Thursday, January 31, 2013

Dance DJ Lemon is go-to for top talent : Entertainment

Dance DJ Lemon is go-to for top talent : Entertainment

When it comes to backing up some of the world’s top EDM DJs visiting St. Louis, Rob Lemon has become the go-to guy.
The St. Louis dance scene veteran, who spins techno and deep house music, has opened for the likes of Tiesto, Paul van Dyk, Deep Dish, Christopher Lawrence, Jimmy Van M, Deep Mouse and more from a list that keeps growing.
Part of what earned him that distinction, he says, is that he’s well-liked. But above all else, Lemon knows his role.
“My job is to set up the DJs, but to also show off myself,” he says. “You have to control yourself and know your place when you open for these DJs.”
Lemon says young DJs often play music without considering what the crowd wants to hear.
“I’ll go into a club and a young DJ will just blast out music as loud as possible, and the crowd is disconnected,” Lemon says.“He’s just got 10 tracks, and he’s going to play them as loud as he can.”
Lemon’s first professional gig was around 1997 at Velvet, a former Washington Avenue staple. At the time, he mostly was a party DJ, looking to work his way into Velvet’s DJ booth. He got to know Marc Buxton, a resident Velvet DJ, and studied his moves. He also made his face known at dance-record stores such as On the Grid and Deep Grooves.
“I had to be out there all the time getting relationships,” Lemon says. “I would do that for a couple of years, and then that one break came through — ‘Hey, we got an opening slot.’”
He was brought on by Andrew Mullins, a friend and mentor who was a talent buyer at Velvet, to open for Danny Morris during a Thanksgiving weekend gig.
“It was pretty nerve-wracking,” he says. “It’s a big room — a big, powerful room — one of the biggest rooms I’d seen up to that point.”
Lemon moved on from Velvet to the short-lived Cheetah in 1999 and back to Velvet a year later.
Then, he noticed a change on the dance scene: It was becoming more about big-name, touring DJs over local DJs.
Still, he cemented a Velvet residency and has spun at Home nightclub and Dante’s.
These days, Lemon runs Timmermann Group, a marketing agency in Lafayette Square, and can be found spinning at Europe nightclub, where he opened for van Dyk last month.
At Europe, Lemon demonstrates a style he describes as both technical and well-thought-out.
“I’m very conscious of what the dance floor wants to hear rather than just smashing a bunch of tracks together,” he says. “I think it’s mostly about the crowd hearing the right song at the right time.”

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Tennessee ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Now Requires Teachers To Inform Parents If Their Child Is Gay

Tennessee ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Now Requires Teachers To Inform Parents If Their Child Is Gay: pTennessee’s so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay‘ bill died with the adjournment of the state assembly last year. But now the measure is back — with new, harsher requirements. The bill, SB 234, still bars Tennessee teachers from discussing any facet of “non-heterosexual” sexuality with children in grades K-8. But the newest iteration also includes a provision requiring teachers or counselors to inform the parents of some students who identify themselves as LGBT. State Sen. Stacey Campfield (R), who authored the bill the first time around and again introduced it this time, calls out students who might be “at risk,” but leaves the interpretation of that behavior to the teacher:
The general assembly recognizes that certain subjects are particularly sensitive and are, therefore, best explained and discussed within the home. Because of its complex societal, scientific, psychological, and historical implications, human sexuality is one such subject. Human sexuality is best understood by children with sufficient maturity to grasp its complexity and implications [...]
A school counselor, nurse, principal or assistant principal from counseling a student who is engaging in, or who may be at risk of engaging in, behavior injurious to the physical or mental health and well-being of the student or another person; provided, that wherever possible such counseling shall be done in consultation with the student’s parents or legal guardians. Parents or legal guardians of students who receive such counseling shall be notified as soon as practicable that such counseling has occurred
Family rejection is a serious risk for LGBT youth. Kids who are LGBT often face alienation, if not outright abandonment, because they come out. Forty percent of homeless youth are LGBT, and many of them report that the reason they left home was to escape an environment hostile to their sexual orientation. LGBT youth who experience family rejection are at high risk for depression and suicide.

San Francisco 49ers Player Wouldn’t Tolerate Gay Teammate: ‘Can’t Be With That Sweet Stuff’

San Francisco 49ers Player Wouldn’t Tolerate Gay Teammate: ‘Can’t Be With That Sweet Stuff’: pLast week, Baltimore Raves defensive tackle Brendan Ayanbadejo, an outspoken advocate for LGBT equality, said he hoped to use the Super Bowl as a platform to advocate for marriage equality and anti-bullying efforts. It’s no secret that there are players who don’t agree with Ayanbadejo’s advocacy, and one of his opponents this week is one [...]/p

Jim Nabors Marries Longtime Partner

Jim Nabors Marries Longtime Partner | ExtraTV.com

Hawaii News Now broke the story that Nabors and 64-year-old Stan Cadwallader, a former firefighter, made it official on January 15 in a low-key ceremony in Seattle, where gay marriage became legal in December. The two make their home in Hawaii.

“The Andy Griffith Show” alum told Hawaii News Now, "I'm 82 and he's in his 60s and so we've been together for 38 years, and I'm not ashamed of people knowing, it's just that it was such a personal thing I didn't tell anybody. I'm very happy that I've had a partner of 38 years and I feel very blessed. And what can I tell you, I'm just very happy."
 
Nabors said their decision to finally make it official was to ensure protection if one of them should become sick or die.
 
"It's pretty obvious that we had no rights as a couple, yet when you've been together 38 years, I think something's got to happen there, you've got to solidify something. And at my age, it's probably the best thing to do," noted Nabors, who underwent open heart surgery last May.
 
The TV star also said that although this is the first time he’s spoken publicly about his sexual orientation, "This is really no big deal. My friend and I, my partner, we went through all of this 38 years ago. So, I mean, we made our vows and that was it. It was to each other, but nevertheless, we were a couple.”

Monday, January 21, 2013

Our Journey is Not Complete...

“It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia, to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for and cherished and always safe from harm.” President Obama - January 21, 2013