City: Top to Bottom
thursday, april 21 Japan’s beckoning cats The Mingei International Museum presents Maneki Neko, an exhibition of Japan’s beckoning cats. This exhibition includes selections from a collection of 155 cats given to the Museum by collector Billie Moffitt. Made in the 19th and 20th centuries, each cat is unique. Most are made of clay, but some…
Let’s give thanks this Easter …
Let’s remember what the true meaning of Easter is, Jesus Christ – and a blessed Passover to all my Jewish friends. About city council redistricting You should all be keeping an eye on the current redistricting commission meetings and hearings as there are some interesting campaigns going on. One, rightfully so, is to create a…
DVD of the Week: ‘Torch Song Trilogy’
Based on Harvey Fierstein’s Tony-winning trilogy of three one-act plays, this classic film focuses on the life and loves of Arnold Beckoff (Feirstein), a Jewish torch-song-singing drag queen struggling in post-Stonewall, pre-AIDS New York. Feirstein is hilarious and heart breaking, and Anne Bancroft (as his mother) and Matthew Broderick (as one of the boyfriends) are…
‘American Experience: Stonewall Uprising’
While there were more than a few pro-gay demonstrations and protests before the Stonewall Riots in 1969, it was Stonewall that has become the symbolic beginning of the modern gay rights movement, and its anniversary is what Pride celebrations mark every year. If you don’t know the story already, or if you only think you…
‘Overnight’ successes that take decades to achieve
Last week the headlines read, “San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) Board of Education – representing the second largest school district in California – voted unanimously in support of a Bullying, Harassment and Intimidation Prohibition policy.” The policy states that the SDUSD will not tolerate any student or staff member being bullied, harassed or intimidated…
Dining Out with Ted Allen
It was an easy decision for Ted Allen, one of the original Queer Eyes and current host of Food Network’s hit series Chopped, to get involved with Dining Out for Life, the annual one-day fundraiser held in nearly 60 cities across North America. When asked what prompted him to personally step up as a spokesperson…
Movie Review: Scream for them to stop
I’ve never liked horror movies or slasher films. As a genre, they’re usually exploitative; they go for the basest emotions, the simplest reactions, using buckets of blood to gross you out, gratuitous sex to get a rise out of you and the lamest of surprises to get you to jump out of your seat. The…
West Hollywood residents want street named after the late Elizabeth Taylor
West Hollywood residents have been calling and writing to their city hall to ask for a street to be named after actress and AIDS activist Elizabeth Taylor, who died recently at age 79. Taylor, a major early force in AIDS fundraising, spent time at West Hollywood spots, including the Abbey, where she sipped shots of…
Pastor: ‘Ricky Martin wants to take people to hell!’
Wanda Rolón, a pastor of the First Christian Church in Northern Puerto Rico, has attacked Ricky Martin on being gay. During his Music, Soul and Sex tour in Puerto Rico, Rolón said, “I want to say to Ricky Martin that there is no need to go to the extreme by making our children and youths…