NY Republican Votes For Marriage Equality And Battles For Reelection

Today's TIMES has an interesting story about a Republican state senator Roy Mcdonald who was one the key four votes in passing marriage equality in New York state last summer.  Now, he's up for reelection and his opponent is making his vote the number one issue in his reelection.  The question is, in economic hard times, will voters even care?  What I find even more interesting is that his opponent concedes that there is no way the state's law can be reversed or re-voted on either.  So it's a true case of water under the bridge but she has been relentless in her attacks on her opponent. And, obviously, the advent of gays getting married in the state has not brought about the apocalypse or the collapse of society so it seems like she doesn't have much of a case really.

Let's hope that the votes upstate can see this tactic for what it is...a desperate measure by a fringe candidate to get some attention. Roy Mcdonald won a lot of gay fans (and financial support for his campaign) with his common sense approach to an issue that all too often becomes conflated with things that are entirely irrelevant to it (i.e. the "threat" to "traditional" marriage).  I particularly love his quote in the article today below. I think we could really use more wise men, Republicans or Democrats, like Mr. Mcdonald serving in government today.

“I’m in the party of Abraham Lincoln — I’m very proud of that,” he said. “I’m not in a party of a bunch of right-wing nitwits. It’s Abraham Lincoln. It’s everybody’s included. And I feel that’s very important.”

A Year Of Progress At The World Trade Center Site

These are two photos I took of the new World Trade Center tower one year apart, on 9/11/11 and 9/11/12. It shows the remarkable progress that has been made with the new tower, which recently topped out at the 110th floor.

Meanwhile, other progress that is not as visible was announced just this week. The construction on the museum, which has been halted for a year due to a dispute between the Port Authority, the city, and the foundation building the museum will start up again after an agreement was reached regarding finances.

Though this year's commemoration of the attack is much more subdued than last years 10th anniversary, this news is the best way to honor the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives that day. The museum, which will tell their story and the story of that fateful day, is now scheduled to open in 2014.

The 9/11 Memorial That Will Soon Be Homeless

One of the emblems of the original World Trade Center was the large modernist sculpture that sat at the center of the huge windswept plaza.  Called "The Sphere" it was made by the German scultptor Fritz Koenig and placed on the site in 1971.  Despite the collapse of the twin towers around it, it remained remarkably intact with some holes and dents to its bronze skin.  Six months after the attacks it was relocated to Battery Park where it remains today with an eternal flame burning at its base.

This weekend, the Times City Room blog ran a story about a group of volunteers who decided to clean the memorial as the 11th anniversary approaches. One of them, Michael Burke, lost a brother on 9/11 who was a NYC fireman. This fall, a massive renovation of Battery Park will displace The Sphere.  Unfortunately, it has nowhere to go. The 9/11 Mueeum doesn't want it for its collection and the 9/11 Memorial Commission does not want artifacts cluttering up the plaza.  There is a plan to place it in Liberty Park, a part of the Trade Center site development on Liberty Street, but that is not even due for completion until around 2014.

So until then, this remarkable piece of 9/11 history will probably have to go back into storage. It's really a shame the city or the Port Authority can't find a better way to take care of this monument and keep it in the public eye until the new park is ready.

Ira Sach's Film KEEP THE LIGHTS ON In Theaters This Weekend

I've posted here before about my friend Ira Sach's latest feature KEEP THE LIGHTS ON.  It had its New York debut at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year after screenings at Sundance and Berlin. Now the film is out in theaters this weekend and I urge you to check it out. It is one of the best American features of the year. And that's not just me talking....the New York TIMES agrees as well.

It's a love story between two men told over the course of 10 years.  It's intimate and intense and a deeply personal story as well.  And it's also revealing about the nature of intimacy and what happens when that gets tangled with addiction. Finally, it's a story about life in New York and, with its beautifully realistic look, has the feeling of a sharply witnessed documentary at times.

It's opening this weekend in NYC and LA so please check it out. And it will be at other theaters in major cities across the U.S. later this fall. Here's the trailer below to give you a taste of the film...

Zach Wahls Addresses The Democratic Convention

Over the last couple weeks, I've avoided posting much about the conventions, both Republican and Democratic (hough I was certainly tempted to post Clint Eastwood talking to an empty chair, that's for sure!). But I do want to draw your attention to the short but powerful speech of Zach Wahls. This is the young man from Iowa raised by two lesbian moms who turned out to be an Eagle scout, straight (!) and a remarkable young speaker.

I've posted about Zach before when he spoke at the GLAAD Awards here in New York. Now, with his debut speech at the Democratic Convention today, he really makes his point about the importance of family no matter what the definition of that is.  This is his first time speaking at a political convention and I doubt it will be the last.

The Unusual Cult of WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER

One of my favorite all-time comedies is the indie flick WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER.  It was a little movie from the guys who did THE STATE on MTV which is a loving sendup of summer movies from the 80's, especially those of the camp genre.  It also happens to sport a surprising number of future stars too, including Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper (playing it gay!).  I was fortunate enough to have caught this in its limited release in August 2001 and it brightened up what was a dreary dog day of summer. I've seen it a few times since and still find it amusing as there are som many weird little jokes going on that you always seem to catch something new.

While I'd heard the film was popular with a certain movie-mad crowd, I had no idea it had become something of a cult classic.  Paper magazine reports on the film's legendary status in an interesting article about how it morphed from an in-theatres flop to a DVD hit and now a midnight classic. The best thing in the article, though, is the news that there is a sequel of sorts in the works. Will Bradley Cooper and his white Izod join the fun?  I hope so.  And I really hope they can get it together for Summer '13.

Peter Pan Bakery Has Best Donuts In New York

One of the recurrent themes of my blog (and my life!) is donuts. So this weekend, I was out in Greenpoint and finally got a chance to visit the Peter Pan Bakery, which I had heard a lot about (and had even mentioned here before) but never made the trek out.  I can honestly say that these are easily the best donuts in New York City....yes, even better than the my local fave The Donut Pub.

They are truly kicking it old school at Peter Pan and you know it the minute you walk in the door. It smells heavenly and kinda like the 70s. That is, it smells like the 70's at the old Montgomery Donuts I used to frequent as a kid. Peter Pan has been in operation for decades and has a great zig-zag counter with stools too which looks pretty retro too. But what sets Peter Pan apart from say The Pub is a) the sheer variety of donuts (I counted about 20) and b) just a fresher crisper old-time donutty taste.  A favorite was the Apple Crumb donut which had a healthy dose of cinnamon crumbs piled on top.  There was also the basic chocolate ring that was awesome and a white cream filled creation that was delicious.

I would be there ever day if it weren't roughly 3 trains away from me in the city. But that is probably a good thing too.  Too many donuts=Homer Simpson.

The Google StreetView Cam Sees Some Crazy Things

Google's StreetView camera has tooled around the world, taking photos of millions of miles of byways with it's unblinking eye.  And sometimes, unintentionally that eye captures some extraordinary images. A Canadian artist named Jon Rafman has been scanning Google's street views looking for things and people out of the ordinary and the design website Demilked has compiled some of his best screenshots.

Some of the images are shocking, like this van on fire above, and some are truly beautiful, like this flock of seagulls in flight below. Some are downright disturbing, like a baby crawling on an urban sidewalk by itself in front of a Gucci store.  Rafman is not the only one who has found art in the mundane.  A California based artist Doug Rickard has found interest in the street views of poor and depressed neighborhoods.

Amazing Cast Photos For Season 2 Of AMERICAN HORROR STORY

Last fall, I kept hearing raves about Ryan Murphy's AMERICAN HORROR STORY. However, it didn't sound like something I'd be interested in as I'm not a big horror fan. But I checked it out anyway (probably because of Dylan McDermott!) and was instantly hooked. 

With its mix of real-life history (the Lindberg baby, the Black Dahlia) and fictional kinkiness (the Rubberman), it was the craziest show I had seen on television in a very long time...or quite possibly the craziest show I'd ever seen on television. But one of the most shocking things about it to me was that Ryan Murphy had revived a genre of TV that has been listed as dead for decades; the anthology series. Despite valiant attempts in the 80s to revive it with Spielberg's AMAZING STORIES and reboots of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, anthology was deemd un-doable. 

But much like he did with GLEE ((which essentially revived the also dead variety show genre), Murphy covered his tracks a bit and pretended the show was a series.  At least in the first season. That pretense seems to be over with Season 2 as the show has an entirely new setting (an instituational asylum) and new roster of characters, though Jessica Lange and a couple other cast members are returning but in utterly different roles.  The photos posted on EW's website this week give some tantalizing clues as to what's to come this year. Jessica Lange as a nun looks awesome and Joeseph Fiennes as a priest looks weirdly hot.  I can't wait for this one to air--it might even convince me to buy Hulu plus as the 10-day waiting period was killing me last fall!

Ally Sheedy At Age 12 On TO TELL THE TRUTH

Before she took her seat at THE BREAKFAST CLUB, a 12 year old Ally Sheedy wrote a novel. It was a NY Times bestseller back in 1975 when it was published called SHE WAS NICE TO MICE which was an illustrated children's book about mice and Queen Elizabeth.  I have a vague recollection of the book from my own childhood though I'm not sure I fully read it...I may have just looked at the pictures. 

Anyway, as a clever way of promoting the book, Sheedy made an appearance on the game show TO TELL THE TRUTH. (The fact that her mother is legendary literary agent Charlotte Sheedy may have helped make this happen--as well as maybe getting the book published too.) This game/chat show was one of my 70s' favorites as it always had cool celebrity panelists like Kitty Carlisle Hart and Gene Rayburn (from MATCH GAME, another fave!).  I came across this clip recently when a friend was putting together their own version of this show for a variety act and, while trying to find a clip of Jimmy Carter's appearance on the show when he was the governor of Georgia (actually turns out he was on WHAT'S MY LINE), I found a 12 year old Sheedy instead.  

It's a fun clip as Sheedy does not make a most convincing child author. We thought the red-head was better and, as it turns out, the red-head is the illustrator of Sheedy's book.