Here's a Christmas picture from my make-believe happiest couple.
Thanks for another fun year, friends and readers.
xo,
Kay Banks
Kay Banks
Monday, December 19, 2011
Happy Everything!
I hope you're as busy as I am with all the Christmas/Solstice/Hanukkah/New Year festivities! See you next year (or maybe sooner).
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
AJ McLean's wedding invitations
One of the Backstreet Boy guys - A.J. McLean - is getting married this weekend. I don't give a crap about him either, but his wedding invitations were called "Gothic", so immediately I had to see them.
Screencapped from TMZ. Don't sue me Harvey Levin, your watermark is firmly in place.
Yes, yes we all hate Ed Hardy.
The invitations are beautifully crafted, but there's something about the style that exudes the arrogance of a guy who would wear a dragon-covered, bedazzled shirt.
I do like the blood-spattered font they chose.
I hate this one more than anything. It looks like the back of a that-guy shirt.
And in case you don't know what A.J. McLean and Rochelle Karidis look like, here's something that will instantly make you understand their wedding invitations.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Kentucky church does the right thing
Last week, a small Kentucky church voted to ban interracial marriage after Stella Harville and Ticha Chikuni became engaged - they are a mixed-race couple. They have now reversed their position, so I should take back some of those things I said about the people of Kentucky. Sorry, KY.
Follow up from AP:
An eastern Kentucky church under a firestorm of criticism since members voted to bar mixed-race couples from joining the congregation overturned that decision Sunday, saying it welcomes all believers.
Stacy Stepp, pastor of the Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church in Pike County, told The Associated Press that the vote by nine people last week was declared null and void after it was determined that new bylaws can't run contrary to local, state or national laws. He said the proposal was discriminatory, therefore it couldn't be adopted.
The "controversial" couple
Stepp said about 30 people who attended church services voted on a new resolution that welcomes "believers into our fellowship regardless of race, creed or color."
The issue came up at the tiny all-white Appalachian church after the daughter of church secretary Dean Harville visited over the summer with her boyfriend, who is from Africa, and the two sang for the congregation. Harville said he was approached in August by Melvin Thompson, the church member who crafted the resolution to bar mixed-race couples, and was told that his daughter and her boyfriend were no longer allowed to sing at the church. Thompson has said he is not racist and called the matter an "internal affair."
Stepp said the Sandy Valley Conference of Free Will Baptists declared the vote on Thompson's resolution null and void during a meeting on Saturday. He said he told church members on Sunday about the decision and proposed a resolution to promote "peace, love and harmony." He said the resolution to welcome all believers passed with a unanimous vote.
Follow up from AP:
An eastern Kentucky church under a firestorm of criticism since members voted to bar mixed-race couples from joining the congregation overturned that decision Sunday, saying it welcomes all believers.
Stacy Stepp, pastor of the Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church in Pike County, told The Associated Press that the vote by nine people last week was declared null and void after it was determined that new bylaws can't run contrary to local, state or national laws. He said the proposal was discriminatory, therefore it couldn't be adopted.
The "controversial" coupleStepp said about 30 people who attended church services voted on a new resolution that welcomes "believers into our fellowship regardless of race, creed or color."
The issue came up at the tiny all-white Appalachian church after the daughter of church secretary Dean Harville visited over the summer with her boyfriend, who is from Africa, and the two sang for the congregation. Harville said he was approached in August by Melvin Thompson, the church member who crafted the resolution to bar mixed-race couples, and was told that his daughter and her boyfriend were no longer allowed to sing at the church. Thompson has said he is not racist and called the matter an "internal affair."
Stepp said the Sandy Valley Conference of Free Will Baptists declared the vote on Thompson's resolution null and void during a meeting on Saturday. He said he told church members on Sunday about the decision and proposed a resolution to promote "peace, love and harmony." He said the resolution to welcome all believers passed with a unanimous vote.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
This nonsense again? Church bans interracial marriage.
TL;DR: Somewhere in Kentucky, a church has voted in favor of banning interracial marriage after a mixed-race couple from the church became engaged. The bride-to-be is white, and the groom is African.
A tiny all-white Appalachian church in rural Kentucky has voted to ban interracial couples from joining its flock, pitting members against each other in an argument over race.
Members at the Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church voted Sunday on the resolution, which says the church “does not condone interracial marriage.” The church member who crafted the resolution, Melvin Thompson, said he is not racist and called the matter an “internal affair.”
“I am not racist. I will tell you that. I am not prejudiced against any race of people, have never in my lifetime spoke evil about a race,” said Thompson, the church’s former pastor who stepped down earlier this year. “That’s what this is being portrayed as, but it is not.”
Not the couple, obviously, but you needed some pretty with all this ugliness.
Church secretary Dean Harville disagrees: He says the resolution came after his daughter visited the church this summer with her boyfriend from Africa. Stella Harville and Ticha Chikuni — now her fiancé — visited the church in June and Chikuni sang a song for the congregation. The two had visited the church before. Dean Harville, the church’s secretary, said he was counting the church offering after a service in early August when he was approached by Thompson, who told him Harville’s daughter and her boyfriend were no longer allowed to sing at the church.
“If he’s not racist, what is this?” Harville said of Thompson. The vote by members last Sunday was 9-6, Harville said. It was taken after the service, which about 35 to 40 people attended.
Harville said many people left or declined to vote. The resolution says anyone is welcome to attend services, but interracial couples could not become members or be “used in worship services or other church functions.” Stella Harville, a 24-year-old graduate student at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana, called the vote “hurtful.”
“I think part of me is still in shock and trying to process what’s been going on the past few days,” she said. “I really hope they overturn this.” The church’s pastor, Stacy Stepp, said Wednesday that he was against the resolution. Stepp said the denomination’s regional conference will begin working on resolving the issue this weekend.
The National Association of Free Will Baptists in Antioch, Tenn., has no official position on interracial marriage for its 2,400 churches worldwide, executive secretary Keith Burden said. The denomination believes in the Bible is inerrant and local churches have autonomy over decision-making.
“It’s been a non-issue with us,” Burden said, adding that many interracial couples attend Free Will Baptist churches. He said the Pike County church acted on its own. Burden said the association can move to strip the local church of its affiliation with the national denomination if it’s not resolved.
“Hopefully it is corrected quickly,” Burden said. The church’s vote on interracial marriage was first reported this week by East Kentucky Broadcasting, a network of local radio stations in the region. Stella Harville met Chikuni at Georgetown College, where he is a student advisor. Dean Harville said Chikuni’s parents live in southern Africa, and he has not seen them in over a decade.
A tiny all-white Appalachian church in rural Kentucky has voted to ban interracial couples from joining its flock, pitting members against each other in an argument over race.
Members at the Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church voted Sunday on the resolution, which says the church “does not condone interracial marriage.” The church member who crafted the resolution, Melvin Thompson, said he is not racist and called the matter an “internal affair.”
“I am not racist. I will tell you that. I am not prejudiced against any race of people, have never in my lifetime spoke evil about a race,” said Thompson, the church’s former pastor who stepped down earlier this year. “That’s what this is being portrayed as, but it is not.”
Not the couple, obviously, but you needed some pretty with all this ugliness.Church secretary Dean Harville disagrees: He says the resolution came after his daughter visited the church this summer with her boyfriend from Africa. Stella Harville and Ticha Chikuni — now her fiancé — visited the church in June and Chikuni sang a song for the congregation. The two had visited the church before. Dean Harville, the church’s secretary, said he was counting the church offering after a service in early August when he was approached by Thompson, who told him Harville’s daughter and her boyfriend were no longer allowed to sing at the church.
“If he’s not racist, what is this?” Harville said of Thompson. The vote by members last Sunday was 9-6, Harville said. It was taken after the service, which about 35 to 40 people attended.
Harville said many people left or declined to vote. The resolution says anyone is welcome to attend services, but interracial couples could not become members or be “used in worship services or other church functions.” Stella Harville, a 24-year-old graduate student at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana, called the vote “hurtful.”
“I think part of me is still in shock and trying to process what’s been going on the past few days,” she said. “I really hope they overturn this.” The church’s pastor, Stacy Stepp, said Wednesday that he was against the resolution. Stepp said the denomination’s regional conference will begin working on resolving the issue this weekend.
The National Association of Free Will Baptists in Antioch, Tenn., has no official position on interracial marriage for its 2,400 churches worldwide, executive secretary Keith Burden said. The denomination believes in the Bible is inerrant and local churches have autonomy over decision-making.
“It’s been a non-issue with us,” Burden said, adding that many interracial couples attend Free Will Baptist churches. He said the Pike County church acted on its own. Burden said the association can move to strip the local church of its affiliation with the national denomination if it’s not resolved.
“Hopefully it is corrected quickly,” Burden said. The church’s vote on interracial marriage was first reported this week by East Kentucky Broadcasting, a network of local radio stations in the region. Stella Harville met Chikuni at Georgetown College, where he is a student advisor. Dean Harville said Chikuni’s parents live in southern Africa, and he has not seen them in over a decade.