Wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday weekend as the U.S. celebrates its birth.
Checking in with some of our favorite Instagram accounts, we begin with Las Vegas entertainer Davide Zongoli (above) who sent his July 4th greetings from the desert.
Next, David Torres shared the spirit of the Independence Day in his own unique way:
L-R Actor/model Nyle DiMarco and President-elect Joe Biden (image via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed:
⢠Out: Model, actor, and activist Nyle DiMarco (above) has something in common with President-elect Joe Biden – they both have new gigs. The America’s Next Top Model champ is one of a group of stars to appear in V Magazine’s 2021 calendar.
⢠Mediaite: Turner Classic Movies has scheduled an “All Joe” Inauguration Day lineup of films to celebrate incoming President Joe Biden, while not-so-subtly trolling Trump. The lineup includes: Ode to Billy Joe (1976), Polo Joe (1936), The Fabulous Joe (1947), The Story of G.I. Joe (1945), Joe Smith, American (1942), A Guy Named Joe (1943), Pal Joey (1957) and Mighty Joe Young (1949).
⢠CBS News: Signaling a continued break with President Trump the day before he leaves office, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blamed Mr. Trump in part for the assault on the U.S. Capitol earlier this month, saying the pro-Trump mob that overran the building was “provoked by the president and other powerful people.”
⢠CNN: Donald Trump has reportedly been talked out of issuing presidential pardons for himself and his family as well as certain Republican lawmakers said to be nervous about their legal vulnerability for their part in the U.S. Capitol insurrection.
⢠The Hill: From Trumpâs inauguration day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose from 19,827 to 30,930 on Tuesday, a 56 percent increase. That increase is below the 73.2 percent rise the Dow saw in Obamaâs first term, or the 105.8 percent increase under Clintonâs first term. A similar trend was true for the S&P 500, which gained 67.8 percent under Trump. It gained 84.5 percent in Obamaâs first term, and 79.2 percent in Clintonâs first term.
⢠LA Times: The 232-bed Vignes Street development has shattered the axiom that homeless housing takes years to build and is exorbitantly expensive. From start to finish in under five months and at a cost of about $200,000 per bed, it has shaved years and hundreds of thousands of dollars off a traditional homeless housing project.
⢠White House: Donald Trump issued a pre-recorded farewell address today. #ByeGurl
Over the past few years, weâve watched as the dashing and devastatingly handsome Nyle DiMarco has conquered just about everything heâs set his sights on.
The latest in his long string of successes – DiMarco has sold a scripted comedy TV series to Spectrum.
According to Deadline, DiMarco will star in the âirreverent comedy centered around his experiences as a charismatic, smart deaf man in modern times.â
âThe episodes look to offer funny, character-based storytelling designed to provide a deeper perspective on the experiences of the deaf and hard of hearing communities in America,â Deadline adds.
Dimarco will executive produce along with Hawaii Five-Oâs Daniel Day Kim as well as John Cheng and Tara Bohn and Melrose Placedâs Sami Housman.
DiMarco took to Twitter to celebrate the series news tweeting, âIf I told my younger self that I would eventually have my own series about Deaf culture, I wouldnât believe it. Deaf people leading in a series about deaf culture? Not possible! This is huge for me… thank you all!â
The âsexually fluidâ model and actor first came to the national spotlight when he won the 2015 season of Americaâs Next Top Model. He is the only deaf contestant in the show’s history, and the second male to win.
From there, he snatched up the mirror ball trophy as the Season 22 winner of Dancing with the Stars.
Check out his freestyle championship dance with Peta Murgatroyd to “The Sound of Silence.” As you watch, remember – Nyle can’t hear any of the music. This is waaaaay impressive.
Although heâs best known for his victories in reality TV, the 31-year-old has also appeared in several scripted TV series like Station 19, Difficult People and Switched at Birth.
And don’t forget his sold-out run on the Las Vegas Strip as the âCelebrity Hostâ of the world-famous Chippendales in September 2016.
In 2018, he was on the team of producers who brought the award-winning, Deaf-themed play, Children of a Lesser God, back to Broadway.
So, yeah, this is a guy who does a LOT of things well. #NoSlackerHere
DiMarco has also used his celebrity to advocate for more representation for deaf individuals in Hollywood and increased literacy in sign language for deaf children. He launched The Nyle DiMarco Foundation in 2016, which works to bring educational resources to deaf children and their families.
I interviewed the very handsome Mr. DiMarco as he was about to open his run with Chippendales here in Las Vegas. Here’s my chat with him from my podcast:
‘Dancing with the Stars’ champ Nyle DiMarco (image via Instagram)
Just in time for Christmas, Dancing with the Stars and Americaâs Next Top Model champ Nyle DiMarco saw his 2019 hit its peak when a favorite celeb chimed in on his Twitter.
As a member of the Deaf Community, the dashing DiMarco is a big advocate for American Sign Language (ASL). Itâs estimated that there are 70 million Deaf people in the world, but only two percent have access to education in sign language leaving millions without the education they need.
DiMarco often shares some phrases of ASL with his Twitter followers to encourage more people to learn the visual language.
Two days ago, he began a thread showing folks how to sign the title of Mariah Careyâs blockbuster holiday hit, âAll I Want For Christmas Is You.â
The ASL challenge was Nyle’s way of celebrating Mariah’s newly-anointed 19th No. 1 single for its 25th anniversary this holiday season. And he asked folks to video themselves signing the phrase and post it on the thread.
OHMYGOD, I just figured out how to play Spotify on my TV! Iâve been listening to myself all day so I can earn some extra cash. I think Iâm up to 78 cents! 😂
my much anticipated rankings for the 11 Star Wars films:
1) sunday in the park w george
2) company
3) into the woods
4) sweeney todd
5) merrily we roll along
6) a little night music
7) follies
8) assassins
9) forum
10) iâve never seen a Star Wars film
11) passion
And then there was this exchange between woofy Pennsylvania state Rep. Brian Sims and out recording artist Bright Light Bright Light that made my morning:
And if any of them cosplay as X-Men for some reason today I decided which song each mutant should lip sync to after watching an X-Man musical. Youâre welcome.
Storm does an âitâs Raining (X) Menâ / âRainâ / âI Canât Stand The Rainâ medley and Jean Grey does âGenie In A Bottleâ with very aggressive literal interpretive dance that kicks off when she goes full Phoenix.
And while we’re on the subject of Bright Light Bright Light, check out his synth-pop version of the holiday classic, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” released in 2017.
Dancing with the Stars and Americaâs Next Top Model champ Nyle DiMarco took part in a segment of What Would You Do?, the hidden camera show, which focused on discrimination faced by the deaf community.
DiMarco explained to host John QuiĂąones that he and his family, who are all deaf, have experienced discrimination while being served in restaurants before.
“Often, waiters are completely petrified and unsure what to do with us,” said DiMarco. “You can see in their eyes their world kind of collapsing as they try and figure out how to deal with us.”
The hidden camera show set out to see how other diners would react to a waiter being rude and refusing to serve a deaf guest (played by deaf actor J.W.) while the cameras rolled. DiMarco also stepped in as the restaurant guest himself.
J.W. on ‘What Would You Do?’
In one scenario, after the ‘waiter’ gets frustrated with J.W., a diner explains that J.W. is deaf. After the waiter tells the guest J.W. should have an interpreter with him, she suggests he could look at the menu where J.W. is pointing.
“That isn’t my job, though,” says the waiter.
The guest gets up from her table, walks to J.W.’s side and reads aloud what he’s pointing to. There – not so hard, huh?
Both J.W. and DiMarco told QuiĂąones they were happy with how people stepped in to address the waiter but added that things like that donât happen very often in daily interactions. When one woman called the manager, Nyle said, “She’s doing everything right – this is what we’d love to see more people do.”
J.W. added, “Usually, when this kind of situation happens, people don’t get up and respond – or, it takes quite some time before somebody gets involved.”
See how diners react in the segment below.
In a post-show interview, J.W. offered this advice to QuiĂąones for interacting with deaf people, âAccept other people for who they are, and learn how to communicate with everybody. The simplest body language, the simplest gestures, will go a long way and have a big impact.â
A few years ago, Chippendales brought Nyle in to be there celebrity guest host (my husband, Michael, is the publicist for the Chipps). It was heartening to see all the Chippendales make an effort to learn some American Sign Language during his tenure at the show.
As J.W. mentions, even the simplest gestures go a long way.
I do have two suggestions I learned from Nyle to help avoid frustrations and communicate with the deaf community.
One simple fix is to pull your phone out and type out a text message, then show it to the deaf person you may be trying to communicate with. They’re deaf, but they can read. It’s an easy approach to overcoming barriers.
Also, Nyle has helped develop The ASL App for your phone, which teaches simple, everyday phrases. Developed, designed and created by Deaf people, you can pick up basics (even in slow motion if you don’t catch it the first time) to help communicate with those who use ASL.
⢠DWTS and ANTM champ Nyle DiMarco (above) is living for the west coast sunshine – “Sun’s out, guns out!”
⢠The Alabama senate unanimously voted for a bill this week that would eliminate marriage licenses because some judges in the state donât want to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
⢠The organizers of Houstonâs Drag Queen Story Time project are calling it quits after harassment and death threats by so-called Christians.