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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2002)
» novembfit 15. 2002 40 DIVERSIONS .............. ▼............... I» The captivating Beth Orton induces shivering Nov. 21 at Roseland Theater Pine for Beth eth Orton holds a unique spot in the galaxy of pop musicians. A n honest voice searching to make sense of love fleeting, she tells stories of extremes more inter twined than separate. Blending ambient elec tronic loops with rich British folk traditions (Nick Drake meets Portishead), the young siren’s music is startlingly original. Touring on her new album, Dayhreaker, O rton’s all-acoustic show Nov. 21 at the Rose- land is sure to lure nesting dykes out of the house and into the autum n rain for a dose of gorgeous aching shivers. She may not he one of us, but if you’re a girl pining for a girl who doesn’t want you back, hunt for a copy of Trail- er Park, throw on some headphones, and feel the presence of someone who’s been there, too. Roseland Theater is at 8 N.W.*Sixth Ave. Tickets for the all-ages show are $ 17 from Roseland Grill or Fastixx. — Con Taratoot B I» Make it a double deck very Sunday you can find them at Hobo’s. Sometimes there are only a couple of tables full but often five or six. They’re card-carry ing members of the pinochle fanatics group. And now, with a tournament scheduled for Nov. 23, there will he even more of them. George Blay seems to think this is normal. He began the card sessions 4 1/2 years ago because “I lived in Portland for about 11 years and didn’t know many gay people. I thought, E this is ridiculous. A nd 1 loved playing pinochle.” Gays + pinochle = ecstasy. The second annual tournament is open to “anybody who knows how to play double-deck pinochle,” Blay states, but warns, “We play according to the rules; there’s no table talk or anything like that.” (If you play pinochle, you know what all this means.) Essentially, you sign up as a single player and get your partner through “the luck of the draw,” he says. But nobody gets too caught up in the competition. “It’s tournament style, yes, but we play to have fun." The tournament includes trophies and prizes for the best pinochlers. “I’ve gotten donations like crazy from a lot of places in the gay com munity,” Blay comments brightly. “There are some nice prizes going to be given away.” The pinochle tournament begins 4 p.m. at 120 N.W. Third Ave. Entry fee is $15 at the door, but it’s nice if you register in advance at 503-760-1248. Lesbian cable access re you missing talk show lesbians since Rasies been gone? Well, come January you can turn that TV back on, because Port lander Becca Herald is producing Out on the Town on Portland Cable Access. A once-a-month live production with a talk show format, advice section and calendar of lesbian-oriented events, the program has been brewing in her mind for quite some time. Herald teaches computer graphics and television pro duction in the Portland Public Schools district. “I love doing it, and I’ve always worked on other people’s shows. I’ve had this idea just for ever, and finally my fiancée said, ‘W hat’s keep ing you from doing it?’ and I said, ‘Just actually doing it.’ And so I’m doing it.” The show will premiere in January with Herald as director and co-host, alternating monthly with another co-host. She hopes the show will entertain as well as inform the public. “I’ve had so many people say, ‘Well, did your last boyfriend make you gay?’ I’m sitting on the plane going to Florida one time by a woman, and she said, ‘You know, I’ve never met a gay person; do you mind if I ask you some questions?’ T here’s no outlet for people to ask questions," says Herald, who hopes the straight community might tune in to the show, too. “I’m aiming it at everybody. I want it to be an informational thing that anybody can get something from.” T he show could still use a few more techni cians, who don’t necessarily need to be experi enced; training is available. If you ant to help, contact Herald at outonthetownpca@aol.com. A Baby dyke book wins! ortland novelist Sara Ryan remains in “total shock” since the success of her novel Empress of the World at the Nov. 7 Oregon Book Awards. So shocked that, upon being announced as winner of the Leslie Brad shaw Award for Young Readers, she almost lost her acceptance speech. “I’d written something up," she notes, “but the piece of paper was buried at the bot tom (if my bag, and I had to dig for it.” Ryan overcame the momentary awkwardness to acknowledge the support of young readers "who have recognized them selves in the novel’s characters.” The btxik is about two teen-age girls who fall in love at summer camp. Such support has only increased after she posted the news of the win on her Web site. “They’ve been excited,” Ryan says. “I’ve gotten congratulations e-mail from fans as far away as Croatia. Some of them are hoping the book will become part of school curriculum now.” That may soon happen. Ryan reports teach ers were among the purchasers of Empress at the Central Library’s Nov. 10 Writers Resource Fair. The award has also provided further incen tive for Ryan to complete a sequel to the popu lar kxik. She hopes to finish the first draft by the end of the year, “hut I don’t want to nish it; I want to make sure the second lxxik is as gixxJ as it can be. But I know that there are people waiting for it because they keep e-mailing me, which is very flattering.” Meanwhile, new read ers can find excerpts from the first book online at www.sararyan.com/empress. — Kevin Moore Sara Ryan shoots and scores with Empress of the World P From PTL to PETA 'fin t R Ts unions and the first same-sex couple to register under a new law in Quebec; Johnny Symons’ Sundance (and Portland queer film festival) h it docum entary D addy & P apa; Latin music sensation A lbita, who emerged from 3 M iam i’s South | Beach queer 5 com m unity; gay | and lesb ian ' C A rkansans who cj are challenging | the state’s sodomy law; ? o A ID S activist Wan Yanhai’s release from detainm ent by “America’s angriest AIDS C hinese authori ties after impli activist” on In the Life cating the gov ernm ent in the growth of the epidemic. In the Life airs 11 p.m. Nov. 20 on Oregon Public Broadcasting. J H t seems Tammy Faye Bakker Messner Compiled by LlSA BRADSHAW loves the animals as much as she loves the gays. “My animals are the only people to see me without my makeup,” says ' ■ Tammy Faye, who appears on the cover of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ 2003 Shopping Guide for Caring Consumers. “If any companies are still Tammy Faye testing on animals, I say, ‘Shame on you,’ ’’ continues the woman who, as we know, single-handedly supports the cos metics industry. PETA’s annual shopping guide lists more than 550 cruelty-free companies that don’t test their products on animals. Order it for $8.50 from 800-483-4366 or www.peta.org. Be warned, however, you’ll be on PETA’s mailing list for the rest of your natural-bom life. I A Out on the tube ovember’s edition of the queer television newsmagazine In the Life features guest host Bill Brochtrup, who leads viewers through a profile of gay men and lesbians who are taking activism onto the streets, to the government and into their homes. T he episode includes a story on the long and controversial career of Larry Kramer, the man once dubbed “Am erica’s angriest AIDS activist. ’ O th er stories: legalized civil N The second annual pinochle tournament is Nov. 23 at Hobo’s A GUIDE T O PR O D U CTS T H A T ARE N O T T E S T E D O N AN IM ALS SHOPPING GUIDE FOR PCTA CONSUMERS fN Tammy Faye stumps for bunnies
