All posts tagged: Ball

I Created Queer Eye. Hollywood is Dropping the Ball on Gay Stories

I Created Queer Eye. Hollywood is Dropping the Ball on Gay Stories

Twenty-five years ago, I sold a television show built around five openly gay men. At the time, many people thought it was a niche idea. Instead, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy became a global phenomenon. Not because America suddenly wanted “gay television,” but because people wanted humanity. They wanted laughter. Transformation. Hope. Empathy. They wanted to believe that people who looked different, loved differently and lived differently still wanted exactly what they wanted: connection.That was always the point.  Over the last quarter century, through my company Scout Productions, I’ve had the privilege of creating and producing series that continued that mission. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy ran for five seasons on Bravo beginning in 2003, then was reborn on Netflix simply as Queer Eye for ten more, totaling well over 200 episodes. More importantly, it introduced millions of viewers to gay men not as stereotypes or sidekicks, but as experts, caregivers, neighbors and friends. It didn’t just change television. It changed conversations happening around kitchen tables across America. Legendary introduced the ballroom scene to audiences who had never witnessed its …

Zoe Ball to lands new radio role in major weekday return to airwaves

Zoe Ball to lands new radio role in major weekday return to airwaves

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Zoe Ball is set to make her highly anticipated return to weekday radio, joining Greatest Hits Radio for a new afternoon show. The move marks her first regular weekday programme since departing the Radio 2 Breakfast Show in 2024. Her new show, titled Zoe Ball in the Afternoon, will air from 1pm to 4pm on weekdays, commencing in September. Listeners can anticipate a vibrant mix of big-name guests, engaging listener chats, and special features. Expressing her enthusiasm for the new venture, Ball stated: “There’s something truly special about radio – the relationship you build with listeners, the energy, the music and the moments of joy and laughter you share together. I’ve missed it and this felt like the right time to begin a new chapter with Greatest Hits Radio. As a station, Greatest Hits Radio has built something really brilliant – …

Hornets Trade LaMelo Ball, Josh Green to Timberwolves for Naz Reid, Draft Picks, AP Source Says

Hornets Trade LaMelo Ball, Josh Green to Timberwolves for Naz Reid, Draft Picks, AP Source Says

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — LaMelo Ball is the latest NBA star with a new home. The Charlotte Hornets agreed to trade Ball, their starting point guard, and Josh Green to the Minnesota Timberwolves for power forward Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round draft pick, three first-round pick swaps and three future second-round picks, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Thursday. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal, first reported by ESPN, has yet to be approved by the league. The three first-round pick swaps will be in 2028, 2029 and 2030. The Hornets also get three second-round picks in 2029, 2032 and 2033. The Hornets quickly moved to agree on a three-year, $74 million contract with new projected starting point guard Coby White following the trade, the person familiar with the situation told the AP. White, the all-time leading scorer in North Carolina high school basketball history, averaged 15.6 points and 3 assists per game while shooting 39.1% from 3-point range last season for …

Cambridge University students jump from bridge into river after Trinity May Ball

Cambridge University students jump from bridge into river after Trinity May Ball

Cambridge University students cooled off by jumping off Magdalene Bridge into the River Cam following the 160th anniversary Trinity May Ball. It is an informal tradition for students to do so as part of their post-ball antics, though it is said to be discouraged. The students had attended the University of Cambridge’s Trinity May Ball (Joe Giddens/ PA) As temperatures began to climb this week before a heatwave, several were tempted into the water – some having stripped down to their underwear. It came as students at the prestigious university made their way home after a night of partying at the Trinity May Ball, still dressed to the nines in ball gowns and black tie. Students made their way home still in ball gowns and black tie (Joe Giddens/ PA) Guests paid at least £225 for a single ticket for what was billed as “Cambridge’s best Ball” to celebrate the end of their exams. This included a “stunning fireworks display”, musical entertainment and comedians. A firework display lights up the sky over the River Cam …

Improve stability, core strength and balance with a medicine ball and these six trainer-approved exercises

Improve stability, core strength and balance with a medicine ball and these six trainer-approved exercises

Medicine balls are a firm favorite in the exercise class I teach, and newcomers often ask how else they can use them if they bought their own. I think it’s a great addition to a home gym, even if you already own free weights, because you often have to hold the ball in a different position to, say, dumbbells, creating a new type of instability for your core to work against. This type of exercise means your core is better able to support your spine and this can improve posture and reduce back pain—something many of my clients suffer with. Latest Videos From That’s why I’ve programmed this six-move medicine ball workout with some exercises that deliberately challenge balance. How to do this medicine ball lower-body workout You will need a medicine ball for this workout. I’m using a 5kg one in the video. You may like Perform the following six exercises as a circuit, completing one after the other, working for 40 seconds, then resting for 15 seconds between exercises. When you get to …

You be the judge: should my husband stop letting our kids climb over our neighbour’s fence to get their ball back? | Life and style

You be the judge: should my husband stop letting our kids climb over our neighbour’s fence to get their ball back? | Life and style

The prosecution: Penelope double quotation markIt doesn’t matter that it only takes five seconds. It’s a flagrant disregard for property rights My husband, Spencer, and I have two children, Georgia, 12, and Alex, nine. We are usually quite aligned on how we parent, but I recently learned that Spencer is a little more relaxed with our children’s garden activities. During half-term, Spencer was at home and I was at work. When I got back and asked the kids how their day was, they told me their ball went over the fence and into the neighbour’s garden. I assumed our neighbours hadn’t been in and the ball was still there, but they said “Dad let us hop over the fence to get it.” I was shocked. When I spoke to Spencer, he just shrugged and said it was fine. These neighbours are a middle-aged couple with no kids. He said getting the ball only took five seconds, and then Alex and Georgia hopped back over. I asked them how many times they’ve done this and they …

As World Cup begins, Pope Leo says soccer teaches us to ‘pass the ball,’ ‘walk together’

As World Cup begins, Pope Leo says soccer teaches us to ‘pass the ball,’ ‘walk together’

BARCELONA (RNS) – With the FIFA World Cup starting tomorrow (June 11), Pope Leo XIV said soccer is an opportunity to come together, during a meeting with charity workers at the Church of Sant Agustí in Barcelona, Spain on Wednesday. “Soccer reminds us of something we must not forget: life is not a race to show off on our own, but a path we learn to walk together,” the pope said, answering a question on whether he liked soccer. “Anyone who does not know how to pass the ball, even if they have talent, has not yet understood the game, and anyone who does not know how to live with and for others has not yet understood life,” he added. While Leo is known for being a tennis fan, he said he appreciates soccer, adding that he supported local teams during his years as a bishop in Peru. “Sports are important because they help us grow healthy in body and mind,” he said. In an off-the-cuff remark he said that in the diocese of Chiclayo, …

David Baddiel: ‘English people feel, with football, that essentially it’s our ball’

David Baddiel: ‘English people feel, with football, that essentially it’s our ball’

This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. “Thirty years of hurt” is a lyric in a song I co-wrote in 1996 – specifically, a line that came out of my, and Frank Skinner’s, realisation that the word “pain” wasn’t going to rhyme with the word “shirt”. Now, in a blink of an eye, those years have doubled in number and I’ve made a radio series/podcast called – come on, you can work this out – Sixty Years of Hurt. It’s about England and football, obviously, but more, England through football. What football reveals about England: its hopes, delusions, anxieties, mythologies, occasional moments of grace, and constant underlying sense that something has gone wrong. Because, as regards national identity and football, like the Facebook box people used to tick next to Relationship Status, it’s complicated. Let’s – as they say on social media – say the quiet bit out loud. English people feel, with this game, that essentially: it’s our ball. Football is ours. We codified it. We gave it to the world. We won …