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