Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2005)
lanuary 7.20Û5 DIVERSIONS ............... ▼................ Not your usual grandma music What a way to kick off the new year—with a queer indie music extravaganza Jan. 13 at Nocturnal, 1800 E. Bumside St., featuring Nomy Lamm and her new hand, Tricotic. Mirah, The Blow and Rigamortis will also shake things up starting at 7:30 p.m.; tickets are 10 bucks. A radical voice for feminism, queer revolu tion and ending fatphohia and other oppres sions, Olympia-hom Lamm is now living in Chicago. The self-taught musician has been writing songs since she was 9. She is the co creator of the epic rock opera The Transfused, “a post-apocalyptic vision of multigendered mongrel people finding community and empowerment under the oppressive rule of ‘The Corporation.’ ” Her latest musical project gets its name from a tenn that means “three elevations to one beat of the pulse.” The other members of Tricotic are fellow Olympia queer girl Erin Daly and her partner, Marcus Rogers, a trans man and artist. “We are all self-taught musicians,” says Lamm. “We look at our music like an inven tion. It has elements of punk, hip-hop, klezmer, blues, gospel-y church music, vaudeville. Sometimes we call it ‘grandma music.’ ’’ In addition to making inventive music, Lamm is a dedicated activist. She lectures regu larly at colleges and is working on a body empowerment program for youth called Phat Camp (www.morethanjustphat.com). Lamm says there is much that queers can do to make progressive change in the world. “We need to...challenge the commodifica tion of our identities and communities [and] not be silenced and pacified by the few pieces of privilege we are thrown,” she says. “Queers need to be doing anti-racist work in the white queer communities to understand how we are a part of a much bigger world where the reality is: Shit is hard. We need to see ‘queer’ as a gateway into something bigger—an under standing of life that is about the experience of living it.” A tainted love off world music DJ Yeah Yeah, the organizer of queer night Taint, is up to new tricks. She is launching a spinoff club starting Jan. 11 and running every second and fourth Tuesday at the GixxJhxit Lounge, 2845 S.E. Stark St. Tainted Beats features electronica and world music spun by queer DJs Paulanet, Zanne and Fly, plus Yeah Yeah herself. Admit tance is a mere $3-$5 sliding scale; you must be 21 or over. “I’m an Argentine Amencan, and I always want to play Latino music, but not many peo ple will dance to music they aren’t familiar with," says Yeah Yeah. So she got together with some other DJ friends and decided to start a club that would bring together a racially diverse mix of queers and straights. “I know there are more racial minorities and international music lovers out there that need a place to go and hear authentic music,” she says. Zanne (whose day job involves pasting up the publication you are now reading) says she’ll be spinning bhangra, rai, ska, samba, salsa and international hip-hop, plus a little klezmer for kicks. Yeah Yeah is more than just your average club promoter. She hopes to spread a bit of har- Crawford, Dawn and Cecilia; mother, Bonnie Deneke; and son of her heart, Daniel Dziekan. A memorial will be held 1 p.m. Jan. 15 in the commons at Colton Middle School, 21580 S. Schleifer Road. A potluck will follow the service. Remembrances may be made to Washing ton Mutual Bank for a scholarship fund for Martin’s daughter. An iconoclast to her dying day One of the most influential thinkers and writers or our time passed away IVc. 28. Susan Sontag—intellectual, cultural critic, lover of both women and men—died at age 71 of com plications of acute myelogenous leukemia. Just last May, Sontag published an essay in The New York Times Magazine, “Regarding the Torture of Others,” on the abuse at rhe Abu Ghraib prison. She examined the pornographic nature of the photographs and made this inci sive observation: “An erotic life is, for more Activist/artist/organizer/amputee Nomy Lamm performs with her new trio, Tricotic, Jan. 13 at and more people, that which can be captured Nocturnal. Opening acts include queer musician Mirah (right). in digital photographs and on video. And per mony and understanding between people. In So, how did the ladies fare on land? In haps the torture is more attractive, as some fact, proceeds from the first Tainted Beats will keeping with national trends, the “winner” thing to record, when it has a sexual compo go to a relief fund for victims of the tsunami in is...Miss Texas! Sizzling Rose Empress XLIV nent. It is surely revealing, as more Abu Southeast Asia. Poison Waters (aka Kevin Cook) clawed her Ghraib photographs enter public view, that tor “If we don’t reunite ourselves more with way to the crown eight times. Should she be ture photographs are interleaved with porno other great people, whether queer or straight or unable to fulfill her duties, the runner-up is graphic images of American soldiers having sex bi or trans or black, Asian, Indian, Middle Miss Industrial Northeast (Pepe Raphael of with one another.” Eastern, Latin, white and on and on,” Yeah Bottle Blondes fame) with three wins. Her critical eye was often sharply focused Yeah wonders, “then how do we ever expect Miss Deep South (Shaun Hennessey) and on the role of photography in culture. She change?” Miss West Coast (Ammon Morris) each won argued, “The camera makes everyone a tourist twice, and once was enough for Miss Bible Belt in other people’s reality, and eventually in (Joe Healy) and Miss Great Plains (Kelsey I one’s own.” Tyler, the contest’s other gay hottie, — who made boys dnxil during last Think about this for a moment: How many summer’s 10 Naked Men). opportunities do you get to watch a bunch of The cast will stage two 90- drag queens spoof beauty pageants while float minute performances at 7 and 9 p.m. ing down the Willamette River? Fridays from Jan. 21 to Feb. 25. Pageant, which just ended a successful run at Boarding is 30 minutes prior to Triangle Productions, now becomes the first showtime from Salmon Street musical prixJuction mounted by the Portland Springs Fountain. Spirit. For five weeks at Theater Theatre, Tickets are $25 at rhe dtxir and $20 in advance from 503-224-3900 judges were picked from the audience to rate the gals based on a talent competition, pnxluct or www.portlandspirit.com. Appetiz demonstrations, evening gowns, swimsuits and ers, desserts and drinks are available physical fitness outfits. at additional cost. If you want to get ■ a big group together to raise some hell on high water, discounts are available for parties^if 15 or more. Whatever floats your boat Memorial planned ffor softball player Miss Great Plains (Kelsey Tyler) will compete for the crown in Pageant Fridays from Jan. 21 to Feb. 25 aboard the Portland Spirit In addition to her intellectual critiques. Susan Sontag popularized the “so bad it's good” attitude toward camp Former Portlander Dinah Lea Martin, who played for an all-lesbian softball team back in the ’80s, died from complications of lung can cer Jan. 2. She was 46. She was bom Aug. 7, 1958, and graduated from Sunset High School in 1976. After obtaining a two-year building technology degree from Portland Community College and attending Portland State University, she worked for many years as a printer. In the 1980s she was a member of the Les bian Community Project and Women of the Westside, a lesbian organization that brought author Jane Rule to town from Canada. Martin moved to Colton in 1989 and tixik up trout fishing and gardening. An avid sports fan, she was awarded numer ous sport trophies from Beaverton schtxils, played adult women’s softball, was on the women’s basketball team at PSU and coached both girls basketball and softball teams in Colton. Survivors include her partner of 24 years, Linda Huff; daughter, Mariah; sisters, Cindy Yet her critiques did not prevent her from becoming involved with Annie Leibovitz, the noted photographer with whom she collaborat ed on the photo and essay collection Women. The two were longtime companions. In 1978, Sontag published the seminal work, Illness as Metaphor, during a bout with breast cancer. She argued that diseases like cancer are perceived in such a way to vilify patients. A decade later, she published AIDS and Its Metaphors, extending her argument to the AIDS pandemic. On the lighter side of cultural critique, Son- tag began her career with the famous essay “Notes on Camp,” which popularized the “so bad it’s gixxl” attitude toward everything from Tiffany lamps to Swan Lake. She wrote: “Camp is a vision of the world in terms of style—but a particular kind of style. It is the love of the exaggerated, the ‘off,’ of things-being-what- they-are-not.” |H Compiled by M eg D aly and J1M RADOSTA .
