is rumoured to be in the cast."

Everett will also be playing the headmistress' brother. Both roles were taken on by Alaistair Sim in the 1954 film. Photo after the jump...

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News: Prince Harry, Seattle, Calvin Klein, GLAAD, Sean Penn

Lesbian asks court to ban gay adoptions: "Sara Wheeler's life has become a contradiction. Once a proud lesbian, she's now a pariah in the gay community. Once in a committed relationship with a female partner, she's rethinking her sexuality. And now she's doing something she once would have considered unthinkable -- arguing that gays don't have the legal right to adopt children."

London Gieves & Hawkes ad campaign: father and son, or gay silver fox and his younger conquest?

Donald Rumsfeld reportedly asked to guest edit L.A. Times opinion page.

Anna Nicole Smith died of an accidental drug overdose, says Seminole County police chief.

ABC scores high on grade of five major broadcast networks and their gay representation over the years. Meanwhile, gay media watchdog GLAAD continues to face increased scrutiny after a letter from here! networks senior VP Stephen F. Macias was leaked, questioning GLAAD's continued exclusion of gay media outlets from its awards.

Rupert Everett to don drag for Belles of St. Trinian's sequel: "Rupert is to take on the dual roles of the school's beleaguered headmistress Millicent Fritton and her brother Clarence - made famous by comic genius Alistair Sim - while Pride And Prejudice star Colin [Firth] will play an MP who plans to turn the school into a respectable institution."

Jesse Metcalfe is undeniably in love.

Seattle mayor Greg Nickels under fire for support of gay marriage.

SURVEY: 72% of heterosexual adults say their opinion of a favorite male athlete wouldn't change if the athlete revealed that he was gay.

Prince Harry attacks paparazzi in booze rage.

New York's Royalton hotel issued fraudulent fries to Calvin Klein: "Geoffrey Zakarian , the chef behind the Town and Country restaurants, confessed to Bill Boggs at the Yale Club celebrity chef dinner series that while he was cooking at '44' in the Royalton years ago, his regular customer Calvin Klein always wanted French fries with lunch. The kitchen wasn't equipped to make fries, however - so each day, Zakarian sent out to McDonald's for a couple of large orders of fries, which he'd doctor up with more salt and reheat and serve to Klein - who never knew. Until now."

LIFE's over. Time Inc. to stop printing it.

Sean Penn leads Oakland charge against Bush, war: "You and your smarmy pundits -- and the smarmy pundits you have in your pocket -- can take your war and shove it. Let's unite not only in stopping this war, but in holding this administration accountable. Let's make this crystal clear: We do support our troops, but not the exploitation of them and their families. The money that's spent on this war would be better spent on building levees in New Orleans and health care in Africa and care for our veterans. Iraq is not our toilet. It's a country of human beings whose lives that were once oppressed by Saddam are now in Dante's Inferno."

Senate Republicans blocking free Al Gore Global Warming concert from Capitol grounds.

Spandex-suited Will Ferrell shows off his "moose knuckles".

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Sydney Mardi Gras Parade Takes Oxford Street

Actor Rupert Everett and gay cowboy Adam Sutton led Sydney's annual Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras parade down Oxford Street over the weekend.

Sutton, a real-life gay cowboy and friend of Heath Ledger's came out a year ago following the release of Brokeback Mountain. Ledger has said his interpretation of the role was based in part on Sutton.

New South Wales police reported a crowd of more than 350,000 to watch the parade which has marked the celebration since 1978.

Said Everett: "I think it's time for us to give back, to care about each other, and to fight for others gay and straight who … don't have a voice just when they most need to be heard."

Among those on hand for the parade were a cadre of "Impossible Princesses" made up of more than 250 Kylie Minogue impersonators.

Gallery

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #72

RUPERT EVERETT: Talks to The View gals about his new book.

STRANGERS WITH CONDI: Responses to the Iraq troop surge plan.

BRITNEY SPEARS: She's "Fed Up" in this reportedly leaked track.

THE COUNTDOWN: What is wrong with Paula Abdul?

Check out our past guides to the Tube here!

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A Night at La Scala

Rupert Everett escorted longtime friend Donatella Versace to La Scala opera house in Milan Thursday for its opening night, a production of Aida directed by Franco Zeffirelli. The production has created a frenzy with all 11 performances selling out within two hours. It's the director's first production there in 14 years.

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Rupert Everett on Indian AIDS Mission

UN Ambassador for AIDS Rupert Everett joined MTV India's condom-shaped AIDS ambassador "Rubber Sing" in Delhi on World AIDS Day to launch a campaign to fight the disease in that country.

Said Everett: "I have been associated with AIDS awareness programmes for the last 10 years, and I've been to India many times too. I've lost many dear friends to AIDS. Awareness is the need of the hour. Education about this dreaded disease alone could go long way in saving innumerable lives...Everyone has sex, but no one talks about it. That's the main reason why we're unable to fight AIDS till date. People must open up, and share their experiences. There's no better education or awareness than that. And now it's high time we confronted this disease. India has reasons to worry. But the best part is that the Indian economy is strong. That means if we put our hearts to it, we can raise the funds to do a lot more that what we are currently doing for the HIV positive Indian population. We might not be able to help the present generation, but we could at least help the coming generations."

Recent Rupert News
Report: Rupert Everett Godfather to Madonna's Adopted Child [tr]
Rupert Everett Dishes About the Divas [tr]

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Report: Rupert Everett Godfather to Madonna's Adopted Child

Rupert Everett will be the godfather to Madonna's adopted Malawian child David Banda, Brit tabloid The Sun reported today:

"Madonna picked Rupert, 47, because of his experience of working in Africa with AIDS victims. The move is a sign that Madonna and hubby Guy Ritchie are confident the adoption will be approved. A close source said: “Madonna and Rupert have been pals for years and he is one of her closest friends. But more than that her trip to Africa was partly inspired by Rupert’s work out there. 'She knows he spends a lot of time in the country through his work with AIDS charities and that he knows the country well. She feels he knows the culture well and would be a great help to David as he grows up.'"

You can be sure that child will be well-versed in how to deal with demanding divas (a skill that might be useful in Madonna's household) and never get any Starbucks.

Madonna is set to appear on Oprah today to talk about the adoption. The show will air Wednesday.

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News: Irish Muscle Mary Cops, Mariah, Budapest, Gay Whales

UN condemns Cameroon for human rights violations for detention of 11 gay men.

Irish cops go undercover as Muscle Marys: "The muscle-bound boys wear skin-tight jeans and tees -- and apparently learn "the walk" -- and patrol Dublin's George's Street and other popular cruising grounds. The detail was set up this summer to combat a trend of rising gay attacks in the area, and in the past three months has made 14 arrests in nearly a dozen attacks. A police spokesperson said that many of those who have been charged belong to a well-known gang."

Brawl breaks out on gay magazine boat party.

Peter Lewis the HSBC banker who sued his employer in the largest anti-discrimination case in Great Britain and lost, will fight the decision: "The case, heard earlier this year, was the first high-profile legal action involving City staff to be heard at a tribunal since sex-discrimination laws were extended to gays and lesbians, and was closely watched as a result. One of the banker's grounds of appeal will argue that, 'because of the pivotal importance' of the areas where the tribunal did find discrimination, it should have decided his dismissal was also discriminatory."

Hungary? Gay and lesbian travel website launched in Budapest!

World's first museum exhibit on gay and lesbian wildlife to open in Oslo: "One photograph shows two giant erect penises flailing above the water as two male right whales rub together. Another shows a male giraffe mounting another for sex, another describes homosexuality among beetles. One radical Christian said organizers of the exhibition -- partly funded by the Norwegian government -- should 'burn in hell.'"

Mariah Carey all glittered out.

Rupert Everett says he was once turned down for a role in a Sharon Stone film after the head of the studio called him a 'pervert': "Sharon wanted me to do it and I went to meet the director and he wanted me to do it. The director rang up the head of the studio and he said, 'Oh no, he's not playing a role - he's a pervert.' He said this in front of lots of people. My agent and lawyer got worked up and we went into battle. Sharon was on the phone to me saying, 'We can close this movie down. We're talking about your civil rights.' I was moving toward a fight with the studio on this one. But in the end those kind of battles are too exhausting to fight... and I didn't."

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News: Dieux du Stade, Gay Bishop Dissed, DJ Tiesto, Palm Springs

Palm Springs' gays "unified in outrage" over openly gay Mayor Ron Oden's courteous welcome of Focus on the Family's "Love Won Out" conference for ex-gays to the area. Oden, a minister, says he was only being Christian: "I do not agree with Focus on the Family... yet, I believe that I should show them common or Christian courtesy."

Ready for more French rugby? Dieux du Stade 2007 is on its way and features one of our recent faves, Geoffroy Messina. Order HERE.

Latvian Parliament passes amendments to labor law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. Move brings Latvia in line with EU directive.

Openly gay HGTV Design Star winner David Bromstad will develop a "color show" for the 13-episode series he won, says he's unlike his onscreen persona: "I’m a weirdo. I’m a very quiet person when I’m not working. All i really do is go to the beach; I stay home, I don’t go out. I’m kind of a homebody. But when I’m around people, I think I just thrive around people, they give me so much energy."

Sean Penn's advice to his daughter's dates: "I tell them that whatever they do to my daughter that night, they better be prepared to come home and do it to me too."

DJ Tiësto hospitalized in the Netherlands for heart condition.

Gay man passed over in election of new Episcopal bishop: "It marked the second time in five months that a diocese of the U.S. Episcopal church has considered a gay person for bishop. In an election in May the Diocese of California, headquartered in San Francisco, also passed over a candidate who was gay. The 2.4 million-member U.S. church has been in turmoil since the 2003 consecration of Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, believed to be the first openly gay bishop in more than 450 years of Anglican history. Gay activists in the Newark Diocese said before the vote that choosing their new bishop was about picking the right person for the job, and not not about sexual identity.

REVIEW: Rupert Everett memoir "a splendid book, a monument to a series of demi-mondes and fleeting bittersweet moments. Definitely several cuts above the conventional showbusiness memoir, laced with quirky insights and dazzling phrases, it reads like a lurid dream, recalled in deliciously acute detail - in short, a heady triumph of observation and reverie."

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News: Rodrigo Santoro, Zach Braff, British Bottle Attack

Lance & Reichen to be honored by HRC. One columnist asks, for what?

Freshly shorn Lost cast member Rodrigo Santoro hanging out.

Rupert Everett to turn his tell-all memoir recounting his adventures with Madonna, Julia Roberts, and Sharon Stone, into a film. The search for actors to play those parts (as well as the part of Everett himself) will be the subject of a reality TV show.

A bill that would have banned articles and/or interviews with or about gay people has been rejected in Latvia. Analyst: "It was clear that the Latvian parliament would reject the proposal, which goes against national and international legislation and against common sense. But it is sad that we have parties which can come up with such absurd, impudent, and homophobic proposals." It's also sad that gay Latvians are pelted with eggs and excrement when they try to assemble.

Fashion week kicks off in New York with John Bartlett.

Zach Braff says he's shocked that he isn't gay: "It's amazing I turned out straight. My parents loved Broadway musicals and they'd take me and all my siblings. They were the first things I saw where I was just blown away." Because, of course, all gays are theater queens.

Moscow gay pride organizers demand inquiry into attack on German Bundestag member Volker Beck during the violence that erupted last May during pride events in that city.

Ellen Generes to host this year's Academy Awards. DeGeneres: "When Laura Ziskin called, I was thrilled. There's two things I've always wanted to do in my life: One is to host the Oscars. The second is to get a call from Laura Ziskin. You can imagine that day's diary entry."

Gays are all over the silver screen this fall, according to this guide from AfterElton.

British thug gets four years in young offender's institution for homophobic bottle attack.

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Rupert Everett Dishes About the Divas

Rupert Everett calls the effort to stay in the closet in Hollywood "too exhausting" in an interview with the UK's Daily Mail, slamming the industry's discrimination against gay actors in a reference to one-time co-star Hugh Grant: "The difference is, one of us is straight and one is gay. The straight one gets to walk down a red carpet with a beautiful girl and everything works out and the gay one has to back-pedal and do independent movies."

When he's not acting or crusading against the local Starbucks, Everett is writing. Everett has just published a tell-all memoir, Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins: The Autobiography, in which he opens up about his relationships with Julia Roberts, Sharon Stone, and Madonna, among others.

On Julia Roberts: "There is a male quality to the female superstar. There has to be.

If a girl is going to survive in Hollywood . . . Flocks of executive seagulls will try to take her and drop her onto the rocks.

"She must learn to [bleep] them before they [bleep] her if she is to survive, so she becomes a kind of she-man, a beautiful woman with invisible balls."

On Gianni Versace's funeral and Madonna: "I arrived early and found Donatella alone on a couch, wearing a silver dress, wrapped up in a thousand memories, clouded by tragedy. ‘I’m so depressed,’ she said simply. ‘Me too,’ I replied, but mine was cosmetic by comparison.

After supper, a cluster of divas, including Madonna, sat around Donatella in the courtyard. The party moved around us like the sea. Our table was a rock and waves of fruits de mer tried to crash against it and join our group. The undertow on this particular stretch of bitch was strong. Madonna smiled graciously to all and sundry, secure in the knowledge that someone else would do the dirty work and give any unwanted jellyfish ‘the old heave-ho’.

Those not welcome were swept back out to sea by the polite but firm dismissal of Gwyneth Paltrow or the glum monosyllabic reply of Guy Ritchie, Madonna’s new boyfriend.

Unbeknown to most of us, Guy and Madonna were having a baby. Guy’s body curved around his princess in acquiescence, but he was not so accommodating to some of her old chums.

This night marked the beginning of the end for Madonna and her younger brother, Christopher Ciccone. They had been inseparable in childhood and she had taken him with her to the material world, where he had provided a solid raft in the shark-infested waters.

He had a blunt, aggressive manner, and he often looked as though he was laughing at you, particularly when he was drunk, but underneath he was vulnerable and funny. To know her at all you had to know him.

But he and Guy were from different planets, and in a way the one’s success relied on the other not being there.

Others were also on the way out. Guy was not particularly comfortable with queens, and so it was a last call for a lot of the disco bunnies and club-mix queens who made up the fabric of Madonna’s mantle."

More excerpts after the jump...

On The Next Best Thing: "I got a call from Sherry Lansing of Paramount, the producer of huge hits such as Fatal Attraction. She had a film named The Next Best Thing.

It was a sickly script about a nasty humourless woman and her lovely gay best friend, who was funny, supportive, had great dress sense, everything a man was not, and could break into a show tune at any given moment.

He was also that rarity in the homosexual community, a NPB (non-practising b*****) who gave up the awkward matter of sex when all his friends died. By page 23 of the script, these two revolting people decided to have a baby. I turned it down flat. But Lansing said that if I agreed to take part she would green light the movie. What’s more, I could even approve the casting. My agent suggested Madonna for the woman’s part and I was ecstatic.

The studio was less enthusiastic. There was a kiss-of-death theory about Madonna in films. But we pushed for her and Lansing eventually said that if that’s what I wanted, then she’d go with it."

On Sharon Stone and Basic Instinct: "One night at the Golden Globes, she told me she was making the sequel to Basic Instinct and had suggested to David Cronenberg (the director then attached to the film) that I should play the male lead.

I went to meet him the next day, feeling pretty excited because he was a director I really admired.

We got along well and he left the lunch to call MGM, the studio making the picture, to inform them that he had found his actor. At this point all hell broke loose.

My agent was told that, to all intents and purposes, a homosexual was a pervert in the eyes of America and the world would never accept me in the role.

For about a week, there were lots of transatlantic phone calls. Then my agency started weighing up the pros and cons.

They had a business to think about and MGM versus Rupert was a no-brainer. By the following Monday morning, the whole saga had blown over without a trace.

Sharon, on the other hand, never gives up. 'Honey,' she said. 'I can't believe what's happening. I'm with my pastor and we agree that we should stop the film and sue the studio. What do you think?'

I lay back on my bed, my head spinning. I searched for a cigarette, had a shot of vodka and a couple of painkillers. Suddenly, for the first time in my career, I felt totally overwhelmed and began to cry."

This book promises to be the dishiest thing we've read in a while...

Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins: The Autobiography [amazon]
Sex, Fame, Madonna and Me [daily mail]
My Life with the Divas, Part 1 [daily mail]
Madonna - before she became the Material Girl [daily mail]

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Rupert Everett: Starbucks is like a Cancer [tr]

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Rupert Everett: Starbucks is like a Cancer

Despite the gay-friendly messages on its coffee cups, actor Rupert Everett is unhappy with plans to open a Starbucks on a quaint street in his central London neighborhood of Bloomsbury and has joined a campaign of 1,000 other residents afraid that it will turn the street into a franchised strip mall:

Everett: "Starbucks is spreading like a cancer. Nobody in the neighbourhood wants it, including me. There are plenty of diners and coffee shops there already."

The company insists its presence will bolster the local economy providing more than 10 (!) jobs.

And if it's like the shops that operate in New York, it may bolster the local roach, rat, and vermin population as well.

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CWFA: Starbucks Promoting Homosexual Agenda [tr]

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