11.17.06
Posted in Advocate Articles, E's Thoughts at 8:17 am by pikapp44
D and I saw comedian Kate Clinton last night in West Palm Beach. She was great!
Comedian Kate Clinton is hitting the road for her 25th anniversary tour.
The 50-city tour, called “It’s Come to This,” is a celebration of all of her years of being a comedian. The tour has not only been an anniversary for the performer, it has also hit a nerve with some fans who remember when they first saw her.
“People have stories,” Clinton says. “They tell me, ‘We saw you on our first date.’”
Some stories aren’t as warm and fuzzy though.
“Someone said, ‘I went and saw you with my ex. . . I was so mad,’” she says.
“I seem to be constantly updating my show,” she explains. “By the time I get there, we will see where Foley is.”
Clinton is known for her intelligent and humorous observations on politics. And with everything going on with current affairs lately, she promises not to disappoint.
“By the time I get there, who knows?” she says of her South Florida performance. “It just seems insane.”
Right after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, she would get mixed reactions when she would insult George W. Bush, she says.
“When I would start making unkind remarks about Bush, people would leave or go to the bathroom,” she says. “Or I would pretend they went to the bathroom.”
Clinton, who started out performing in the basements of Unitarian churches, says that it was a big deal when she first came out.
“It was political to say you were a lesbian,” she says.
She still hits upon the gay topic on tour, although not as much as she used to.
“When I first started, I could talk about any gay stuff for five hours,” she says.
CLINTON’S LONG HISTORY AS a comedian is impressive. She’s done one-woman shows titled “Correct Me If I’m Right,” “All Het Up” and “Kate’s Out Is In.” She has written books, “Don’t Get Me Started” and “What the L.” She also writes monthly columns for The Progressive and The Advocate.
Frequently on television, Clinton was a commentator for CNN for a brief period when the trouble in Afghanistan began. She also wrote for television, on the first season of lesbian Rosie O’Donnell’s show. She is also on Sirius Satellite Radio and many radio shows.
“I’m all over the place,” she jokes. “I’m like a bad penny.”
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09.05.06
Posted in E's Thoughts at 12:39 pm by pikapp44
By now, most have heard of the passing of Steve Irwin at the age of 44. Best known by the moniker ‘The Crocodile Hunter’; Irwin was not just a lover of snakes and reptiles. He was a lover of nature and all of wildlife’s inhabitants. From the jungle birds to the desert snakes and, alas, into the seas; Irwin got up close and personal with all that he saw and took all willing pasengers on the ride known, simply, as his life.
What Irwin did was bring the animal world to us all in vivid detail. Irwin gave us the outdoors in all of its glory, in all of its beauty, and all of its danger. He lived his work. He was a walking testimony to the idea that one could love their job, and more than that, get others excited about it as well. He was more than a lover of his craft; he was a missionary of it. He taught, he learned, and he breathed, until his last breath, the natural world around him. All, who were willing to watch, stood witness to a man in love with his calling. A man living his ‘dream’.
In the end, Steve Irwin was more than just a guy wrestling crocodiles and snakes for television audiences. He was a zoologist, conservationist, husband, and father. He bought tracks of land in several countries in order to help preserve wildlife habitats from destruction by man. His Australian Zoo was an oasis for endangered crocodiles, reptiles, and other non-endangerd animals. The money from his popular show served to aid him in his quest to bring more funds to his conservation and educational efforts, not just for animals and their habitats; but for aboriginal peoples and their historic lands as well. In all, Steve Irwin was a man that lived his life to the fullest and his honest and uncompromising spirit will be missed.
As his wife and children remain with us, continuing his legacy, I will remember him as a man of life. A liver of moments and pioneer in a field that, until his arrival, was suffering from the lack of someone with his passion. And I hope there will come a day when his children will carry the torch. Until then, I will show my children the Crocodile Hunter and let them know…….. as sure as the leaves will fall in autumn, death will come. But it is not our deaths that define us; it is how we live our lives. Don’t waste your leaves.
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08.07.06
Posted in E's Thoughts, Gay Portal at 9:20 am by pikapp44
Mack Planet “try it you’ll like it” if you need gay accommodations, jobs, pets, housing, roommates, nightlife and much, much more!!!
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06.27.06
Posted in E's Thoughts at 2:39 pm by pikapp44
Gayscape is a gay & lesbian search tool that provides over 102,000 indexed sites.
Gayscape is cool
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06.26.06
Posted in E's Thoughts at 3:40 pm by pikapp44
FOR MANY BIG city gay people, the idea of traveling outside the borders of urban development fills them with dread. Add to that the paralyzing fear of the Midwest, and it’s a wonder gay people can even locate those areas on a map.
Gay comedian ANT is the force behind the gay cable channel Logo’s new series “U.S. of ANT.” During the half-hour weekly show, which premiered on June 19, the comic travels into the heartland, searching for signs of intelligent gay life.
“We all seem to rush to the coasts to the big cities,” ANT says of gay people. “I wondered what gay life is like in a small town.”
IN THE PREMIERE episode, ANT travels to big sky country in Montana.
He tools around Butte and Bozeman, Mont., approaching random people and asking where the gay life is. Although you’d expect the small-town westerners to spit, turn their backs or pull out their guns, nothing of the sort happens. Everyone answers politely that they had no idea there was any gay scene within the city limits. That reaction was most of what ANT got while filming, he says.
During one episode, he decided to walk up to a bunch of hard-core bikers to ask about gay life in town.
“The production crew was like, ‘Oh my God, those are Hell’s Angels,’” says ANT. When he approached them, one told him that he would call his gay brother and ask him where to find the gay scene.
“It’s amazing how we touch so many people’s lives,” ANT says.
He’s traveled all over the country searching out rural-living gay men and lesbians. He met a lesbian couple in North Carolina adopting children; a lesbian construction worker in Alabama who’s out to her friends and family; lesbian witches in Mississippi who did a “queening” ritual for ANT, making him an official queen; also in metaphysical Mississippi was the encounter with the gay haunted house.
He also met two high school aged twin boys, one gay and one straight, who stuck up for one another through bouts of teasing and bullying in New Hampshire.
“I never really believed there was a gay community,” ANT says. “Now, I truly believe there is one. The fabric of it is so strong and so beautiful. We quilt a beautiful fabric.”
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06.09.06
Posted in D's Thoughts, E's Thoughts at 5:39 am by pikapp44
The Wedding Chapels of MGM MIRAGE, including Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Treasure Island, Monte Carlo, Luxor, Excalibur and Circus Circus, are ready and willing to help all couples declare “I do.”
Celebrate with your partner in Las Vegas, the city made famous by non-traditional weddings and celebrity elopements?
The wedding chapels of MGM MIRAGE offer devoted partners wonderfully romantic ways to proclaim their love. From flowers to photos to the walk down a petal-strewn aisle, commitment ceremonies provide the beauty and power of a formal ceremony without the legal formalities.
The Wedding Chapels at TI are elegantly designed in champagne tones, with stately marble altars and elaborate floral arrangements. The intimate setting provides the perfect place to bind two dreams as one and can accommodate small groups or parties of up to 65 guests to witness the couple’s pledge. Fresh flowers provide a special touch for the ceremony and couples are offered a choice of either two beautiful floral bouquets or two boutonnieres.
The Terrazza di Sogno (Terrace of Dreams) at Bellagio offers a beautiful, private outdoor setting for couples wishing to celebrate their union in an atmosphere of sheer romance. Couples overlook stunning views of a Tuscan landscape and a Mediterranean-blue lake with the Fountains of Bellagio soaring to the sky at the moment of the long-awaited “I do.”
The Luxor Wedding Chapel offers a remarkable site to begin a journey together. Whether an intimate or grand ceremony, the chapel combines an elegant interior with an uncompromising array of services to ensure a memorable wedding day.
Luxor Wedding Chapel manager Andrea Tooman said, “The goal is to provide guests with an elegant yet comfortable atmosphere. Our personalized services allow couples to create a cherished, distinctive experience on their special day.”
For couples seeking something unusual, the chapels of MGM MIRAGE provide a variety of imaginative options. Ship-deck ceremonies with pirate ring-bearers, noble knights or ladies-in-waiting kneeling before the altar, locations that lean to the famous, or private picturesque spots that call to mind distant lands - Las Vegas has a ceremony for every couple to be - no marriage license required!
Professional consultants are on hand at all the chapels to assist with any and all arrangements, from photography and formalwear rental to securing the officiant for the ceremony. The catering and banquet departments provide everything for a private party or reception from simple, elegant cake and champagne to a formal sit-down dinner.
MGM MIRAGE’s award-winning accommodations offer guests superior lodging and unparalleled customer service. Elegantly appointed rooms and suites are available, providing the perfect finishing touch for a truly romantic experience.
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05.31.06
Posted in E's Thoughts, Gay Rights at 3:02 pm by pikapp44
President Bush is expected to hold a press conference next week to announce his support for the federal marriage amendment. According to the conservative Weekly Standard magazine, the president will appear in the Rose Garden on Monday to reiterate his support for the so-called Marriage Protection Amendment, a day before the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on the measure.
The proposed amendment, which would ban same-sex marriages and nullify those that already exist, is not expected to garner the necessary two-thirds support it needs to move forward. But it is expected to receive more support than it did in the Senate two years ago, when it failed after garnering only 48 votes.
Although Bush spoke out in support of the amendment in 2004 during his reelection campaign, he now faces opposition from within his own White House. First lady Laura Bush said earlier this month that the issue should not be used as an election tool, and Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, also said she opposes the ban.
Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese called Bush’s forthcoming endorsement a “national disgrace” and said it will further divide the country. (Sirius OutQ News)
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04.21.06
Posted in E's Thoughts at 12:36 pm by pikapp44
A prominent business journal in Kentucky has come out against Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher’s recent elimination of antidiscrimination workplace protections for gays and lesbians. In an editorial today, Tom Martin, editor-in-chief of Business Lexington, lambasted Fletcher’s action, saying that the governor has “undermined” the ability of Lexington, Louisville, and other Kentucky cities to attract new business, from industry conventions to companies thinking about relocating.
“Governor Fletcher may or may not be pandering to the most extreme social and religious conservatives among his voter-base. That’s a political matter,” Martin wrote. “Our concern is for the well being of our business community. And in any case, either way, this policy sends Kentucky stumbling backward, even as the nation and the world have moved on.”
He added: “With the stroke of a pen, Governor Fletcher has undermined the efforts of our urban centers, which have local antidiscrimination statutes shielding gays and lesbians, to present themselves to prospective new businesses and residents as progressive and fair-minded.”
Lexington’s 1999 Fairness Ordinance included sexual orientation and gender identity as a protected class in the city’s policy against discrimination in housing, employment, and public accomodations. Other areas of the state have similar protections.
In the editorial, Martin pointed out that after Cincinnati, Ohio, passed an antigay charter in 1994, the city lost $46 million or more in convention business, as several firms that had considered having their conventions there decided to go elsewhere. “Under the watch of Gov. Ernie Fletcher, the state of Kentucky now harms corporate recruiting,” he wrote. (The Advocate)
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03.11.06
Posted in E's Thoughts at 3:31 pm by pikapp44
BGLAD is a reliable directory for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender internet community. BGLAD is dedicated to making Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender owned web sites or related content much easier to find.
Check it out here - BGLAD: Gay Search Portal
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03.07.06
Posted in D's Thoughts, E's Thoughts at 3:59 pm by pikapp44
We spent a really pleasant morning with Himcorp (hyperion interactive media) founder Matthew Skallerud and about 40 other people at Embassy Suites Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Matt led a gay marketing seminar that was really informative, enjoyable and he served breakfast!
Matt’s seminar included several examples of gay marketing successes and challenges. His Gay Market Guide 2006 is an essential resource for those who want to excel in the gay market.
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