May 28, 2007 … Memorial Day. A heartfelt embrace to all those affected by wars past and present. While some may not support the current war policy; we all support our troops. Their courage and passion is the heart of our freedom. They will always be in our thoughts, hearts and prayers.

Last week marked the season finale for Bill Mayer. The panel discussion was hot with Ben Affleck - for more reasons than one!  Michael Moore guested in his first TV interview in over two years to discuss his movie “Sicko”, which just premiered at Canne. If you or someone you love has ever had to fight for treatment with your insurance company, this film will hit home. Moore is getting support for both Democrats and Republicans. “It’s pathetic that Costa Rica has better health care than America” said Mayer. This is an issue that is huge. We all get sick, eventually. You also have to consider that the healthcare business is now run by MBA administrators for profit for their shareholders. Doctors no longer have control. Whatever your faith or religion, I think we can all agree that it is immoral to profit from pain and suffering. (And if you are worried about new drugs being produced, the government can subsidize the pharmaceutical companies like they do every other industry from our taxes!)

Okay - enough of that. Let’s change gears and get to something that will grab you by the seat of your pants … leather. This weekend, IML (International Mr. Leather) is alive and well in Chicago. The Grabby’s awards set the stage for the annual event. Here are the award winners for the Grabby awards:
 
 
 
Best Video
Justice (Hot House Entertainment)

Best All-Sex Video
Manifesto (Raging Stallion Video)

Best Twink Video
Young Men Just Want to Fuck (Jet Set Productions)

Best Comedy Video
2nd Inning (Electro Video)

Best Fetish Video
Folsom Filth (Titan Media)

Best International Video
School for Lovers, The (Lucas Kazan Productions)

Best Leather Video
Black-N-Blue (Hot House Entertainment) 

Individual Scene Awards

Best Cum Scene
Manly Heat: Scorched (Buckshot Productions) with Josh Weston

Best Solo Sex Scene
Kent North in At Your Service (Hot House Entertainment)

Best Duo Sex Scene 
Justice (Hot House Entertainment) 
with Trevor Knight and Shane Rollins

Best Three-Way Sex Scene (Tie)
Big Rig (Buckshot Productions)
with Jason Crew, Brian Hansen, and Tamas Esterhazy

No Cover (Rascal Video)
with Luca DiCorso, Jan Fischer, and Jeremy Hall

Best Group Sex Scene
2nd Inning (Electro Video) 
with Eddie Stone, Tommy Ritter, Damon De Marco, and Trevor Knight

Performer Awards

Best Actor
Shane Rollins in Justice (Hot House Entertainment)

Best Bottom
Matt Cole

Best Cock
Cort Donovan Winner (Cut)
Barret Long Winner (Uncut)

Best Newcomers (2 winners) 
Matt Cole 
Brian Hansen

Best Non-Sex Performance
Paul Barresi in The Velvet Mafia 1-2 (Falcon Studios)

Best Performers (2 winners) 
Trevor Knight Winner
Collin O’Neal Winner

Best Supporting Actor
Matthew Rush in The Velvet Mafia 1-2 (Falcon Studios) 

Best Versatile Performer
Francesco D’Macho

Production Awards

Best Art Direction
Velvet Mafia 1-2, The (Falcon Studios) 

Best Director
Steven Scarborough for Justice (Hot House Entertainment)

Best DVD Extras
Dripping Wet (Falcon Studios)

Best Screenplay 
Austin Deeds for The Velvet Mafia 1-2 (Falcon Studios)

Best Videography
Dan Fox and Collin O’Neal for Lebanon (Raging Stallion Studios and Collin O’Neal Productions)

Special Awards

Maleflixxx.TV People’s Choice Award
Justice (Hot House Entertainment)

Wall of Fame Inductees
Paul Barresi, Blue Blake, Gino Colbert, David Forest, Max Phillips, Bruce Vilanch

Lifetime Achievement Award
Chi Chi LaRue

The leather community celebrated their 30th visit to Chicago with a sell-out event. Mikel Gerle, Mr. Los Angeles Leather was the coveted winner of the International Mr. Leather title. Over 50 contestants flew in for the event to compete from around the world at the legendary Chicago theater.

International Mr. Leather contestants are judged on a variety of criteria including community involvement, speech, presentation and overall presence. Entertainer Hal Sparks brought his many talents to The International Mr. Leather Contest.  Best known for his portrayal as Michael on the ground-breaking Showtime series “Queer as Folk,” Sparks has also made a name for himself in both the music and stand-up worlds. For more information about Sparks, as well as details about his upcoming CD release, visit Halsparks.com.

                           

Alright, you have to give Lucas ’snaps’ for public relations - even when he didn’t intend it. After one last “dream sequence” dialogue scene between Ben Andrews and Michael Lucas filming on “The Intern” is officially a wrap, Lucas gets ‘pied’. Planned or not, it’s certainly a ‘Kodak moment’.

                                                    

With that, I’m off to a BBQ myself. “Honey” was at an adoption event yesterday, and we’re all set to attend a huge dog adoption event next Sunday here in Los Angeles. Do remember to spay or neuter your pet. In a recent news story, Los Angeles was proud to announce that they only euthanized about a million dogs and cats last year. Yeah - that’s something to boast about. Idiots!

Thanks,
Mark