Sunday, April 2, 2017

7 Things You Absolutely Must Do At DragCon 2017

The dragstravaganza returns April 29!
From: NewNowNext
We’re just a few weeks away from the world’s biggest dragstravaganza—RuPaul’s DragCon 2017.

The third annual drag convention returns to the Los Angeles Convention Center April 29 and 30, with exhibits, panels, performances and one-on-one time with Drag Race stars.

Head to DragCon.com to pick up tickets and check out our guide of the must-see moments at this year’s biggest weekend for all things drag.
1
Attend A Live Taping Of A WOW Web Series

Be a part of the studio audience for live episodes of “UNHhhh” with Katya and Trixie Mattel, “Bro’laska” with Alaska and brother Cory, “Alyssa’s Secret,” “Fashion Photo RuView” with Raja and Raven, and “M.U.G.” with Kim Chi and Naomi Smalls.

British Babes Undress For Drag Star Jodie Harsh In Room Service Ad

Here's what you do when you're "Too Fit To Quit."
From: NewNowNext
 A handful of beautiful British men are begging for your attention in a a promo spot for Room Service, the legendary London club night hosted by the one-and-only Jodie Harsh.

The gorgeous Room Service dancers take over the space at Soho’s famed Takeover club every Thursday night, providing an experience similar to what you’ll get from this video— an erotic montage of bulges, phallic food and muscles dripping with sweat (or is that oil?).




The spot, titled “Too Fit To Quit,” features Jodie Harsh alongside Room Service models Charlie Auterac, Christian Bordin, Sam Gee, Lyubomir Stankov, and Javier Cobo Nebrera, many of whom can be found on the party’s equally titillating Instagram.


roomserviceclub

Furry fun at #RoomServiceLondon last Thursday 🔥🔥🔥

Enjoy!

Lily Allen Covers Rufus Wainwright for Anti-Trump Anthem, Gets Caught Up in ‘Fags’ Controversy

From: Towleroad
Lily Allen covered Rufus Wainwright’s track “Going to a Town” which has been released as an anti-Trump protest and features a video with images of the Women’s March on Washington.

Watch:



Allen also got caught up in a Twitter storm after retweeting a collage from the video created by Gay Times magazine that contained an image of her with one of the crowd signs that read “Fags Hate Trump”


Allen repeated the sign’s assertion in her tweet which angered some people on Twitter, though a prominent British gay activist came to her defense:

The tweet provoked angry responses from some Twitter users, outraged she would use a word which has historically been used to denigrate gay people.

However leading gay rights activist Peter Tatchell leapt to Lily’s defence, arguing that the use of the term on the placard, which Lily echoed, was an example of it being reclaimed by gay people as an act of defiance.

“The fuss over placard “Fags Hate Trump” is well-intentioned but misguided,” he wrote. “”Fags” is not used with insulting intent. Placard is held by gay person who’s using the word fags in a positive, affirming way, as gesture of pride & defiance. The way fags was used was not derogatory but proud and defiant.”

Surrogate For Gay Couple Wins Custody Of Baby, Even Though She’s Not Biologically Related

The woman met the couple in a Burger King for a half-hour before agreeing to carry their child
From: NewNowNext
 A British woman who agreed to be a surrogate for a gay couple after a 30-minute meeting—and then refused to hand over the baby—has won custody of the child, even though she has no biological relation to it.

A UK judge ruled last week that the woman, who is not being named, has learning disabilities and was therefore unable to consent freely to the surrogacy.

Justice Russell ruled that the woman was “better able to meet” the baby’s emotional and physical needs, despite her disability and the fact she is not related to the infant.


 Russell called the couple’s behavior toward the woman “manipulative and dishonest… at the very least, potentially exploitative.”

Surrogacy is a controversial institution in Great Britain: Surrogacy contracts cannot be enforced and it is illegal to pay a surrogate beyond reasonable expenses.

The couple was paired with the woman in 2014 by a “fixer” who runs a secret Facebook group for would-be parents. The men met her for a half-hour in a Burger King and a deal was struck.

Two embryos were implanted, using the sperm of one of the men and eggs provided by an anonymous donor from the United States.


 But the surrogate started to have doubts after being contacted by a woman who previously carried twins for the couple and claimed she had been underpaid and left with medical complications.

The surrogate miscarried one of embryos and had decided to abort the second, but reconsidered—opting to keep the baby, which was born in July 2015, for herself.

The child has remained with her and her partner ever since. According to UK law, she is the child’s mother unless she agrees to cede custody to the couple.

“He is my little boy,” she told The Daily Mail. “I gave birth to him. I felt him kick for the first time. I’m the one now breastfeeding him. He’s happy and so loved. I’m absolutely terrified I’m going to lose him.”


The couple has been granted visitation one weekend every eight weeks, and the child’s biological father has shared parental responsibility with the surrogate and her partner.

History's 125 Hottest Gay-Porn Stars:

From:  Boy Culture
I liked Lance a lot
 106 
Christopher Lance 
(Robert Lance Slacke)
1966—1994
Murder

.




 I remember this '80s twink most for his spirited portrayal of "Steve Harrington" in the Dynasty spoof Dynastud (1986), but he made quite a few slutty appearances—two holes, no waiting. He topped and bottomed in films by the best in the biz (William Higgins and Matt Sterling) before being stabbed to death by a roommate(lover).

Sport Sunday: Baseball, Bastian and Ελλάς

From: Speed o Rex
 While, technically, opening day of the 2017 MLB Baseball Season is tomorrow, the first game of the season will be tonight.  The World Champions Chicago Cubs will visit the St. Louis Cardinals' beautiful Busch Stadium for the start of the 2017 season.  Bitter rivals, the two Midwestern teams always put on a good show.  St. Louis always kicks off their season in grand style, with the arrival into the stadium of the team of Clydesdale horses, pulling the Anheuser Busch Beer Wagon, as the organ plays "Here Comes the King."


 The strong team as the season begins include last year's World Series contenders, Champions Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians,  the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox.  Pre season greats often do not persevere through the season, the usually competitive St Louis Cardinals missed the play-offs last year, and their line up seems a bit disheveled for such a well-run franchise.  But bounce-back years for starters Michael Wacha and Adam Wainwright, and a Cy Young-worthy effort by new star Carlos Martinez will have them back in the NL post-season.  So, as the season starts tonight with a renewed Cardinals-Cubs rivalry, we can all look forward to the surprises of the boys of Summer...


 Cycling heats up today with the 2017 Tour of Flanders, one-day cycling classic, the 101st edition of the race.  The Tour of Flanders is the second monument race of the 2017 cycling season and the high point of Flemish Cycling Week. Antwerp, in far northern Belgium, will stage the start of the event for the first time, after 19 starts in Bruges.  The stage winds south to finish at Oudenaarde.  Notable climbs include the Muur van Geraardsbergen.   Eighteen categorized climbs are programmed, of which 12 are cobbled. In addition to the climbs, five sectors of flat cobbled roads are included.  This year 25 teams take part in the race, 18 UCI World Teams who were both invited and obliged, and seven wildcard entries.  Today's total peloton consists of 200 riders.  Over the next few weeks, the great one day classics of April will take place, including Paris-Roubaix.


 In Australia, Aussie Rules Football:  The Western Bulldogs beat the Sydney Swans by 23 points in the rematch of the 2016 Grand Final to start the weekend.  The Swans got the jump on the Bulldogs, leading by 23 points at the 18-minute mark of the first term, but the defending Champions showed their mettle by rebounding and eventually getting on top in a brilliant win.  Sydney is now 0-2 after two rounds, while the Bulldogs are 2-0. Today's action pits the Geelong Cats against North Melbourne, Melbourne against Carlton, and Port Adelaide against Fremantle.


 The ICC Intercontinental Cup is a cricket tournament organized by the International Cricket Council, so that Associate Members of the ICC might have a chance to play First Class Cricket matches against teams of similar skill in a competitive environment.   The Cup serves as a part of a cricket development program. The winners of each cup are able to play test matches against the lowest of the highest level until the next ICC Cup competition.  Today's competition features the United Arab Emirates playing Papau New Guinea  at Abu Dhabi.  In other international action today, Pakistan continues their tour of the West Indies with their 4th Twenty20I at Port of Spain.

Since Association Football fans think that soccer is the ONLY game, and  beautiful,  we could not end this update without a bit of soccer news.  As an update from yesterday's notice,  Bastian Schweinsteiger scored in his Major League Soccer debut for the Chicago Fire, as the burners and the Montreal Impact traded late goals in a 2-2 draw on Saturday.  Less than two weeks after leaving Manchester United and moving to Chicago, Schweinsteiger played all 90 minutes and scored the opening goal with a header following a corner kick in the 17th minute.




In Greek Super League action today, 5 contests will take place, Panionios vs. Atromitos, Kerkyra vs. Iraklis, Panetolikos vs. Asteras Tripoli, PAOK Salonika vs. Larissa FC, and AEK Athens vs. Panathinaikos.  In this last contest, in their last five meetings, Athens has won twice, Panathinaikos once, and they have drawn twice.

'SNL's' Obama sendoff: 'To Sir With Love'

From: USA Today
Sasheer Zamata and Cecily Strong during the 'To Sir with Love. song  
(Photo: Will Heath, NBC)
It was a serious moment for sure with some slight humor, because after all it is Saturday Night Live.

There was nothing fancy to it: Cecily Strong started out singing To Sir With Love  as President Obama's photo was projected onto the background. Then, Sasheer Zamata joined her.

The song is from the 1967 movie by the same title that starred Sidney Poitier. In it, he plays a young teacher assigned to teach at a run-down high school in London's working-class east side where he faces challenges that many inner-city teachers face. The theme song was a hit for singer Lulu.

At the end of SNL's number, Strong and Zamata held up a gift for the outgoing president: A coffee mug that reads "World's Greatest President."

As they close the set, Zamata quickly adds, with a hopeful smile: "Don't go."



Strong teased her Instagram followers days earlier when she posted herself lip-syncing to the song.

Rupert Everett in "The Comfort Of Strangers"

One of my favorite Rupert films, 1990's The Comfort Of Strangers
From: Favorite Hunks & Other Things












Patricia Arquette Honors Sister Alexis At GLAAD Media Awards For Helping “Move The World Forward”

"Moonlight," "Black Mirror" and "Transparent" were among the evening's big winners
From:  NewNowNext
 Patricia Arquette made a special appearance Saturday night at the 28th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, an annual ceremony celebrating the media’s representation of the LGBT experience. The event was held in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton.

Actors Luke Perry and Jeffrey Tambor presented Arquette with GLAAD’s Vanguard Award, given “to media professionals who have made a significant difference in promoting equality and acceptance of LGBTQ people.” Previous Vanguard recipients include Kerry Washington, Elizabeth Taylor, Jennifer Lopez, Cher, Whoopi Goldberg, Antonio Banderas, Drew Barrymore, Janet Jackson, and Sharon Stone.


“She has consistently used her platform to voice support of the LGBTQ community and issues such as marriage equality and transgender equality,” GLAAD wrote of Arquette in a statement.

During Arquette’s emotional acceptance speech, ET Online reports, the 48-year-old Oscar winner paid tribute to her sister, transgender performer and activist Alexis Arquette, who died last year at age 47 due to complications related to HIV/AIDS.

“She wanted to help move the world forward to a time and future where every trans kid could live their full potential,” Arquette said. “She wanted to help move the world forward to a time when they could be seen as complete, whole and equal human beings.”

Arquette noted that her sister had lost out on numerous acting roles as a result of being a trans woman. “But she couldn’t live a life that was a lie,” Arquette continued. “So whatever mark I have made in this life in activism will always pale in the light of Alexis’s bravery and in the light of the bravery of every trans kid growing up in America.”


 The CSI: Cyber star urged the audience to support LGBT rights by marching in protests, calling their congressmen, posting on social media, and donating to GLAAD. “You don’t need to have transgender family member or a gay friend for this to affect you,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what color or gender or faith you are. There are so many marginalized groups right now under attack. When one of us is vulnerable, all of us are vulnerable.”

“We are all human,” she concluded. “So let’s allow our humanity to lead us toward respect and tolerance.”


Hosted by Cameron Esposito, star of Seeso’s Take My Wife, the ceremony also included a special tribute to victims of the Pulse nightclub tragedy led by Empire’s Jussie Smollett and featuring a performance by Tony winner Cynthia Erivo.

Among the film and television honored at the event, Moonlight won Outstanding Film – Wide Release, Other People won Outstanding Film – Limited Release, Shadowhunters won Outstanding Drama Series, and Transparent won Outstanding Comedy Series, Deadline reports.

Other winners included Eyewitness for Outstanding TV Movie or Limited Series, Black Mirror’s “San Junipero” for Outstanding Individual Episode, The Bold and The Beautiful for Outstanding Daily Drama, and The Woods for Outstanding Comic Book. Out singer Troye Sivan accepted the Stephen F. Kolzak Award.


“At a time when progress is at a critical juncture, it is imperative that Hollywood tell more LGBTQ stories that reflect the community’s rich diversity—and build understanding that brings all communities closer together,” said GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis in a previous statement.

The 2017 GLAAD Media Awards will air April 6 on Logo, following the world broadcast premiere of Strike a Pose. Additional awards will be presented at a second GLAAD Media Awards event held May 6 at the New York Hilton Midtown.

Man and his coffee

From: BosGuy
“I would rather suffer with coffee than be senseless.” – Napolean Bonaparte

Love on Ice: Gay Couple Married at Hockey Game

From: Towleroad
For Eric Pinder and Dwayne Smoot, saying “I do” while wearing hockey jerseys in an ice rink as a man dressed as a referee officiated over their wedding was the right way to go. The wedding cake was, of course, in the shape of a Zamboni, and a goal horn went off as the grooms kissed at the end.

The couple tied the knot this past November at the Orlando Amway Center, home of the ECHL’s Solar Bears. The team supported the ceremony, helping to set it up prior to one of their games, and recently provided their video of the nuptials to the pair, Outsports reports:

When saying their vows to each other, Pinder and Smoot were asked by the priest, Gordon Barcalow, if they “promise to love and cherish [each other] through power plays and penalty kills, until the final horn of life sounds.”

Pinder and Smoot have been together for 16 years. Lifelong hockey fans, they each cheer for the Tampa Bay Lightning as their main team. Pinder noted he was originally a Red Wings fan, and related how the distinctive wedding came about:

“We met at a party and I was wearing a Red Wings Jersey. Dwayne knew the team and player so I was impressed. Plus, he is very cute. So hockey was really our first conversation.
“When we were looking to get married, we thought that doing it before a game would be a great choice — we could get people to go see our local team, the Orlando Solar Bears. I called our ticket rep and asked if we could get married before a game. He said, ‘Hold on,’ then three minutes later got back on the phone and said, ‘Sure, we can do that for you.’
“We had 30 people in a suite after and around 50 who bought tickets and sat in the section next to us. The Amway Arena was great. They let people rotate in and out of the suite so everyone could see our Zamboni cake. The priest is a friend of ours (also gay) who was thrilled to officiate.
“We also had hockey themed gift bags — a puck with our wedding logo, unopened packs of trading cards from the 1990s and M&Ms with our team colors. We are both wearing Solar Bears jerseys, but Dwayne had a game-worn one from “Star Wars” night.”

The wedding offered a sorely needed heartwarming note to a city marred by anti-gay violence earlier in the year, and that a hockey league was behind the gesture is an extra nice touch. (Last year the NHL Commissioner made clear his view that an openly gay player would be embraced by the sport.) Best wishes to Eric and Dwayne!