Happy 125th Birthday to The Statue of Liberty!

On Oct. 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, in New York Harbor. In that day’s edition, The New York Times described the building excitement for the ceremony: “All day yesterday people came to the city in droves to participate in to-day’s celebration. Extra heavily loaded trains, much behind schedule time, were the rule on every railroad entering the city. Every hotel was crowded to its utmost capacity last night, and there was hardly one of the better known hotels which did not have to turn away hundreds of would be guests.”

The ceremony included speeches by the president and famed French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps, among others, as well as music and gun salvo. The finale? The statue’s designer, Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, who was perched in the statue’s torch, pulled a rope removing a large French flag from the front of the statue, revealing Lady Liberty’s face to the crowd.

The statue was the brainchild of the French historian Edouard de Laboulaye, who proposed it in 1865. Bartholdi designed the statue and got help with its construction from Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc and Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, architect of the Eiffel Tower. Shipped to New York in pieces, the statue had to be reconstructed on nearby Bedloe’s Island (now Liberty Island) in New York Harbor.
The statue stands 151 feet high (on top of a 154-foot-high pedestal) and depicts Lady Liberty raising a torch in her right hand and holding in her left hand a tablet inscribed with the date of the publication of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.

For more see the full New York Times story.

How to check your testicles

STEVE HAYES: Tired Old Queen at the Movies - #86

This will freak your freak.

LOOK at the camels first and then read the message below.

This is a picture taken from directly above these camels in the desert at sunset. It is considered to be one of the best pictures of the year. When you look closely, you can see that the camels are the little white lines in the picture.
The black images you see are just the shadows!

Sometimes, our "problems" seem to be as big as the shadows...but they are little. Have a lovely day!
LOOK ONCE MORE. YOU CANNOT BELIEVE IT, RIGHT?

I have to say I like him both ways!

Although I will say the one on the right is better for snuggling! I love a fit muscular guy but the snuggling situation can, at times be uncomfortable.


see more The Daily What
Science Experiment of the Day: The photo on the left? That’s the before.

Personal trainer Drew Manning has spent the past five months intentionally gaining 70 pounds by eating all the stuff you like to eat — frosted cereals, white bread, chips, mac n cheese, frozen dinners, and soda — as part of a personal project he calls ”Fit 2 Fat 2 Fit.”
Drew, who will soon begin the arduous journey back to fitness, hopes his experiment will teach him something about how the fatter half lives.
Asked what he’s learned so far, Drew said the biggest thing was “how intense and how real these food cravings are.” He goes on:

I know I’ll never know exactly what it’s like for every person that’s overweight and I don’t claim to, but at least I understand better than I did before when I never had to struggle with this. I hope to learn a lot more in the second half of my journey, from fat 2 fit.

It's gay time!

The blog that originally posted this pic posted it because of the gay reference but once I saw it I was really bummed that it is from the 50s and I cant buy one. Come on GE, start selling these gay clocks for my gay kitchen. I will take one in every color! Although, at today's prices they would be more like $50 each

I hope everyone is wearing purple for spirit day today!

 

 

You know you have made it big when "The Colbert Report" goes after you!

On a side note, I have wanted to do a blog on all the gay reporters here in Dallas. We have so many!!!!! That being said, take it away Ron Corning.

I guess those tights aren't quite as tight as I thought!

Spirit Day 10/20/11

Millions of Americans wear purple on Spirit Day as a sign of support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth and to speak out against bullying. Spirit Day was started in 2010 by teenager Brittany McMillan as a response to the young people who had taken their own lives. Observed annually on October 20, individuals, schools, organizations, corporations, media professionals and celebrities wear purple, which symbolizes spirit on the rainbow flag. Getting involved is easy -- participants are asked to simply "go purple" on October 20 as we work to create a world in which LGBT teens are celebrated and accepted for who they are.

Via GLAAD

NOH8 Dallas Photo Shoot

I am a little late on posting this but as many of my blog readers are also Facebook friends you have seen and heard about my fantastic experience helping out with the NOH8 Campaign Dallas photo shoot. About a week before the shoot I happened to notice they wanted volunteers so I emailed them my info and a few days later heard that they got quite a response and they would let me know if I would be needed. At this point I was sure that I had volunteered too late but they then sent an email asking if people were available all day (from 11:15am till sometime after 8pm) or 2 shorter shifts. Well, I figure if you are going to do it go all in so I responded that I could do it all day. I am so glad I did! I got the conformation that I was in the A-Team and would be working all day.

So, Sunday morning I was up early (not actually my choice) and by 10:45 I was at the shoot. Once we were all assembled they started assigning post. some worked outside getting people signed up and answering questions, while others were inside getting people prepped with the NOH8 tattoo. Then there was a group who would take payments, a person to get emails for people to join the NOH8 Campaign online and a group working the merchandise table. I totally lucked out and was put in charge of the line leading up to the actual shoot. I felt like a sheep dog trying to get people to form a line that would snake it's way to the front. The best part of working at this point was I got to see every photo being taken and I was able to take photos as well. I also go to meet every person in line. Once people got to the end of the line they handed over their paperwork and got the duct tape over their mouth and then it was photo time.

During the shoot there was a live, streaming web feed that I was on most of the day. So, if you tuned in a saw a fat guy in a red shirt dancing around I apologize. It wasn't pretty. lol
The entire experience was fantastic! There were well over 100 people in line when we started letting people come in at 1pm and everyone seemed to be in really good spirits. At the end of the day Dallas had beat the record for the largest turnout at 842. We also had the most volunteers of any shoot.

To see all the photos I took click here.
Be sure to watch this news clip. Thanks WFAA Channel 8!

Zachary Quinto Comes Out As Gay In New York Magazine

Zachary Quinto, inheritor of the iconic Mr. Spock role in JJ Abrams' "Star Trek" reboot and the star of the upcoming film "Margin Call," reveals that he is gay in a new profile in New York Magazine. The star, 34, credits his role in the Broadway play "Angels In America," in which he plays a gay man who leaves his AIDS-afflicted boyfriend, for helping to put him further in touch with the hopes felt and struggles faced by both gay and straight Americans, and discusses his political outlook for the rights movement.
Living in New York during the play's run, Quinto says the experience was both challenging and rewarding, and gave him a fresh perspective on the work that needs to be done in the fight for equality. On one hand, New York State legalized gay marriage; on the other, a gay teen committed suicide earlier this year because of unending bullying.
"As a gay man I look at that and say there’s a hopelessness that surrounds it," he says, "but as a human being I look at it and say ‘Why? Where’s this disparity coming from, and why can’t we as a culture and society dig deeper to examine that?’ We’re terrified of facing ourselves.”


For the full story click here.

Currently Watching - Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

Fiddler on the Roof was one of the last great MGM musicals belonging to the classic movie musical tradition of which MGM was the undisputed king.  The genre would veer course in the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s and ‘00s, adding more and more realistic elements and losing that spontaneous breaking into song that otherwise interrupts the narrative, culminating in the total integration of a film such as Chicago.  But Fiddler also exhibits a gritty realism, not yet of the level that would eventually be achieved in the mid- to late-1970s, but definitely a precursor of such.  Shot on location in 2.35:1, the film also shares some qualities with the epics of the 1960s, although not epic in scope itself.

Patty Duke on Hawaii Five-O

I was thrilled tonight to see Patti Duke on Hawaii Five-O. I was even happier to see that she looks old! In Hollywood, where being in your 60s means you have to have so much work done you become a barbie doll in her 40s it is refreshing to see a woman who looks her age. It took me a second or two but I realized it was her pretty fast. She is still Patti Duke, just 64 years young. Good for you girl!
Also on this episode was Peter Fonda and I must say he looks pretty good for 71.

God Save the Queen!

This is one of the best things I have seen on Facebook in quite some time and i have to say that I agree with some of it.

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II:

In light of your immediate failure to financially manage yourselves and also in recent years your tendency to elect incompetent Representatives to your Congress and therefore not able to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. (You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas , which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, David Cameron, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated sometime next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour,' 'favour,' 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise.'Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary'). (I love that one)


Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as ''like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u'' and the elimination of '-ize.' ' (I love that one too)

3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist, then you're not ready to shoot grouse.

5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

7. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.)

8.You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. New Zealand beer is also acceptable, as New Zealand is pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

11. You will cease playing American football. There are only two kinds of proper football; one you call soccer, and rugby (dominated by the New Zealanders). Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).

12. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America . Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the Australians (World dominators) first to take the sting out of their deliveries.

13. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

God Save the Queen!

Currently Watching - The Sundowners (1960)

Great movie! I have never really seen Deborah Kerr play anything but a proper English girl.

Irish-Australian Paddy Carmody is a roving sheep herder known as a "sundowner" (because he is constantly moving, pitching his tent wherever the sun goes down). His wife Ida and son Sean want to settle down, but Paddy is a wanderlust and never wants to stay in one place for long. While passing through the bush the family meet former sea captain, Rupert Venneker and hire him as an extra drover. The group drive a herd of sheep to a nearby town where they meet Mrs. Firth who takes a liking to Rupert.
Ida convinces Paddy to take a job at a station shearing sheep; she serves as the cook and Rupert is hired as wool roller. Ida enjoys the company of other women, growing close to the owner's wife and taking care of one shearer's pregnant wife. She is secretly saving all the money the family earns for a farm that she saw on the sheep drive. Paddy decides to leave midway through the shearing season, but Sean convinces him to stay. He wins a race horse in a bet that they name Sundowner and they race him, hoping to make more money. However, Sundowner is disqualified and they lose all the money they saved because Paddy bet it all on the horse. The family resolve to keep moving and hope that they will save enough money to buy a farm one day.

STEVE HAYES: Tired Old Queen at the Movies - #85

Steve Hayes has picked another of my favorite movies this week. Now Voyager is Betty Davis at her best. We love to think of her as the bitch but I really like her when she is vulnerable and unsure of herself. Gladys cooper as her mother is amazing but I really love Mary Wicks as the nurse. Good old Mary ws always cast as a nurse, a housekeeper, or a nun.

Now, Voyager (1942) is the quintessential, soap-opera or "woman's picture" ('weepie') and one of Bette Davis' best-acted and remembered films in the 40s, coming shortly after other early Davis classics including Jezebel (1938), Dark Victory (1939), The Old Maid (1939), All This and Heaven Too (1940), and The Letter (1940). Her unglamorous portrayal of Charlotte Vale - a mousy, dowdy and overweight, frustrated, mother-hating virginal spinster early in the film is a remarkable acting achievement. The producer Hal B. Wallis had originally intended on having the lead role played by Irene Dunne, and then Norma Shearer or Ginger Rogers.


The title of the romantic melodrama film was taken from well-known American poet Walt Whitman's 1892 Leaves of Grass (from the section titled The Untold Want):


The Untold Want
By Life and Land Ne'er Granted
Now, Voyager
Sail Thou Forth to Seek and Find


In the film, the psychiatrist (Claude Rains) who aids the repressed woman's recovery and transformation (into a modern, attractive, and glamorous woman) as she fights to free herself from tyrannical shackles of her domineering mother, presents her with the quoted words when she is on the verge of breaking out with an ocean cruise/voyage.


Directed by Irving Rapper, its screenplay by Casey Robinson was based on the 1941 novel by Olive Higgins Prouty (who also wrote Stella Dallas). Max Steiner provides the lush, romanticized, Academy Award-winning score for the film that was nominated for a total of three Academy Awards, including Best Actress (Bette Davis) and Best Supporting Actress (Gladys Cooper), with Steiner's nomination as the sole win (his second Oscar).


The plot of the film is about the strident efforts of a neurotic child to be liberated from repressive, matriarchal domination. Treatment is successful, owing to care by a psychiatrist (therapy was coming into vogue in the early 40s) and a love affair with a charming, Euro-American married man who already has a wife and children. The film concludes with Charlotte's lavishing of attention on his young, emotionally-unstable teenage daughter Tina (caused by another domineering mother) (an uncredited Janis Wilson) - her motherly love serves as a remote substitute for the couple's own romantically-complicated love. And the film's last stirring line of romantic dialogue has become immortal: "Oh Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars."