London at night

Some beautiful pix of London at night. Click through to see more.

Puck U : "Pansy" no more

Hockey commentator Ron MacLean faced off against a gay-rights advocate over the use of the word "pansification" during Saturday's Hockey Night in Canada broadcast.

Hockey Night commentator Mike Milbury coined the expression to describe how the NHL would lose its edge and go soft should the league heed calls to ban fighting.

Helen Kennedy, the executive director of Egale Canada, told MacLean the group was "inundated with emails and phone calls who were upset and offended by the use of the word."

"It's used in a derogatory fashion to bully young, effeminate, gay men. It's a word that was coined to basically bully young men in Britain, many years ago," Kennedy said, adding that the word is also used to bully "kids who are perceived to be gay."

A VIDEO OF THE INTERVIEW IS AVAILABLE AFTER THE LINK

Get a lesbian to fix it!

The first government collapse of the global economic crisis is about to yield the world's first openly-gay leader. Johanna Sigurdardottir, a former air hostess, is expected to be sworn in as Iceland's Prime Minister by the end of the week.

The 66-year-old politician lives with her partner, Jonina Leosdottir, a journalist and playwright. The couple were joined in a civil ceremony in 2002. Don't expect them to show up togetherfor photocalls, however – that's not the Icelandic way. Though she is famous across the island, having been a top politician for years, her lesbian union was no big deal in this calmly progressive nation of only 300,000 people.

National Film Board of Canada - Online + FREE!

The National Film Board of Canada has launched a new project to allow Canadians to see its films through online streaming.

Oscar winners such as 1952's Neighbours, 1977's I'll Find a Way and 2004's Ryan are among the more than 700 films now available for screening online at NFB.ca.

The NFB plans to put 10 new films a month online.

"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.