Becks...

Damn! If it weren't for the tube strike yesterday here in London I would have gone to see the unveiling of a 25-metre billboard on the front of Selfridges, showing David Beckham in a pair of figure-hugging drawers. All to advertise Emporio Armani's autumn collection.


It would have also been nice to see and perhaps meet the real thing. He always seems to me to be such a sweet man, a great footballer and veeery rich! I mean what more could you ask for in a man... well, that body for a start! My god, if I was only twenty two years younger! ;D


Original Source

For God's sake...

... why, oh, why do we insist on tearing down today, those very same people we idolized and put on pedestals yesterday?

It happened spectacularly with Susan Boyle after her startling performance on the first week of Britain's Got Talent. The world loved her, couldn't get enough of her, she was going to win hand's down... or so most people thought for about four weeks. Then, suddenly, all her little idiosyncrasies were being paraded in the tabloids and all the criticism started. Everything started to get on top of her and she became very stressed and just when she needed us all to be behind her, people were jumping OFF the Susan Boyle bandwagon in droves. She eventually came second in the final and was promptly rushed off to a clinic, suffering from stress and exhaustion. She's out of the clinic now, but apparently still not 100 per cent.

The next example is what has been happening over the last couple of days with Gale Harold. Thousands of his fans who love him and think he's beautiful and talented have been waiting with bated breath since Desperate Housewives finished for any little bit of news on him. Then out of the blue there appeared a miserly 2:27 minute video trailer for the film Passenger Side. We weren't expecting much, after all we all knew beforehand that Gale was not the star of this film and that he may not even have much of a part. In fact there was a couple of days there when we thought his scenes had hit the proverbial "cutting-room floor".

However, much to everyone's initial delight there was Gale, long haired, scruffy chinned and for all intents and purposes naked, on our screens for, what, 6 seconds or so. Fabulous everyone said. Lovely. Someone mentioned, naked Gale is ALWAYS good. Scrumptious in fact.

Alas, that is when it happened, someone, somewhere said "but his chest looks flabby", another "he has man-boobs" and yet another "he has a fat belly" and people agreed with them! What the hell happened? This is vibrant, healthy pre - near-fatal - accident Gale. The Gale we love and adore. A beautiful thirty-nine year old fucking fantastic figure of a man, the same man who was apparently "far too skinny" by a few fans' standards when he appeared back on our screens, six months after his accident, in Desperate Housewives. The man cannot win. I hope he has a thick skin, he needs it to guard himself against the "adoration" of some of his "fans".

Now, today, I was happily reading the entertainment news and got very excited when I noticed the name Robbie Williams. There hasn't been a lot of news about Robbie for a couple of years now and I was beginning to get worried that he was gone for good, so you can imagine my excitement. I eagerly turned to the article and was dumbfounded to read this headline Old Before I Die: Robbie Williams shows his age as his hair turns grey! WTF!!!

So, Robbie Williams - at thirty-five years old - is going grey! So what? Was I showing my age when I started going grey at seventeen! I think not. Thirty-five is not old, whether your hair is grey or not. Seriously instead of being ageist, why didn't the paper simply emphasise what great news it is that Robbie is back in the studio recording a new album after so long. Imbuing the man with confidence that his new album is eagerly anticipated. Why do they think that the only newsworthy fact is that he is getting older and his greying hair is a testament to that! I for one don't care if he's in his thirties and his hair is going grey, I care that he has finally overcome his eating and drug problems and is back doing what he does best and that's "entertain us"!

So please lighten up on these people, if we loved them yesterday and thought they were perfect, why do we have to be so judgemental today. Let's just try to appreciate their talent whether we still like them or not and stop with all the personal insults.

Just a few pics...

... lest we forget what a beautiful and very talented man he is.

At long last, a "Passenger Side" trailer and some screen caps ...

Question: How do you get several thousand Gale Harold fans interested in this film since he's not the "star"?

Answer: Make a two and a half minute trailer with a tiny sequence of the gorgeous Mr. Harold - naked - weaving around totally out of his head, apparently filming a porn movie! :)

If you really cannot spare the time you can save 1:26 minutes by jumping straight to the bare arsed chested Gale! ;D



Here are a few screen caps - clicky, clicky. Look at the girl's legs. She's not acting there, that's just a pheromone induced physiological reaction to the proximity of a naked Gale! ;D









You can follow the progress of "Passenger Side" on Facebook

ETA: I think he looks gorgeous even with the longer hair and the scruffy chin! Mm mm! ♥♥♥

4oD

For those of us in the UK, we have some great news from 4oD, Channel 4's on demand web TV service. Next month they are opening their archives and letting us watch anything from their back catalogue for free.

This is great for those of us who remember all the good shows that Channel 4 used to show, the much neglected Queer as Folk, to name just one! So, for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of watching this show and weren't interested enough to get the DVDs, please give it a try.

It's darker, grittier, ballsier and a lot more full-frontal than the US version. It has some great acting, especially from Aiden Gillen, Craig Kelly and Charlie Hunnam. As long as you don't expect it to be exactly the same story (although interestingly there are a lot of very similar scenes) or have the beautiful Gale Harold and Randy Harrison in it (only Charlie Hunnam comes close in the pretty boy department), you never know you may even enjoy it!

Roger wins at last!

I'm over the moon that Roger Federer has won the French Open and achieved what many people thought he'd never achieve, a Career Grand Slam. In the process, of course, he also tied with Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles. As much as I love Pete, we need progress so that record has to go and we only have to wait another two weeks until Wimbledon on the 22nd, to see whether he can set a new record and beat Pete's.

It was a great match, too, but I was so nervous I thought he was going to lose that last game, but he held on and won like a true champion. Absolutely fabulous.

It was also lovely to see two old favourites of mine, Steffi Graph and Andre Agassi, presenting the trophies this year. I loved them as individuals when they were both playing fabulous tennis, but I love them just as much as a couple, they always look so happy together and the love just shines through. :)

David Carradine 1936 - 2009

Very sad to learn of the death of David Carradine yesterday and apparently in such tragic circumstances.

My father was a great fan of his and really liked him as "Caine" in Kung Fu in the 70s. I enjoyed his acting too, but he always seemed to me to be such a sad man, always searching for that elusive 'meaning of life'. I think that's why he married five times too, always looking for happiness. I'm probably totally wrong. I just hope he's found peace now...

Rest in Peace, David

World Environment Day 2009

Do something for the planet today! Well, not JUST today, try doing something every day.

Walk instead of drive.

Grow your own organic veg.

Get off that laptop for a day or two... what... NO! Anything but that! ;)

Oh dear, and World Environment Day is only 4 days away!

This is an amazing story about a couple of Burger King franchises in Tennessee, USA putting up huge signs outside the restaurants offering up these words of wisdom "Global Warming is baloney"!

Burger King naturally completely distanced themselves from the signs. So after some detective work on the part of a local newspaper writer, Chris Davis of the Memphis Flyer, it appears that the two Burger Kings are owned, along with around 40 others, by one company who apparently haven't replied to his request for a comment!

I truly believe in free speech in this world, but come on, if you're going to take advantage of your position and preach to the rest of us, please, please don't make a complete idiot of yourself in the process! :)

David Tennant's cameo on John Barrowman's "Tonight's the Night"

How fabulous, David Tennant and John Barrowman together again in the tardis! I hate John's show, but just love these two.



***

By the way, did I mention that I'm going to Bournemouth tomorrow to stay with my oldest and loveliest friend. We've been friends for a very long time, in fact we met at school... about 47 years ago!!! ::gulp:: I'm looking forward to seeing her, as, for various reasons, it's been quite a while since we've managed to get together.

We're going to see John Barrowman at The Pavilion Theatre, a rather old theatre which has been recently refurbished. It's quite small, which I like, so it has that lovely intimate feel. I'm looking forward to seeing John, although I've got to admit that I'm not that into his singing - don't get me wrong he has a nice voice, but it's just not my cup of tea. I love the man though, his personality just surrounds you and my friend got us fabulous seats, so yeah, that's where I'll be tomorrow night!

Hmm, wonder if we'll get to meet him...

Expenses scandal in British politics...

So, today's the day when the fate of four Labour MPs is decided by a three-man panel from the Labour party's national executive committee.

These are the four:

• Elliott Morley, the former minister and Scunthorpe MP, who claimed £16,000 for a mortgage that had already been paid off. Morley, who has had the Labour whip withdrawn, said that the money had been claimed by mistake and that he had repaid it.



• David Chaytor, the Bury South MP, who claimed nearly £13,000 for a mortgage that had been paid off. Chaytor, who has also had the whip withdrawn, apologised "unreservedly" for what he said had been "an unforgivable error in accounting procedures". He has also arranged to repay the money.



• Margaret Moran, the Luton South MP, who claimed £22,500 to treat dry rot in a home in Southampton, 100 miles from her constituency. Gordon Brown called this "completely unacceptable" and she has agreed to repay the money.



• Ian Gibson, the Norwich North MP, claimed for a flat which was also used by his daughter. He later sold it to her and her partner at a knockdown price. He has offered to stand down at the next election if his constituents want him too.

Each of these people earns in the region of £65,000 a year, which isn't peanuts even in this country. For that money, those of us who vote and give these MPs their jobs are surely entitled to assume that those elected have enough intelligence to be able to figure out what they can and can't claim as a legitimate expense! So with that assumption in mind, how on earth can they expect us to believe them when they are all bleating about how these claims were ALL made by mistake! It's utter bullshit and I really resent them for thinking that I would fall for it!

Let's see if they all get away with just paying back the money, because that's what they all seem to think will be enough to get them off the hook! I'd like to be wrong, but I can't help but believe they are right and that IS all that will happen.

Russell T Davies talks about David Tennant's appearance in the Sarah Jane Adventures and a mention of that Who film...

For anyone who loves David Tennant as much as I, here's a small clip of RTD (another favourite man) talking about David's appearance in the Sarah Jane Adventures in the Autumn. I must admit that I haven't seen the Sarah Jane show, but a two-episode appearance, not just a cameo, by David as the Doc is worth watching, he is such a charismatic and fun actor... did I say how much I love him! ;)



***

Here's the News Report from yesterday in which it also mentions that there is a script in development for the rumoured Dr Who film, but that it's a long way off. So it's anyone's guess who will play the doctor in it. I hope the rumours are true though and it's David.

Tennant to appear in Who spin-off

Tennant will co-star alongside Elisabeth Sladen, who plays Sarah Jane Smith

David Tennant is to appear as the Time Lord in Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures, the BBC has announced.

Tennant, 38, will appear over two episodes of a new 12-part series of the CBBC show, which starts in September.

Russell T Davies, executive producer of The Sarah Jane Adventures and Doctor Who, said it would be a "full on appearance" and "not just a cameo".

The show follows the adventures of the investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith - a former Doctor's companion.

Smith is played by actress Elisabeth Sladen, 61, who also played the character in Doctor Who opposite Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker between 1973 and 1976.

'Special treat'

Sladen said she was "absolutely over the moon" to be co-starring alongside Tennant.

"It's fantastic news that Sarah Jane is going to spend some time working with the Doctor again and is testament to just how successful this CBBC series is."

Davies said: "Viewers thought they may have to wait until November for the next full episode of Doctor Who, but this is an extra special treat.

"And it's not just a cameo from David.

"This is a full-on appearance for the Doctor as he and Sarah Jane face their biggest threat ever."

The third series of The Sarah Jane Adventures will feature monsters who want to infect earth and a "living painting".

Tennant is being replaced as Doctor Who by actor Matt Smith, 26, who will appear as the 11th Doctor next year.

Tennant will firstly appear in three specials, starting with The Waters of Mars in November.

Meanwhile, Doctor Who may be heading for the big screen after a spokeswoman for BBC Films confirmed that "a script is in development".

BBC entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba said there were no guarantees a film would be made and that, if the project went into full production, a release would be a long time away.

Original Source: BBC News

B/J - ALL the kisses...

This is the first video of an amazing playlist of 114 clips, each depicting a B/J kiss!

They are all in chronological order and start with this one... of course:



This is the permanent link to the video page, where you can play them all separately or click a link to play ALL the videos in one sitting! Yum yum!

Thanks to GermanFagHags on YouTube for their dedication in bringing us the kisses of B/J!

Britain's Got Talent Second Semi-Final and an interview with Craig Kelly of Queer as Folk UK fame...

Shaun Smith, who's only 17, has a fabulous voice... and a very pretty face. I really want him to win! :)

Here's the direct link as they have disabled all the videos!

***


In other news, Craig Kelly, who played sweet, baby faced "Vince" in Queer as Folk ten years ago ("Vince" being the "best friend", the UK equivalent of "Michael" in the US) and who is now a regular on Coronation Street did this interview with the California Chronicle.

Here's a quote I found interesting:

"More people have watched Corrie but in some ways Queer as Folk was more intense because you had fans who were crazy about that show."

So, after all this time we find out that it wasn't just the American version which attracted the crazies after all! ;)

Hmm, so it's goodbye Jackson... hello Jack!

This is quite amusing, Susan, never one to be defeated, is on to her next man... already! :)

Don't forget 5th June - World Environment Day 2009...

... do your bit! I'm trying to do mine, I'm gonna get a bike... eventually! ;)

So, Juliet will definitely NOT be a regular on LOST next season!

I'm not very happy about that at all. I really love the Juliet character and the chemistry between Sawyer and Juliet was something I really loved about the last season, so this news is a real bummer for me. I know it was hinted at earlier in the year, but I suppose until it was confirmed that "V" was going to happen nothing could be decided.

I am, however, quite looking forward to seeing what the hell they've done to the old "V" series, which, gawd help me, I used to love! I remember my friend, B, loving it too and being very much in love with Marc Singer! I always found it too distracting when he was on screen though, because my eyes were always straying to his crotch because of those obscenely tight jeans he used to wear! Hee! Still, it was the eighties so I suppose we were all walking around in obscenely tight jeans!

Anyway, the fact that Elizabeth Mitchell is in it gives it a bit of a lift up in my eyes, so I may well give it a try.

Well, we'll see.

'Lost' scoop: Juliet mystery (sort of) solved

May 18, 2009, 11:52 PM | by Michael Ausiello

And now for some news that should surprise no one: ABC is expected to announce tomorrow that it has picked up a reboot of the camptastic '80s thriller V and that Lost heroine Elizabeth Mitchell is a full-time cast member.

Translation: She will not be returning to Lost as a series regular.

However, before you go declaring Juliet DOA from last week's detonated hydrogen bomb, I should point out that this piece of scoop comes with a big but attached: Mitchell's Lost days are not done. Multiple sources confirm that the actress is expected to appear in an unspecified number of episodes next season, so it's entirely possible Juliet survived Jughead and her absence will be explained in another way. (Check out Doc Jensen's column this Wednesday for a comprehensive Juliet theorypalooza.)

Original Source: Ausiello Files

Here's a promo for "V" and a couple of clips:







Go here if you want to see lots of promo stills!

Gale in DH finale and Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake back in London...

So how did everyone enjoy the DH two-hour finale (sorry this won't air in the UK for a couple of weeks) and more importantly Gale's scenes? I know almost everyone was disappointed that Gale's scenes weren't prolific in the first hour and were non-existent in the second, but I'm still very grateful to Marc Cherry for letting us see Gale back in action as fit and as beautiful as ever. He didn't have to, he could have left things as they were when he had to alter the scripts after Gale's accident. It would have only been us, Gale's fans, who would have been hurt and upset if he had taken that route, but he didn't, he told us all that Gale would be back when he was recovered enough and he kept that promise to us.

He also did something even more important for Gale, he had all those interviews arranged and all that publicity a few weeks ago, shouting out to the world and to us fans that Gale was fully recovered and more than capable of doing a great acting job (very beautiful and more articulate than ever too). For that I will always be grateful to him.

As for the rest well I'm in two minds, I would love Gale to be back on our screens in season 6, if that's what he, and indeed Marc Cherry, want. Although, just like the rest of his fans, I just can't help wanting something more for him, something grittier, something with a bit more guts, something with a lot bit more flesh...

Oh, what the hell, I'll love whatever he's in just because!


***

Okay, onto my bit of good news.

Tickets went on sale yesterday for Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake for a very limited run at Sadler's Wells over the Christmas holidays and my friend, B, managed to grab a couple of wonderful seats for me! She doesn't want to come with me though, I think she has trouble getting her head around "the Swan" dancing in a pair of feathered trousers rather than a little tutu! :)

I've been wanting to see this for about eight years now, so I'm thrilled at the thought of seeing it!

***

I'm still debating whether to go and see his production of Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray which is here in London in July.

This is a review from last year by Stephen Fry:

"A fantastically exciting, imaginative, gripping and thrilling evening in the theatre... a vision of the story that Oscar would have recognised... like the original it is sexy, dizzying, tumultuous, frightening and profoundly moral. You will be swept away"

Which makes it very, very tempting, but, as much as I am inclined to put my faith in Stephen's feelings about it, there have been other reviews a lot less enthusiastic to say the least! :)

Okay, Britain's Got Talent tonight, week 5...

Another fabulous night of talent! :)

My favourites are:

Greg Pritchard - male soprano with an absolutely amazing voice.

Here's the direct link to the video, because they've disabled embedding! :)

Shaun Smith, only 17 but has a voice to die for.

He's very much my favourite! Here's the direct link.

And I just love these! The Dream Bears. Direct link to the bears! :)

Oh, Jesus!

Bad news from C4 here in the UK, but to cheer us up a preview of episode 5.22 of Desperate Housewives, which C4 bought BEFORE they ran out of money!

All joking aside though, this really IS bad news, because the American programming is probably the best, if not the only, thing Channel 4 has to offer!

If they can no longer afford to buy new shows from the US, guess what we're gonna be left with...yep, that's right, cheap and nasty reality shows like Big Brother!

Oh, God, kill me now!

Channel 4 closes chequebook to new US shows
Dan Sabbagh

Channel 4 will slash at least £60 million a year from its on-screen budget as it battles with an 18 per cent downturn in advertising in the first half of the year.

The financial crisis means that Channel 4, once the home of American television with Friends, Frasier and Desperate Housewives, is not planning to buy any new US shows.

Kevin Lygo, director of television at Channel 4, said: "We will be spending nowhere near the levels we did in the past on American programming, and it's unlikely we will buy a new show this year unless we get a good deal".

Channel 4 spent £118.5 million on imports in 2008, a drop of £30 million on 2007. But it expects to cut that further this year to help to meet a minimum 10 per cent budget reduction from last year’s £598 million total on screen spend. The budget for daytime television will also be reduced to make savings.

Every May, British television executives fly to Los Angeles to attend screenings of the best shows on offer from America, competing to buy what they hope will be future hits. But Channel 4 is sending out a reduced team, with Mr Lygo, traditionally on the plane, not on the list.

Overall, Channel 4 revenues were down 4 per cent to £906 million in 2008, but a £25 million cut in programme spending meant that profits were slightly up, at £1.8 million compared to £500,000 last year.

The broadcaster estimates TV advertising bookings are down 18 per cent in the first half of the year, and with little hope for a recovery, will fall by 15 per cent for all of 2009.

Original Source: Timesonline


***


Desperate Housewives 5.22 preview!



Hang on a minute? How does she want Jackson to repay her? Well, let's see, um, she can either have sex with him there and then or he can buy her a..a... cake!! WTF Susan?

Also, "They don't call her Gaby for nothing!" Ha ha!

Oh, and did you notice that his hair is so long he has to push it out of his eye! Get it cut Gale... pweeeeease!

I loved this little sneak peek, Gale seems a lot more comfortable than in last week's episode and his delivery of the lines a lot more natural! I think he's settling back into the character, which is great to see. He's definitely baaaack! I hope it's not all in vain though, and he sticks around for longer than the next couple of episodes.

Cannot wait to see this! :)