January 10, 2007
Indian TV stations face action over pole-dancing Mahatma Gandhi clip
NEW DELHI (AFP) - Two Indian TV channels were facing government action after they reportedly aired a video clip depicting a man dressed up as Mahatma Gandhi performing a pole dance.
India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said the clip, apparently pulled from a video sharing website, was in "bad taste" and called on the two private channels to apologise to the entire country.
Gandhi is widely revered in India and abroad as the father of the anti-colonial struggle and as a champion of non-violence. He was assassinated in 1948, a year after India won independence from Britain.
"Based on a website document, an attempt was made to denigrate the honour of the father of the nation which has been in bad taste, and this was copied by two private TV channels in India," Information Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi told the Press Trust of India.
Dasmunsi said "both the private channels should express their profound apology to the nation for sponsoring such a ridiculous and humiliating feature of the website to assault the mind of the Indian people."
The PTI report did not mention the names of the TV stations, but media sources have identified the channels as Hindi-language news stations IBN-7 and Sahara Samay Rashtriya.
The two-minute clip reportedly shows a man dressed in dhoti -- the simple cotton loin cloth worn by Gandhi -- and dancing around a pole with a dagger and making obscene gestures.
The clip was reportedly filmed by a New York-based non-resident Indian and posted on a popular video-sharing Internet site.
Posted by ronnie at 04:39 PM | Comments (0)
May 15, 2006
Bookmaker has eyes on strip-poker record
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland will play host to the world's biggest ever strip poker contest if bookmaker Paddy Power gets its way.
The idea was originally floated as an April Fool's joke but generated so much interest that Dublin-based Paddy Power has decided to look seriously at organising a contest it hopes will find a place in the Guinness Book of Records.
"We got almost 100 requests to take part," the company's spokesman, also called Paddy Power, said. "We're trying to investigate whether it's possible or whether we'll get put in prison for it."
Poker has become big business in recent years thanks to televised competitions promising big cash prizes and gaming companies such as Paddy Power offering on-line tournaments.
A spokesman for Guinness World Records confirmed that its research unit was looking into what would be a new category for the organisation: "We're considering their claim and we'll get back to the organisers shortly."
Power said the company, which often grabs headlines with contentious adverts and unusual betting opportunities, hoped to host the event in August or September but had yet to decide on a prize: "Maybe a gold pair of underpants or a golden fig leaf would be most appropriate."
Posted by ronnie at 03:02 PM | Comments (0)
May 07, 2006
Ex-stripper does new turn -- in missionary position
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Heather Veitch, a tall, shapely blonde, made a career out of baring it all at strip clubs. Now when she walks in a club, it is just to deliver her naked truth about God.
"If you are a Christian, see us in ACTION," she says in a faith-based tease on her website, geared toward women in the sex industry as well as men who turn to it.
Last month she was introduced on evangelist Pat Robertson's "The 700 Club" as a "holy hottie."
At 32, Veitch still has a girlish strain to her voice, but she has done a fair amount of living, surviving a failed, turbulent marriage; having a child at 18; spending five years in the trenches as a stripper; making four appearances in "soft porn" and fetish movies; and having a second daughter with her current husband, who has brain cancer.
For three years, she has been a preacher for the non-denominational Christian church JC Girls Girls Girls. The "JC" stands for Jesus Christ, and the "Girls" for the three women who are its main evangelists: Veitch, Lori Albee -- also a former stripper -- and Tanya Huerter, a schoolteacher.
Their church in Riverside, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Los Angeles, is a sedate setup compared with the elaborate services they hold in Las Vegas and their pink-and-glossy website. And they are generating a flock: They now have about 2,100 members.
It is all not-for-profit, the women say.
"If people want to donate, there's no problem, and it goes to pay the rent, maintain the church," Veitch says.
Leaders of the California Southern Baptist Convention -- with which JC's Girls Girls Girls' home church is associated -- support the ministry but admit that the website may not appeal to church members.
"I think many Southern Baptists might feel uncomfortable with that look," spokesman Terry Barone told local media.
Though in Riverside she reads psalms and sings Christian songs to guitar music, Heather's real mission comes once a month, when she sets out with volunteers and visits the clubs.
"About three years ago now, I found out that a girlfriend of mine that I worked with had died, and she died of alcoholism. When I found out, I was living a life, like a good Christian life. I didn't talk to anybody from my past, I didn't know anybody from my past anymore, and when I found that out, it really broke my heart that my friends were dying," Veitch says.
"They weren't just girls that were stripping and not doing good. No, they were actually dying. And I knew that I needed to go back and tell those girls that there was another way, and there's God and God cares about them. So even if they don't choose another way, ... they know that they can call upon God for help."
Now well known from her media appearances, Veitch is often approached by the strippers, who ask her for advice or tell her their troubles.
"A lot of people think we are trying to get them out of the industry or we're trying to help them change, but really we're trying to have them have a relationship with God.
"We want her to change her heart, and then if she changes her life because of that, then great, but it is not a requirement," she says. "We totally go by the Bible, like, we believe that the Bible is 100 percent truth."
"My goal is that I know that never again will a stripper -- or anybody -- feel like God is not for them. That's my goal," Veitch says, but she adds: "I would love them not to dance, because I know it is damaging and it is hard."
Posted by ronnie at 08:41 AM | Comments (0)
March 24, 2006
Romanian Council Faulted for Strippers
BUCHAREST, Romania - Municipal authorities in the southern Romanian town of Giurgiu have come under media criticism for spending public funds on two parties for female employees which featured male strippers.
The city spent a total of 42,000 lei ($14,000) on the parties, which were held on March 1, a traditional holiday symbolizing the arrival of spring, and on March 8, for the International Woman's Day, national daily Gandul reported.
The paper, which published photos from the party, reported that the strippers were cheered and some of the women were photographed, joining in the routine.
The city council voted to approve the parties last month, saying in its decision that it wanted "to organize a show with professional artists" to celebrate spring and International Woman's Day.
Local officials, including Mayor Lucian Iliescu who allegedly organized the show, could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
Posted by ronnie at 08:18 PM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2006
Dancer sues show for dismissal over bra size
MIAMI (Reuters) - A Miami-based dancer is suing the owners and producers of the Broadway musical "Movin' Out" for more than $100 million in damages on grounds that she was emotionally abused and fired after her breasts grew too large for her costumes.
Alice Alyse was a top dancer in the touring company of the show, which features Billy Joel's music and Twyla Tharp's choreography. Alyse says she was dismissed from the cast of the show last month after her breasts grew from cup size C to D while she was recovering from an injury.
Michael Hartman, a spokesman for the producers, said they had no comment. A spokesman for Joel, who is not a defendant in the case, could not be reached for immediate comment.
Alyse, who is in her 20s, said the change of cup size occurred naturally as her body matured. Ruling out any big weight gain, she said she kept fit while recovering from a toe injury suffered when she was dropped by a fellow dancer from six feet in the air.
"I was thin, I was a size zero, but my breasts had gotten bigger," Alyse told a news conference on Tuesday. "When I tried on my costumes they fit everywhere except in the breast area."
Her suit, which names Tharp among the defendants, lists a whole catalog of charges including wrongful termination, breach of contract, defamation, sexual harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
It was filed on Monday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. Alyse's lawyer, Larry Klayman, said the "main perpetrator" of the alleged abuse heaped on the young dancer was Eric Sprosty, a stage manager. Klayman said Sprosty flew into a rage after learning of Alyse's changing breast size.
"She was in fear of bodily injury," Klayman said.
He said the more than $100 million suit was "based on actual and compensatory damages" in the case, but he also said "Movin' Out" was "a very lucrative show" and a "cash cow for Broadway."
The show, which won Tonys awards for choreography
and orchestrations, ended its Broadway run in December after 1,300 performances.
"In the ballet world, obviously, people are small-breasted," Klayman said in answer to a question about the maturing shape of Alyse, who is a trained ballerina.
Posted by ronnie at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)