Author: Randy Slovacek

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I’m so glad Kevin Hoyt got Cancer!

“I am so glad Kevin Hoyt got Cancer! Kevin asked me to post this status because he celebrates today all the amazing friends and experiences that he has had as a result of his battle. Let all the Cancer Warriors know that no matter the outcome there is so much more after cancer.”

My friend Kevin Hoyt asks his friends to post that on their Facebook page every year on this day. Kevin was diagnosed with Cancer 11 years ago today, and after his cancer journey, he started the amazing organization “It Ain’t Chemo.”

It Ain’t Chemo is an organization that provides cancer patients with comfort and care supplies, advice, and emotional support. Founded by cancer survivor Kevin Hoyt, It Ain’t Chemo raises awareness for its cause through the endorsements of local and national celebrities.   If you like UFC fighters like Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture, you’ll find them at IAC events.

I’ll add that Kevin Hoyt is a hero in many ways. In addition to helping those with cancer on their journey, he was already a firefighter. If everyone took adversity and turned it into success like Kevin, blog posts like this one would be obsolete.

On top of that he has a great sense of humor. He and his wife Barb entertain us all just by following along their Facebook status updates.

Take a moment and explore the It Ain’t Chemo website. Maybe buy a t-shirt, check out their news or make a donation. This is a great grass roots organization that really makes a difference.

P.S. Kevin, if you read this: don’t be embarrassed – you’ll probably forget it in ten minutes anyway because your memory is as bad as mine.

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“Carol Channing: Larger Than Life” screening today at FW Modern Art Museum

In my hometown today for a screening of “Carol Channing: Larger Than Life” at the Fort Worth Modern Art Museum.

The Fort Worth Star Telegram gave the film 4 stars and ran a photo of me with Carol on Broadway at “Gypsy of the Year 2010.”  Kinda cool for home-town boy.

I’ll be attending the 2pm screening with “Hello, Dolly!” Broadway cast mates Halden Michaels, Ashley Stover and Matthew Sipress. The museum invited us to attend and perhaps do a little “talk back” with the audience about the experience of working with Carol on Broadway.

Plus my friends John and Leslie Bell, Addester Williams and Jaynette Dubrowski Holland will also be attending so this is probably the closest thing to a high school reunion I’ll ever attend 🙂

Looking forward to it. The film is terrific and the audience will be too, so if you’re in Fort Worth this afternoon come by the Modern and take in a little afternoon cinema.

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National Hockey League players to LGBT: “If you can play, you can play”

Patrick Burke of the Philadelphia Flyers and Brian Burke of the Toronto Maple Leafs are joined by James Van Riemsdyk (PHI), Mark Fayne (NJD), Frans Nielsen (NYI), Tyler Bozak (TOR), George Parros (ANA), Brandon Prust (NYR), David Steckel (TOR), Andy Greene (NJD), RJ Umberger (CBJ) and Brian Boyle (NYR) to tell LGBT athletes: “If you can play, You Can Play.”

From the You Can Play Project: You Can Play is dedicated to ensuring equality, respect and safety for all athletes, without regard to sexual orientation.

You Can Play works to guarantee that athletes are given a fair opportunity to compete, judged by other athletes and fans alike, only by what they contribute to the sport or their team’s success.

You Can Play seeks to challenge the culture of locker rooms and spectator areas by focusing only on an athlete’s skills, work ethic and competitive spirit.

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New series: “Magic City” on Starz

Looking forward to this new series from Starz – “Magic City”

Who doesn’t love Miami Beach? And especially in the “cool as a glade” late 1950s.

This is how Starz explains the series:

Miami Beach, 1959.

As Ike Evans rings in the New Year at his luxurious Miramar Playa Hotel, Havana falls to Castro’s rebels. It’s a turbulent time in Miami, but it’s THE place to be. The Kennedys, the mob and the CIA all hold court here. And Ike, he’s the star of his hotel.

But everything comes at a price.

To finance his dream, he sold his soul to mob boss Ben “The Butcher” Diamond. Ike’s wife Vera, a former showgirl, and his three kids think he’s an honorable man, but he can’t break his pact with the devil. His life is a façade.

In fact, nothing at the Miramar Playa is what it seems. By day, it’s diving clowns and cha-cha lessons. By night, escorts have secret liaisons with husbands in the family cabanas, while Miami’s seedier residents and the law drift together to hear legendary singers, musicians and comics.

As Ike’s world threatens to implode, he fights for his family, and the Miramar Playa, in Magic City.

Starts April 6. I’ll be checking it out.

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Funeral director: Trayvon Martin’s body showed no signs of a violent brawl

From NY Daily News: A Miami funeral director says Trayvon Martin’s body showed no signs of a violent brawl.

Richard Kurtz said his examination of the slain Florida teen’s corpse revealed no cuts, scratches or bruises, only a gunshot wound to the chest.

Kurtz’s account appears to contradict George Zimmerman’s claims that he shot Trayvon during a life-and-death struggle.

“We could see no physical signs like there had been a scuffle [or] there had been a fight,” Kurtz told CBS News.

“The hands — I didn’t see any knuckles, bruises or what have you, and that is something we would have covered up if it would have been there.”

Trayvon “looked perfectly normal to me when he came in and the story just does not make sense that he was in this type of scuffle or fight in anything that we could see,” Kurtz added.

Kurtz’s account marked the latest twist in a case that has sparked outrage across the U.S. over the murder of an unarmed black teen.

Read more at NY Daily News

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Purple Poll: March 2012

In 2012, a dozen states will decide the Presidential election.

The PurplePoll focuses exclusively on the Purple Electorate – likely voters only in these swing states. Updated regularly throughout the 2012 election cycle, the PurplePoll offers unique lens through which you can gather original insight into this critical election.

The PurplePoll, by Purple Strategies – a bipartisan organization – brings together strategists and communication specialists from across the political spectrum.

Currently, President Obama leads Mitt Romney 48%-44%.

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Documentary “Bully” opens today in LA and NYC

After months of controversy over the MPAA rating for Lee Hirsch’s chronicle of the bullying epidemic, the powerful, heartbreaking documentary is finally being released unrated.

I speak to this because I personally dealt with being bullied – verbally and physically – when I was young.  I look back and realize I lost several years of moving forward because I was concerned with how my peers treated me in middle and high school. 

I got past that, clearly.  And learned to not only own myself, but to respect everyone who might be perceived as “different.”  As a matter of fact, I celebrate diversity today because of my experience – in great part because I experienced what I did.

Bully opens today in Los Angeles and New York, with more cities to be announced soon. Please go – and take your kids.

For more information go to TheBullyProject.com.