Author: Randy Slovacek

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Joe Paterno statue comes down in wake of report and Sandusky convictions

The decision has been made to take down the statue of Joe Paterno at Penn State.

“I now believe that, contrary to its original intention, Coach Paterno’s statue has become a source of division and an obstacle to healing in our University and beyond. For that reason, I have decided that it is in the best interest of our university and public safety to remove the statue and store it in a secure location. I believe that, were it to remain, the statue will be a recurring wound to the multitude of individuals across the nation and beyond who have been the victims of child abuse.”

Read the entire statement here.

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Active servicemembers march in San Diego Pride parade in uniform

For the first time since the repeal of DADT, today in San Diego members of the military marched in a gay pride parade in full uniform. Earlier this week the Pentagon, which typically does not allow uniformed personnel to march in civilian events, said that it was making a one-time exception for San Diego Pride.

The loudest cheers from the parade crowd of nearly 200,000 were reserved for them. The U.S. military contingent included about 40 members — some active, some retired. As they assembled in the staging area, countless spectators took pictures of and with them. Most of the active-duty personnel said they were under orders not to give interviews although photos were fine. Sean Sala, 27, who left the Navy last year but helped organize the military group, said the significance of this year’s active-duty uniformed participants is bolstered by government approval for the first time. “I think everybody wants to make it a gay thing, but it’s just an American thing,” he said. “These are people that have laid down their lives for their country, you know, and they deserve recognition for their service regardless of their sexuality.”

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Mitt Romney – buying Twitter followers?

Check out this graph of Twitter followers for Mitt Romney and President Obama.

President Obama has been averaging a steady 16,000 – 30,000 new followers a day.

Mitt Romney, on the other hand, has been averaging about 1,000 – 6,000 new followers a day.  Until now.  Take a look at the graph.  Out of nowhere, Mitt Romney gained over 100,000 new followers in one day.  Nothing in his past history  shows anything like this.

I know for a fact it is possible to “buy” new Twitter followers to improve how interesting you look to the Twitter universe.  Could that be the story here?

Things that make you go “hmm…”

More at ThinkProgress.

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Las Vegas: Surf the Musical opens at Planet Hollywood

Surf the Musical, the new musical featuring the songs of The Beach Boys, is now open at the Showroom at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.

I attended the opening night of the new show and while I enjoyed some aspects, there’s still some work to be done. I grew up listening to and loving the Beach Boys music – and I still do – however this adaptation into a jukebox musical is a bit clunky and lacks the ease of the Beach Boys “fun in the sun” catalog. Like many jukebox musicals, the story is somewhat cobbled together and “shoe-horned” into something of a story. As Mamma Mia and Jersey Boys have proven, it is possible to create a successful show from a pre-existing collection of songs. This production isn’t quite there yet.

I enjoyed a lot of the ideas choreographer RJ Durell brought to the production which were executed in a muscular fashion by the company of dancers. There were several cool, creative ideas that felt very fresh and at home with the Beach Boys music.

However, at times the lighting and the sound design seemed to be fighting with the production as a whole. In the opening sequence it was very hard to tell who was singing and where on stage they were. And the sound was very muddy. During some dance numbers the lighting made it hard to know where the audience was expected to focus.

Also, unfortunately, the two romantic leads were capable but not spectacular in their starring roles. Marshal Kennedy Carolan (“Tanner”) and Lauren Zakrin (“Brooke”) delivered nice but not stellar vocals and broad character choices. It was something like watching an understudy go on for the first time. They weren’t bad – just not great.  I will say this though – both are attractive, sunny blonds who certainly look like they belong in a Beach Boys musical.

However, I’m not sure that the actors are completely to blame. The author (and producer) of the show, J. Burton Gold, is apparently a successful real estate developer and golf course architect. His co-author, Jason Setterlund, lists this as his first musical. Take what you will from that.

Fortunately, the music makes up for many of the lapses. With the required “megamix” finale, the audience walks out feeling some “good vibrations.”

For more information on Surf the Musical, visit www.surfthemusical.com.

Photo Credit: erikkabik.com

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Interesting perspective on God’s purpose for gays and lesbians

This was sent to me by my “anonymous best friend” who received it in an e-blast from an “adult video” website. I thought it was an interesting take – gays and lesbians are “God’s divine natural birth control”?

Here’s just part of the email:

But why did God create Homosexuals? Simple, God understood that humans liked and enjoined in a lot of sex … and for the human race to evolve it could not quickly overpopulate in it early stages. For the human race to evolve, a portion of society could not produce offspring (later in the development of world population plagues, famine, disease restructured populations, as well as humans have this uncanny ability to wage war and murder each other, which also helped control population). But in God’s grand scheme of natural order, Homosexuals are God’s divine natural birth control, divine population control, divine family planning.

As part of God’s design, He spread Homosexuals around in every society, every race, nationality and religion. I also might add that Homosexuals on the average are more creative, intelligent and more tolerant than the average person.

So it is that Homosexuals are God’s special people, and societies and their religions throughout the world have sanctimoniously violated God’s wishes, God’s design. In fact, it’s a violations of biblical proportions. Homosexuals were not only created in Gods image, but hold a special place in Gods design for the human race.

So, according to the author, gays and lesbians help prevent over-population.

Wait – gays can’t reproduce on their own?

Michael! I think I just figured something out…

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Minnesota: The good guys raise 6x more than anti-gay group

Opponents of the Minnesota constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage have raised six times as much money as the amendment’s supporters so far this year.
Minnesotans United for All Families, which is working against the amendment, raised about $3.8 million from January 1 to July 10, according to financial documents filed with the state this week, theAssociated Press reports. The measure’s backing group, Minnesota for Marriage, brought in just $620,000 in that period. The two groups’ total fund-raising amounts to $5.4 million and $1.5 million respectively.
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Chick-Fil-A not welcome in the city of Boston says mayor

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has heard enough of the anti-gay rhetoric coming from Chick-Fil-A, and he’s let the company know that that kind of discrimination isn’t welcome on the Freedom Trail.

“Chick-fil-A doesn’t belong in Boston,” Menino told the Boston Herald yesterday. “You can’t have a business in the city of Boston that discriminates against a population. We’re an open city, we’re a city that’s at the forefront of inclusion. … That’s the Freedom Trail. That’s where it all started right here. And we’re not going to have a company, Chick-fil-A or whatever the hell the name is, on our Freedom Trail.”

Menino said Chick-fil-A will find it “very difficult” to get licenses in Boston unless it changes its policies, and he plans to send a letter to the company’s headquarters in Atlanta “telling them my feelings on the matter.”