Aaron Altaras, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Rapp, Sam Smith, Soulja Boy, Everyone\u2019s Gaga Over the Oscars, and More: HOT LINKS<\/b><\/p>\n
GO PRO<\/strong> Can\u2019t hit the slopes this winter? Enjoy them vicariously via Bobby Brown and Go Pro.<\/p>\n One way down.@GoPro<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ZZ4tqpLk3H<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Bobby Brown (@BobbyBrown) February 19, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n SKETCHBOOK<\/strong> Artist Jeff Deka\u2019s sketch of Death from Neil Gaiman\u2019s Sandman<\/em>\u00a0series\u00a0from\u00a0DC Comics, at c2E2<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Death #neilgaiman<\/a> #thesandman<\/a> #C2E2<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/VfBO0nL3W5<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 JEFF DEKAL (@jeffdekal) February 19, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n RAPP SHEET <\/strong>Anthony Rapp\u2019s response to trolls?<\/p>\n Trolls be trollin\u2019! This was in response to my tweet about the scandals and convictions related to our current White House occupant. Seems relevant, no? pic.twitter.com\/j6WWatJEiA<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Anthony Rapp (@albinokid) February 20, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n CAPTAIN MARVEL VERSUS MISOGYNY<\/strong> The movie isn\u2019t even out yet and Captain Marvel has received misogynistic comments on Rotten Tomatoes.\u00a0<\/em>Says <\/a>HypeBeas<\/a>t<\/em>: \u201cComments such as \u201cBrie Larsen did a lot of political statement, so my political statement will be not to see this movie,\u201d as well as \u201cAs a white male<\/a>\u00a0I don\u2019t think Brie would want me watching this movie,\u201d and \u201cWhy Marvel decided to cast a very vocal racist and sexist aimed at white males<\/a>, I\u2019ll never know.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThe comments follow Larson\u2019s interview for the March 2019 issue of\u00a0British Marie Claire<\/em>, in which the Academy Award-winning\u00a0actress\u00a0spoke\u00a0on the film critic industry\u00a0being\u00a0\u2018overwhelmingly white male<\/a>\u2019 represented, as said by Stacy Smith, founder and director of the\u00a0Inclusion Initiative<\/a>. The backlash relates more directly to Larson\u2019s comments at the Women in Film Crystal and Lucy Awards, where the actress said,\u00a0\u2018I don\u2019t need a 40-year-old white dude to tell me what didn\u2019t work about\u00a0A Wrinkle in Time\u2026<\/em>\u00a0It wasn\u2019t made for him! I want to know what it meant to women<\/a> of color,\u00a0biracial women<\/a>,\u00a0to teen<\/a> women<\/a> of color.\u00a0Am I saying I hate white dudes? No, I am not\u2026 What I am saying is if you make a movie that is a love letter to women<\/a> of color,\u00a0there is an insanely low chance a woman<\/a> of color will have a chance to see your movie,\u00a0and review your movie.’\u201d<\/p>\n GRATUITOUS<\/strong> From My New Plaid Pants<\/a>.<\/p>\n I am five minutes into the gay<\/a> soccer movie MARIO and this Aaron Altaras dude will be the death of me I swear it pic.twitter.com\/y9Rh4AxYot<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) October 25, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n PRESSING MATTERS<\/strong> A new company will press your ashes into a working vinyl album. \u201cIf you have the money you can press your ashes into a vinyl record, at the rate of a teaspoonful per disc. The company providing this offbeat service is And Vinyly. It was formed in the Noughties by music producer Jason Leach from Scarborough, England. A combination of family accidents involving \u201ccremains\u201d, a sense of his own advancing years (he\u2019s middle-aged) and his mother working in a funeral home helped Leach come to the conclusion that vinyl was the answer. \u201cIt was not intended to be a business,\u201d he told the BBC in 2017. \u201cIt was the result of having a bit of fun with what at the time felt like a shocking and disconcerting inevitability,\u201d according<\/a> to The Vintage News.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAs the name suggests, And Vinyly takes a light-hearted approach to the Grim Reaper. Their slogan is \u2018Live on from beyond the groove!’\u201d<\/p>\n HAS ADDICTION GONE VIRAL?<\/strong> Sandra Sing Loh says so on <\/a>The Loh Down on Science<\/a><\/em> over at NPR. \u201cRetroviruses like HIV make us sick by inserting their genes into our cells. Usually, these genes cause cells to make new copies of the retrovirus. But occasionally, the genes mutate and can\u2019t make new viruses. Five percent of human genes are mutated retroviruses that are passed down generation to generation! Could these genes be harmful? Scientists have long thought so. But, they haven\u2019t found much in the way of evidence. Enter Gkikas Magiorkinis from the University of Athens. His hunt for harmful retroviruses led his team to some of the less touristy neighborhoods of Athens. There, they collected DNA from hundreds of intravenous drug users. Pouring over this genetic data, Magiorkinis honed in on a specific gene linked to addiction.\u00a0 What did he find? People addicted to drugs were TWICE as likely to have retroviral DNA mucking up their addiction gene!\u201d <\/p>\n THREE BILL BOARDS IN CHINA<\/strong> Homosexuality was only decriminalized in 1997 in the People\u2019s Republic of China. So it\u2019s no surprise that Gay Conversion Therapy has taken root there. \u201cGlobally, such therapy has been discredited by a host of major health organizations and denounced by most of mainstream society, but its existence and growth in China hasn\u2019t garnered much critical attention. According to a research conducted by several LGBT rights organizations in China, as of 2017, there were around 112 institutions across the country that publicly advertised their services of conversion therapy. A 2014 study by Beijing LGBTQ Center found out that of 1,653 respondents, 151 of them said they had contemplated seeking such therapy, mostly because of pressure from their families and people around them\u201d according to <\/a>Sup China<\/a>? <\/em><\/p>\n In order to raise public awareness bout the unchecked proliferation of conversion therapy, \u201cthree Chinese men<\/a>, artist W\u01d4 L\u01ceob\u00e1i, curator Zh\u00e8ng H\u00f3ngb\u012bn, and policeman L\u00edn H\u00e8, together launched a crowd-funded campaign letting three trucks hit the road, each one bearing a message: on the first, \u201cCure a disease that is nonexistent\u201d; on the second, \u201cThe Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders still has sexual orientation disorder\u201d; and, lastly, \u201cIt\u2019s been 19 years. How come?\u201d The three messages are quotes from Lin\u2019s diary, in which he wrote about his frustration and struggles as a gay<\/a> man<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n They were influenced by Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri<\/em>.<\/p>\n TRUMP\u2019S PLAN TO END HIV <\/strong>Isn\u2019t going to work in Oklahoma. Stigma around HIV and AIDS and around being gay<\/a> runs deep in parts of Oklahoma, says\u00a0Dr. Michelle Salvaggio<\/a>, medical director of the\u00a0Infectious Diseases Institute<\/a>\u00a0at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. The institute is one of two federally funded HIV clinics in Oklahoma; the other is in Tulsa, the second-largest city in the state reports<\/a> NPR.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Oklahoma, as in much of the U.S.,\u00a0black gay and bisexual men have the highest risk<\/a>of HIV infection. Other groups with elevated risk in Oklahoma include Latinos, heterosexual women<\/a> and Native Americans. Salvaggio applauds the goal of ending HIV transmissions within 10 years, but says she doesn\u2019t think it\u2019s feasible in Oklahoma. The plan fails to recognize the particular ways different populations experience the epidemic, she says. Native Americans in Oklahoma, for example, can\u2019t count on the anonymity of a large health clinic. Even if Native Americans have access to HIV care at the clinic, she says, \u201cthey are literally in fear of being outed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they go into an Indian Health Service clinic, it is possible that they will see their cousin behind the desk, and their cousin\u2019s brother-in-law working in medical records, and their niece\u2019s boyfriend working in the pharmacy,\u201d Salvaggio says. Even if Native Americans have access to HIV care at the clinic, she says, \u201cthey are literally in fear of being outed.\u201d<\/p>\n SOLO ARTIST<\/strong> Will Sam Smith win at the BRIT<\/a> Awards?<\/p>\n CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS<\/strong> is coming to The Arrowverse this year. Who will live<\/a> and more importantly who will die is the subject of this Comic Book Resource\u2019s (CBR) debate.<\/a><\/p>\n LOVE DON\u2019T LIVE HERE ANYMORE <\/strong>Soulja Boy and Blac Chyna have called it quits after a week reports DListed<\/a><\/em>. Meet Tiona Fernan.<\/p>\n\n
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