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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 2001)
february 16^2001 TOUCHED BY A LATTE Coffeehouse creates intimate environment for performers aybe it’s none of your busi ness, but I’m driving across Portland tonight in search of a little intimacy. M After experienc ing one of those cold, con crete kind of days, there’s nothing I crave more than raw, emotional, pure, unadulterated human interaction. There’s nothing I want more than to reach out, to commune, to touch souls. 1 hunger for it, I lust after it, and 1 know where get it, Baby. Every weekend night, I can find it in a small, homey shop on Northeast Glisan Street: Touchstone Coffee House. W hat is the purpose of relationships, really? Or families, or communities for that matter? Don’t they just provide solace that we’re not mere flesh islands, that we actually share traits N edra Johnson plays guitar, bass— and tuba! The Culottes p lay a self-described explosion o f "sometimes lesbionic, always grandm a-loving, riot-roots, sw ank-a-rific, low-budget, lo -fi, “Those large corporate festivals are a traves ty,” she says. “W ith the name ‘Lesbopalooza,’ 1 wanted to mock that. I also wanted the word ‘lesbian’ be in the title somehow.” Just like last year, Lesbopalooza operates without any corporate support and is funded by donations from U of O s several student unions, student fees, Eugene businesses and a few independent contributors (“rich dykes,” Hendel says). “We got almost all the money from surplus,” she says. “It would have gone to waste other wise.” Hendel admittedly got in over her head last year by planning Lesbopalooza solo. This year, the festival is an even bigger production and is not only presented by U of O s LGBTA but also the Women’s Center. Hendel is one of five organizers. “It just grew and grew,” she says. So goes the story of Hendel’s seed. j n will be held March 2 at Eugene’s Red Lion Hotel and March 3 at W OW Hall. Tickets are $5 for students and $7 general admission per night from the University of Oregon's EM U Ticket Office. Doors open at 8 p.m.; shows begin at 8:30 p.m. Both shows are wheelchair accessible. For additional informal tion contact Gabbie Hendel at 54!-346-3360 or Alix Kerl at 541 -346-4095. L esbo pa lo oza soft rain falls on a Saturday evening as I make my way up Glisan to Touch stone. The night glows in Portland’s dreamlike amber light— it could be a movie set. Amid the small jungle of plants, paintings and inspirational placards in Touchstone’s main room, humble songstress Arlene Hale strums her guitar in an earthy alternate tuning and reaches her voice into every comer. She smiles while she sings, and lis teners of diverse back grounds sip coffee drinks and nod their heads appreciatively in time with the music. We are swimming in a pastel wonderland, and Hale is relaying a story of falling in love like she’s asking us a ques tion: “You’ve all been there, too, right?” She plays without a microphone or a stage. In fact, the close atmos phere of the room gives me the voyeuristic notion that I’m watch ing her play in her very own home, like she’s singing to me alone. A Continued on Page 22 Coventry MORELAND ' VETERINARY HOSPITAL Dogs • Cats • Reptiles Pocket Pets music with others, that we’re not totally alone in the universe? Intimacy is as crucial to a healthy life as quality food: W ithout it, we’d starve our souls. Fortunately (and this might come as a surprise to some readers!), it can be achieved without a tumble between the sheets. W ithin the small, living room-like atmos phere of Touchstone Coffee House, musical performers create an intimate environment every Friday and Saturday night. Cycle (V W orks W estover H eights C h Quality Care fo r your variety o f pets. Robert Bruno, DVM Kay L. Bruno, DVM Boarding Available 10% Off Vaccines on Thurs 7201 S E Milwaukie Ave. 239-9972 Mon.-Tues.-Thurs. 8:00 - 7:30 Wed. & Fri. 8:00 - 6:00, Sat. 8:00 - 1:00 Profedàional Service L I N I C Offering general internal medicine and excelling in sexual health care Comfortable Bikeo R ecum banU a S p ecia ltyl (COME SEE WHY!) Open I uesdav-Sunday 2 30-772} 2025 SH Hawthorne Serving the community for 17 yearo 2330 N W Flanders Suite 207 503 - 226-6678 ombard F LOWE R S Located in Historic St. Johns P ro u d ly Serving The G re a te r P o rtla n d M etro A rea 503/286-1330 8302 N. LOMBARD PORTLAND, OREGON 97203 21
