» novembfit 15. 2002
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DIVERSIONS
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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
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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