Curve articles from October 2006

Curve archives from October 2006

Score one for sports.(Frankly Speaking)(Editorial)
October 1, 2006... What do Sheryl Swoopes, houseboating and roller derby have in common? More than you might think. You might think that focusing this issue on both sports and travel is, well, a bit incongruous. But we like to keep you guessing what we'll do...

Bad advice?(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2006... I love, love, love CURVE magazine. I also love the advice column of Lipstick & Dipstick. Normally, their advice is right on the money. However, I cringed at the advice to Torn Teen in June (Vol. 16#5). The girl writing is 14. She should not run...

Pride encounter.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2006... This past Sunday at the Capital Pride Festival in Washington, D.C., I decided to stop at the CURVE booth. While I was looking through the many back issues, this wonderful lady stopped what she was doing and came to my rescue. She knew the exact...

Send us your pitches.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2006... I would appreciate it if you would consider an article about Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor. Although the series Xena is long gone, it still creates a lot of interest, and Lawless is now on Battlestar Galactica. They both are very community...

Love from the ladies.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2006... Thank you so much for your article on Marsha Stevens-Pino (Vol. 16, #6) and BALM/upBEAT! I am one of the upBEAT! artists who went through the first training class. I love this ministry, who Marsha is and what she has done. Our community needs...

That's not what my life looks like.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2006... I am a subscriber, supporter, fan, enthusiastic (yet quiet) joiner-in-er. I must let you know that I was so disappointed in the results of the photo contest! Not to say that the photographs weren't worthy, but of all the published selections...

Wrapping it up.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2006... Would you be able to mail your magazine in anything besides a black plastic wrap? Everyone assumes I'm getting porn! I don't want my kids thinking a lesbian magazine is equal to porn or anything to be embarrassed or ashamed about. ...

Corrections.(Correction notice)
October 1, 2006... The cover photo of Joan Jett (Vol. 16, #6) was incorrectly credited; Michael Rubenstein was the photographer. CURVE sincerely regrets the error.

Outed and proud.(OutinFront)(Charlene Hammersen )(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Since she came out just three years ago, Charlene Hammersen has been called, "dirty fucking dyke," had a cement brick thrown at her, and recently came back to her car to find its windshield smashed to bits. That's a lot for an 18-year-old...

Thespian activism.(OutinFront)(Karen LaShelle of Theatre Action Project)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Last fall, when thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees headed to Austin, Texas, for shelter from the storm, Karen LaShelle had one simple thought: What will the children do? Only days after the Austin Convention Center filled up with...

Award-winning obsession.(OutinFront)(Catalina Puente)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Imagine writing a radio piece about your obsession with a female classmate, capturing the moment you came out to your father as bisexual on tape and winning journalism's prestigious Peabody Award. Now imagine doing all this before you are even...

Lesbian dream.(Curvatures)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Last spring we offered 10 readers a signed poster from the movie The Notorious Bettie Page in exchange for their votes on who would make the perfect lesbian pinup. Well, don't think the votes weren't entertaining. Every girl under the sun was...

Make boobies your priority.(Curvatures)(Lucy Blue Tremblay)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Critically acclaimed French Canadian musician Lucy Blue Tremblay (right) has taken on a lifelong crusade that will potentially help save millions of lives, using her talents as an artist and activist to found the Breast Exam Project, a...

Taking on the mountain.(Curvatures)(Kate Cooper of Climb Against the Odds )(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Ask any woman who has done it and they'll tell you that joining Climb Against the Odds is about much more than climbing 3,550-foot Mount Shasta. This climb gives breast cancer survivors and their supporters a way to honor their struggles and...

Daniela Sea: artist, actor, musician.(OpenStudio)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... When MIX NYC, an alternative gay and lesbian film festival in New York City (mixnyc.org), wanted to raise some funds, they started off by handing out disposable cameras to 150 various artists and celebrities, then auctioned off the used cameras...

Putting on the cotton.(Curvatures)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... It's back-to-school season, and you know you'll be up all hours discussing Joan Nestle and Judith Butler, only to roll out of bed late and run to some physics class you never meant to take. What better way to plan for those all-nighters than to...

Life, liberty and the pursuit of orgasm.(Curvatures)(Cathy Carlson's You Cum Like a Girl clothing and accessories trademark)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Irritated that the biggest catchphrase among her male colleagues was Larry the Cable Guy's git-r-done," comedian Cathy Carlson decided it was time for a smutty, chauvinistic catchphrase of our own. In early 2006, she launched You Cum Like a...

Staying outside the lines.(Curvatures)(Sudie Rakusin )(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... You probably recognize the whimsical work of artist Sudie Rakusin from her prolific illustrations for magazines, calendars, notecards and books. A self-proclaimed "eco-feminist," Rakusin features animals prominently in her work, as in her...

Hair today, dyke tomorrow: nothing says lesbian like a bad haircut. Or Paris Hilton.(Lesbofile)
October 1, 2006... This month, we've got closet action, celebrity crushes and a whole lotta tongue wagging. A Hairy Issue Rosie O'Donnell now rests comfortably as the new personality on ABC's morning coffee klatch The View, sitting in Meredith Vieira's...

Soulforce Equality Ride.(Curvatures)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Last spring, 35 young adults traveled across the country with a much loftier purpose in mind than the partying that usually characterizes college road trips. For the first Soulforce Equality Ride, these activists went on a 51-day-long bus tour...

On-screen dyke alert.(Curvatures)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... What's the most eagerly-awaited lesbian film this fall? Running With Scissors, the quirky film based on the out-landish and irreverent novel from gay author Augusten Burroughs, in which Annette Benning's unstable character has more than one...

Scene.
October 1, 2006... 1 Contestants at the premiere of Bravo's Project Runway 2 Lovely lasses from Girls in Wonderland pool party in Florida 3 Former CURVE editorial assistant Lauren Marie Fleming and CURVE's handy office manager, Meriah Miracle, ham it up at the...

Hell-raisin' sisters of Sacramento.(Curvatures)(Sisters of Scota Women's Motorcycle Club)(Organization overview)
October 1, 2006... In 1979, Dayna Davidson, aka "Grumbles," and her partner "Gramps," formed Leather and Lace, a motorcycle club exclusively for women in California's Sacramento county. Now, 20 years later, Leather and Lace is a nonprofit renamed the Sisters of...

A lesbian movie extra.(Curvatures)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... I was thrilled to be invited as an extra in the new lesbian movie, Changing Spots, which stars lesbian actress Danielle Egnew and her partner Jenny Sherwin. My partner, Jamie, and I found the Hollywood bar where shooting was scheduled to take...

It's a mystery to me.(Ask Fairy Butch)
October 1, 2006... Dear Fairy Butch: My lover's vagina is a mystery to me. I have no idea how to work the angles to make strap-on sex enjoyable for her. Can you give me the lowdown?--Geometrically Challenged in Georgia. Dear Challenged: I would be delighted,...

Just can't get enough.(Lipstick & Dipstick)
October 1, 2006... Dear Lipstick and Dipstick: I'm 31 years old and have been out for about a year. I just landed my first girlfriend and am madly in love. She's eight years older than me, and while we're great together, we do have one teeny conflict. I can't get...

All eyes on you.(Astro Grrl)
October 1, 2006... Libra (Sept. 24-Oct. 23) Sex: Everything seems to cost more now--love, fun, projects, travel, personal dreams. However, talk is cheap. Career: Unexpected changes and various kabooms on the job can make you nervous, but don't get rattled....

It's all about the journey: fourteen tips to get the most of your European backpacking trip.(Travel Special)
October 1, 2006... I'd wanted to backpack across Europe ever since my childhood, when my mom told me stories about her amazing hitchhiking adventures across the continent. (Of course, hitchhiking was much safer then.) After years of imagining what my own trip...

Girls gone mild: houseboating offers the perfect trip for a dozen of your favorite friends.(Travel Special)
October 1, 2006... It only takes one gal with a little chutzpah and a credit card to initiate a houseboat vacation for 16 of her closest friends. For the second year in a row, I was the beneficiary of such a notion and cruised with a large group of ladies over...

The Ice Cave: from the Mojave Desert to Antarctica, lesbian adventurer Lucy Jane Bledsoe has seen it all and lived to tell. Her most fascinating entry? Antarctica. Here's just the tip of the iceberg.(Travel Special)(Excerpt)
October 1, 2006... Airplanes do occasionally crash in Antarctica. A couple of days after my adventures in the interior, I ski with some friends out to see one such plane that had crashed in 1970. The wreck still lies out on the permanent ice field. The day...

The gay-friendly skies: how the airlines measure up when it comes to LGBT travelers.(Travel Special)(Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender)
October 1, 2006... Now that buying an airline ticket is as simple as pointing and clicking your mouse at the best deal, LGBT travelers have more choices than ever. But how do you know if your hard-earned dollars are going toward an LGBT-friendly company? CURVE is...

Bring your Boo to Tahoe: Holly's Haunted Women's Week makes us shiver with Halloween glee.(Travel Special)(Lake Tahoe, California's Holly's Place)
October 1, 2006... Summer's over, but the party's just heating up in Lake Tahoe, Calif. With ski season just around the corner, dyke-friendly destination Holly's Place is kicking things off with their first ever Haunted Women's Week, taking place Oct. 20-27....

Bright, Blooming Baja: life slows down for two lesbians in Mexico.(Travel Special)
October 1, 2006... Baja California. We veer off the highway and down to the desert floor, driving straight toward the Sea of Cortez and parking on the sand. My girlfriend, Angie, and her father run barefoot to the edge of the water to cast fishing lines out into...

Michigan mischief: the women of Saugatuck, Mich., will turn your frown upside down.(Travel Special)
October 1, 2006... When my longtime friend Mindy called me up, crying that the love of her life had just left her for another woman, I did what any good friend would do: I told her to come play for a long weekend in Saugatuck, Mich. "Michigan?" she replied...

Southern decadence: pirates, history and great Southern food give Charleston, S.C., plenty of charm.(Travel Special)(South Carolina)(City overview)
October 1, 2006... In the early 1700s when pirates roamed the seas, two women pirates achieved notoriety: Mary Read and Anne Bonny. Both women dressed as men and fenced, shot, and commandeered their way through life on the high seas. They also shared in common...

Inside New Mexico's Dyke City: how to get hot in the chile pepper capital of Albuquerque.(Travel Special)(City overview)
October 1, 2006... As soon as I arrived in Albuquerque, my former happy home, I needed an immediate and cheap fix. Thank God for the Frontier Restaurant. No matter what time you roll into town, it's always open to hook you up with some high-grade New Mexican...

Getting artsy in Taos: a quick trip will immerse you in New Mexico's arts scene.(Travel Special)(City overview)
October 1, 2006... It's all about the art in Taos. Populated with more artists and galleries per capita than Paris, the town overflows with beautiful and creative artworks. Female artists are drawn by the light, which is sometimes warm and golden and other times...

The jet set: the drama of England--dyke and otherwise.(Travel Special)
October 1, 2006... My grandmother and I are lost in the National Theatre in London. The building is thrillingly monolithic: a cement multiplex for stage instead of screen. We're in an elevator in the wrong tower. We've gotten separated from my cousins, my uncle...

Most Valuable lesbian: one year after coming out, WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes is happy, proud and in love.(Women's National Basketball Association)
October 1, 2006... Three-time Olympic gold medalist. Three-time WNBA Most Valuable Player. First woman to have a Nike shoe named after her, the Air Swoopes. Last fall, basketball great Sheryl Swoopes added one more achievement to her name: first African-American...

Runs with Scissors: Christian actor Kristin Chenoweth kisses Annette Bening in Running With Scissors and lives to brag about it. Next up, she's playing queer as Dusty Springfield in a flick helmed by her lesbian manager. Talk about gay.(Biography)
October 1, 2006... In ancient times people got tossed to the lions just for being Christian. What a chilling prospect that Kristin Chenoweth, the talented, vivacious and adorable singer-actor (who happens to be a devout Christian), could have been a big cat's...

Outlaws of the sporting world: roller derby girls may buy you a drink at the bar, but make no mistake--they'll also take you down on the track. The behind-the-scenes politics of the greatest cult on earth.
October 1, 2006... No one can deny that roller derby girls are tough. Broken bones and bruises the size of ham hocks are expected in the sport, and judging by the ferocity with which players jam, block and generally manhandle their opponents in the rink, these...

Fighting for recognition: the toughest part of boxing for women may not be the fights but discrimination.
October 1, 2006... The world of boxing is usually associated with men. The sport conjures up images of dark rooms filled with sweaty men packed in, shoulder to shoulder, puffing on cigars that fill the air with thick clouds of smoke. But like most conceptions...

Killing us harshly with her words: going mano a mano with the lesbian filmmaking maverick and author Christine Vachon.(Interview)
October 1, 2006... You may not know her name but Christine Vachon is one of the most important producers in independent film history. Starting with Todd Haynes' Poison, Vachon has produced or co-produced dozens of films including Swoon, Go Fish, Postcards From...

The cream of the crop: three faves from this year's LGBT film festivals.(Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender)(movie reviews)(Movie review)
October 1, 2006... This year's crop of feature films at LGBT festivals was outstanding--could this be a new renaissance for queer film? This month we highlight three of the best movies about women that premiered at festivals across the country, and if you didn't...

Renee Sotile and Mary Jo Godges: filmmakers.(Q+A)(Interview)
October 1, 2006... On the morning of Jan. 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded just after takeoff. All seven astronauts onboard died, including the first U.S. civilian astronaut, teacher Christa McAuliffe. Twenty years later, lesbian filmmakers Renee...

Alison Dubois: author.(Q+A)(Interview)
October 1, 2006... After appearing in several anthologies, including Awakening the Virgin, Early Embraces III and Up All Night, Alison Dubois, a Dutch-American writer and Pacific Northwest native, turned to creating one about something we all love: the lesbian...

Great expectations: India.Arie, Kinnie Starr and Nelly Furtado are back.(sound recording reviews)(Sound recording review)
October 1, 2006... It's hard not to have high expectations for artists you've grown to love over the years. India.Arie, Kinnie Starr and Nelly Furtado are all solo artists I've dug since their debuts, for various reasons: Arie's emotive voice and insightful...

Andy Moore: musician.(Q+A)(Interview)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... If you're unfamiliar with the folk music of Andy Moore, you're in for a real treat. This singer-songwriter has a voice like warm butterscotch, and coupled with her 6-string guitar, hers is an easy listen that will certainly tug at your...

Get in the game: video gaming is not just for boys anymore.(Tech Girl)
October 1, 2006... If you're one of those people who think that video gaming is for guys and geeks only, think again. Girl gamers are growing in numbers, and lots of lesbians are joining in the fun. Here's what's big in gaming at the moment. Not Your Daddy's...

The war against women: trust me, terrorism isn't really our biggest threat.(Politics)
October 1, 2006... There's a war on in America right now. It isn't the so-called war on terror. It's the war against women and girls being waged by the religious right and conservative politicians. These men are determined to control our bodies if they have to...

Ginger loves Mary Ann: maybe going on a lesbian cruise isn't such a bad idea, after all.(Dyke Drama)(Travel narrative)
October 1, 2006... My girl and I had been talking about going on a dyke cruise for years. The idea of frolicking with our own kind on the high seas seemed like the ultimate vacation experience. She wanted to book right away, but every time the opportunity arose,...

Top ten: reasons we love Lori Petty.
October 1, 2006... One of the most underrated actors in Hollywood, Lori Petty has managed to carve her own little niche in a town where carving is usually left to plastic surgeons. She's fresh, unpretentious and just the right amount of quirky, and we're still in...