Another mid-summer fave was a little Gallic number by Dombrance featuring Sourya - The Witch:
The Salvation Army officially maintains that homosexuality is a "sin" and that gay people should be celibate and has refused charity money or assistance to gays. George W. Bush exempted the organization from anti-discrimination laws despite federal funding. They also threatened to move out of New York City after a city ordinance ruled that all organizations receiving funding from the city would be required to pay benefits to the spouses of gay employees. A state court ruled that Mayor Michael Bloomberg did not have to enforce the ordinance. As a result, a number of LGBT activist groups have boycotted the Salvation Army.According to the report, they may yet not succeed in entering. Political songs are forbidden and it is thought the Salvation Army's Christian affiliation may fall foul of the Eurovision rules.
In 2012, an Australian Salvation Army official called for all LGBT to be "put to death", during an interview discussing the Army's manual Salvation Story: Salvationist Handbook of Doctrine. A number of Australian celebrities and groups have called for a boycott of the Salvation Army.
It was for a very good reason that he was known as "The Master". His wit, camp, style and poise genuinely did epitomise a whole era of British life -through his plays, songs, music, acting, performance and sheer panache.So without further ado, here is a cavalcade (geddit?) of the Master's finest moments...
His stage productions including Cavalcade, The Vortex, Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, Present Laughter, Bitter Sweet and Blithe Spirit, and films such as Brief Encounter are forever embedded in the psyche as examples of what represents "Britishness" in classic 20th Century drama.
UK society [and indeed high society - among his close friends were Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Lord Louis Mountbatten} adored him so much that there was an almost universal decision to ignore his gay lifestyle and his long-term relationship with Graham Payn. ["There are still a few old ladies in Worthing who don't know", he said.]
After all, his film In Which We Serve and songs such as London Pride had been officially sanctioned as a major contribution to the war effort, and in real life he worked on behalf of the the Secret Service for much of WW2... The rest is history, as Sir Noel continued to be an internationally beloved dilettante until his death in 1973.
"The Ancient Mayan calendar speaks of 12-12-2012 as the end of times as we know it, and the beginning of a new cycle of evolution for planet earth, humanity and the cosmos."So that means today (or maybe 21st December, depending on which way round some people interpret the numbers) is officially (if you're a Mayan, that is) the End of the World!
