Mariah’s new duet with R&B star Miguel is now available to download in the UK and the US. Mariah’s last number 1 in the UK was in 2000 when she sang a duet with Westlife on ‘Against All Odds’.
The glittered diva is reportedly working on a follow up album of her 2009 album Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel.
Jamie or Dr. Jamie Scarborough to his patients is a psychiatrist. But poor Jamie suffers with his own mental health – he has severe anxiety (which at times lead to panic attacks) with a bit of OCD thrown in. He’s recently split up from bisexual Basil his partner of five years, leaving behind Basil’s sisters twin children Mallory and Marshall.
Dance is an eccentric, loveable and very intelligent compulsive liar. He’s homeless and the only family he has is a twin brother Seth whose desperate to become a woman named September. September however has an eating disorder so can’t get the psychiatric pass to allow the surgery.
Neil is a fire fighter who has been suspended due to putting his colleagues life at risk. Neil is a loner with his only family being an old dog that has to be put down by the vet. Neil’s poor mental health worsens after this trauma, making him unstable, neurotic and a very sinister person later in the book.
Jamie, Dance and Neil all have mental health issues in this story, the root cause of which is childhood trauma. This heavy subject matter made Into the Flames difficult to read at times, but what encouraged me to read on was the genuine care and compassion that I felt for the characters.
The story was slow to get going and initially focused on the characters issues rather than the characters and their development. I’m not sure if this was deliberate from Bossa, wanting the reader to care about the main characters to the point of us wanting to rescue them. Bossa also took her time in building the links and associations between the different characters which also encourages the reader to read on.
Towards the end of the book tension builds and you become hooked. Neil starts to have a neurotic breakdown becoming dangerous and Dance disappears. Will Neil harm anyone? If he does will it be physical or psychological torture or both? Where has Dance gone? Will he be OK?
Bossa uses the twin connection cleverly throughout the book and for more than one of the main characters. The story concludes traumatically but leaving the reader with a sense that everything will be OK in the end. I did feel sorry for Matt (one of the minor characters) who I felt was a loose string that could have been tied up at the end.
Overall the story is well written with the use of the characters perspectives being pleasing; it is obvious that Bossa has a lot passion for writing queer literature. Into the Flames is available to buy on Amazon.
A picket that was organised by the American church Westboro Baptist Church was made fabulous when a musician named Chris did this…
The extremist church was protesting outside the Oklahoma City and Houston Rockets NBA playoff following Jason Collins’ decision to come out as gay last week (April 2013)
The shirtless man, had a US flag draped across his shoulders and posed in front of the church’s demonstrators, and pictures of his solo crusade of fabulousness has made it on the front of many news sites across the world.
Boldly going where no slogan has gone before, Stonewall’s internationally renown ‘Get Over It!’ campaign has become intergalactic after the charity revealed two posters translating it into Klingon, to coincide with the UK release of Star Trek: Into Darkness.
Stonewall Deputy Chief Executive Ruth Hunt said:
‘Klingons may be renowned for their determination to fall out with people but, as Spock would say, even gay Klingons should be able to live long and prosper.’
The campaign, which hit the headlines last year after appearing on the sides of many buses across the country, has actually existed for 6 years. The simple text ‘Some People Are Gay, Get Over It!’ has been translated into 10 languages including: Russian, Chinese, Welsh and Hebrew, all of which are available online at www.stonewall.org.uk/international.
The images are available for download from Stonewall’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/stonewalluk
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Set against the complex backdrop of a 1970s Afghanistan in upheaval and later 1980’s Los Angeles, the story – narrated by an adult Amir who jumps in and out of the action – is of two young boys Amir and Hassan whose friendship is complicated by racial inequality and servitude.
The boys are united through kite running competitions but a nasty incident and an act of cowardice tear the two apart.
Wide in scope, heavy in emotion: The Kite Runner’s story is where its strengths lie but with Khaled Hosseini’s bestselling book and the film already available is this the best medium for it? The Kite Runner suffers in translation from text to stage due to its reliance on narration. The story is arguably too unwieldy to be dealt with in any other way but this is a story of human relationships and powerful emotions and too often I wanted to be shown instead of told. As a result the stage regularly appeared empty, lacking dynamism and I felt distanced from a story that had the potential to wrestle me to the ground.
Credit to Ben Turner though, who was present on stage through the whole piece, switching as he does between the narrative voice and on-stage persona of Amir. Sadly though, I was never blown away; his American accent jarred and when playing the younger Amir I felt he went too young for the role, verging on childish caricature. Turner performed competently but never quite gripped. The supporting cast impressed though, including Farshid Rokey playing the childhood friend Hassan. Rokey again played it too young but was more convincing and I believed his unwavering loyalty. Emilio Doorgasingh as the father doesn’t quite fit the role of domineering patriarch in stature and voice but I felt his conflicted emotions and his frustration and he won my affection. Special mention goes to the on stage percussion – a nice touch that added a layer of energy to the performance and it seemed to me that as the curtain fell it was the percussionist that enjoyed the loudest applause.
Simple but effective set design – minimal props and projection – allowed for quick and efficient set changes that let the story flow. The animated hand drawings of childhood and misshapen comic book skyline of Los Angeles added a sense of magic and warmth to what was often a heavy story.
If this is the Playhouse’s centre-piece for the coming season then ultimately I was a little disappointed. It didn’t drag but it didn’t grab. Its strength is in its source material and this was source material I was familiar with; on stage I was hoping for something a little different, a little more dynamic.
The Kite Runner is on until the 18th of May.
Book here:http://www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/whats-on/drama/the-kite-runner
With more key changes than even Simon Cowell could handle, the Eurovision 2013 album is available to buy from all good digtial and physical retailers.
With 39 songs, this year’s double album is a whopper.
This year’s Eurovision will be held in the Swedish town of Malmo and will be broadcast on BBC on the 18th May
Viewers and professional juries in 39 participating countries will vote.
Viewers and professional juries each have a 50 percent stake in the outcome. The professional juries will feature six members in each country. The televoting window will be opened after all the songs have been performed.
The running order of the represented countries in the Final will be determined by draw, right after each of the two Semi-Finals.