What On Your Bedside Table....Batteries Not Included!

The other day when told someone I was reading a couple of books that I was looking forward to writing up on RedCarpetRefugees.com they looked at me as if I had just punched them.  So yes, Boy About Town can read, I even went to college!  But how often do any of us get a chance to sit down and read a book from cover to cover and really grab every little bit of it? Not that often I am guessing.  So I am gonna start reading some of the books you fine folks have been handing me, sending me & ordering for me and giving my never ending opinion on them. Kinda like Oprah's book club but without all the life lessons between commercial breaks!  The first book on top on the pile, yes there is a pile, is "Quitting Crystal Meth" by Joseph Sharp.  We are jumping right into the deep end of the pool boys & girls.  As we covered here on RedCarpetRefugees.com in a posting dated   September 25th 2013 the Meth epidemic has reached a point that everyone, somewhere knows someone that is battling Meth. Think you don't know someone? You know me, if only through this blog, but trust me there are others in your life.  In talking about the book I am going to refer to Mr Sharp as Joseph because he has opened himself so completely in his writing it would be odd to stand on ceremony, and lets face it, I am not that type of guy anyway.  What Joseph has done is put together a book that walks one through the long, painful and often repeated process of getting clean. This is not a story book,  in the sense he tells his story in a play by play but rather a guide to use along the journey....kinda like "What To Expect When Your Expecting" but for the tweaked set.  

I have to say, in reading "Quitting Crystal Meth" , that I don't believe to many active Meth users will sit down and start the book much less finish it.  I think that Joseph was fully aware that his book would be used by Meth addicts families & friends as a means of what to expect and what the right actions to take as well as not take would be! 

Having said that I also know that many an addict will be handed the book either by friends, rehab staff or even their drug dealers. Don't laugh, I saw that happen! And at a certain point the book is perfect for the addict themselves.  "Quitting Crystal Meth "  is a fabulous step by step, please note the step reference, way to start and manage your recovery.  What I like most was the small, short testimonies  from addicts.  What they had to say in each of their small bits fell right into line with the time frame of where the book was along the  recovery path.  At no point is one made to feel there is a blue print that MUST be followed but rather a path is pointed out and you are given an invite to walk the path and discover your own way while using others experience to aid you.  Joseph has managed to handle an insanely hard topic with a straight forward grace that is at times lacking in other books on the topic as well as in the recovery community at  to Joseph Sharp and to those needing the book I personally send you light & love.....We will surely see each other as we trudge the road of happy destiny.

Stay Fabulous !  Boy About Town

Head First...Always!

So much to catch up on that I am skipping the usual blah, blah and diving in head first. And that means dealing with the rumor that yours truly, Mr Boy About Town, had passed away. Or as one Facebook posting called it "lost his battle with the forces of darkness" which somehow makes me sound like a character in Star Wars.  Anywho,  after some research, I have discovered that I am not dead but rather just in a bad mood.  As to those that think I had something to do with the rumor in order to get some free press, I did not,  but only because I didn't think of it first.  So lets recap...Not Dead, yet! 

Now, there has been much in the press about the VA dropping the ball on the handling of health care for our vets & of course now we have the political uproar over the prisoner swap that won the release of U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergda.  But what I have been noticing is that at some point the story stops being about the "news" and starts being about how the  story is being reported, received, retold, tweeted, etc.  So is the story the facts as we understand them at the time or is the story how it plays to the mass market in 70 characters or less? I understand that I play a big part in this. While I never claim to be CNN, BBC or even FoxNews I am aware people turn to me and others like me to take the pulse of the world we live in. And while writing on topics I do a lot of research on that given topic! That comes with a bit a responsibility to your topic, your readers and yourself.  So to report about what others are writing is indeed part of the story, it is not the story it's self.  So yes The White House dropped the ball on the release of Sgt Bowe Bergda. And yes the whole walking away from his post is hinky as hell.  And clearly I too saw he the freed Sgts father was wearing a v dress shirt in the rose garden that while very summer, was not a smart PR move. But those are the news, Yes even the dress shirt. Not what people are saying about the above mentioned on Facebook! 

Now in keeping with this news worthy vain lets "Katch Up The Kardashians”  I try to stay away but I just can't! They are like a STD that just won't quit.  Well first there are a few people that can say NO to the clan, Leo DiCaprio, along with Paris Hilton, refused to be filmed for “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” while partying on Sunday at Los Angeles.  Seems they did not want to damage their brand by appearing on what is becoming Americas slow moving train wreck!  This summer the clan is filming in New York's playground for the uber rich, The Hamptons!  Coming from a New York family myself, my parents met on the NYC subway ......classy huh? I know that the Kardashians hitting the scene there is going to go over like a fart in church! AND... Kourtney Kardashian, the only sister not in a rush to run down the aisle, has announced she is pregnant with her third child. I smell drama, which equals good TV. Okay, I believe we have covered everything worth covering....Kardashians are still a mess, I do a better job then FoxNews but not BBC and again....NOT DEAD....yet!

Stay Fabulous 

Boy About Town

Boy's Night With Brucci....Kinda!

So fun folks I was in the middle of finishing my piece on the billion dollar biz of porn when I had to dash out the door to meet my new friend Eric.  Mr. Eric had hit me up online and told me about his friend that was showing his art that night. Now a lot of you tell me about your own projects or maybe a buddies endeavor. And I would LOVE to get to everyone's event, premier or party but it is not possible. But the timing worked out here. So I took a break from researching smut to check out the art....have no fear the smut is coming, in the meantime check out this amazing artist that goes by the name Brucci Volpone. Like myself, Mr Volpone is new to our little desert paradise of Palm Springs, having just moved from NYC only 23 months ago. While he works in mixed media the pieces I saw tonight were paintings that jumped out at you & grabbed you from across the room. This Parsons School of Design trained artist wastes no time

in making an impact with his bold color choices & sharp designs.  While the show is hosted a dark bar, The Streetbar, the pieces seemed to vibrate right off the wall & stood on their own. If one has the chance you should pop to checkout the show as my poorly taken photo's don't do the many pieces justice. Okay folks I am off to do more "research" on porn....and yes that means exactly what you think it means!  Anything for you!!!
Stay Fabulous
Boy About Town

What Happened To House

DJ Jeffrey Jacobs

DJ Scott Mann

Once upon a time there was a magic world called Circuit. And in this world boys & girls, but mainly boys, gathered in cities around the globe to dance in great big groups at parties where they would spend the weekend enjoying the local culture, amazing music & each others ummm, company!? The driving force behind all this merry making was House Music. The sound of House came out of the clubs in New York & Chicago. It tends to be upbeat, vocal music that lends itself to a tribal feel amongst its fans both on the dance floor & off. In this ongoing series “What Happened To House” we will be looking into the state of the dance scene in different cities. And Boy About Town will be doing tireless research for you, my fabulous readers. I will be chatting with the hottest DJ’s, hitting the hottest clubs & some of the not so famous ones to find out where we are and where we are heading as we take to the dance floor! Our first stop is a nod to my summer spent in South Florida as we check out Miami’s famed nightlife as well as Ft Lauderdale’s quiet, yet very fierce attempt to become the king of the south! 
me set the scene, the tiny dance floor is packed with big hairy muscle men, a few leather Daddies & their boys (some Daddies are hunting for a boy or two but that is for my other blog) & girls that have packed themselves into Ramrod in Wilton Manors, Florida. Located just down “The Strip” as the Wilton Manor Dr is known to everyone in the know. This tiny bar bills itself as a Leather & Levi bar. And it is, where else could you buy a Bud Lite in a can and a 12 inch dildo all at the same place? But tonight the crowd is focused on the tiny DJ booth located just inches above the dance floor. In that booth , while not greeting his many friends & followers, DJ Jeffrey Jacobs takes the crowd on a trip with many peeks & valleys as he reads this group of hardcore music

fans. DJ Jeffrey Jacobs who hails from NYC came to SoFla (South Florida) about 10 years ago with a simple mission….bring the action! Well mission accomplished! You see while Ft Lauderdale has the largest Gay population percapata in the USA and a very upwardly mobile straight group as well there are very few true dance clubs. And those that try fail in spectacular fashion. So DJ Jeffrey Jacobs and his fellow Leather DJ’s , Scott Mann & Herbie James, countine to be the DJ’s that saved our lives in a tiny bar right off “The Strip”. Make sure to watch for DJ Jeffrey Jacobs on an upcoming segment of “In Bed With Boy”! Do you all see the lengths I am willing to go for you? Something that Ft Lauderdale has made big inroads into is the afterhours scene which at one time belonged solely to it’s neighbor to the south Miami Beach. Torpedo Afterhours offers a mix of all genres. While a bit off the beaten path it is the only game in town & worth the trip. But people, take a cab if you’re even thinking of partying hard because it is located right next door to a police station. And Broward County is no place to run afoul of the law.



DJ David-Tort

About 10 or 15 years ago South Beach was THE place to go if you wanted to sun yourself during the day & dance to big name DJ’s in super huge venues. Well sweet readers those days are behind SoBe. Now the clubs are packed with a weird combo of Jersey Shore wannabe’s & teenage rappers that still live with Mommy and work at Blockbuster. So Downtown Miami, once a dead zone, has stepped into the void with surpising results.  has given birth to great art galleries, shops, café’s & yes nightclubs! Most famous among them is Space. I remember when Space open way back in the late 90’s and my group of party friends & myself dragged ourselves across the Bay to the party that kicked it all off! We being SoBe boys & girls gave the place 6 months tops (it is worth keeping in mind that most of us worked in clubs on the South Beach, Boy at Liquid, Justin at Score & Robin whenever she could pick up work) Well many years later Space in all it’s hugeness is still there & if the night I went is anything to judge by it is doing fine! There are 2 dance floors with enough room on each to play a game of football. And an outdoor area that while it does have music the vibe is much more chill. The crowd had plenty of the clueless, messy when partying crowd but there was also a lot of fun loving, crowd hopping party people that made one remember the glory days of house. The DJ that saved Boy’s life that night was David-Tort. He read the crowd like a dirty paperback romance novel & then like a true man left me wanting more! I swear I needed a cigeratte after his set. The hours of Space go hella later then most any other clubs in SoFla so make sure to bring your sunglasses for when you stumble out into the blinding Florida sun in the morning.

While House Music is no longer the celebration of life, love & diversity it once was these mix masters are leading the tribe back to solid ground & we should all keep our eyes on them…and it is not because they are all very hot men! Well maybe it is a little! So next time we visit the majic land of circuit it will be a bit more…well fabulous! In the meantime boys & girls play nice!  And if you have been enjoying the background music for this posting...no folks it's not all in your head...visit the Mix Master himself DJ Jeffrey Jacobs.

Stay Fabulous!
Boy About Town
 

Bullying On The Bus

By now everyone has heard some heart wrenching story of childhood bullying. Some kid that for whatever reason does not fit in with his or her “peers”. Maybe it’s that they are “geeks” or “goths“ or it is thought that they might be Gay. Sometimes those stories play out in dramatic fashion like they did in Littleton at the now famous Columbine High School. Or in California, where Larry King, was gunned down by a fellow teen for giving him a Valentine's Day card. These CNN worthy stories are without a doubt awful but rarely, if ever, focus on what the far reaching effects of bullying have on the people that endure it.

Your very own Boy About Town went through this hell all during high school, which should shock nobody that has ever met me. I don’t fit into any of those groups that define high school life. Hell I still am a square peg in a world of round holes, that did not sound so dirty in my head…anywho! What many of you do not know is that I too grew up in Littleton, Colorado just a few short miles away from where 2 young men gunned down helpless students in the middle of the school day. And while I in no way condone or agree with what happened that day I do understand the environment that lead to feeling so hurt & alone that those 2 young men struck out at those that they thought had wronged them. At my school, Arapahoe High, the issue of being different was a non-issue. It did not happen. At school we had about 2000 plus kids running around this lily white suburb of Denver trying their hardest to NOT stand out in any way. And I played along. I DID TOO! I wore the right clothes, my family lived & (and still does) in a very respectable upper middle class neighborhood and I played the right sports. Not well, but I did play. But even then my inner diva was starting to shine though. And this was where trouble started. There were 3 main guys that wet outta their way to make my life a living hell. Allan Blood, Chris Weed & Tom Wilson. These 3 caused so much pain & drama in my household that 20 years later I have still not spoken to my Mother or Father. Crank calling the house, egging the house and the teasing in the hallways! It was outta of control. Last heard Allan Blood was in Africa spreading the book of Mormon & doing his best to ensure that we have lots of new little closed minded morons running around. Chris Weed was living up to his last name & was bouncing from one dead end job to another. And Tom Wilson was living with his BOYFRIEND in Denver. Come on folks, there had to be at least one in the group. Yes these are their real names & please boys threatened to sue, please I could use the press! After leaving school & Littleton behind and never returning for more then minutes at a time I truly thought I had left all that in my rear view! I went to school in Chicago & London. Partied my 20’s away with everyone who was anyone on South Beach. And now, after wrestling my demons, have returned to my life in Hollywood where while not at the top of the heap I am a player. Everything is golden. And then I met a little girl.

 

My friends Jessica & Jay have a 8 year old daughter that we are going to call Lady M. Lady M is many things but calm & quite are not on that list. Now a lot of you will say she is an active child & that is normal. True, it is. But at a certain point there becomes a difference between active & performing. I know the difference, I never pay attention to it myself but I do know it! When I first heard about her I thought ADHD! Then one day on the phone her Mom told me that Lady M had not gotten on the school bus in years. Ummm, what now?! It seems that while in the first grade & on the bus Lady M had been the subject of many hurtful, cruel, child like verbal attacks. Kids will be kids, right? Well Mom Jessica pulled her little girl off the big yellow bus & became Lady M’s driver. That was till the other day when The Lady boarded the bus and rode all the way to school sans any bullying! You see the same people that had chased Lady M off the bus years earlier were now her friends. Ahhhh, kids being kids. But I think our Lady M launched a charm offensive that proved she was not going anywhere & she was not a girl to mess with. Enter her inner diva! Now all of the sudden this loud, little girl had a special place in my heart. You see, Lady M and Boy About Town went the same route, granted she is a bit ahead of the curve! We have both said never again. I am different & damn it works well for me! But there are many people that can not get past the fact that at one time, whenever it was, they did not fit in. That awful feeling will creep in to their thoughts and make them second guess themselves. It can lead to addiction issues, acting out sexually and either over achieving in everything one does or floating through life with no sense of purpose. The pain goes on but how one deals with it is the true test.

Boy About Town & Lady M

Stay Fabulous!
Boy About Town

Sounds Like Love To Me!

We have all seen the late night rerun of "Ozzie & Harriet" or "Leave It To Beaver".  The American family as seen in the golden age of TV.  Dad off to work each morning as Mom packs up the kids for another day of school in which some trouble along the lines of a bad haircut will get everyone worked up. But don't worry folks Wally's crazy hairdo will be back to normal within a half an hour.  But now-a-days a snap of our American clan looks more like a "United Colors of Benetton" ad than those old, yet fabulous reruns.  So Boy About Town has chatted with 3 families of our modern world....by that I mean I bummed rushed them and asked a bunch of really personal questions!


In 1967 the United States Supreme Court heard the case "Loving vs. Virginia".   The short version of the story is this ruling at long last lifted the long standing law which made it illegal for 2 people of different races to marry.  This was 46 years ago!  That is not a long time .  My friend Carrie is an outgoing, fun loving Southern California Gal that is 31 yrs old (sorry Carrie)!  To meet her you would have no idea that her family is STILL at war with it's self over this court ruling, You see her Mother, Sue,  is White & her Father, Frank , is Black.  No biggie right? Wrong!  Her Maternal Grandmother is still so upset by this that she does not acknowledge the fact that Carrie's Father is Black.  She will not even speak his name.   But Carrie & her sister are the "apple of their Grandma's eye".  Makes no sense, right?  So how does Carrie deal with the odd vibe at holidays? Pretend it is not there & waits for things to blow over.  Sounds like love to me.

Some people try to have a family the "natural way".  Enter Ginger & Rich,  Ginger was my "girlfriend" when we were in middle school in rural Pennsylvania.  After the heartbreak of losing "Boy About Town" to another boy, Ginger settled on the love of her life Rich, got married & started right away on trying to make babies....SEX.  They had lots of sex.  But nothing.  Now image knowing you were meant to be a Mother.  Imagine it was your life's dream.  But you cannot produce.  Who's fault is it?  How do we fix it?  So after several doctor visits & even more tests they started trying the not so natural way.  First it was Intrauterine Insemination, also known as IUI. This including non-stop shots & "mating" according to one's body temperature.  After four failed attempts there, they moved onto the more invasive & more costly IVF (In Vitro Fertilization).  After $15,000, which is on the low side of the scale, and years of pressure & stress Ginger & Rich (Boy's replacement) had not 1 but 2 lovely babies.  A boy & girl (proudly pictured above, this is what $15,000. looks like).  Ginger informs me in very clear terms she is done.  No more. But she also made it very clear that she was meant to be a Mom and if this had not worked then she would have done something, anything else to be a Mom.  Sounds like love to me!

Quick fun fact, there are 401,000 kids in foster care in the United States, of those children with no home & no family fit to take care of them, 72% are minority kids.  By this I mean they are not white, heathly, english speaking kids.  This is my definition nobody elses. These children can drift from foster home to foster home for years until they "age out"of the system, which is what happened to Boy About Town but that is a different posting.  Some of the kids get lucky and find a great nurturing foster family that they stay with.  And if you are Zachary, not only are you amazingly cute, but you are placed with Frank & John Duffy! (Please note I have not used anyone's last name until now but John Duffy just has a ring to it, and shy he ain't....just saying)  John Duffy & Frank opened their home in Wilton Manors, Florida to a wee little baby that needed a home.  At the time these two stable, kind, wonderful men had to pretend to be "roomies" due to Florida's rule of not allowing Gay couples to adopt, which was their goal in fostering.  At the time Frank was learning how to heat a bottle and John Duffy found a stroller that matched his shoe's, Florida decieded to make a leap into to 1980's and allow Gays to openly adopt. This epiphany came in September of 2010, which was only 3 years ago.. Frank and John Duffy, not being 100 percent sure of the Florida government and its shifting laws,  fools they are not, still kept the "roomie" thing going until such time as the ink was dry on the papers! Mission accomplished! Family formed.  I am pleased to say that little Zachary, who by the way has a very cool trampoline in his bedroom, is a funny, outgoing, shockingly smart kid of 3 years old that Boy About Town thinks will one day run a major network like CNN, NBC or CBS.....Remember kid Boy About Town loves ya!  Today John Duffy (told ya it has a ring to it) and Frank happily rearranged thier lives around a 2 foot tall CEO in training in the Gayest town in America.  Life moves on at a crazy, yet fabulous pace.  Sounds like love to me!

So, these 3 families are not the families of American yesteryear, they are America's families today. They are America's furture.  They all deal with their stories in different ways, but they deal with them.   Each of these families are based on love....
Stay Fabulous! Boy About Town
Boy is pictured above with THE Zachary with his 2 Dad's John Duffy & Frank.

What Are We Working On? Well We Are Gonna Tell You!

Well there has been lots of back & forth both on the blogosphere & in the real world as to what topics we will be dealing with once we kick off Red Carpet Refugees.  So despite my best efforts to keep things under wraps, and who did I think I was fooling with 2 big mouths writing this thing, I am willing to say what topics are going to be covered in the first month....which is quickly approaching!  Erik Avery is going be doing his "ASK ERIK" advice column as well as keeping us in the loop as to what L.A. nightclubs are hits & which ones truly miss the mark.  Erik is also working on a piece about Bayard Rustin, one of the chief strategist for the March On Washington in 1963.....and he was openly Gay!  Boy About Town is plugging away doing his best to upset as many people as possible by tackling hot button issues including "The Evolving Face Of The American Family",  "Our Out Of Control Prison Population"  & "Who Is Winning The Ongoing Abortion Battle"....Hey when ya go, go big!  The countdown has begun.....

We Are Working On Our Launch...No Really We Are!

• So, as we move closer to the launch date of Red Carpet Refugees the whole team is plugging away to get everything ready.  Erik is starting to take questions for his advice column titled, what else, "ASK ERIK!"  Boy About Town has began researching his first piece which will tackle a subject close to home as well as filmed 2 interviews which will fall under our "Neighborhood Notables" segment. The PR dream team in LA is dealing with how best to handle both Boy & Erik and that is no easy task. And Uncle Joe, our cameraman, has learned how to turn the camera on.....hey people don't judge!  The clock ticks away & we promise that Red Carpet Refugees will not let you down!

Watch This Space

RED CARPET REFUGEES IS A MODERN DAY BLOG THAT BRINGS TOGETHER THE BEST OF THE INTERNET AND THE WORST OF SOCIETY.

FRONTED BY CONTROVERSIAL INTERNET PERSONALITY "BOY ABOUT TOWN" AND HOLLYWOOD FUNNY MAN ERIK AVERY, RED CARPET REFUGEES HAS A VARIETY OF ONGOING VIDEO POSTINGS AS WELL AS COLUMNS INCLUDING ASK ERIK, ABOUT TOWN WITH BOY, HOT BUTTON ISSUES, HOLLYWOOD OFF THE TRACKS AND MANY MORE. WITH CONTRIBUTING HOLLYWOOD PERSONALITIES SLATED TO MAKE AN APPEARANCE AS WELL AS ANYONE ELSE DESPERATE ENOUGH TO JOIN US, THIS UPCOMING ROLLER COASTER PROMISES TO SHAKE THINGS UP!  RED CARPET REFUGEES IS PART CNN WITH A DASH OF PEREZ HILTON, A TOUCH OF ANDERSON COOPER AND A BIT OF LIVE WITH KELLY AND MICHAEL THROWN IN.  IT'S WHAT AL GORE WAS THINKING OF WHEN HE INVENTED THE INTERNET !