An unexplained technical difficulty caused re-ordering of the night's scheduled program. The second piece, an excerpt from Senku called Talking Drums, was performed first and highlighted the many, delightful talents of the always impressive Guy Thorne who danced alone accompanied by a piano solo. Senku is a Ghanian word for a keyboard instrument and Thorne put his ballet and modern dance skills to use reaching physical heights to match the musical highs and lows.

The world premiere, Edge/Joy, put the full 12 member company on display against music composed by Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon and performed live by the Eastman School of Music Ensemble. Moving fluidly in and out of small and larger groups, they exhibited moments of calm interrupted by sudden intensity.

Technical problems resolved, the opening piece was performed third. It was easy to see why they wanted to start off the evening with it. Earth Eagle First Circle was rooted in a Native American theme, with movements called Cultural Warrior, River Song, Spirit Seakers/Reservation Blues and Rest on the Run. Steve Humphrey was featured along with the full company in dances reminiscent of Indian tribal ceremonies set to a jazz/Indian score, composed and performed by Don Pullen.

The final number, Life: Dark/Light was danced in three segments, Life, Kiama (for killed in action, missing in action) and Light, had a strong Southeast Asian theme in music, dance and costume. The middle part, performed by Norwood Pennewell and Bill Ferguson, had the two in combat fatigues, in a dance of resistance to war and death. Nicolette Depass, Micha Scott, Annique Roberts and Kaori Otani were the highlights in the very colorful and graceful final movement.

Costumers Linda King, Rebecca Hodgson and Mary Nemecek Peterson, provided beautiful wardrobe that accentuated each dance throughout the evening.

Garth Fagan Dance LINK

The Joyce Theater LINK

Dance Class (November 23, 2003) LINK

Opening this week at the Public Theater is such an example. The Brothers Size is a compelling, lyrical one-act play that uses a contemporary style and ceremonial presentation to tell the story of two brothers and the friend whose presence threatens to tear them apart.

Like Hoodoo Love, reviewed here last week, this project is the brainchild of a new writing talent, Tarell Alvin McCraney, a May 2007 (yes, just six months ago) MFA graduate of the Yale School of Drama. The Brothers Size was performed at The Public last year as part of the UNDER THE RADAR festival, after getting on the radar screen of some of the theater community's current movers and shakers.

Using a minimalist set in the black box space of The Public's Shiva theater, and an off stage drummer to provide musical accompaniment and sound effects, the actors play in and out of a chalk circle drawn on the floor. Who stands inside or out, illustrates the relationships between the characters.

Ogun is trying to help his brother stay on the straight and narrow, by getting him a job at his garage. He has grown frustrated by his brother's lack of direction and the sacrifices he made to help raise him. Oshoosi is less driven, wanting only the use of a car so he can seek out the pleasures of the flesh he's lived without while in prison.

As Elegba, Villar plays with a just-below-the-surface sense of danger that makes you suspicious of every word he utters. While Oshoosi has made it clear to his brother he has no desire to go back to jail--in an emotional challenge between the two--it becomes increasingly apparent that Elegba has had a hard time leaving the penitentiary behind. The counterweight he provides to Ogun's influence compels Oshoosi to face the choices he has made in life.

If there is one drawback to this play it is that it is a tad predictable. With just three characters it is easy to see how the story will play out. But that doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the various performances. Owuor is an earnest Ogun who has accepted his own place in life while maintaining his dignity. Henry has the juiciest role, allowed to be the free spirit, the beset-upon younger brother and the unknowing co-conspirator all at once and he does so with an arresting stage presence, charisma and sensitivity. McCraney, director Tea Alagic and the three actors, developed and worked on this play together over the past two years and their comfort level with the material and each other is evident.

This play has the unique distinction of a simultaneous staging on both sides of the pond. It runs through Dec. 23 here in New York and November 8 to December 8 at London's Young Vic theater. Future productions are set for Dublin's Abbey Theatre and Washington, D.C.'s Studio Theatre.

The Brothers Size at The Public Theater LINK

The Brothers Size at The Young Vic LINK

The Brothers Size at The Studio Theatre LINK

Hall sets this play in her native Memphis, Tennessee, during the depression when many southern Blacks were desperately trying to make their way north, away from Jim Crow and poverty. The story is centered on Toulou, a wide-eyed Mississippi girl who has fled the cotton fields and an unhappy home life to pursue her dream of singing the blues. What she lacks in worldly knowledge she makes up for in unbridled enthusiasm and hope.

Her hopes are also wrapped around a man in her life, Ace of Spades, a womanizing blues singer who regularly passes through town on his travels around the circuit of juke joints and dives across the south and midwest. He's got her nose wide open, among other things, but try as she might, she can't get him to settle down and make her the number one woman in his life.

To do that will require help and Toulou has it in the form of her neighbor, Candy Lady, a motherly figure and hoodoo woman who knows all about working roots, laying tricks and putting hexes on people. Having had about six husbands of her own, she knows all about collecting locks of hair and toenail clippings, or adding the right potion to someone's drink to get them to stick around.

But magic such as that often has to be seen to be believed and Toulou isn't immediately convinced. Complicating matters further is the arrival of her big brother, Jib. A man with a past who now calls himself a preacher, he has come to Memphis to see his baby sister and start a church there, although baby sis is skeptical. Jib is similarly wary of Candy Lady's use of such heathen methods. As she tells him, "If you want salvation, go to church." Her approach works if you want certain things to happen.

Hall has a brilliant ear for dialect and a manner of storytelling akin to poetry broken into four distinctly different voices. The play is not just a joy to watch, it is a pleasure to hear. Additionally, she created original songs used in the production. Hall is already being compared to August Wilson in her masterful use of the language, and while that's nothing to sneeze at, she deserves her own recognition for what she brings to the table.

Her characters are real people we soon care deeply about, even those we may grow to dislike, and this small ensemble brings them all vividly to life. Keith Davis's Jib is a scoundrel. All at once a smiling charmer while secretly scheming, he quotes and often misquotes Bible verse to suit his purposes. Kevin Mambo plays Ace of Spades with strength and determination mixed with pain and vulnerability, as the target of Toulou's mojo. Angela Lewis's Toulou is young and innocent, but never ignorant, and forced to grow up fast. Her transformation is believable and at times painful.

Highest praise, however, goes to Marjorie Johnson as Candy Lady. Fittingly the 2006 AUDELCO Award winner as Best Supporting Actor in this role, when she works her magic to help Toulou lure Ace of Spades, she casts a spell over the audience. It's a mesmerizing scene.

Director Lucie Tiberghien and set designer Robin Vest make effective use of the intimate space in the beautifully renovated Cherry Lane Theatre. Whether out of necessity or creative inspiration, actors make some entrances through the house, and in so doing, put the audience right into the story.

In my highest recommendation, I suggest you run--do not walk--to see this play.

Katori Hall talks about her play Hoodoo Love.

Hoodoo Love at the Cherry Lane Theatre LINK

Playwright Katori Hall LINK

Plays by Lynn Nottage LINK 1 LINK 2

I can't promise you I'll write often or extensively. I have no great plans to comment on everything that happens in the world, too much happens and I just don't have the time. I'll probably concentrate on the things I enjoy the most, and if you've been a reader in the past, you probably know what those are.

I thought about redesigning the site before coming back but that's easier said than done. I have zero technical skills and finding people who'll do it isn't as easy as you think. It's less about money, more about time. So we'll stick with this one until I'm either compelled to change it or just decide to shut the sucker down once and for all.

While I was away: my 4 year blogaversary passed. It was September 1. I now work for the world's largest civil rights law firm. No, I'm not an attorney but I'm surrounded by them every day, which can be both good and bad. In August, we had a family reunion, which was fabulous. Everyone should have one. As a result of that, I'm now engaged in a project to record and preserve my immediate family history, by interviewing my mother. I'm learning things I never knew before.

In the days and weeks to come, I've got tickets to see a number of theatrical events here in NYC, and you may just see a review or two or three. Stay tuned.

So to absolve myself of all guilt, I shall take a vacation from blogging, from this moment forward. I have no idea how long it will last or if some compelling reason will pull me back to post on some late breaking news, but I'm taking a break from active blogging. It's summer (or at least feels like it) and so the perfect time to get away, if only symbolically.

I reserve the right to visit other people's blogs and post comments.

This is a deleted scene from Knocked Up, the new film from Judd Apatow, director of The 40-Year-Old Virgin. It stars Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl. If the rest of the film is as funny as this, it should be a winner.

Knocked Up opens in theaters on Friday, June 1.

How many times do we hear about people learning lessons the hard way? Like the little kid who burns his fingers after Mommy just told him not to touch the hot stove, some people pay attention to warning signs only after a tragedy happens.

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine appears in this public service announcement, released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, to promote seat belt awareness. On April 12 Corzine was seriously injured in an automobile accident while not wearing his seatbelt, a practice he admitted he did quite frequently. Hopefully others will learn from his mistake.

But this incident reminds us of the fact that despite the best public health and safety awareness efforts, personal responsibility and choice ultimately determine how safe we will be as individuals. You can collect all the pamphlets and brochures, see all the PSAs and attend all the workshops and classes, but if you as an individual don’t make the conscious decision to save your own life, it all goes for nought.

A warning from the Surgeon General of the United States that “Cigarette Smoking May be Hazardous to Your Health” first went on the outside of cigarette packages in 1966, yet the Centers for Disease Control reports an estimated 45.1 million American adults smoke cigarettes. While the number of smokers continues to drop each year, cigarette smoking remains the leading contributor to lung cancer, and lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among men and women.

Similarly, motorcyclist deaths have more than doubled between 1997 and 2005, with head injury due to not wearing a helmet, the single biggest cause of serious injury and death. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that wearing a helmet can reduce the likelihood of a crash fatality by 37 percent. Even so, cycling enthusiasts resist legislation making helmets mandatory, citing such reasons as the desire to feel the wind in their hair.

To conclude the comparisons, HIV infection rates among Black men who have sex with men are at 46% in some major cities, and this population is seeing increases while decreases are being seen among other groups. In light of how quickly some people criticize Black gay and AIDS service organizations for what they are supposedly not doing right, can we afford to ignore discussions around personal accountability and continued indulgence in high risk behavior that is clearly detrimental to our own well-being?

The best baseball team in New York City can’t get any love from the New York sports media. The Mets, in first place in the National League East with the second best record in all of Major League Baseball, took two out of three games this past week against that dysfunctional franchise from the Bronx, and all anybody around here wants to report is how that team lost, and how that team’s rookie pitcher helped them avoid getting swept. I guess we’ll just have to win the World Series to get any respect around here.

Saturday afternoon, I just happened to change channels in time to catch the Preakness from start to finish. I only watch three horse races a year and that was a pretty darn exciting two minutes. Curlin nosed out Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, so once again there will be no triple crown winner this year. But the Belmont Stakes may shape up to be yet another exciting duel between these two thoroughbreds.

I got a letter from my union the other day and I’ve been randomly chosen to be on the nominating committee for the television categories for the upcoming awards. Real cool! They said I should expect lots of promotional letters and DVDs in the mail. Let the campaigning begin.

Former President Jimmy Carter read the collective mind of the American people and dared to speak the truth. The worst president the free world has ever or will ever witness, dared to call him irrelevant. Carter, who since leaving office, has won the Nobel Peace Prize, authored more than 20 books, and established the Carter Center to promote global health, democracy and human rights, later backed off his remarks.

Air America Radio, the progressive response to conservative talk radio, relaunched Monday with a new website and ad campaign. "The completely redesigned website will give Air America listeners another platform to participate in the progressive movement through an interactive blog where they can read and give commentary on topical issues of the day," said Mark Green, the new president of Air America. Green is a former Public Advocate for the City of New York and a past candidate for Mayor.

The network's hosts will begin to regularly blog along with Nancy Scola, who has been chosen as Air America's chief blogger. Nancy Scola is a Brooklyn-based blogger and writer who has served as a congressional aide and a presidential campaign staffer; she writes widely online, on everything from the latest in technology policy to the rebuilding of New Orleans.

A petty right-wing demagogue who misinterpreted the Bible to serve his own narrow political viewpoint, is dead.

As my mother always said, if you have nothing nice to say about someone, say nothing at all.

Diggs made his Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning 1994 revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s musical Carousel. He later created the role of Benny, the landlord, in the 1996 Tony Award-winning Best Musical Rent, as well as in the show’s recent film version. He is set to star in “Private Practice,” the forthcoming spinoff of TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Krakowski’s numerous Broadway appearances include the role of Carla in the 2003 production of Nine, for which she won a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She won an Olivier Award in London for her performance as Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls. Her television work includes a six-year stint as Elaine on “Ally McBeal.”

The 2007 Tony Awards will be telecast Sunday, June 10 on CBS.

Best Play

The Coast of Utopia
Author: Tom Stoppard
Producers: Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Bernard Gersten, Bob Boyett

Frost/Nixon
Author: Peter Morgan
Producers: Arielle Tepper Madover, Matthew Byam Shaw, Robert Fox, Act Productions, David Binder, Debra Black, Annette Niemtzow/Harlene Freezer, The Weinstein Company, The Donmar Warehouse

The Little Dog Laughed
Author: Douglas Carter Beane
Producers: Roy Gabay, Susan Dietz, Morris Berchard, Steve Bozeman, Ted Snowdon, Jerry Frankel/Doug Nevin, Jennifer Manocherian/Ina Meibach, Second Stage Theatre, Carole Rothman, Ellen Richard

Radio Golf
Author: August Wilson
Producers: Jujamcyn Theaters, Margo Lion, Jeffrey Richards/Jerry Frankel, Tamara Tunie/Wendell Pierce, Fran Kirmser, Bunting Management Group, George Frontiere and Open Pictures, Lauren Doll/Steven Greil & The August Wilson Group, Jack Viertel, Gordon Davidson

Best Musical

Curtains
Producers: Roger Berlind, Roger Horchow, Daryl Roth, Jane Bergère, Ted Hartley, Center Theatre Group

Grey Gardens
Producers: East of Doheny, Staunch Entertainment, Randall Wreghitt/Mort Swinsky, Michael Alden, Edwin W. Schloss, Playwrights Horizons

Mary Poppins
Producers: Disney, Cameron Mackintosh

Spring Awakening
Producers: Ira Pittelman, Tom Hulce, Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Atlantic Theater Company, Jeffrey Sine, Freddy DeMann, Max Cooper, Mort Swinsky/Cindy and Jay Gutterman/Joe McGinnis/Judith Ann Abrams, ZenDog Productions/CarJac Productions, Aron Bergson Productions/Jennifer Manocherian/Ted Snowdon, Harold Thau/Terry Schnuck/Cold Spring Productions, Amanda Dubois/Elizabeth Eynon Wetherell, Jennifer Maloney/Tamara Tunie/Joe Cilibrasi/StyleFour Productions

Best Book of a Musical

Curtains
Rupert Holmes & Peter Stone

Grey Gardens
Doug Wright

Legally Blonde The Musical
Heather Hach

Spring Awakening
Steven Sater

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Curtains
Music: John Kander
Lyrics: Fred Ebb, John Kander & Rupert Holmes

Grey Gardens
Music: Scott Frankel
Lyrics: Michael Korie

Legally Blonde The Musical
Music & Lyrics: Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin

Spring Awakening
Music: Duncan Sheik
Lyrics: Steven Sater

Best Revival of a Play

Inherit the Wind
Producers: Boyett Ostar Productions, The Shubert Organization, Lawrence Horowitz, Jon Avnet/Ralph Guild, Roy Furman, Debra Black/Daryl Roth, Bill Rollnick/Nancy Ellison Rollnick, Stephanie P. McClelland

Journey's End
Producers: Boyett Ostar Productions, Stephanie P. McClelland, Bill Rollnick, James D'Orta, Philip Geier

Talk Radio
Producers: Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Jam Theatricals, Francis Finlay, Ronald Frankel, James Fuld, Jr., Steve Green, Judith Hansen, Patty Ann Lacerte, James Riley, Mary Lu Roffe/Mort Swinsky, Sheldon Stein, Terri & Timothy Childs/Stylefour Productions, Irving Welzer/Herb Blodgett

Translations
Producers: Manhattan Theatre Club, McCarter Theatre Center, Lynne Meadow, Barry Grove, Emily Mann, Jeffrey Woodward

Best Revival of a Musical

The Apple Tree
Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy

A Chorus Line
Producer: Vienna Waits Productions

Company
Producers: Marc Routh, Richard Frankel, Tom Viertel, Steven Baruch, Ambassador Theatre Group, Tulchin/Bartner Productions, Darren Bagert, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park

110 in the Shade
Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy

Best Special Theatrical Event

Jay Johnson: The Two and Only!
Producers: Roger Alan Gindi, Stewart F. Lane & Bonnie Comley, Dan Whitten, Herbert Goldsmith Productions, Ken Grossman, Bob & Rhonda Silver, Michael A. Jenkins/Dallas Summer Musicals, Inc., Wetrock Entertainment

Kiki & Herb Alive on Broadway
Producers: David J. Foster, Jared Geller, Ruth Hendel, Jonathan Reinis, Inc., Billy Zavelson, Jamie Cesa, Anne Strickland Squadron, Jennifer Manocherian, Gary Allen, Melvin Honowitz

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Boyd Gaines, Journey's End
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Brían F. O'Byrne, The Coast of Utopia
Christopher Plummer, Inherit the Wind
Liev Schreiber, Talk Radio

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play

Eve Best, A Moon for the Misbegotten
Swoosie Kurtz, Heartbreak House
Angela Lansbury, Deuce
Vanessa Redgrave, The Year of Magical Thinking
Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

Michael Cerveris, LoveMusik
Raúl Esparza, Company
Jonathan Groff, Spring Awakening
Gavin Lee, Mary Poppins
David Hyde Pierce, Curtains

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical

Laura Bell Bundy, Legally Blonde The Musical
Christine Ebersole, Grey Gardens
Audra McDonald, 110 in the Shade
Debra Monk, Curtains
Donna Murphy, LoveMusik

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play

Anthony Chisholm, Radio Golf
Billy Crudup, The Coast of Utopia
Ethan Hawke, The Coast of Utopia
John Earl Jelks, Radio Golf
Stark Sands, Journey's End

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play

Jennifer Ehle, The Coast of Utopia
Xanthe Elbrick, Coram Boy
Dana Ivey, Butley
Jan Maxwell, Coram Boy
Martha Plimpton, The Coast of Utopia

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

Brooks Ashmanskas, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me
Christian Borle, Legally Blonde The Musical
John Cullum, 110 in the Shade
John Gallagher, Jr., Spring Awakening
David Pittu, LoveMusik

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

Charlotte d'Amboise, A Chorus Line
Rebecca Luker, Mary Poppins
Orfeh, Legally Blonde The Musical
Mary Louise Wilson, Grey Gardens
Karen Ziemba, Curtains

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Bob Crowley & Scott Pask, The Coast of Utopia
Jonathan Fensom, Journey's End
David Gallo, Radio Golf
Ti Green and Melly Still, Coram Boy

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins
Christine Jones, Spring Awakening
Anna Louizos, High Fidelity
Allen Moyer, Grey Gardens

Best Costume Design of a Play

Ti Green and Melly Still, Coram Boy
Jane Greenwood, Heartbreak House
Santo Loquasto, Inherit the Wind
Catherine Zuber, The Coast of Utopia

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Gregg Barnes, Legally Blonde The Musical
Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins
Susan Hilferty, Spring Awakening
William Ivey Long, Grey Gardens

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Paule Constable, Coram Boy
Brian MacDevitt, Inherit the Wind
Brian MacDevitt, Kenneth Posner and Natasha Katz, The Coast of Utopia
Jason Taylor, Journey's End

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Kevin Adams, Spring Awakening
Christopher Akerlind, 110 in the Shade
Howard Harrison, Mary Poppins
Peter Kaczorowski, Grey Gardens

Best Direction of a Play

Michael Grandage, Frost/Nixon
David Grindley, Journey's End
Jack O'Brien, The Coast of Utopia
Melly Still, Coram Boy

Best Direction of a Musical

John Doyle, Company
Scott Ellis, Curtains
Michael Greif, Grey Gardens
Michael Mayer, Spring Awakening

Best Choreography

Rob Ashford, Curtains
Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear, Mary Poppins
Bill T. Jones, Spring Awakening
Jerry Mitchell, Legally Blonde The Musical

Best Orchestrations

Bruce Coughlin, Grey Gardens
Duncan Sheik, Spring Awakening
Jonathan Tunick, LoveMusik
Jonathan Tunick, 110 in the Shade

Regional Theatre Tony Award
Alliance Theatre
Atlanta, GA

Don’t Get It Twisted Prime has come out of hibernation to comment on the CocoDorm drama, and he’s not taking the same positions everyone else is. He thinks we’re all missing the larger issue.

Violations Revisited Conrad, one of the participants in my Black Gay Men at Midlife series, has been moving closer towards the adoption of a son. However a recent obstacle, maliciously placed in his way, has reminded him of past abuse.

Good Police Work Police Detectives in Brooklyn who worked the case following the attack and subsequent death of Michael Sandy last October may have felt considerable community pressure to find his assailants, but the way in which they handled the case was just good detective work. Gay City News updates the story and provides a profile of Judge Jill Konviser who is hearing the pre-trial testimony.

The Meaning of Mother’s Day I have just spent the last three days visiting my mom, but it might surprise you to learn the origin of this holiday in 1870 had nothing to do with sending greeting cards or ordering flowers. It was organized by female activists as an anti-war effort.

Two days ago, I posted an item about a recent report issued by the Chicago Department of Public Health that mentioned the findings from their investigation into health practices at CocoDorm.com, the gay porn website that used to be located in the Windy City. (See article below.) Within hours I received emails attempting to silence me for reporting on what is in a publicly accessible government agency document, from which I simply quoted verbatim.

A day later, a complaint was filed by the folks at Flavaworks, owners of CocoDorm, with the company that hosts this blog, claiming copyright infringement for my use of a screenshot of their website. Due to some confusion involving my webhost and their communications to me of this complaint, this site actually went down for about an hour earlier today. The screenshot is gone. The article will stay.

A fellow blogger, Jasmyne Cannick, whose writing and steadfast activism I greatly admire, also wrote about the CDPH report, and also received similar attempts at intimidation from the same source at CocoDorm.

In the interim, a television station in South Florida, NBC6 WTVJ, ran this report on last night’s newcast.

In the wake of a recent spate of bad press, it seems an awful lot of effort is being expended by Flavaworks to silence people who are merely reporting on what is happening. One is left to wonder why?

As a trained and former full-time working journalist, I understand the rules regarding libel and slander. As was explained to me so many years ago in my communications law classes, the truth is the strongest defense against any libel accusation. Report verifiable fact and those who object will be hard-pressed to find fault or prove malicious intent. I believe I have upheld those tenets.

Absent any real grounds upon which to object to what they perceive as negative news, character assassination is the next step, and that too has been engaged in. Jasmyne’s site has seen comments posted that read more like public relations spin than honest statements from legitimate readers. I don’t know the source of those comments, but I have my suspicions.

In response to one of them that referenced me, and in the interest of full disclosure, I am not now, nor have I ever claimed to be either a saint or a prude. I own pornography. I own lots of pornography. My porn collection dates back to the mid-1980’s. I even own pornography produced by Flavaworks (Dorm Life 5, 6 and 7, for the record) and think a lot of their work is quite hot. I’ve even told them so in emails, including those in which I suggested ways to make them even hotter. I make no secret of any of this.

But hot porn shouldn’t have to be unsafe for those who appear in it, and this is at the heart of my problem with this company. Sex workers have a hard enough life. They should not have to subject themselves to unsafe working conditions or management that seems indifferent to their safety.

As someone who at various times has worked for two of the oldest HIV/AIDS agencies in New York City, I am well aware of HIV risks, transmission and prevention information. I once use to teach it. Testing people once is not enough. If they are required by the rules of their relationship with CocoDorm to perform a live sex show at least once daily, they need to be tested at least weekly, if not more frequently. If they test positive, they need to be given treatment. They should not be allowed to continue to work or simply kicked out of the house. If models are performing penetrative sex acts with multiple partners in the same scene, they need a new condom for each partner! Just wearing one condom isn’t enough. It’s the "new hole/new condom" principle. Otherwise you are merely transferring microscopic and potentially dangerous organisms from one partner to the next.

When the Chicago Free Press first reported on the CDPH investigation in April 2006, Flavaworks spokesmen denied they were doing anything wrong. They claimed they were operating safely. The recently released CDPH report suggests otherwise.

Now that similar questions are being raised about health safety at their new location in Miami, as mentioned in the television story, they are making the same denials. What proof has Flavaworks presented that should make us believe them now?

I am a Black gay man who loves my Black gay brothers unconditionally. I am always concerned about our collective well-being. I can’t sit idly by, staring at a video image, knowing the people I’m watching may be unnecessarily putting themselves at risk of infectious disease while someone else makes money off of it. That’s not sexy. That’s not hot.

Instead of trying to silence bloggers for writing about what’s going on, perhaps Flavaworks should spend more time really doing something to keep their models safe.

Addendum In the interest of the truth, and in response to criticism that I failed to report that the Illinois Attorney General's office dropped its investigation of Philip Bleicher's alleged involvement in a scheme to defraud school systems through a separate entity, that is indeed correct. The Illinois AG did in fact drop their pursuit of a civil case. However this was only because federal investigators are now pursuing a criminal investigation. The case involves alleged interstate violations, which are the sole jurisdiction of federal law enforcement agencies.

Their findings include a detailed follow-up to an investigation they conducted, first reported here, into the unsafe sexual practices conducted by FlavaWorks, operators of the Internet website CocoDorm.com, where young gay Black and Latin men engage in sexual acts for the enjoyment of viewers who pay a membership fee to watch.

From the CDPH report:

In Autumn 2005, community health providers reported the first suspected cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among residents of a North Side apartment building to the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH). Over the next several months, additional cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, and HIV were identified among employees and residents of the Northside dormitory. Follow-up inquiry by CDPH investigators led to the identification of a large cluster of syphilis and HIV infections associated with an Internet pornography operation. The Internet-associated business employed young African-American and Latino men as “models”. Models were paid to have sex in the dormitory in exchange for money, room, and board. Sex acts were recorded and broadcast online for paid subscribers of the website to view. The website offered free previews and members’ only services including access to photos albums, live webcams, live video chat, streaming video, stories, and weblog diaries; in addition to offering the sale of popular magazines, calendars, and DVDs. Furthermore, several models were reported to have engaged in male escort services for other men, separate from their employment through the Internet business.

The purposes of the investigation were to determine the extent of the outbreak, and to identify public health interventions to limit further disease transmission in the community. Data were obtained from a review of reported syphilis and HIV case records, patient interviews and medical charts. Cases, contacts, and associates were linked to identify the sexual network. A case was defined as syphilis or HIV infection occurring in a person involved in the sexual network. A contact was defined as a person who was exposed to another person infected with syphilis or HIV. An associate was defined as a person within the social circle named by a case-patient during a confidential interview, but who is not a sexual partner of the case-patient. Results of the investigation revealed a dense sexual network of 47 persons and documented syphilis and HIV infections associated with the Internet pornography business. Exposure histories and incubation periods were consistent with transmission of syphilis and HIV within the sexual network. Of the 19 individuals who were identified as employees of the business, the median age was 23 years (age range 19-35) and all were African-American males. Of the 19 men involved with the business, nine (47%) were infected with HIV, and nine (47%) were with syphilis. Six (32%) men were co-infected with syphilis and HIV. In total, 10 cases of syphilis and 13 cases of HIV infection were indentified in this large sexual network.

The Chicago Department of Public Health is mandated to respond to community reports of disease transmission, and to prevent and control disease in the community. Continued reports of cases associated with the Internet site and the North side apartment prompted CDPH officials to contact the business owner. The business owner did not return phone calls, despite multiple attempts made by CDPH officials. Next, CDPH officials issued an order for the business owner to develop a corrective action plan due to high rates of disease associated with the business practice. Despite the order, the business owner did not attend the scheduled meeting. Failure to respond to the order to develop a corrective action plan prompted an inspection of the business practice by city officials to assess compliance with health, safety, business and licensing codes. The on-site inspection was met with resistance by a representative of the business owner, and city officials were dismissed from the premises. Cease and desist orders were immediately issued from the Department of Business Affairs for licensing violations, and from CDPH until the business practices no longer posed a threat to the health and safety of its workforce and to the general public. CDPH officials arranged for a special clinic for all employees of the business and other persons exposed to infection to offer voluntary STD and HIV testing, medical evaluation, and prophylactic treatment for possible infection. Despite this, the employees of the dormitory did not attend the special clinic. The business owner disbanded the dormitory on the next day after the inspection; the owner and models were seen moving out of building, and the website was temporarily shut down. As of May 2006, the business was reported to have relocated to another state. CDPH officials contacted the health departments in other jurisdiction to inform them of the identified cluster of syphilis and HIV infections.

News coverage of the syphilis and HIV cluster investigation and public health actions was extensive in gay community press with concern expressed for the employees, allegations of exploitation, and the nature of the work. Collaboration between the health department and community agencies led to the identification of an outbreak of sexually transmitted diseases, and the prevention of further transmission of syphilis, HIV, and other STDs in the community.

Flavaworks also operates the porn sites, Cocoboyz, Thugboy and PapiCock, and the magazines Flavamen and FlavaLife. As a result of the CDPH investigation last year, Flavaworks closed their operation in Chicago and relocated to Miami, Florida. The business’s owner, Phillip Bleicher, has also been charged by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan with operating a fraudulent charity that bilked schools nationwide out of millions of dollars.

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A week ago, I was witness to a performance of Charles Mingus's epic musical piece Epitaph. It was only the third time in history the 500 page score has been played since it was written in the 1960's and only the first time in its entirety.

I did lots of celebrity spotting this past week at the Sports Emmys and National Magazine Awards, two events that took place where I work. You’d have thought the television people would put on a glitzy show, but the magazine publishers and editors were far more glamorous. As it was explained to me, nobody really pays them any attention, so they better put on a big show or no one else will.

Had an interview with these folks. We’ll see what happens.

Three people whose work I admired when I was young, passed away this week.

Tom Poston was a very funny actor and comedian who often played guys who were a few cards short of a full deck. Some of his earliest television work was on the Steve Allen Show in the 1950’s and 60’s. More recently he played dizzy George the handyman on Newhart.

Tommy Newsom was an accomplished saxophone player and composer and a member of the orchestra on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He often filled in when bandleader Doc Severinsen was away. Because of his low-key demeanor, Carson pegged him “Mr. Excitement.” In 2006, at Carson’s passing, Newsom, Severinsen and former Tonight Show drummer Ed Shaughnessy performed a musical tribute on LateNight with David Letterman.

Walter Schirra was a space pioneer and genuine hero to young boys like me who dreamed of being astronauts. He was one of the original 7 astronauts in America’s first space program. He would fly into space not only in the one-man Mercury program, but the two-man Gemini project and the three-man Apollo program that led to putting the first man on the moon. Back when space travel was just a grand experiment, he and his colleagues were gutsy enough to get strapped to the top of a big rocket and fired off into the stratosphere.

A couple of old friends have new blogs and are still getting their feet wet. Please make them feel welcomed.