Jerry Curl

Jazz in the Gardens is a two-day music festival hosted by radio giant Tom Joyner. Among the artists featured are Paulette Dozier, Will Downing, Erykah Badu, Common, and Kenny G. Where : Dolphin Stadium, 2269 Dan Marino Blvd., Miami Gardens. When : Doors open at 3 p.m.; shows start at 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and continue til about midnight. Cost : $30-$55 (one day), $45-$90 (two-day pass) available on the jazz website, Ticketmaster or stadium box office. More information : 305-622-8043 or http://www.jazzinthegardens.com/ . If jazz isn't your thing, then we recommend the Ultra Music Festival . Billed as a a two-day event of DJs and live bands, Ultra bring world's most famous DJs and dance-music acts to Miami for a week of craziness unlike any other. Artists there will include Tiesto, the Black Eyed Peas, David Guetta, The Prodigy, Paul van Dyk, Crystal Castles, and The Presets. Where : Bicentennial Park, 1075 Biscayne Blvd., Miami When : 4 p.m. to midnight Friday and noon to ...

Justin Thomas as featured on Queerty .

The lights are going down from the Great Pyramids to the Acropolis, the Eiffel Tower to Sears Tower, as more than 2,800 municipalities in 84 countries plan Saturday to mark the second worldwide Earth Hour. McDonald's will even soften the yellow glow from some Golden Arches as part of the time zone-by-time zone plan to dim nonessential lights between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. to highlight global climate change. "Earth Hour makes a powerful statement that the world is going to solve this problem," said Carter Roberts, chief executive of the World Wildlife Fund, which sponsors Earth Hour. "Everyone is realizing the enormous effect that climate change will have on them." Seven times more municipalities have signed on since last year's Earth Hour, which drew participation from 400 cities after Sydney, Australia held a solo event in 2007. Interest has spiked ahead of planned negotiations on a new global warming treaty in Copenhagen, Denmark this December. The last g...

By Joe Heller

Grappling with a war gone awry, President Barack Obama said today that the situation in Afghanistan is "increasingly perilous" as he announced plans to send thousands more U.S. forces into the nation, hoping to hasten the end of a conflict that still has no clear end in sight. Obama announced a multitiered strategy that banks heavily on world help and invigorated U.S. diplomacy. The Afghanistan war, which Obama calls adrift, is now his, and a central part of the new strategy is to build up the Afghan army. The broad U.S. goal remains much as it was when the war began in the fallout of the Sept 11, 2001 attacks: To dismantle the operations of the Taliban and al-Qaida, which have shifted their power base from Afghanistan to Pakistan in recent years. Obama plans to send in 4,000 more U.S. military troops, whose mission will be to train and expand the Afghan army to take the lead on counterterrorism. He also plans to send in hundreds more U.S. civilians to help the people of Afgh...

Shawn Skinner as featured on DNA .

This lady Supreme turns 65 today.

In classrooms throughout South Florida, paper is becoming more of a relic than an educational staple. The result: homework done online. Paperless term papers. Math problems completed on an interactive whiteboard. An entire course of physics problems contained on a single compact disc. And, schools hope, savings in an ever-tightening budget crunch. ''It's budget, it's green, it's best educational practices,'' said Mark Strauss, principal of Virginia Shuman Young Elementary in Fort Lauderdale. At schools around Florida, educators are trying to trim the reams of paper they use to save money, spare trees and keep kids engaged in ways that old-fashioned writing just doesn't allow. While schools would be hard-pressed to eliminate paper altogether, technologies like interactive whiteboards and document projectors have proven to be popular substitutes. ''If they can get more engaged in active learning and less reliant on worksheets, they'll learn mor...

Adam Lambert's rendition of the Motown classic "Tracks of My Tears" was essentially the birth of a star. Everything about that performance was of a recording star waiting to sign his name on a dotted line. The look, the voice, the on-stage accompaniment, everything was pitch perfect. At this point, Lambert is a pro an an amateur karaoke contest. Thank you everyone for playing along. Truthfully, I don't remember a single performer before him-- and with the exception of powerhouse Allison Iraheta -- I don't remember anything after. Rave all you want about Daniel Gokey , but I think Allison and Lambert should rightfully be the top two this year. They're the only two that make me feel anything. Well, Gokey does make me sick to my stomach, but that's a whole other kind of feeling... I'll post Lambert's performance as soon as a video is made available . In the mean time, it's already on my iPod .

A sixth of British therapists said they had tried to help gay, bisexual and lesbian patients become heterosexual, even though evidence suggests such therapies can be harmful, according to a survey released today. Michael King of University College London, who published his findings in the journal BMC Pyschiatry, said the number of therapists who said they had tried to help a person change their sexual orientation was surprising. "There is very little evidence to show that attempting to treat a person's homosexual feelings is effective and in fact it can actually be harmful," King said in a telephone interview. Such an approach could provoke greater anxiety and confusion. The survey showed that 17 percent of therapists and psychiatrists working in Britain had sought to help their patients reduce "gay or lesbian feelings" through therapy, the researchers said. King's study showed that some therapists now use more subtle strategies than the tactics used in the ...

President Obama has found his own equivalent to fireside chats by launching an online town hall meeting today where he will answer citizens' questions about the troubled economy and his efforts to fix it. "We're going to try something a little different. We are going to take advantage of the Internet to bring all of you to the White House to talk about the economy," he says in an introductory video on the site. As of late Wednesday afternoon, more than 30,000 people had submitted more than 32,000 questions on the official administration Web site, WhiteHouse.gov. Americans may submit questions, and vote on others' queries, until 9:30 a.m. ET today. Obama has promised to answer the most popular questions through a live video stream on WhiteHouse.gov. beginning today at 11:30 a.m. ET. The site had recorded more than 1 million votes as of late Wednesday afternoon. (Via CNN )

By Milt Priggee

[ Editor's note ] At the insistence of one of my gal pals-- and with American Idol being postponed-- I finally got around to watching Twilight last night. Although I've tried very hard to avoid the mass hysteria that results from reading the books or seeing the film, I decided to chance my soul on Robert Pattinson's brooding stares. This morning I can report that the same hysteria that has overtaken so many has not consumed me. It's not that it was a bad movie, far from it. It's just that there wasn't anything there for me. Twilight is essentially a telling of puppy love between a vampire and a mortal. With all the possibilities that holds, there's no sex, there's no cussing, there isn't a distinguishable hint of male shirtlessness . It's a movie targeted at young adults with young adult content. Anyone expecting something like Interview With the Vampire or True Blood would be in for a rude awakening. That said, it was very enjoyable. The l...

Most of us have done it. Instead of hitting "reply" to an e-mail, we accidentally push "reply all," sending a potentially embarrassing or insulting message to those we didn't intend to see it. To address this problem, Google Inc.'s Gmail Labs has launched an experimental feature called "Undo Send" that gives users a chance to rewrite their message, correct settings or simply fix typos. When a Gmail user who enables this feature sends an e-mail, a button that says "Undo" will pop up on their screen for five seconds. If the user hits the button within that time, the service will retrieve the e-mail in draft form -- allowing the user to make changes or cancel the message altogether. "Sometimes ... I send a message and then immediately notice a mistake," said Michael Leggett, a Gmail Labs designer and the creator of the "Undo Send" feature, in the Gmail blog. "I forget to attach a file, or e-mail the birthday girl tha...

Pedro Moreschi as featured on Queerty .

The Discovery astronauts prepared for undocking today, working through a busy timeline of packing and experiment sample transfers from the space station to the shuttle. After a final joint meal with their space station colleagues, the combined crews will hold a brief farewell ceremony around 1 p.m. before closing hatches for the shuttle's departure at 3:53 p.m. EDT. Joining the shuttle crew for the trip home will be outgoing space station flight engineer Sandra Magnus, who is wrapping up a four-month stay in space. Her replacement, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, will remain behind in her place with Expedition 18 commander Mike Fincke and flight engineer Yury Lonchakov. Fincke and Lonchakov plan to return to Earth on April 7 aboard the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft that carried them into orbit last October. (Via Space Flight Now )

You may remember Beau Breedlove, the former legislative intern whose involvement with Portland Mayor Sam Adams caused an uproar in January. As we covered a while back, Breedlove agreed to pose in the buff for Unzipped magazine. Although the issue is not yet on shelves, we are offered the cover picture. Enjoy. (Via Towleroad )

Jennifer Hudson is returning to American Idol — for one night only. The Grammy- and Oscar-winning actress, singer and “Idol” alum is scheduled to tape a performance in front of the studio audience on Wednesday after the live broadcast has ended, says a person close to the show who did not want his or her name used because the person was not authorized to speak to reporters. Hudson’s appearance will air on an upcoming segment, the person says. It will be the 26-year-old superstar’s first time as a performer on the stage that made her famous since the slayings last year in Chicago of her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew. (Via MSNBC )

A jubilant cry erupted from Brophy's Irish Pub as City Commissioner Craig Lowe announced the defeat of an amendment that would have terminated the city's anti-discrimination laws. "I love this town," Lowe cried as he stepped up on a stool to thank hundreds of supporters in the bar. "Today we showed what we are really made of. This has been an experience that none of us has asked for, but we have established that in Gainesville every person matters." Lowe was referring to the approximately 58 percent of city voters who said no Tuesday to Amendment 1 — a ballot initiative that would have made Gainesville's anti-discrimination ordinance the same as Florida's Civil Rights Act. Those voting no on Tuesday represents 11,717 voters, compared to the 42 percent who voted for the amendment, or 8,375 votes. It's been a divisive year and a half for Lowe, who in January 2008 paved the way for the city to enact anti-discrimination protections for transgender in...

A charter amendment that would strip Gainesville's anti-discrimination protections extended to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender residents is before voters today. The fight began after the city commission last year revised Gainesville's anti-discrimination ordinance to protect transgender people - those who are born one sex but identify with the other. That allows the city's approximately 100 transgender residents to use the public restroom of their choosing, along with protecting them from job and housing discrimination. Those supporting repeal say their message has remained consistent: "Keep men out of women's restrooms!" "That's our motive, plain and simple," said Jim Gilbert, a spokesman for Citizens for Good Public Policy. On the other side, a group known as Equality is Gainesville's Business is campaigning for a "no" vote on Charter Amendment 1. It argues that the city ordinance does not need amending and that the tran...

Gethin Jones as featured on Square Hippies .

South Africa has refused the Dalai Lama a visa to attend an international peace conference in Johannesburg this week, a presidential spokesman said. The Tibetan spiritual leader and Nobel Laureate did not receive a visa because it was not in South Africa's interest for him to attend, said Thabo Masebe. South Africa thinks that, if the Dalai Lama attended the conference, the focus would shift away from the 2010 World Cup -- the global soccer championship it will host next year. "We cannot allow focus to shift to China and Tibet," Masebe said, adding that South Africa has gained much from its trading relationship with China. The Dalai Lama's fellow laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said he would boycott the event. (Via CNN )

Weekend Top Five #1 Knowing ($24.8M) #2 I Love You, Man ($18M) #3 Duplicity ($14.4M) #4 Race to Witch Mountain ($13M) #5 Watchmen ($6.72M)

Fifteen years after Miami's Pedro Zamora became a national symbol for living with HIV -- and dying of AIDS -- a new drama about his life will soon debut on the network that made him a reality TV star. Pedro , a film written by Dustin Lance Black, who won an original-screenplay Oscar for Milk, will be simulcast April 1 on four MTV networks. The Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival will screen the film Sunday night at the Colony Theater in Miami Beach. Zamora's older sister Mily, who raised him after their mother died, and nursed him until his own death at age 22, will attend the Colony screening. "It's a piece of my heart that I'm going to share with the world,'' she said. Information on the film screening: Cost: $7 film festival members, $11 nonmembers. Tickets can be purchased at Colony box office noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon till showtime on Sunday. Where : Colony Theater, 1040 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach When: 7 p.m. Sunday. More Info : http://www.mglf...

Broadway dimmed its lights Thursday night to honor actress Natasha Richardson, who died after suffering a brain injury while skiing at a Canadian resort. Her husband, actor Liam Neeson, mother, Vanessa Redgrave, and sister, Joely Richardson, were present as theaters dimmed their marquees. Mourners tearfully embraced in the dark as the lights went off for one minute at 8 p.m. Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick and Mark Ruffalo were among the many Broadway luminaries to reach up to hug Neeson. Richardson won a Tony for her performance as Sally Bowles in the 1998 revival of "Cabaret" and earned rave reviews for her role as Blanche DuBois in a 2005 production of "A Streetcar Named Desire." (Via CNN )

Our apologies for posting this a little late, but better late than never. International fashion hit the runway in Miami yesterday and catwalks through Sunday as designers, entertainers and celebrities from around the world take part in the 11th annual fashion blitz. Making its debut at this year's show is the International Culinary Arts Pavilion, a fashionable feast occurring each night under the design direction of a celebrity chef who creates cuisine inspired by the native countries of the fashion designers being showcased that night. Accompanying the tasting menus will be wine pairings by Italian vineyard Casa Vinicola Zonin. Information: Where : All fashion shows are at SoHo Studios, 2136 NW First Ave., Miami. Cost : $25 per fashion show; available at MiamiFashionWeek.com . Culinary Arts Pavilion admission is $20 each night, available at the door; $100 for Ruiz de la Prada and the Miami Moda and Music Awards. For a complete schedule of events, visit the Miami Herald or MiamiFa...

Sasha S as featured on Queerty .

The quarter-horse racing permit granted to Hialeah Park this week -- a permit that revived hopes the historic landmark could return to racing -- came with a catch: a one-year deadline for such races to start. State Rep. Esteban Bovo, a Hialeah Republican who is also a former Hialeah Park employee, says the year deadline is doable. Track owner John Brunetti, meanwhile, has yet to comment publicly since word of the facility's new racing permit surfaced. No one disputes that the cost of completely restoring Hialeah Park would be at least in the tens of millions of dollars. Hialeah hasn't hosted a race since 2001, and its condition has deteriorated during those years of hibernation, with a string of hurricanes several years ago adding further damage. The good news for Hialeah is that the massive renovations it needs won't have to be completed in a year. Hialeah can likely meet state requirements for racing with a temporary tent-like facility for patrons. Hallandale Beach's ...

Via The New York Times : In the production that opened Thursday night at the Palace Theater, which lovingly replicates Mr. Robbins’s balletic choreography, what prevails is a tenderhearted awareness of the naked vulnerability of being young and trapped in an urban jungle. Half a century ago middle-class adult theatergoers were shocked and appalled by the brutality of the ethnic gang warfare of “West Side Story.” (The first sentence of Brooks Atkinson’s review in The New York Times said that “the material is horrifying.”) This time audiences — the grown-ups, anyway — are more likely to respond with feelings of parental protectiveness. Yet the show seems haloed in a softening mist of compassion, turning its sidewalk Romeo and Juliet — and most of its young characters — into imperiled babes in the woods. And as designed by James Youmans, the mean streets of Manhattan exude a rainbow lyricism, even in inky darkness. David C. Woolard’s costumes, as Peter Marks previously observed in The Wa...

Via Just Jared comes this movie poster for Grey Gardens featuring its stars Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange. Drew will play Little Edie, the quirky cousin of Jackie Kennedy while Lange plays her mother, Big Edie. The movie depicts the mother-daughter pair whose eccentric personalities and fragile aristocratic East Hampton life is captured in a now famed documentary. Watch the trailer below. My heart be still! Grey Gardens airs @ 8PM ET/PT on Saturday, April 18 on HBO.

Cory Bond as featured on Major Models .

Guests on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" usually appear to promote a movie, TV show, book or album, but President Obama will visit the NBC show tonight to make the case for his financial rescue plans. While presidential candidates -- as far back as Richard Nixon's performance on "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" in 1968 -- have used comedy shows for campaigning, Obama becomes the first sitting president to appear. "We don't look at it as the process of demonstrating the president's sense of humor," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. "We look at it as a way of discussing the economic situation that we find ourselves in." Obama will tape the show this afternoon during a two-day swing through the Los Angeles area for town hall meetings focusing on the economy, Gibbs said. (Via CNN )

Here's a frightening excerpt from a New York Times article about the loyalty of Chris Brown fans: Even after they saw a photo of Rihanna ’s bloodied, bruised face, which had raced across the Internet, [the teen girls] still defended Mr. Brown. “She probably made him mad for him to react like that,” the other ninth grader said. “You know, like, bring it on?” The girls agreed that Mr. Brown overreacted. According to court documents, the fight last month erupted after Rihanna read a text message to Mr. Brown from another woman. Mr. Brown, the affidavit said, then punched, bit and choked her. Should he be punished? No, said the girls, whose names were withheld at the request of the school. After all, they said, Rihanna seemed to have reconciled with Mr. Brown. “So he shouldn ’t get into trouble if she doesn ’t feel that way,” one girl said. “She probably feels bad that it was her fault, so she took him back.” Her friend nodded. “I don’t think he’ll hit her like that again,” she sa...

Today, Scientists sailed to inspect an undersea volcano that has been erupting for days near Tonga -- shooting smoke, steam and ash thousands of feet into the sky above the South Pacific ocean. Authorities said today the eruption does not pose any danger to islanders at this stage, and there have been no reports of fish or other animals being affected. Spectacular columns are spewing out of the sea about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the southwest coast off the main island of Tongatapu -- an area where up to 36 undersea volcanoes are clustered, geologists said. Trade winds continued to blow gas and steam away from the island today. Tonga's police deputy commander Taniela Faletau said coastal villages close to the roiling ocean site were not yet at risk and that no warnings had been issued. (Via NYT )

Natasha Richardson, film star, Tony-winning stage actress and member of the famed Redgrave acting family, died today after suffering injuries in a ski accident, according to a family statement. She was 45. Richardson's family released a statement saying, "Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha. They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time." (Via CNN )

Horse racing haven Hialeah Park may be getting a last-minute reprieve from its nearly inevitable destruction - in the form of a last-minute racing permit. Considered a National Historic Landmark, the park has been granted the permit by state gaming regulators, according to the Miami Herald. After an exhaustive campaign to save the park appeared to be fading, with developers eyeing the park, the state finally granted the Miami racetrack's permit request on Monday. Though it hasn't hosted a race in nearly eight years, Hialeah's owners are looking at hosting short, quarter races which might allow the track to have poker rooms and slot machines. Hialeah mayor Julio Robaina and other city leaders who pushed hard for the races are hoping a first-rate gambling establishment will help revive the town's economy. "It's the start of the beginning of getting us back to where we were," Robaina said. The mayor is also envisioning a retail development, with movie theater...

I'm sorry to report that I didn't watch last night. After Michael Jackson week, I needed a break. By all accounts, it sounds like I picked a good week to plug up my ears. Country week never does anybody any favors. Except for Kristi Lee Cook ::shudders:: Anyway, I think the oil rig guy's days are numbered. Him and Megan are the next on the chopping block.

Nathan Hainline as featured on We Love Guys .

Members of Natasha Richardson’s family gathered at a New York hospital where the Tony-winning actress was reportedly taken with a serious head injury after falling on a Canadian ski slope. Richardson, 45, part of the Redgrave dynasty of British actors and the wife of Liam Neeson, was flown from Montreal to New York on Tuesday after the accident, a person close to the family, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, told The Associated Press. Richardson’s condition is very serious and her family is highly distressed, The New York Times reports today, citing two people close to her family who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters. -->We're just broken up about this whole story. And listening to Dr. Snyderman this morning didn't help. Our thoughts are with Mrs. Richardson and her family. (Via MSNBC )

Long-time Jerry Curl readers can attest to our fandom for all things West Side Story . We own soundtracks and special edition DVDs, creamed our pants at it's Broadway revival, and generally wish we were a part of the Sharks... to wish perchance to dream. Anyway, to celebrate West Side Story's return to Broadway, Vanity Fair shot an homage to the musical starring Camilla Belle (as Maria), Jennifer Lopez (as Anita), Rodrigo Santoro (as Bernardo), Chris Evans (as Riff) and Ben Barnes (as Tony). Others included Brittany Snow, Jay Hernandez, Robert Pattinson , Ashley Tis dale , Cam Gigandet and Drake Bell who also make cameos throughout. (Via Dlisted )

By Dave Granlund

Shane Callanan as featured on DNA .

Space shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven rocketed into orbit Sunday evening, setting off on a mission cut short by launch delays that dragged on for more than a month. A hydrogen leak prevented Discovery from lifting off Wednesday. Before that, the shuttle was grounded for weeks in February as NASA ran tests to determine whether newly installed valves would cause serious damage if they broke during liftoff. Launch pad repairs took care of the leak. Commander Lee Archambault and his crew, which includes two former schoolteachers, should reach the International Space Station on Tuesday. The astronauts are delivering one last set of solar wings for the station and crucial equipment for a relatively new water-recycling system. The four-day leak delay forced NASA to shorten Discovery's mission by a day and cancel a spacewalk. because a Russian Soyuz rocket launches March 26, Discovery needs to be gone from the space station by the time that spacecraft arrives. The Soyuz will carry ...

Sudan's president said today he wanted foreign aid groups to stop distributing aid in Sudan within a year, in an escalation in the country's defiant response to an international war crimes warrant against him. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir expelled 13 international aid groups this month, accusing them of helping the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant against him, accusing him of orchestrating atrocities in Darfur. Aid groups deny working with the court. In an emotional speech to thousands of soldiers and police, Bashir said he had ordered Sudanese aid groups to take over the distribution of all relief inside the country — a move that could freeze the work of more than 70 foreign organizations still operating in Darfur and other strife-torn areas. He warned aid groups to respect Sudan's sovereignty or "pay the price." He didn't elaborate. (Via MSNBC )

Weekend Top Five: #1 Race to Witch Mountain ($25M) #2 Watchmen ($18.1M) #3 The Last House on the Left ($14.7M) #4 Taken ($6.65M) #5 Madea Goes to Jail ($5.13M)