Tasty Tuesday and the News

Atlantis Events, a company specialising in all-gay and lesbian cruises and resort vacations, has announced it will charter the world's largest passenger ship in January 2007 for a Caribbean cruise.

Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas ship will cater for over 3000 passengers with high tech facilities once completed in Finland.

"Freedom sets a new standard in the cruise industry with innovative settings for unique guest experiences throughout," said Rich Campbell, Atlantis’s chief executive.

"Royal Caribbean has clearly raised the bar in terms of what is possible in cruising today.

"Atlantis is very proud to be able to partner with Royal Caribbean to bring the excitement of the largest ship in the world to our gay and lesbian guests," Mr Campbell said. "We'll be able to create a spectacular experience for them that fully utilises this fantastic ship with our signature entertainment and parties."

At 160,000 tons and with a capacity of 3,700 guests, Freedom of the Seas will be the largest cruise ship in the world when she enters service in June 2006. By comparison, the Queen Mary 2 displaces approximately 151,000 tons and accommodates up to 2,620 passengers. Freedom's length of 1,112 feet is nearly equivalent to four football fields laid end-to-end.

Freedom of the Seas will offer guests a top-deck aqua environment unparalleled in the industry. It will introduce four new concepts, including, an interactive water park called the H2O Zone; dramatic whirlpools cantilevered off the sides of the ship; a dedicated sports pool; and FlowRider, the industry's first-ever shipboard surf park.

The ship will also feature an ice skating rink, the largest shipboard rock-climbing wall anywhere, and the line's longest Royal Promenade, a 427-foot long interior street packed with shopping, dining and entertainment options. Her 1,817 staterooms will be some of the largest guest rooms, featuring some of the most spacious balconies in the industry.

It will also be the most digitally advanced cruise ship at sea, offering wireless technology throughout the ship for Internet and cell phone access, as well as first-in-the-industry flat-panel televisions in all staterooms and public areas.

"With all the guest amenities, innovations, and groundbreaking facilities on this spectacular ship, it's easy to see why Royal Caribbean named her Freedom," said Mr Campbell. "Our guests will have the freedom to choose a vacation that fits their own individual taste and style. And that is what an Atlantis vacation is all about."

Atlantis' Caribbean sailing on Freedom of the Seas will depart Miami on January 28, 2007, visiting San Juan, St. Maarten, and the private island of Labadee, before returning to Miami on February 4, 2007. Staterooms start at $1,049, based on double occupancy.
Atlantis will offer a record seven all-gay cruises, and two all-gay resorts in 2006, handling more guests than any other gay and lesbian tour operator. Destinations include Europe, Alaska, South America, Hawaii, Mexico's Pacific Coast, Caribbean Islands, and the Baltic.



George Michael has admitted crashing into three parked cars last weekend in North London, and will now be quizzed by police.

The gay star’s representative phoned police to report the incident after the crash was revealed by witnesses yesterday.

Michael has already made contact with the car owners to arrange financial compensation, according to the Daily Mirror.

Witnesses claim they saw the singer hit a grey Ford Fiesta on Sunday morning, and then drive off, hitting a white Peugeot and green Rover on the way.

One onlooker told the Daily Mirror, "I spotted George Michael just sitting there, staring at us. He didn't look too good for that time on a Sunday morning.

"After a while he tried to move off but shunted into the back of a Peugeot. It scraped its wheels along the kerb and then smashed into the front of a green Rover. There was another almighty crash, then he just drove off again.

"It was really bizarre. No one could quite believe what they were seeing."

Police have confirmed there was a collision involving damage to a number of cars, a Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: "At 8.10am on Sunday police were informed of a Range Rover being in collision with a number of cars in Hornsey Lane, north London."

Michael was given a police caution for drugs possession last month after he was found slumped at the wheel of his car in Hyde Park, London.



MINNEAPOLIS - Mr. Sulu beamed down to lend support to student gay activists who tried to visit a private Christian university.

Actor George Takei, who played the helmsman in "Star Trek," made a surprise appearance Monday 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 U.S. 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 recently came out as a homosexual, stopped by.

Takei, 68, 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."

Nate Ruch, executive director of university relations at North Central, said last week that the riders declined an offer to have a third party mediate a discussion.

Takei was in town to speak at a gay pride event at the University of Minnesota.



In a stunner of a decision, the US Supreme Court has declined without comment to take up Rev Jerry Falwell's appeal challenging a gay New York man for running a Web site that is critical of the Reverend's stance on homosexuality, among other claims.

Thirty-six year old Christopher Lamparello, identified as a gay New York man, registered his Web site under the deliberately mis-spelt name Fallwell.com in 1999.
The Web site serves as Lamparello's mouth-piece for expressing his dislike of Rev Falwell's views on homosexuality. Apparently Lamparello had seen Falwell profess anti-gay views during a television interview - the kind which say homosexuality is a sin that gays and lesbians must repent for and resist.

Fallwell.com attempts to explain "why Rev Falwell is completely wrong about people who are gay or lesbian," under a red disclaimer which actually provides a link to the Reverend's Web site.

Since the inception of Fallwell.com, Rev Falwell has been demanding the site be taken down. With Lamparello resisting giving-in, the Reverend has filed a suit against the former, claiming trademark infringement among other allegations.

In 2005 a district court did take heed of the Reverend's accusations and barred Lamparello from using the intentionally mis-spelt domain name. Subsequently though, the decision was reversed by a three-judge federal appeals court which ruled that Fallwell.com can continue to operate as it is not run for the purpose of profit and as such does not infringe the Reverend's trademark.

In the latest ruling, the Supreme Court has decided against escalating the Reverend's appeal to itself.

Judge Diana Motz in fact went to the extent of saying that Lamparello's Web site looks nothing like Reverend Falwell's site, and that Lamparello's site does not justify the Reverend's trademark infringement claims.

Lamparello's lawyer maintains that a domain name is not just the source of a Web site but also the substance of the Web site, and that one is free to criticize a person plus put their name in the domain name of his/her Web site.

Falwell's attorney however argues that this is a simple case of trademark infringement - one which has succeeded in leaving many of the Reverend's supporters "shaken".