Curve articles from September 2007

Curve archives from September 2007

Lesbians in Hollywood?(Frankly Speaking)
September 1, 2007... No film has been more hotly anticipated this year than Itty Bitty Titty Committee. The first feature film from POWER UP, the lesbian entertainment group in Hollywood, Itty Bitty is a veritable who's who of lesbian celebrities. The brainchild of...

Love thy neighbor.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... The art of Janet McKenzie is so beautiful and reverent, I was sorry to read that she receives a "never-ending flood of hateful phone calls and e-mails" as well as possible bomb packages (Open Studio, Vol. 17, #4). In addition, there is worry...

We heart Lipstick and Dipstick.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... I came to visit my home state for a wedding, and luckily it was around Pride weekend. My best gay friend and I made the pilgrimage to San Francisco. At Pride I helped support the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund and the Aids Emergency Fund by...

The good, the bad and the ugly.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... My mother always told me that if you have good news and bad, start with the good news, so here it goes. The good: I really enjoy Sheryl Kay's Out in Front interviews with interesting lesbians. She really captures the diversity that is our...

Where are the chubby chasers.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... I am a 20-year-old lesbian from Ohio. I was looking around on your Web site and cannot find anything about fat issues, or anyone on the cover who represents different body types. Are there issues of CURVE that talk about the pride the community...

Working girls alert.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... CURVE published a list of the top gay-friendly employers sometime in 2006. I had the issue but apparently have misplaced it and want to reorder it. Can I find out which issue that list was in? Your magazine does a great job. I'm glad our...

An homage to Victoria Brownworth.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... As my subscription to CURVE draws to a close and as I feel moved to simplify my life, I probably will not renew. However, I wanted to say thanks to you for the features and opinion pieces in the magazine. Over the past year, I have enjoyed...

Corrections.(Correction notice)
September 1, 2007... In our June issue (Vol. 17, #5), we misidentified Wendy Goodman; she is vice president of promotion adult formats. Also in Curvatures "Golden Crown Literary Society," we incorrectly listed Katherine Smith; in fact, executive director Kathy...

Curve's cover crew.(Brief article)(Photograph)
September 1, 2007... Hotness just doesn't happen, it takes our devoted and gifted crew. Big thumbs up to the team that made our cover shoot possible. Top (from left): POWER UP's Lisa Thrasher, Carly Pope, hair stylist Shannon Hoover/Liz Bell Agency, photo assistant...

Last chance at summer.(Curvatures)(Buyers guide)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... By the time you're eight years old, you pretty much know that Labor Day signals the end of fun as we know it. No more floating on inner tubes or jumping off tire swings or sun baking (er, bathing) on top of your building's black tar roof. It's...

Move over, Lucky mag.(Curvatures)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... For lesbians who have been secretly stashing away your copies of Lucky (you know who you are) because you like to shop but aren't digging the ethics of a consumer magazine that's all about what to buy, well, there's some good news. The new...

Brewer's choice.(OutinFront)(Allison Brewer )(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... For much of the past 30 years, Allison Brewer has devoted her professional life to some form of activism. Based in New Brunswick, Canada, she has had her hands in the fight for global social justice, reproductive choice, LGBT civil rights...

The beat goes on.(OutinFront)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Wherever she is, Amikaeyla Proudfoot Gaston has a story to tell. When she's not serving in a leadership capacity for numerous health, education and social-work advocacy groups, Gaston performs internationally as a drummer and storyteller....

Vu's clues.(OutinFront)(Cuc Vu)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Among the very last group of Vietnamese refugees admitted to the United States, Cuc Vu's early-childhood experience of that trip, riding in a helicopter and on a trans-Pacific ship, is one of great adventure. Acclimating to life in the...

Anna-Marie Lopez: painter.(OpenStudio)
September 1, 2007... According to the National Association Against Censorship, interpretations of the Virgin Mary have been censored only a few times in this country. In 2006, out lesbian and painter Anna-Marie Lopez, the most recent person to be censored, was...

Activist debuts the fagbug.(Curvatures)(Erin Davies)
September 1, 2007... What do Erin Davies, 29, of Albany, N.Y., and Opie Taylor (Ron Howard's cherubic character on The Andy Griffith Show), of make-believe Mayberry, N.C., have in common? Both have red hair, freckles and an aw-shucks smile. And both like girls. ...

Dirty dames and card sharks.(Curvatures)(Stacked Decks: The Art and History of Erotic Playing Cards)(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2007... I'm not a big poker player and am not sure I've really ever seen a wolf deck or stag deck, but I can't get enough of Stacked Decks: The Art and History of Erotic Playing Cards, a lavish hardcover book with over a 100 illustrations of playing...

Hot Hoodie.(Curvatures)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... There are few things hotter than a girl in a Rocket World Creature Hoodie. Seriously, tell me you wouldn't blink if this girl walked down the street by you? Limited to only 444 pieces, this limited edition I.W.G. Creature Hoodie has two...

Girls, girls, girls: from Scary Spice to sports writers, the queer family keeps growing.(Lesbofile)(Melanie Brown)
September 1, 2007... Cheers, queers! This month, the gay tabloids feature some fresh new faces. And Lindsay Lohan. Lots of Lovin' Lindsay Lohan, Maxim's number one pin-up on its 2007 "Hot 100 List" and VIP of the nightclub-rehab merry-go-round, may be...

Got money?(Curvatures)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Better yet, got enough money? If, like most of us, the answer is hell no, MoneyPants.com just might be the way to go. Lesbian founders Julia Salazar, Komal Bhojwani and Anne Stockwell have joined forces using their own personal experiences in...

Chicago gets centered.(Curvatures)
September 1, 2007... The grand opening of Chicago's Center on Halsted last June marked the last phase of the $20 million project designed be a focal point for the LGBT community of Chicago, serving the community's diverse social, recreational, cultural, and social...

Jammin' for justice.(Curvatures)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Don't miss the Great Midwestern Wig Out, Sept. 22-23, at the University of Illinois at Springfield. New York's drag comic Hedda Lettuce headlines, and a bevy of other queer and women's bands, speakers and comics (at press time Bitch and...

A hipster Lesbo jamboree.(Curvatures)
September 1, 2007... Tired of that post-Michfest depression that always seems to hit around the beginning of September? You know the one. There's always that letdown after the sunburn fades and the realization sets in that it will be an entire year before you can...

And the award goes to ...(Curvatures)
September 1, 2007... Three organizations recognized the best lesbian literature of 2007. This year's dyke lit winners were chosen from hundreds of entries and spanned a myriad of categories. The full list is at curvemag.com, but here are some highlights: ...

Castro's lesbian icon dies.(Curvatures)(Trevor Hailey)(Obituary)
September 1, 2007... Trevor Hailey, a former San Francisco resident and Castro neighborhood icon died of a sudden stroke last June. She was 66. For 15 years Hailey brought strangers, both locals and tourists alike, together in her tours of the San Francisco...

She said, she said.(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... "I love action. Anything physical, I'm into. I want to push the edge with whatever I do. I've done so many different sports. I've broken things. I've gotten stitches. I don't care--I just go for it. My character on the show is a computer...

Spicy delights.(Curvatures)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... A new form of Sapphic sin is on the horizon: the wickedly delicious Caramel Sin, a line of spoon candy in a jar (ginger and chocolate are each sublime). The same gourmet food company makes Pecan Caramel Sin on a Stick bars, and a line of...

Gloria Steinem's two cents.(Curvatures)
September 1, 2007... "It wouldn't change anything with a female president--suppose we had Condoleezza Rice," said Gloria Steinem in a rare appearance last March at all-women's Mills College in Oakland, Calif. "We are not talking about biology, we are talking about...

Scene.(Photograph)
September 1, 2007... 1 Girl in a Coma rocks Los Angeles' Pride 2 From left: Rene R, MC Jersey Lane, Patty Calves at the Girls in Wonderland Lezbo-a-Luau. 3 CURVE associate publisher Sara Jane Keskula and dykesinthecity gals 4 Legendary activist Ivy Bottini mingles...

She's got the navy blues.(Lipstick & Dipstick)
September 1, 2007... Dear Lipstick and Dipstick: I am a 20-year-old female in the U.S. military. I reported to my unit, where I first met this girl. We fell in love and have kept our relationship a secret for about a year now. She was stationed in Washington state...

Being Jane Malkovich: who do you want me to be to make you sleep with me?(Relationships)
September 1, 2007... It's nearly impossible to see Angelina Jolie's face on a two-story movie screen and not want to be with her, or be her, for that matter. The desire to switch places with our lesbian heroes is a common one. Here's what your fantasy alter ego...

September to remember.(Astro Grrl)
September 1, 2007... Virgo (Aug. 24-Sept. 23) Sex: Your gaydar is off, Virgin. Is she, or isn't she? Tinker with the dials until you get a much clearer signal. Career: You are the task mistress of the corner office this September and can whip any underling...

I love you, you're perfect, now change: once again, sex triumphs over common sense.(Dyke Drama)
September 1, 2007... When you are in love, you can put up with anything. For a while. Like when your new girlfriend's ex-husband lives in the basement of her house. It's just for a little while, until he finishes school and can afford his own place. Her kids need...

That's show business for you: in the entertainment industry, visibility is only the start.(Politics)
September 1, 2007... Back at the end of May, there was a big media flurry over Rosie O'Donnell's "cat fight" with a co-host on The View, Elisabeth Hasselbeck. O'Donnell insinuated that the American troops in Iraq are the real terrorists, and Hasselbeck, a...

Bringing leaders closer to community.(IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund recently launched a group of Web sites to bring the LGBT community closer to leaders in politics, government and community affairs: Through VictoryFund.org you can track and donate to openly LGBT leaders;...

New York couple told to pay up or move out.(IN THE NEWS)(Adola DeWolf, Laura Watts)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Adola DeWolf, 49, and Laura Watts, 42, were given 30 days to come up with almost $80,000 or lose their home after DeWolf's mortgage company, Countrywide, claimed the couple had breached their agreement with the lender when they attempted to add...

More progress toward equal rights for same-sex couples.(IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... It's been a busy year for same-sex rights in the United States. New Hampshire recently became the fourth state to recognize civil unions, when the governor signed a bill legalizing civil unions that will grant committed same-sex couples the...

New study says same-sex marriage good for economy.(IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... On the topic of same-sex marriage, a recent economic impact study in New York City found that allowing same-sex marriage would bring in $142 million worth of revenue from wedding guests visiting the city and revenue from marriage license fees....

Michigan court denies benefits to gay and lesbian employees.(IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Michigan State University recently extended its benefits to the category of "other eligible individuals." The change came in May after the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in February that the state's 2004 constitutional amendment that banned...

Bora Bora: feeding frenzy with the sharks and rays! Imagine yourself immersed in shark-infested waters. Top that with hoards of stingrays and a flurry of many other types of marine life, and you have a recipe for adventure travel that is sure to spike your adrenaline and make you wish for land.(Travel narrative)
September 1, 2007... With trepidation, we embarked on a shark-and-ray feeding while vacationing in Bora Bora, and believe me, it's not for the faint of heart. I'm a sucker for adventure but thought I might be in a bit over my head with this activity. My partner and...

Sister, my sister.
September 1, 2007... Sisters are often the first to know, if not officially then intuitively, that a sibling is lesbian. This was the case for me as a teenager, and I'm guessing it's the same for many others. I talked with three pairs of sisters--all public...

The Dirt on Carly Pope: forget Courtney cox arquette. Carly Pope is the real star of FX's Dirt. Now she helms the hottest new lesbian film, too.(Interview)
September 1, 2007... While Carly Pope's pet bulldog attempts to jump into her lap, the actor fields questions from her Vancouver home about playing a lesbian character in FX's Dirt, shooting to stardom with the WB's '90s hit Popular, and her latest role as a...

A not so Itty Bitty film; A gang of lesbian superstars team up for the next big thing: POWER UP's Itty Bitty Titty Committee.
September 1, 2007... One a.m. descends in an industrial stretch of Southern California on the courtyard of a seedy motel, the type with a decades-old neon sign and a Bates Hotel-ish anonymity. The weather is uncharacteristically freezing, a cold that goes straight...

10 powerful lesbian moms; From politicians to A-list actors, Iron Chefs to Olympic gold medalists, these 10 lesbians all have one thing in common: they're all hot mamas, and powerful ones, too.
September 1, 2007... 1 CAT CORA Best known for her role on the Food Networks Iron Chef, Cat Cora is the first woman to hold the Iron Chef title in the show's history. The mother of two sons, she's also co-founder of Chefs for Humanity, an organization started...

One woman's Trash: director Angela Robinson takes lesbians to the smallest screen.(THE GREAT ENTERTAINERS)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... A SPIN OFF of a fictional Web site masterminded by The L Word character Alice, OurChart.com has quickly become a real-life contender, drawing more than 550,000 unique visitors a month to the lesbian social networking site. It's become a launch...

Here and now: the president of Linton Media says we still have a long road ahead of us.(THE GREAT ENTERTAINERS)(Katherine Linton)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... THERE'S SOMETHING INTIMATE about the atmosphere at Linton Media, Inc. It's not that employees are researching personal issues such as faith, marriage, the military and sexuality within the queer community for television documentaries. It's not...

Loving Luenell: one on one with Borat's leading lady.(THE GREAT ENTERTAINERS)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... BORN IN ARKANSAS but raised in the San Francisco Bay Area's gay heyday, Luenell is quickly becoming a comedic superstar to queers, feminists and other underdogs. In addition to a multiple-decade career in film, theater and stand-up, Luenell is...

Hillary Carlip: Queen of the Oddballs.(THE GREAT ENTERTAINERS)
September 1, 2007... AT AGE 19, Hillary Carlip appeared as a contestant on The Gong Show and won. The show's panel of D-list celebrity judges gave Carlip the perfect score of 30 for her comedic juggling routine. She beat out a toothless fiddle player, an obese...

Secret agent woman: a lesbian insider's view of Hollywood.(THE GREAT ENTERTAINERS)(Rogers Hartmann)
September 1, 2007... ROGERS HARTMANN, a partner at Code Entertainment in Los Angeles offers a different perspective from the "other" side of entertainment--the people who represent the "talent." Here's a bit of what she had to say: I grew up in Dallas, Texas...

Jill Abrams: the author of The Myth, The Muse, The Meshuga talks back.(THE GREAT ENTERTAINERS)(Book review)
September 1, 2007... JILL ABRAMS exceeds expectations. Glance at excerpts from her book, The Myth, The Muse, The Meshuga, and one might expect a party-going primadonna who leans heavily toward the meshuga (that's Yiddish for crazy). Abrams definitely has had...

Bike messengers.(THE GREAT ENTERTAINERS)
September 1, 2007... There's nothing common about the Ditty Bops. In 1998, Abby DeWald and Amanda Barrett became acquainted at a late-night viewing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, eventually becoming lovers. Now the 28-year-olds are an outstanding,...

A view of our own: a lesbian talk show takes it online.(THE GREAT ENTERTAINERS)
September 1, 2007... THE NEW AFTERELLEN.COM program she Said What? is the first lesbian entertainment talk show that's entirely webcast. If the word webcast conjures up memories of YouTube videos with choppy camerawork and bad sound, you're not too far off....

Desert of my heart: the lesbian classic--20 years later.(THE GREAT ENTERTAINERS)
September 1, 2007... "ISN'T IT WILD?" laughs sexy actor-filmmaker Helen Shaver, who played the repressed professor Vivian Belle in Desert Hearts. Shaver, now 56 years old, is still as sultry and captivating as she was during that dry desert production in 1986. Even...

Inside the director's studio: twenty-one years later, Desert Hearts director Donna Deitch looks back at the film that made her famous, and discusses the upcoming sequel.(THE GREAT ENTERTAINERS)
September 1, 2007... IN 1986, years before The L Word, Ellen, Ani or CURVE hit the scene, Donna Deitch broke some major ground with her now-iconic tale of lesbian love set in the 1950s. One of the few lesbian films of the '80s to prove its staying power, Desert...

Transfeminism has a new face: queer authors Julia Serano Helen Boyd are changing the way we think about gender.(THE GREAT ENTERTAINERS)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... FOR MANY, the word entertainer means a celebrity--the actors, musicians, even athletes who we exalt to icon status. But to many dykes, authors, especially queer ones, are the greatest entertainers of all, for their ability to inspire, move and...

JD Disalvatore: writer-producer-director.(THE GREAT ENTERTAINERS)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... "I RIPPED my clothes off at karaoke," says JD Disalvatore, admitting to one of her more impulsive schemes to raise money for her first film project as writer-producer-director, Gay Propaganda. She's less in need of creative financing since...

Clair Huxtable taught me how to love: and to fall for the right girl.(THE GREAT ENTERTAINERS)
September 1, 2007... EVERYONE LOVES the bad girl. The James Dean with a perfect C cup. She smokes cigarettes all night and wakes up smelling like sex and confidence. She saunters in with a whiskey on the rocks, winning the affection of a girl's heart with...

Michelle Ma Belle: ER's resident dyke--off-screen that is--discusses the birds and the bees and being Latina.(THE GREAT ENTERTAINERS)(Michelle Bonilla)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... MICHELLE BONILLA'S been popping up all over prime time for over a decade now, most notably in the recurring role of EMT Harms on ER, and earlier as Teresa Morales on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Hollywood career aside, Bonilla is by many accounts...

Jenny on Daniela: Jenny Shimizu dishes on her sexy Itty Bitty Titty co-star.(THE GREAT ENTERTAINERS)(Daniela Sea)(Interview)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... ANOTHER HOT TODDIE revving up the screen in Itty Bitty Titty Committee is actor Jenny Shimizu, famed as much for her relationship with Angelina Jolie and Ione Skye as well as her roles in films (Foxfire) and televsion (America's Next Top...

It's time to go retro: revisit the past through these campy queer classics.(Bam Bam and Celeste, Just the Two of Us, That Tender Touch)(Video recording review)
September 1, 2007... Bam Bam and Celeste savor the alternative aesthetics and underdog hero themes of the '80s, while Wolfe's new additions to its vintage DVD collection fill in--with flesh as much as content--the gaps in the representation of lesbian love. ...

Jennifer Abod: feminist, activist, filmmaker.(Q+A)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... A veteran in feminist and community radio, a former professor in Intercultural Media Education and Women's Studies, 60-year-old filmmaker Jennifer Abod's got a new issue to tackle in her latest project. Look Us in the Eye: The Old Women's...

Hanne Blank: author.(Q+A)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... "Virginity is fascinating. It's a very queer state," says Hanne Blank, author of the new social history Virgin: The Untouched History. From the centuries-long search for the elusive hymen to the True Love Waits campaign, Blank delves into...

Mellow melodies: from folk to jazz, sedate sounds rule September.(The Sky Observer's Guide, Pamela Means Jazz Project, vol. 1, Share This Place: Stories and Observations, Uneven Keel)(Sound recording review)
September 1, 2007... Some months, I get dozens of discs from very earnest Melissa Etheridge wannabes. Other months, it's all blippy club and electronic music. This month, it's all about sleepy and sublime acoustic music, ranging from the exquisite indie folk of...

Like a boy: the video that's melting monitors everywhere.(Like a Boy)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... It's rare that I watch music videos these days. But when I heard that Ciara's "Like a Boy" video was a must-see, I raced to my computer and made it happen. What played before my eyes was a slickly choreographed and certainly tantalizing...

Nyika: British Soul Diva.(Q+A)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... Sometimes bluesy, often funky and always soulful, The First Sensation is a promising debut from neo-soul sensation Nyika. The sexy Brit tomboy and out lesbian recently visited America and found time between auditions to chat about girl power,...

Top ten: reasons we love Ryka Aoki de la Cruz.
September 1, 2007... Creator of the Los Angeles' trans performance event Trans/Giving, Ryka Aoki de la Cruz is a self-described "trans Goth dyke" born to do art. The Japanese-American professor of literature is a poet, musician, author, performance artist, 'zine...