LGBTQ news and entertainment
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| Michael with Olivia Newton-John, Veronic and Lynda Carter |
My husband accompanied Olivia Newton-John to NYC for an appearance on The View set to air this Friday.
Other guests the same day are the fab Lynda Carter and Las Vegas headliner and vocal impersonator Veronic.
Of all the trips I DIDN’T tag along on… darn.
Olivia Newton-John’s Gaia Retreat & Spa was recently honored as “Australia’s Leading Boutique Hotel” and “Australia’s Leading Spa Resort” at the 2013 World Travel Awards – the most prestigious awards program in the travel industry worldwide, regarded as the ‘Oscars of the Travel industry’ by The Wall Street Journal.
“I am so thrilled that Gaia has received this prestigious award, it’s truly an honor to be recognized,” says Olivia Newton-John, Gaia Director. “I’m so proud to share this with my fellow directors, Gregg, Ruth and Warwick, as well as our entire staff. Gaia has become my personal sanctuary and I am grateful for our wonderful healers and therapists – our family – who have all helped make our dream a reality by creating an unforgettable experience for our guests.”
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| Olivia Newton-John with Gaia directors Warwick Evans, Ruth Kalnin and Gregg Cave. Click pic for larger view |
Since opening in 2005, Gaia has received numerous accolades and awards, gaining an impeccable reputation as a leading unique boutique Australian Spa experience. Some of the awards include: Conde Nast Traveller Readers Spa Award – 2008 Winner- “Favourite Overseas Hotel Spa – Australasia and South Pacific” and listed 17th in the world; Gourmet Travellers – 2011 Winner -“Best Health Retreat”; World Luxury Hotel Award – 2012 Winner “Country Best Luxury Destination Spa”; The Spa Traveller Awards 2012 – Winner – ‘Readers Choice Ultimate Wellness Spa, -Australasia and South Pacific, Winner – ‘Best Spa Resort 2011 and 2012’, Winner ‘Best Wellness Cuisine’ 2011 and 2012; Trip Advisor Travellers’ Choice Winner of 2012, 2011, 2010 in the categories – “Best Relaxation & Spa Hotels in Australia” and “Best Relaxation & Spa Hotels in the South Pacific.”
In addition to its numerous awards, Gaia is thrilled to announce the release of the long-awaited second cookbook, Gratitude, featuring recipes by Head Chef, Dan Trewartha. “Dan’s cooking skills and appreciation for organic foods and finer detail to flavoring is second to none,” says Gregg Cave. “We’re excited about Gratitude and what you can expect will live up to the recent London-based Spa Traveller awards received for “Best Spa Cuisine 2011 & 2012.”
For more information on Gaia Retreat and Spa, click here.
(via press release)
Jane Lynch chatted with Conan O’Brien about a number of things last night on the Coco show. They spent a good amount of time talking about each other’s easy-to-manage haircuts:
Conan: I think your hair is fantastic.
Jane: Thank you, I feel the same way. I think you have, like, the best hair in Hollywood, so coming from you…
Conan: Yes, I do, yes. Yes I do.
Don’t you love how deep and important the chat can get on talk shows these days?
Then moved onto more pressing matters—namely, how Olivia Newton John turned young Jane gay.
“Growing up in the ’70s, she was it for me,” Lynch explained. “’I Honestly Love You.’ I would weep to that song on the radio. And, I just loved her… I named my dog after her. My dog’s name is Olivia. I had a big lesbo crush on her, and I named my dog after her.”
I’ve heard this before as Olivia has guested on GLEE performing WITH Lynch, and it was at that time she shared her dog’s tribute name.
Talk then turned to Newton John’s Grease co-star, heterosexual actor John Travolta. “I loved John Travolta so much that I drew pictures of him,” Lynch said. “I knew every plane of his face. I knew the dimple of his chin… the light eyes with the dark lashes. I loved him, I loved him, but I think what it is is that I wanted to be him. I didn’t want to make out with him.”
(via Queerty)
Speaking of health and wellness, how fantastic does Olivia look?
Via Vimeo:
Singing sensation Olivia Newton-John got physical and donned her exercise gear to take part in an event to raise money for a hospital named in her honour.
Attending the event with her husband, John Easterling, Newton-John led a wellness walk through the streets of Ivanhoe on Sunday to raise money for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Heidelberg, in Melbourne.
Addressing the crowd, Newton-John said support from friends and family helped her battle breast cancer in 1992.
“It’s important to support a person suffering from cancer with wellness. It does more than just treating cancer, it’s about providing care for the whole person body, mind and spirit,” Newton-John said.
“It shows people that there is a way to wellness through cancer. It is an amazing feeling to see a dream become a reality. This is the start of something wonderful.”
Newton-John performed her hit song Physical, to a sea of cheering fans dressed in green t-shirts marking the start of the 4km walk to the wellness centre.
Mayor Wayne Phillips said it was an honour to host the “down-to-earth megastar”.
“To have a person like Olivia so committed after her own troubles is just fantastic,” Mr Phillips said.
Newton-John cut a GREEN (not pink) ribbon to open the wellness walk and afterwards planted a remembrance pinwheel at the centre.
By the way, here’s the pic Olivia took from the stage of the crowd. Click on the pic to enlarge and get a sense of how big it really was:
And here’s Olivia crossing the Wellness Walk finish line:
Photos and Videos By Carbie © www.carbiewarbie.com
Buzzfeed has looked at the movie Grease and realized that all you need to know about life can be found in the most successful movie musical of all time.
Here are just 6. Head over to Buzzfeed for 16 more “life lessons” from Grease.
1. Smoking is cool.
2. It’s OK to kiss and tell, as long as it’s in song.
3. Your guardian angel will show up once you screw up your life sufficiently.
4. If a boy really likes you, he’ll act insane for several minutes.
5. And all your friends will join in!
6. Cars can fly.
(via Buzzfeed)
A few years ago, Olivia Newton-John re-examined and “renewed” her excellent CD “Grace and Gratitude” in a new version with some additional tracks.
One of the highlights of the “renewed” G&G was this track – Help Me To Heal. I think it’s gorgeous.
There wasn’t a music video to go with the song, so I asked Olivia if I could take some “behind the scenes” footage shot during the creation of the album and create a video. I was thrilled when she said ‘yes.’
So the above is something I made for the release of “Grace and Gratitude Renewed.”
The album itself is very special to me. Not only did it become the soundtrack for my own cancer journey, but Olivia honored me by asking me to help stage a special concert of the album outside Philadelphia.
Love the music. Love the message.
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| Rona Newton-John |
A note from Olivia Newton-John on the passing of her sister, Rona Newton-John:
My beautiful sister Rona sadly passed on May 24th in Los Angeles. It was May 25th in Australia – which was our mother Irene’s birthday. Rona died of a very aggressive brain tumor and mercifully suffered no pain. She was surrounded by the love of her four children – Fiona, Brett,Tottie and Emerson, and her wonderful friends. I will miss her forever – my beautiful smart talented funny brave sister Rona.
In lieu of flowers the family would appreciate donations to the ONJCWC where a brain tumor wellness program will be started in her name. Thank you all for your kind words of love and support.
Love and light,
Olivia
Click here to donate to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre
JMG points to this compilation of news, pop culture and political moments in Australia’s journey for gay rights.
I remember traveling in a car with Olivia Newton-John (can you believe???) in Australia last year as she was personally writing a statement on marriage equality as the topic was again at the top of the news.
At the time she released this statement: “With respect to marriage equality, I believe that no-one has the right to judge and deny couples who love each other the ability to make a marriage commitment. Love is love.”
Olivia Newton-John, currently on tour in the UK, incorporates a bit of ABBA’s “Waterloo” into her concert in honor of her experience as Britain’s entry in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest. Olivia explains that she’s quite proud to have been a runner-up to ABBA 🙂
Thanks to Nabil for the video!
Appearance in support of Olivia’s current UK tour.