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

"I stayed in line as I was brought up to do."

Three months after suffering a stroke, Prairie Home Companion writer and broadcaster Garrison Keillor is more than ready to poke fun at the experience.

"I'm feeling fine," he said in an interview aired Wednesday on CBC's Q cultural affairs show. "If you're going to have a stroke, a minor one is the way to go."

Keillor, speaking from his studio in St. Paul, Minn., described why he drove himself to the hospital in Minneapolis after suffering a stroke this September.

"I didn't want to be any trouble to anybody, so, I got behind the wheel of my car," he said. "I felt a little odd, but I drove very carefully, very slowly, in the right-hand lane.

"And I got to the emergency room, and I stood in line as other people came up to the triage desk and talked about minor skin irritations and a mole that needed to be looked at and a possible ankle sprain. I stayed in line as I was brought up to do."

Keillor, author of Lake Wobegon Days and Life Among the Lutherans, has made a career out of satirizing his Calvinist upbringing, including its emphasis on never making a fuss.

Sweat lodge survivor reveals details of tragic incident

It was supposed to be a religious awakening aimed at helping people find a new vision for life. But it wasn't long before the culmination of a $9,000+ per person retreat outside Sedona, Ariz. turned into a terrifying experience.

"People were vomiting in the stifling heat, gasping for air, and lying lifeless on the sand and gravel floor beneath them," according to 43-year-old Texas resident and participant Beverley Bunn. "One man was burned when he crawled into the rocks, seemingly unaware of what he was doing", she said. Ultimately, three people would die.

When participants exhibited weakness, Ray urged them to push past it and chided those who wanted to leave, she said.

...

People were not physically forced to stay inside but highly encouraged. "It was all about mind over matter, you're stronger than your body," Bunn said.

James Ray cancels appearances because of sweat lodge deaths.

When dozens of fans and supporters for James Arthur Ray showed up for one of his events in Toronto Wednesday night, they were greeted by a handwritten sign saying the event had been canceled.

At the time no explanation was given, but one of Ray's former mentors, Bob Proctor, apparently convinced Ray to cancel the seminar just hours before it was scheduled to start, ABC News has learned.

In a post on his Web site today, Ray said he is postponing the rest of his events for the year to help "get to the bottom" of the incident in Sedona, Ariz., earlier this month in which three people died after attending one of his seminars in a sweat lodge.

Mary Mary Quite Contrary ... and other stories

Robin and Richard were two pretty men,
They lay in bed till the clock struck ten.

Believe it or not, this titillating little rhyme was penned by none other than Mother Goose herself. While most people generally equate nursery rhymes with young children and innocent playtime, the original poems are, in fact, more adult than we might think.

Jonathan Hobin photographs the darker side of Mother Goose.
Taking a closer look at the intricacies of the rhymes of Mother Goose is gay artist Jonathan Hobin. Fascinated with the darker side of childhood, Hobin has created a photo exhibit that depicts young children in fairytale scenes based on a handful of carefully selected nursery rhymes. Mother Goose will be on display at the Dale Smith Gallery in Ottawa Mar 6 -31.

Methodically constructed with every detail in mind, Hobin’s photographs illuminate a number of serious issues — such as spousal abuse, unplanned pregnancy, abandonment, depression, loneliness, eating disorders and phobias — that directly or indirectly affect young children.

Here is a link to the full Robin & Richard poem

Movie about *BLEEP*s and *BLEEP*s wins Academy Award

Some television viewers in Asia are angry after the annual Academy Awards broadcast in the region censored the words "gay" and "lesbian" from acceptance speeches.

Pan-Asian satellite TV network STAR carried the glitzy Hollywood ceremony in full during the live telecast.

However, viewers who watched subsequent repeat broadcasts noticed that the sound periodically disappeared during the acceptance speeches of Oscar winners Dustin Lance Black and Sean Penn, the screenwriter and lead actor of the drama Milk, respectively.

Spider-man now has a gay ally

Stan Lee, the creator of Spider-man, is planning to unleash the world's "first homosexual superhero in a new television programme".

Here are some other gay superheroes:

Northstar
Although originally a member of Alpha Flight, a fictional team of Canadian superhumans, Northstar is later portrayed as a member of the X-Men. He is one of the first openly gay superheroes in American comic books.

Extraño
Outwardly resembling nearly every stereotype of a gay man, Extraño initially wore loose colorful garments and has a lively, jovial attitude. He refers to himself as "Auntie" and usually imparts parent-like advice to his teammates. In reality, he may be the very first openly gay superhero

... and last, but certainly NOT least (their sexualities yet to be confirmed though):

The Ambiguously Gay Duo
Created and produced by Robert Smigel and J.J. Sedelmaier as part of the Saturday TV Funhouse series of sketches on Saturday Night Live.^[2] It follows the adventures of Ace and Gary, voiced by Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell, two superheroes whose sexual orientation is a matter of dispute, and a cavalcade of characters preoccupied with the question.

Harper gets my (scape)goat

A staff member resigned and apologized Tuesday for writing a speech read by Stephen Harper in 2003 as leader of the Opposition that he plagiarized from an address days earlier by then Australian prime minister John Howard.

"Neither my superiors in the Office of the Leader of the Opposition nor the leader of the Opposition was aware that I had done so."

Lippert worked for Harper, then leader of the Canadian Alliance, when the speech calling for Canadian troops to be deployed to Iraq was written and read in the House of Commons.

Lippert, a former policy analyst for economic think tank the Fraser Institute, has announced his resignation from his current position working in the Conservative campaign headquarters.

The apology came hours after Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae accused Harper of plagiarizing from the Howard speech.

PHOTO: M.C. Escher, The Scapegoat from Diamond, S. Anger, Madness and the Daimonic, p. 80

Was it Agatha Christie whodunnit?

Agatha Christie started writing detective stories to show up her sister, Madge. Since then, Christie has become one of the most popular detective science fiction writers of all time, selling over 2 billion copies of her books in 104 languages.

Still, one of the most sensational and mysterious events in her life was her own 11-day disappearance in December 1926. Although her defenders believe Agatha was suffering from some kind of amnesia, all available evidence suggest that she used her expertise as a mystery writer to set her husband as the prime suspect in a murder case - with herself as the supposed victim.