DIVERSIONS
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potential volunteers is being held at 1 p.m.
Sept. 1 in the First Congregational Church
Library, 1126 S.W. Park Ave. Hits of people are
needed to make this 11-day event go smoothly.
For more information about volunteering con
tact Topher Wallace at 503-280-1762 or
topher@sensoryperceptions.org.
O u t off Affrica
he Homowo Festival of African Arts
returns to the South Park Blocks at the
Portland State University campus between
Southwest Harrison and College streets
Aug. 24 and 25.
Although the tenn “homo” is part of the
title, it’s not all about the queers. (Give it up,
not everything is!) Rather it’s a traditional
T e n n is , a n y o n e ?
Ghanaian festival presented by Portland’s mas
ter percussionist Obo Addy.
es, there’s a lot of softball going on this
Running from 1 to 8 p.m. both days, the
month, hut that’s not slowing down Team
festival offers nonstop action and activities.
Portland Tennis in its 12th annual Rose
Addy leads a large group of Ghanaian musi
City Open tournament Aug. 30 to Sept. 2 at
cians to open the festivities Saturday. You’ll see
Portland Tennis Center, 324 N.E. 12th Ave.
drumming, dancing, singing and performers
“Labor Day weekend the Rose City Open
dressed in traditional clothing of the five major
will welcome players from all over the country to
culture groups of
Ghana.
Through the
weekend are folk
art demonstra
tions, including
basket making,
sewing of clothes
and shoe making.
A children’s area
offers face paint
ing, head making
and the produc
tion of African
rainsticks, crowns
and masks.
There’s also an
African market
Portland’s annual Homowo Festival of African Arts is Aug. 24 and 25 in
place and a whole
the South Park Blocks
bunch of ethnic
fixxl offerings.
Portland,” says tournament director Kim Bauske.
For more information about the festival
The tourney is affiliated with the Gay and
visit www.homowo.org.
Lesbian Tertnis Alliance, which sponsors events
around the country. Portland will see players in
Open, A, B, C and D levels in men’s and
O n th e s tr e e ts
women’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles.
Team Portland will play host to a barbecue
awthorne Summerfest 2002 descends upon
from 4 to 8 p.m. Sept. 2 at the center and
the trendy boulevard 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
encourages participants and fans to come out
Aug. 24-
for fixxl, socializing and watching cute tennis
Anyone who’s been to this mega-street fair
players run arixind in short pants.
before knows it’s full of music from acoustical
For more information call 503-232-7650 or
jazz to punk rock, artist exhibits, kids stuff, all
visit www.teamportland-tennis.org. J H
kinds of giveaways and contests (including
some for your pets), political vendors, skate
Compiled by LlSA BRADSHAW
boarders and food, fixxl, food.
T
Some of Stromboli is
Island of Donkeys
and Dolls (clockwise
from left): Michelle
Tea, Bucky Sinister,
Tara Jepsen, MC
STD , Strict Chem
and MC Katastrophe
The (w e ird , q u e e r!
c irc u s is in to w n
F ilm fe s tiv a l
s n e a k p r e v ie w
E
he fine folks of Sensory Perceptions, who
will once again bring the annual Gay, Les
bian, Bi and Trans Film Festival to Portland
from Sept. 19 to 29, are throwing a benefit
bash 7 p.m. Aug. 29 at Unleash Yourself,
1211 N.E. Alberta St.
The fund-raiser is aimed primarily at
women because, year after year, male-oriented
films are better attended than female. O f
course, the hope is that all the queers will
attend all the movies, hut they definitely see a
need to reach out to the ladies.
“The women’s films are not as well attended
as the men’s films,” attests artistic director
Gabriel Mendoza. He feels this is because of dif
ferent reactions to seeing movies and to movie
advertising. “With men, you put a picture of a
cute guy on it, and that’s enough.. .but in general
a lot of the lesbian crowd. ..they want to know
what the film is about.. .the film needs to he pro
moted to them so they know what’s going on.”
(One might also argue that women go to
hoy films in much larger numbers than men go
to girl films, but let’s not split hairs.)
Sensory Perceptions, in any case, has put
together a little program to promote the
women-themed festival offerings. It’s just $5-
$10 suggested donation, all of which goes to the
festival, and they’ve invited two fab Portland
musicians, Angie Golleher and Maria Webster,
to entertain. Madame Mix-a-Lot offers tasty
spirits, and you can win festival passes as well as
other neat prizes. Plus you get your hands on a
schedule before official ones are released.
Speaking of the festival, a training for
ven more offbeat than Cirque du Soleil is
San Francisco-based Strombolli’s Island of
Donkeys and Dolls, which marches its
way into the Meow Meow, 527 S.E. Pine
St., at 9 p.m. Sept. 6.
The performance cabaret tour is inspired by
the diabolical sideshow creep of PimKchio lore
and is a celebration of freaks, misfits, under
does, outsiders and infiltrators.
“Oh my god, we are going to put on a show
for the people,” says the infamous On Our Backs
writer and Sister Spit co-creator Michelle Tea.
“We are going to take them through the hill
range of their emotions; we’re going to crack
them up, make them think, inspire, challenge
and just plain entertain them.”
Well, that sounds compelling. Certainly
Morty Diamond of Circus Ridikulous thought
so when he put the whole thing together. The
“tranny clown" is responsible for creating sev
eral San Francisco nightclubs catering to mis
fits, including trans dance party Pink Pony.
Also on the bill is the queer hip-hop ensem
ble The End of the World, made up of M C
Katastrophe, M C ST D (Something Totally
Deep) and Strict Chem. Katastrophe has toured
the United States multiple times with Sister
Spit and was featured in the PBS dix:umentary
Poetic License, while ST D rocks in death metal
bands in his spare time. We have absolutely no
information on Strict Chem except that she/he
is really cute judging by the photo.
Add to this a handful of talented spoken
word artists, and you’ve got yourself quite an
evening for only $5.
Portland -
The winds of change are blowing.
Are you ready for it?
Perhaps one of the best reasons to check in
are the sidewalk sales by normally overpriced
boutiques and antique stores. Don’t forget to
stop by the dyke-run In Other Words, which
continues to have one-third of all its merchan
dise at 50 percent off throughout August.
Then, just a few blocks away, the annual
Belmont Street Fair emerges 11 a.m. to
6 p.m. Sept. 7. This one includes a cute “Mag
ical Trolley” that shuttles you up and down the
street between 26th and 45th avenues, where
you’ll find crafts, live music (Jesus Presley
headlines) and a beer garden. At 4 p.m. Port
land City Commissioner Charlie Hales will be
honored for his contributions to the renais
sance of the neighborhixxJ.
Y
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