Curve articles from November 2004

Curve archives from November 2004

Work it out.(frankly speaking)(Editorial)
November 1, 2004... If you're anything like me, you probably want to put your money where it matters most. Whenever possible, I buy products and services from companies that support our community. Maybe they offer domestic-partner benefits to their employees,...

Melissa unplugged.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... I am a huge Melissa Ferrick fan ("Top 10 Reasons We Love Melissa Ferrick," Vol. 14, #5), but no one is as big a fan as my friend Denise. Melissa played for her 40th birthday in Gainesville, Fla., last year, in front of 25 of us. Seeing Melissa...

Bye-Bi, baby.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... As a bisexual woman and a new reader of CURVE, I was excited to learn that your August issue included an article on this topic. Michele Fisher's "Riding a Bi-Cycle" (Vol. 14, #5) failed to hold to my expectations of the innovative and accepting...

Singing a different tune.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... Come on, CURVE! What were you thinking when you named bond "Most Likely to Convert You to Classical" ("Most Likely Groove Girls," Vol. 14, #5)? Why choose a group of vapid straight girls who have made a career of playing technopop classics...

She likes us, she really likes us.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... Love this issue! The interview with Tammy Lynn Michaels (Vol. 14, #5) was great. You have done a great job adding more coverage to the magazine. Your entire team should be proud of what you have done. Thank you! --Capt. Patti Sunderland,...

She of little faith.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... First of all, I just want to say that I love your magazine and look forward to it arriving in my mailbox every month. You do an outstanding job covering everything a 20-something-year-old lesbian in this crazy world needs to know. However, I...

We love old broads!(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... I enjoyed the music issue (Vol. 14, #5), especially the essay by Magdalen Hsu Li, but where are the old broads? As an older dyke who listens to a lot of folk music, I was disappointed in your coverage. Nah, you don't have to mention Holly Near...

Can Curve come out to play?(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... I always know when CURVE is here, because of the black-wrapped magazine in my mailbox. I am an out lesbian. My neighbors and my mailperson know my wife. Is there any way that I can receive my CURVE au naturel? I feel like I'm getting porn,...

Vegan again.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... Thank you for Julia Bloch's thoughtful piece about vegetarianism and lesbianism (Vol. 14, #4). Like Bloch, I went vegetarian many years ago when I made the connection between the dead meat on my plate and the living, feeling being who was...

Protecting our families.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... I read "Turning Tragedy Around" (Vol. 12, #4) two months after my partner of 22 years died unexpectedly. Afterward, all I could do was shake my head in amazement and then pump my fist and exclaim, "YES!" because someone had gotten information...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
November 1, 2004... In our August 2004 (Vol. 14, #5) issue, we inadvertently omitted a photo credit for the very cool band Erase Errata. The photo was taken by Alissa Anderson. CURVE regrets the error.

Living memorial.(Out in Front)(sculpture)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... To symbolize the marriage she and her partner have been denied in life, artist Patricia Cronin set out in 2000 to create a larger-than-life sculpture, Memorial to a Marriage, that depicts Cronin and her partner, Deborah Kass, in a loving...

Another reason not to go commando.(curvatures)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Finally, a group of entrepreneurial chicks have devised a way to fight dirty politics with dirty panties (think drunken-Twister dirty, not laundry-day dirty). The New York-based Axis of Eve is the business side of the nonprofit organization...

Chile's stinging decision.(curvatures)
November 1, 2004... THE HIGHEST COURT IN CHILE HAS ruled against a lesbian mother--and fellow judge--who was seeking to retain custody of her three children. In June, Chile's supreme court dismissed an earlier decision by a provincial appeals court that granted...

Lesbian film sets off riots in India.(curvatures)
November 1, 2004... GIRLFRIEND, A LOW-BUDGET Bollywood movie containing a modest lesbian sex scene, provoked fierce demonstrations across India last summer as hard-line Hindu nationalists smashed dozens of cinema windows, burned posters and billboards, and...

Show us the money.(curvatures)
November 1, 2004... THERE HAVE BEEN QUITE A FEW CRIES OF "CHA-ching!" from the LGBT community lately as some of our favorite organizations cash in. * The Point Foundation (www.thepointfoundation.org) is awarding over $500,000 in scholarships to 25 gay,...

Top ten: reasons we still play with toys.(curvatures)
November 1, 2004... IN THEIR WICKEDLY DELIGHTFUL new photographic compendium of discarded children's toys, Childish Things (Santa Monica Press), collaborators Davis and Davis (also known as Denise and Scott) envision a curious playground that reminds us that "Just...

A new jewel for the gem state.(curvatures)(gay representative)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... AS A SOLIDLY REPUBLICAN STATE with the motto "Esto Perpetua" ("let it be perpetual"), Idaho is not exactly known for shaking things up. However, the voters of District 19 made state history this May by electing their first openly gay...

Making strides.(curvatures)
November 1, 2004... ROBIN BURR, A FORMER AMERICAN Airlines diversity marketing exec, has become the new executive director of Chicago's Center on Halsted, a first-of-its-kind center in the Midwest to offer social service, cultural and recreational programming for...

Global TV goes gay.(curvatures)
November 1, 2004... Popular Australian kids' show Play School features a main character that looks something like a big, raggedy potato (but could quite possibly be an egg), repetitive kiddie tunes, and, just recently, a pair of lesbian moms. "I'm Brenna,"...

Offense, defense, our side of the fence.(curvatures)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The Women's National Basketball Association was a landmark for women's professional sports when it was founded in 1997, but this year, WNBA player Michele Van Gorp, a center for the Minnesota Lynx, created another milestone by disclosing that...

Body blues.(ask fairy butch)
November 1, 2004... Dear Fairy Butch: How does one tell a potential lover that she has scars and a physical deformity? I had spinal surgery as a teenager for scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and have long scars on my back and hip. My spinal curvature was...

Breaking all the rules.(lesbofile)
November 1, 2004... YOUR MS. SAND HAS BEEN TAKING care of business when it comes to gathering up the gossip on high-profile lesbians and their very interesting careers. Whether they're making beautiful music together; making movies or just plain making money, it's...

Quote unquote.
November 1, 2004... "No comment." >> Angela Robinson, speaking at the 2004 Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco, on whether any cast members of her feature-length lesbian crime camp film D.E.B.S. are openly gay "We'd be going at it and then we'd stop and...

If you go.
November 1, 2004... Before You Go: Watch The Third Man, the classic Orson Welles film that took place in Vienna. It'll give you a feel for the city sights. The Vienna Tourist board has put together information specifically for gay travelers, found at...

The 10 most powerful lesbians: when "you're fired!" becomes the country's favorite catchphrase, you know you're in trouble. Curve comes to the rescue with this handy and, dare we say, comprehensive guide for working girls everywhere.(First Annual Careers Special)
November 1, 2004... SURELY YOU'VE HEARD OF THE REALLY BIG power lesbians, like Hilary Rosen (the former chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America who took down Napster) and Megan Smith (the former CEO of PlanetOut who currently works at...

Good works.
November 1, 2004... MORE AND MORE COMPANIES ARE MAKING TOP 10 LISTS FOR being good places to work at for lesbians--but a few offices out there really, really do us proud. LUNAPADS (www.lunapads.com) Who they are: When Madeleine Shaw was a 25-year-old...

Ahead of the pack: on the 20th anniversary of Wolfe Video, we're reminded how a few good women and a gift from Lily Tomlin transformed a simple idea into the largest lesbian-owned entertainment company in the country.
November 1, 2004... DRIVING TO WOLFE VIDEO'S CORPORATE headquarters in the idyllic, historic town of New Almaden, California--an hour south of San Francisco and mere minutes from San Jose--feels like a leap back in time. A narrow, meandering road winds past...

What's up, doc? Sharon Mitchell went from lesbian porn star to the head of the world's largest STD testing center.(Interview)
November 1, 2004... DETROIT, 1996. I WAS HANGING OUT WITH friends when someone decided to pop in a lesbian adult video. I resigned myself to what I was sure would be a completely forgettable experience. The movie? Suburban Dykes, starring Sharon Mitchell as a...

Scary stories: the writer of the unforgettable Urban Ghost Story on the skeletons in her own closet.(Interview)
November 1, 2004... RAISED IN A SEASIDE RESORT OFF THE ENGLISH Channel, Genevieve Jolliffe seems an unlikely candidate for Hollywood. She's in the Guinness Book of Records for being Britain's youngest film producer (19 when she made her first film); now in her...

The top 15 companies for lesbians.
November 1, 2004... WHEN AN AUTO MAKER SPONSORS a Pride festival but is sued by the Environmental Protection Agency for dumping cancer-causing chemicals, or a beverage producer has a solid nondiscrimination clause for queer employees but no female execs, what's a...

Muy caliente: after her family fled Cuba in 1962 when Fidel Castro came to power, Cuban-born, Venezuelan-raised Maria Conchita Alonso went on to become one of the most popular actresses and singers in all of Latin America. But she still can't go home.
November 1, 2004... FROM THE TIME SHE WAS CROWNED MISS TEENAGE WORLD and Miss Venezuela in the '70s, Maria Conchita Alonso was well on her way to becoming an international superstar, starring in Latin American soaps and films long before she came to Hollywood. She...

She works hard for her money.(Interview)
November 1, 2004... After an almost 20-year career in the music industry, rocker Melissa Etheridge has proven she can bring home the bacon and bring down the house. But her career accolades didn't stop Island Records from sending her back to the drawing board...

The schlock factor! Guns! Girls! Car chases! Explosions! Lesbian action babe J.A. Steel reinterprets the genre with her new tongue-in-cheek shoot 'em up.
November 1, 2004... New action star J.A. Steel (nee Jaquelyn Ruffner) isn't your typical Hollywood starlet. She's a full-contact amateur fighter, a master diver who searches wreckage and caverns, a former NRA instructor and a former Army master marksman. Er,...

Girls on the side.(sapphic screen)(Movie Review)
November 1, 2004... SOMETIMES SINISTER, SOMETIMES refreshing, a lesbian supporting character in an otherwise nonlesbian film is a rare joy in modern cinema. From drug dealers to love-struck adolescents to scrappy mountain girls, slightly Sapphic sidekicks (pardon...

Other picks.(sapphic screen)
November 1, 2004... IN THEATERS: What the #$*! Do We Know!? (Captured Light Industry): A live-action-meets-animation exploration of the nature of science and reality sounds like a tough sale, but this hybrid film is breaking box-office records....

Getting the Green light.(Q & A: Buboo Kakati)(Interview)
November 1, 2004... When Buboo Kakati made Project Greenlight's Top 10 Directors list last summer--the only woman to make the cut--she was thrilled. "It's nice to get some encouragement in an otherwise tough business," admits the emerging lesbian filmmaker, who...

Girlymen, cowgirls and choirboys.(music watch)(current CDs)(Sound Recording Review)
November 1, 2004... AS THE HOLIDAYS NEAR, IT SEEMS like every other new mainstream CD is touted as a multiplatinum endeavor whose titular artist is heralded as either the next Britney or the new anti-Britney. We're not sure which is more annoying. Thankfully,...

Other licks.(music watch)(audio CDs)(Sound Recording Review)
November 1, 2004... ON CD: Ballads and Burlesque, Rachael Sage (MPress Records): A self-taught pianist with a Stanford drama degree tucked under her rhinestone belt, Sage is a true Renaissance gal who's all about upbeat Western woes, with humor and sensual...

Queen of observation.(Q & A: Sheena Metal)(Interview)
November 1, 2004... Los Angeles radio talk-show host Sheena Metal is one of those women who could give J.Lo a run for her money. The founder of the all-female music and art event Festival of the Egg, Metal is also a comedian, writer, producer and actor. Phew. For...

But can she write?(in the stacks)(Book Review)
November 1, 2004... We Do: A Celebration of Gay and Lesbian Marriage, ed. Amy Rennert, foreword by Gavin Newsom (Chronicle Books) With queer weddings taking center stage this year, it's no surprise that books about matrimony are coming out in droves. Most...

Other page-turners.(in the stacks)(Book Review)
November 1, 2004... EDITOR'S PICKS: Dangerous Families: Queer Writing on Surviving, ed. Mattilda (Harrington Park): This new collection by queer survivors of family abuse is so explicit at times that it will probably lose a few readers who prefer their...

Steamy pages.(Q & A: Dodie Bellamy)
November 1, 2004... Dodie Bellamy's breakthrough hit novel The Letters of Mina Harker (a new edition of which was released this fall by University of Wisconsin Press) introduced readers to a brave new world where Dracula's lady stalker resurfaces in grimy,...

Fight the power.(out on the web)
November 1, 2004... THE RIGHT WING CONTINUES TO chip away at LGBT protections, but things are starting to look better on the work front: Numerous queer-friendly industries are emerging and advocates have pledged to breathe new life into the federal Employment...

Chick clicks.(out on the web)(product information)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... TOYS: Nokia is no longer just in the mobile-phone business: check out Nokia Imagewear, necklaces and bracelets that display images transferred wirelessly via infrared from a compatible mobile phone or computer. Wearers can upload anything,...

Will work for Farrah.(dyke drama)(Farrah Fawcett)
November 1, 2004... MY CAREER PATH HAS TAKEN me to many interesting spots. Really, it's not so much a career path as it is a windy, rocky, skinny, bramble-covered trail that ultimately loops back to where it began. I've done a lot of restaurant work and a little...

Clocking out.(workplace discrimination)
November 1, 2004... IT WAS ANOTHER RAINY DAY IN Seattle, and I woke up in dread. I really liked my job, but my division had undergone another reorganization, and my boss, with whom I had a great relationship, had been moved to another team. As I got ready to...

Making ends meet.(brownworth)
November 1, 2004... MONEY, CAREER. THESE ARE AMONG the most loaded words in American society. The first determines everything that we can and cannot have in life. The second firmly delineates class status: One has to be middle- or upper-class to have a career;...

Open studio.(gays discrimination)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... When Sharon McEachern arrived at the 41st National Greeley Art Exhibition at New Frontier Bank in Denver last May, she was surprised to find her work missing from the show. Even more puzzling was the reason for its noninclusion: Her collage...