Now There Are Two

Last week I reported on the first active college athlete to come out publicly, Willamette University Place Kicker Conner Mertens.  As the eyes of the sports world turns from football to the upcoming baseball season, yesterday brought the announcement of an active college baseball player coming out publicly.  Inspired and encouraged by his boyfriend, Walla Walla Community College First Baseman/Outfielder Chandler Whitney came out to his team mates and told his story to Outsports.com.  When his baseball team gathered for the first practices of the new year, talk turned to stories from winter break.  Having spent the winter break with his boyfriend, Chandler stood in front of his team mates trying to decide if he should take the plunge and 'confess' his secret.  Deciding to go ahead and do it, he said simply "I'm Gay".  The team broke into spontaneous applause which took Chandler completely off-guard.  Chandler says "I didn't accept it myself very well.  "I didn't want anyone to know, and if anyone asked I would deny it even though I knew I was gay. It took me until I was a senior in high school to see how dumb that was. Now I realize that the most important thing is that I'm happy."  He also revealed to his team mates just who his boyfriend was.  "You know that college football player at Willamette who came out?" He asked his teammates last week. "I'm dating that guy."  Yes Conner Mertens is Chandler Whitney's boyfriend and the strength of their relationship gave both young athletes the courage to be true to themselves so they could live their lives openly.  Both young men have had overwhelmingly positive support from family, friends and team mates.  It doesn't hurt they they are both cute as the dickens (see photos below, Conner is the top photo and Chandler is the bottom photo).  Congratulations to both and much happiness to them as they move forward with their lives together and their sports careers.  You can send a little love and encouragement Chandler's way via Twitter (@ChandlerWhitney) or you can email him (chandler.r.whitney@gmail.com).

Your Tuesday Musical Moment features The Moonlight sonata by Beethoven in a 60 minute rendition from a very rare LP recording featuring piano and orchestra with a repetition of the 1st movement for more than 10 times. This version of the Piano sonata No.14 is the only one known to be accompanied by a symphony orchestra with a more soothing and deep sound of this true master piece by Ludwig van Beethoven.  Unfortunately, the performance artists are not named.  You may also hear Beethoven's Sextet in E-flat major, Op. 71 for 2 clarinets, 2 horns and 2 bassoons over on my tumblr. 

Then for your visual appreciation there is an adorable group of gorgeous guys on display below the video in this week's edition of Tuesday's Temptations.   Be sure to check out the Hottie of the Day! when you are over at my tumblr.   Thank you for sharing a part of your day with me, see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

Best of the Web ThisWeek

The BPO concert was well worth rearranging my sleep schedule so I could enjoy this excellent listening experience.  In addition to Brahms' Piano Concerto Number 2 and Lutoslawski's Symphony Number 3, for an encore they performed Tchaikovsky's Marche Miniature from Suite Number 1, Opus 43.  The rest of the day and night was fairly uneventful, leaving me time to keep my feed reader empty and gain some rest for the start of my work week tonight.  Since there is not much news wise to talk about, I will move right on in to the music and the men.  Today's video contains a suite of concerti, quartets and sextets by Domenico Cimarosa.  The works include Harpsichord Concerto in B Flat Major, the Concerto for 2 Flutes and Orchestra in G Major, Quartets for Flute, Violin, Viola and Cello Numbers 1, 3 and 5, all in D Major, the Sextet for Keyboard, 2 Violins, Viola, Cello and Bassoon in G Major, the Sextet for Keyboard, Harp, Violin, Viola de Gamba, Cello and Bassoon in F Major and finally the Quartet Number 2 for Oboe and Strings in G Major.  The only artists listed in the description are Andrea Coen on Harpsichord and Frederico Guglielmo on Violin.    While being soothed and serenaded by the music, you can scroll on down the page at a leisurely pace to admire the 78 selections that I deemed the best out of the 932 that I collected this week.  Have a fabulous weekend, thanks for choosing to spend a part of it here at Nichevo, see you again on Monday.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!