Phil Plays Catch Up

Well, my friends. Looks like I have been rather neglectful of this blog for about two months. I am playing catch up on a lot of things. No excuses!

As I write this I am editing an episode of Selections from the Mess and preparing for tomorrow's Murphy's Magic Mess. So I am multitasking the best I can and trying to get caught up.

Just to give you all an update on how things are going in the World of Phil: Since my last post in March I have been working hard to get several things organized and moving. My paying job has been keeping me busy with certification requirements and keeping me on overnight (not a happy Phil). The radio station has gone through some changes - all for the good in the end. We conducted our Spring Pledge Drive with a goal of $50,000 and we exceeded that goal; our program director left us after 18 months for greener pastures (ie, to live near to his girlfriend in Chicago); Corwin and Ihave been doing our best to get guests onto Lavender Hill and we are working well with Murf on the Mess. Sarah and I have been arranging guests on Pagan-Musings and succeeding in doing so. Since Kaedrich's visit in March we had Frater Teneo of Omaha Thelema join us to discuss the Book of the Law and Judika Illes on to talk about her many books. Keep checking back this week for playlist and show note updates to get us all caught up since March. And to finish off the distractions from blogging, Sarah and I attended Mystic Fest Spring Edition in Omaha as vendors Beltaine weekend. We skipped doing an episode of Pagan-Musings that weekend and are just now getting ourselves sorted out so we can prepare for Contagion:Outbreak in June, also in Omaha.

So with all the busy-busy, not only have I neglected my blogging, I missed deadlines for two article submissions. I was to write an article for the Witches' Hour eZine and another for Proud Pagan Podcasters. I was even given extensions by both outlets, and still failed to finish on time. I am going to polish up what I have and submit both articles all the same. I hope to be able to write regularly for the Witches' Hour and hope that my contribution to PPP will help increase our listener base for PMPC.

So, back to editing and preparing for the rest of the shows this weekend. Remember to tune into Murphy's Magic Mess every Sunday at 9am Central on KZUM followed by Lavender Hill at 11am. And of course, listen to Pagan-Musings every Saturday at 2pm on BTR.

Lavender Hill #3

Phil's throat was getting a little scratchy by the time he and Corwin wrapped up Murphy's Magic Mess and got ready to do the Lavender Hill segment of the Wimmin's Show on KZUM-HD 89.3FM in Lincoln, NE. But the show must go on. :)

A lot of stuff was covered during the show, as usual.

Corwin touched base on the anti-gay sentiment in the Muslim community in London's East End. Good for the gays! Despite the posters and slogans throughout the area, they are organizing a Pride parade for the East End.

Phil brought up that Sandra Dunn, an M-F transgendered woman is running for mayor of Amarillo, TX. Not the first transgendered person to run for office, and if she wins, she won't be the first to do that either.

Acceptance of gay marriage is on the rise in the U.S. According to polls, there has been a 7% shift in favor in the last two years. This puts the support and dissent at nearly a 50-50 split. But times are a changing. From March 4, 2010 to March 4th of this year, 700 hundred gay and lesbian couples were married in Mexico City. If our neighbors south of the border can suuport gay marriage, the U.S. should be able to.

In other news:

• One of the Disney animators who worked on the Lion King says that it is only a matter of time before gay families start appearing in Disney films.
• Filing your taxes as a same-sex couple (in those states where it is legal) is a bit complicated if using TurboTax.
• We mentioned it last week, but it is worth mentioning again. The U.S. Supreme Court protects "hate speech" by the Westboro Baptist Church as part of the Freedom of Speech Amendent.
• LBGTQNation asks why "gays don't win Oscars."
• An open letter to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California to "lift the ban on gay marriage."
• West Virginia gay-rights bill dies in legislative session.
• the state of Washington recognizes same-sex marriages from other states.
  

More on transgendered persons in the community:

• On being the world's first transsexual super model.
• A web site devoted to get information out, and personal stories, on being transgendered.

There is so much more to cover, but we didn't have time in the show. Heck, we didn't even touch on most of what is listed here. Tune in next Sunday at 11am CST for more Lavender Hill and all things gay locally, nationally, and around the world. Half an hour just doesn't seem to cover it all, but we will do our best to help fill in some of the blanks with this blog series.

Support Lavender Hill and the Wimmin's Show on KZUM-HD 89.3FM Lincoln, NE. Visit the KZUM homepage and make a pledge/donation in support of the Wimmin's Show. All pledges received between now and March 24th will be added to the Spring Pledge Drive goal of $50,000. Help KZUM, the Wimmin's Show and Lavender Hill to reach that goal by making a pledge now.

Photo of Corwin and Phil courtesy Deb Andersen of the Wimmin's Show

Lavender Hill #2

Hello, everyone! Thank you for listening to Lavender Hill, either in its original live format on KZUM-HD 89.3FM in Lincoln, Ne or in its podcast version on the Pagan-Musings Podcast Channel.

We covered a lot of ground in this week's episode, from next door in Iowa to across the pond in the UK and over into the Middle East. We hope that you learned something from our tidbits or news, or bits of idle presidential history gossip and the on-going debate on same-sex marriage in the United States.

We have had some wonderful feedback and constructive criticism from our listeners, both through KZUM and our podcast. Thank you so much! We are working to improve the show's format as we go along and we welcome any suggestions or comments from our listeners. You can email us or leave us a note through the facebook page for the Wimmin's Show, our mother program on KZUM.

To help you follow along with some of what we have discussed, and some of the things we just didn't have time to touch upon, please refer to the following links list:

• http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2011/02/iowa-teen-who-testified-in-support-of-marriage-equality-appears-on-ellen/
• http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/02/22/americas-biggest-firms-pay-for-transgender-treatment/
• Keshet UK
• http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/02/22/uk-education-secretary-michael-gove-attacks-past-bans-on-gay-or-mixed-race-adoptions/
• http://news.change.org/stories/tennessee-middle-school-bans-memoir-about-hivaids
• http://news.change.org/stories/a-faith-based-perspective-on-ending-anti-lgbt-discrimination-in-nashville
• http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/02/23/6116207-obama-admin-will-no-longer-defend-federal-marriage-act-in-court
• http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/02/huckabee-slams-obama-on-doma-implies-link-between-gay-marriage-and-broken-homes.php
• http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/February/11-ag-222.html
  
• http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703775704576162441655208626.html?mod=wsj_share_facebook
  
• http://oitm.org/2011/february/trans/index.html
• Hawaiian Same Sex Civil Unions
• http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/02/23/new-book-says-jesus-can-cure-gays-and-lesbians/
• Iowa GOP attempts to halt same-sex marriage licenses
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saO_RFWWVVA
• http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2011/02/justice-department-still-defending-now-repealed-dont-ask-dont-tell/
• http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/02/25/india-bans-gay-couples-from-surrogacy/
• http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/02/25/move-to-tackle-racism-on-the-gay-scene/
• http://news.change.org/stories/dear-west-virginia-pass-bill-prohibiting-anti-gay-discrimination
• Dr. James Madsen's testimony in favor of gay marriage in Maryland
• Obama's Gay Social Secretary
• http://news.change.org/stories/to-block-a-gay-straight-alliance-texas-high-school-shuts-down-all-extracurricular-clubs
• http://www.change.org/petitions/let-nikki-peet-start-a-gay-straight-alliance-in-corpus-christi-texas
• Gay Marriage in Italy

Those are just a FEW of the news articles, videos, and other resources that Corwin and Phil stumble across each week while preparing for the show. There is no way in a 30 minute show that we can cover it all, but we will do our best to deliver the most pertinent news during the show, as well as share some of the local events to the Lincoln, NE area.

Again, thank you for listening and check back with us on this blog, on the Wimmin's Show facebook page and on the air every Sunday morning at 11am.

Lavender Hill, Everything Gay

-Phil & Corwin

A New Endeavour

The Debut of Lavender Hill

part of the Wimmin's Show on KZUM

I have wanted to do an LBGTQ news and talk radio program for sometime now. All these past two years at KZUM, in fact. I've always wanted to do a Pagan news and talk program at KZUM, but that is another story.

In all the years that I have been listening to KZUM, I do not recall a program specifically geared towards the LBGTQ community. Sure, they have the Wimmin's Show Sundays at 11am Central (used to be at 11:30, right after W.I.N.G.S.) and other similar shows - directed at women and lesbians. But that doesn't quite fit the bill.

Back in September, Corwin (one of Murf's minions) and I both suggested such a show to the program director. Oddly enough, we did this independent of each other. I brought it up again after the annual programmer's appreciation party in January. The program director is supportive of the idea, but doesn't know where to put us for sure. Corwin and I also discussed it with Deb from the Wimmin's show after it was announced that we would no longer be carrying W.I,N.G.S. She loved the idea.

Well, we are doing it a little bit differently than we had originally planned. Instead of being our own independent show, starting this Sunday (February 20, 2011), Lavender Hill will debut as a segment of the Wimmin's Show. As Deb put it, we will be the Min of the Wimmin's Show. She has also asked me to stay through her entire show as technical adviser and producer.

Let's see, that gives me how many shows (between KZUM and the internet)? Hmmm....

• Pagan-Musings Podcast on the Pagan-Musings Podcast Channel every Saturday at 2pm Central
• Murphy's Magic Mess on KZUM every Sunday at 9am Central
• Lavender Hill (segment) on KZUM every Sunday at 11am Central
• The Wimmin's Show (producer and technical adviser) on KZUM every Sunday at 11:30am Central
• Selections from the Mess on the Pagan-Musings Podcast Channel every Monday at 7pm Central
• Musica Pagani Special Edition on the Pagan-Musings Podcast Channel every Thursday at 7pm Central
• Musica Pagani on the Pagan-Musings Podcast Channel every Friday at 10pm Central

That's SEVEN programs. And we are planning to podcast Lavender Hill as well. Which means that our listeners can catch the program either live on Sundays or listen/download it any time they want after it is posted. Still deciding how we want to set that up. Probably be a separate listing on BlogTalkRadio.com. Corwin and I will decide that Thursday at our planning session.

Well, that's is all for now. I need to get some rest and be ready for more plotting and planning of these shows and other adventures coming up this year.

-Phil, the ever busy