Author: Sara Embrey

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Happy Coming Out Day Everyone!

 

Coming out as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer can be a huge challenge, and on October 11th we celebrate the struggle and stand with them on Coming Out Day. Many celebrity actors, musicians, and athletes, as well as everyday people have found the courage to step forward and declare who they truly are.

In 2014, a number of well-known people came out, including actress Ellen Page, talk show Host Robin Roberts, Apple CEO Tim Cook, country singer Billy Gilman, professional swimmer Ian Thorpe, Disney star Raven-Symone,  Game of Thrones actor Kristian Nairn, basketball player Derrick Gordon and professional runner Matt Llano, just to name a few. Prominent figures coming out in a confident and positive light helps those young people who are struggling with their sexuality to be more accepting of themselves.

There are many films that deal with the LGBT community and their struggle. These films can be hard to watch and require tissues due to their personal nature. But there other films that have a more comedic plots. One of the oldest films with a main character that is gay is The Rocky Horror Picture Show from 1975. This is a horror-comedy musical that’s full of sexual experiences. Tim Curry as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a transvestite that seduces both Janet (Susan Sarandon) and Brad (Barry Bostwick) separately, and the creation (Peter Hinwood) he makes for himself. Another great film is Pop Kowboy, which focuses on three misfit characters and how they become entangled in a mob drop.  It stars Shawn Driscoll, as a the wannabe cowboy, Ronnie Marmo an aspiring gangster, Craig Olsen as a transvestite down on her luck. Lastly, The Birdcage with Robin Williams and Nathan Lane a comedy about a gay cabaret owner and his drag queen lover, who agrees to pretend to be straight. They do this so that their son can introduce them to his fiancee’s right-wing conservative parents. All of these films would be a great way to celebrate Coming Out day.

While the Supreme Court ruling in June 2015, was a huge victory for the LGBT community, there's still a long way to go. Some states don’t have the same anti-discrimination laws in place. A couple can get married one day and evicted and unemployed the next. The shift towards acceptance has been staggering even in the last 5 years. In 2009 only 37% of Americans supported gay marriage today that number is has almost doubled to 65%. Twenty one countries have made gay marriage legal in the last 15 years. Unfortunately, as many supporters the LGBT community has, the harassment and bullying from peers causes children who are gay to contemplate suicide. Fortunately, individuals and corporations have thrown their support behind improving lives and outlook, including the Doritos It Gets Better Project, with their symbolic rainbow-colored chips. The future is brighter, indeed.

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Breast Cancer Awareness Month

 

This month is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and one great way to show your support for Breast Cancer Awareness than to share a few movies with your friends that bring attention to this disease. There are a number of thought-provoking, and sometimes funny, movies centered around cancer.

50/50 (2011) directed by Jonathan Levine, tells the story of a 27 year-old journalist, Adam, played by Joseph Gordon- Levitt, who has a rare cancer and must undergo chemotherapy. Adam skeptically begins going to the young and inexperienced therapist, Katie McCay (Anna Kendrick), and he slowly begins to open up to her about his disease and how it affects him. During chemo treatments, Adam befriends Alan (Philip Baker Hall) and Mitch (Matt Frewer), two older cancer patients who give him perspective on life, love, and illness. Although Adam at first claims to everyone that he is fine and handling his disease well, his composure slowly begins to unravel as the realities and seriousness of his illness become increasingly sharper. When the doctor informs him that his body is not responding to the chemotherapy and his only option is dangerous surgery, he is forced to emotionally confront his situation, and figure out what and who in his life is truly important to him.

Decoding Annie Parker (2013), directed by Steven Bernstein, is based on true events, and is the hopeful and touching story of two remarkable women and their fifteen-year battle against a cruel and insidious illness, breast cancer. Waged on both scientific and emotional fronts, they are drawn together not just by the disease but by their shared determination and unconventional approaches to their research and to their lives. The two women are played by Samantha Morton and Helen Hunt.

Terms of Endearment (1983), directed by James L. Brooks, depicts thirty years in the lives (and love/hate relationship) of Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter Emma (Debra Winger). Terms is still a must-watch today for two big reasons: the A-list cast, including Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Jeff Daniels, and John Lithgow; and the reminder that young women are not victimless when it comes to breast cancer.

The Lovely Patient (2014) tells the story of 19-year-old Leonard Marshall (Joseph L. Glenn) and his mother who struggle to survive in their rundown motel. Leonard aspires to help his mother recover from a stroke, but when he gets fired from his job he does not reveal to his mother he is unemployed. Leonard successfully finds an opening for a driver for hire position under a former truck driver Frank, played by John Collier, who is a male breast cancer patient living at a cancer treatment clinic. Leonard learns that Frank needs a "gopher" to help him around the clinic and a driver to take him to his daughter’s wedding. Leonard relationship continues to grow with Frank as he becomes the father he never had.

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China National’s Day

 

National Day is one the biggest national holidays in China and it symbolizes the country's nationhood and national pride.  The first National Day took place in 1949, where leader Mao declared the creation of People’s Republic of China. In China, one of the ways to celebrate National Day is having an elaborate parade every 10 years. Through the parade, people can see the history of drastic change not only in the military but also in Chinese society.

China has made great progress in the past few decades, and it’s becoming more modern and more people are willing to travel and work in China because of the beautiful landscape and the rapid economic growth.

We can definitely see the modern China in the movie The Nightingale, where people can see what the relationship is like between three separate generations, and how they all experience the rapid growth in China. The culture in China has changed tremendously in the past decades, where values are different for each generation.

One the of the reasons that China chose to submit The Nightingale for consideration for the 2015 Academy Awards is perhaps that the film shows how the changes in China have affected the old and young and how these three generations overcome their generation gap and embrace the modern China.

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Moon Festival

 

Lanterns will light up the night, and delicious moon cakes will be enjoyed this weekend to celebrate China’s second most important day on the Chinese lunar calendar, The Moon festival.

        China’s Moon festival, or Mid-Autumn Festival, is a Chinese tradition that has been traced back as early as 1046 B.C., and is a public holiday practiced throughout China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and other neighboring countries. Celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month on the Chinese lunar calendar, this year, the Moon Festival falls on September 27th, and for the first time in over 30 years, it falls on a day where there will also be a supermoon and a total lunar eclipse.

        The Moon festival is a day of giving thanks for the Chinese people. Family and friends gather together and give thanks to the moon for harvest and pray for good fortune. In China, many believe the moon symbolizes harmony and utility. Some traditions include lantern lighting, dragon and lion dragon dancing, and exchanging of moon cakes. Moon Cakes are round, which represent the moon, and symbolize the reunion of a family. Moon cakes are presented to friends and family to demonstrate best wishes and good fortune.

 

        Family values are important in the Chinese culture, so it was no surprise that China’s selection for the 2015 Academy Awards was the film, “The Nightingale.” A film that captivates the reality of the Chinese people. “The Nightingale” takes viewers on a journey that begins in modern day China, and leads the audience through the beautiful landscapes and hidden villages in the rural parts of China, all while telling the story of a grandfather teaching his granddaughter the importance of family traditions.

        “The Nightingale” is set to release in select US theaters on November 6th.

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Drink Beer Day – September 28th

 

Pour a glass of your favorite ale or lager and give a toast to one of the oldest drinks in human history! Each year on September 28th, people around the nation celebrate the beverage.

Here are 10 fun facts about beer for you to enjoy:

  • Historians believe that nomads may have made beer from grain & water before learning to make bread. Beer was a vital part of civilization and the Babylonian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Hebrew, Chinese, and Inca cultures.

  • Babylonians produced beer in large quantities with around 20 varieties. Often, workers were paid in beer as it was a highly valued commodity.
  • Egyptians brewed beer commercially for use by royalty, medical purposes, and as a necessity to be included in burial provisions for the afterlife. It was also discovered that workers were given four liters of beer a day…while building the pyramids!
  • The world´s strongest beer is “Brewmeister Snake Venom“. While regular a beer usually has about 5% ABV, this Scottish killer has a stomach-burning 67.5% ABV!

  • American president George Washington had his own brewhouse on the grounds of Mount Vernon.
  • The world´s most expensive beer is “Belgian Vielle Bon Secours”. One bottle costs around 1000 American dollars.
  • Beer strengthens bones. It is rich in silicon that increases calcium deposits and minerals for bone tissue.

  • Beer prevents kidney stones. A study published in American Journal of Epidemiology estimated that a bottle of beer consumed every day reduces the risk by 40%.
  • Nowadays, there are about 400 types of beer in the world. Belgium is the country that has the most individual beer brands.
  • Ancient Babylonians were so serious about brewing beer that if anyone brewed a bad batch, they would drown him in it as a punishment.

So have a cold one, and remember also drink responsibly!

 

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National Grandparents Day

 

September 13 is Grandparents Day in the US. The day doesn’t get too much attention, like Mother’s or Father’s day, but it does exist and it should be celebrated just the same. Grandparents are such an influential part of development, and for those of us lucky enough to have them in our lives, we should take this day to give thanks and remind them of their importance. On this day grandparents should be celebrated like the elite of the film industry, but before you get to that, here’s a list of celebrities you might not know are grandparents themselves.

Nicolas Cage became a grandparent at age 50, in 2004, to Lucius Augustus Coppola Cage. Quite the suitable name for a child born into the Coppola film dynasty.

Whoopi Goldberg has been a grandparent since she was 34. Now her granddaughter is 20, and she is not embarrassed to hit the red carpet with grandma.

Pierce Brosnan became a grandfather in 1998, that achievement was followed by Pierce being considered the sexiest man alive.

Jim Carrey became a grandfather in 2010, and he is extremely proud of that role.

Kiefer Sutherland became a grandfather in 2005 at the age of 39. He is a caring grandfather of two boys.

Sally Field first became a grandmother at the age of 52. Now at 66, she is the loving grandmother of 4.


Ron Howard’s daughter, Bryce Dallas, made the famous director a grandfather in 2007.

In 2013, Charlie Sheen became grandparent to Luna Estebez.

In 2013, Charlotte Bryant Hanks was born, and her birth made her famous grandfather, Tom Hanks, a happy man in joining the grandparents club.