Pridelets for December 27
On this day in 1975, The Episcopal bishop of New York, the Right Rev.
Paul Moore, Jr., says that many clergymen in his Church have been
homosexuals, and that "the ordination of an avowed lesbian as a Deacon
in the church is a sign of a healthy change."
BIRTHGAYS (and the occasional straights)
* 1879 - "Maltese Falcon" actor Sydney Greenstreet
* 1901/1904 - Icon/Diva Marlene Dietrich
* 1946 - Singer/composer Peggy Sendars
* 1949 - Seattle Men's Chorus singer Joseph Singer
* 1956 - essayist and radio contributor David Sedaris
* 1962 - Tony award-winning actor and director Joe Mantello
* 1973 - Out "My So-Called Life" actor and activist, Wilson Cruz
* 1986 - adult film star, model and occasional escort Tristan Mathews
Q.UOTE
"If you're looking for sympathy you'll find it between shit and
syphilis in the dictionary." -- David Sedaris
Friday, December 26, 2008
Pridelets for December 26
Pridelets for December 26
On this day in 2004, Rikkyo University in Tokyo says it's documented
at least 20 cases of gay couples found in ... penguin habitats. No, not
tourists knocking on the glass, the animals themselves.
BIRTHGAYS (and the occasional straights)
* 1716 - Poet, classical scholar, and Cambridge University history
professor Thomas Gray
* 1950 - San Francisco Chronicle writer/reviewer Edward Guthman. His
noted place in gay culture is having created the phrase "Castro Clones"
in June 1978.
* 1956 - stand-up comedian, writer, and BBC Radio 4 broadcaster Simon
Hew Dalrymple Fanshawe
Q.UOTE
"If no one ever told you—the world doesn't revolve around gay marriage.
If it did, let's face it, Obama wouldn't be the President-elect, now
would he? It's no secret that Obama isn't exactly the poster child for
gay marriage, and for the record, neither was your Hillary Clinton.
However, that didn't stop you from voting for her or me as a lesbian
from voting for him. And please stop reminding us that you voted for
Obama. You didn't do us any favors, you did yourself one. There is no
reward for that. Sorry." - Jasmyne Cannick
On this day in 2004, Rikkyo University in Tokyo says it's documented
at least 20 cases of gay couples found in ... penguin habitats. No, not
tourists knocking on the glass, the animals themselves.
BIRTHGAYS (and the occasional straights)
* 1716 - Poet, classical scholar, and Cambridge University history
professor Thomas Gray
* 1950 - San Francisco Chronicle writer/reviewer Edward Guthman. His
noted place in gay culture is having created the phrase "Castro Clones"
in June 1978.
* 1956 - stand-up comedian, writer, and BBC Radio 4 broadcaster Simon
Hew Dalrymple Fanshawe
Q.UOTE
"If no one ever told you—the world doesn't revolve around gay marriage.
If it did, let's face it, Obama wouldn't be the President-elect, now
would he? It's no secret that Obama isn't exactly the poster child for
gay marriage, and for the record, neither was your Hillary Clinton.
However, that didn't stop you from voting for her or me as a lesbian
from voting for him. And please stop reminding us that you voted for
Obama. You didn't do us any favors, you did yourself one. There is no
reward for that. Sorry." - Jasmyne Cannick
Please Protect Us, Serbian Gays Plead
Please Protect Us, Serbian Gays Plead: Death Threats, Attacks Faced as Facebook Fails to Remove Two Hate Groups
BELGRADE, December 25, 2008 – Please protect us. That is the plea tonight from gays and lesbian in Serbia to their government, the police and the wider world this holiday season.
The staff and contributors of the Serbian gay and lesbian website Querria Centre, are constantly receiving death threats and threats of physical violence, it emerged this evening.
“Every day threats are being sent to the website’s official email address to the effect that the website is going to be hacked, that we are sick people who should be treated, that all of us (LGBT population) should be killed,” said Predrag Azdejković, the editor of Queeria and one of the main targets.
“Such threats are also posted among the comments made on the website.”
Two anti-Queeria groups have been formed on the Facebook website. One is called “Queeria, Pederi Marš iz Srbije” (Queeria, queers get out of Serbia) and has 406 members – it was created a month ago by Darko Ilic. (see screenshot below)
The other group is “СТОП ПЕДЕРИМА - КВИРИЈИ!” (Stop queers – Queeria) with 2,554 members and was created by Ivan Ivanovic.
Both are “open groups”.
Members of both groups are publicly advocating death threats to the activists at Queeria, whose photographs, Queeria say, are circulating among the members of both groups.
Additionally, the groups are advocating breaking and entering the Queeria Centre premises, as well as the homes of gay activists.
The groups suggest violence against all gays and lesbians population.
“Although these groups have been reported to Facebook’s administrators and an official letter has been sent to Facebook, the two groups remain online,” Predrag Azdejković said. [the two Facebook pages were “live” at 22:45 UTC today).
A week ago, posters were put up in the centre of Belgrade by the nationalist group, Naši (Ours), that said:
“While Serbs are being laid off, look who is being financed by Boris Tadić [the Serbian president] and the government of Serbia. The Serbian Ministry of Culture, within its remit for projects in the field of public information, has recently granted 256,500.00 dinars for the website of a faggots organization - Queeria Centre - which is promoting faggots’ rights and slandering the Serbian Orthodox Church in the most despicable way. Is this what the democrats had been promising before the elections? The association Naši.”.
The “Queeria Centre" activists are also a regular subject matter of the Nazi Stormfront website, within topics such as “Predrag Azdejković – queer freak”, “Queeria supports LDP”, and “Even dirtier Jewish GAY propaganda”, in which participants incite to physical violence and killing.
“You can also find threats to the Queeria Centre activists on other nationalistic message boards and blogs,” said Mr. Azdejković.
“The Queeria Centre is asking the general public in Serbia and abroad, and especially the authorities in this country, to do their utmost to protect the activists of gay and lesbian rights groups in Serbia.”
“We remind everyone that Mladen Obradović, the president of the nationalist organization Obraz, publicly threatened the gay and lesbian population, and incited to violence during the Eurovision Song Contest.
“The police and the Public Attorney showed no reaction.
“It is our opinion that by keeping silent the national authorities of the Republic of Serbia support violence against the gay and lesbian population and activists of gay and lesbian rights groups, and thus provide homophobic forces in this country with an additional impetus,” he charged.
“We are asking national and international human rights NGOs to raise their voices in this case with similar vehemence like in cases when threats are directed to non-gay human rights activists.
“Although we are gay, we have equal rights like other citizens of this country and we deserve the same legal treatment and protection. Therefore – protect us!”
Serbia is a member of the Council of Europe and is an applicant to join the European Union.
■ Repeated attempts have been made by telephone to Facebook Inc. in Palo Alto, California, for comment on the company permitting the two hate groups and disregarding requests to have them removed. An email has been sent and any response will be posted when received.
http://ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/08/Dec/2601.htm
BELGRADE, December 25, 2008 – Please protect us. That is the plea tonight from gays and lesbian in Serbia to their government, the police and the wider world this holiday season.
The staff and contributors of the Serbian gay and lesbian website Querria Centre, are constantly receiving death threats and threats of physical violence, it emerged this evening.
“Every day threats are being sent to the website’s official email address to the effect that the website is going to be hacked, that we are sick people who should be treated, that all of us (LGBT population) should be killed,” said Predrag Azdejković, the editor of Queeria and one of the main targets.
“Such threats are also posted among the comments made on the website.”
Two anti-Queeria groups have been formed on the Facebook website. One is called “Queeria, Pederi Marš iz Srbije” (Queeria, queers get out of Serbia) and has 406 members – it was created a month ago by Darko Ilic. (see screenshot below)
The other group is “СТОП ПЕДЕРИМА - КВИРИЈИ!” (Stop queers – Queeria) with 2,554 members and was created by Ivan Ivanovic.
Both are “open groups”.
Members of both groups are publicly advocating death threats to the activists at Queeria, whose photographs, Queeria say, are circulating among the members of both groups.
Additionally, the groups are advocating breaking and entering the Queeria Centre premises, as well as the homes of gay activists.
The groups suggest violence against all gays and lesbians population.
“Although these groups have been reported to Facebook’s administrators and an official letter has been sent to Facebook, the two groups remain online,” Predrag Azdejković said. [the two Facebook pages were “live” at 22:45 UTC today).
A week ago, posters were put up in the centre of Belgrade by the nationalist group, Naši (Ours), that said:
“While Serbs are being laid off, look who is being financed by Boris Tadić [the Serbian president] and the government of Serbia. The Serbian Ministry of Culture, within its remit for projects in the field of public information, has recently granted 256,500.00 dinars for the website of a faggots organization - Queeria Centre - which is promoting faggots’ rights and slandering the Serbian Orthodox Church in the most despicable way. Is this what the democrats had been promising before the elections? The association Naši.”.
The “Queeria Centre" activists are also a regular subject matter of the Nazi Stormfront website, within topics such as “Predrag Azdejković – queer freak”, “Queeria supports LDP”, and “Even dirtier Jewish GAY propaganda”, in which participants incite to physical violence and killing.
“You can also find threats to the Queeria Centre activists on other nationalistic message boards and blogs,” said Mr. Azdejković.
“The Queeria Centre is asking the general public in Serbia and abroad, and especially the authorities in this country, to do their utmost to protect the activists of gay and lesbian rights groups in Serbia.”
“We remind everyone that Mladen Obradović, the president of the nationalist organization Obraz, publicly threatened the gay and lesbian population, and incited to violence during the Eurovision Song Contest.
“The police and the Public Attorney showed no reaction.
“It is our opinion that by keeping silent the national authorities of the Republic of Serbia support violence against the gay and lesbian population and activists of gay and lesbian rights groups, and thus provide homophobic forces in this country with an additional impetus,” he charged.
“We are asking national and international human rights NGOs to raise their voices in this case with similar vehemence like in cases when threats are directed to non-gay human rights activists.
“Although we are gay, we have equal rights like other citizens of this country and we deserve the same legal treatment and protection. Therefore – protect us!”
Serbia is a member of the Council of Europe and is an applicant to join the European Union.
■ Repeated attempts have been made by telephone to Facebook Inc. in Palo Alto, California, for comment on the company permitting the two hate groups and disregarding requests to have them removed. An email has been sent and any response will be posted when received.
http://ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/08/Dec/2601.htm
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Ex Indian Prince trawls British bars and clubs for soulmate
Ex Indian Prince trawls British bars and clubs for soulmate
London, Dec 24 (IANS) Gay Indian Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil has been trawling the bars and clubs of a British seaside resort - even taking up a menial job - in a life-follows-art search for a soulmate.
Gohil, crown prince of the former princely state of Rajpipla in Gujarat, is among three 'undercover princes' who have travelled from India, Sri Lanka and South Africa to star in a four-part British television documentary.
They keep their aristocratic heritage a secret and pose as ordinary bachelors in the hope of meeting their perfect partners.
Openly gay Gohil and his princely co-stars have spent a month living in a shared house in Brighton, visiting bars and clubs in search of their soulmate.
They even embark on an intensive period of internet and speed dating and house parties - just as in the Hollywood blockbuster "Coming To America".
They went as far as to take up jobs as a barman, a waiter and a hotel housekeeper in order to be convincing, according to makers of the film, called "The Undercover Princes", which begins Jan 15 on BBC Three.
In the documentary the princes will reveal their true identity to their chosen partners, and invite them over to their palaces to find out if their new-found loves can be everlasting.
The two other royals are Prince Remigius of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, who is searching for "a woman as sophisticated as Princess Diana"; and Prince Africa Zulu, a 30-year-old bachelor from Zululand in South Africa.
London, Dec 24 (IANS) Gay Indian Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil has been trawling the bars and clubs of a British seaside resort - even taking up a menial job - in a life-follows-art search for a soulmate.
Gohil, crown prince of the former princely state of Rajpipla in Gujarat, is among three 'undercover princes' who have travelled from India, Sri Lanka and South Africa to star in a four-part British television documentary.
They keep their aristocratic heritage a secret and pose as ordinary bachelors in the hope of meeting their perfect partners.
Openly gay Gohil and his princely co-stars have spent a month living in a shared house in Brighton, visiting bars and clubs in search of their soulmate.
They even embark on an intensive period of internet and speed dating and house parties - just as in the Hollywood blockbuster "Coming To America".
They went as far as to take up jobs as a barman, a waiter and a hotel housekeeper in order to be convincing, according to makers of the film, called "The Undercover Princes", which begins Jan 15 on BBC Three.
In the documentary the princes will reveal their true identity to their chosen partners, and invite them over to their palaces to find out if their new-found loves can be everlasting.
The two other royals are Prince Remigius of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, who is searching for "a woman as sophisticated as Princess Diana"; and Prince Africa Zulu, a 30-year-old bachelor from Zululand in South Africa.
THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY December 25
THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY
December 25
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU & YOURS
SOL INVICTUS ("the Unconquered Sun") or, more fully, Deus Sol Invictus ("the Unconquered Sun God") was the late Roman state sun god. The cult was created by the emperor Aurelian in 274 and continued until the abolition of paganism under Theodosius I. The Romans held a festival on December 25th called Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, "the birthday of the unconquered sun."
The use of the title Sol Invictus allowed several solar deities to be worshipped collectively, including Elah-Gabal, a Syrian sun god; Sol, the patron god of Emperor Aurelian (270-274); and Mithras. Oh, and a Jewish upstart named Jesus.
December 25th was also considered to be the date of the winter solstice, which the Romans called bruma. It was therefore the day the Sun proved itself to be "unconquered" despite the shortening of daylight hours. (When Julius Caesar introduced the Julian Calendar in 45 B.C.E., December 25th was approximately the date of the solstice. In modern times, the solstice falls on December 21st or 22nd.)
The Sol Invictus festival has a "strong claim on the responsibility" for the date of Christmas, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia. Solar symbolism was popular with early Christian writers as Jesus was considered to be the "sun of righteousness."
The date for Christmas may also bear a relation to the sun worship. According to the scholiast on the Syriac bishop Jacob Bar-Salibi, writing in the twelfth century:
"It was a custom of the Pagans to celebrate on the same 25 December the birthday of the Sun, at which they kindled lights in token of festivity. In these solemnities and revelries the Christians also took part. Accordingly when the doctors of the Church perceived that the Christians had a leaning to this festival, they took counsel and resolved that the true Nativity should be solemnized on that day." (cited in "Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries", Ramsay MacMullen. Yale:1997, p155)
418 B.C.E. – EPAMINONDAS, Greek warrior and general, born (d: 362 B.C.E.); Considered to have been one of the great military geniuses of the ancient world, he is included here, on Christmas Day, not because of his victories in battle, but because he was revered for his moral character. He was revered, too, since he had risen from an impoverished family because of his goodness, strength and character.
Epaminondas was well educated; his musical teachers were among the best in their disciplines, as was his dance instructor. Most notably, his philosophy instructor Lysis of Tarentum (who had come to live with Polymnis in his exile) was one of the last major Pythagorean philosophers. Epaminondas was devoted to Lysis and was noted for his excellence in philosophical studies.
Not merely an academic, Epaminondas was noted for his physical prowess, and in his youth he devoted much time to strengthening and preparing himself for combat. In 385 B.C.E., in a skirmish near the city of Mantinea, Epaminondas, at great risk to his own life, saved the life of his future partner Pelopidas, an act thought to have cemented the life-long friendship between the two.
He was, like most Greek warriors, homosexual – but with a difference. He never married and did not produce an heir. His delight in boys was complete in itself for him. His two favorite boys, Asopichus and Leuctra, both fell in battle, as did Epaminondas. Both, by his order, are buried in his tomb.
1908 – QUENTIN CRISP, English author bon vivant, raconteur, born (d. 1999); born Denis Charles Pratt, Crisp was an English writer, artist's model, actor and raconteur known for his memorable and insightful witticisms. He became a gay icon in the 1970s after publication of his memoir, The Naked Civil Servant, brought to the attention of the general public his defiant exhibitionism and longstanding refusal to conceal his sexuality.
The successful screening of The Naked Civil Servant launched Crisp in another new direction: that of performer and lecturer. He devised a one-man show and began touring the country with it. The first half of the show was an entertaining monologue loosely based on his memoirs, the second half was a question and answer session with Crisp picking the audience's written questions out at random and answering them in an amusing manner. In 1978 Crisp sold out the Duke of York's Theatre in London, then took the show to New York., where he eventually decided to move. His first stay there, in the Hotel Chelsea, coincided with a fire, a robbery, and the death of Nancy Spungen. He set about making arrangements to move to New York permanently and in 1981 he arrived with few possessions and found a small apartment in Manhattan's Lower East Side.
He continued to perform his one-man show, published ground-breaking books on the importance of contemporary manners as a means of social inclusivity as opposed to etiquette, which socially excludes, and supported himself by accepting social invitations and writing movie reviews and columns for U.S. and U.K. magazines and newspapers. He said that provided one could exist on peanuts and champagne, one could quite easily live by going to every cocktail party, premiere and first night to which one was invited. As he had done in London, Crisp allowed his phone number to remain listed in the Manhattan telephone directory and saw it as his duty to converse with anyone who called him. For the first twenty or so years of owning his own telephone he habitually answered calls with the phrase "Yes, God?" ("Just in case," he once said.) Later on he changed it to "Oh yes?" in a querulous tone of voice.
In addition to his listed phone number, he accepted dinner invitations from almost anyone. While it was expected that the inviter would pay for dinner, Quentin Crisp did his best to "sing for his supper" by regaling his hosts with wonderful stories and yarns much as he did in his theatre performances. Dinner with him was said to be one of the best shows in New York.
1936 – ISMAEL MERCHANT, Indian-born film producer born (d. 2005); Indian-born film producer, best known for the results of his famously long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions which included director James Ivory and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Their films won six Academy Awards. Ivory was Merchant's life partner.
In 1961, Merchant created the film production company, Merchant Ivory Productions, with James Ivory. Until Merchant's death in 2005, the company produced a number of award-winning films. Prawer Jhabvala was the screenwriter for most productions. They made close to 40 films together. Their partnership has a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest partnership in independent cinema history.
An excellent cook as well, Merchant wrote several books on the art including Ismail Merchant's Indian Cuisine; Ismail Merchant's Florence; Ismail Merchant's Passionate Meals and Ismail Merchant's Paris: Filming and Feasting in France. He also wrote books on filmmaking, including a book about the making of the film The Deceivers in 1988 called Hullabaloo in Old Jeypur, and another about the making of The Proprietor called Once Upon a Time . . . The Proprietor. His most recent book was, My Passage From India: A Filmmaker's Journey from Bombay to Hollywood and Beyond.
In 2002, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, an Indian civilian decoration established on January 2, 1954 by the President of India. It stands third in the hierarchy of civilian awards, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Sri. It is awarded to recognize distinguished service of a high order to the nation, in any field.
W.C. Fields (1946), Charlie Chaplin (1977), Joan Miro 1983), Dean Martin (1995), Birgit Nilsson (2005) and James Brown (2006) all died on Christmas day.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
December 25
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU & YOURS
SOL INVICTUS ("the Unconquered Sun") or, more fully, Deus Sol Invictus ("the Unconquered Sun God") was the late Roman state sun god. The cult was created by the emperor Aurelian in 274 and continued until the abolition of paganism under Theodosius I. The Romans held a festival on December 25th called Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, "the birthday of the unconquered sun."
The use of the title Sol Invictus allowed several solar deities to be worshipped collectively, including Elah-Gabal, a Syrian sun god; Sol, the patron god of Emperor Aurelian (270-274); and Mithras. Oh, and a Jewish upstart named Jesus.
December 25th was also considered to be the date of the winter solstice, which the Romans called bruma. It was therefore the day the Sun proved itself to be "unconquered" despite the shortening of daylight hours. (When Julius Caesar introduced the Julian Calendar in 45 B.C.E., December 25th was approximately the date of the solstice. In modern times, the solstice falls on December 21st or 22nd.)
The Sol Invictus festival has a "strong claim on the responsibility" for the date of Christmas, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia. Solar symbolism was popular with early Christian writers as Jesus was considered to be the "sun of righteousness."
The date for Christmas may also bear a relation to the sun worship. According to the scholiast on the Syriac bishop Jacob Bar-Salibi, writing in the twelfth century:
"It was a custom of the Pagans to celebrate on the same 25 December the birthday of the Sun, at which they kindled lights in token of festivity. In these solemnities and revelries the Christians also took part. Accordingly when the doctors of the Church perceived that the Christians had a leaning to this festival, they took counsel and resolved that the true Nativity should be solemnized on that day." (cited in "Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries", Ramsay MacMullen. Yale:1997, p155)
418 B.C.E. – EPAMINONDAS, Greek warrior and general, born (d: 362 B.C.E.); Considered to have been one of the great military geniuses of the ancient world, he is included here, on Christmas Day, not because of his victories in battle, but because he was revered for his moral character. He was revered, too, since he had risen from an impoverished family because of his goodness, strength and character.
Epaminondas was well educated; his musical teachers were among the best in their disciplines, as was his dance instructor. Most notably, his philosophy instructor Lysis of Tarentum (who had come to live with Polymnis in his exile) was one of the last major Pythagorean philosophers. Epaminondas was devoted to Lysis and was noted for his excellence in philosophical studies.
Not merely an academic, Epaminondas was noted for his physical prowess, and in his youth he devoted much time to strengthening and preparing himself for combat. In 385 B.C.E., in a skirmish near the city of Mantinea, Epaminondas, at great risk to his own life, saved the life of his future partner Pelopidas, an act thought to have cemented the life-long friendship between the two.
He was, like most Greek warriors, homosexual – but with a difference. He never married and did not produce an heir. His delight in boys was complete in itself for him. His two favorite boys, Asopichus and Leuctra, both fell in battle, as did Epaminondas. Both, by his order, are buried in his tomb.
1908 – QUENTIN CRISP, English author bon vivant, raconteur, born (d. 1999); born Denis Charles Pratt, Crisp was an English writer, artist's model, actor and raconteur known for his memorable and insightful witticisms. He became a gay icon in the 1970s after publication of his memoir, The Naked Civil Servant, brought to the attention of the general public his defiant exhibitionism and longstanding refusal to conceal his sexuality.
The successful screening of The Naked Civil Servant launched Crisp in another new direction: that of performer and lecturer. He devised a one-man show and began touring the country with it. The first half of the show was an entertaining monologue loosely based on his memoirs, the second half was a question and answer session with Crisp picking the audience's written questions out at random and answering them in an amusing manner. In 1978 Crisp sold out the Duke of York's Theatre in London, then took the show to New York., where he eventually decided to move. His first stay there, in the Hotel Chelsea, coincided with a fire, a robbery, and the death of Nancy Spungen. He set about making arrangements to move to New York permanently and in 1981 he arrived with few possessions and found a small apartment in Manhattan's Lower East Side.
He continued to perform his one-man show, published ground-breaking books on the importance of contemporary manners as a means of social inclusivity as opposed to etiquette, which socially excludes, and supported himself by accepting social invitations and writing movie reviews and columns for U.S. and U.K. magazines and newspapers. He said that provided one could exist on peanuts and champagne, one could quite easily live by going to every cocktail party, premiere and first night to which one was invited. As he had done in London, Crisp allowed his phone number to remain listed in the Manhattan telephone directory and saw it as his duty to converse with anyone who called him. For the first twenty or so years of owning his own telephone he habitually answered calls with the phrase "Yes, God?" ("Just in case," he once said.) Later on he changed it to "Oh yes?" in a querulous tone of voice.
In addition to his listed phone number, he accepted dinner invitations from almost anyone. While it was expected that the inviter would pay for dinner, Quentin Crisp did his best to "sing for his supper" by regaling his hosts with wonderful stories and yarns much as he did in his theatre performances. Dinner with him was said to be one of the best shows in New York.
1936 – ISMAEL MERCHANT, Indian-born film producer born (d. 2005); Indian-born film producer, best known for the results of his famously long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions which included director James Ivory and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Their films won six Academy Awards. Ivory was Merchant's life partner.
In 1961, Merchant created the film production company, Merchant Ivory Productions, with James Ivory. Until Merchant's death in 2005, the company produced a number of award-winning films. Prawer Jhabvala was the screenwriter for most productions. They made close to 40 films together. Their partnership has a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest partnership in independent cinema history.
An excellent cook as well, Merchant wrote several books on the art including Ismail Merchant's Indian Cuisine; Ismail Merchant's Florence; Ismail Merchant's Passionate Meals and Ismail Merchant's Paris: Filming and Feasting in France. He also wrote books on filmmaking, including a book about the making of the film The Deceivers in 1988 called Hullabaloo in Old Jeypur, and another about the making of The Proprietor called Once Upon a Time . . . The Proprietor. His most recent book was, My Passage From India: A Filmmaker's Journey from Bombay to Hollywood and Beyond.
In 2002, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, an Indian civilian decoration established on January 2, 1954 by the President of India. It stands third in the hierarchy of civilian awards, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Sri. It is awarded to recognize distinguished service of a high order to the nation, in any field.
W.C. Fields (1946), Charlie Chaplin (1977), Joan Miro 1983), Dean Martin (1995), Birgit Nilsson (2005) and James Brown (2006) all died on Christmas day.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Pridelets for December 25
Pridelets for December 25
On this day in 1989, Dr. Jonathan Mann, the director of the World
Health Organization's AIDS program, says that the key to ending the
epidemic is a concern for patients' rights.
"We made a big discovery during the 1980s that ranks right up there
with the discovery of the virus and the modes of spread. And that
discovery is that to fight this global epidemic of infectious disease,
you must also fight against prejudice and discrimination. (What
successful programs worldwide) have in common is the careful attention
to developing a supportive social environment that refuses
discrimination against infected people. We've realized that in order to
fight successfully against AIDS, it is vital to protect the rights and
dignity of people."
"It sounds like good sense, superficially, to 'build a wall' around a
country and say everybody who comes into this country has to be tested
for HIV infection, then you get into the realities. A virus, a disease,
doesn't respect walls. As the Berlin Wall has shown, walls don't protect
people; they actually endanger the people within the walls."
BIRTHGAYS (and the occasional straights)
* The pagan celebrated birth of King Nimrod, great grandson of Noah.
* 1908 - writer, artists' model, actor and raconteur Quentin Crisp
* 1936 - Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, best known for
collaboration with his partner, director James Ivory
* 1954 - Scottish heterosexual diva/AIDS fundraiser Annie Lennox
* 1978 - "The Lair" actor Dylan Vox AKA porn star Brad Benton
* 1975 - Junior Senior singer Jeppe Laursen
Q.UOTES
"The excruciatingly twee Thomas Kinkade oeuvre consists of biblically
inspired, light-infused romantic landscapes: rustic, wisteria-strangled
villages, babbling brooks straddled by mossy stone bridges, rose-enrobed
Cotswold cottages with gently smoking chimneys, glistening gazebos,
lighthouses, etc. Though clearly intended to impart a cozy,
fresh-baked-muffin, home-at-last feeling, this overload of feel-good
iconography creeps me out deeply. Its not my fault! Mr. Kinkade provides
no clear narrative and no clues as to what is occurring behind those
misty hedgerows and suspiciously glowing lattice windows, leaving me to
assume the worst. Is Mrs. Kinkade pulling a Bundt cake out of her oven?
Is Granny Kinkade faggoting the perimeter of a doily? I dont think so!
As far as I'm concerned, inside every Kinkade cottage is a veritable
bloodbath, a Pasolini-esque hellhole where -- at the very least --
children are cannibalized, and Granny Kinkade is fed dead rats by Satan
and forced to admit to terrible crimes she never committed. Come back to
the five and dime, David Lynch, David Lynch." -- Simon Doonan
"Nothing says holidays, like a cheese log." -- Ellen DeGeneres
On this day in 1989, Dr. Jonathan Mann, the director of the World
Health Organization's AIDS program, says that the key to ending the
epidemic is a concern for patients' rights.
"We made a big discovery during the 1980s that ranks right up there
with the discovery of the virus and the modes of spread. And that
discovery is that to fight this global epidemic of infectious disease,
you must also fight against prejudice and discrimination. (What
successful programs worldwide) have in common is the careful attention
to developing a supportive social environment that refuses
discrimination against infected people. We've realized that in order to
fight successfully against AIDS, it is vital to protect the rights and
dignity of people."
"It sounds like good sense, superficially, to 'build a wall' around a
country and say everybody who comes into this country has to be tested
for HIV infection, then you get into the realities. A virus, a disease,
doesn't respect walls. As the Berlin Wall has shown, walls don't protect
people; they actually endanger the people within the walls."
BIRTHGAYS (and the occasional straights)
* The pagan celebrated birth of King Nimrod, great grandson of Noah.
* 1908 - writer, artists' model, actor and raconteur Quentin Crisp
* 1936 - Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, best known for
collaboration with his partner, director James Ivory
* 1954 - Scottish heterosexual diva/AIDS fundraiser Annie Lennox
* 1978 - "The Lair" actor Dylan Vox AKA porn star Brad Benton
* 1975 - Junior Senior singer Jeppe Laursen
Q.UOTES
"The excruciatingly twee Thomas Kinkade oeuvre consists of biblically
inspired, light-infused romantic landscapes: rustic, wisteria-strangled
villages, babbling brooks straddled by mossy stone bridges, rose-enrobed
Cotswold cottages with gently smoking chimneys, glistening gazebos,
lighthouses, etc. Though clearly intended to impart a cozy,
fresh-baked-muffin, home-at-last feeling, this overload of feel-good
iconography creeps me out deeply. Its not my fault! Mr. Kinkade provides
no clear narrative and no clues as to what is occurring behind those
misty hedgerows and suspiciously glowing lattice windows, leaving me to
assume the worst. Is Mrs. Kinkade pulling a Bundt cake out of her oven?
Is Granny Kinkade faggoting the perimeter of a doily? I dont think so!
As far as I'm concerned, inside every Kinkade cottage is a veritable
bloodbath, a Pasolini-esque hellhole where -- at the very least --
children are cannibalized, and Granny Kinkade is fed dead rats by Satan
and forced to admit to terrible crimes she never committed. Come back to
the five and dime, David Lynch, David Lynch." -- Simon Doonan
"Nothing says holidays, like a cheese log." -- Ellen DeGeneres
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