Mr. Sulu beamed down to lend support to student gay activists who tried to visit a private Christian university. George Takei, who played the helmsman in three Star Trek TV seasons and six movies, made a surprise appearance last week after a busload of Soulforce Equality Riders tried to talk about faith and gay rights with students at North Central University in downtown Minneapolis.
The 33 activists are traveling by bus to 19 US colleges with religion-based policies opposed to homosexuality. They were locked out of school buildings when they arrived at North Central, which is owned and operated by the Assemblies of God.
After sitting in front of the doors for most of the afternoon, the Soulforce riders and supporters rallied at a park across the street when Takei, who came out as a homosexual last year, stopped by.
The 68-year-old actor said the activists' ``equality trek'' shares themes with those of the starship Enterprise.
``They have shown courage and character in showing that most people of faith are not extreme reactionaries who oppose equal rights,'' he said.
Tour organizer Jacob Reitan, 24, said the colleges they are visiting ``equate homosexuality with sickness and sin. It's time to have a conversation instead of defaming our humanity.''
Takei was in town to speak at a gay pride event at the University of Minnesota.
From "beam me up" to Borat, comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who has angered many Kazakhs with his satirical portrayal of their nation has found an unexpected ally in the Central Asian state -- the president's daughter. Officials, enraged by Sacha Baron Cohen's depiction of Kazakhstan as a nation of drunks, racists and sexists, have threatened to sue him and banned his Web site in the country.
Nick Lachey says his divorce from Jessica Simpson is a ``nasty situation,'' but he's not trying to hurt her with his revelations about their split -- and, he still loves her.
Lachey's new solo album, What's Left of Me, is set for release next month. He sings openly about divorce-driven heartbreak and angst on the title track and in songs such as I Can't Hate You Anymore.
``It's a nasty situation,'' Lachey revealed in his MTV special, Nick Lachey: What's Left of Me. ``It's not fun. ... So, it's not in any way vindictive or an assault on her. In a lot of ways, it's more of an assault on me.''
If Simpson feels attacked, Lachey says he doesn't mean any harm: ``Jessica knows I still love her.''
Lachey, 32, and Simpson, 25, starred in the MTV reality show, Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica. The singer-actress filed for divorce in December, after three years of marriage.
As a result of the breakup, the former boy band star says he's ``more guarded. I can't be as open with people because I've been burned.''
It isn't Graceland. But if psychic Uri Geller has his way, another Memphis house once owned by Elvis Presley will become a museum honoring "the king of rock 'n' roll."
The four-bedroom home that Presley owned in 1956 -- the year Heartbreak Hotel and Love Me Tender hit the charts -- is for sale on the eBay online auction site, and the Israeli-born, spoon-bending paranormalist is among the bidders.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist
Peter Brighton was amazed when he found the giant jackfruit. He had been watching it grow on his farm in far north Queensland, and when it came time to pick it from the tree, it was so heavy it needed two people to do the job. “I was surprised when we cut it off and felt how heavy it was,” he says. “I grabbed it and my wife cut it — couldn’t do it by myself, it took two of us.” Weighing in at 45 kilograms, it is the heaviest jackfruit that Brighton has ever grown on his tropical fruit farm, located