Wednesday 28 March 2012

An article from EW.com

[Source]

Mar 28
2012
03:54 PM ET

'Glee' scoop: Matt Bomer talks playing Blaine's brother and how it differed from 'Magic Mike' -- 'A lot less body rolling'

by

Gleeks already knew that Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) was dreamy. But, on the April 10 episode of Glee, viewers will get to meet Blaine’s even dreamier older brother, Cooper ? yes Cooper Anderson ? played by White Collar‘s Matt Bomer.

Cooper is the star of a credit-rating commercial, which makes him an A-list celebrity in Lima, Ohio, and major crush material for Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch). He also gives the New Directions kids a “master class” in acting with such gems as “The key to a dramatic scene is pointing,” and “The secret to great acting is ignoring whatever the other actor is doing.”

Says Bomer, “It was one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had. It’s so fun to play a character who has such strong convictions and opinions that are completely misguided and come from all the wrong places.”

The actor also gets to duet with Criss on a medley of Duran Duran tunes and a cover of the current hit “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye. EW talked to Bomer about the hit Fox series, Cooper’s inspiration, and how his stripper moves from this summer’s male stripper
flick Magic Mike influenced his Glee dancing.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:  Are you a Gleek?
MATT BOMER:
Yeah, I definitely had tuned in for quite a few episodes. Ryan just gave me the call and said, “Do you wanna come on and be part of an episode?” And I said, “Absolutely. That would be fantastic.” He called me the next day and pitched me the character and the story arc and I literally had tears rolling down my face. [Co-creator] Ian Brennan is a friend of mine as well. They both just gave me such rich material to go off of. They let me go as cray cray as I wanted to.

I love that you just used “cray cray.” I always say that.
I use cray cray in the episode too. I’m not sure if it made it.

When you go back to White Collar, will you be pointing more?
[Laughs] Definitely. There’s definitely going to be a lot more pointing just to make sure the audience knows who I’m talking to. And if you see me in a two shot with Tim DeKay, I might have earplugs in my ears. I don’t have to keep track of what his character is saying to mine.

At the very end of your master class, you say you’re going to show everyone the “emotional tornado.” What does that exactly look like?
I think there were a couple of takes where we actually got into it a little bit. What I basically started with is “Your fingers are up in the clouds. Uh oh ? is there a little electricity brewing? Is a storm gonna come? Uh oh ? I’m feeling some emotions in the tips of my fingers and now it’s dripping down. Now it’s in my elbows…” [Laughs]

You and Jane were so great together. Was that fun?
I adore Jane Lynch, so just to get the opportunity to work with her was phenomenal. She obviously is incredibly astute and sussed out very early on that my character was a hot mess. The idea of me to kiss her was actually Jane’s idea. She said, “I think our greeting should just be completely inappropriate.” And I said, “Hey you don’t have to ask me twice to kiss you.” She just went for it. I loved it. It was a lot of fun to work with her.

Did you base Cooper on anyone? Any actors you’ve met over the years?
I based Cooper on a combination of Tom Cruise in Magnolia, Valerie Cherish [from The Comeback], and a really crazy acting teacher I had who shall remain nameless. I remember taking notes copiously and trying to infuse it all into my acting. I look back and, oh no, they were just batsh*t crazy.

Between the Duran Duran medley and the Gotye “Somebody That I Used to Know,” did you prefer one performance over the other?
To me they were both completely different experiences. The Duran Duran was just fun pop and it was great to get to dance and interact and use the whole one-upmanship of all that. But to me, I love the Gotye song because it’s so actable and so immediate and so inherently dramatic.

Did your Magic Mike choreography help you out at all with the Glee dancing?
[Laughs] It’s so funny, about five minutes into the choreography session for the Duran Duran session I realized “Oh, the Magic Mike choreography is very different from the Glee horeography. It’s not all about me shaking my crotch!” A lot less body rolling going on. It was a lot of fun to do the boy-band choreography I never got to do.

Follow Tim on Twitter: @EWTimStack

GLEE - Sneak Peek Season 3 Episode 15

Saturday 17 March 2012

A verdict

[Source]
Op-Ed: Ravi Verdict Won’t End LGBT Abuse on Campuses
By Shane L. Windemeyer, op-ed contributor

On Friday, the more than two-year-long saga that followed in the tragic death of Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi came to an end when a New Jersey jury found his former roommate, Dharun Ravi, guilty of several counts of invasion of privacy and guilty of several counts of bias intimidation toward Tyler Clementi, among other charges.

There are no words or sentiments – not even a guilty verdict – that can bring Tyler back to his family and friends, and this trial’s conclusion will not end the daily torment and harassment of LGBT students on college and university campuses across the nation. Campus Pride's national research study, "The 2010 State of Higher Education for LGBT People," shows that one in four gay, lesbian and bisexual college students and nearly one in two transgender students face harassment on campus.

Too many colleges across the country have yet to learn the lessons Rutgers was faced with in the aftermath of Clementi’s death. Less than 7% of schools offer institutional support to LGBT students, such as an LGBT student center or programs director. Only 13% offer nondiscrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation and just 6% protect students on the basis of gender identity. Only one school, Illinois’ Elmhurst University, asks students demographic questions about sexual orientation and gender identity on its admissions application.

Will it take another suicide death or antigay national headline for these administrators to take proactive steps to protect their LGBT students? Campus Pride is going to do our best to make sure that is not the case. And I will do everything in my power to see that other students don’t face the same torment Clementi did. That’s why our organization, Campus Pride, has called on all colleges and universities to take immediate steps today to create safer, more welcoming environments for LGBT students. Programs and policy implementation – such as antidiscrimination policies, safe and inclusive student conduct codes, gender-neutral housing, LGBT living-learning communities, hate-crime and bias-motivated incident response and LGBT-inclusive healthcare – are not optional.

–Shane L. Windmeyer, M.S., Ed.,is co-founder and executive director of Campus Pride, the leading national organization for student leaders and campus organizations working to create a safer college environment for LGBT students. Learn more at campuspride.org or at twitter.com/campuspride.

Tuesday 13 March 2012

A Gay Marine Reflects on the End of 'Don't Ask Don't Tell'

[Source]

A Gay Marine Reflects on the End of 'Don't Ask Don't Tell'

POSTED: March 13, 1:38 PM ET | By Dirk Diener

A United States Marine guards a checkpoint in Afghanistan.
BAY ISMOYO/AFP/Getty Images

The following essay is excerpted by permission from 'The End of Don't Ask, Don't Tell: The Impact in Studies and Personal Essays by Service Members and Veterans,' co-edited by J. Ford Huffman and Tammy S. Schultz

It Is Possible That Someone in the Room is Gay 

By Maj. Dirk Diener, U.S. Marine Corps

"The people at work don’t know I’m gay," the sailor said. "I can really be butch when I want to."

My friend the sailor was a stereotype of effeminacy, and I’m fairly certain that using "butch" to describe yourself is an indicator that you’re not fooling anyone.

I’m cognizant of the fact that we don’t always view ourselves with honest eyes. But when I say you would never know I was gay, I am telling the truth. How do I know? I’ve been fooling one of the most fiercely heterosexual organizations in the world throughout my 17-year career.

I was in college when I enlisted in the Army Reserve. In 1988 the recruiters were allowed to ask about sexual orientation, and I lied. I can’t say why, it’s been so long ago, except to say being in the military is something I always wanted to do. I wanted to join after high school but my father’s advice was to go to college first. "You can always join the military after college," he said, "but you probably won’t do college after the military." I think he knew me better than I did, so I enrolled in college and then enlisted.

Being gay has always been a conflict for me. I have always known I was gay and never – in my mind – denied my sexuality, but as a kid I tried never to let my being gay show. I knew that being interested in girls was normal and I wanted to be normal, to fit in. I didn’t want to stand out. Fitting in was not a problem. I was a bigger than average kid, liked sports and hunting, and made friends easily. I was not always the center of attention but usually I was somewhere close. I honed my skills of engagement with the opposite sex well enough to keep everyone fooled, although that’s an area in which I was never comfortable.

Being a "weekend warrior," going to college, and being gay were never a problem; the three were never in conflict. I pretended to be straight while I was in college, including in front of my fraternity brothers. During my Reserve drill weekends I hung with the rest of the soldiers, drilled, drank beer afterward, and kept up the facade.

After college I left the Reserve so I could enlist in the Marine Corps as a Russian linguist. "Don’t ask, don’t tell" (DADT), the political compromise, was in effect and the recruiter never asked about my sexual orientation. However, to become a Marine is to be cut from the same cookie cutter as other Marines of the past, present, and future. To be perceived as different only gained you the attention of those who were senior and could make your life miserable. I had to continue the lie and pretend I wasn’t gay. This wasn’t a stretch for me. My family never knew, I had kept it to myself in college, and I’ve been pretending I wasn’t gay my whole life. However, I wasn’t "acting straight," I was being myself.

Unfortunately, while at language school and trying to assimilate into the hyper-hetero, masculine Marine Corps, I almost became a homophobe. This was part of my front, right or wrong. I always had girlfriends or women I pretended to be interested in. I distanced myself away from other Marines and military personnel who showed up on my "gaydar" – which was no guarantee that they were gay – and I made fun of them. However, occasionally I would feel the burden of the facade and drive to a different city, looking for a gay bar in a desperate attempt to make some kind of intangible connection I felt I was missing.

My first duty station after school was in England, where I maintained my front and had a girlfriend. I always wanted children and never believed that as a gay man I would have any. But before I left for Officer Candidate School (OCS) my girlfriend wanted to get pregnant. Without seriously considering how being a father would change my life, I agreed. After beginning OCS and finding out she was pregnant I asked her to marry me. I wasn’t in love. I asked her because I wanted to be a father and not just a sperm donor. I believed that my commitment to the child (and later, another child) would enable me to maintain my marriage.

I was wrong. My marriage was over 7 years after the vows. I never cheated or sneaked out to connect with the gay world I was missing, and being intimate with my wife was never a problem. I believe the marriage could have lasted regardless of my sexuality but, unfortunately, we had too many other insurmountable differences.

As an officer of Marines my career has led me across the globe to places I consider lucky to have been and with people I’m lucky to have met. I’ve been on exercises throughout the Pacific, deployed in support of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, and completed a tour with the United Nations in the Republic of Georgia.

Throughout these adventures I tried to maintain a professional manner. My sexuality was never a deterrent to how I performed and accomplished the mission. Also, I came out to some members of the military after I had established a level of trust. Why? I wanted to get closer to them so that I could bond and feel accepted. I have never been betrayed by any of those sailors and Marines, and I thank them for seeing me as a person regardless of who I am attracted to.

I love my children, my family, my service to my country, and the Corps. I chose to lie when I enlisted the in the Army Reserve and then later when I put up a front in the Corps. I justified my lie because I wanted to do something with my life and be a part of something bigger than myself. I wanted to make a positive difference not just in my life but in the lives of others. Have I done this? Maybe.

What about the service members and civilians I distanced myself from or publicly belittled because I thought they might be gay? What about all the Marines and the institution of the Corps I’ve lied to every day for more than 17 years? The repeal of DADT is amazing to me. I never believed I would serve in the Marine Corps and be able to be myself.

I’ve thought about staying in the closet after the repeal. My concern is that all my professional relationships might be re-evaluated by other Marines. "Did Maj. Diener give me a bad fitness report because I said I don’t like homosexuals?" "Did Maj. Diener only want to be my gym partner because he was attracted to me?"

During DADT repeal training in 2011, comments by some of my fellow Marines reinforced those concerns. I was in a class of officers and staff NCOs who discussed the repeal as if it were impossible that someone in the room could be a homosexual.

So I’ve made the decision to come out. I won’t be wearing tiara or boa, and I won’t leave a trail of glitter. I am just tired of lying. Although freeing, the repeal and my coming out are a Damocles’ sword because the perception of who I am as a Marine and as a person will change for some.

However, I haven’t changed. I am who I am:

A Marine . . . and gay.

Maj Diener enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1988 and in the Marine Corps in 1994.  This essay is excerpted from 'The End of Don't Ask, Don't Tell: The Impact in Studies and Personal Essays by Service Members and Veterans,' co-edited by J. Ford Huffman and Tammy S. Schultz (Marine Corps University Press, March 2012). 

To request a copy of 'The End of Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' write or call DADT Book, Marine Corps War College, 2076 South St., Quantico, Va. 22314 or 703-432-4637. The views expressed in book are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps University, Marine Corps War College, Marine Corps University Press or the Marine Corps University Foundation.

Monday 12 March 2012

Nick Clegg talks about marriage equality

[Source]

VIDEO: Gay marriage will be implemented by 2015, Nick Clegg says at Lib Dem conference

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told attendees of the spring Liberal Democrat conference that gay marriage will be introduced before 2015.

Peter Lloyd

12 March 2012

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told attendees of the spring Liberal Democrat conference that gay marriage will be introduced before 2015.

Speaking at the event in Gateshead – where he referenced recent criticisms by church leaders – Clegg said: “We are bringing forward proposals for gay marriage, already provoking debate.

"Let me just say, if you are a young gay person, your freedom to love who you choose is a fundamental right in a liberal society and you will always have our support.”

Detailing the plans, he said they will make Britain a stronger – and fairer – nation.

"This country will be a more liberal nation but we will just be beginning to tackle the deep problems that cramp the lives of our citizens and hobble our economy,” he said.

Clegg's comments came as 2,000 churches across the UK were read a letter from the Archbishop of Westminster, which urged Catholics to oppose government plans to allow gay men and women to marry in secular ceremonies.

The Archbishops wrote: "Changing the legal definition of marriage would be a profoundly radical step. Its consequences should be taken seriously."

Ricky Martin: interview with The Advocate

[Source]
Ricky Martin gives first-ever interview with The Advocate

Pop superstar Ricky Martin has opened up about his life, children and partner in the new edition of The Advocate magazine.

Peter Lloyd

12 March 2012

Singer Ricky Martin has opened up about his life, his partner and their children in the new edition of The Advocate magazine.

Marking his first-ever interview with the long-running title, the superstar tells-all to the brand’s Arts & Entertainment editor, Jeremy Kinser, for the April issue.

In particular, he details how he met his partner – financial analyst stockbroker, Carlos Gonzalez Abella – in 2008.

“It was just one of those things that just happened,” he recalls. “I was like, ‘You’re not supposed to be here right now. Would you please allow me to just go on my journey?’"

He adds: “I think he’s so sexy. He’s very smart. That is such a turn-on. He laves the house every day in a suit and tie and that is so sexy. It’s two different worlds—his and mine.

"I know as much about his world as he knows about my world, which makes it really cool.”

Following his cameo role on Glee, Martin also reveals how he will return to the acting in a forthcoming Broadway production of Evita, starring as Che.

“I can go from anger to love to uncertainty within 30 minutes of the show,” Martin says.

“That’s amazing because that’s what my life has been about for the last three years—feeling. Not sabotaging any kind of emotions. Letting everything just come through me a verbalize it. It’s a very spiritual exercise that I’ll do every night.”

“And since I’ve come out, I’ve been verbal about the importance of equality and what needs to be said. That’s what Che is about too. That is going to be my inspiration, my motivation every night.”

Sunday 11 March 2012

Better Than I Know Myself - Adam Lambert

(Robert Marvin Remix)

(Alex Ghenea Remix)

(Dave Aude Remix)

Original

(Snippet)





Saturday 10 March 2012

Polls: More support gay couples marrying in the UK than oppse - PinkNews

[Source]
Polls: More support gay couples marrying in the UK than oppose
by 10 March 2012, 9:53pm


More support gay marring than oppose
An ICM poll for the Sunday Telegraph has found more people are in favour of changing the law to allow gay couples to marry than are opposed.

The poll shows that 45 per cent supporting the move in principle, while just 36 per cent oppose it. The rest of those asked had no firm view. Women are more strongly in favour than men.

A similar poll by YouGov for the Sunday Times found 43 per cent in favour of same sex marriage, 32 percent in favour of just civil partnerships and just 15 per cent opposed to both.

The move is being backed by Conservative prime minister David Cameron and the Sunday Telegraph poll finds that more Conservative supporters (50 per cent) oppose the change in the law than supoport Mr Cameron’s view (35 per cent). 88 per cent of Tories say it is wrong for the prime minister to prioritise the issue before 2015.

The prime minister has publicly said that Churches and other groups will not be forced to hold same sex marriage ceremonies. More than half of voters agree, but interestingly 26 per cent say Churches and Synagogues should not be offered an opt out.

Earlier in the week, a now discredited poll was commissioned by Catholics Voices and conducted by Comres. It appeared to show that 70 per cent of the public are opposed to same sex couples getting married. A full PinkNews analysis of the subject is here.

On Monday, The Times became the first daily newspaper to outline its vocal support to reforming marriage by allowing same sex couples to enjoy the same rights as opposite sex couples. On Monday it wrote: “It would enrich the institution of marriage, enhance social stability and expand the sum of human happiness. It is a cause that has the firm support of The Times.”

It continued: “Reforming the law would enrich the lives of same-sex couples who wish to marry in order to affirm by rite that they love and are loved in return. By that commitment, they will enrich the society and culture that their fellow citizens share.” The Guardian published a similar editorial on Thursday.

The Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church have made clear their opposition to marriage equality. Britain’s only Catholic cardinal, Keith Michael Patrick O’Brien called it a “grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right”.

But Quakers, Unitarians, Liberal Judaism and just yesterday, Reform Judaism backed equality and wish to conduct religious same sex marriages.

A consultation on the government’s proposal to merely change the name civil partnerships to civil marriage is supported by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, his Liberal Democrat deputy Nick Clegg, Labour leader Ed Miliband, SNP deputy first minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon and the Green party leader Caroline Lucas.

A grass roots campaign to introduce same sex marriage is found here

Friday 9 March 2012

Simon Amstell: 'Dysfunction is my career' - The Guardian

[Source]

Simon Amstell: 'Dysfunction is my career'

Put downs. Piss takes. Come backs. Simon Amstell can hand it out, but can he take it? Simon Hattenstone talks to the presenter-turned-standup about celebrity, upsetting his family and whether he's got any material left for his therapist

Simon Hattenstone
The Guardian, Friday 9 March 2012 23.00 GMT
 
 

Simon Amstell: 'All comedy comes from pain, but it should eventually be funny. I
don't see the point of doing it unless it comes from pain.' Photograph: Nick Ballon

Simon Amstell made his name as a rude boy in TV shows such as Popworld and Never Mind The Buzzcocks by taking the piss out of pop stars. He then tired of that, went away and remade his name as a neurotic boy – the star (and co-writer) of a TV sitcom, Grandma's House, about a young man called Simon who makes his name on TV taking the piss out of pop stars, gets tired of it and is desperate to find his soul and make it as an actor. Grandma's House is self-referential post-modernism gone mad. It's also very funny – with its multiple Yiddishisms, the mother who gets such nachus from the celebrity her son despises, the adulterer father who might or might not have had sex with a lover in a canoe before finding God and becoming a frummer, and an extended family of whingers and fruitcakes.

Around the same time Grandma's House came out, Amstell did a standup tour. What is most noticeable about watching them is how similar they are. It's hard to work out if the standup was a dry run for the sitcom or vice versa. In both he complains of existential nausea ("People congratulate me for being mean"); his self-loathing is matched only by his self-love ("I am officially a claustrophobic narcissist"); he is obsessed with skinny, screwed-up men ("I'm a big fan of Jesus Christ; there's no one more thin or vulnerable than Jesus Christ"); and he relates the times he mooned at his grandmother and the compassion course he went on to help him understand his family better. What seems indisputable is that both his stage show and sitcom draw heavily on his life.

We meet in a vegan cafe in north London – his choice. It's a cold day and Amstell, 32, looks perfectly Amstellish – unlikely bonnet, woolly jumper, formal trousers and shoes, his own brand of geeky cool. He orders us falafel and salad, and I ask whether it really was self-loathing that made him leave Never Mind The Buzzcocks. No, he says, it was boredom. He knew the format, guests knew the format; they waited for him to be rude, he'd be rude, and that was that. It became formulaic, safe. "The problem was it had stopped being shocking. I would say to a pop star, so you've got a new song out, and they'd sit there saying, 'Go on, what you going to say? What?' And at that point you have to leave the show, don't you, because they were just waiting for the jokes. Whereas before I was sneaking them in and they were like, 'Oh my God! Why are you saying this?'"

He sneaked in any number of classics, such as, "Jordan's third favourite tit and second favourite twat – it's Peter Andre!" or, "Preston appeared on Celebrity Big Brother then married the winner, Chantelle. Preston was worried it would alienate hardcore Ordinary Boys fans, but luckily neither of them were in the country – or existed."

Amstell was inspired by Mrs Merton and Dame Edna Everage, characters who interviewed celebrities, often ridiculing them in the process. In a way, he says, he regarded himself as a character or construct, and that's why he found it easy to diss his guests. The confrontation with Preston ended with the singer walking off the show when Amstell started quoting from Chantelle's memoir.

Ever since he was 13, Amstell had wanted to go into telly. He grew up in Essex, his father ran a courier and minicab firm, and his mum dreamed of singing. As a teenager, he and his brother turned a spare room into a DIY studio where they'd make their own shows and act out being professionals. "I loved The Big Breakfast. I loved seeing floor managers and clipboards and earpieces; when I got my first job, it was such a thrill to be wearing a microphone and have an earpiece!"

In 1993 he made his first TV appearance, as a contestant on the C4 gameshow GamesMaster; he popped up again in his early teens doing a Dame Edna impression on Good Morning With Anne And Nick, and as a budding magician on Family Catchphrase. By 18, he was presenting on children's TV station Nickelodeon – from which he has said he was sacked for being "sarcastic and mean to children" – and by the age of 21 Amstell had established himself as the irreverent interviewer on Popworld. "The way to do it was to be the opposite of whatever the pop shows were at the time. Pop shows were bland, and I did not want Popworld to be another bland pop show."

Was he also inspired by Dennis Pennis, the character created by Paul Kaye who was fabulously rude to celebrities? Amstell balks. Oh no, he says, they couldn't be more different. "He just sort of stabbed them and ran away. I'm more into stabbing them, then just smiling and seeing the reaction. Stabbing them and seeing them bleed, then smiling as if it wasn't me." He knows his butter-wouldn't-melt face helped. And the more experience he gained, the more innocence he feigned. "I think I learned on Buzzcocks that something more angelic and less spiky is actually funnier and cleverer. You can take the piss in that 'Oh gosh, I don't know what I'm saying, I do apologise' way, you can be flirty and funny and sweet and lovely."

And yet the character Simon in Grandma's House hates the fact that he became famous for mocking people. Did it really not bother him in real life? "No, what bothered me was seeing people on television pretending to like each other and fake smiling and all being polite and telling each other how great they all were. All anyone wants is the truth, right?"

I'm not sure I believe him when he says his reputation didn't bother him. I ask whom he offended most and he becomes rather defensive. "I don't know. Haha!" He laughs like a hyena – particularly when he disagrees with you. "I don't think I upset anyone. They're all fine." But Preston was horrified by his treatment. "He's probably all right now. It's been four years. He must be fine now."

I bet he's still in therapy.

"We're all in therapy… What's nice now is that all my output is self-deprecating. Nobody is getting upset apart from me."

I'm not too sure about that, either. His family, as portrayed in Grandma's House, would certainly have cause for complaint – that's what makes it so funny. If the sitcom is anything to go by, they all seem a good sandwich short of a picnic. Ah, Amstell says, it's easy to assume that art directly reflects life. In fact, he explains, things are always more complicated, and this isn't a literal representation of his family.

OK, then. Is his mother as loudly proud of him being on telly as his fictional mother? He looks sheepish. "She does like to see me on TV a lot, yes." Does she like the show? "She found it slightly weird but was thrilled with it." Did his dad really have an affair and leave his mother? Yes, he says, there might be some truth in that. And did he really become ultra-orthodox? He nods again. "He's about as religious as you can be."

In Grandma's House, after Simon has been on his compassion course, he invites his father round so he can apologise for blaming him for destroying the family. Did that really happen? No, no, no, not at all, he says – well, not quite like that. But yes, as it happens, he did go on the compassion course. "They get everyone between the ages of 18 and 26 to stand up, and then they say, look at these vulnerable kids who've just stood up; that's probably the age your parents were when they had you. And you blame them for everything in your life. Well, look at them; they're just stupid, fallible kids; just kids. The idea is you then think, 'Oh, I've been quite harsh to them' and they encourage you to phone them and apologise for blaming them."

The wonderful thing is, he says, that for all their past problems, and for all that his comedy focuses on the negative side of their relationship, his father enjoys it. "It's amazing that, with his religious belief, he can come and watch me do standup and watch something on television that depicts elements of him."

It's great that your mum and dad like Grandma's House, I say, but I have read that your aunt (the insufferable whinger) is no longer talking to you. He looks genuinely shocked. "No! That's not been written anywhere, has it? No. I spoke to her a while ago. She's, er, yeah…"

How does she feel about it? "The aunt in the sitcom is based on a few different people." How many sisters has his mum got? "My mum has got one sister," he concedes. Did his portrayal of her cause any issues? "None that weren't already there." So she was upset with him? "What if she was already upset with me?" Why was she so upset with him? "Haha!" he hyena laughs. "Through writing this sitcom, I've realised when you write something and people relate to it, the greater good of, 'Oh my God I have an aunt like that and to see it was healing' is more significant than upsetting someone who was already quite upset. And when I am writing this, it is a fictional world, and I am in control of it, and if we can be bold enough to call it art, it's art… And this is an interview where I'm promoting a couple of things and it feels tacky and unfair to talk about real people in a way that it doesn't seem unfair to fictionalise certain elements of characters. That's the difficulty in answering your questions as honestly as possible."

Amstell points out some of the crucial differences between the series and real life. In the show he's an only son, whereas in fact he's the oldest of four kids with three half-sisters. And there's his financial situation. "In the new series I have to sell my flat and move in with Grandma because I wouldn't take on any presenting work, and I'm desperately trying to be an actor." So he's still got his flat? "Yes, in real life." And is he doing any presenting work? "No." And would he? "Not at the moment. There are occasions when I miss interviewing people." Like now, for instance? "Yes, this is no fun at all. I want to ask the questions. I want the tape recorder."

The poor thing is visibly squirming. One of the most surprising things about Amstell is that his introverted, self-flagellating sitcom and standup character is so different from Amstell the insouciant TV host. The Amstell I meet today appears to be an uneasy mix of the two – one moment confident and incisive, the next twitchy and diffident.

He says both sitcom and standup have been a form of therapy. In writing and performing the material, it has forced him to look at himself, and in doing so he has shed much of his neurosis. "Part of the funniness of me in the sitcom is this anxious, non-confrontational, lost human being who doesn't know how to assert himself, and because I'm aware now that guy is funny because he's an idiot, I don't want to be that guy any more, so as soon as we finished filming I had a bit of a haircut and I was able to be a bit assertive about something. Now I just want to be able to exist in the world in a relaxed, non-neurotic way and to be able to use my neurosis in a performance."

Which sounds great, in theory. But he knows there's a problem with that. If he becomes entirely functional, he's worried the well of his comedy might dry up. "Dysfunction is also my career, so what I need to do is make the dysfunction a choice. It can't just be a constant… I want being funny to be something that I can just use rather than something I need."

One review of the live show said that for comedy it made painful watching. "Well, it all comes from pain, but it should eventually be funny. I don't see the point of doing comedy unless it comes from pain." Is he worried that he'll run out of angst? Has he got enough problems? He smiles. "Yes, I've got enough problems."

But you seem quite together today, I say.

Now he looks petrified. "Do I? No, I'm still working through some stuff." Such as? "I'd like to… I'd like to…" Then he decides to keep it to himself. "When we finish at 4pm, I'm going to my actual therapy session. So maybe I should save some of this. Well, my new [standup] show is called Numb because it's about wanting to feel more. There's a scene where I just scream at the mother character, 'You've made me numb!' It's about a feeling of disconnectedness, a feeling of wanting to love more, wanting to exist in the moment, not perceiving things from the outside but being in them and fully engaged. And wanting to connect with people fully and not put up a wall. Part of my defence mechanism is humour, so sometimes when I'm being funny, it's just as a way of stopping people from getting in."

He tells a story about running along the Champs Elysées with a group of people at 3am and how everybody else is having a fantastic time while he's just thinking this will make a good memory. "I need to get from that guy who's thinking this will be a good memory, I must take a photo of this, to just being there with those people."

That inability to enjoy things for what they are sounds like classic depression, I say. He looks disappointed, and does exactly what he's just talked about – masks his feelings in a joke. "Oh, no. Does it have to be classic depression? Can't it just be a tiny little bit of depression?"

One of the things that makes him most miserable is the thought of repeating himself. Hence his early retirement from Never Mind The Buzzcocks in 2009 and his fascination with acting. It's fresh, and he doesn't understand the rules. As with presenting, he says, he has learned that when he tries too hard, it doesn't work. It's hard to tell how good (or bad) an actor he is when he's just being his mumbling, emotionally-constipated self in Grandma's House. He certainly can't compete with the rest of a brilliant cast of comic actors, including Linda Bassett, Rebecca Front, Samantha Spiro, James Smith and Geoffrey Hutchings, who died in 2010 just after making the first series. When Caitlin Moran reviewed the show, she said that although she had always wanted to marry Amstell, despite him being gay and teetotal, he was guilty of probably "the worst acting yet done, for cash, on British television".

He bristles when I mention it."Haha! Wow! Well, we make all these jokes in the first series and in the second. In the trailer for the first episode of the first series, Tanya, the mother, says, 'What are you going to do, leaving your job?' and I say, 'I might act or write a bit' and she says, 'You can't act.' Yeah. So we'd already made that joke."

Does it hurt when somebody else says it? "I kind of wonder what do I do with it. I think I become numb to it because it's always so extreme; either, 'I love you' or, 'I hate you, I hope you get cancer.' You can't really get into either of those. Hahahahaha!"

He tells me how much he enjoyed and learned from his recent appearance as a psychiatrist in the British film Black Pond.

I didn't like you in that, I tell Amstell.

He looks at me, surprised.

Actually, I say, I thought you were rubbish in it.

"Really? Haha! Wow! You're just going to say that out loud in a vegan restaurant." It's a great comeback from Amstell, but he does look hurt, so I apologise and ask if he thought that was horribly rude of me. "I suppose it is quite rude, but maybe you think because I've been cheeky in the past to people, it's all right."

In his recent writing, Amstell has left no area untouched – from the acting ambitions to his love life. One of the funniest bits of his shtick is his constant search for the impossibly handsome, dangerously skinny actor with soul and gravitas and, if possible, the words "high art" striped across his heart. I ask whether he has a boyfriend. "I don't know how to answer this question, either, because I talk about it very openly and honestly on stage, and talking about it in an interview feels like the sort of thing celebrities do because what they do artistically is not interesting enough, so they have to talk about their personal lives."

But Simon, you are a celebrity. In Grandma's House, your mum loves the fact you're a celeb who takes the piss out of pop stars for a living.

"No, but that's an inaccurate perception."

But it's one that obviously weighs heavy on you?

"I'll talk about it on this tour. Come and see me do some standup. I'll tell you all about my love life. The various problems."

Have you got a boyfriend at the moment?

"Why is this important? I feel it's only valid once there's some artistic value to it, once some laughter has been added to it. Otherwise, it's just tittle-tattle. It's the sort of thing I think a celebrity answers with no qualms. I'd rather leave it. In the same way I don't Twitter because I'd rather save things up till I've got a show. I'm not interested in giving it away for free."

It's time for Amstell to go to his therapy session. I think he'll have plenty to talk about. As we leave, the waitress walks up to him. "Hi," she says sweetly. "Could I have your autograph? I'm not used to meeting celebrities." He signs her paper graciously, and looks utterly crestfallen.

• Simon Amstell's 2012 tour Numb starts on 5 May. For details, go to simonamstell.co.uk, or visit Simon Amstell Gets Connected at the Guardian.

God Walking Into the Room


From Darren's Facebook

Darren Hayes via Wayne G

DJ Wayne G's AMAZING mix of Darren's album track 'God Walking Into the Room' mashed with Madonna's 'Like a Prayer' and Meck's 'Feels Like Home'. Genius.

Wednesday 7 March 2012

John Barrowman in new ABC pilot

[Source]

John Barrowman cast in new ABC pilot!
By Greg Hernandez on Mar 7, 2012 12:02 am

John Barrowman may be enjoying huge success as Capt. Jack Harkness on Torchwood, but the gorgeous and mega-talented star has never been able to break through on American network television.

Oh, he has tried and I’ve been there to watch every time.

In the mid-90s, he was one of the stars of the prime-time CBS soap Central Park West playing a John F. Kennedy Jr.-type character. Then in the fall of 2000, he was part of the cast of the truly awful NBC prime-time soap Titans.

He finally had some network success playing a really bad guy on 11 episodes of ABC’s Desperate Housewives in 2010.

Now Barrowman is getting another shot. TVLine reports that the actor will star in the pilot for the period drama Gilded Lilys from Shondra Rhimes, the woman behind Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice.

Lilys is set in 1895 and promises to deliver an epic love story, a vicious rivalry and a scandalous secret unfolding against the backdrop of the opening of New York’s first luxury hotel. Barrowman will play a member of the show’s central family, the Lilys.

Saturday 3 March 2012

"8": A Play about the Fight for Marriage Equality

Have you watched yet?
Brad Pitt, Martin Sheen, George Clooney, Christine Lahti, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bridger Zadina, Jansen Panettiere, Matt Bomer, Matthew Morrison, Rory O'Malley, Yeardley Smith, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Chris Colfer, James Pickens, Jr., Cleve Jones, Campbell Brown, Vanessa Garcia, Kevin Bacon, John C. Reilly, George Takei, Jane Lynch
Written by Dustin Lance Black


Thursday 1 March 2012

Greg's interview with B.D. Wong

[Source]
Out actor BD Wong debuts tonight in Awake

Former Law & Order: SVU star talks to Gay Star News about new NBC series

01 March 2012 | By Greg Hernandez

Photo: NBC
BD Wong has made a terrific living as the voice of reason trying to help screwed-up people make sense of themselves on some very successful television shows.

Wong played Father Ray Makada on HBO's Oz for six seasons and Dr. George Huang for 11 seasons on NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and returns to series television tonight (1 March) on NBC's new drama Awake.

On Awake, he plays Dr. John Lee, a psychiatrist who is trying to help series lead Jason Isaacs figure out which of his alternate realities is his real life.

'I was taught early on in my acting training that being an actor relied a great deal on being a good listening,' Wong tells Gay Star News. 'If you could really learn how to listen then you could really be a better actor and I think I really took that to heart.'

'I like to think of myself as a person as someone who listens well to my friends and family in situations where it really counts,' he adds. 'I hope that's what I'm accessing when I'm playing these parts. It may be indicative that I'm somewhat successful that I keep getting asked to do this listening thing.'

A Tony Award winner for the Broadway musical M Butterfly, Wong signed on to his long-running gig on Law & Order: SVU when his son was born in 2000. Even though that New York-based series continues to ride high in the ratings, the actor felt it was time for him to try something new.

'I just opened my horizons up to potentially doing a show that was shooting in LA which I haven't done for many years,' he said. 'My son's 11 now and I stayed on that show for 11 years. He was old enough and it was time for me creatively.'

'I always hunger to do something new and different,' he added. 'This show, even though it's someone with the same job description [as his SVU character], it's a very different show and it's a great opportunity for me in different ways.'

Wong, 51, has built up an impressive list of television, stage and feature film credits over the years and he wants to continue to try new things.

'I always am looking to do something wildly different,' he says. 'I continue to try and do independent films and work in the theater so I can have that. When I was on Law & Order for so long, I was able to do theater and that allowed me to feel much more three-dimensional.'

Out Magazine

I don't know what happened, but here is the list of top 10.

[Source]
100 Most Eligible Bachelors: Thank you for voting!

2.22.2012
By Out.com Editors

Here are the current top 10 bachelors.

1. Chris Colfer
2. Zachary Quinto
3. Nick Adams
4. Christopher Rice
5. Clay Aiken
6. Joe Carozza
7. Jay Brannan
8. Randy Harrison
9. Luke Macfarlane
10. Tom Lenk