Watching Skins...

I just finished watching season 1 of BBC's Skins, a sexy, realistic look at middle class teens in suburban England, on DVD. The series goes way further than any similar American show at realistically portraying the experience of being a contemporary teenager. It's full of sex, violence, and drugs. All the stuff I remember most from my teenage years.

Some of Skin's characters are new to television. Dev Patel (from Slumdog Millionaire) is Anwar, who trying to find his place in society as both a teenager who wants to have fun and a Muslim. One of his best friends is Maxie (The super cute Mitch Hewer), a gay tap dancer who struggles with his friend's faith more than his own sexuality. One of the most powerful scenes for the first season involves Anwar's conservative father and Maxie. The other characters deal with traditional teen stuff from anorexia to low self esteem. It's great television.

Skins doesn't follow a traditional narrative, each episode focuses on different character and flows freely from story to story. It's the kind of grown-up story telling that teen shows usually don't receive. The cast is uniformly great and you may notice Nicholas Hoult, the boy from About A Boy, is now all grown up and the most popular boy in school.

The show has been quite controversial, apparently British teenagers now throw 'Skins parties' where they do drugs and have sex. My bet is they had those same parties before Skins premiered, under a different title.

Skins has just entered it's third season on the BBC, but for now those of us in the USA can only get season one on DVD. The second season is scheduled for release in the states on April 14th 2009.

Note: In America Skins was shown on BBC America, but it is a Channel 4 Production. Thanks for the note.

Cross Posted on The Huffington Post.

Odds & Ends

--Oscar Wilde, the gay bookstore in nyc, is closing it's doors. Jeffery Self remembers having a friend who couldn't come in the store because he had a cup of coffee in his hands. It's always sad to see small businesses go, especially when they cater to the LGBT Community - but I never felt very comfortable in that store. I need to have coffee when I'm looking at books.

-- I'm going to the opening of the new film Memorial Day this evening. It's playing for a week in NYC, so try and check it out if you can.

-- Tonight is Really?, the first gay night at the hipster Bushwick restaurant Northern Kingdom. NK is located directly off the L train at Jefferson and the party starts at 11pm. I've been trying to be more involved in Bushwicky things and even started a Bushwick Pride group on Facebook.

Blueyed Son

One of my best friends in the world, Joe Drymala, has started a band, Blueyed Sun, and is putting out his first rock album. He's blogging the entire process, including releasing new tracks as he finishes them. He's recording the entire album, BEXAR COUNTY, in his apartment.

The first two songs, Long Way Off and Cocaine Cocaine, are very different and very cool. One is Bruce Springsteen, the other Johnny Cash.

For some background: Joe and I met on the Howard Dean's 2004 Presidential Campaign. He was a speechwriter. We worked together on our first show, White Noise, which was a big hit at the 2006 New York Musical Theater Festival. Joe has written the book, music, and lyrics to Street Lights - a new musical we're aiming to put up in the fall. He produced an amazing demo for that, you can listen to here.

I'll keep you updated on the album and any live performances. Until then, check out Joe's blog.

The Hill: Howard Dean for HHS

Tom Daschle's withdrawal leaves an opening at Health and Human Services. Howard Dean is the man for that job.

Dean isn't given enough credit for his expert chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee. His "50 State Strategy" is as responsible for Obama's large victory in 2008 as any other factor. Not to mention the 2006 congressional gains. He rebuilt the grass roots of the Democratic Party from the ground up, organizing a whole generation of young leaders.

His record as a five-term governor of Vermont is strong, including providing near-universal heath coverage. During his gubernatorial reelection bid, he had to wear a bulletproof vest because of death threats he'd received due to his support for gay civil unions.

Personally, Dean inspired me enough in 2003 that I moved to Vermont to work for him. He was one of the early voices of reason (followed by Gore and Obama) in the Democratic Party, opposing the war in Iraq. His 2004 campaign's use of the Internet changed the face of American politics forever.

Dean, also a medical doctor, would be an inspired choice for secretary of Health and Human Services. His knowledge of the issues plus his openness to innovation make him uniquely qualified. Join us on Facebook in support of the good Doctor!

Originally posted on The Hill.

Small Town Sheriff Seeks Celebrity

A picture surfaced last week of Michael Phelps smoking pot. America is outraged.

Luckily, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott may bring Phelps up on charges, that could land him in jail for up to 30 days. 30 days America will be free from the horrors of Michael Phelps' marijuana use.

"This case is no different than any other case," Lott said Monday. "This one might be a lot easier since we have photographs of someone using drugs and a partial confession. It's a relatively easy case once we can determine where the crime occurred."

Leon Lott, according to his lil' website, was awarded the 2004 Strom Thurmond Award of Excellence in Law Enforcement, which one can only assume is an award given out for arresting the most black people in South Carolina, and Outstanding Leadership in Litter Enforcement for keeping the streets clean literally. He's also a Baptist, so he might arrest you for just about anything not Jesusy.

It seems, more than just getting his name in the paper, what Lott is after is some kind of award for the courage he's showing actually charging Michael Phelps with a crime. If it wasn't for Lott, who would stop Michael Phelps from using safe recreational substances in the privacy of his own home?

So, by the power invested in me by the good folks at Blogger, I'd like to present Sheriff Lott with the 2009 Keeping America Safe From The Evil Michael Phelps And Protecting Individual Liberties and Freedom Award. I hope to see it listed on your website soon Leon!

RENT Live DVD Release Party

Kevin and I went to the RENT Live DVD release party tonight at Life Cafe. It's a wonderful DVD that was recorded during the last several Broadway performances and played briefly in theaters last year.

The closing cast is pretty great, with highlights like Will Chase as Roger and Rodney Hicks as Benny. Rodney and I worked on Jacques Brel... in 2006 at the now defunct Zipper Theater. He was in the ensemble when RENT first opened and was in the closing cast as Benny. Talk about coming full circle.

Jonathan Larson, the composer of RENT, died before the show opened on Broadway from an aneurysm from Marfan Syndrome. The National Marfan Foundation has a PSA on the DVD to generate awareness of the disease.

The Hill: President Petraeus?

The Republicans’ prospects for 2012 are pretty grim. A new Rasmussen poll shows that 55 percent of them think the party should become more like Sarah Palin. Her star continues to shine brightly in Republican circles, while most of the country doesn't take her seriously.

Someone who may see a 2012 opening is Gen. David Petraeus — who, I've read, sees President Petraeus when he looks in the mirror. Petraeus is reportedly pressuring Obama on his commitment to withdraw troops from Iraq. On Jan. 21, after a meeting with Obama, the general looked "visibly unhappy when he left the Oval Office."

Petraeus would have a great shot at the Republican nomination. Especially against 2008 rehash like Palin, Romney or Huckabee. Obama shouldn't count on him to stay long in his administration.

Originally posted on The Hill.

Huffington Post: Memorial Day, Abu Ghraib Film, Opens in NYC

On a gloomy Sunday afternoon I ventured to the closing performance of downtown's Surrender, a "simulated war deployment experience," produced by The International Wow Company. Upon arrival we were issued army uniforms and rifles, given a very basic training course, and led off to battle. It was one of the most intense and ultra-realistic experiences I've ever had in a theater.

Surrender was conceived by Brooklyn-based director Josh Fox with the assistance of Jason Christopher Hartley, the Iraq War Veteran and the author of Just Another Soldier. The duo has teamed up again on the new film Memorial Day, which opens in New York City at The IFC Center on Wednesday.

Memorial Day begins with a group of young Americans partying at a beach town over their holiday break and follows their army service at an Iraqi Prison. The documentary feel makes the film all the more shocking, it's a real experience.

Fox and Hartley put their cast through an extensive boot camp, that lasted for more than three weeks. I was exhausted after the hour boot camp during Surrender and can only imagine what the full experience is like. The Iraqi prison used in the film was constructed near Wow's company headquarters at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and much of the film was shot locally in Brooklyn.

Fox told me that one night they were shooting a scene on a Brooklyn rooftop, when they got into some trouble. The scene involved one character firing off a few rounds, loud blanks off the roof. The crew had warned the police that they'd be shooting so they wouldn't alarm them - but their warning didn't seem to work. In the middle of filming the scene the NYPD stormed the rooftop with their guns drawn. It was an extraordinarily anxious few minutes as they tried to explain to the officers that they were just filming a movie and no real guns were present.

The film has received critical acclaim, but has been subject to a fair amount of controversy. At one screening at a Las Vegas film festival, several audience members rushed the box office, one even proclaiming - "If you show this movie again, I'll burn down the casino!"

While I don't think it'll receive quite that strong a reaction in NYC, it's a film certain to make people on all sides of the issue examine their position.

Memorial Day opens Wednesday at New York City's IFC Center. Visit the official site.

Originally Posted on The Huffington Post.

News Flash: Michael Phelps Smokes Pot

A picture surfaced of Michael Phelps smoking marijuana from a large bong. Good for him.

Phelps later had to apologize, even though he's in top physical condition and has already won fourteen gold medals, he isn't allowed to partake in the safest of recreational drugs. What a weird world we live in.

I'd hope that speculation that Phelps will lose all sorts of endorsement deals are nonsense. He was arrested for a DUI (something obviously much worse for society than pot smoking) in my hometown of Salisbury, MD in 2004 and has done alright since that incident.

My hope for an Obama age is a realization that the war on drugs, specifically marijuana, is a misguided, puritan waste of money.

Update: Great article on Phelps and Marijuana policy at The Huffington Post.

Street Lights Reading...

Friday afternoon we sat down to hear the new draft of Joe Drymala's Street Lights at Chelsea Studios. It's an exciting evolution of the show and we're really excited to give the public a chance to see it. We're looking at a NYC concert in April or May.

Until then, become a fan of the show on Facebook.

Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages In NYC

I stood outside of VYNL Diner waiting for my lunch date in early January 2006. I looked up ninth avenue and saw a horse-drawn carriage, speeding out of control, heading downtown. The driver couldn't get the horse to slow and, as it approached fiftieth Street, they slammed into a passing car. The driver was thrown from the carriage and was badly injured. The horse ended up under the car.

It was a shocking sight that I won't soon forget.

PETA says of horse-drawn carriages: Forcing horses to pull oversized loads isn't romantic—it's cruel. Horses are forced to toil in all weather extremes, dodge traffic, and pound the pavement all day long. These gentle animals suffer from respiratory ailments because they breathe in exhaust fumes, and they develop debilitating leg problems from walking on hard surfaces. In some cases, horses have even dropped dead from heatstroke after working in scorching summer heat and humidity.

Banning horse-drawn carriages in New York City is the right thing to do. These animals are treated horribly and shouldn't continue to work long days on the New York streets.

On Friday morning Maria Derr and I went to City Hall to participate in a rally to ban horse-drawn carriages in NYC. A bill is being introduced in the City Council.



(Notice me behind the sign for the film Blinders.)

I'll keep you posted on what you can do to help get the bill through the city council. One group, League of Humane Voters of New York City, is leading on the issue and will always have the latest news.