"Transgender children 'are a blessing to their family."

His formidable physical presence — he’s over six feet tall, solid but with soft edges — is at odds with his voice, an ululating tenor that evokes Nina Simone, Alison Moyet and whale song. He creates baroque, arty music with classical virtuosos, but also adores the music of Beyonce (he’s been known to cover Crazy in Love in concert). He is a gay man who’s unequivocally feminine without being fey. And though he’s unabashedly emotional, Hegarty never seems fragile — rather, the sincerity and openness that come through in his music convey a profound strength.

Think of England

Back in 1986, I had the good fortune to travel around England and Wales, and discovered that once you get out of London, the countryside is beautiful. I am proud to have done all of the driving - on the wrong side of the road, of course! - and managed to go around only ONE roundabout in the wrong direction! LOL

This site is an encyclopedia of photos of the UK, and there are shots from almost everywhere on the British Isles - all under Creative Commons licence.

In this picture, you see a walkway up to the top of Glastonbury Tor - reputed to be the Island of Avalon in times past.

Boy George gets 15 months for imprisoning male escort

British singer Boy George, convicted last month of falsely imprisoning a male escort and beating him with a metal chain, has been sentenced to 15 months in jail.

The singer, who was tried under his real name, George O'Dowd, admitted at his trial to handcuffing Audun Carlsen, a 29-year-old Norwegian model, to a wall fixture in O'Dowd's London apartment in April 2007. He said he had restrained Carlsen because he had stolen photos from his laptop on a previous visit and he was trying to trace his missing property.

At the December trial, the court was told that the two men came in contact through a gay social networking website.

The World in 360°

Whether you choose to download and install the screensaver software from this site or not, the pix themselves are beautiful. Panoramic shots of many sights and cities that make you feel like you are there. Above is a shot of Ottawa with the National Gallery on the left and the Parliament Buildings just to the right of centre.

Function PLUS Form

The Banpo Bridge which crosses over the Han River in the Seoul capital of Korea has been given new life with the addition of a very interesting fountain, that was specially designed to attract more tourists. Instead of remodeling this huge structure to fit it with the usual design of a fountain, even that has been give some change,with the fountain shooting water downwards instead of up.

Esoteric imagery

This artist, Kris Kuksi, has an unique form of expression, highly complex, but beautiful and insightful nevertheless. Have a look at his galleries for pix of his work.

Light up your Life - creatively!

This webpage has some of the coolest, most creative lights I have seen in a very long time.

... and yes, that is the ON switch! The lampshade is optional, depending on your level of cheek-blushing! LOL

80's Music Videos

In the pre-internet world, many of us (me included) heard many songs from the 80's but never knew that there was a video to go with it.

For me the 80's were a defining time in music history. In the wake of punk - which completely deconstructed popular music, but before the record industry was able to compartmentalize and brand the new music, the 80's produced a flood of creative, individual, and original voices that are as cool, and listenable today as they were 25 years ago.

Enjoy!

Coffee, Tea or your PC?

The perfect gift for a PC-using geek on your list:

The ultimate in geek chic porcelain comes from MOD Design in Taiwan, whose little cups and circuit board saucers offer a tea break for those moments when you need to reboot or force quit your computer.

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.