Sports stars show their support

OUT magazine has gathered together a beautiful series of images "of straight sports stars who have stood up for fairness and tolerance, shoulder-to-shoulder with their LGBT peers."

Ben Cohen, Hudson Taylor, Michael Irvin, Mike Chabala, and Nick Youngquest

The world of pro sports is notoriously unwelcoming to out athletes, one of the last bastions of homophobia. From hate-filled fans to teammates who won’t share the showers to bigoted sportscasters, the toxic environment can ruin a career or even end a life. But at the vanguard of a move to change that is a small band of straight sports stars who have stood up for fairness and tolerance, shoulder-to-shoulder with their LGBT peers. Here, we salute them.

CLICK ON THE POST TITLE to see the whole series.

My favourite books set to music

The Tales of the City series are my favourite books of all time! They capture a time that many people who survived the 70's look back at fondly. I loved the PBS mini-series [ IMDB ] as well, so I hope and pray that this musical does it justice.

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Tales of the City refers to a series of eight novels written by American author Armistead Maupin. The stories from Tales were originally serialized prior to their novelization, with the first four titles appearing as regular installments in the San Francisco Chronicle, while the fifth appeared in the San Francisco Examiner. The last three titles were never serialized, but were instead originally written as novels.

Now, three decades after Armistead Maupin mesmerized millions with his daily column in the city's newspapers, his iconic San Francisco saga comes home as a momentous new musical. Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City unleashes an exuberant celebration of the irrepressible spirit that continues to define our City by the Bay.

The series opens with the arrival of Mary Ann Singleton, a naive young woman from Cleveland, Ohio, who went on vacation to San Francisco and impulsively decides to stay. She finds an apartment at 28 Barbary Lane, the domain of the eccentric marijuana-growing landlady Anna Madrigal. Mary Ann becomes friends with other tenants of the building: the hippyish bisexual Mona Ramsey; heterosexual lothario Brian Hawkins; the sinister and cagey roof tenant Norman Neal Williams; and Michael Tolliver, a sweet and personable gay man known to friends as Mouse (as in Mickey Mouse).

Beyond the house, lovers and friends guide Mary Ann through her San Franciscan adventures: Edgar Halcyon, Mary Ann's and Mona's boss; Edgar's socialite daughter DeDe Halcyon-Day; and DeDe's scheming bisexual husband Beauchamp Day all provide a glimpse into a more affluent Californian class, while Mrs. Madrigal's mother and owner of the Blue Moon Lodge brothel, Mother Mucca, brings mystery and comic relief. Mona's ex-lover, D'orothea Wilson, returns from a modelling assignment in New York, while Michael's lover and DeDe's gynecologist, Jon Fielding, becomes part of the social group. Michael's lovers later in the series include Thack Sweeney and the significantly younger Ben.

Here is the first part of the PBS series on YouTube

Community is Bubbling to Bublé

World's first-ever senior citizen LipDub! Residents from Clark Retirement Community in Grand Rapids, Michigan team up with Grand Valley State University Film & Video Production students, alumni, and professors to create this sassy video to the jazzy-sweet contemporary crooning of Michael Bublé.

This place looks like so much fun I want to live here!

Clark Retirement Community LipDub *OFFICIAL*