Gay Vancouver Couple of 30 Years Win $50 Million Lottery

Claude and Kurt Blanchette-Ebert were considering buying a used car for their 30th anniversary when things took a dramatic turn:

The couple was facing tough financial times when Kurt bought a Quick Pick ticket last Thursday from the Mac’s convenience store at Hemlock and Broadway in Vancouver.

When he returned on Saturday to check the numbers at the store’s machine, he was flabbergasted. He rubbed his eyes and looked again: he had matched all seven winning numbers and won $50 million, the biggest lottery jackpot in B.C.’s history.

“The first thing I said was ‘holy sh--,’” Kurt, 63, said as he and Claude accepted their winning cheque from the B.C. Lottery Corp. on Tuesday.

He still didn’t believe it and had the ticket verified by Mac’s clerk Sunil Arora. When he got home, he was “beet red,” said Claude. “I thought he was going to have a stroke.”

The pair stashed the ticket away in a safe place and broke into hysterical laughter.

It's nice to know that the lottery does not discriminate!

Watch a video of the couple here.

News: NPR, Chris Colfer, Calvin Klein, Shark Attack, Finland

NPR on its recent canning of Juan Williams: “He had several times in the past violated our news code of ethics with things that he had said on other people’s air.”

For whatever reason, Glee's Chris Colfer doesn't come across as narcissistic with this statement: "If somebody had to be a role model, I think I'm a good candidate, in the sense that I really don't do anything obviously stupid or wrong, and I'm pretty smart with my judgments."

Rick Sanchez lives to tweet again.

The NY Times reports on why the creators of South Park plagiarized jokes on this week's episode: "When Mr. Parker and Mr. Stone could not find a movie theater showing 'Inception,' and were unable to get a DVD of the film (or find a watchable version on BitTorrent), they turned to other parodies of the film on the Web, and found the CollegeHumor video." Still sounds fishy to me.

A whole lotta green eggs and ham: The 19-page manuscript of a previously unpublished Dr. Seuss manuscript is sold at auction for a cool $34,000.

Prosecutors in Vancouver want a man accused of attacking a 62-year-old at a gay bar charged with a hate crime. The victim was left with permanent brain damage.

Anti-gay comments spark mass exodus from Finnish church: "The number leaving increased sharply on 12 October following the broadcast of a debate programme focused on gay rights on Network 2 of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle). By Monday 18 October, more than 24,000 people had left Finland’s Evangelical-Lutheran and Orthodox Churches."

Weather forecast for some red states is a giant hovering red penis.

Katy Perry and Russell brand got hitched.

Calvin Kelin ads can't seem to stay away from controversy.

The video game Fable III is about to become very gay-friendly: "We don't require you to be of a certain type to get married," said Peter Molyneux, creative director at Microsoft Game Studios Europe. "You can be gay. You can be bisexual. You can get married as many times as you like. It's up to you. My fascination is with what that means to people. It means they can be who they are rather than who I require them to be."

The digital age has officially killed the Sony Walkman.

Shark attack that killed a 19-year-old in California was most likely involved a Great White.

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #713

WILL PHILLIPS: The young Arkansas activist speaks over the weekend at 'The Big Commit' marriage equality demonstration in D.C.

RIGHT TO LOVE: A preview of the upcoming documentary featuring the Leffew family.

TWIST AND SHOUT: The famous Ferris Bueller scene recreated at Vancouver Gay Pride.

PUG SWIM MEET: I know a few pug owners. Thus, it does not surprise me that this exists.

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.

Accused Vancouver Gay-Basher: 'I Have Gay Friends And I'm Fine With Them As Long As They Don't Hit On Me'

Earlier this week, Andy wrote about an attack on a gay man in Vancouver in which "'disturbing comments' were allegedly made about the victim's sexuality," making it yet another likely gay-bashing in Canada's hate crime capital. One of the two men arrested in the assault, Alex Tchernychev, has spoken to CKNW radio. Apparently, the 21-year-old is scared and doesn't want to go to jail.

He's also claiming gay panic. Natch.

CKNW reports:

"Tchernychev also says the attack is not as it seems,'I have gay friends and I'm fine with them as long as they don't hit on me. I like woman, you know?'"

"He claims he and his friend Aaron Hahn had got off a bus and were walking up the street shirtless at two forty in the morning when a man and his friends approached,'and they were hitting on us. So I said please stop doing that, I don't like that. So they started provoking it.'"

"He says one thing lead to another until he was scratched in the face,'this fight happened. He ended up on the ground and his friends jumped me on top.' He says any gay slurs he used happened after the fight."

Suspects in Vancouver Gay Bashing Arrested

Last month, I posted about the attack on a gay couple in Vancouver by two men they found urinating against their townhouse. Those two men have now been arrested:

"Two brothers have been arrested in connection with an attack on a gay couple in downtown Vancouver on June 12. Vancouver police Const. Jana McGuinness announced the arrests at a press conference this afternoon, as well as details of an overnight assault also being investigated as a hate crime. Parminder Singh Peter Bassi, 30, is charged with two counts of assault causing bodily harm and his 27-year-old brother Ravinder Robbie Bassi is charged with one count of assault causing bodily harm. The Richmond brothers were arrested at their home on Wednesday in connection with the beating of David Holtzman and his partner Peter Regier. They have since been released from custody on court-imposed conditions, and will make their next court appearance on July 5."

In related news, there was yet another suspected hate crime in Vancouver that happened early yesterday morning:

"Two men are facing charges of aggravated assault for a violent attack on a gay man near the intersection of Davie and Burrard streets early Thursday morning. According to police, a 30-year-old Vancouver man was walking along Davie Street with friends around 2:45 a.m. when he was verbally confronted by one of the alleged attackers. Police say that he was then punched in the face and knocked to the ground. The blows continued as he lay on the ground, and a second man allegedly joined in. 'Disturbing comments' were allegedly made about the victim's sexuality during the attack, according to a police press release."

Vancouver Police Release Photos Of Hate Crime Suspects; City Reported To Be Gay-Bashing Capital Of Canada

Earlier this week Andy reported on the brutal attack of David Holtzman and his partner, Peter Regier. The two were punched repeatedly and bitten (yes bitten) by two men who the couple found urinating on the steps of the their townhouse. Today Vancouver police released still images taken from a security camera of two men they believe to be the assailants.

The Province also reports:

Holtzman said he believes the suspect has connections to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event that took place several blocks away at GM Place. "I know that the police have been given evidence saying that the primary suspect has links to UFC,” he said. “It is gay-bashing, but it also is how do we make and keep our neighbourhoods and our communities safe?”

Vancouver police will not comment on a link between the UFC match and the attack. Watch a news report about the incident here.

Meanwhile, a new report claims that Vancouver is Canada's hate crime capital. The city apparently sees 6.3 hate crimes per 100,000 people as opposed to Montreal which sees 1 hate crime reported per 100,000.

According to The Province:

Of the 143 incidents in Vancouver in 2008, 40 were based on religion, 61 were race or ethnicity-based hate crimes, 34 were based on sexual orientation and eight had unknown motivation. Across Canada police reported 1,036 hate crimes in 2008, up 35 per cent from 2007. StatsCan says the gay-bashing crimes were more violent than those based on race and religion, and 85 per cent of the victims of gay-bashing were male.