cityrag

Don’t fuck with the Tampa gays
some inbred bitch named Ronda Storms has been inadvertently stirring up gay pride in Tampa, Florida. seems she decided that gay pride celebrations should be banned. but of course her actions have backfired and people throughout the county of Hillsborough Florida (and across the country) are rallying to oppose her actions with lots of parades and events!

big thanks to Towleroad for tipping us to the story - Hillsborough County Bigotry Infuriates: "Bravo to the LGBT folks and those who oppose discrimination in Tampa who are speaking out about Hillsborough County, Florida's decision to ban the recognition of gay pride. Hundreds crowded a town hall meeting to discuss the issue last night. The furor started when county commissioner Ronda Storms complained about a gay author display at a local library which was taken down last week after the Hillsborough County Commission held a vote to ban the county's recognition of gay pride entirely. A gay pride march and rally are set for downtown Tampa this weekend."

more here:
Gay Rights Supporters Rally
Tampa's anti-Gay Pride vote provokes anger among gays
Ronda storms Tampa with anti-gay measure

(photocredit: Tampa Bay Online)

Robert Redford's face lift, good or bad?
although he's still handsome, Robert Redford has been looking pretty wrinkled and haggard over the last decade. but in photos from this year's Sundance Film Festival and other recent events his face is MUCH smoother and less wrinkled than it's been in years! it looks like he's had some work done (a little eye lift, maybe a chemical peal), but Bob's looking great! so we were surprised to see that Joan Rivers has been slamming the work he had done. we put together a couple photos to show before and after and let you judge... Bob's lift, good or bad?...

the Victorian homes of Flatbush
our friend Janet took a tour of some of the cool Victorian houses in the Flatbush/South Prospect/Ditmas Park area of Brooklyn last week and sent us these great photos and notes...

"Most houses were built between 1900 – 1910, it had been farm land before that and was planned by two developers, who built the majority of the houses. Many families have restored the homes to their natural beauty with lots of detail. Victorian, Arts and Craft and Victorian Gothic – just incredible! The tour offered about 30 houses open to the public, with a tour guide. I had an opportunity to speak to some of the owners, many of whom had bought their homes in the 70’s and 80’s for $50,000 - $80,000"

Update:
- more info from Janet... "the company that organizes the
tour is called The Flatbush Development Corp. There are several neighborhoods that were part of this tour even though it was probably a 20 block square radius. Ditmas was the family that owned the farmland in the 1800's.
- the Gothamist dug up some cool links and info on the area.
- and we've even heard from readers... Gwin, who lived in one of the houses and filled us in that it was used as the main exterior for the movie "Sophie's Choice." and we also heard from Ari who grew up there and his grandfather helped build the house!

more on Brooklyn living: A Brooklyn Life & Lost Brooklyn

Scopitopia
Scopitines are like crazy man. funny, retro, wacky and weird - we love em. so we were psyched to see that Scopitones.com is posting 14 new Scopitones over 14 days!! some great stuff has gone up already... check it out!

more on the background of Scopitones from Wikipedia... Scopitone was a trendy invention of the 1960s, a jukebox with a video component, the forgotten forerunner of music video. Procol Harum made a Scopitone of "A Whiter Shade Of Pale". Scopitone was a draw in selected upscale bars and pubs. Dionne Warwick lay on a white shag rug with an offstage fan blowing to sing "Do You Know the Way to San José?"

and here's some fun freebie bonus links: FourFour has 2 great songs up for download (and some cool notes on the songs)...
- a smoldering ode to summer - Janet Jackson "And On And On"
- and for it's sheer awfulness - Grace Jones "7 Day Weekend"

this shit gets crazier by the day
some gems...
- Do you think Katie Holmes has ever crapped at Tom Cruise's house?
- Dane Cook impersonating Tom Cruise (so fucking funny!)
- Katie Holmes and the Missing 16 Days
- Let's all do the TomKat!
- The Morning Cruise: More News Than You Can Shake An E-Meter At
- Katie Holmes dropped from Batman Begins sequel(via Goldenfiddle)
- Crazy on the Couch!
- Is Katie Tommie’s Katihuahua?
- $cientology Truth or Dare (thanks for the link Marie!)
- Tom Kills Oprah
- The Smoking Gun has obtained confidential documents
- Mayor McCrazy and his newly-contracted sidekick Pickles

Radiohead rules

don’t read Spin much, so via Attu Sees All we learned Spin's latest issue has a list of the top 100 Albums of the last 20 years, and Radiohead's "OK Computer" was chosen for the #1 spot! we rarely agree with "top" music lists, but checking out the top 10, it actually looks like a pretty good selection!...

1. Radiohead - OK Computer
2. Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back
3. Nirvana - Nevermind
4. Pavement - Slanted And Enchanted
5. The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
6. Pixies - Surfer Rosa
7. De La Soul - 3 Feet High And Rising
8. Prince - Sign O' The Times
9. PJ Harvey - Rid Of Me
10. NWA - Straight Outta Compton

(photo credit: DeadlyForce/UK)

life absurd
Gallery of the Absurd has added some fantastic new images...

malled
malls both scare and fascinate us, so this new site looks promising!... Malls of America (via One Man Safari)