Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 |
Elizabeth Taylor testifies before the U.S. Senate in 1986, urging for increased spending and awareness for the fights against AIDS. | | Elizabeth Taylor, screen legend & pioneering AIDs activist dies
The legendary actress, known for iconic films such as National Velvet, Little Women, Father of the Bride, Suddenly Last Summer, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Giant, Cleaopatra, Butterfield 8, BOOM! and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was also one the world’s leading activists in the fight against AIDS well before it was popular or even considered safe to do so.
Always a friend to gay people (she had long, lasting friendships with gay actors such as Montgomery Clift and Rock Hudson), when the AIDS epidemic besieged the community in the mid-1980s, Taylor took action. She testified in front of Congress as early as 1986, urging the U.S. Government and President Reagan to acknowledge the crisis and so something about it. Arguably, Taylor was one of the first and surely the boldest and most persistent champions in making the fight against AIDS a crucial, international, human cause that concerned all citizens. She was involved in the founding of AMFAR and her own Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.
A quote from the website The Elizabeth Taylor Archives: “I have to show up because it galvanizes people. [They] know . . . I’m not there to sell or gain anything. I’m there for the same reason they are: to get something done.” The discovery of HIV/AIDS not only changed the world forever, but also the life and purpose of Dame Elizabeth Taylor. Elizabeth was the first person in the entertainment industry to stand up and take charge when few were willing to listen, and even fewer were willing to help. “Elizabeth did something when it required real courage,” said Elton John. Since then she has remained at the forefront of the battle against this disease, a loyalty that has earned her the name the “Joan of Arc of AIDS.”
Read more. Source: 365gay.com | |
| OutServe Launches Magazine For Gay Service Members
With repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy moving steadily forward, an LGBT organization has launched a new magazine for gay service members.
The publication is being put together by OutServe, an organization that describes itself as an underground network of more than 2,900 LGBT military personnel. The bimonthly magazine will cover the implementation of DADT repeal, and the activities at OutServe chapters, among other issues.
“Our first objective with the magazine is to let all the gay, lesbian, bi, and trans members currently serving know that they are not alone,” said OutServe’s co-director, an active-duty officer who goes by the pseudonym JD Smith, said in a statement.
Read more. Source: huffingtonpost.com | | | |
Bachelor Jake Gyllenhaal shares a flirty giggle with
co-star Michelle Monaghan at Source Code premiereWith no leading lady in his life, Jakey Gyllenhall attended the premiere
of his new movie alone tonight. But that didn't stop the 30-year-old actor
sharing a flirty giggle with his
Source Code co-star at the LA premiere tonight.
Dressed in a dapper grey suit, the
Brokeback Mountain star cut
a confident figure as he posed with his on-screen love
interest, 35-year-old Michelle Monaghan.
Read
more. Source:
dailymail.co.uk | Apple removes "gay cure" app from App Store
By Marge_Innavera
Good news, the offensive app was removed earlier this week.
A petition sponsored by Truth Wins Out was signed by 100,000-150,000 people, depending on which source you look at. What might have also influenced Apple was a letter from Dr. Gary Remafedi, who's quoted on Exodus' website:
"This message serves as a request to remove the Exodus International application from Apple's iPhone offerings because the website content is objectionable. It erroneously cites my research (Remafedi 1992) in support of claims that homosexuality can be changed.
"Various professional organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have taken the position that homosexuality is not a mental or physical condition. Programs which aim to change sexual orientation have been opposed because they are unwarranted, ineffective, unethical, and harmful.
"Exodus's website features an article (Buchanan 2010) which makes erroneous statements and conclusions and attributes them to Remafedi (1992). Statements were made to the effect to that many teens are confused about their sexual orientation and that sexual orientation is amenable to change. Further, associating my work with that of the ex-gay ministry and other unfounded treatments is professionally injurious and grievous.
"As a savvy consumer, I understand that corporations market phones both by offering a wide array of applications and by appealing to niche audiences like Exodus's. In turn, Exodus applies the Apple "4+" smartphone application rating to its own website as an imprimatur (see http://exodusinternational.org/).
"From my perspective, the risk of offending and harming consumers by providing a platform for erroneous information about an important health and social topic far outweighs the potential financial gain. Arguably, corporations have no affirmative responsibility to vendors under the First Amendment of the Constitution, but they are accountable for the quality and consequences of their products."
Dr. Remafedi is director of the Youth and AIDS Projects and a professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. The Minnesota Star Tribune has more background:
"A rival national organization, Truth Wins Out, said the app directs users to a Web page that answers various questions about homosexuality, among them: "If people are same-sex attracted but don't ever act on it, does that make them homosexual?" In the answers, Exodus "twists the findings of Dr. Remafedi" from 1992 to make it appear homosexuality is "just a transitory phase in youth," Truth Wins Out said in a statement.
"Remafedi said he has challenged many misrepresentations of his work over the years and has had "100 percent" success in doing so.
"He said an Apple administrator sent him an e-mail in response to his letter. "They said they are on it," Remafedi said. "I am simply pointing out a problem. I'm sure they will do the right thing."' | |
In Memoriam“There is no questioning the monumental impact that Elizabeth Taylor has had on film and on pop
culture, but today I find myself celebrating the life of a woman who used her unparalleled fame to
combat HIV/AIDS at a time when those suffering from the disease were being ignored because of
the stigma attached, which made Elizabeth Taylor fight even harder. It is that courage and
determination that has continued to inspire new generations of fans that span every imaginable
background. She was a true survivor who lived to the fullest with both passion and purpose.”
~
Andrew Budgell ~
Read
more. Source:
dameelizabethtaylor.com | Something familiar about "Much Ado About Nothing"
The current Theater Calgary play features stars of Brokeback Mountain
Claudio and Hero are young, in love and getting married. Beatrice and Benedick are older, single and can’t stand each other. As friends and family gather for the wedding, hidden desires, jealousies and mischievous schemes threaten to keep the bride and groom from the altar.
Will young love prevail, or will another romance bloom instead? One thing is certain – as long as there are men, women and passion there’s always “much ado.”
"This is one of Shakespeare’s most playful, accessible and wildly romantic plays. We will transform our stage into a vineyard in Southern Italy. Among the vines you will find lovers tumbling over each other - as lovers always do. Bring someone you adore." – Director Dennis Garnhum
Read more. Source: theatrecalgary.com
Pictured: Brokeback Mountain's Valerie Planche (Signal bar waitress) plays Beatrice, Leonato's niece, and David Trimble (the Basque) plays Borachio, follower of Don John. | | | |
Adam Sutton: Trust and PerformanceYou may remember the Aussie cowboy Adam Sutton, author of
Say It Out Loud: Journey of a Real Cowboy.
He recently posted some pics of himself on Facebook riding ten horses that had
not been ridden before. He must be Australia's version of the horse whisperer.
See more
pics. Source:
facebook.com | Gyllenhaal Spearheads New School Food Revolution
Jake Gyllenhaal is spearheading a new campaign to prompt America's public schools to grow their own fruit and vegetables. The Brokeback Mountain star, who has carved a reputation as one of Hollywood's top chefs, has become a spokesman for the organization Edible Schoolyard.
He explains, "We're trying to make it possible to have an edible garden in every public school in America. Kids can have a new relationship to nature and to their food and to their diet and an understanding where their food comes from. Kids can take classes in these gardens and learn mathematics by counting vegetables and engage in the world in a different way than we're used to in schools."
Read more. Source: cinemablend.com | | | |
| Gay Rumours Surround Jake Gyllenhaal
He has dated a bevy of Hollywood beauties including Reese Witherspoon and Taylor Swift, but gay rumours still surround actor Jake Gyllenhaal.
The 30-year-old actor said that ever since he starred as a gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain, many questions have been raised about his sexuality.
Read more. Source: cinemablend.com | |
| | | | |
Gyllenhaal saves Cooper from Playgirl
Playgirl no longer wants naked pictures of Anderson Cooper — at least they don’t want to cough up $10,000 in exchange for a photo snapped of the CNN anchor on the sly.
On Tuesday, Playgirl’s Daniel Narcicio offered up $10K to anyone who could provide a naked pic of Cooper. But after sleeping on it, and thinking about Jake Gyllenhaal’s scuffle with a stalker trying to snap a picture of him while standing at a urinal, Nardicio changed his mind.
Read more. Source: advocate.com | | | |
| Places, not people, inspire author to write
Top-selling author Annie Proulx has revealed a future work could be partly set in New Zealand – and she is actively researching while in the country on a book tour.
The Shipping News author, who also wrote the story that inspired the movie Brokeback Mountain, let the detail slip to a sellout audience of about 260 at The Dominion Post's Write Stuff event yesterday. The storyline could feature the issue of the sale of kauri trees, but she would not divulge any more details.
Proulx began writing fiction after her children had left home. "I went back to college after doing the things people of my age did; got married, had kids, did all the right things at PTA meetings; the cooking, the relatives, the Thanksgiving turkey."
Proulx said her latest book, Bird Cloud: A Memoir, was "not a memoir of person, but a memoir of place".
Read more. Source: stuff.co.nz | | | |
We gotta be strongThe makers of Brazil's Magnifca Cachaça suggest drinking lots of their product
should you come across your son and his friend watching
Brokeback Mountain.
Slogan: "If you gotta be strong, we gotta be strong."
Copyranter observes:
"Creative note: Diagram ads? Rarely a good idea. Don't make me
work to get your oh so important message."
Source:
joemygod Fun Question of the Week | This week's question: Rita Wilson - who is now married to Tom Hanks - made her acting debut doing what on what popular television comedy sitcom?
Let us know your answers in the Response Thread.
Last week's question and answer: Who was Topo Gigio, and what was the name of the actor that gave him his voice?
Lyle (Mooska) responded correctly with a photo answer, and BayCityJohn linked a YouTube video! From Wikipedia: "Topo Gigio was the lead character of a children's puppet show on Italian and Spanish television in the early 1960s. The character, created by artist Maria Perego, debuted on Italian television in 1959 and has been customarily voiced by actor Giuseppe (Peppino) Mazzullo. The Italian nickname "Gigi" is a diminutive of Luigi ("Louis"), so Topo Gigio could be translated as Louie Mouse.
"Topo Gigio, a soft foam mouse with dreamy eyes and childish personality, was very popular in Italy for many years — not only on TV but also in children's magazines, such as the classical Corriere dei Piccoli, animated cartoons, movies, and merchandising. The character's popularity spread to the world after being featured on The Ed Sullivan Show in the US. Today, Topo Gigio still has a cohort of faithful fans, and has become an icon of Italian and Spanish pop culture. He performs regularly at Zecchino d'Oro festival and other programs created by Antoniano and RAI. In 1965, a feature length motion picture Le Avventure di topo Gigio (The Adventures of Topo Gigio) was released internationally." | | | |
The Cowboy ImagePosted by
coal615 in
Cowboy Up!Forum HumorThe Forum ImagePosted by
conny in
Life Through The Lens 5Quote of the Day“When people say, 'She's got everything', I've got one answer - I haven't had tomorrow.”~ Elizabeth Taylor ~
Photo Caption of the DayPosted by
TwistandShout in
Photo Captioning Fun 6Alma, to Jack : So you've fallen for him heels over head, too . . .
Contributors: Marge_Innavera, coal615, conny, TwistandShout
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