Charity single on sale in Australia and New Zealand Sunday May 22.
Olivia will also be performing the new “Magic” on the Australian ‘Dancing With The Stars’ this Sunday.
Excellent Irish anti-bullying video
Great feel good moment in this.
Irish anti homophobic bullying advertisement, created as part of BeLonG To Youth Services annual Stand Up! LGBT Awareness Weeks. The campaign promotes friendship amongst young people as a way to combat homophobic bullying.
For more information on the campaign click here.
Imagine all the people…
Sad news – Jeff Conaway overdose – critical condition
Jeff Conaway, best known for playing Kenickie in Grease, is in critical condition after an apparent overdose, The Los Angeles Times reports.
Conaway’s family members told the Times that the actor has been hospitalized at Encino Hospital Medical Center with pneumonia and is currently unconscious.
Conaway, 60, rose to fame playing one of the T-Birds in the 1978 film adaptation of Grease. Later that year, he co-starred in the popular sitcom Taxi, as actor-turned-taxi-driver Bobby Wheeler, before leaving in Season 4. He later appeared on The Bold and the Beautiful and Babylon 5 in the ’90s.
In recent years, however, Conaway has turned to reality TV. He was a contestant on the third season of Celebrity Fit Club, but was forced to leave the show and enter rehab. Two years later, he returned to VH1 to appear on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, seeking treatment for addictions to cocaine, painkillers and alcohol.
Paralyzed student, Austin Whitney, walks at graduation
Paralyzed student, Austin Whitney, walks at graduation.
Just in case you you’re having a bad day, this guy shows how much you can overcome when you decide you have to.
Go Austin.
Goodbye Smallville…
Last week the TV show ‘Smallville’ ended it’s 10 year run. I will miss it.
Over on the left hand side of this blog you’ll see a blurb about me I wrote when I started this blog. Off the top of my head, I tried to think of something “about me.”
“Loyalty in friendship is an inspiring trait.”
Loyalty to friends no matter what moves something inside me. Always has. Smallville has made this a recurring theme throughout it’s ten years. Trust and loyalty. Major issues we all learn and face in life.
The show has also sent a message of finding strength we never knew was within us and Clark Kent spent the last ten years growing into the hero, man, icon we all knew was his destiny. It’s really been about the journey, not the destination. And in taking that journey with him, we’ve been inspired – even just a little bit – to think about overcoming our own obstacles; hoping we’d find some strength we didn’t know we had but prayed for.
I don’t think you have to be a hero to appreciate finding hidden strength.
As an actor and dancer, I was blessed to be driven and pushed to dig deeper to find that strength by directors, choreographers, inspirations along the way – Chris Chadman, Stanley Lebowsky, Tom Michael Reed, Lee Roy Reams – all great inspiring creative forces behind lessons I learned over and over again. All of them knew there was more inside me somewhere. More than I knew I had. More than I’d have never found without being pushed.
I try to do the some for other artists today when directing or choreographing – I’m never ‘crunchy’ but I never accept 90% from the actors and artists I work with.
Dig deeper. Find out how much more you have.
The same goes for the cancer warriors I talk to. When I was going through chemotherapy, it all seemed like a bad TV movie. And I couldn’t believe I was going through this “thing.” People with cancer are “in the moment” so much of the journey and sometimes you think there’s just nothing left to keep you going. And then you do.
Dig deeper. Find out how much more you have.
Smallville, to some, has been about a comic book character. To me, it’s been about these themes of great power or ability underneath the surface and unwavering belief and loyalty in friends.
Maybe it’s my geekhood rearing it’s head. Or maybe for a few minutes each week I enjoyed the inspiration to dig deeper for the “better” me. The “super” me, maybe. Whether I could find or be that person or not. It gave me a little hope that there was always someone a bit better somewhere inside. Someone I could be.
Thanks Smallville. There was nothing “small” about you.
p.s. plus, we got to look at Tom Welling. That’s inspiration in itself. 🙂
Rhode Island: Civil Unions bill passes out of committee
The Rhode Island house judiciary committee advanced a bill Tuesday that would allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions, clearing the way for a house vote on the measure Thursday.
The committee approved the bill by a 9 to 3 vote.
“The bill would allow gay couples to enter into civil unions granting all of the rights and benefits given to married couples under Rhode Island law, but stops short of sanctioning marriage. The proposal was introduced as a compromise after legislative leaders said gay marriage legislation lacked the votes to pass this year,” reports the AP.
However, marriage equality advocates, unhappy about the second-class status conferred by civil unions, plan to make a last-minute push to replace the bill with a proposal to grant full marriage rights. Antigay critics, such as the National Organization for Marriage, also oppose the bill because they consider civil unions a stepping stone to granting marriage equality.
House speaker Gordon Fox, who is gay, decided to back civil unions last month after he determined the votes were not there to pass the measure in the legislature. The speaker, who has been heavily criticized by marriage equality advocates, defended his decision in a separate interview with the Associated Press.
“‘I believe they have a higher expectation of me,’ Fox said, because of his sexual orientation,” according to the AP. “‘I think it’s also people that want this badly, that may not understand the process as much.’”
(via Advocate.com)
Michelangelo Signorile on GOProud
From Advocate.com: Michelangelo Signorile has an excellent essay on GOProud, the conservative self-loathing political group that seems to want to do anything for acceptance from those who will never accept them.
Justin Raimondo was the openly gay campaign manager of the virulently antigay Pat Buchanan’s 1992 presidential campaign. In the new century we had Ken Mehlman, chair of the Republican National Committee and, later, George W. Bush’s reelection campaign manager, who promoted anti–gay marriage amendments across the country, helping the GOP to win with hate. And let’s not forget Mary Cheney, who, like Mehlman now, is out, but gives money to antigay politicians even as she enjoys the benefits of hard-won gay rights advances.
Their motivations are probably unique to each but there are some commonalities: a desire to be close to power; a hunger for attention and GOP approval; a selfish devotion to Republican “fiscal” policies over civil rights; and a belligerence toward gay activists, whom they seem to detest.
GOProud’s Chris Barron fits right in, often appearing desperate for Republican acceptance, compromising his positions at a moment’s notice—if he even had any to begin with. Formerly political director for the Log Cabin Republicans, he broke away and cofounded GOProud, claiming that Log Cabin wasn’t conservative enough. Since its founding in 2009, GOProud slowly moved in the direction of not taking any pro-gay positions, all in an attempt to be included in the Republican Party, even though Barron oddly once tweeted that GOProud is “a gay organization, we only work on gay issues.”
Although at one point GOProud tweeted that “a gay organization, we only work on gay issues,” they don’t support any major legislation that would move the LGBT community closer to equality. They oppose the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which is now law; they don’t support gay marriage and repeal of DADT isn’t part of their legislative agenda.
GOProud now also supports House speaker John Boehner defending section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act in federal appeals court after President Obama announced he believed the law is unconstitutional — though Barron himself is legally married to a man in Washington, D.C.
All in all, it’s a very interesting essay about how desperate a group can be in wanting to be accepted by those who probably will never accept anything about them except their campaign dollars.
GLEE: Jonathan Groff interview on returning to GLEE
Before Glee, Jonathan Groff would have not been able to sing Adele’s guttural, smoldering anthem of heartbreak, “Rolling in the Deep,” which he used to swagger back onto the hit show last week. The actor, previously best known for his work in New York theatre, says it was Glee that taught him to rock out.
“The first song I sang with Vocal Adrenaline was ‘Highway to Hell’ and I remember calling [music producer] Adam Anders and saying, ‘Maybe we should sit down with a piano instead because I don’t sing like this,'” Groff tells TVGuide.com. “But he pulled out this side of my voice I didn’t know existed, this rock scream. It has totally changed the way I sing.”
It was that rock edge that accompanied the return of Groff’s Jesse St. James. A year ago, the devious show choir wonderboy made Rachel swoon to Lionel Richie’s tender come-on “Hello,” but since then he broke her heart, and deprived New Directions of a victory — so only Adele’s pissed-off, breakup-mourning duet would do. Still, the 26-year-old actor says going back to Glee was as much of a surprise to him as it might have been to viewers who remember the cruel way his character ended things with Rachel: Right before leading Vocal Adrenaline through a title-clinching rendition of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Jesse revealed his true colors, smashing an egg on Rachel’s head and dumping her.
“Totally harsh,” Groff says. “I remember reading the script and being like, ‘Oh my God, that just happened. Okaaaay.'”
But having convinced Rachel in Tuesday’s episode that he was a changed man — now a college drop-out with glee club still on the brain — he’s returned to McKinley High to help coach New Directions before Nationals, and possibly woo back Rachel. (Don’t bother asking if his plan works, Groff’s not telling. Also, he adds, “I just finished my first day of shooting. I’ve sung one song with Lea, so I also honestly don’t know,” he says.)
In any case, the offer to reprise Jesse couldn’t have happened at a better time. Groff has kept busy since his last appearance, making his West End debut in a production of Ira Levin’s Deathtrap, but he’d been contemplating a move from New York to Los Angeles to pursue more film and television roles. His resume, while short, boasts being cast by Ang Lee as charismatic concert promoter Michael Lang in 2009’s Taking Woodstock and Robert Redford in this year’s Civil War-era thriller The Conspirator.
Fortunately while he worked in the UK, he kept up with Glee’s second season via iTunes. “Because I love it, not because I thought I’d necessarily be back,” he says.
“Glee had been the longest job I’d ever done in front of the camera, and I really enjoyed it,” Groff continues. “It felt like it was time to take a risk and move out here to L.A., try and get some film and television going. I’m still keeping my place in New York because I couldn’t bear to give it up, and I love doing theater.”
(Read more on TVGuide.com)
NV legislature passes important anti-discrimination bills
(via HRC) Yesterday, members of the Nevada State Assembly took a final vote on AB 211, a bill codifying prohibitions against discrimination in employment on the basis of gender identity or expression. The bill had already passed in the State Senate. The bill now moves to the desk of Governor Brian Sandoval for his consideration.
If signed into law, Nevada would become the 14th U.S. state, along with the District of Columbia, to provide protections based on gender identity or expression.
“The Nevada legislature has rightly recognized that everyone should be treated equally in the workplace, and Governor Sandoval should sign this bipartisan measure into law,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “Being free from discrimination based on gender identity or expression, judged solely on your merits and quality of work, is the most common-sense approach to employment policies.”
“Today is a great day for all residents of Nevada,” said Josh Miller, a member of the HRC Board of Directors from Nevada. “Providing employment protections based on gender identity or expression is a victory for civil rights, and we urge Gov. Sandoval to sign this legislation. The people of our state should be judged on the quality of work they do and not on who they are.”
In other Nevada news, the Senate has approved SB 331 and 368, bills that expand the state’s anti-discrimination laws in the areas of public accommodations and housing, respectively. SB 331 protects against discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, while SB 368 adds gender identity to Nevada’s housing anti-discrimination law.
Whoo-hoo Nevada!
Matt Zarley – new song & music video – “WTF”
So Matt Zarley, in addition to having a long career on Broadway and being the first openly gay man to be featured in People Magazine’s “Most Eligible Bachelors”, has spent the last several years on the Billboard charts flexing his considerable vocal musculature.
His new video – “WTF” – is a fun throw-back to when music videos had a sense of humor.
I think the video is fun and sexy. I think you will too.
Download the song on iTunes by clicking here.