Sunday 23 May 2010

Les Blues



One of my favourite French dramas, Les Blues, used to be posted by ZTube31 with English subtitles, but it's been stopped for more than a year, then I found this clip at The GAYS OF DAYTIME. I really love this drama though, unfortunately I don't understand French at all. However I can tell Kevin proposed to Yann.

Friday 21 May 2010

Pub : Chez McDonald's, venez comme vous êtes... même gay !



There is a commercial for McDonald's on French TV.
The original video is here, "Pub: At McDonald's, just as you are ... even gay!"

Translation (Thanks to The GAYS OF DAYTIME)

Cute boy on the phone - Hello? I was thinking about you too. I was looking at our class picture. I miss you too. I have to go, my father's coming back. Lots of love.

His dad - Is that your class picture? I used to look just like you at your age. Girls just loved me. Too bad it's an all boys' class. You would get lucky.
"Come as you are."

Thursday 20 May 2010

The Universe Is Laughing - The Guggenheim Grotto



Video of "The Universe is Laughing" from the new album "The Universe is Laughing" (available June 15, 2010) as performed by The Guggenheim Grotto. Shot in an alleyway in Long Beach, CA

CREDITS:
Shot by:
Andrew R. Jandt: www.iobon.com
Henry Chen: www.henrychenphotography.com

Edited by:
Andrew R. Jandt

Lyrics:
October throws herself before my feet
and the sky goes powder blue
holding her breath for me
I never thought myself a city shoe
but it's made of gold today
and it breaks my heart in two

cos I want to hold onto it
but there's nothing to hold
and the universe is laughing
cos all a boy can really do is watch a boy unfold

we were listening to the city hum and hush
lying perfect in the dark I felt you tremble 'neath my touch
why's it everything I love I can't explain?
like if the world should disappear
only music will remain

And I want to hold onto it
but there's nothing to hold
and the universe is laughing
cos all a boy can really do is watch a boy unfold

and the galaxies, the galaxies are howling
the sun and moon are tickled pink and gold
the whole damn universe is laughing
and all a boy can really do is watch a boy unfold

Danny Miller & the Emmerdale cast on BSA's 2010 Aftershow

Danny Miller interview on XPOSE

Wednesday 19 May 2010

EastEnders actor abused

PinkNews reports:
EastEnders actor Marc Elliot 'abused in the street' for gay character
By PinkNews.co.uk Staff Writer May 19, 2010 - 10:51

Marc Elliot said he received abuse for playing a gay character

Marc Elliot, the actor who plays gay Muslim Syed in EastEnders, has revealed he gets regular abuse in the street for playing a gay character.

Syed began an affair with Christian (John Partridge) last year. When his mother found out in December, he was forced into marrying a woman.

Elliot said: "Since playing Syed I have really got it in the neck when I'm out. A lot of people are supportive but there is still a huge amount of negativity."

"I haven't been threatened but there's a lot of cat-calling in the street. Any insult, I've had it thrown at me."

But he added that he valued the opportunity to play the character.

"It's an incredibly important part. In so many cultures being gay is still something swept under the carpet," he said.

The actor won the best newcomer prize at the British Soap Awards earlier this month. The ceremony will be broadcast tonight at 7.30pm on ITV1.

Recently I'm kinda busy because I'm following many soaps. For instance, I started to follow Emmerdale from this February, then now I'm also following EastEnders. Especially I love the storyline of Aaron from Emmerdale, but also I really sympathise with Syde from EastEnders. However as my opinion, if someone wants to hide their secrets, they shouldn't step into the other side. In my opinion, Syed should never have slept with Christian and he should never have come out to anyone, if he really wanted to keep himself safe. On the other hand, I do understand that they want to live as who they are. When you have to live as not who you are, you feel like you are in hell sometimes. But sometimes it's easier to live, if you can hide your instinct. Anyways I hope the actor, Marc Elliot, will not be abused anymore.

Danny Miller interview on Ireland AM.

Monday 17 May 2010

Temperamentals TalkOUTS - 11 Cheyenne Jackson & Michael Urie

One of my favourite actors, Michael Urie was in Temperamentals Talk OUTS



And an article from AfterElton.
Cheyenne Jackson and Michael Urie Rip "Newsweek"'s Ramin Setoodeh For "Gays Can't Play Straight" Article
by Wayman Wong
Cheyenne Jackson, Michael Urie
When asked to comment on Ramin Setoodeh's recent article about how openly gay actors can't convincingly play heterosexual roles, Cheyenne Jackson and Michael Urie straight-out called the Newsweek entertainment writer an ''asshole'' who's ''unconscionable.'' The two out actors were speaking at a talkback after Monday's performance of The Temperamentals, Jon Marans' acclaimed Off-Broadway play about early gay rights activists in the 1950s.
After moderator Frank DeCaro asked Jackson what he thought of Setoodeh's piece, the Broadway star of Finian's Rainbow and TV guest star of 30 Rock said:
It was infuriating on so many levels. Not only does [Setoodeh] say that a gay man can't play straight, he got personal, picking on Sean Hayes in Promises, Promises, [pointing out] certain scenes where he thinks [Sean] is stiff and uncomfortable. And then he picks on Jonathan Groff, who just came out. He's a young teen heartthrob [in Glee]. He's so talented and so delicious and needs our love and support. Instead, [Setoodeh] says he's not believable at all. It was very veiled self-loathing. Really upsetting.
Everytime we go forward, some asshole like this takes us back a bit. I was really glad that Kristin Chenoweth wrote what she did [in defense of her Promises, Promises co-star Sean Hayes and other openly gay actors]. She sent it to me before it went out and about. I was very proud of her. For me to stand up and say, 'F*ck you,' that's what you'd expect. But for someone like Kristin, she stands up for what she believes in and is very committed.
Urie, who stars in The Temperamentals as Viennese designer Rudi Gernreich, added:
Look, I'm not from f*cking Vienna. We're all actors, and the audiences get it. When I saw Sean Hayes in Promises, Promises, it was a full house and everyone was completely in love with him. And I saw it at a Wednesday matinee full of tourists. They've all seen Sean in Will & Grace, and they loved him and believed in his relationship with Kristin. It worked.
And to attack, to quote Ugly Betty, someone [like Groff] recently 'hatched from the gay egg' is unconscionable and he should strung be [up]. [Groff] made everyone want him in Spring Awakening. And Cheyenne was f*cking Elvis in All Shook Up. He was sexy and hot. He's always playing straight. And people buy tickets to see him. No straight critics accuse Sean Penn of not being able to play Harvey Milk or [criticize] Tom Hanks in Philadelphia.
Jackson added: ''That's because when straight actors play gay, they're so 'brave.' Why is it so f*cking 'brave'? It's a part and he's a good actor. I hope we can get to the day where the best actor gets the part. End of story.''
(Wong edits entertainment at the New York Daily News. From 2003-2006, he originated and wrote ''The Leading Men'' column for Playbill.com, and Jackson publicly came out in his Sept. 2004 profile of him.)

Saturday 8 May 2010

Kristin Chenoweth "Offended" by Ramin Setoodeh's Homophobic Article in "Newsweek" - AfterElton article

An article from AfterElton
Kristin Chenoweth "Offended" by Ramin Setoodeh's Homophobic Article in "Newsweek"
by Michael Jensen, Editor May 7, 2010

More than a week ago, I wrote an article lambasting Newsweek and their entertainment reporter Ramin Setoodeh for his article "Straight Jacket" which ruminated on the reasons why Setoodeh believed many gay actors couldn't play straight roles.

The reaction among AfterElton.com readers and others in the GLBT community was suitably outraged, but alas, the mainstream media didn't pay much attention.

That might be about to change now that Broadway and TV actress Kristin Chenoweth posted the following comment on Setoodeh's article over on Newsweek.com. Here is what Chenoweth had to say:

As a longtime fan of Newsweek and as the actress currently starring opposite the incredibly talented (and sexy!) Sean Hayes in the Broadway revival of “Promises, Promises,” I was shocked on many levels to see Newsweek publishing Ramin Setoodeh’s horrendously homophobic “Straight Jacket,” which argues that gay actors are simply unfit to play straight. From where I stand, on stage, with Hayes, every night — I’ve observed nothing “wooden” or “weird” in his performance, nor have I noticed the seemingly unwieldy presence of a “pink elephant” in the Broadway Theater. (The Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and Tony members must have also missed that large animal when nominating Hayes’ performance for its highest honors this year.)

I’d normally keep silent on such matters and write such small-minded viewpoints off as perhaps a blip in common sense. But the offense I take to this article, and your decision to publish it, is not really even related to my profession or my work with Hayes or Jonathan Groff (also singled out in the article as too “queeny” to play “straight.”)

This article offends me because I am a human being, a woman and a Christian. For example, there was a time when Jewish actors had to change their names because anti-Semites thought no Jew could convincingly play Gentile. Setoodeh even goes so far as to justify his knee-jerk homophobic reaction to gay actors by accepting and endorsing that “as viewers, we are molded by a society obsessed with dissecting sexuality, starting with the locker room torture in junior high school.” Really? We want to maintain and proliferate the same kind of bullying that makes children cry and in some recent cases have even taken their own lives? That’s so sad, Newsweek! The examples he provides (what scientists call “selection bias”) to prove his “gays can’t play straight” hypothesis are sloppy in my opinion. Come on now!

Openly gay Groff is too “queeny” to play Lea Michelle’s boyfriend in GLEE, but is a “heartthrob” when he does it in Spring Awakening? Cynthia Nixon only “got away with it” ’cause she peaked before coming out? I don’t know if you’ve missed the giant Sex and the City movie posters, but it seems most of America is “buying it.” I could go on, but I assume these will be taken care of in your “Corrections” this week.

Similarly, thousands of people have traveled from all over the world to enjoy Hayes’ performance and don’t seem to have one single issue with his sexuality! They have no problem buying him as a love-torn heterosexual man. Audiences aren’t giving a darn about who a person is sleeping with or his personal life. Give me a break! We’re actors first, whether we’re playing prostitutes, baseball players, or the Lion King. Audiences come to theater to go on a journey. It’s a character and it’s called acting, and I’d put Hayes and his brilliance up there with some of the greatest actors period.

Lastly, as someone who’s been proudly advocating for equal rights and supporting GLBT causes for as long as I can remember, I know how much it means to young people struggling with their sexuality to see out & proud actors like Sean Hayes, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris and Cynthia Nixon succeeding in their work without having to keep their sexuality a secret. No one needs to see a bigoted, factually inaccurate article that tells people who deviate from heterosexual norms that they can’t be open about who they are and still achieve their dreams. I am told on good authority that Mr. Setoodeh is a gay man himself and I would hope, as the author of this article, he would at least understand that. I encourage Newsweek to embrace stories which promote acceptance, love, unity and singing and dancing for all!

This isn't the first time Setoodeh has written an article that many in the GLBT community have found to be offensive and poorly reasoned. I have previously contacted both Newsweek and Setoodeh to explain both his reasoning and ask Newsweek about their reasons for giving a platform to someone with such poorly written and thought out articles.

I never received a response. Perhaps Ms. Chenoweth's voice will be enough to finally prompt the weekly magazine to do us the courtesy of addressing our concerns.

(Note, I haven't been able to verify with 100% certainty that these comments were indeed left by Ms. Chenoweth, but she does appear to have tweeted out confirmation of this.)