Category: Entertainment

Vandals hit 42nd Chicago Gay Pride parade

by Ted Regencia, posted in Entertainment, Lifestyle, Politics

Xinhua English
June 26, 2011

By Ted Regencia

CHICAGO — Hundreds of thousands of people went on to celebrate significant progress in the gay rights movement at Chicago’s 42nd Gay Pride parade on Sunday, despite vandals’ slashing tires of at least 51 floats before the start of the annual festival.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan told Xinhua that the celebration “takes on an added significance this year because of the fact that Illinois has passed and signed the civil union bill into law.”

Madigan said that while the state’s civil union law is not considered as gay marriage law like that of New York, she is “very proud” of the legislation “recognizing people’s relationships and give them equal rights that they deserve.”

“Every state is going about providing equality to people,” Madigan added. “I think we will see a lot of changes to take place across the country over the next few years.”

To read the full story, please visit Xinhua English

Largest U.S. film studio outside Hollywood opens in Chicago

by Ted Regencia, posted in Entertainment, Lifestyle

Xinhua English
May 11, 2011

Text and photo by Ted Regencia

CHICAGO, May 10 (Xinhua) — What do “Batman: The Dark Night,” and the upcoming movies “Transformers 3” and “Superman: Man of Steel” have in common? They all have Chicago as a filming location.

On Tuesday, Chicago was touted anew as “a world class film destination” with the opening of a state-of-the-art film and television studio, said to be the largest facility in the United States outside Hollywood.

Joined by Emmy Award-winning actor Kelsey Grammer and the producers of the new Chicago-inspired TV series “Boss,” Illinois Governor Pat Quinn announced that the state is investing five million U.S. dollars into the new privately-owned Cinespace Chicago Film Studios.

To read the full story, please visit Xinhua English