Posts

Posted on

Preview: Same-Sex Valentine Rom-Com “The Thing About Harry”

L-R Niko Terho and Jake Borelli (screen captures)
The allure of romantic comedies is that we could possibly see ourselves in these over-the-top but hopelessly romantic situations. The problem for LGBTQ folks is we’ve not seen much of our own stories presented in many past rom-coms. Freeform TV (formerly ABC Family) will offer their contribution in changing that entertainment landscape when The Thing About Harry, a gay-themed Valentine’s Day flick, premieres on Freeform in February. The film is directed and co-written by former Queer As Folk star Peter Paige, who also created the network’s successful The Fosters series. Totally adorable out actor Jake Borelli (Grey’s Anatomy) stars as Sam (“a handsome, funny, neurotic, intelligent young gay man”), and newcomer Niko Terho plays the titular Harry (“an emotionally uncomplicated, promiscuous player who has always left a string of broken hearts in his wake”). For whatever reason, Sam ends up traveling with Harry, a former jock and social enemy who’s not only heading home but towards some serious self-discovery. In the newly-released preview, Harry comes clean as to why he spent so much time and effort taunting Sam in high school. I’m pretty sure a lot of us can relate to this moment.

Also featured in the film are Queer Eye star Karamo Brown as Paul, described as an “overbearing and pretentious gay man,” so there’s type-casting involved. Britt Baron (of GLOW fame) plays Stasia, Sam’s best friend. And Paige will appear as Sam’s roommate Casey. “It’s been an honor to partner with Freeform in making great television with LGBTQ+ characters as leads. True equality can only be achieved when you see yourself reflected in the movies, music and stories that paint our culture,” said executive producers Paige, Greg Gugliotta and F.J. Denny in a joint statement. “As young gay men in the ’90s, whenever a rom-com opened, we would watch the leading lady fall in love, and imagine what it would be like if the boy was saying all those things to another boy,” they added. “We’ve always wanted to make a movie — an unabashedly romantic comedy — that queer boys wouldn’t have to translate. It’s rewarding to take the genre to a new, all-inclusive level.”

The Thing About Harry premieres Saturday, February 15 at 8p/7c on Freeform.

Posted on

Martha Stewart Not Impressed With Gwyneth Paltrow’s Vajajay Candle

Gwyneth Paltrow made headlines this week when it was discovered the actress had not only begun selling a scented candle on her Goop store called “This Smells Like My Vagina,” but the item quickly sold out. According to the original product description (since deleted), Paltrow and a designer were working on the scent when she suddenly blurted out, “’Uhhh..this smells like a vagina” — but evolved into a funny, gorgeous, sexy, and beautifully unexpected scent. (That turned out to be perfect as a candle).” The current description on Goop explains the Oscar winner’s vulva candle smells like “geranium, citrusy bergamot, and cedar absolutes juxtaposed with Damask rose and ambrette seed to put us in mind of fantasy, seduction, and a sophisticated warmth.” So, I’m guessing that’s what I’ve missed out on all these years. Domestic goddess Martha Stewart was asked during a recent appearance on Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live what she thought of Paltrow’s business savvy thanks to the candle selling out immediately. “I’m sure it sold out,” said Stewart. “She’s trying to zhuzh up the public and that’s great. I wouldn’t buy it.” When Cohen delved further inquiring what it ‘says’ about America that the candle sold out so quickly, Stewart was quick to the heart of the issue: “I don’t think it’s America, I think it’s a lot of horny guys.”

Posted on

Record Number Of Guns Seized In 2019 At U.S. Airports

(image via TSA)
The Transportation Security Administration issued a statement this week announcing a record number of guns (the vast majority loaded) were seized at airport checkpoints in the U.S. in 2019. From NPR:

TSA announced that its officers seized 4,432 guns at checkpoints last year — the most in the agency’s 18-year history. It also says that 87% of those guns (some 3,855) were loaded.

“The continued increase in the number of firearms that travelers bring to airport checkpoints is deeply troubling,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said in a statement Wednesday. “There is a proper way to travel safely with a firearm. First and foremost, it should be unloaded,” Pekoske said. “Then it should be packed in a hard-sided locked case, taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared, and checked.”

Nationwide, TSA says it caught firearms at 278 airports. That includes, as NPR reported in July, a missile launcher found in a Texas man’s luggage at the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

Even if a traveler has a concealed weapon permit, firearms are not permitted to be carried onto an airplane. Individuals who bring weapons to a checkpoint are subject to federal civil penalties of up to $13,000, depending on the weapon. A typical first offense for carrying a handgun into a checkpoint is $4,100. For more information, click over to the TSA’s website here.

Posted on

Inclusive Coffee Ad Hits The Sweet Spot

A Belgium coffee company has seen its latest commercial, titled “Something To Share,” go viral and gay Twitter approves. Belgium-based instant coffee brand Douwe Egberts initially shows two teens getting hot and heavy in a romantical moment at home and one of them is covered by a hoodie. When dad walks in the door, the teens make a dash for upstairs. During the run to the bedroom, though, dad gets a glimpse of the couple. His daughter registers a moment of concern, but the next thing she knows she gets a text message complete with three coffee emojis. As the teens sit down for java, the inclusive twist is revealed along with the slogan, “We all have something to share over a Douwe Egberts coffee.” Good on you, Douwe Egberts

And gay Twitter goes wild:

Posted on

Trump Legal Team: ‘Abuse Of Power’ Isn’t A Crime

Donald Trump
From the New York Times:

In a six-page filing formally responding to the House impeachment charges submitted shortly after and filled with partisan barbs against House Democrats, Mr. Trump’s lawyers denounced the case as constitutionally and legally invalid, and driven purely by a desire to hurt Mr. Trump in the 2020 election.

“The articles of impeachment submitted by House Democrats are a dangerous attack on the right of the American people to freely choose their president,” they said in the response, which was Mr. Trump’s first legal submission in the impeachment proceeding, ahead of a fuller brief that is due on Monday. “This is a brazen and unlawful attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election and interfere with the 2020 election, now just months away.”

The president’s lawyers did not deny any of the core facts underlying Democrats’ charges, conceding what considerable evidence and testimony in the House has shown: that he withheld $391 million in aid and a White House meeting from Ukraine and asked the country’s president to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son, Hunter Biden.

But they said Mr. Trump broke no laws and was acting entirely appropriately and within his powers when he did so, echoing his repeated protestations of his own innocence. They argued that he was not seeking political advantage, but working to root out corruption in Ukraine.

In an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” attorney Alan Dershowitz (who is part of Trump’s legal team) argued that “abuse of power” is not a crime and therefore not an impeachable offense.

Posted on

Guest Post: Belonging With Buttigieg

Pete Buttigieg on the campaign trail (all photos – PeteForAmerica)
Guest post by Joshua Grotheer At a time when it’s “us” vs. “them” or left vs. right or red vs blue, I’m tired. I’m tired of the fighting. I’m tired of the hate. I’m tired of the divisiveness of politics. I’m tired of losing friendships over who someone voted for or supports. I’m tired of hurtful conversations while sitting in the church pew or around the family table. As the gay son of a United Methodist preacher and raised with Fox News on the television, I’ve always felt that I didn’t belong. I didn’t belong in my church, in my own home or in my Southern conservative community. Thankfully I attended a performing arts high school that celebrated those of us who were different. In college, I knew that my social and political beliefs were different from my family. I also knew it was okay to be different. Now, at 32 and a self-proclaimed “recovering United Methodist” I am drawn to a candidate for president who has built his entire campaign around inclusion and belonging. You see, Pete Buttigieg knows what it’s like to be different. An out gay man who is also deeply religious isn’t something I ever thought possible, much less presidential. He sees the differences in humanity and is celebrating our differences by uniting us with shared values. If the last three years have taught me anything, it’s that I’m ready for a breath of fresh air in Washington.
Pete and Chasten Buttigieg
I’m ready for something different. I’m ready for an outsider who understands the marginalized. I’m ready for a president that leads with values. I’m ready for a president that acknowledges that God does not belong to a political party. I’m ready for decency to return to the White House and to the Office of the President. I’m ready for someone better. I’m ready to vote for a 38-year old Naval Intelligence officer who is a devout Episcopalian from the Midwest who makes me feel hopeful. I’m ready to vote for someone who is uniquely positioned to bridge the divides tearing this country apart. I’m ready to vote for Pete Buttigieg for President.

*********************************

Follow Joshua Grotheer on Twitter @joshuagrotheer

Posted on

James Blunt’s Raw New Music Video “Monsters”

R-L James Blunt with his father, former cavalry officer Colonel Charles Blount
Whoa. Very powerful. From Yahoo News:

British singer-songwriter James Blunt is best known for his sentimental heartbreak ballads “You’re Beautiful” and “Goodbye My Lover,” but his latest single “Monsters,” a tribute to his ailing father, is his rawest and most poignant yet.

In his devastating new “Monsters” music video, an anguished Blunt, in an extreme close-up reminiscent of Sinead O’Connor’s iconic, one-take “Nothing Compares 2 U” clip, stares down the lens.

Blunt struggles to maintain his composure throughout the first half of video, so much much so that it’s almost uncomfortable to witness. And when the camera finally cuts to a wider shot, it becomes clear why he is so distraught, that he isn’t acting, and that his tears are very real.

Sitting stoically beside him is his real-life dad, former cavalry officer Colonel Charles Blount, who is battling stage 4 chronic kidney disease.

Blunt appeared on Good Morning Britain last year and shared his father’s serious illness. At the time, he addressed any possible organ donors: “I’ve come on here to ask you what blood group you are. Some things have been going on in my life that I needed to write about. My father has not been very well, actually. He needs a new kidney and a kidney donor. And I’ve come on here to ask you what blood group you are. If you are an O-positive, I’ll take it off you.” The artist later revealed that, sadly, he is not a match. The video went viral after Star Trek star William Shatner tweeted the clip to his 2.4 million Twitter followers:

Posted on

Gay Stripper Gets Life In Prison For Murder Of Secret Lover

William Bradley Morgan (mugshot)
A former dancer at a gay strip club in Atlanta has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his boyfriend. William Bradley Morgan, 37, was convicted on multiple charges including the murder of 43-year-old Brian Campbell, as well as aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, theft by taking, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the two men met at a club in 2015. At the time, both were married to women. Morgan was employed as a dancer at the infamous all-nude Swinging Richards gay nightclub in Atlanta. His estranged wife lived in Alabama. Campbell, an executive for Comcast, lived in Delaware with his wife and children, but business trips brought him to Atlanta frequently. The two men soon became intimate and secretly began living together. But over time Morgan became financially dependent on Campbell. The financial situation, along with Morgan’s addiction to methamphetamines and the secret nature of their relationship eventually led Campbell to consider ending the romance. After spending the day at a racing event on October 1, 2016, Campbell apparently told Morgan he was leaving him.  It was at that point that Morgan shot Campbell twice in the head. Attempting to cover up the murder, he wrapped Morgan in plastic trash bags and hid the body in a closet. Morgan turned the thermostat down and lit a scented candle presumably to conceal the smell. On his way out the door, he stole Campbell’s Land Rover Discovery, two expensive watches, his cell phone, an iPad, his wallet and a handgun. It would be four days until Campbell’s body would be found when his wife contacted authorities filing a missing persons report. His abandoned vehicle was found in Calhoun County, Alabama. Two weeks later, Morgan was arrested in Jacksonville, Alabama, after a standoff with police. After his arrest, he admitted to the secret relationship and stealing Campbell’s belongings, but denied committing the murder. Morgan had previously spent time in prison for aggravated assault and domestic violence. This week, Fulton Superior Court Judge Shawn Ellen LaGrua sentenced Morgan to life in prison.

Posted on

New Jonas Bros Video Offers A Thigh-Full

Nick Jonas channels his best Risky Business
The Jonas Brothers lose their pants in their latest music video, “What a Man Gotta Do,” and we ain’t mad. The video features the JoBros paying homage to their favorite rom-coms beginning with Nick Jonas (and his thick thighs) slip-sliding in his socks and button-down shirt channeling his best Tom Cruise in Risky Business.

It’s kind of hard to concentrate as Nick offers up some serious thigh-candy while wife Priyanka giggles from the couch. Joe Jonas and wife Sophie strut out their best John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John impersonations in a Grease-inspired dance-off complete with updated hand-jive.
Joe Jonas goes pants-less
Kevin Jonas goes full-on John Cusack standing outside Danielle’s bedroom window with a boombox lifted overhead a la Say Anything. Eventually, Kevin and Joe end up pants-less like Nick, which makes the music video that much better. All in all, it’s a fun diversion for a Friday. And, considering the video has nearly 5 million views in less than a day, it’s pretty safe to say we’re not the only ones who think so. With its oh-so-catchy hook, the pop track is sure to be a hit…and did we mention the music video?