As I start this week, my last week in my 40’s, I reflect on all the amazing people I have met in my life. People I have shared dreams with. People I have laughed and cried with. People who inspired me to dream big and see no boundaries. People who encouraged and supported me when I decided to live my truth. People who made me better in every department of my life as I learned from them and watched in awe as they accomplished their own dreams and goals. Finally and most importantly the people who just loved me for me.
As I enter my 50’s this Friday, I take you ALL with me to the second half of my life. I will continue my efforts to try to inspire others to live their truth. My greatest hope is that we all recognize that we are all special in so many ways—each with an amazing gratitude list of life’s gifts upon which we can build and work from every day of our life. We can use our skills as a strengthening tool as we defend against the tougher things that get thrown our way in what we call life.
God has created all of us unique in every way. Different in such a way we can only choose to run our own race in life. I hope everyone arrives one day at your finish line with a life well lived where you loved immensely and were loved back. I hope we can say we shared our good fortunes with as many people as possible.
In closing, the biggest thing I have learned in my first 50 years is not what I have done for others that impacted people the most, but how I made people feel that made the biggest difference. I will take this learned lesson and all the lessons I have learned and try to have the best second half of my life possible with friends and family, and new friends in the future as I am blessed to have.
Collectively we will work to make all our lives happier, healthier and more rewarding every day. Thank you to all my friends, family, coaches, business partners, supporters and finally my life partner Brian Neal for making my first 50 years so incredible.
THANK YOU!
Bobby Blair
Founder
MMP Worldwide Inc.
]]>Capital Cities – Tampa
Indie pop duo Capital Cities is best known for their top ten single “Safe and Sound.” That song not only charted at #1 on the US Alternative Songs chart, but it also has been used in a wide range of commercials, including one for a German Vodafone and one for a 2014 Mazda 3. Their first album with Capital Records was released in 2013. Titled In a Tidal Wave of Mystery, the album received both critical kudos and modest success. They most recently performed with Katy Perry on the North American leg of her Prismatic World Tour. 8:00 p.m. The Ritz Ybor. 1503 E 7th Ave. Tampa. 33605.
Annie – Jacksonville
Everyone’s favorite redheaded orphan makes her way to the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts. Based upon the classic Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, Annie tells the story of an eleven year-old orphan dealing with the harsh conditions of her Depression-era orphanage. She spends the beginning of the musical desperate to find her parents. Evil Miss Hannigan gets in her way, a kind millionaire shows her love, and she sings about “Tomorrow” and her “Hard Knock Life.” The touring production runs until October 26th. 7:30 p.m. Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts. 300 Water St. Jacksonville. 32202.
Festival Miami – Miami
Festival Miami is a three-week long festival that highlights the many different genres of music that help make Miami special. Hosted by The University of Miami Frost School of Music, the festival includes twenty-five to thirty concerts featuring Grammy Award-winning and internationally acclaimed musical guest artists, master faculty artists, and award-winning student ensembles. Some events are offered free. Many sessions include an educational component, such as master classes, open rehearsals, and conversations with artists. The four themes presented are great performances, jazz and beyond, creative American music, and music of the Americas. 8:00 p.m. Gusman Concert Hall. 1314 Miller Drive. Coral Gables. 33146.
Screaming Green Halloween – Key West
The sixth annual event allows kids of all ages to indulge in games, crafts, and costume contests. Sponsored by the Key West Botanical Garden Society, the event hopes to educate the community on making Halloween a more eco-friendly holiday. Participants will learn new ways to reuse items for costumes, decorations and fun activities, so that the earth is kept in better shape. There will also be a bounce house, food, and treats sprinkled throughout the garden. 2:00 p.m. Key Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden. 5210 College Rd. Key West. 33040.
Coral Skies Music Festival – Tampa
This indie rock music festival not only features a stellar line-up of alternative music performers, but it also has a wide selection of craft beers, a food trucktopia, and art vendors. Among the performers are Julian Casablancas of The Strokes fame, now playing with The Voidz, and Manchester Orchestra. The headlining act is Cage the Elephant—a group who received noteworthy popularity and acclaim with their self-titled debut album back in 2008. Their newest album is named Melophobia—a word for a fear of music, something none of the attendees of this highly anticipated festival will have. 12:00 p.m. MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre. 4802 U,S. 301 N. Tampa. 33610.
Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull – Miami
Miami residents Pitbull and Enrique Iglesias have had successful careers crossing-over into both the pop music and Latin music spheres. Enrique Iglesias (son of famous singer Julio Iglesias and paramour of tennis superstar Anna Kournikova) is considered one of the most successful Latin music and pop crossover artists. Chart-topping singles include “Bailamos” and “Be With You.” Pitbull is another hugely successful Miami native. His latest album Global Warming: Meltdown includes hit singles “Feel this Moment,” “Don’t Stop the Party,” and “Timber.” J. Balvin will be the supporting act. 7:30 p.m. American Airlines Arena. 601 Biscayne Blvd. Miami. 33132.
Nightmare on Franklin Street – Tampa
Tampa Theatre is currently hosting a Halloween series featuring fifteen nights of classic horror films. Each night will play a different film. Included in the event is a concession stand with a Halloween twist: spooky craft beers such as Newcastle Werewolf Ale, Rogue Dead Guy Ale, and Arrogant Bastard Ale. Tonight’s movie is Gremlins—the classic tale of a boy, his cuddly mogwai, and the late night snacks that can turn a cute animal into a herd of mischievous gremlins. 7:30 p.m. Tampa Theatre. 711 Franklin St. Tampa. 33672.
Moon Taxi – Orlando
Moon Taxi may be from country-music capital Nashville, but their music is much more indie-progressive rock. Five Belmont University students formed the band in 2006. They found success in 2013 with the release of their third studio album Mountains Beaches Cities. Performances on both The Late Show with David Letterman and Conan have helped cement their status as an up-and-coming band worth recognition. 8:00 p.m. House of Blues. 1490 E. Buena Vista Drive. Lake Buena Vista. 32830.
The Mix – Fort Lauderdale
Local iconic gay bar Sidelines hosts this month’s premiere LGBT networking event, The Mix. Each month, Guy Magazine, Agenda newspaper, and the Wilton Manors Development Alliance present two hours of cocktails and hors d‘oeuvres for Wilton Manors’ business professionals. Rub shoulders with lawyers, advertising agents, writers from this magazine, and many other successful professionals from our glittering community. The Mix allows for new business opportunities and chances to grow start-ups. This week’s Mix also offers a chance to win a $500 advertising certificate with Guy Magazine and Agenda newspaper. Come enjoy a few drinks and strong connections. 6:30 p.m. Sidelines Sports and Video Bar. 2031 Wilton Dr, Wilton Manors, FL 33305.
Photo of Moon Taxi courtesy of Moon Taxi.
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Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi immediately appealed the judge’s ruling. It effectively stopped their wedding and other same-sex marriages from taking place in the state.
Fantasy Fest is a 10-day costuming and masking festival that began last Friday. The Fantasy Fest parade takes place this coming Saturday, October 25, and is expected to attract 60,000 people.
“Being chosen as grand marshals for Fantasy Fest is a great honor towards our fight for marriage equality and it’s a great opportunity to stand up as one human family here in Key West and show the rest of the state, if not the world, that equality needs to be for everybody,” Huntsman said in a statement.
The parade consists of marching groups, bands, motorized floats and street dancers.
Photo by Andy Newman
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Set in a rural California town, just north of Los Angeles, “Tiger Orange” (whose title comes from a paint color sold at the hardware store inherited by Chet after his father died) utilizes flashbacks to illustrate the ways the brothers differed as children. Abandoned by their mother when they were small and raised by their perpetually raging father, Chet and Todd are as different as brothers can be. Chet stayed behind after college to help his father with the store, while Todd got the hell out of town as fast as he could.
Chet, who lives alone in the cabin where he took care of his father until his death, has his safe and stable existence rocked by a pair of events. First, Brandon (Gregory Marcel), an old high school crush who has since come out as gay, returns to town to take care of his ailing mother. Second, tattooed and pierced Todd, who has basically been run out of L.A. following a series of unfavorable events, also returns to town, and wants to stay at the cabin with Chet.
As you might imagine, the set-up is rife with conflict. But what gives “Tiger Orange” its roar is the way that the astute and sensitive screenplay handles an array of situations, including the way gay people are able to coexist peacefully with straight folks in a suburban setting, as well as the portrayal of the complex sibling relationship that arises when both brothers are gay. Strano and Marcel are quite good, but it’s Valenti, who like fellow porn actor Sean Lockhart (aka Brent Corrigan), proves there’s more to him than what we’ve already seen.
Oct. 18, 2014, noon, Gateway: In Dutch with subtitles, “Boys”(M-Appeal) aka “Jungens” is an insightful exploration of the first blush of young gay love. Teen track team mates Sieger (Gijs Blom) and Marc (Ko Zandvliet) have an immediate attraction as they train for a relay meet with fellow runners Step (Stijn Taverne) and Tom (Myron Wouts). A visit to a swimming hole cements things when the two kiss. Of course, Sieger tells Marc he’s not gay, in spite of not hesitating to kiss Marc back.
The boys’ home lives couldn’t be more different. Sieger and his older brother Eddy (Jonas Smulders), a former track star turned motorcycle-riding hoodlum, live with their widowed father. Eddy insists on riding a motorcycle, even though his father disapproves since the boys’ mother was killed in, you guessed it, a motorcycle accident. Marc, on the other hand, is an adoring older brother to his kid sister , and has a good relationship with his folks.
As Sieger and Marc’s relationship develops, and they can barely keep their hands off of each other, complications arise. There is Sieger’s possible interest in Jessica (Lotte Razoux Schultz), for example, and his obvious confusion about his feelings for Marc. However, a victory at an important track meet might be just the thing Sieger needs to face his demons.
Oct. 18, 2014, 2:30, Gateway: It’s no exaggeration to say that groundbreaking gay porn filmmaker Wakefield Poole had “many lives,” as is stated in the title of the doc “I Always Said Yes: The Many Lives of Wakefield Poole” (Gorilla Factory) by Jim Tushinski (“That Man: Peter Berlin”). Separated into three acts, the doc features vintage interview footage (including Poole on the “David Susskind Show” in 1972) and current interviews with Poole, writer Felice Picano, artist Robert W. Richards, actress Jill O’Hara, Mary Rodger Guettel, poster artist David Edward Byrd (“Follies”), director Joe Gage, actress Georgina Spelvin, critic John F. Karr and others.
From his humble beginnings in Florida and North Carolina to the discovery of his artistic talents in music and dance, Poole was off to a good start. Getting a taste of fame after winning a series of amateur talent radio contests, Poole’s interests shifted to dance and choreography, precipitating a move to NYC and work on Broadway and television. He even found time to marry (and later divorce) actress Nancy Van Rijn.
Following a bitter Broadway-related lawsuit, two life-changing events occurred in Poole’s life. He started going to the baths, leading to a relationship with Peter Schneckenburger (aka Peter Fisk) and he became mesmerized by the power of looking through the lens of a camera. On Fire Island Pines in 1971, Poole began to channel “creativity into a new way of bringing it out.” It was there that he filmed the tastefully pornographic “Boys In The Sand,” starring Casey Donovan (aka Cal Culver), an all male film that attracted both gay and mainstream audiences.
Poole, who continued to make films with varying degrees of success throughout the seventies and eighties, added even more chapters to his life story. He relocated to San Francisco where he opened the renowned Hot Flash gallery/retail space, mingled with Harvey Milk, began a new relationship and became addicted to drugs. But, like a cat with multiple lives, Poole survived it all, re-emerging as a professional chef, cooking for the likes of Calvin Klein. Tushinski’s Poole documentary is well worth diving into for its wealth of fascinating and educational details.
Oct. 19, 2014, 7:00 p.m., Cinema Paradiso: One of the best comedies on the festival circuit, “Appropriate Behavior” (Parkville Pictures) begs the question, “Why can’t more lesbian comedies be this witty, smart and sexy?” Writer/director/actress Desiree Akhavan has made a queer film that, like Ira Sachs’ “Love Is Strange,” will appeal to audiences from every demographic.
“Appropriate Behavior” begins with a break-up. Shirin (Akhavan) and Maxine (Rebecca Henderson), victims of lesbian bed-death, among other things, have called it quits and Shirin is moving out. High on the list of other things is Shirin’s hesitance to come out to her Persian immigrant mother and father (Anh Duong and Hooman Majd, respectively). Making matters worse is that Shirin, who has a Masters Degree in journalism isn’t making much of her professional life while competitive and overachieving older brother Ali (Adrian Moayed) and his fiancée Layli (Justine Cotsonas) are taking the medical world by storm.
A Brooklyn hipster in training, Shirin finds another living situation with roommates and is hired by druggy Ken (Scott Adsit) to run an after-school filmmaking class for kids. Adding insult to injury, the kids are much younger than the inexperienced Shirin expected.
At the (broken) heart of all of it is that Shirin is far from being over Maxine. Through flashbacks, we see their relationship from its clever and comedic commencement to its ugly and cruel end. Beginning with discovering that they have a “hatred of things in common,” as well as being the “same kind of stoned person,” the pair deals with the “dating an immigrant experience,” “playing the Persian card,” and the (unexpected) fluidity of both women’s sexuality.
The writing is consistently hilarious and darkly sexy. The therapy session in the lingerie store and the post-break-up scene where the women run into each other (and their new lovers) owe a debt to Woody Allen. Coming off (and out) like an Iranian Sarah Silverman, Akhavan’s feature length film debut is a triumph, despite an open-ended finale that feels like a cop-out. But that’s really the only complaint.
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The Russian government claims that the student was persuaded to stay in the U.S. by a gay American couple, who made him promises that included paying his college tuition. The U.S. State Department will not confirm this nor identify who the foster parents are. However, the Washington Post has corroborated that much in the Russian government’s account. Russian diplomats are demanding the return of the student to the his natural parents in Russia, who allegedly disapprove of the asylum.
Then, on the heels of this extraordinary development, the State Department announced that it would remove “transgender exclusion” from the agency’s employee insurance policies. The department has about 12 health insurance providers. The first to comply with this new policy is the American Foreign Service Protective Association — the largest, covering almost 31 percent of the agency’s employees.
The new policy will make it possible for transgender individuals and their families to qualify for health services not related to gender reassignment, something which was not practiced before this.
Secretary of State John Kerry told the Washington Post, “It’s about fairness and respect for our employees, but it’s also about showing the world we mean what we say and say what we mean…. So this matters in many ways. I’ve met transgendered colleagues at the Department and, in addition to being brave and strong, they’re just good officers. Why should they have it any different when it comes to health care?”
]]>For theater patrons, Marti’s offers a prix fixe dinner menu starting 2½ hours before curtain for evening performances. Marti’s is also a great place to gather after a performance for drinks, desserts, coffee and conversation.
Guests who are not attending the theater can also enjoy the distinct Fort Lauderdale flavor of Marti’s on show nights for the prix fixe dinner menu or they can arrive after 8 p.m. and enjoy an à la carte dinner menu. When there is no show in the theater, the à la carte menu is available on Friday and Saturday evenings starting at 5:30 p.m.
Both the prix fixe and à la carte dinner menu feature tempting appetizers such as grilled vine-ripened tomato and fresh mozzarella with aged balsamic syrup, classic pesto and a romesco glaze; beef carpaccio, fresh arugula, shaved parmesan and a truffle-infused olive oil drizzle; and a hand-crafted soup of the day. Show-stopping entrees include fresh Florida fish with mango and papaya salsa, grilled crispy chicken with a classic French à l’orange sauce and Moroccan lamb tagine. Mouthwatering desserts include honey-lavender ice cream and a decadent fudge brownie with vanilla bean ice cream and a Godiva chocolate sauce shooter.
Marti’s serves a delightful brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with menu items featuring inspired new takes on traditional favorites such as red velvet pancakes with white chocolate chips and fresh strawberries, and a Bistro BLT with candied bacon. The inventive menu also includes butternut squash potato cakes topped with smoked salmon and lemon yogurt whip, jumbo lump crab cake eggs Benedict and southern fried chicken and maple waffles, as well as eggs and omelets made to order.
For information and reservations for Marti’s New River Bistro, call 954-522-5334. While reservations are encouraged, walk-ups are welcome. Members of Entourage, the Center’s membership program, enjoy access to reservations for Marti’s in advance of the general public. Tax deductible membership levels begin at only $75.00. Information about membership is available at 954-468-2681.
Restaurant guests may valet park at the Broward Center or park at the Arts & Entertainment District parking garage at S.W. Fifth Avenue, directly across from the Broward Center.
The opening of Marti’s New River Bistro is part of the Broward Center’s capital expansion project to reimagine the Broward Center with new experiences for audiences. In addition to returning the theaters to state-of-the-art, the Broward Center has added several new spaces including: the Huizenga Pavilion, featuring Marti’s New River Bistro and the stunning Porter Riverview Ballroom; the Rose Miniaci Arts Education Center with year-round educational programs; two premium hospitality experiences at the Club Level and the Intermezzo Lounge; and updated the Abdo New River Room to offer cabaret-style performances with a modern small plates menu.
The Broward Center for the Performing Arts is located in the Riverwalk Arts & Entertainment District at 201 SW Fifth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale.
]]>For more information on the Film Festival, go here.
]]>Edited by award-winning author and publisher, Richard Hack, the Agenda newspaper covers both national and local news relevant to the LGBT community and includes editorials and commentary by community leaders that help readers relate the news to their own lives. The National Agenda will base its platform on the news of global importance, supplemented in each region by local news contributed by local reporters.
LGBT Entertainment Industry leader, Guy Magazine, focuses on social media and entertainment trends. Its website, GuyMag.net is fast becoming the top portal for LGBT community members to discover the most popular places to meet, greet, eat, and dance. The recently launched social media plugin feature allows advertisers the ability to reach deeply into the social media networks of their friends and followers, and is under further development to include many powerful features such as mobile proximity offers (flash specials for those nearby) and the ability to connect with other members in the immediate vicinity. This is to be powered by the world’s largest social media business directory, now under development, serving over 200 cities, worldwide, and nearly 10,000 businesses.
“We have been amazed by the positive response we have received every step of the way,” said Blair. “I am convinced that the LGBT community is not only ready to take advantage of the opportunities MMP is bringing, but may even consider that these technological advantages are long overdue. We feel we have a green light to go full-speed ahead in developing advanced communication tools for this market,” Blair added.
MMP is in process of becoming a publicly traded company.
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MaleSurvivor is having its 14th International Conference in Newark, NJ on October 13th to November 2nd. To find out more, go here.
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He just spent the summer performing his one-man show in Provincetown at the legendary Crown & Anchor Paramount Nightclub where he joined Kevin Aviance, before Hawkins headed to Europe on tour with his music.
“I came from a very conservative musical family and went to a private Christian college, so when I came out during my senior year, it was a very difficult process. I could have been severely disciplined if not expelled.” However, for Hawkins, the move was a liberating one.
“My journey really formed me as a musician. Because I always knew what I was suppressing, I limited myself in the songs I would perform. Now that I’m out and proud and having a blast, I sing whatever I want.”
Hear the results for yourself this coming Monday at 7 p.m. as Jonathan Hawkins is joined by models showcasing the latest undergear from True Blue, Wilton Manors. “Push Fitness Presents Jonathan Hawkins in Concert: Broadway, Boys and Briefs” is a fundraiser for the Stonewall National Museum and Archives as well as the Brian Neal Fitness and Health Foundation. Tickets are available at www.pushfitnessftl.com.
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