Much Better Now from Salon Alpin on Vimeo. Thanks to Gregory Harrison for sharing this video. He says “Very cool and joyful stop-motion animation celebrating surfing and reading. This captures some of what I often feel in the waves…”
A bookmark is stuck in a forgotten book that is one day knocked over by wind. It experiences its environment by surfing the pages that turn in to ocean-waves, enjoying the ride of its life. As the book cover closes light reveals new challenges.
Watch the video. It’ll put a smile on your face by the end. Makes you think about the journey you’re taking: whether it’s sadness at the “end” of the ride or joy at the upcoming possibilities.
I like artistic expressions that make me think a bit, and smile. This is one of those.
Towleroad points up Greg Berlanti’s new series Political Animals which premieres this Sunday on USA. It features Sigourney Weaver as a Clinton-esque former First Lady-turned-Secretary of State with a cheating husband.
She also has an openly gay son played by Sebastian Stan who’s up for his share of trouble as you can see by the earlier trailer, and this clip, which features Stan and his star-struck online hook-up disrobing and getting down to business.
Around 110,000 cases of cancer are diagnosed in Australia each year, and the disease is a major cause of death. This stamp issue will help raise funds towards the new cancer research and treatment centre at the Austin Hospital, Melbourne.
The Olivia Newton-John Cancer & Wellness Centre will offer an integrated approach to cancer treatment, undertaking clinical research in collaboration with the renowned Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and offering mainstream medical treatment alongside complementary wellness therapies. Stage 1 of the centre opens in July 2012, with the full centre scheduled to open by mid-2013. The centre will provide services for men, women and children with any type of cancer.
The purchase of each sheetlet of 10 x 60c stamps will raise $2 in support of the centre.
Whether for actual postage or for a keepsake, this is a cool purchase that helps people. You can purchase online for delivery anywhere (as I understand) by clicking here.
Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe is supporting marriage equaltiy in Minnesota.
He’s recorded a radio ad combatting a proposed state constitutional amendment that would further cement Minnesota’s existing ban on same-sex marriage.
The NFL player calls Minnesota’s existing ban on marriage equality “anti-American” and “anti-freedom.”
According to Care2MakeADifference, “Kluwe’s comments were made as part of a video he recorded for Minnesotans for Equality. The group is working to defeat the amendment that will go before voters at the November ballot.”
Kluwe says, “Excluding gay couples from marriage is a meaningless and reckless restriction of individual freedom and basic human rights. This amendment is an extreme change to our constitution, making it impossible to change for decades to come.”
Kluwe, who is married with two young daughters, continues: “To deny an entire group of people the ability to be legal couples is anti-American and anti-freedom. As a devoted husband and father of two, I can’t imagine the state of Minnesota not recognizing my love for my wife Isabel. We would welcome and respect the equal rights for gays to experience the same joy and privileges of marriage that we do. Please don’t limit the freedom to marry for anyone. So this November, vote no to the marriage discrimination amendment. It’s the right thing to do.”
I have to share: my years in high school (which in many ways were awful except for some dear friends) were saved by my surprising and unforeseen friendship with two amazing men who somehow found me interesting and funny. To this day they are terrific friends of mine who I can call at any hour and time will have not budged. I value their friendship more than they know because I can count on them no matter what the distance between us.
I mention all this because, when I saw this pic, I thought of them. Both were football players, popular in high school, who didn’t need the “weight” of a rumored ‘gay guy’ to bring them down in the social strata of high school life. And yet, they became my friends and never moved away from that position. I know there were times when they took a stand in my defense. These are truly moments of high school when you see what stuff guys are made of. Sometimes this defines the word “character.”
I’ve never taken their friendship for granted, and I always know I was lucky that they knew their own character at such a young age. 30 years later, I’m still amazed I factored in somehow. They have sometimes flown hundreds of miles to see me perform on Broadway or on stages across the country.
With that said, I hope every guy out there who might not “know who they are” at a young age finds guys confident in themselves, as I did, to be their friends. Friends who really are friends.
Thanks John Bell and David Burke for being who you are. Your confidence inspired me to be who I am.
You may have heard about this – San Diego’s July 4th fireworks display had a tech mishap and the computer system fired all the fireworks in 18 seconds instead of the planned program.
Check it out close in HD video. It’s loud so turn your speakers down before you hit play.
Ian Somerhalder, Adam Garone and Carlos Ponce for “A Gentleman’s Call”
Ian Somerhalder, Actor and Philanthropist: “The idea of a gentleman is one of awareness, confidence and compassion. Helping to support an initiative that is based on those ideals is an honor and I look forward to seeing the evolution of this quest reach its full potential.”
Ketel One is offering today’s gentlemen the awesome opportunity to showcase their game-changing ideas with “A Gentleman’s Call: In Pursuit of an Idea that Matters.”
A Gentleman’s Call is a nationwide search to invest behind one original idea that champions the lifestyle of the modern gentleman. Ketel One is looking for substance and style within an idea, inspiration or endeavor that will raise society’s behavioral bar. You can get involved at www.AGentlemansCall.com, where the five projects best exemplifying a higher standard of thinking and living will be selected. The Grand Prize Winner chosen by consumers across the country.
Ketel One will then invest $100,000 to turn the winner’s idea into a reality.
To lead this nationwide call-to-action, Ketel One has enlisted the mentorship of three men that embody the essence of a modern gentleman: actor and philanthropist Ian Somerhalder, Co-Founder and CEO of the Movember Foundation, Adam Garone and celebrated actor Carlos Ponce. These cultural counselors will be defining the values of the ultimate gentleman’s competition through their day-to-day lives.
Recent polls reveal that President Obama’s position on marriage equality now falls squarely in line with the increasing majority of Americans who support the freedom to marry. Click on the pic to enlarge.
Breaking Bad actor Bryan Cranston, his wife Robin, and their daughter Taylor, speak out in a new video for HRC’s Americans for Marriage Equality campaign.
Says Cranston: “Gay and lesbian couples should have every right to experience the joys of marriage and family that we do.”
