Kicking Off Prom Season, A Podcast About My Prom Novel

It's May and that means prom season is in full swing. So for your listening pleasure, Simon & Schuster has a podcast on YouTube that I did a few years ago about my debut novel A REALLY NICE PROM MESS. This is my first novel for young adults which tells the story about a gay couple who goes on a secret double date to the prom which doesn't stay secret for long and then complications/chaos ensue (see police, drug dealers, strippers, et al). The book was nearly banned in 2009 by a library in Wisconsin just because there were gay characters in it. Anyway, the podcast is about 4 minutes long and, in it, I talk about about the book and my prom experiences, as I went to a few! You can purchase the paperback on Amazon and I guarantee it makes for fun summer/beach reading.

Fanboy Podcast Looks At STAR WARS, Minute By Minute

I recently discovered an unusual podcast which started back in June and, since then, has been doing daily episodes which examine the original STAR WARS film, minute by minute. The show is hosted by two self-professed SW super-geeks, Alex Robinson and Pete The Retailer. For each episode, they have a guest host who joins in a discussion in which they go over one minute of the film with a geeky microscope, talking about fan theories, SW trivia and cracking jokes too.

I listened to minute 116 which was a precise dissection of the moment in which Luke fires his mysterious photon torpedoes (or were they heat seeking cruise-style missiles?) into the Death Star causing it's spectacular destruction. I learned that this is not called the Battle of the Death Star but the Battle of Yavin (after the planet the Death Star nearly eliminates). Also, there was much citing of something called the Wookie-Pedia, which is a complete and incredibly detailed online glossary of all thing SW.

I thought I was a STAR WARS fan with a decent knowledge of the original trilogy and behind-the- scenes stuff. But these guys take it to a entirely different level. One of the hosts, I believe it was Pete, says he saw the original film about 35 times when it first came out in 1977, spending many afternoons at the multiplex watching it over and over. [I actually remember getting into a fight with my parents when I wanted to go see it a second time, which they considered to be a waste of money since I had already seen it!] Anyway, the podcast will end this week at minute 119 (skipping the 2 minutes of credits). They may move on to the next two films but no official word yet -- you can check their Facebook page for updates.

The Bowery Boys History Of The Rockaways Is Great Beach Listening

This week, as people hit the beaches for summer vacation, I have a great recommendation for some beach listening. The Bowery Boys podcast recently did an wonderful history of New York City's first resort beach, the Rockaways.  They start with the Indians (a tribe which gave the Rockways their unusual name), cover its height as New York's most luxurious beach resort (see above), and also cover its downfall when Robert Moses cleared a whole swath of it for public housing.

Lately the Rockaways are resurgent as a new generation rediscovers NYC's loveliest natural shoreline within the five borough.  I'm a Fort Tilden regular (where the Army secretly stashed some nuclear weapons in case of a Soviet attack), as are many of this hipsters from the BK. I have jokingly started referring to it as Hipster Beach. Anyway, the podcast is a great story told with humor and loads of factoids by the knowledgeable Bowery Boys, aka Gregory Young and Tom Meyers. Check it out on your iPhone while you lie on the beach!