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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 2006)
page 3 out by Marty Davis 'NEWSMAGAZINE A Tangled Web VOL. 23 NO. 20 AUGUST 18, 2006 Help Just Out name our blog! oday we start with a short quiz. What do rhe following names have in common? Blog OUT, OUTBIog, OUTage, OUTRage, Rainbow blog, rain bow anything, Gaydar, Gay Day, Gayville, GayTown, Queer-o-Sphere, Blog-o-Sphere, Blog-a-Rama, Blog-a-Rooney, Just Blog, Just More, OUTmore, MoreOUT, BlogabOUT, Blogger Mouth, Blogger Butt, Blog-a- Licious, Just Say It and Just Blog It. Figure it out? These are all rejected names for the new Just Out blog, attached to our Web site at www.justout.com. We’re temporarily using the name “Blog Out,” but we’re looking for something else, something a little different, a little catchy, a little, um, you know, special. To that end we’re having a “Name That Blog” contest. You’re a creative and talented bunch, so check out the site and send in your ideas for a name. I’ve got a great prize waiting for the winning suggestion: dinner at a upscale Portland restaurant and—drumroll, please—two tickets to the Elton John concert Sept. 24 at the Rose Garden. For complete contest details please visit—you guessed it—“Blog Out” at www.justout.com. Be creative, be clever, but remember Blogger Butt has already been rejected. Why a blog, you ask? Because everyone else already has one and you’re trying to play catch-up? Well, yes, as a matter of fact that is partially true. Blogs have hit the newspaper industry like a tornado in a trailer park. Virtually every one is scrambling to bring this newest gadget, um, technology to his or her readership. No more waiting two weeks, one week, one day, not even an hour for the latest details. It’s 2006. Get the information to the reader right now! Load ’em up. Watch their heads pop. Blogging is so suddenly prevalent that as journalists and publishers we’re struggling to keep abreast of the changes, as our traditional readership becomes a growing online audience. Workshops are being conducted, seminars are being held, and stylebooks are coming under scrutiny as papers adapt to this new means of communication. Blogging presents an opportunity for a new informal, more personal writing style, albeit not a format that comes easily to everyone. Journalistic standards must be maintained while striving to be witty, clever, timely and competitive. One local paper that is doing a great job with its blog is The Portland Mercury. It is quick and sharp and has me coming back to the site several times a day. I’ll admit that most of the entertainment and culture posts go right over my head, but I admire its approach to news and politics. Lest the topic come up, imitation is a high form of flattery. The Just Out blog is starting out as a means to convey information that can’t wait until the next issue. It’s a tool for interaction between us and our readers. We invite your comments on everything we post. Unlike the paper and the traditional letters to the editor, blog comments are casual and don’t require complete disclosure of who and where you are. Plans for later phases include providing space for guest commentary and political opinion and lots and lots of discussion and comment. So, check us out, often and frequently. A newspaper blog is like academic dim sum. The cart moves on quickly, and something new appears. Don’t miss anything. And don’t forget to send us your name suggestions. Someone will win the opportunity to see the great Sir Elton John. n to my second love, a Gay Skate update. As always, skating happens the third Monday of each month, coming up next Aug. 21. This month we bring back that old-time skating favorite the Hokey-Pokey. You put you left arm FEATURE in, you put your left arm out—ah, can the Macarena be far behind? Be sure to join us in September as we spend a half-hour or so firing up the 22 SEXUAL EUGENICS Is OHSU spending millions to make gay great Oaks Park skating rink organ, one of the last of its kind in the United States. sheep straight? October’s Gay Skate will feature an early Halloween costume contest, and in O November we’ll be doing something very special: You'll be asked to bring a donation of a toy for the children served by the Friends of People with AIDS Foundation. This organization hosts an annual holiday event where children who normally receive little are given a party and holiday gifts. 1 attended this event last year and was quite touched by the good work that this group does. With your help we can make this year even more meaningful to those most vulnerable during the holiday season. I’ll provide more details on this event for you later. started with a quiz, and now I have a favor to ask. One day—now many, many months ago—Michael Kennedy, aka Misha Rockafeller, quietly left Portland. A commanding presence for years, Misha was a powerful, dynamic, outstanding member of our community. Misha could be charming, delightful and witty as the hostess of Misha’s Make-a-Date or as the organizer of the Gay Pride pageants. And then there was the other Misha, the one who could be as mean as all get-out and had a mouth that could have been considered a weapon of mass destruction. Either of the Mishas was some thing to behold. During the course of the past three or four years, we started seeing less and less of Misha and more and more of Michael. Michael became a person unto himself: a budding artist, a proud employee of Cascade AIDS Project, a homeowner, a man who loved his dog. Then one day, Michael quietly retired Misha. No fanfare, no ceremony, certainly no to-do from Just Out. No goodbyes. 1 guess that was a clue as to how it would be with Michael. No goodbyes there, either. One day he was gone, rumored to have moved to northern California. It was no secret that Michael lived with Fl IV/AI DS. It’s not hard to imagine why he left. I have no desire to disturb his privacy, but if anyone is still in touch with Michael, please let him know that in Portland there are those who think of him and wish him well. © I NEWS 8-17 NORTHWEST Clothing store now more gay-friendly; a new place to find old things in St. Johns; they are the champions; Christian Coalition leader admits to child molestation; get a Crush on candidates; Love Makes a Family heads to the fair; Equity Foundation finds fresh faces; protect your family; AlDSWalk in 20th year; local queer radio goes weekly; NoPo shows pride; invasion of the podcasters; Jerusalem World Pride 18-19 NATIONAL Study probes Asian same-sex families; Voting Rights Act renewed; West Pointer slams gay ban; center renamed for Billie Jean King; Missouri might get first gay state senator; basic rights petition filed; Iraq vet would allow gays to serve; anti-gay group barred from lawsuit; hate crime law to be tested 20-21 WORLD Riga Pride trashed by mobs; Slovenia offers registered partnerships; U.K. court rejects lesbians’ marriage; success for first World Outgames ARTS AND CULTURE 40-41 FILM Grab your wire hangers and pop these camp classics into your DVD player 42 MUSIC reflections 15 Years Ago in Just Out... volume 8 number 10, august 1991 • Portland police officials say they expect reports of bias crimes to "double or triple" during the next year because of the creation of the bureau's Bias/Hate Crime Unit. • Right to Privacy PAC's Garden Party was a huge success. "More people than ever before," approximately 350, attended, according to executive director Linda Welch. Lots of politicos were present, among them Oregon Gov. Barbara Roberts and Secretary of State Phil Keisling, Portland City Commissioners Mike Lindberg and Earl Blumenauer, and state Reps. Vera Katz and Gail Shibley. Most notably missing was Mayor Bud Clark. work out in an all-gay gym. Though just an enticing dream now, efforts are under way to create a gay and lesbian community center where these and other needs could be met. • Peacock in the Park drew 2,000 to 2,500 people and raised $3,100 for its scholarship fund. The Audria M. Edwards Scholarships were presented during the festivities. • An estimated 150 gays, lesbians and their supporters congregated recently in a Salem church basement to share ideas and information about how to defeat a proposed ballot initiative that seeks to amend the state constitution to declare homosexuality a "perversion." • Demi-Monde Productions is an independent feature film company dedicated to women and lesbian filmmaking. Nicole Conn is in the process of producing Claire of the Moon, a low-budget 16mm feature. Principal photography will begin Oct. 14 at the Oregon coast and in Portland. • Last month Just Out ran a newsbrief about Gar Roberts' hope to design and construct an AIDS Memorial Park in Portland. Since then, a committee of 10 people has volunteered, including two landscape architects and a landscape designer. • Envision a place where gays and lesbians could gather for social events, conduct business meetings, borrow gay literature and resources or even • The NAMES Project has opened its Panel Sewing Room in the activity room at the Ecumenical Ministries HIV Day Center. 43 FILM Sundance fave examines a community at a crossroads 45 SPORTS Northwest Women’s Surf Camps make a big splash with lesbians COLUMNS 14 GET DIRTY WITH DAN The Trendy Gardener 35 MS. BEHAVIOR Bringing Up the Rear 36 EPIQUEEREAN The Vine, Divine 37 OUT GOING La Vie Boheme 46 JIM'S CLOSET Sneak Attack
