Tag: London

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London Pride Parade Inspires Two Marriage Proposals

Fernando Ferreira proposes to bf Greg Woodford at London Pride

A very sweet moment from this past weekend’s Pride Parade in London as rugby player Fernando Ferreira proposed to his boyfriend Greg Woodford.

The London-based Kings Cross Steelers are a regular fixture in the parade every year since it was founded in 1995.

But during a mock line-out, Fernando Ferreira got up and walked over to the barricade where his boyfriend, Greg Woodford, was standing.

What happens next will melt your heart.

Ferreira gets down on one knee, as his rugby mates cheer in the background.

This was the second marriage proposal at the London Pride parade this weekend.

Along the parade route, a woman holding a rainbow flag approached her girlfriend, who happened to be a transport police officer working the parade.

While she was clearly surprised she says yes immediately.

And the crowd goes wild!

#LoveIsLoveIsLoveIsLove

(h/t Gay Star News)

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Trump Doubles Down On Attacks On London Mayor

Donald Trump

In the early aftermath of the recent London attacks, President Trump took time to ridicule the Mayor of London for telling citizens there was “no reason to be alarmed.”

Of course, Trump took the Mayor’s comment out of context. What Mayor Khan was addressing was the increased security measures Londoners would be seeing. The full statement was, “Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the course of the next few days. No reason to be alarmed.”

The Mayor’s spokesperson responded to Trump’s insult by telling reporters on Sunday that Mayor Khan “has more important things to do than respond to Donald Trump’s ill-informed tweet that deliberately takes out of context his remarks urging Londoners not to be alarmed when they saw more police — including armed officers — on the streets.”

Right on schedule the Trumpster doubled down on his attacks on London Mayor Sadiq Khan this morning:

Remember, the Mayor of London is in the middle of a crisis. And our president is taking time to demean him?

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Trump Criticizes London Mayor After Terror Attack, Mayor Slaps Back

Last night in London, three knife-wielding assailants unleashed a terror attack, the third major terrorist attack in the UK in three months.

Driving a white van, the three men killed seven and injured dozens driving across the London Bridge. They then left the van and entered the capital’s Borough Market with large hunting knives, slashing at patrons.

Within minutes, the police chased down the men and killed them.

In a statement, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the course of the next few days. There’s no reason to be alarmed. One of the things the police and all of us need to do is ensure that we’re as safe as we possibly can be.”

President Trump’s response to the terror attacks in London last night was to take aim at the city’s mayor and that statement.

As he has done often in the past, Trump took the Mayor’s statement out of context. The mayor wasn’t saying there was no need to be alarmed by the attacks. He was clearly saying to Londoners not to be alarmed by the increased police presence people will be seeing over the next few days.

Because that’s what the mayor needs right now, the president of another country criticizing him in the middle of a terror attack.

Can you imagine Prime Minister Theresa May chiding the mayors of Orlando or Boston after their horrible attacks?

A spokesman for the mayor responded to the tweet saying, “The Mayor is busy working with the police, emergency services and the government to coordinate the response to this horrific and cowardly terrorist attack and provide leadership and reassurance to Londoners and visitors to our city.”

He added that Mayor Khan “has more important things to do than respond to Donald Trump’s ill-informed tweet that deliberately takes out of context his remarks urging Londoners not to be alarmed when they saw more police — including armed officers — on the streets.”

Bolding is mine.

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English Cop Pops Proposal At London Pride

We’ve seen many public proposals between same-sex couples here in the U.S. with the arrival of marriage equality, but it’s not so common in the UK.

But London got to share in a couple’s happy moment right on the streets of this year’s Pride Parade when a constable marching in the parade with his department stopped along the way to get down on one knee and propose to his boyfriend.

ITV News reports that the constable stopped along the parade route where his partner, Jonathan Sammons, was watching and got down on one knee. The two exchanged a kiss to the roaring of the crowd and then the constable rejoined his fellow police officers.

The newly elected Mayor Sadiq Khan marched in the festivities, too.

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Gay Couple Kicked Out Of Uber Car For Kissing

Corey Watts (L) and Jordan Sloan (R)

An Uber driver in London ejected a gay couple, Corey Watts and Jordan Sloan, for kissing and cuddling during a ride

When they asked why they were being ordered out, the driver apparently said: “I take gays but they don’t normally do this.”

One of the couple, Corey Watts, took to Twitter to share his surprise and outrage:

Jordan also had this to add:

I’ve never had any homophobic stuff happen to me so I was caught off guard. You don’t expect it to happen in one of the world’s biggest cities. I wanted to understand what he was thinking so I asked the driver: “Would you do the same thing if it was a guy or a girl?”

Uber released this statement saying they had addressed the situation:

Uber does not tolerate any form of discrimination either by our partner drivers or towards our partner drivers. We opened an investigation from the moment we learned of this unacceptable incident and have been in contact with the rider to extended our sincere apologies and get further information. The driver concerned has been suspended from the Uber platform.

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Trailer: Gorgeous video footage of new “Miss Saigon” in London

The gorgeous new 2014 production of MISS SAIGON in London

Check out the gorgeous new trailer for the new revival of Miss Saigon, which began performances at London’s Prince Edward Theatre in May.

The stunning production features such familiar Schönberg, Boublil and Maltby tunes as “The Movie in My Mind,” “The Last Night of the World” and “The American Dream.”

Starring newcomer Eva Noblezada as “Kim,” Alistair Brammer as “Chris” and Jon Jon Briones as “The Engineer,” this looks to be a MUST-SEE in London.

Only question left – when will Broadway audiences get to see this emotionally powerful production?

More info about the show here.

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London Marathon: The better part of humanity on display

At the London Marathon today, participants observed a moment of silence for the victims of the Boston marathon, and wore black ribbons in their honor.

CBS News:

Moments before the majority of runners set off on the grinding course, announcer Geoff Wightman used the loudspeakers to ask for silence. He described marathon running as a global sport that unites runners and supporters in every continent in a spirit of friendship.

“This week the world marathon family was shocked and saddened by the events at the Boston Marathon,” he said as he asked the people gathered to “remember our friends and colleagues for whom a day of joy turned into a day of sadness.”

As those gathered responded to his call, the only noise that could be heard was the buzz of helicopters and the beeping of a truck.

The silence as the camera pans back and you see the stillness and respect held for their injured and fallen brothers and sisters is very moving.

This is human. This is humanity.

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Break: Chocolate chat with Olivia & company

Taking a break from shopping with Olivia Newton-John, Steve & Martha Real and Michael at Harrods in London for hot chocolate and cake.

Olivia and I had dark hot chocolate, and we all split this insane dark chocolate cake.

The cake – before…

The conversation turned to our favorite chocolates.  This is how the leanings broke down:

Steve Real: “Sees Candy. And my favorite Sees Candy is a Scotch Melon (Scotch Kiss?)  It’s caramel, layer of marshmallow, a bit of honey and wrapped in dark chocolate.”

Olivia: “I like dark chocolate with nuts, caramel… Dark turtles they’re called?  I like dark chocolate.  I like hard caramels; chili dark chocolate; and real orange slices dipped in dark chocolate.”

Martha Real: “Milk chocolate. I like caramels, and the salted caramels.”

Michael: “Milk chocolate and caramel. I’m easy, breezy. I could eat Rollos like they are going out of style.”

Me: I’m a simple dark chocolate guy. No fillings. Although, I do like the chili dark chocolates too. No nuts in my chocolate. Period.

The hot chocolate and cake after, just to show we weren’t complete piggies…

p.s.  Next time I’m at Harrods, THIS is where I’m stopping…

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Betty Buckley night in London

With Betty Buckley and Michael at The Ivy in London

First night in London, and we saw the fantastic Betty Buckley in the UK premiere of Jerry Herman’s DEAR WORLD at the Charing Cross Theatre. The show AND Betty were terrific! Seeing this beautiful gem of a show on stage finally was worth the wait. And Betty knocked it out of the park with each scene and song. Highlights were her tender readings of “I Was Beautiful,” “Kiss Her Now” and of course “I Don’t Want To Know.” Betty’s “Madwoman” was both hilarious and touchingly vulnerable.

Plus – you travel around the world to run into friends 🙂

Walking out of the theater we realized our friend Billy Stritch saw the same performance. He’s in town as music director for Liza’s sold-out concert tonight here in town. So he joined us for late dinner with Betty and friends at The Ivy.

Ah, The Ivy! Great London atmosphere and the staff was so kind to endure all of the picture taking and seat-switching as the conversations went on. I can’t repeat anything said at the dinner because apparently membership to the club means nothing you hear there can be passed on later. Some rule Betty explained to us. Oops – I think I just passed something on…. Erase, erase, erase…

Great night.

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Michael and I with Billy Stritch after DEAR WORLD

Our London friend and host (and “Mr. Knows-Everyone”) Michael Valdes

The group at the Ivy. We closed the place down 🙂