The Amazing Race's Amazing Moment

This past Sunday, December 9th, the conclusion of the twenty-first season of the CBS television show 'The Amazing Race' was broadcast.

For those of you who do not know, 'The Amazing Race' is a multiple Emmy Award winning competitive reality show that takes eleven or twelve teams of two contestants each to various locations around the world. (One season the teams consisted of family units of four contestants each.) The prize for the winner of the finale is one million dollars in cash, and there are prizes for winning each particular leg along the way.  For example, second place finishers Jaymes and James each won a new Ford Escape for winning the next to last leg of the race.  The show's exotic locales are often visually stunning as well as eye opening to both the contestants and the show's fans. 

Another good thing about the show is that, unlike some shows like 'Survivor', it is not necessary to be devious or to trick other contestants to win. It does happen once in a while on 'The Amazing Race' (There was an incident on this season of the show involving contestants James and Abba's money that upset some fans.); however, sneakiness is not generally a part of this show.  

At each location the teams must perform some task that is usually related to the local culture. There is often a choice of two tasks, and if the tasks can not be completed there is a four hour penalty. Most weeks one team is eliminated, but some weeks it is a non elimination, and the team that finishes last that particular week has to perform an extra task to stay in the race. The final task of the race is always something related to the places the teams have traveled to during the race, and this season was no different. In the shadow of the United Nations building in New York City, the final three teams had to match the words for 'hello' and 'goodbye' with the flags from various countries the teams had been to during the course of the race.

So, what was the amazing moment for 'The Amazing Race' this season? It was the winning team of Josh and Brent. Josh and Brent are a gay couple with a fifteen year relationship.  For the past three years Josh has been living in the city during the week to work while Brent remained on their farm.  They wanted to win the money so they could pay off their bills and live in the same place together again. (Other contestants have interesting stories as well; for example, James wanted to win to help out his father who is battling cancer.) 

The fact Josh and Brent are a gay couple is not what is amazing; there have been gay contestants on the show before, and there are certain to be more on the show in the future.  Underdogs and discounted nearly the entire race, Josh and Brent slipped under the radar and won the race.  Even as the final three teams raced, third place finisher Lexi Beerman was still discounting them as competition.  Moments after host Phil Keoghan pronounced them the official winners of the race, Josh kissed Brent. 

What is so amazing about that kiss?  The fact that a loving couple of so many years was able to show that love on a highly rated television show like 'The Amazing Race' is amazing.  It shows that we have actually made some progress in the United States in recognizing LGBT couples as equals.  I am virtually certain that there are those out there who do not see things the way I do, and didn't like Josh and Brent kissing each other on the show.  These are probably the same people who are against the gay marriage initiatives in various parts of the United States.  I, however, thought it was wonderful.  I give Josh and Brent kudos for persevering, having a loving relationship, and for not being afraid to show it.  I also compliment Phil and the other contestants for being happy for them.   

Cast member Rob French, a monster truck driver who practically defines the term redneck, stated at the end of the show Josh and Brent had really opened his eyes and that it was not for him to judge other people's lifestyle.  There's that word 'lifestyle' again, as if it were a choice, but at least Rob is making progress.  If even one person can learn something from people like Josh and Brent, then we are indeed making some progress! 

Click here to watch the full broadcast of the final episode of 'The Amazing Race'.

Click here to watch full episodes of each week of 'The Amazing Race'.

Click here to watch a video clip of the winning moment.

Click on this link to meet the teams from this season of 'The Amazing Race'.

Click here to meet the show's adventurous host Phil Keoghan.

Watch this exclusive secret scene-Josh and Brent 'Underdogs On Top'.

Click here to view photos from this season of 'The Amazing Race'.

Visit the Human Rights Campaign website for more information on how you can help support the campaign for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equal Rights.

Click here for more information on the state of marriage equality in the United States.

The Amazing Race's amazing moment captured.

One CBS official photo of Josh and Brent.

Join Josh and Brent on Facebook, and subscribe to their newsletter.  Also, click here to follow them on Twitter, and here to visit their official website!  Josh and Brent also have a show on The Cooking Channel known as The Fabulous Beekman Boys that chronicles their life on Beekman Farm in upstate New York.

Johnny Weir Announces His Return to Competitive Figure Skating

Update:  Please read Misfit Mimes' blog 'Unstoppable'!  Wonderful in it's simplicity and the beautiful photo of Johnny and Vitya!

Vote for Johnny Weir as 'Best Improv Ice Skater'! 

One vote per person per day.
Voting ends on January 31st, 2012.
The “Best Improv-Ice Skater” will be announced during Pandora Unforgettable Moments of Love on Ice on Saturday, February 4, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. EST on NBC.

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Ever since Johnny Weir announced in late 2010 he was taking a year off from competitive figure skating his fans have been wondering if he would return to competition.  The 2014 Olympics are set to take place in Sochi; a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, on the coast of the Black Sea.  Any fan of Johnny's knows how much he loves the Russian culture and the Russian people, and the feeling is mutual.  These factors would seem to influence his decision on whether to try and make the 2014 Olympic team or not.
There is also a sense of unfinished business where Johnny Weir and the Olympics are concerned. 

Weir, though he did not perform badly at Torino in 2006, faltered and failed to win the Olympic medal he so desired.  The next four years were up and down for Weir competitively, and he fell out of favor with the United States Figure Skating Association.  There was no love lost between the organization and Weir; however, he performed well enough at the 2010 U.S. Championships in Spokane, Washington to qualify for the United States Olympic Team and competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Washington. 

Any fan of Weir's knows what happened next.  After performing a near perfect short program titled 'I Love You, I Hate You', Weir performed a stunningly beautiful long program he had named 'Fallen Angel'.  He had placed sixth after the short program, and he remained in sixth place after his Fallen Angel free skate.  While some believe the placings were fair, many figure skating fans were shocked at Johnny Weir placing sixth in Vancouver.  Without going too heavily into the politics of figure skating, the hurtful comments made about Weir and any other issues involved; Weir's sixth place finish was extremely difficult to understand for many figure skating fans. 

Since the Vancouver Olympics, Johnny Weir has absolutely thrived.  He has skated in numerous figure skating shows, appeared on talks shows and at events, written an autobiography and embarked on a book tour, designed a line of ladies dresses, released a single titled 'Dirty Love', been interviewed and photographed numerous times including for the JW Art Project, appeared at fashion shows and walked runways at New York Fashion Week, become the face of 'Glitter and Ice' for Mac Cosmetics, and filmed season two of his reality show 'Be Good Johnny Weir'.  And that list is only part of what he has been up to in the last two years!      

Oh yeah...  There was that little thing about getting married on New Year's Eve to the wonderful Victor Voronov!

But back to the unfinished business...

As a long time fan of Johnny Weir there are few things I would like more for him than for him to have the Olympic medal I feel he so richly deserves.  I'd love to see him compete and make the team in Sochi and just show everyone for the umpteenth time just how good he really is.  I do have concerns, however. He's never been a favorite of the figure skating establishment, and that is unlikely to change any time soon.  The current scoring system does not favor a skater with the artistic brilliance he possesses, though he can certainly hold his own technically.  And of course, he IS a three time United States champion.

He'll be twenty nine years old in Sochi; not old in human terms, but certainly not young in competitive figure skating terms. However, I'm a fan and I will support him in whatever he decides to do...  And as a friend of mine on Facebook said, figure skating desperately needs Johnny Weir.  At a time when the sport is in a slump, at least partly due to the convoluted judging system and the near robotic state skaters, especially male skaters, are forced into to score enough points to win; as I stated above, Weir is thriving.  He is enormously popular, possibly the single most popular skater around the world; and yes, competitive figure skating DOES need him.  However, as another friend stated, HE doesn't need IT.

Now that I've said those words...  Oh Wednesday,  January 18th, Johnny tweeted his fans these words:

"Coming to you guys tomorrow with some BIG news! Life is funny & it can change in a second. Cherish it all. The good & the bad."

This tweet caused an enormous amount of buzz amongst Johnny's fans, some of whom speculated for hours on Twitter and other sites about what Johnny could possibly mean by that.  Obviously it was something good, right?  But the tone of the rest of the tweet...the good the bad?  What on earth did THAT mean?

Well, we found out Thursday, January 19th 2012 when Johnny Weir announced his return to competitive figure skating! 

After releasing an official statement about his comeback, Johnny appeared at a press conference at which he announced his plans to return to competitive skating with an eye toward making the 2014 Olympic team and competing in Sochi.  He will retire for certain after the next Olympics.

Almost immediately skating fans, especially Johnny's fans, were abuzz with talk of his competitive return.  Within a very short period of time a number of articles had already been written, many of them from major journalistic entities such as Sports Illustrated, USA Today, ESPN and the New York Times.  More are certain to follow.

All I can say at this point is, GO JOHNNY GO!

VIDEO of his twenty minute press conference may be found here and here!  (I can't figure out how to embed it, so leave me alone about it, okay?)

I have also posted sixteen photographs from his press conference. He looks great, doesn't he?  Beautiful smile and I love the hair!

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 19: Figure skater Johnny Weir announces his competitive figure skating comeback at a press conference at West Bank Cafe on January 19, 2012 in New York City. (Photos by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)   

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Read my friend Misfit Mimes blog 'The Official Johnny Weir Blog'!  She rocks!

Johnny Weir on Twitter

Johnny Weir's Official Website

Read my friend Nancy Knisley's blog 'The Quotable Johnny Weir'

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@JohnnyGWeir tweet:

The moment I tweeted you all from my press conference about my comeback as captured by @andrewwerner http://yfrog.com/ob15469868j

11 hours ago

The Tweet in question:

And one more Tweet for the road:

Along with my response:

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A Little Holiday Music...

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family members around the world!

Thanks to my friend Lauren and her blog The Bumblebee Protocol for giving me this idea for posting Christmas music!  I wish I had thought of it sooner!

Norad tracks Santa Claus as he travels around the world!

There are so many good (and bad) holiday songs I can not possibly name them all!  There are also some very good (and bad) versions of Christmas songs.

Some of my favorite Christmas songs:

Michael Crawford 'O Holy Night' (His version is absolutely my favorite one!)

Another source for Michael Crawford 'O Holy Night'

Josh Groban 'O Holy Night' (Josh has a beautiful voice, but he doesn't hit the notes the way Michael does.)

Bruce Springsteen 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town'

I think this is the version we've gotten used to hearing Bruce Springstseen sing on the radio. It was done at CW Post College back in 1975. I did see him do it live once, at a concert November 25, 1984 at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas.  I love it!

Band Aid 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' (Enough said!)

Bing Crosby 'White Christmas', also here! (From the movie 'White Christmas'!)

But the song was introduced in the movie 'Holiday Inn':

Bing Crosby and David Bowie 'The Little Drummer Boy' and 'Peace On Earth'

Gary Hoey 'Ho, Ho, Hoey', 'The Twelve Days of Christmas', and 'You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch'. (Trust me, his guitar version of the Grinch is awesome!)

The Little Drummer Boy by a local band, and also by Neil Diamond.

I've always said I would love to see a good rock version of 'The Little Drummer Boy', with an awesome drum solo. One was done a number of years ago, but I can NOT remember who sang it, so I can't really even look for it.

Gene Autry 'Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer' (his was the original version); and Burl Ives version here!

Jimmy Durante sings 'Frosty the Snowman'

A Soldier's 'Silent Night'

Another Soldier's 'Silent Night'

And 'A Soldier's Christmas'

I heard a punk rock type version of 'Silent Night' about twenty five years ago. It was great, but again, I can NOT remember who sang it, so I really can't even look for it!

Luciano Pavarotti 'Adeste Fideles'

Believe it or not I learned this song in Latin back in the Dark Ages.  But I doubt seriously if any of us even came close to sounding remotely like Pavarotti!

Andrea Bocelli 'Noche de Paz' ('Silent Night')

Boney M 'Mary's Boy Child'

Bonus Holiday Videos:

ADAM SANDLER - CHANUKAH (HANUKKAH) SONG [PART 1]

Adam Sandler: The Chanukah Song Part 2

ADAM SANDLER - CHANUKAH (HANUKKAH) SONG [PART 3]

U2 'New Year's Day'

Dan Fogelberg 'Same Auld Lang Syne'

Barry Manilow 'It's Just Another New Year's Eve'

Happy Holidays from the Arizona Diamondbacks!  There's a video!

From Johnny Weir, A Note To His Fans

Update June 15th:

Read my friend MisfitMimes Blog Freedom

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Early on June 14th Johnny Weir posted this note to his fans on his official website:

Johnny Weir: A Note to My Fans

To my fans,


I want to formally announce that I will not compete in the upcoming season. I have dreamt of returning to competition for the upcoming season, but due to many obligations in my professional life, I will not be able to devote enough time to my training and my representation of the United States in international competition.

I realize that a huge percentage of my fan base is awaiting my return to the competitive ice and I beg your pardon for not fulfilling your wishes this year. I do not want any of my fans to lose hope as I am still on the ice, still training hard whenever my schedule permits. I still have a very competitive attitude, and after one more year off the competitive ice, I hope to return, and my team and I are already taking a very rigid approach to my schedule in 2012 so that I will have proper time to train for the figure skating high season.

I have had many big successes in my professional life since my performance at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, and I continue to strive for perfection in every aspect of my public life. I wake up every day and go to sleep every night hoping that I’ve made my fans around the world proud with whatever I am doing, whether it’s a skating show, a public appearance, or a new episode of my TV show. I would be nothing without my thousands of fans around the world, and I hope I can continue to make you proud. I will be back on the ice, competing for you, very soon.

In the meantime, my fans can look forward to my collaborations with MAC cosmetics and eDressMe.com; “Spectacular,” an ice concert I am creating for this fall; a new season of my hit reality show, Be Good Johnny Weir, on Logo; and of course skating around the world in exhibition performances.

I’d like to thank my many fans across the globe for your continued support and faith in me. No matter what, my eyes are still firmly fixed on Sochi and the 2014 Olympic Games.

Thank you.

Johnny G. Weir

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I am looking forward to all the things Johnny has mentioned! It must have been a difficult, even agonizing decision for him to make to take another year off from competition. But he has to do what is best for him, and right now he has to take the opportunities that are coming his way. He may never have another chance to do so! I support him in whatever he chooses to do; it is his life!

Go Johnny go!

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Johnny Weir at L.A. Pride Parade PicSpam

June 14, 2011 Update:

More than a hundred photos on Facebook, posted by LA PRIDE / Christopher Street West

June 13, 2011 Update:

Read my friend Misfit Mimes' Blog with pictures, video and wrap up: Happy Pride!

Article: Exclusive: Grand Marshal Johnny Weir Snaps At Anti-Gay Protestors At Parade

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Johnny Weir appeared as Grand Marshal of the L.A. Pride Parade on Sunday June 12, 2011 in West Hollywood, California.  Here are some pictures of Johnny and his appearance at the parade!  The parade was also carried live on West Hollywood Channel 10 and also via webcast.

@EricAltSalons twitpic of he, Johnny and Tara dressed for the parade

Johnny and Tara on the way to L.A. Pride posted by Tara Modlin

On the float Twitpic posted by Masayobenoist

Johnny Weir, Grand Marshal of the LA Gay Pride Parade Twitpic by GayWeHo

Eric Altomare and Johnny on the float from YahooNews

@EricAltSalons twitpic of Tara on Johnny's float

@EricAltSalons twitpic of himself on Johnny's float

@EricAltSalons twitpic of Johnny's 'Victory Sign' dance

@tmodlin yfrog close up of Johnny

@JohnnyGWeir's yfrog view from his float

@tmodlin's yfrog view from the float

Grand Marshal Johnny Weir & Margaret Cho by Amanduh on Instagr.am

@tmodlin yfrog of Johnny, herself and 'Dirty Love'

Johnny wows the crowd

L.A. Pride Guide Magazine cover

Article:  My LA Pride Parade recap: Johnny Weir a proud grand marshal; Margaret Cho proud of LGBT community by Greg In Hollywood

Johnny Weir LA Pride by littlehoarse

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Johnny Weir talks Gay Pride in Los Angeles

Updated June 12, 2011 with two links and two photos!  Also, this information is a bit late (it is also available in the included links to the LA Pride Website and parade), but the parade can be watched live in two places: via West Hollywood Channel Ten or via the live webcast at this link!

Twitpic provided by Eric Altomare of he, Johnny and Tara Modlin's parade outfits:

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Johnny Weir has attached his name to a Gay Pride celebration for the first time.  L.A. Pride 2011 is actually a three day event beginning Friday June 10th and continuing through Saturday and Sunday with a two day festival and parade.  Sunday June 12th Johnny will ride a float down Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood as Grand Marshal of Christopher Street West's 41st annual Pride parade.

Johnny Weir on being honored in Sunday's pride parade (Article includes the video below)
Johnny Weir talks gay pride parade (Video)


Saturday June 11 tweet from Johnny Weir:

Purple Party Event Friday June 10, 2011

 Festival Main Stage Saturday June 11, 2011

L.A. Pride Official Website

Photo Gallery: LA PRIDE 2011 Opening Night Purple Party

Johnny Weir: The Grandest Marshal of Them All

Pride, Music, Fun and Madame Tussauds

400,000 people expected at LA Pride parade on Sunday in West Hollywood


Read my friend MisfitMimes Blogs:

Proud
Next Stop: LA PRIDE!

LA Confidential: PRIDE Preview Petit Picspam!

If It's Wednesday, This Must Be Miami ... No, Wait, Philly ... No, Crap, It's Thursday

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Ten of My Favorite...Okay Seven of My Favorite...Olympic Figure Skating Performances

A few days ago I started to have some random thoughts about the best figure skating performances from the Olympics.  'Best' is often a matter of opinion, though some performances seem to transcend mere 'opinion'.  Then I started to think about 'favorite' as opposed to 'best', as in what I like personally.  I decided I would come up with ten, and I quickly started a list.  I easily came up with seven and then slowed down a little at that point; therefore I decided to post seven of my 'favorites' and then give out a few honorable mentions.

I love figure skating, and I have been a fan of the sport for a number of years.  There are a number of skaters I like, some I love, and there have been a number of wonderful performances over the years, some of them quite unexpected.  Some skaters may have given an overall good performance but not had that one great performance that sticks in the fan's mind even a number of years later.  Some skaters may have won a medal, even a gold, but not given anything even close to their best performance while doing it.  For example, Scott Hamilton has been more than candid over the years since his 1984 Olympic Gold Medal in Sarajevo about the fact he had not given his best performance in the long program (video). 

Other skaters, such as Canadian pair Christine Hough and Doug Ladret, though they finished only ninth overall, gave a performance in the short program (video) at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France that caught the imagination of the audience and helped to earn the pair a contract with 'Stars On Ice'. 

Though there are more performances I could name, honorable mentions also go to:

1) 1988 Calgary Olympic pairs bronze medalists Americans Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard (Oppegard was Brian Boitano's roommate in Calgary, is married to Michelle Kwan's older sister Karen, and recently signed on to coach 2010 Vancouver Olympic gold medalist Yu Na Kim) for their long program (video)

2) 1988 pairs gold medalists Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov for their long program (video)

3) Finland's Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko with their free dance (video) from the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics (Susanna and Petri were such true originals every program they skated was memorable)

4) Philippe Candeloro for his 'D'Artagnan' long program (video) from the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan (Candeloro won his second consecutive bronze medal in Nagano; witness the wonderful footwork/fencing sequence)

Here are seven of my favorites in no particular order (a link attached to the name of the program is a second source for the video):

Brian Boitano 1988 Calgary Olympic Long Program to 'Napoleon and Josephine' posted by 3Axel1996

Even though over twenty three years have passed since this performance it is STILL my all time favorite, hands down!  Even Johnny Weir's stunningly beautiful performance in Vancouver could not eclipse Brian Boitano's gold medal winning free skate for me.  Boitano did what so few skaters have been able to do; he gave the performance of a lifetime on the night he needed it the most and won the gold medal in the best way possible.  There have been some who have claimed over the years he only won due to Sandra Bezic's choreography; however that simply is not true.  It does not matter who your coach or choreographer is, if you do not have it in you to give the performance you are truly capable of giving then you never will give it no matter who is helping you prepare.

Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko 1992 Olympic Free Dance 'A Man and A Woman' posted by tomolszt

Klimova and Ponomarenko are the only skaters with a full set of medals at the Olympics. The pair won a bronze in 1984, a silver in 1988 and became Olympic champions in 1992 At Albertville, France.  Due to the politics of how ice dancing used to be judged they knew going in they would almost certainly win the gold medal.  However they did not rest on their laurels and performed a beautiful and breathtaking free dance that left little doubt they deserved the gold medal.

Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean 1984 Olympic Free Dance 'Bolero' posted by tigrelis

To many fans it almost seems like Torvill and Dean practically invented ice dancing. Of course that is not the case, however when you watch this gold medal winning piece of perfection you understand why and how they were able to help popularize dance so much with so many people.

Nancy Kerrigan 1994 Olympic long program posted by TripleAxel1991

I know some people don't care for Nancy and don't think she deserved the gold in Lillehammer. I, however, disagree.  Nancy won the silver but I believe she deserved the gold. She skated beautifully in Norway and no one can ever take that away from her.

Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto 2006 Olympic Free Dance from Torino, Italy posted by SergR75

When Tanith and Ben skated out on to the ice in Torino the arena was basically dead with the audience lacking energy.  There had been an accident with one dance pair and the eventual gold medalists had skated a lackluster free dance that included mistakes.  Tanith and Ben skated a clean, energetic and beautifully choreographed program that won them a silver medal, though I believe they should have won the gold.  As a commentator later said regarding Tanith and Ben's performance, "They brought the energy back into the building."

Johnny Weir 2010 Olympic Free Skate from Vancouver, British Columbia
'Fallen Angel' video link Source One posted by jejel

'Fallen Angel' video link Source Two posted by tarrelond

I don't think I even have to comment on why this program is included amongst my favorites other than it is here.  Enough said. The fact Weir did not win a medal is, well, it is just plain WRONG!

Philippe Candeloro 1994 Long Program 'The Godfather' from Lillehammer, Norway posted by sk8rtr

Few skaters ever had more fun out on the ice than Candeloro did.  This program was not flawless, but it was clever and well choreographed and it earned Candeloro his first of two consecutive Olympic bronze medals. 

So what do you all think of my choices?  Please feel free to comment below!