Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of Spin Cycle, today's homolicious Swag Tuesday prize is two tickets to Wednesday's Scissor Sisters concert at Manhattan's Terminal 5 AND two tickets to the official LIFEbeat champagne afterparty at Highbar in Hell's Kitchen. By now you should all know about the fabulous Scissor Sisters, so here are the deets about the afterparty.

Feeling filthy? Gorgeous! Join Scissor Sisters after their Terminal 5 concert for a special aftershow party benefiting LIFEbeat - The Music Industry Fights AIDS. Enjoy complimentary Barefoot Bubbly sparkling wine from 10:30-12:30 at the fabulous rooftop lounge Highbar at the afterparty of the year. Tickets are limited. $20 in advance or $25 minimum donation to LIFEbeat at the door (space permitting). Doors open at 10:30 PM; you must be 21 or over with valid government-issued photo I.D. to attend. Highbar is located at 251 West 48th Street. Advance tickets available at 212-352-3101 (ask for "Scissor Sisters Official AfterParty) or at www.SpinCycleNYC.com. " Rain or shine, we party on!

LIFEbeat is the music industry's HIV/AIDS outreach and prevention group. The afterparty is co-sponsored by Barefoot Wine & Bubbly. Scissor Sister concert tickets can be purchased here. Afterparty tickets can be purchased here. Enter to win two tickets to both events by commenting on this post. Only enter once and please remember to leave your email address in the text of the entry. Entries close at midnight on Tuesday, west coast time. The winner will be notified early on the day of the show, Wednesday. If you cannot make it to the concert, your winning entry is transferable to another party.

NYC Tonight: Mel Cheren Tribute Party

There will be a fundraiser tribute party tonight for Mel Cheren, "the Godfather of Disco." Top DJs and performers from the days of the Paradise Garage will perform. Get tickets here. Admission benefits LIFEbeat, AREA, and the Gay Men's Health Crisis.

Let's Talk About Pep, Baby

Last night Aaron and I attended the book launch party for Sandy "Pepa" Denton's memoir of her life in Salt-N-Pepa, the five-time Grammy winning rap trio that rocked the airwaves and dancefloors of the world beginning in 1985, selling over 13 million albums along the way. As you can see, both Sandy (Pepa ) and Cheryl James (Salt) look fantastic all these years later. (Deidra "Spinderella" Roper was not in attendance.) They were totally charming and kind and I even got to tell them that the gold record for Push It hung on the wall of my office in Miami.

Last night's event doubled as a fundraiser for LIFEBeat, the music industry's HIV/AIDS activism group, and a cause that Salt-N-Pepa strongly supported throughout their career. In 1991, their smash single Let's Talk About Sex was one of the first pop songs that explicitly referenced safer sex. An alternate version, Let's Talk About AIDS, was released to radio stations and was included as a b-side to the single.

Pepa's memoir, Let's Talk About Pep, featuring an introduction from Queen Latifah and an epilogue from Missy Elliot, is now available on Amazon and at booksellers nationwide. And as a peppery Swag Wednesday giftie, I have an autographed copy to give away. Comment on this post to enter and remember to leave an email address you check frequently.

Valentine's Day: Love Beats AIDS

Embiggen the photo above or go here to learn about a fun Broadway event this Valentine's Day in NYC:

LIFEbeat - The Music Industry Fights AIDS is joining forces with Borders for Love Beats AIDS, a special discount promotion taking place on Valentine's Day ONLY in all New York City Borders stores. Borders will match the discount amount dollar-for-dollar with a donation to help fund LIFEbeat's nationwide Youth HIV Prevention and Education programs.

Check out the coupon or log on to www.beataidsnow.com for more information on the program including a complete schedule of celebrity signings & performances including: Gary “Baba Booey” Dell’Abate and the gang from the Howard Stern show, Idina Menzel, Suzanne Vega, Orfeh & Andy Karl from Broadway’s Legally Blonde, Betty Buckley and more…

The amount saved by your 10% discount is the amount Borders donates to LIFEBeat. Plus you get a free show from Idina Menzel, Suzanne Vega, and Betty Buckley.