The highest court in Canada's largest province, Ontario, has ruled that gay and lesbian couples have the right to marry there. The ruling upholds a lower court decision and challenges the Canadian Government to change its laws on same-sex marriage. The appeals court ordered that gay couples seeking a legal union should be issued a marriage licence immediately.

The case had been fought by a gay couple, Michael Stark and Michael Leshner, who wasted no time in getting married hours after the ruling. Another couple, Jeff Parker and David Wood, saw the ruling on the internet and immediately went to Toronto City Hall to get their papers ready for an August wedding.

The 61-page ruling says the heterosexual definition of marriage violates gay couples' rights under the country's constitutional document, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Ontario is the third Canadian province to strike down the federal heterosexual definition of marriage in court decisions. [ full story ]

Ok, so I lied. My Gay Days is now officially over and I am tired. Ernie, the gang and I ended up going to dinner at the local Jungle Jim's and then to Disney's Pleasure Island where we danced, drank and checked out the scene until the early morning. It would be out last time to hang out together as their flight left in the afternoon yesterday. Last night I was taken out to dinner by my friend Frankie and then the two of us hung out with Travis downtown. We ended up talking and drinking until late until Frankie realised he needed to get home to bed in order to go to work Wednesday.

In other news:

• I really need to purchase a vehicle before this week is over.



• Chris has been helping me locate used vehicles that might just work for me.



• I have a job interview I am excited about on Friday.



• I have said it before, but XM Radio fucking rocks, especially Channel 81, BPM.

I just got home this afternoon, official concluding my Gay Days weekend. I went over to Chris' house on Friday night so that he would not have to pick me up to go to Disney the next day. I talked to Ernie that night about getting together, but as the night quickly grew into morning, I decided just to stay in and get some rest for the day ahead.

Disney was a lot of fun, much more than I had imagined it would be. Chris and I arrived just a bit behind schedule and met up with a few friends of his with whom we spent a better part of the day together. It was a great time walking around, checking everyone out and of course, riding the rides. It had been a few years since I was at the Magic Kingdom. Somehow with the who-knows-how-many visitors, I managed to run into a whole bunch of people I know from around town (maybe ten or fifteen people) and even Ernie and the gang. With the exception of a few downpours, the rain was relatively mild and knowing our wonderful summer weather here, could have been much worse. It was great watching some more femme guys running for cover in the rain. Hell, one was even skipping through the rain, gay as could be (pun intentional). The Thunder Mountain Railroad ride had been closed when we all originally went to ride it, but after Chris' friends left we rode a quite a bit of rides just the two of us, that one included. I was wearing the requisite red garb, in my case a tank top I would have never even thought about wearing fifteen pounds ago. I even managed to get just a bit of sun, too, but not too much.

I ended up getting to ride just about everything I wanted before Chris and I decided to head back to his place in order to grab some food, get all pretty and head out to the Parliament House to check the scene out there and watch Cyndi Lauper perform. The length of the show itself was rather disappointing (only thirty or so minutes) and the drink ticket bullshit he mentions should never be repeated again. We milled about and checked things out before and after the concert prior to just deciding to get on our way (last call was past and we were out of cash). We spent Sunday together just hanging out and watching marathon Star Trek: The Next Generation (hold your comments: it is the only television show I really enjoy). And well, I guess that is about it.

Speaking of that troublemaker Ernie, after I submit this I am going to be heading back down to their hotel to have dinner and hang out again before him, Mike and Don all fly back to the city by the bay. Oh, and I got the pictures back from the other night so I will be going through those soon and putting them in my Gallery. Their pictures will be coming soon too, as soon as they get back and have a chance to e-mail them to me. Well, with that I am off...

My favourite beer is now available as an ice cream!

Although the ice cream is made using the ale, under licence from brewers Scottish and Newcastle, the cooking process means it contains less than 1% alcohol. Jackie Maxwell, director of Doddington Dairy said: "We were looking for an ice cream flavour that was distinctive, and had a strong identity with the region.

"Newcastle Brown Ale has all of that. It has been a fantastic challenge working on a product like this, with one of the world's most famous brands. Every part of the process has been great for us - from the design of the cartons, through to testing the ale syrup for just the right flavour. The ice cream highlights Newcastle Brown's unique flavour characteristics."

It does appear that it will not be exported from the UK, so I doubt I will have the chance to try it. Anyone over that way want to ship me a carton?

Well, almost. Chris came by this afternoon and picked me up so that I could go to my insurance company office (all the way in Ocoee, of all places) to sign the power of attorney/title transfer and get my check. It turns out I owed a bit less on my bank loan than I expected so my total payout came to $4205.66, which should be enough to set myself up with something decent.

After taking care of that business and doing a courier run (Chris' job), we stopped and ate at The Olive Garden before heading over Firestone for the free concert night I mentioned before. It was not packed busy, but a good crowd turned out for a series of really great performances by Widelife ("I Don't Want You"), Tamia ("Officially Missing You"), Abigail ("Set Me Free") and Thunderpuss' DJ Barry Harris ("Dive In The Pool").

The crowd was very much more a local gathering than the previous night's experience at Southern, where I barely recognised anyone there. I imagine this was a result of the Firestone event being advertised only on our local "party" radio station and not at all in any of the Gay Days official publications. It was a great time and am glad Chris told me I was going. Damn, though, my ears are still ringing. But it was well worth it!

Friday I will be doing normal boring things around the house earlier on, but the evening remains open. Ernie and crowd said they would likely be doing an amusement park during the day, but I may join them in the evening. And then, of course, Saturday is the Magic Kingdom day, which I am now officially excited about attending.