Music in the Key of SHELTER

Hello Darlings,

Well, tonight the here! networks had a lovely evening at the sexy Tangier's in Los Feliz to tape a live show of the recording artists that lent their talents to the SHELTER soundtrack.

I got to hang with more than one of my boy crushes, have some beer and eat an entire plate of french fries. Oh, and listen to some wonderful music.

But more on that in a second.

First, I'd like to ask a question. Why don't people want to talk politics at parties, dinners and social events? I mean, since Super Tuesday out here in LA, of course my first question when running into folks is..."So who did you vote for?". Well, most of the time it seems like I just asked when they had their last colonic. I know, everyone says you shouldn't talk politics at parties but seriously.... what the fuck? This "I don't think we should discuss politics", which I suppose means let's not fight because we may be backing different candidates, sounds way too much to me like, "Let's not talk about the smoke that's coming from the factories over the hill."

This country is so far down the toilet I'm surprised mutated sewer alligators aren't sitting in congress. Plus, really, most us liberals are divided between two great candidates.

In all fairness, after I was politely told not to discuss politics at a recent party, we all actually had a great conversation about the election (although one woman did get a bit snippy and defensive about Obama).

I think we should all talk politics all the time every where. Maybe if our water cooler conversation was more about our economy, violence in our schools, the lack of education, the corruption of Haliburton and... you know .... stuff like that INSTEAD of what happend on AMERICAN IDOL or at Britney's SUV, then maybe we could raise the collective social consciousness in this country high enough to affect change.

Okay, soap box going away. Back to the evening in question and my boy crushes who were there....

Boy Crush #1 - SHANE MACK


Ever since I was dragged kicking and screaming (wait, it's me, it was more like snarking and kvetching) to a gig of his last year, I have been a HUGE fan. I'd never heard of him before and I don't usually frequent dark, Hollywood clubs to listen to acoustic guitar music. It took about 4 bars for me to be hooked. Music bars, darlings, not bar bars.

We were lucky enough to have 6 Shane Mack songs on the SHELTER soundtrack. And although he didn't sing his cover of LIKE A VIRGIN tonight, he did do some fabulous original tunes (and an homage to THE WIZARD OF OZ!) which you can sample here:

Be a Mack-Addict like me by clicking here: www.myspace.com/shanemackmusic

BOY CRUSH #2 - MR. BRAD ROWE

Sexy, smart, talented and WILL TALK TO ME ABOUT POLITICS AT PARTIES!! (even though we back different candidates), Mr Rowe is of course one of the stars of SHELTER.

When Brad isn't laying under the sheets half naked in a Malibu beachhouse with a younger surfing buddy (on the set of SHELTER) you can find him volunteering at homeless shelters downtown or with Amnesty International, appearing in big features, and being an all around happy husband and father.

Paul Colichman, CEO of the here! empire even came up to me and said, "You must be happy here tonight with all your boy crushes around." How did he know! I was.

For those of you unfamiliar, I have boy crushes like some lesbians do. It's that non-sexual, sorta Tiger Beat, picture in a locker pre teen kinda crush that lesbians confident in their sexuality sometimes get. It's quite innocuous and very fun to just be able to adore a member of the opposite sex for their talents, looks and accomplishments.

But you know, most lesbians still just adore cast members of the L Word and various WNBA and soccer players. That's cool too. Some lesbians even crush out on Brad Pitt, but let's face it, that's probably some projected wish to be globe trotting (or rolling like thunder under the covers) with Angelina.

Anyway, enough about all this, here's some more photos of the event, the people, the music and the spectacle that was here! tunes presents MUSIC FROM SHELTER.