LGBTQ news and entertainment
Yesterday afternoon, Michael and I went to a lovely party thrown for the cast of “A Few Best Men.”
I thought I’d post a couple of pics:
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| Xavier Samuel, Kevin Bishop, Kris Marshall and Olivia from “A Few Best Men” |
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| Olivia, Michael, Louise from the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre and Kevin Bishop |
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| Madonna, Gregg, Olivia (center) with Kevin Bishop from AFBM, Michael and I |
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| Big group shot |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has opened a wide lead over his rivals in the South Carolina primary election race, trouncing Newt Gingrich and gaining momentum in his march toward the party’s nomination, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows.
Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, could all but quash his rivals’ presidential aspirations with a victory in South Carolina on January 21 after winning the first state-by-state nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Voters in South Carolina – who have favored Republicans in nine of the last 10 presidential elections – appear to have shrugged off attacks on Romney by rivals who accuse him of killing jobs as a private equity executive for Bain Capital in the 1990s.
The poll showed 37 percent of South Carolina Republican voters back Romney. Congressman Ron Paul and former Senator Rick Santorum tied for second place with 16 percent support.
Gingrich, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, has fallen far back after holding a strong lead in South Carolina in December. He was in fourth place at 12 percent in the Reuters/Ipsos poll.
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| Click pic for larger view |
How cool is that? Breakfast in Australia with Olivia Newton-John.
She just arrived this morning for the premiere of her new movie “A Few Best Men.” Fun couple of days ahead 🙂
The fab Anna Faris stars in Mark Mylod’s charming romantic comedy now on DVD — based on Karyn Bosnak’s book 20 Times a Lady — about Ally, a Bostonian who, with the help of a skin-baring neighbor played by Chris Evans, tracks down 20 ex-boyfriends played by the likes of Joel McHale and Zachary Quinto.
Faris is funny and fab as ever, and any reason we get to see a semi-nude Chris Evans is a winner for The Randy Report.
From NBC News: Campaigning in South Carolina, Mitt Romney today sidestepped the criticism he’s received for his tenure at Bain Capital, and instead praised the free-market system in which it operated.
“I will work to get good jobs back,” Romney said. “And a lot of people talk about how we create jobs — by the way, it is not to walk away from free enterprise; it is not to say that there is something wrong with the free-market system, no it is instead to hold fast to that system and make it work for the American people.”
Earlier today, the Obama campaign released a memo ripping Romney for deflecting criticism of his record at Bain onto the free market.
“Free enterprise’ isn’t running for president, Mitt Romney is,” the memo from Obama campaign strategist Stephanie Cutter read, in part. “And voters deserve straight answers about his record, so they can know how his perspective would influence his decisions and actions if he were president of the United States.”
NBC’s Domenico Montanaro reported, based on the Tax Policy Center’s analysis, the wealthy would benefit most from Romney tax plan and the poor would effectively see a tax increase.
Out singer Matt Alber — a two-time Grammy-winner as part of the a capella group Chanticleer — wraps his rich baritone voice around 10 folk-pop ballads on his latest release, Constant Crows.
My favorite track on the release is his plaintive cover of Madonna’s “Take A Bow” — full of wistful longing and resolve.
Randy Report readers responded to his beautiful music video “End of the World.”
More about Matt at www.MattAlber.com
The original cast recording of Jon and Al Kaplan’s unauthorized parody of The Silence of the Lambs – Silence! The Musical – features Jenn Harris, who does a dead-on Jodie Foster as Clarice.
Brent Barrett croons with killer charm as Dr. Lecter; Steven Bienskie as penis-tucking murderer Buffalo Bill; and, poking fun at Ms. Foster, Deidre Goodwin as a lesbian love interest.
ABC’s cross-dressing sitcom Work It has been fired.
The series, which received flak months ahead of its debut, premiered to exceptionally low ratings on January 30. Work It’s second episode saw ratings plummet by 20 percent, leading ABC to today announce the cancellation of the series.
“While many of ABC’s positive and groundbreaking portrayals of LGBT people have been critical and popular successes, the public had little interest in this outdated show,” said Herndon Graddick, Senior Director of Programs and Communications at GLAAD. “As a result of this campaign, an important dialogue has been started in Hollywood and mainstream media about the real discrimination faced by transgender people today.”
In addition to the negative reaction from the LGBT community, the show was roundly panned by critics.
Washington state is just two senate votes short of legalizing same-sex marriage. But in Washington, even one vote can be hard to come by.
Gov. Christine Gregoire, now in her final year of office, has voiced support for marriage equality. The Democrat-dominated state house overwhelmingly supports equality, too. But in the senate, where the Democrat majority is slimmer, the drive for equality hinges on a shrinking number of undecided legslators. Reuters quotes Sen. Ed Murray, the man behind the legislative push for marriage equality:
“Our gay and lesbian civil rights bill, which took 29 years to pass (in 2006), was always one vote short and I believe this situation is pretty much the same,” said Murray, a gay man who hopes to wed his long-term partner in the state.
“We are grandchildren of people who immigrated and homesteaded this state,” he said. “We hope that after 20 years of basically being engaged together that we would be able to legally marry in our native state.”
Just in case the needed two votes are found, anti-marriage activists are mobilizing to ban same-sex marriage with a November ballot initiative.
According to the Seattle Times, attorney Stephen Pidgeon, of Everett, is seeking to collect the necessary 241,153 signatures demanding such an initiative by the July 6th deadline.
(source)