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Notre Dame Cathedral In Paris On Fire

(screen capture/NBC News)

UPDATE – USA Today reports that “nothing will remain” after the devastating fire. There is still an ongoing effort to save works of art.

The fire burned for hours, virtually unabated despite the efforts of hundreds of firefighters. The flames continued to glow when darkness fell. “A special mission has been launched to try to save all works of art that can be saved,” Emmanuel Grégoire, first deputy to the mayor of Paris, said on French TV.

“Everything is burning, nothing will remain from the frame,” Notre Dame spokesman Andre Finot told French media. The cause was not immediately known, but officials said it could be linked to renovation work. The cathedral is in the midst of a $6.8 million renovation project.

French historian Camille Pascal told French TV the fire was destroying “invaluable heritage.” “It’s been 800 years that the Cathedral watches over Paris,” Pascal said. “Happy and unfortunate events for centuries have been marked by the bells of Notre Dame.”

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From NBC News:

Flames were spotted shooting from the historic Notre Dame cathedral in Paris on Monday.

Smoke was billowing from the structure and could be seen from miles away in the French capital.

The flames appeared to be around scaffolding at the top of the famous church, where renovations were being done.

“A terrible fire is underway at Notre Dame Cathedral,” Mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted. She called on Parisians to stay away from the area to allow firefighters to do their work.

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Madonna Announces New Duet “Medellín ” With Latin Star Maluma

Madonna and Latin Pop star Maluma announce new duet, “Medellín”

Barely a day after revealing her upcoming album will be titled, Madame X, Madonna took to social media again, this time to announce that the first single from the long-awaited LP will be “Medellín”, a duet with Latin superstar Maluma.

A post shared by Madonna (@madonna) on Apr 15, 2019 at 7:20am PDT

Wearing a gorgeous white wedding dress, Madge posed next to a royally-dressed Maluma. The image was accompanied with the simple caption, “April 17, 2019” with a large red “X” representing her new secret agent persona, Madame X.

Back on February 23, the Queen of Pop teased the collaboration with the hunky Colombian with a photo from a recording session and the caption, “Cooking up some Fuego over here!”

The sexy Latin singer posted a pic on his Instagram the same day dubbing the couple, “Ms. Crazy & Mr. Safe” with a black heart emoji.

A post shared by MALUMA (@maluma) on Feb 23, 2019 at 2:06pm PST

The 25-year-old Latin Grammy Award winner has had several top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart which accounts for his huge 40+ million followers on Instagram.

“I met Madonna during the VMAs in New York,” Maluma told Billboard. “After that, I had the opportunity to spend some time with her in Los Angeles. She was in the studio and I joined her.”

“We just had a beautiful connection,” he added. “She is one of my biggest inspirations.”

We have to wait until Wednesday to check out the new single by the power-pop duo, so for now, let’s get to know Maluma a bit better.

A post shared by MALUMA (@maluma) on Mar 1, 2019 at 12:22pm PST

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Podcast: Mayor Pete Makes It Official; Town Clerk Apologizes; Broadway’s ‘The Prom;’ What LGBTQ Movies I’m Watching This Weekend

In this week's podcast: • Openly gay Mayor Pete Buttigieg makes it official - he’s running for President in 2020 • A town clerk in upstate NY is forced to apologize for discriminating against a same-sex couple • Gus Kenworthy got emotional as he accepted this year’s Point Leadership Award • Ryan Murphy plans to turn the hit Broadway musical 'The Prom' into a Netflix movie event • Plus - the LGBTQ films and TV I’m watching this weekend All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

In this week’s podcast:

• Openly gay Mayor Pete Buttigieg makes it official – he’s running for President in 2020

• A town clerk in upstate NY is forced to apologize for discriminating against a same-sex couple

• Gus Kenworthy got emotional as he accepted this year’s Point Leadership Award

• Ryan Murphy plans to turn the hit Broadway musical The Prom into a Netflix movie event

• Plus – the LGBTQ films and TV I’m watching this weekend (Special; Sauvage/Wild; Just Friends)

All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

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Sunday Slowdown: Dave Koz “Sound Of The Underground”

Just barely warm enough for a mid-April dip in the pool, but I’m in my happy place with some chardonnay and mu-sax.

Out sax man Dave Koz is blowing some “Sound of the Underground” and I’ve got a couple of hours of podcast prep time.

Life is good.

Hope you’re having a great weekend, folks.

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Mayor Pete Makes It Official “I Am Running For President Of The United States”

An enthusiastic crowd came together today in South Bend, Indiana, as Mayor Pete Buttigieg officially announced his candidacy for president of the United States. "My name is Pete Buttigieg, they call me Mayor Pete." said the mayor standing before a crowd of thousands in his hometown. "I am a proud son of South Bend, Indiana and I am running for president of the United States."
Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, officially enters the race for the White House

An enthusiastic crowd came together today in South Bend, Indiana, as Mayor Pete Buttigieg officially announced his candidacy for president of the United States.

“My name is Pete Buttigieg, they call me Mayor Pete,” said the mayor standing before a crowd of thousands in his hometown. “I am a proud son of South Bend, Indiana and I am running for president of the United States.”

In speaking those words, he becomes the first openly gay Democratic presidential candidate in the history of the country. Should he make it to the finish line, he will not only be the first openly LGBTQ president, but the youngest person ever elected to the office.

“I recognize the audacity of doing this as a Midwestern millennial mayor,” he added, “more than a little bold, at age 37, to seek the highest office in the land.”

The South Bend mayor thanked his husband – “my love, Chasten” – “for giving me the strength to do this and the grounding to be myself as we go.”

Buttigieg hugs his husband, Chasten, after his speech in South Bend
Buttigieg hugs his husband, Chasten, after his speech in South Bend

The young mayor told the crowd, and the world, that the guiding principles for his campaign are “simple enough to fit on a bumper sticker: freedom, security, and democracy.”

Expanding on the topic of freedom, he shared, “Take it from Chasten and me, you’re not free if the county clerk gets to tell you who you ought to marry ‘cause of their idea of their political beliefs.”

He also noted that it was just one vote on the Supreme Court that gave him the freedom to marry his husband.

“Our marriage exists by the grace of a single vote on the US Supreme Court,” said Buttigieg. “Nine women and men sat down in a room and took a vote and they brought me the most important freedom in my life.”

Buttigieg, currently serving his second term as mayor of South Bend, is Harvard educated, a Rhodes scholar, an Afghanistan war veteran who speaks seven languages.

In other words, the polar opposite of the current occupant of the White House.

In recent weeks, he’s surged from zero support in political surveys to 3rd place in multiple polls.

A Monmouth University poll published this week showed Buttigieg in third place in Iowa with 9% support behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, who garnered 27% and 16% respectively.

In New Hampshire, a Saint Anselm College poll put Biden at 23% support, Sanders at 16%, and Buttigieg at 11% support.

Those results put him ahead of more well-known names like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, and Amy Klobuchar.

Annise Parker, CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, was present at the announcement event, and said in a statement Buttigieg “shattered a lavender ceiling once thought unbreakable, becoming the first openly LGBTQ Democratic presidential candidate in American history and our first real shot at the Oval Office.”

“There is enormous power in an openly gay presidential candidate stumping at town halls in Iowa and speaking to Americans from the presidential debate stage – it changes perceptions of our community and raises the bar for candidates who seek LGBTQ support,” added Parker.

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Madonna’s Newest Album Casts The Pop Icon As Secret Agent ‘Madame X’

Madonna becomes secret agent ‘Madame X’ for her next album

Madonna thrilled her fans this weekend as she teased the title and feel for her next album with a mysterious, stylized video clip.

In the video posted to her social media, Madge shares the news at a table of friends, “I’ve decided to call my record Madame X.”

As various characters or alter egos in elaborate costumes appear on the screen, we hear Madge say, “Madame X is a secret agent traveling around the world, changing identities, fighting for freedom, bringing light to dark places.”

She goes on to rattle off a list of identities that the enigmatic secret agent embodies.

“She is a dancer, a professor, a head of state, a housekeeper, an equestrian, a prisoner, a student, a mother, a child, a teacher, a nun, a singer, a saint, a whore, and a spy – in the house of love.”

In a simple summation, “I’m Madame X.”

The video also features Madonna singing a new song, a piano-driven piece with the lyrics, “The thing that hurts the most / is that I wasn’t lost.”

The 60-year-old pop star followed up the announcement with a couple of quick clips of the mysterious ’Madame X.’

For several weeks now, the queen of pop has posted various hints on her Twitter and Instagram accounts about the new project which now come into clearer focus.

No street date announced yet, but with this announcement we’re guessing the first single could come soon.

Madame X follows the 2015 release Rebel Heart, and will be Madonna’s 14th studio album.

More identities by Madonna’s ‘Madame X’

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SNL: Emma Stone Is Desperately Seeking ‘Deidre’

Emma Stone is desperately seeking ‘Deidre’

On Saturday Night Live last night, Emma Stone played an actress who takes her small part in a gay porn film way too seriously.

At one point, trying to flesh out the one-line role, she ad-libs a bit much to the director’s chagrin.

Director: “Uh, just say what’s in the script.”

Stone: “I was just trying to access ‘Deidre.’

Director: “There’s nothing to her. People are just going to scroll past so they can get off. She has no past, no future. She exists only to be cheated on.”

And yet, Stone continues to explore and delve into every small bit of ‘Deidre’ she can find.

If you’ve ever acted, you’ve probably met a version of Stone’s character. Watch below.

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Sen. Kamala Harris Releases 15 Years Of Tax Returns

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA)

Democratic White House hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris of California has released 15 years of tax returns in an effort to provide transparency to the voters.

Via Politico:

Sen. Kamala Harris and her husband reported a total income of about $2 million in their 2018 federal tax return, according to a large release of filings on Sunday by the California Democrat that her presidential campaign is billing as the “most transparent” of the sprawling 2020 field.

Harris released 15 years of tax returns in all — three more than any other candidate. Harris’ records cover every year since 2004, when she was the elected district attorney of San Francisco.

In their 2018 return, Harris and her husband, attorney Doug Emhoff, listed an adjusted gross income of $1.89 million, including Harris’ Senate salary and the $320,000 she made from writing a book, “The Truths We Hold.” Harris and Emhoff were married in 2014, then began filing jointly. In 2018, they paid $563,426 in federal taxes and donated $27,000 to charity.

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What To Watch This Weekend

Ryan O’Connell in Netflix’s “Special”

What I’m watching this weekend:

Special

Ryan O’Connell’s unconventional comedy series is based on his own experiences as a gay man with cerebral palsy navigating sex and a career in TV. He not only stars in the series, but also serves as writer and executive producer.

Critics are loving the depiction of a physically challenged gay man through O’Connell’s lens. In one episode, he is convinced by a friend to hire a sex worker in order to lose his virginity. Instead of being ‘tragic,’ the sequence moves from awkward, to touching and eventually to a sweet, sexy resolution.

O’Connell recent told NBC News he’s still in “shock” the series happened.

“It feels very surreal, because I didn’t think that any of this could be possible,” he said. “I’ve been working in Hollywood for six years now, and I know that even the best ideas, even the best shows, with the best talent attached, the odds of one actually getting shot and made and released is very medium rare.”

Now available on Netflix.

Sauvage / Wild

Leo is 22 and sells his body on the street for a bit of cash. The men come and go, and he stays right here — longing for love. He doesn’t know what the future will bring. He hits the road. His heart is pounding.

Felix Maritaud plays Leo, a French hustler who’s a beguiling homo-goulash of low self-esteem and empathy, who falls in love with gay-for-pay Ahd (Eric Bernard), who doles out tenderness, disgust, and violence in equal doses.

“A powerful portrait of a gay male prostitute in free fall” – Guy Lodge, Variety

Now in limited release in theaters with new cities added each week.

Just Friends

Official synopsis: “On the 10th anniversary of his dad’s death, Joris still tries to come to terms with his father s absence when he meets the free-spirited Yad, who returns back home to his family after living on his own. Although very different, there is an instant spark between the two and they want to be more than just friends , but both have issues with their mothers that threaten to jeopardize their relationship.”

Cindy Lou Peeples at Frameline wrote, “Refreshingly, the family conflict in this romantic comedy is not that Joris and Yad are gay, but that they are defying family expectations in other ways and must make a new set of choices about how to be themselves.”

Available for rent on iTunes and Amazon Prime.

Game of Thrones

Yes, yes, yes – I know the final season of Game of Thrones premieres tonight.

The trailer for the new season has been viewed over 55 million times of YouTube, and fans can’t wait.

I’ve been hit or miss with the mega-hit show, but my hubby loves it, as do countless others.

Grab your dragon and tune in tonight on HBO.

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Trump Lies About Obama-Era Lawyer, Doesn’t Mention Charges Stem From Working With Trump Campaign Manager

(Graphic via CallToActivism)

Donald Trump got oh-so-excited about a former member of the Obama administration, Gregory Craig, being indicted this week.

As Call To Activism points out, though, the charges against Craig came from his involvement with former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort years after leaving the Obama administration.

From The New York Times:

The indictment alleged that, while a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Mr. Craig took on work on behalf of the government of Viktor F. Yanukovych, then the president of Ukraine.

The work was brought to Mr. Craig by Paul Manafort, then a political consultant for Mr. Yanukovych and later the campaign chairman for President Trump in 2016.

The charges stated that Mr. Craig lied in order to avoid registering with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and withheld information about the full scope of his activities.