GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine - May 2010

May 2010 ISSUE 79 The Only Magazine Dedicated to Alberta’s LGBT Community

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Festival Guide Page 42

Sci-fi Studs:

Leonard Nimoy Brent Spiner Malcom McDowell And many more!

Adam Lambert

Here for Your Entertainment Marvellous Musicians:

Melissa Etheridge Our Lady Peace

And more!

Community Directory • Map and Events • Tourism Info >> Starting on Page 17

LGBT Resource • Calgary • Edmonton • Alberta

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GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

Table of Contents

May 2010 5 I Heart Geeks

Photography

Steve Polyak, Rob Diaz-Marino, Karen Hofmann

Videography

Steve Polyak, Rob Diaz-Marino

Printers

North Hill News/Central Web

Distribution

Calgary: Gallant Distribution GayCalgary Staff Edmonton: Clark’s Distribution Other: Canada Post

Legal Council

Courtney Aarbo, Barristers and Solicitors

Sales & General Inquiries

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine 2136 17th Avenue SW Calgary, AB, Canada T2T 0G3

Office Hours: By appointment ONLY Phone: 403-543-6960 Toll Free: 1-888-543-6960 Fax: 403-703-0685 E-Mail: magazine@gaycalgary.com This Month's Cover Adam Lambert Courtesy of Sony Music

Proud Members of:

Looking Back on a Fun “Geek” Weekend

9 Malcolm McDowell A Class Act(or)

10 What the Frack?

PAGE 9 PAGE XXX

7 The 2010 Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo

Tahmoh Penikett and Aaron Douglass

12 Melissa Etheridge: Fierce and Fearless

Inside the rock legend’s life now – her personal awakening and how it’s changed everything

15 Gay Travel

Montreal: It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than Queer Quebec

17 Directory and Events 24 Mosaic Youth Group

PAGE 10 PAGE XXX

Writers and Contributors

Chris Azzopardi, Dallas Barnes, Dave Brousseau, Sam Casselman, Jason Clevett, Andrew Collins, Rob Diaz-Marino, Janine Eva Trotta, Jack Fertig, Glen Hanson, Joan Hilty, Stephen Lock, Allan Neuwirth, Steve Polyak, Ara Shimoon, Romeo San Vicente, Ed Sikov, Kyle Taylor of GayTravel.com, Dan Woog, and the GLBT Community of Calgary, Edmonton, and Alberta.

Publisher’s Column

Queer Youth Group Empowers and Takes Back Prom

24 Letters to the Editor 25 When is a Crime a Hate Crime?

Recent Attack on Lesbian Woman Sparks Controversy

26 Wild Child: A Cherie Currie Q&A Lead singer of the all-girl group The Runaways

27 Q Scopes

“Strut your stuff, Leo!”

28 Deep Inside Hollywood Ron Weasley explodes in Cherry Bomb

PAGE 12 PAGE XXX

Publisher: Steve Polyak Editor: Rob Diaz-Marino Sales: Steve Polyak Design & Layout: Rob Diaz-Marino, Ara Shimoon

29 Cocktail Chatter

International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association

National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association

Gearing up for housemates season

30 Out of Town

National Parks of the Southwest Experiencing the nature and beauty of Americas national parks

32 The 12th Annual Fairy Tales Queer Film Festival Something for Everyone under the Rainbow

PAGE 32 PAGE XXX

Edmonton Rainbow Business Association

Continued on Next Page  GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

Table of Contents  Continued From Previous Page

34 Fundraising Photos 34 Adult Film Review Rascal, Service Me

36 The Church of Rudd

PAGE XXX 36

Xavier Rudd Returns with New Album and Tour

37 Keep it Gay!

Well-produced Producers Fabulously Queer

38 Queeries

Kids at a Dinner Party, Lesbians in the Workplace and One-night Stands

39 The OutField

Wrestling Without Borders

PAGE XXX 37

40 A Couple of Guys 41 Bitter Girl

42 FairyTales Film Festival Guide 46 Music Review

Hear Me Out: Madonna Mania!

48 Classified Ads 50 Chelsea Boys

51 Here For Your Entertainment

PAGE XXX 51

Adam Lambert on Post-Idol Success, the Media, and his “Talented Tongue”

54 Our Lady Peace Revisits Classics 58 Queer Eye—Community Events

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Proof of monthly figures are available on request.

Distribution Locations: Calgary: 150 Edmonton: 130 Other Alberta Cities: 10 Other Provinces: 30

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History Originally established in January 1992 as Men for Men BBS by MFM Communications. Name changed to GayCalgary.com in 1998. Independent company as of January 2004. First edition of GayCalgary.com Magazine published November 2003. Name adjusted in November 2006 to GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine.

Disclaimer and Copyright Opinions expressed in this magazine are specific to the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of GayCalgary staff and contributors.

Those involved in the making of this publication, whether advertisers, contributors, or the subjects of articles or photographs, are not necessarily gay, lesbian, bisexual, or trans. This magazine also includes straight allies and those who are gay friendly.

No part of this publication may be reprinted or modified without the expressed written permission of the editor or publisher.

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June 2010 Print Deadlines Ad Booking: Wed, May 26th

Submission: Mon, May 31st In Circulation: Wed, June 2nd Please contact us immediately if you think you may have missed the booking or submission deadline.

Editorial

I Heart Geeks Publisher’s Column

By Rob Diaz-Marino Running a magazine, both Steve and I (and our writers) as individuals, take an interest in such a wide variety of topics. We do this for the sake of our readers, who are a large and diverse group of people with specific interests of their own, that we do our best to satisfy. We manage to transition fluently between many social circles, where the average person would take some time to break in and get acclimated and so remain limited to a small, manageable number.

If there’s one thing I have learned from the trans community, it’s that identity is not just who you are on the inside – it’s also, quite importantly, how you outwardly represent yourself, and subsequently how others perceive you. And intellectually, I think a lot of how others perceive you comes from pursuing your own personal interests. Others learn about you by seeing the process, the results, or the side-effects of what you enjoy doing.

When a person is a “social chameleon” for so long, as we are required to be, they start to lose something of their distinctiveness. Their interests appear to be so broad, it’s difficult to pin down the specifics that define their character. Or perhaps they just get so busy with what comes their way, that they don’t have the time to pursue the things that they truly enjoy doing. And that’s when the unique person they are on the inside stops shining through to the exterior. For the sake of efficiency, they conform; behave like just another cog in the machine.

I think I’m in that boat at the moment. I started to clue in when numerous people I have met through the magazine and have known me for a while, all around the same time, started slipping up and calling me “Steve” (the name of my partner/husband who also runs this magazine). I know it wasn’t intentional, and that they didn’t mean any harm by it, but it happened with too many different individuals to be just a coincidence.

It makes me think that I may have lost my identity in the magazine; that I’ve been concentrating so hard on this group effort that I’ve forgotten I can be my own person.

When something like the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo comes along, it jolts me back out of that trance. Suddenly worlds collide, and my job leads me back into my personal area of interest.

Online Last Month • Billy Dee Williams - Excited for Comic & Entertainment Expo • Soundclash Frontman Stellas as Solo

No expo of this nature would be complete without some representation from cast members of Star Trek. The big names this year were Leonard Nimoy (Spock from Original Star Trek), Brent Spiner (Data from Next Generation), and Malcolm McDowell (the villain in Generations). The cast of the modern-day Battlestar Galactica series made a good showing with Tahmoh Penikett (Helo) and Aaron Douglass (Chief Tyrol). The Twilight series also made a pretty strong presence, much to the delight of hundreds of screaming 16 year old girls.

While I wouldn’t call myself a trekkie, I admit that I grew up on Star Trek: The Next Generation and it really influenced me as a person. All geeky fandom aside, I think the whole Star Trek franchise has been a very important and influential body of work. Part of this is the strong sense of morals that guide the characters to the right decisions – morals that are applicable even to our lives in the present. Quite revolutionary is the portrayal of the self-discipline involved in upholding this code of ethics – no threat of an angry god is required to keep people of the future in line. Their vision of futuristic technology has practically provided a blueprint for real-life scientists to follow, and in fact, inspired many to pursue the field of science with the hopes of making this vision to come true someday. I might even go so far as to argue that Star Trek has provided the human race with better direction in modern times than the big “B” book. I mean, some of the same lessons may be rehashed, but Star Trek helps us look to the future, the direction that we are actually moving, rather than to a past that is growing further and further away.

Battlestar Galactica was another amazing series – a hidden gem for those who weren’t aware of it. I was only able to force myself to watch maybe one episode of the original series from the 70’s, but the new BSG is an impressively sophisticated reinvention of a somewhat cheesy concept. While the main conflict is between humans and cylons (humanoid machines), it also explores internal struggles within human ranks, and also identity issues, as some humans discover they are hybrid cylons and must “come out” to their peers. There is an element of religion, with some actual intervention from a higher being, done in a surprisingly tasteful and believable way. The final episode of the series was impossible to watch without getting deeply emotional.

As the Twilight series goes, I’ve only seen the first movie. Vampires are not a topic that particularly appeals to me, perhaps because the thought of blood-sucking makes me want to pass out. I’ve seen previews for part two, and werewolves might be more up my alley. Though the characters are at highschool age, and from the crowd that showed up to the discussion panel, the fan base seems to be very young too. So young that the rest of us felt pretty uncomfortable being there, like fan trolls or something.

The expo was a chance for us to meet some of the people involved with these series, or at least see them in person during their discussion panels. Some actors were linked to multiple TV series, such as Tahmoh Penikett being involved with BSG and Dollhouse; Brent Spiner involved in Star Trek and among many other things, my favourite childhood

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GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

cartoon, Gargoyles. Meanwhile I was delighted to meet Aaron Douglass, my favourite actor from BSG (since he was the token bear of the bunch), who told us a rather stimulating story about a costume malfunction and a sound guy (visit this article online to see the video clip).

Aside from that, I was taken back to my youth when I saw characters from some of my favourite video games. I perked up when I saw people dressed as Link from the Legend of Zelda, and Super Mario; fan art of Cloud Strife from my all-time favourite game, Final Fantasy 7. It reminded me how long it’s been since I played those games, and how magical those story worlds seemed when I was exploring them for the first time. I really miss that feeling. It’s been rare in my adult life, and something I would like to bring back somehow.

So I genuinely enjoyed my weekend of geeking-out (or should I say, my “geek-end”). It was good for the soul, and a reminder that I’m still alive and well under my hardworking exterior. Bringing that person out more often is just something I’ll have to work on.

April 2010 Now I have to mention that, due to a confusing flurry of E-mails from multiple people providing images close to last month’s deadline, there was an oversight in the credit for the photos used in April’s cover collage on the Derby Girls. The central photograph of the two women armwrestling was provided by Shannon MacKinnon of SMACKGraphixx.

Additionally a photo from Claudia Katz was used in the background, alongside some team pictures, credit unknown. Hopefully this helps to clarify and properly credit those who were kind enough to submit images to us.

There was barely enough time to get the magazines out from the printers last month before we had to whisk ourselves off to Red Deer for the Taboo Show. This was our first year having a booth at this particular show and we had no idea how we would be received in this smaller town of farmers and oil producers.

The Return and Retirement of Tara “Terrible” Hymen The Sunday evening following Saturday’s Coronation was the annual Tough Drag show. If you recall, last year I let myself get roped into performing a number in tough drag for everyone’s amusement, with my spur-of-the-moment drag name, Tara Hymen. At that show I was awarded the title of Tough Drag Champion. Fortunately the only thing this title did for the whole year was oblige me to defend it come this year’s event. And I did, with every effort to ensure I WOULDN’T win it again!

Makayla was generous enough to help me get into drag once more, but this time it was no holds barred – I asked her to make me look as hideously thrown-together as possible, and she seemed to enjoy this artistic liberty. Working around my bushy beard, she smattered me in gawdy makeup, put me in a rainbow tie-dye t-shirt and a skimpy black skirt, installed the same balloon tits from last year, and purposely pinned not one but two wigs onto my head (unfortunately this turned out to be too heavy and the top wig had to be taken off). I looked like a hippie Cowardly Lion after a sloppy sex change – it was fabulous!

As testament to my look, the bar had to eject someone that tooaggressively tried to burst my balloons. I can’t blame the guy though - it’s animal instinct to destroy creatures that look this ugly.

In my ambition to lose, I decided to do two numbers instead of one, just to drive the point home. Both were obscure songs which is often a fatal mistake for drag performers, so perfect for my purposes. If you want to look them up, the first number was “Oh my Dear” by Linday Jane. The second of the two wasn’t even a woman singing: it was “Napoleon”

by Kelly and the Kelly Girls – a dedication to an old friend. As I stepped off the stage after my last number, Bianca made a funny and called me “Tara-ble”.

All in all, the experience didn’t seem quite as much as last year, probably because you can’t rape the willing. However, this time around I made sure Steve took plenty of pictures for posterity, and video clips of my performances on stage, so that unlike last year I would have mementos of why I should never EVER do this again. Seeing these afterwards, it’s safe to say they worked – it’s out of my system for good.

Firstly, you can’t blame us for taking notice of the higher concentration of sexy blue-collar men. These were the ones that seemed to steer clear of our booth, except when their girlfriends occasionally stopped to chat.

Frankly I was surprised by how well the magazines went, and how many gay and lesbian couples stopped by to stock up on the past issues from this year that they hadn’t read yet. While we do have a handful of distribution locations in Red Deer, we were told those locations are not very well known, and even so it’s a scramble to get a copy before they run out. There were lots of people that didn’t know about the magazine, so our presence at least tipped them off to look for us or read us online. Sadly nobody could suggest any further locations in Red Deer to target our distribution, as nobody was aware of any particularly gay/friendly businesses. It must be tough being gay in Red Deer and not having a designated hangout. Hopefully that will change sometime soon.

The week we got back, it was directly into the lead-up events of Coronation Week. From what we’ve seen, it has been a challenging year for the ISCCA, but it all came together in the end despite some last minute squabbles. As the official Media Sponsors of Coronation Week, we did what we could to help, but sadly we got dragged into some unnecessary bar politics that seemed tailored to interfere with this.

Nevertheless we delivered what we promised to the best of our abilities, given the circumstances, and wish the ISCCA the best of luck in their endeavours for this new reign.

At Coronation, Emperor 33 Joey and Empress 33 Bianca presented cheques to their charities totalling around $12,000. Announcers cited the recession as a major stumbling block for this reign. To give some context, the 32nd Reign (Nina and Michael) raised around $35,000, the 31st Reign (Lonnie and Conrad) raised around $25,000, and the 30th Reign (Dyna and Wolfgang) raised around $42,000. Near the end of the night, Joey and Bianca stepped down and the next Emperor and Empress were announced: Fred Wolf-Would and Malibu Stacey.

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

But enough about me, newly elected Emperor 34, Fred Wolf-Would, was coerced into making a rare appearance in drag after someone offered to donate $200 on the condition that he do a number. The show was put on hold for a while to get him into costume, and queue up an appropriate Cher number. He demonstrated quite clearly why drag queens are in the habit of tucking – I guess you could say, he stuck out like a sore thumb. But for a solid $200, how could he refuse?

In the end, the night totalled (if I recall correctly) $325 for the travel fund for their reign, which was not bad at all.

This Month Well, when it rains, it pours. This May edition is admittedly quite heavy on the celebrity interviews, but there were just so many opportunities that we couldn’t pass up. For lack of space, some interviews have been pushed off for next edition, so keep an eye out.

This edition is also hosting an official Fairytales Film Festival guide on page 42, which provides a full schedule of the numerous events happening from May 27th until June 4th. Keep a copy with you for quick reference.

Lastly, we have an exciting announcement to make for our Edmontonian readers. A new dance club by the name of “Flash” is opening up this month in your area. Their grand opening party is happening on May 7th and 8th. See their ad in this edition for further details.

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Entertainment

The 2010 Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo Looking Back on a Fun “Geek” Weekend

By Evan Kayne I’ve always found it strange when a person sneers at a Trekkie for his hobby, yet if you questioned this person, you’d find out he has his own area of geekdom (i.e. he’s a sports nut, or a stamp collector, or a car enthusiast).

It was this realization, that we all have our inner geek, which allowed me to truly enjoy the celebration of imagination which was the 2010 Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, that ran April 24 and 25 this past month.

The Expo was interesting to see - the displays, the items on sale, the costumes, and particularly the fan’s delighted reactions. The main event, however, were the actors from popular series, who made themselves available for autographs, photos, and discussion panels. managed to attend panels featuring Battlestar Galactica actors Tahmoh Penikett (“Helo”) and Aaron Douglas (“Chief Tyrol”), Brent Spiner (“Data” from Star Trek: The Next Generation), and the legendary Leonard Nimoy (“Spock” on the original Star Trek).

Brent Spiner’s Panel At the Brent Spiner panel, the actor survived the Expo despite having arrived in Calgary with a cold. Spiner had a serious streak of sarcasm in him as he noted people didn’t seem to mind shaking his hand anyhow, because, as he put it, his handshake was “the autograph that lasts 2 weeks”.

Besides his body of acting work, he’s also a talented singer, with two albums released. Sadly, because of this cold he was unable to sing for the audience, and barely managed to do a spot-on Patrick Stewart impersonation before having to stop.

Like other actors, the interesting facts were not about the characters he’s portrayed over the years, but the technical details of working on a weekly television show. For example, as Star Trek: the Next Generation progressed, more and more episodes centred around single characters.

Usually this worked out fine for cast members as one week they’d be the focus, the next week they’d appear in one scene, reel off four lines and

then vanish for the rest of the episode (and get paid the same amount, Spiner gleefully noted).

The one time it didn’t work out for Spiner was on one of his least favourite episodes. “Masks” (season 7) came right after a Data-centric episode. He was called on to portray four different characters after just finishing another episode that utilized him heavily the night prior. The script for “Masks” was pretty much given to him the day prior to the start of filming; while Spiner loved the script, he was called on to do “instant acting” as he put it. He was less than pleased with the result: “it was just the worse acting I’ve seen.” Yet for all that, his fans have given that episode high praise.

Leonard Nimoy’s Panel Of course, the main event at the Expo was the attendance of Leonard Nimoy - “Spock” from the original Star Trek series and first six movies.

Nimoy was honoured with Calgary’s White Hat ceremony - presented by Mayor Dave Bronconnier. It was obvious someone at the Expo had a snide sense of humour: Mayor Dave’s entrance was accompanied with both “The Imperial March” from Star Wars, and two Stormtrooper bodyguards.

Showing a playful side while accepting the honour, Nimoy mentioned the Facebook movement to draft William Shatner for the position of Governor General and openly mused “I think he should take the job – he should have something to do with his life.”

Nimoy wasn’t just here for the Expo. He mentioned how his campaign to give the town of Vulcan, Alberta the premiere of the recent Star Trek movie didn’t quite pan out. Therefore, when he was invited for the Calgary Expo, he was determined to get out to the town which has adopted Spock and Star Trek so avidly.

When he got there, Nimoy was amazed by the amount of Star Trek memorabilia that was on display. “I was really quite moved” by what Vulcan had, and the reception they gave him. He surprised them by expanding their Star Trek collection: “I have loaned them – and they’ll be on display – a pair of my ears...a pair of Spock’s ears...” These ears were very special to Nimoy, as they were “the very last pair that I wore on the last day of the filming of the Star Trek series.”

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

Fans expecting him to show up in future Trek movies were disappointed as he re-stated his declaration of retirement: “I am retiring from acting and directing in films and television.” Nimoy does have a few appearances left, including his role of William Bell in the series Fringe, but after that he will be mostly retired.

This doesn’t mean he’ll be taking it easy. Nimoy will be concentrating on his photography (www.LeonardNimoyphotography.com) and a new solo exhibition in a major gallery. This exhibit – “Secret Selves” consists of people he photographed in the role of their secret persona, a fantasy “self” they never dare put on display. Twenty-five portraits will be displayed at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art along with a video of him discussing the photography with the subjects.

As the panel discussion continued, there were some more intellectual moments as he discussed Star Trek IV and how the storyline paralleled mythologist Joseph Campbell’s description of the archetypal hero’s story arc in The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

In regards to the impact the role of “Mr. Spock” had on our society, Nimoy said he was impressed at the number of people over the years who have told him they got into the sciences because of it. ”I’m very proud of that because heaven knows we need good scientists on this planet.”

Twilight gang described the gym workout competitiveness among the wolf-pack or the insistence of doing their own stunts for the film, or even tossing a football around set...and inadvertently smacking Tyson in the face with a muddy airborne shoe...after he just stepped out of makeup.

Around the Expo...

Otherwise, it was an interesting event, and light-years different from the one similar event I attended in Edmonton years ago. Some other tidbits from the Expo:

• We also managed to snag one-on-one interviews with Battlestar Galactica actors Aaron Douglas and Tahmoh Penikett (see page 10) and veteran actor Malcolm McDowell (page 9) • Aleks Paunovic, who played a small role on Battlestar Galactica and is now on Caprica as William Adama (grandfather of Admiral Adama) also spoke at the Battlestar panel. It was amusing to see the “bromance” between him and Tamoh, but mostly his appearance caused Rob, Steve and I to drool slightly (www. alekspaunovic.com).

• Wrestler Vance Nevada (www.vancenevada.ca) also turned a few male heads his way.

• Spotted in costumes were a few Orion slave girls, the previously mentioned Star Wars stormtroopers, Star Trek outfits (of course), a creepy zombie Princess Leia, Neytiri from Avatar across the aisle from a stuffed Minotaur, and even a few guys wearing spandex on whom it looked flattering (namely a particular guy in a Spawn outfit).

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The Twilight Panel Admittedly, this was my least favourite panel. I know many in our community drool over the actors who play the roles, but as a writer and a gay man, I have problems with Twilight. Even if you ignore that Stephanie Meyer is a member of a church which actively campaigns against LGBT rights, even if you ignore the crappy plotting, even if you ignore the abusive controlling relationship between Edward and Bella, I still have two damning words for you: Sparkling...vampires.

That, and the fact the appearance of three of the stars caused my ears to bleed momentarily from the shrieking of teenage girls. They were screaming at the sight of Peter Facinelli, (“Dr. Carlisle Cullen” of the Cullen vampire clan), Alex Meraz and Tyson Houseman (Paul and Quil Ateara respectively of the wolf-pack).

As for the panel discussion itself, it was...okay. It may have had something to do with the age of the actors, or the age of the crowd (and that the actors self-censored) but there wasn’t the same level of storytelling either of on-set antics or technical behind-scene activities that some of the other panels that weekend had. Most of the media stationed upfront did feel strangely out of place as the average age among us was 30...and two rows back it dropped down to 15.

The main theme for the actors was discussing how they weren’t the first pick for the role or they were originally auditioning for another role in the Twilight universe. Former Edmontonian Tyson Houseman’s story about his audition did come across as the actor’s version of a lottery win. He’d just gotten fired from a retail job and saw the ad for an open audition call for a movie. “When I got there,” he said, “there was a line up of Twilight fans five blocks long”. He clued in that this could be a big deal. He did his audition and kept coming back and re-reading lines as the pool of potential actors shrank. He didn’t hear anything back after the expected deadline, and wasn’t too heartbroken. Two weeks later “I got this call out of the blue – Hey, we’d like to offer you the part – and I said are you joking?”

They weren’t. However, it was funny hearing a younger version of the male bravado/goofiness I heard from the Battlestar boys, whether the

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

Interview

Malcolm McDowell A Class Act(or)

By Evan Kayne Mention the name of veteran actor Malcolm McDowell and most people remember him either as the protagonist Alex in Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange or as the villain Dr. Tolian Soran from Star Trek: Generations.

However, at 66 years of age, he has over 100 film, television and voice-over credits to his name. In town as part of the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, we managed to have a brief chat with him about some of his experiences.

While Mr. McDowell has had numerous roles, it’s his portrayal of villains which seems to resonate most in the minds of audiences; whether they be Dr. Soran or Mr. Linderman from Heroes. What makes his portrayals of bad guys more memorable is the ability — through small touches — to make his creations seem more human. As someone who also remembers him playing the heroic role in Time After Time, I wanted to know which role he prefers — hero or villain. The question was irrelevant to him as he confessed he just enjoys the work, regardless of the character.

“I don’t really analyze a part as being a heavy or a hero. It is what it is. It doesn’t even cross my mind. People aren’t just black and white, evil/good, it doesn’t exist.” He works to embody the character with a little something that is watchable.

When asked if there was a villain he’d like to portray, he deferred.

“I don’t want to play another part…I never strived and thought, ‘Wow…I could do Hamlet justice’. I’ve never thought that because I know you’re setting yourself up for big disappointment because the likelihood of being offered the part is slim.”

Additionally, if he does get the part he wanted, when the script does finally land in front of him, “they’ve probably fucked it up.” He feels strongly that it really isn’t worth going around hankering for something.

Mr. McDowell’s philosophy on roles has been, when something comes through his door and he reads it, he has that instinctual feel of whether or not the role will be of interest. Sometimes this instinct has lead him to say yes to the weirdest stuff.

Considering all the other actors appearing at the Expo who are often associated with one role they did years ago (i.e. Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica), I had to wonder if being remembered for a role is a blessing or a curse. In our community, many of us can remember straight actors being nervous accepting gay roles because the concern was they’d get typecast as someone who plays gay. This didn’t bother Mr. McDowell; over the years he’s seen the industry evolve and open up; to the point there are openly gay actors and straight actors both readily accepting gay roles. By way of example, he referenced the TV show Modern Family.

The gay couple on that show consists of a flamboyant character played by a straight man while the more uptight half of the couple is played by an actor who, in Mr. McDowell’s words, is “as camp as a row of tents.”

Of course, given the length of his resume, he’s played gay characters over the years — including a choreographer in the Robert Altman film The Company. This showed another pitfall, besides typecasting, that a straight male actor may face — the criticism that you are stereotyping.

Mr. McDowell got this reaction from the land of his birth in the reviews for this film: “I was furious because the bitchy English critics who hate me because I left, said and there’s Malcolm McDowell mincing up the screen. It made me laugh because it was far from that…however, it was fun to do.”

With his work over the years and the experience he had growing up in the public school system in Britain, he certainly did have contact with gay men. “When I was in England, my god, it was hard to find a straight actor. When I first went into theatre I was taken for a walk along the beach by all the actors and I had to say, I don’t do that, I’d rather have girls.” The reaction from these actors was usually one of mild distaste at Mr. McDowell’s preference (“EWWWW!”). As a straight man on the prowl, this was an advantage: “…all I thought was, all the more for me.”

 Patrick Stewart (left) and Malcolm McDowell (right) This relaxed and open attitude towards gay men highlighted to me the difference between the North American and British views on sexuality.

American film and television stars go to great lengths to hide their homosexuality; while in Britain people seem to be a bit more “matter of fact” about gay men and lesbians. Mr. McDowell’s philosophy on this was a bit practical, allowing that every person has to find their own comfort zone. If an actor “wants to hide his sexuality, that’s his right” he told us. “So nobody has any right to go outing him...If he wants to shout it from the rooftops, good luck.”.

Yet he does grant being out of the closet may make you a better actor. “I will make an observation — I think Ian McKellen — I never really liked him as an actor until he did come out and say hey, look, I’m a homosexual, deal with it. I think it was only then he started to give some truly great performances.” Malcolm feels there is an honesty to McKellen’s performances now that he is out.

Regarding performances, Mr. McDowell does seem to act a lot in either the genres of horror or and science fiction, but as noted earlier, for him, work is work. “It doesn’t really matter...I don’t tend to do too much horror…I just like to mix it up a bit.” He tries to limit horror films to once a year. For him it was an interesting experience to play a in a Rob Zombie horror film (the Halloween remake in 2007 and the sequel released last year) and portray the straight character, not the psychopath.

With the name recognition he carries, I wondered if he could pick and choose a role, or if he had a similar work ethic to another English actor — Michael Caine — who expressed in the past that he always needs to be working. Mr. McDowell told us he doesn’t work as much as Michael because he has a young family to look after, along with balancing any acting work. He noted wryly, “dear old Michael, he’s working class, he’s never got that out of his blood. He still thinks he’s going to die with only a few bob in the bank. The guy’s the richest actor in the world.”

For Mr. McDowell, his working ethic is not something he could really pass on to anyone, as he finds it really depends on the skill of the actor and the strength of the script. “When I was a young man, I was very picky and choosy because I wasn’t good enough to survive a bad script.

Now I can survive any old piece of shit because I know how to survive it and come out.”

Projects Mr. McDowell has just finished or has upcoming include an episode of The Mentalist. He also recently finished filming a pilot for a new series called Franklin & Bash on TBS where he plays the head of a law firm that hires the title characters to work for the firm, as the two lawyers seem to be best at “thinking outside the box”. He’ll also be seen in Barry Munday, an upcoming comedy where among others, he acts alongside Cybill Shepherd.

Additionally, he has a small role in the movie Golf in the Kingdom. This film, based on a book by Michael Murphy, is close to Mr. McDowell’s golfer’s heart. He also had a role as a vampire hunter (who is afraid of the dark) in the Canadian rock and roll vampire comedy — Suck. It was a fun film and he enjoyed making it, but for him the best thing about that movie was staying in a hotel with fellow performer Alice Cooper — another avid golfer and fellow performer in this film. Thanks to Alice’s suggestions on his golfing grip, while Mr. McDowell hasn’t yet broken 70 on the golf course, he is getting closer to it. Here’s hoping he has many more years on the golf course, and of course, in movies and television.

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Interview

What the Frack?

Tahmoh Penikett and Aaron Douglass

By Evan Kayne In town recently for the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, Tahmoh Penikett is best known either as Karl “Helo” Agathon on the television series Battlestar Galactica or as Paul Ballard in Joss Whedon’s series Dollhouse. He has also played roles on Cold Squad, Smallville, and recently in the Syfy channel’s mini-series adaptation of Philip José Farmer’s Riverworld. A very personable actor, it was fun to see him verbally parry at a panel discussion with co-star Aaron Douglas (Chief Tyrol) and Aleks Paunovic (Sergeant Omar Fischer in BSG and the grandfather of Admiral Adama in the new series Caprica).

Admittedly, with the physique Tahmoh has from training in the martial art of Muay Thai, many straight women and several gay men enjoyed seeing him frequently shirtless in Dollhouse. Given Joss Whedon’s openness to gay characters and the following Joss has in the LGBT community, GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine asked Tahmoh about the sexuality of the Dolls on Dollhouse. We wondered – given it was hinted the Dolls could be gay or straight — were there any long term plans to actually show this before the series was cut short?

“They alluded to it,” Tahmoh mentioned. “It’s probably because it’s network...Fox at that...so there was probably some issues there...I know with Joss if he had his choice he would have written it in, obviously.” Unfortunately, as the series was cancelled, we’ll never know if this aspect of the dolls would have been shown onscreen.

In comparison Battlestar Galactica did cover a lot of issues which probably wouldn’t have made the cut on a network show. Tahmoh admitted as much, and he felt it was a good thing they didn’t get to a network: “In the beginning there was talk we might be on NBC...and I think that would have been the death of us very quickly.”

Several fans at the Expo noticed this and asserted if Dollhouse had been on the Syfy channel it would not have been cancelled.

Tahmoh agreed it was a pity; yet he’s not too worried about series creator Joss Whedon: “Joss just can’t stop working...that’s all he does, so there’s a lot of stuff coming up from him.”

What people liked about the character Helo on BSG was how honourable and even-tempered he was compared to others. While some may credit this to Tahmoh’s acting, I think these characteristics of Helo were drawn from the actor’s progressive and mixed upbringing.

His father is former Yukon (and NDP) premier Tony Penikett and his mother is a member of the White River First Nation.

Seeing as Helo faced prejudice because of his mixed marriage to a Cylon, I wondered if there were any experiences of prejudice Tahmoh had in his real life. Mostly he felt his experience being of mixed heritage (and white in appearance despite his mother’s Native American heritage) impacted him growing up: “The irony is that I hated my white skin as a kid. I grew up in the Yukon...I grew up in a lot of small northern communities, the majority of times with my native cousins. So I was the funny looking one, I was the minority, and oftentimes I just hated it when I was younger, I wish I grew up with darker skin...I got ribbed and teased a lot because I was the ‘white boy’.”

With First Nations communities, some are accepting of “Two Spirited” people, others not so much. Certainly, his father’s NDP background would see sexuality and equality discussed at the dinner table, yet I wondered what was White River First Nations like in that regards. Regrettably, living in a lot of small northern communities, it wasn’t something he experienced. “I don’t remember ever hearing anything negative or any discrimination towards Two Spirited people, but I never heard it referred to...”

While nowhere near discrimination, many actors do have to worry about being typecast. While he’s not currently working on any major

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GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

projects, if another cop/detective type role came his way, Tahmoh would accept it without worry. “I kind of enjoy it, and why not? I’m at the age and physicality where I might be chosen to play roles like that.”

He’d prefer these roles have some depth, and so far he’s been pleased with the ones he has received. He does want to explore and challenge himself, but he hasn’t found quite the right thing, which is why he is a bit selective at the moment. With both BSG and Dollhouse, he has been fortunate to have worked for seven years straight and is now taking the time to be particular about what he does next.

Aaron Douglas Known for his role of Chief Galen Tyrol on Battlestar Galactica, and now Frank Leo on The Bridge, Aaron appeared alongside Tahmoh Penikett at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. With a quick wit and the soul of a great story-teller, he was one of my Expo favourites. Additionally, Aaron acknowledged many gay men admire him for his “bear-ish” qualities whether he be portraying Chief Tyrol or Frank Leo. Regarding the character of Chief Tyrol, it was an interesting parallel to the struggle many people have coming out of the closet – the suspicions, the denials, the step back into the closet and the final step out. The character Tyrol suspected he was a Cylon in season two, then had it confirmed at the end of season three. When I asked Aaron what he thought of the similarities, he said he personally had nothing in his history growing up which he could draw from. However, he did have some fans who noted the similarities his role had to people who were of a minority group: “...You get a few people talking about what it was like for them being different, growing up different, whether it was them being a minority, them being gay. They drew a little bit of a parallel.”

As well, Aaron did have to keep his knowledge of his Cylon heritage “in the closet” for several months. While the other “Final Five” found out at the end of filming for season three, Aaron snuck a peak at some script notes months earlier – then had to keep his mouth shut all that time.

Examining how LGBT individuals still have to struggle for acceptance in a paramilitary units, like police forces, would seem like a natural fit for The Bridge. “It’s an interesting thing – my character is loosely based on a real guy. I think the real guy probably really had

to look at himself in the mirror when he was president of the police union when he found out some of the officers were gay or lesbian.”

Unfortunately Aaron didn’t know if they were going to tackle that issue. “What I liked about Battlestar, we didn’t make a big deal of it (homosexuality). It’s obvious we all knew who was gay on the ship and who was straight, but nobody cared. Ron Moore never wanted to make a big deal about it because it shouldn’t be a big deal....I don’t know that our new show will do that. There’s the one character – Jill – who’s bisexual, they make no bones about that. I know there’s an episode where a cop gets killed and they’re questioning whether it’s because he was gay or not.”

Aaron did admit a bisexual FEMALE character does cater to the straight male, two girls one guy fantasy, but he thinks showing two men kissing or even showing any type of intimacy shouldn’t be a big deal on network television. The men don’t even have to be kissing - “... just the intimacy of holding hands or a gentle touch, showing that two men are genuinely in love and caring for each other”. Sadly, he had to concede in some ways, our society hasn’t advanced far enough to make that not a big deal on television shows and in real life.

Whether The Bridge gets to show any LGBT characters is up in the air at the moment, as Aaron is unsure whether there will be a second season. Consequently, he’s looking around at other projects: “I did a pilot called Betwixt for the CW, and that’s going to go into their vault of pilots and they’re going to decide if they’re going to make a series or not, and I’ve got some movies and shows knocking on the door.”

With his sense of humour and ability to reel off a story, he could always get into comedy. Audiences were entertained with his hockey stories – thrilling at his discovery of Flames Central, and laughing with him about his hockey bets with Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Wil Wheaton. He also played the role of “embarrassing parent” as he pointed out his teenaged son in the audience and then went on to tell us about how when his son was 9 years old, an on-set visit led to frustration after finding out that Vipers really don’t fly.

However, the best story was the one he tells of a costume malfunction causing him to inadvertently...um, “cold-cock” a sound tech. It was so good we got him to retell it on camera for your enjoyment. Visit this article online to watch the video – of him telling the story, that is; sadly not the original incident.

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a1676

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Interview

Melissa Etheridge: Fierce and Fearless

Inside the rock legend’s life now – her personal awakening and how it’s changed everything

By Chris Azzopardi If Melissa Etheridge’s music has seemed mellow lately, she’s about to show you. Back to her rock-out roots, the tough-and-gruff musician/mother/activist makes a roaring return with the uplifting Fearless Love, her followup to 2007’s sociopolitical-powered The Awakening.

We spoke with Etheridge, who not only discussed surviving cancer during the last decade and the life lessons she learned in the process, but also how she’s embracing change – a new sound, touring band and the return of those hot, long locks.

GayCalgary: How does it feel to have the long hair back?

Melissa Etheridge: I watered it every day, and it grew! It was a big part of me. I really wasn’t aware how big a part.

GayCalgary: I’m not used to seeing you as glammed-up as you’ve been in some recent photos. What’s up with all the make-up?

M.E. You know, it’s something I think I’ve grown into. At 48, I need all the help I can get (laughs).

GayCalgary: After all you’ve been through this past decade, what place are you in now?

M.E. That was an intense decade! But everything that happened makes me stronger, makes me understand that this is what life is. You are presented with these issues, but you learn and you grow and you move on. Life is rich and full, and nothing’s going to kill you. You just keep moving forward – and it gets sweeter.

GayCalgary: So this is an extension of The Awakening?

M.E. This is the next step. I had to do The Awakening to present and be upfront about the things that were happening inside of me, the spiritual side of me. The awakening part of me is understanding and going through cancer and saying, “Whoa!

Life is a lot different. Life is not what it seems.”

That album was important to put out so people – myself and my fans – would know what path I was on, and then after it seemed so clear that it was time to gather up all that strength.

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GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

I was knocked down and it was time to pull the parts of me together that I knew were there in this confidence and in this clarity that I have now and shoot it through that rock ‘n’ roll gift that I’ve been given.

GayCalgary: “Life is not what it seems” – that’s a line from the closing track, “Gently We Row.” How has that been true in your own life?

M.E. I wanted to reference the children’s song “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” because that song has all the truth in it that we need. I love that we’re taught it as a child. “… Life is but a dream” – that’s all it is. We create it every day. That’s what came to me.

That’s where I got to going through cancer and coming out.

Life doesn’t happen to us. We are creating this, and we have more power than it seems. This can happen to you, but your perception of what it is creates what it is. You have a choice in how your life affects you. That’s mostly what I want to convey through my music.

GayCalgary: Did it take you a long time to realize that?

M.E. I got the crash course in it with chemotherapy because I laid there day after day, week after week, and had nothing. No television. No books. I couldn’t even read; it hurt to read.

It was just day after day with myself, until my mind – our minds are so busy setting things up in the future and worrying about the past – ran out of things to think about. And it just stopped. When that happens there’s this beautiful spirit that’s behind that that really is in charge of what’s happening, GayCalgary: Also on “Gently We Row,” I noticed the parallels between your mother raising you and you raising your daughter.

I thought that was so powerful.

M.E. That’s another part of getting older. You realize your parents did shape a lot of what you think and do and feel, yet it’s time to stop blaming them. You can stay there and you can wallow around in that or you can say, “OK, this happened to me and now I make different choices.” And that’s what the

song’s about. I’m making different choices for myself and for my children. When you do that, you also heal yourself.

GayCalgary: Parenthood actually pops up several times on this album. How has it changed you?

M.E. Oh, it’s unbelievable. I just had no idea of what being a mother would do. And it’s all-encompassing, it’s every breath I take, it’s every moment I live. I am a mother to four children, and I don’t go to sleep at night until I know where all four are and how they are. It makes me a better person, it makes me more loving, compassionate, patient – patience is ... definitely required (laughs), or you’ll just get eaten up alive. They teach me every day about myself. They are these beautiful little mirrors, and I want to be the best person I can be for them.

GayCalgary: Speaking of the kids, there was an episode of Kathy Griffin’s My Life on the D-List that aired last year where she was in your house, seeking tips on becoming an activist. What was that like?

M.E. Kathy Griffin’s awesome. She’s on a journey of her own, coming from the place of being on the D-list, and then she turned herself A-list. You see it’s not a place you get to; it’s about how you feel inside about yourself. Her activism, her caring and her journey are very inspiring. And she’s super talented, too.

GayCalgary: Did you eat those cookies you were baking while she was there?

M.E. Yes, we did! And we made some more a little later.

GayCalgary: Do the kids like to bake a lot?

M.E. Anything involving sugar, there they are with a spoon.

GayCalgary: What was it like reteaming with producer John Shanks, who worked on 1999’s Breakdown?

M.E. He was my guitar player in my first band. We hung out in the ’80s, and we’ve played every hellhole bar. And we’ve also played Madison Square Garden. We’ve been through so much, and he knows what I’m capable of. He knows just how to get the best out of it and how to push me to give my best. He’s like my brother that makes me crazy (laughs). It was really wonderful working with him.

GayCalgary: How did the collaboration with Natasha Bedingfield and Joss Stone on “We Are the Ones” come about?

M.E. That’s my favorite track on the album just because it’s different and crazy and I love it. John called me up and said, “Hey, guess who was across the hall recording – Joss Stone!” She just sang on it. Then, like a week later, he said, “Hey, Natasha Bedingfield’s coming in and I’m going to play her this song. I think she’s going to sing on it.” So he worked with her. That’s what he can do, because he’s John Shanks.

GayCalgary: Have you met Natasha?

M.E. No, I haven’t! We’ve become very intimate on tape, though.

GayCalgary: When did you know you had “Fearless Love”?

M.E. The way that I’m looking at it is that it’s about my own fearless love. I need to love fearlessly, and that starts with myself.

That’s been the journey in the last five years.

Continued on Page 47

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

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GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

Travel

Gay Travel

Montreal: It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than Queer Quebec

By Jon Fairbanks, Gaytravel.com Originally named “Ville-Marie” or “City of Mary” for you Anglophone bitches, Montreal is a sheik, sophisticated gay destination. The city is the second-largest primarily French speaking city in the world (after Paris). That being said, most residents also speak English and getting around is pretty manageable. With triple-peaked Mount Royal in the background, the view of downtown Montreal is a beautiful sight to behold.

Le Village in a Nutshell The gay village in Montreal is the largest in North America in terms of area. Luckily for out-of-towners it’s also easy to find. If you journey down Sainte Catherine Street, the major downtown artery, you’ll start seeing rainbow flags and gay porn shops at about Rue Berri. The Village stretches to Rue De Lorimier, in between you’ll find a plethora of bars, clubs, coffee shops, boutiques and restaurants, all serving the local and foreign LGBT community.

Planning Your “Autoroute” For a city with a metro population of more than three million residents, Montreal is pretty easy to maneuver. If you are driving, you’ll find that there is usually street parking in The Village, but street signs are in French, so make sure you understand what they say or you could get ticketed or towed. If you fly to Montreal, there are taxis and the Metro (subway system) that will take you where you need to go. The Beaudry Metro station is located smack dab in The Village.

Places to Stay: Great Deals in The Village No matter what you are looking for, you’ll be able to find the right place to stay in Montreal. There are a lot of inexpensive, quaint B&Bs or non-chain hotels to choose from. Hotel Dorion is a cozy property if you’re on a budget. It couldn’t be any closer to all the action! Situated on Rue Dorion, you can get a standard room or upgrade your stay with a Jacuzzi

or other amenities. Hotel Maritime Plaza is more expensive and about two miles away from The Village but it’s extremely gay-friendly and the service is always on-point!

Poutine, Peas and Resto Bars If you like cruising with your meal, Le Drugstore is a treat for all of the senses. Part restaurant-part bar-part boutique, it’s a huge complex that staffs hot waiters/waitresses and hosts a large LGBT clientele. There’s a variety of menu options, but the best is a burger with a generous helping of poutine. This isn’t a nickname for a part of the female anatomy, rather, it’s a dish made up of French fries, topped with cheese and gravy. This is a popular dish in Quebec. Some restaurants put ketchup or peas on top. In fact, peas are served on top of many dishes in the Province, as sort of a garnish. A truly cosmopolitan city, Montreal and specifically The Village offers an eclectic mix of great cuisine, including Le Bato Thai, Restaurant La Strega (Italian) and Le Club Sandwich. More than just a great place to grab a sub, Le Club Sandwich is an institution, diner-style complete with juke-boxes.

When Night Falls Sainte Catherine Lets Her Hair Down The biggest and most popular gay club in Montreal is Club Unity, on Sainte Catherine Street. There are three floors in Unity. On the bottom floor you’ll find a bar, on the second – two bars with a HUGE dance floor and the third offers two more bars and another dance floor, playing a different kind of music. True to its name, the crowd at Unity consists of men and women of various ages, types and preferences.

Parking is the best dance club for just us boys. Also located in The Village, off of Sainte Catherine, Parking offers great music, brought to you by the best local and international DJs. There are two dance floors, disco music is played on the main floor.

Women are only allowed to join the party on Wednesdays.

Worth a second mention, by night, Le Drugstore turns into a popular lesbian bar. Three levels of drinking, dancing and debauchery, what’s not to love?!

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

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If you want to see nearly naked guys do the dancing for you, take a swing by Campus and get a lap dance from one of the hot and usually straight male dancers. Leave the fag-hags at home, women are not allowed most nights of the week.

After the club, if you’re looking for a late night “dip,” there are a few bathhouses to choose from, all within stumbling distance of the gay clubs. Oasis and Sauna Centre Ville are a couple of the most popular with locals and tourists.

Beyond The Village Of course there are BEAUCOUP things to do outside of The Village.

Montreal is a city bursting at the seams with museums, landmarks and classic architecture. Visitors who need a shopping fix can get lost at Eaton Centre. Located on Sainte Catherine, Eaton is the largest shopping mall in eastern Canada, serving more than one million visitors each week. Apple, Lacoste and Banana Republic are just a few of the retailers you’ll find here.

If you’re looking for a faster but thrilling way to burn through your money, venture over to the Casino De Montreal. Open 24 hours a day, the casino offers more than three thousand slot machine and more than 100 gaming tables. If you end up pissing away your spending cash early, you can stay and watch a cabaret show.

French, English and other influences fused harmoniously. If you’re looking for a uniquely Euro experience, but don’t want to leave North America, Montreal is an ideal destination.

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GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

Directory & Events 24

DOWNTOWN CALGARY

43 41 37

55 9

34

2 33

52

56

16

4

35 36

3

5 6

1

N

13

1 2 3 4 5 6

Calgary Outlink---------- Community Groups Aids Calgary------------- Community Groups Backlot------------------------ Bars and Clubs Calgary Eagle Inc.------------ Bars and Clubs Texas Lounge----------------- Bars and Clubs Goliath’s-------------------------- Bathhouses

9 MPs (Money Pennies)-------- Bars and Clubs 13 Westways Guest House---- Accommodations 16 Priape Calgary------------------ Retail Stores 24 Courtney Aarbo----------------------- Services 33 Twisted Element-------------- Bars and Clubs 34 Vertigo Mystery Theatre------------- Theatre

Find Out!

One Yellow Rabbit-------------------- Theatre ATP, Alberta Theatre Projects-------- Theatre Pumphouse Theatre----------------- Theatre La Fleur-------------------------- Retail Stores Lisa Heinricks----------Theatre and Fine Arts Sandra G. Sebree-------------------- Services

Calgary

LGBT Community Directory GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine is the go-to source for information about Alberta LGBT businesses and community groups—the most extensive and accurate resource of its kind! This print supplement contains a subset of active community groups and venues, with premium business listings of paid advertisers.

✰. ..... Find our Magazine Here

35 36 37 41 43 52

......... Wheelchair Accessible

Spot something inaccurate or outdated? Want your business or organization listed? We welcome you to contact us!

 403-543-6960  1-888-543-6960

 magazine@gaycalgary.com http://www.gaycalgary.com/CalgaryTravelRss http://www.gaycalgary.com/EdmontonTravelRss

Local Bars, Restaurants, and Accommodations info on the go! http://www.gaycalgary.com/Directory

Browse our complete directory of over 540 gay-frieindly listings!

of Sinatra” on Fri. and varied entertainment on Thurs. Please call for details.

Accommodations 13 Westways Guest House--------------------✰

 216 - 25th Avenue SW  403-229-1758  1-866-846-7038  westways@shaw.ca  www.gaywestways.com

Wingate by Wyndham

 400 Midpark Way SE  www.wingatehotels.com

55 Marquee Room--------------- Bars and Clubs 56 Sacred Balance Piercing-------- Retail Stores 58 Theatre Junction--------------------- Theatre

 403-514-0099

55 Marquee Room-----------------------------✰

 612 - 8th Avenue SW  http://www.marqueeroom.com

Alternative night every Wednesday.

9 Money Pennies (MPs)------------------- ✰

 1742 - 10th Ave SW  403-263-7411  http://www.money-pennies.com  Closed Mondays.

Bar and restaurant.

 209 - 10th Ave SW

5 Texas Lounge-------------------------------✰

 308 - 17 Ave SW  403-229-0911  http://www.goliaths.ca  Open 7 days a week, 11am-close

4 Calgary Eagle Inc.----------------------- ✰  424a - 8th Ave SE  403-263-5847

33 Twisted Element

 1006 - 11th Ave SW  403-802-0230

 http://www.twistedelement.ca

Bars & Clubs 3 Backlot----------------------------------- ✰  403-265-5211  Open 7 days a week, 4pm-close

 http://www.calgaryeagle.com  Open Wed-Sun, 5pm-close Leather/Denim/Fetish bar.

Club Paradiso

 1413 - 9th Ave SE, upstairs  403-265-5739  www.villagecantina.ca

Dance Club and Lounge.

Bathhouses/Saunas 6 Goliaths-------------------------------------✰

 308 - 17 Ave SW  403-229-0911  http://www.goliaths.ca  Open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day

Carly’s Angels on Sat. Billy Schmidt’s “Sounds

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

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Directory & Events CALGARY EVENTS Mondays

ASK Meet and Greet----------------  7-9:30pm See Alberta Society for Kink Inside Out Youth Group----------------  7-9pm See 1 Calgary Outlink Yoga-----------------------------  7:45-9:15pm See Apollo Calgary Jan11Apr5 Radio Show-------------------------  8:30-9pm See “Yeah...What She Said!”

Tuesdays

Steak Night-----------------------------  All Day At 9 Money Pennies Calgary Networking Club--------------  5-7pm See 1 Calgary Outlink  1st Tues Between Men---------------------------  7-9pm See 1 Calgary Outlink  2nd, 4th Rehearsals--------------------------  7-9:30pm See Calgary Men’s Chorus Jun Karaoke------------------------------  8pm-1am At 5 Texas Lounge Wednesdays

Communion Service------------------  12:10pm See Knox United Church Women’s Healing Circle---------------  1:30pm See AIDS Calgary Wing Night------------------------------  All Day At 9 Money Pennies Free Pool-------------------------------  All Day At 4 Calgary Eagle With Prime Timers Calgary Badminton------------------------------  7-9pm See Apollo Calgary Jan6Mar31 Bowling------------------------------------ 7pm See Apollo Calgary Mar3 Radio Show----------------------------  9-10pm See Urban Sex Radio Thursdays

Country Night------------------------- Evening At 4 Calgary Eagle Swim Practice---------------------------  6-7pm See Different Strokes

Community Groups 2 AIDS Calgary---------------------------- ✰

 110, 1603 10th Avenue SW  403-508-2500  info@aidscalgary.org  http://www.aidscalgary.org

Alberta Society for Kink

 403-398-9968  albetasocietyforkink@hotmail.com  ca.groups.yahoo.com/

group.albertasocietyforkink Apollo Calgary Friends in Sports

Fake Mustache Show---------------  7-9:45pm See Miscellaneous Youth Network  1st Taco Thursdays-------------------------  All Day At 9 Money Pennies Fridays

Leather Night-------------------------- Evening At 4 Calgary Eagle

La Fleur’s 6th Anniversary-------------  6-9pm At La Fleur - Art Central (103 - 100 - 7 Ave SW)

Ladies Night------------------------------- 8pm At 9 Money Pennies

Friday, May 7th

Come Befriend the Team----------  9:15pm

By Fairy Tales  Plaza Theatre (1133 Kensington Road NW)

La Cage Aux Folles------------------------ 8pm At Beat Niq (811 - 1st Street SW) May8

Womynspace----------------------------  7-9pm See 1 Calgary Outlink  2nd

Saturday, May 8th

New Directions--------------------------  7-9pm See 1 Calgary Outlink  3rd Heading Out-----------------------  8pm-10pm See 1 Calgary Outlink  4th Saturdays

Coffee------------------------------------  10am See Prime Timers Calgary

The GAYmazing Race---------------  3-8pm

By Pride Calgary At The Streets of Calgary Dirty Jock Night-------------------------  10pm At 4 Calgary Eagle Thursday, May 13th

Drag Shows------------------------------  10pm At 5 Texas Lounge Saturday, May 15th

25¢ Wings-------------------------------  All Day At 9 Money Pennies

Camo Night------------------------------  10pm At 4 Calgary Eagle

Karaoke------------------------------  8pm-1am At 5 Texas Lounge

Bowling------------------------------------ 7pm

By Girlfriends  Fairview Bowling Centre (1010 - 999 - 36 Street NE)

Tuned Out Music Trivia----------------  Evening At 9 Money Pennies  1st, 3rd Sundays

Worship Time----------------------------  10am See Deer Park United Church Worship------------------------------  10:30am See Scarboro United Church Worship Services-------------------------  11am See Knox United Church BBQ Social Sundays----------------------- 2pm At 4 Calgary Eagle Church Service---------------------------- 4pm See Rainbow Community Church Swim Practice---------------------------  5-6pm See Different Strokes Homestyle Sunday Dinner---------------- 6pm At 9 Money Pennies Free Pool------------------------------  All Day At 4 Calgary Eagle Tuesday, May 4th

Calgary Networking Club--------------  5-7pm

By Calgary Outlink At Ming (520 - 17th Ave SW) serving primarily members of the LGBT communities but open to members of all communities. Currently have more than 400 members! Primary focus is to provide members with well organized and fun sporting events and other activities.

• Western Cup Largest LGBT Sporting Competition in North America • Badminton (Absolutely Smashing)

 St. Martha School (6020 4th Avenue NE)  badminton@apollocalgary.com Fees Per session: $4 for Apollo member, $5 for nonmembers. Season’s pass $75.

A volunteer-operated, non-profit organization GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

Opening Gala Party-------------------- 7pm

By Fairy Tales  Plaza Theatre (1133 Kensington Road NW)

Fake Mustache----------------------  7-9:40pm

By Miscellaneous Youth Network At Soda Lounge (211 – 12th Avenue SW)

Illusions--------------------------------  7-10pm See 1 Calgary Outlink  1st

 http://www.apollocalgary.com

18

Thursday, May 6th

Sunday, May 16th

Tuned Out: Music Trivia------------------- 8pm At 9 Money Pennies Monday, May 17th

Lawn Bowling + AGM-------------------- 7pm

By Prime Timers Calgary  Inglewood Lawn Bowling Club Tuesday, May 18th

Boy’s Night Out---------------------------- 8pm At 9 Money Pennies Thursday, May 20th

Cabin Fever-------------------------------- 9pm

 The SODA (211 12 Ave SW) Wednesday, May 26th

Theatre Night------------------------------  TBA

By Prime Timers Calgary At Pumphouse Theatre Thursday, May 27th

Drag Shows------------------------------  10pm At 5 Texas Lounge

Friday, May 28th

Cowboy Gear Weekned------------------  10pm At 4 Calgary Eagle May29 Saturday, May 29th

Spoon Me Youth Program & Gala----- 4pm

By Fairy Tales  Plaza Theatre (1133 Kensington Road NW) Sunday, May 30th

Monthly Dance------------------  8pm-2am

By ARGRA At Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association (1320 5th Avenue NW) Tuesday, June 1st

Identification Please---------------  6:50pm

By Fairy Tales  Plaza Theatre (1133 Kensington Road NW) Wednesday, June 2nd

Pride Worldwide--------------------  6:50pm

By Fairy Tales  Plaza Theatre (1133 Kensington Road NW) Thursday, June 3rd

Fake Mustache----------------------  7-9:40pm

By Miscellaneous Youth Network  Soda Lounge (211 – 12th Avenue SW) Friday, June 4th

Happily Ever After Party!-------------- 7pm

By Fairy Tales  Marquee Room (612 8th Avenue SW upstairs) Saturday, June 5th

PURE: Pride 2010-----------------------  10pm At 4 Calgary Eagle September 2010

Pride Dance-----------------------------  TBA

Sep4 Pride Parade/Street Festival----------  TBA

Sep5

Legend:  = Monthly Reoccurrance,  = Date (Range/Future),  = Sponsored Event • Boot Camp

 Stone steps, SE corner of Crescent Park Crescent Road & 2nd Street NW  bootcamp@apollocalgary.com Dress in layers and running shoes, bring plenty of water, bring payment in cash to first session.

Registration has closed.

• Bowling (Rainbow Riders League)

 Let’s 10 Pin Bowlerama, 2916 - 5 Ave NE  bowling@apollocalgary.com • Curling

 North Hill Curling Club (1201 - 2 Street NW)  curling@apollocalgary.com

• Golf

 golf@apollocalgary.com • Lawn Bowling

 Inglewood Lawn Bowling Club 1235 - 8th Avenue SE

 lawnbowling@apollocalgary.com • Outdoor Pursuits

 outdoorpursuits@apollocalgary.com • Running (Calgary Frontrunners)

 Hillhurst United Church, 1227 Kensington Close  Tim 403-660-6125  calgaryfrontrunners@shaw.ca  Tues, Thurs, Sat at 8am Calgary Alcoholics Anonymous Group For Gay

Directory & Events Lesbian Bisexual and Transgendered People. A safe place to find help for problems with alcohol.

• Slow Pitch • Tennis • Volleyball (Intermediate/Competitive)

 YWCA, 320 - 5th Avenue SE  vb@apollocalgary.com  www.apollocalgary.com/apollo/volleyball This is for seasoned players. You can sign up for the season or drop-in.

• Volleyball (Recreational)

 Langevin School, 107 - 6A Street NE  vb@apollocalgary.com  www.apollocalgary.com/apollo/volleyball Volleyball League, Co-Ed, Recreational, Drop-in.

Alberta Rockies Gay Rodeo Association (ARGRA)  www.argra.org

• Monthly Dances-----------------------------  Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association 1320 - 5th Avenue NW Artists for the Quality of Life

 403-890-1261

 www.afqol.com

Cabin Fever

 The Soda Women’s dance and social night.

Calgary Gay Fathers

 calgaryfathers@hotmail.com  http://www.calgarygayfathers.ca Peer support group for gay, bisexual and questioning fathers. Meeting twice a month.

Calgary Men’s Chorus

 http://www.calgarymenschorus.org • Rehearsals

 Temple B’Nai Tikvah, 900 - 47 Avenue SW Calgary Sexual Health Centre---------- ✰

 304, 301 14th Street NW 403-283-5580   http://www.calgarysexualhealth.ca A pro-choice organization that believes all people have the right and ability to make their own choices regarding their sexual and reproductive health.

1 Calgary Outlink-----------------------------✰

 #4, 1230A 17th Avenue SW  403-234-8973  http://www.calgaryoutlink.com

Formerly know as the Gay And Lesbian Community Services Association (GLCSA).

• Peer Support and Crisis Line  1-877-OUT-IS-OK (1-877-688-4765) Front-line help service for GLBT individuals and their family and friends, or anyone questioning their sexuality.

• Library A great selection of resource books, fiction, nonfiction, videos and everything in between, all with a queer perspective.

• Drop-In Center A safe and supportive environment for one-to-one peer counseling for many issues surrounding family, coming out, homosexuality, loneliness and other issues.

• Between Men and Between Men Online Peer support, sexual health education for gay or bisexual men, as well as those who may be uncertain or questioning their sexuality.

• Calgary Networking Club

 Ming, 520 - 17th Ave SW The networking meetings are open to all individuals who would like to promote their businesses or who would like to meet new people - no business affiliation is necessary.

• Heading Out Peer group for men who are looking for an alternative social activity to the bar. Activities vary and are fun and entertaining.

• Illusions Calgary Social group for Calgary and area transgender community members (cross dressers, transvestites, drag kings and queens). A safe, discrete and welcoming atmosphere, in which transgendered people can meet others of like mind.

• Inside Out Peer-facilitated youth group for GLBTQ ages 15-25.

Aims to let youth know they are not alone, and to connect them with their peers. Safe environment with a variety of resources and activities.

• New Directions Drop in peer-support group to provide support and resources for individuals who identify as transsexual or inter-sexed.

• SHEQ Soulful Healing Ego Quest

 Trudy or Krista, 403-585-7437 Workshop for women—a chance to grow and share their experiences related to women’s sexuality. To participate, please call or leave your name and a contact time/number with Calgary Outlink.

• Womynspace Peer social/support group for women providing an evening of fun, bonding, discussion and activities.

Calgary Queer Book Club

 Weeds Cafe (1903 20 Ave NW)

Deer Park United Church/Wholeness Centre  403-278-8263

 77 Deerpoint Road SE  http://www.dpuc.ca

Different Strokes

 http://www.differentstrokescalgary.org • Swim Practice

 SAIT Pool, 1301 - 16th Ave NW  No practices on long weekends Don’t Buy In Project

 http://www.dontbuyin.ca This Calgary Police Service Initiative aims to encourage youth to working towards an inclusive environment in which diversity is embraced in their schools and community.

FairyTales Presentation Society

 #4 - 1230A 17th Avenue SW  403-244-1956

 http://www.fairytalesfilmfest.com Alberta Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

• DVD Resource Library Over a hundred titles to choose from. Annual membership is $10.

Gay Singles in Calgary

 http://www.gaysinglesincalgary.org

Girl Friends

 members.shaw.ca/girlfriends Girlsgroove

 http://www.girlsgroove.ca

GLBT Housing

 http://www.glbthousing.ca

HIV Peer Support Group

 403-230-5832  hivpeergroup@yahoo.ca

ISCCA Social Association

 http://www.iscca.ca

Imperial Sovereign Court of the Chinook Arch.

Charity fundraising group..

Knox United Church

 506 - 4th Street SW  403-269-8382  http://www.knoxunited.ab.ca

Knox United Church is an all-inclusive church located in downtown Calgary. A variety of facility rentals are also available for meetings, events and concerts.

• Worship Services

 10:30am in July and August.

Miscellaneous Youth Network  http://www.miscyouth.com • Fake Mustache------------------------------  The Soda, 211 - 12th Ave SW Calgary’s ONLY Drag King Show. $5 cover. $2 cover under 18. Advance tickets available at Barbies Shop.

Mystique

 mystiquesocialclub@yahoo.com

Mystique is primarily a Lesbian group for women 30 and up but all are welcome.

• Coffee Night

 Second Cup (2312 - 4th Street SW) NETWORKS

 403-293-3356  sanpfeif@telus.net A social, cultural, and service organization for the mature minded and “Plus 40” LGBT individuals seeking to meet others at age-appropriate activities within a positive, safe environment.

Parents for Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)

 Sean: 403-695-5791  http://www.pflagcanada.ca

A registered charitable organization that provides support, education and resources to parents, families and individuals who have questions or concerns about sexual orientation or gender identity.

Positive Space Committee

 4825 Mount Royal Gate SW  403-440-6383  http://www.mtroyal.ca/positivespace

Works to raise awareness and challenge the patterns of silence that continue to marginalize LGBTTQ individuals.

Pride Calgary Planning Committee

 403-797-6564  www.pridecalgary.ca Pride Rainbow Project

 prp@planet-save.com  http://www.priderainbowproject.com Youth run project designed to show support for same-sex marriage in Canada and elsewhere. A fabric rainbow banner approximately 5 feet wide - goal is to make it 3.2km (2 miles) long, in order to break the world record.

Designed to foster social interaction for its members through a variety of social, educational and recreational activities. Open to all gay and bisexual men of any age, respects whatever degree of anonymity that each member desires.

• Free Pool

 4 Calgary Eagle • Saturday Coffee

 Midtown Co-op, 1130 - 11th Ave SW Queers on Campus---------------------- ✰

 279R Student Union Club Spaces, U of C  403-220-6394  http://www.ucalgary.ca/~glass

Formerly GLASS - Gay/Lesbian Association of Students and Staff.

• Coffee Night

 2nd Cup, Kensington Rainbow Community Church

 Hillhurst United, 1227 Kensington Close NW  roneberly@shaw.ca  http://www.rainbowcommunitychurch.ca

The Rainbow Community Church is an all-inclusive church; everyone is welcome.

Rocky Mountain Bears  bearcoltr@shaw.ca

 http://www.rockymountainbears.com

Safety Under the Rainbow

 http://www.safetyrainbow.ca

Mission: To raise awareness and understanding of same-sex domestic violence and homophobic youth bullying.

Scarboro United Church

 134 Scarboro Avenue SW  403-244-1161  www.scarborounited.ab.ca

An affirming congregation—the full inclusion of LGBT people is essential to our mission and purpose.

Sharp Foundation

 403-272-2912  sharpfoundation@nucleus.com  http://www.thesharpfoundation.com

Unity Bowling

 Let’s Bowl (2916 - 5th Ave NE)  sundayunity@live.com

Urban Sex Radio Show

 CJSW 90.9 FM

 http://www.cjsw.com Focus on sexuality; gay bisexual lesbian trans gendered and straight issues here in Calgary and around the web.

Western Canada Bigmen and Admirers

 groups.yahoo.com/group/

WesternCanadaBigmenGroup/  bigpaul41@yahoo.com Vigor Calgary

 403-255-7004

 www.vigorcalgary.ca Violence in Gay Male Relationships (VIGOR) is a committee of professionals dedicated to increasing the awareness of gay men’s domestic violence and the services available to them.

“Yeah...What She Said!” Radio Show

 CJSW 90.9 FM

 yeahwhatshesaid@gmail.com

Primetimers Calgary

 primetimerscalgary@gmail.com  http://www.primetimerscalgary.com

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

19

Directory & Events DOWNTOWN EDMONTON

1

8

5

7 11 6 12

3

13

N

4 14

1 Pride Centre------------- Community Groups 3 HIV Network------------- Community Groups 4 Edmonton STD---------- Community Groups

Restaurants 4 Calgary Eagle Inc.--------------------- See Calgary - Bars and Clubs.

T&T Honda ✰

Halo Steak, Seafood & Wine Bar

 Canyon Meadows Plaza 13226 Macleod Trail SE  403-271-4111  www.halosteakseafoodandwinebar.ca 9 MPs (Money Pennies)----------------- See Calgary - Bars and Clubs.

✰

Retail Stores Adult Depot----------------------------- ✰

 140, 58th Ave SW  403-258-2777 Gay, bi, straight video rentals and sex toys.

41 La Fleur------------------------------------  103 - 100 7th Avenue SW  403-266-1707

Florist and Flower Shop.

The Naked Leaf---------------------------  305 10th Street NW  403-283-3555  http://www.thenakedleaf.ca Organic teas and tea ware.

16 Priape Calgary------------------------- ✰

 1322 - 17 Ave SW  403-215-1800  http://www.priape.com

Clothing and accessories. Adult toys, leather wear, movies and magazines. Gifts.

20

5 Boots Bar and Lounge------- Bars and Clubs 6 Buddy’s Nite Club------------ Bars and Clubs 7 Down Under Baths--------------- Bathhouses

8 Prism Bar & Grill------------- Bars and Clubs 11 Steamworks---------------------- Bathhouses 12 Woody’s----------------------- Bars and Clubs

Cruiseline

 888 Meridian Road NE  403-291-1444  sales@tandthonda.ca  www.tandthonda.ca

 403-777-9494 trial code 3500  http://www.cruiseline.ca

• Kelvin Hur

 403-990-9080 New Vehicle Sales Manager

 810 Edmonton Trail NE  403-290-1973

• Lawrence Wong

 403-870-5001 Sales Consultant

Duncan’s Residential Cleaning  Jim Duncan: 403-978-6600 Residential cleaning. Free estimates.

Wares & Wear Ventures Inc. See Canada - Retail Stores.

Services & Products Bad Romance Entertainment  www.badromance-entertainment.com Calgary Civil Marriage Centre  ca.ca@shaw.ca Marriage Commissioner for Alberta (aka Justice of the Peace - JP), Marriage Officiant, Commissioner for Oaths.  403-246-4134

24 Courtney Aarbo (Barristers & Solicitors)

 1138 Kensington Road NW  403-571-5120  http://www.courtneyaarbo.ca

GLBT legal services.

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

Telephone classifieds and chat - 18+ ONLY. DevaDave Salon & Boutique Cuts, Colour, Hilights.

Interactive Male

 403-261-2112 trial code 8873  1-800-777-8000  www.interactivemale.com

Keith Hill, North Hill Mazda

 1211 Centre Street NW  Cell: 403-614-7359  Phone: 403-276-5962  Fax: 403-276-7361  khill@northhillmazda.com  www.northhillmazda.com

Lorne Doucette (CIR Realtors)

 403-461-9195  http://www.lornedoucette.com

Marnie Campbell (Maxwell Realtors)

 403-479-8619  http://www.marniecampbell.ca

13 PLAY Nightclub--------------- Bars and Clubs 14 FLASH------------------------- Bars and Clubs

MFM Communications

 403-543-6970  1-877-543-6970  http://www.mfmcommunications.com

Web site hosting and development. Computer hardware and software.

Rick Grenier (Invis)

 403-862-1162

 rickgrenier@invis.ca

Mortgage solutions.

56 Sacred Balance Piercing

 1528 - 17th Avenue SW  403-277-4449  www.sacredbalancetattoo.com

Tattos and body piercing.

SafeWorks Free and confidential HIV/AIDS and STI testing.

• Calgary Drop-in Centre

 Room 117, 423 - 4th Ave SE  403-699-8216  Mon-Fri: 9am-12pm, Sat: 12:15pm-3:15pm • Centre of Hope

 Room 201, 420 - 9th Ave SE  403-410-1180  Mon-Fri: 1pm-5pm • Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre

 1213 - 4th Str SW  403-955-6014  Sat-Thu: 4:15pm-7:45pm, Fri: Closed • Safeworks Van

 403-850-3755  Sat-Thu: 8pm-12am, Fri: 4pm-12am

Directory & Events 52 Sandra G. Sebree, Lawyer

 1610 - 17th Ave SW  403-228-8108  www.sandrasebree.com

12 Woody’s-------------------------------------✰

 11725 Jasper Ave  780-488-6557

Bathhouses/Saunas

TherapyWorks

 403-561-6873  ckorol@therapyworks.ca  http://www.therapyworks.com

Take back your life from stress, sadness, and worry.

Theatre & Fine Arts 36 ATP, Alberta Theatre Projects

 403-294-7402  http://www.ATPlive.com

AXIS Contemporary Art-------------------  107, 100 - 7 Ave SW  403-262-3356  rob@axisart.ca  www.axisart.ca Fairytales See Calgary - Community Groups.

43 Lisa Heinricks (Artist)---------------------  Art Central, 100 7th Ave SW, lower level  http://www.creamydreamy.com 35 One Yellow Rabbit-------------------------  Big Secret Theatre - EPCOR CENTRE  403-299-8888  www.oyr.org 37 Pumphouse Theatre------------------  2140 Pumphouse Avenue SW  403-263-0079  http://www.pumphousetheatres.ca

✰

Stagewest-------------------------------

✰

 727 - 42 Avenue SE  403-243-6642  http://www.stagewestcalgary.com 58 Theatre Junction----------------------  Theatre Junction GRAND, 608 1st St. SW  403-205-2922  info@theatrejunction.com  http://www.theatrejunction.com

7 Down Under Baths-------------------------✰

 12224 Jasper Ave  780-482-7960  http://www.gayedmonton.com

1 Pride Centre of Edmonton-------------- ✰

 95A Street, 111 Ave  780-488-3234  admin@pridecentreofedmonton.org

11 Steamworks--------------------------------✰

 11745 Jasper Ave  780-451-5554  http://www.steamworksedmonton.com

• Community Potluck

 Main Space – Upstairs

 tuff@shaw.ca A potluck open to all members of the LGBTQ community. A time to get together, share a meal and meet people from the community.

Community Groups Alberta Bears

 www.bearbeef.org

Altview-Strathcona County LGBTQ Group

 #44, 48 Brentwood Blvd, Sherwood Park, AB  www.altview.ca

Book Worm’s Book Club  Second Cup, 11210 Jasper Ave  bookworm@teamedmonton.ca

Jubilations Dinner Theatre  Bow Trail and 37th St. SW  403-249-7799  www.jubilations.ca

✰

34 Vertigo Mystery Theatre------------------  161, 115 - 9 Ave SE  403-221-3708  http://www.vertigomysterytheatre.com

Edmonton Bars & Clubs 5 Boots Bar and Lounge----------------- ✰

 10242 106th St  780-423-5014  http://www.bootsbar.ca/ 6 Buddy’s Nite Club--------------------------✰

 11725 Jasper Ave  780-488-6636 13 PLAY Nightclub-----------------------------✰

 10220 103 Street  780-497-7529  info@playnightclub.ca  http://www.playnightclub.ca 14 FLASH---------------------------------------✰

 10018 105 Street  780-999-8255 8 Prism Bar & Grill----------------------- ✰

 10524 101st St  780-990-0038  http://www.prismbar.ca

 http://www.ualberta.ca/~outreach Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender/transsexual, Queer, Questioning and Straight-but-not-Narrow student group.

Buck Naked Boys Club

 780-471-6993  http://www.bucknakedboys.ca Naturism club for men—being social while everyone is naked, and it does not include sexual activity.

Participants do not need to be gay, only male.

Camp fYrefly

 7-104 Dept. of Educational Policy Studies

Faculty of Education, University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G5  http://www.fyrefly.ualberta.ca Edmonton Pride Week Society

 http://www.prideedmonton.org Edmonton Prime Timers  edmontonpt@yahoo.ca  www.primetimersww.org/edmonton Group of older gay men and their admirers who come from diverse backgrounds but have common social interests. Affiliated with Prime Timers World Wide.

Edmonton Rainbow Business Association

 3379, 11215 Jasper Ave  780-429-5014  http://www.edmontonrba.org

Primary focus is the provision of networking opportunities for LGBT owned or operated and LGBTfriendly businesses in the Edmonton region.

Edmonton Illusions Social Club

 5 Boots Bar & Grill  780-387-3343

 groups.yahoo.com/group/edmonton_illusions 4 Edmonton STD

 11111 Jasper Ave

Edmonton Vocal Minority

 780-479-2038  sing@evmchoir.com www.evmchoir.com  Exposure 2010

 TBA

• Womonspace Board Meeting

 Main Space – Upstairs  wspresident@hotmail.com Womonspace is a Social and Recreational Society in Edmonton run by volunteers. They provide opportunities for lesbians to interact and support each other in a safe environment, and to contribute to the broader community.

• Youth Movie

 Main Space – Upstairs  brendan@pridecentreofedmonton.org Movie chosen by youth (aged 14 – 25), usually with LGBT themes. Popcorn is served.

• Free School

 Main Space – Upstairs  monika_penner@shaw.ca Free School provides workshops on a variety of topics related to local activism.

• YouthSpace

 brendan@pridecentreofedmonton.org A safe and supportive space for GLBTQ youth aged 13–25. Video games, computers with internet, clothing bank, and more.

• Get Tested for STIs Free STD testing for anyone interested. For more information please contact the Pride Centre.

• Youth Understanding Youth See separate listing.

• GLBT Seniors Drop-In

 Main Space – Upstairs  tuff@shaw.ca A social and support group for seniors of all genders and sexualities to talk, have tea and offer each other support.

• Men Talking with Pride

 Main Space – Upstairs

 robwells780@hotmail.com A social discussion group for gay, bisexual and transgendered men to discuss current issues and to offer support to each other.

• Men’s HIV Support Group

 Green Room – Upstairs  huges@shaw.ca Support group for people living with HIV/AIDS. • PFLAG

 Red room - Downstairs  780-436-1998  edmontonab@pflagcanada.ca Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays: A support group for family members and friends of GLBT people. An excellent resource for people whose family members and friends have just come out.

• Prime Timers See Edmonton Primetimers.

• Suit Up and Show Up: AA Big Book Study

 Downstairs Couch Area Discussion and support group for those struggling with an alcohol addiction or seeking support in staying sober.

• TTIQ

 Green Room – Upstairs  admin@pridecentreofedmonton.org TTIQ is mixed gender open support group addressing the needs of transsexual and transgendered individuals.

Team Edmonton

 president@teamedmonton.ca  http://www.teamedmonton.ca

Members are invited to attend and help determine the board for the next term. If you are interested in running for the board or getting involved in some of the committees, please contact us.

• Badminton (Mixed)

 St. Thomas Moore School, 9610 165 Street

 coedbadminton@teamedmonton.ca New group seeking male & female players.

• Badminton (Women’s)

 Oliver School, 10227 - 118 Street  780-465-3620

 badminton@teamedmonton.ca Women’s Drop-In Recreational Badminton. $40.00 season or $5.00 per drop in.

•Ballroom Dancing

 Foot Notes Dance Studio, 9708-45 Avenue NW  Cynthia: 780-469-3281 • Blazin’ Bootcamp

 Lynnwood School  bootcamp@teamedmonton.ca • Bowling (Northern Titans)

 Gateway Lanes, 100 - 3414 Gateway Blvd

 bowling@teamedmonton.ca $15.00 per person.

• Cross Country Skiing  crosscountry@teamedmonton.ca • Curling with Pride

 Granite Curling Club, 8620 107 Street NW  780-463-5942  curling@teamedmonton.ca

3 HIV Network Of Edmonton Society---- ✰  11456 Jasper Ave  www.hivedmonton.com

Imperial Sovereign Court of the Wild Rose

 http://www.gayedmonton.org

OUTreach

 University of Alberta, basement of SUB  outreach@ualberta.ca

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

21

Directory & Events EDMONTON EVENTS Mondays

Boot Camp------------------------------  7-8pm See Team Edmonton

Youth Understanding Youth------------  7-9pm See Youth Understanding Youth Mixed Badminton---------------------  8-10pm See Team Edmonton Jan13End of May

Youth Understanding Youth------------  7-9pm See Pride Centre of Edmonton Saturdays

Monthly Meetings---------------------- 2:30pm  Unitarian Church (10804 119th Street) See Edmonton Primetimers  2nd Friday, May 7th

Thursdays

Naturalist Gettogether---------------------- ???

See Buck Naked Boys Club  2nd

Men’s HIV Support Group-------------  7-9pm See Pride Centre of Edmonton  2nd

GLBT Seniors Drop-in------------------  1-4pm See Pride Centre of Edmonton

AA Big Book Study--------------------  12-1pm See Pride Centre of Edmonton

Curling---------------------------------  7:15pm See Team Edmonton Mar

Get Tested for STIs----------------------  3-6pm See Pride Centre of Edmonton  Last

Thank You, Sir!--------------------------  10pm

By ISCWR at 5 Boots Bar & Lounge

Tuesdays

Youthspace------------------------------  3-7pm See Pride Centre of Edmonton

Monthly Meeting-----------------------  2:30pm

By Edmonton Primetimers  2nd  Unitarian Church, 10804 - 119th Street Youthspace--------------------------  3-6:30pm See Pride Centre of Edmonton

Red Party-------------------------------  9-11pm

By ISCWR at 8 Prism Bar & Grill

Bowling------------------------------------ 5pm See Team Edmonton

Monday, May 17th

GLBT Seniors Drop-in------------------  1-4pm See Pride Centre of Edmonton TTIQ-------------------------------------  2-4pm See Pride Centre of Edmonton  2nd Youthspace------------------------------  3-7pm See Pride Centre of Edmonton Community Potluck---------------------  7-9pm See Pride Centre of Edmonton  Last Swimming------------------------------ Evening See Team Edmonton Wednesdays

PFLAG---------------------------------  12:10pm See Pride Centre of Edmonton  1st Youthspace------------------------------  3-7pm See Pride Centre of Edmonton Youth Sports/Recreation------------------ 4pm See Youth Understanding Youth

• Cycling (Edmonton Prideriders)

 Various locations in Edmonton  cycling@teamedmonton.ca  Every Wednesday, 6:30pm • Dragon Boat (Flaming Dragons)

 dragonboat@teamedmonton.ca • Golf  golf@teamedmonton.ca

Youth Sports/Recreation------------------ 4pm See Youth Understanding Youth Youth Understanding Youth------------  7-9pm See Pride Centre of Edmonton Intermediate Volleyball--------  7:30-9:30pm See Team Edmonton

Running------------------------------  10-11am See Team Edmonton

Swimming------------------------------ Evening See Team Edmonton

Free School----------------------------  11-5pm See Pride Centre of Edmonton  2nd, 4th

Fridays

Womonspace Meeting---------  12:30-1:30pm See Pride Centre of Edmonton  1st

Edmonton Illusions-------------------------- ???

See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton  2nd Youthspace--------------------------  3-6:30pm See Pride Centre of Edmonton Youth Sports/Recreation------------------ 4pm See Youth Understanding Youth Youth Movie Night------------------  6:30-8:30 See 1 Pride Centre of Edmonton

• Samsara Yoga

 Korezone Fitness, #203, 10575 -115 Street  yoga@teamedmonton.ca • Slo Pitch

 Parkallen Field, 111 st and 68 ave  slo-pitch@teamedmonton.ca Season fee is $30.00 per person. $10 discount for players from the 2008 season.

• Gymnastics, Drop-in

 Ortona Gymnastics Club, 8755 - 50 Avenue  gymnastics@teamedmonton.ca Have the whole gym to yourselves and an instructor to help you achieve your individual goals. Cost is $5.00 per session.

• Snowballs III

 February 5-7th, 2010  snowballs@teamedmonton.ca Skiing and Snowboarding Weekend.

• Hockey  hockey@teamedmonton.ca

• Spin

 MacEwan Centre for Sport and Wellness 109 St. and 104 Ave  Wednesdays, 5:45-6:45pm Season has ended.  spin@teamedmonton.ca 7 classes, $28.00 per registrant.

• Outdoor Pursuits

 outdoorpursuits@teamedmonton.ca • Running (Arctic Frontrunners)

 Kinsmen Sports Centre, front entrance  running@teamedmonton.ca All genders and levels of runners and walkers are invited to join this free activity.

Sundays

• Soccer

 soccer@teamedmonton.ca

• Swimming (Making Waves)

 NAIT Pool  swimming@teamedmonton.ca

Samsara Yoga----------------------  2-3:30pm See Team Edmonton Men Talking with Pride----------------  7-9pm See Pride Centre of Edmonton

Saturday, May 15th

Int. Day Against Homophobia------------ 5pm

 Garneau Theatre (8712 – 109 Street) Thursday, May 20th

Book Worm’s Book Club-------  7:30-9:30pm

By Edmonton Pride Centre  Chapel of Chimes (10179-108 Street) Friday, May 21st

Hats Off to Broadway-------------  10pm-1am

By ISCWR at 13 PLAY Nightclub Sunday, May 23rd

Prince’s Birthday Bash----------------  8-11pm

By ISCWR at 5 Boots Bar & Lounge

Legend:  = Monthly Reoccurrance,  = Date (Range),  = Sponsored Event • Tennis

 Kinsmen Sports Centre  Sundays, 12pm-3pm

 tennis@teamedmonton.ca • Ultimate Frisbee  Sundays Summer Season starts July 12th  ultimatefrisbee@teamedmonton.ca E-mail if interested.

• Volleyball, Free To Be Intermediate

 Amiskiwacy Academy (101 Airport Road)  volleyball@teamedmonton.ca • Volleyball, Free To Be Recreational

 Mother Teresa School (9008 - 105 Ave)  recvolleyball@teamedmonton.ca  Outdoor season, Sundays, 3-5pm • Women’s Lacrosse

 Sharon: 780-461-0017  Pam: 780-436-7374 Open to women 21+, experienced or not, all are welcome. Call for info.

Womonspace

 780-482-1794  womonspace@gmail.com  www.womonspace.ca

Youth Understanding Youth

 Edmonton Pride Centre, Main Space Upstairs

 yuy@shaw.ca  www.members.shaw.ca/yuy

A place where LGBTQ youth under 25 can gather to have fun and learn about themselves and others in a safe, supportive, and caring environment.

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

Friday, May 14th

Ballroom Dancing--------------  7:30-8:30pm See Team Edmonton

Women’s social group, but all welcome at events.

22

Grand Opening---------------------------- 9pm By 14 Flash Edmonton May8

• Sports and Recreation

 Pride Centre, 9540 - 111 Ave  Brendan: 780-488-3234  brendan@pridecentreofedmonton.org

Restaurants 5 Garage Burger Bar & Grill---------------  10242 106th St  780-423-5014 8 Prism Bar & Grill---------------------- See Edmonton - Bars and Clubs.

✰

Retail Stores Rodéo Drive

 11528 - 89th Street  780-474-0413  brendalee@rodeodrive.ca  http://www.rodeodrive.ca

His and hers fetish wear, toys, jewelry, etc.

Products & Services Cruiseline

 780-413-7122 trial code 3500  http://www.cruiseline.ca

Telephone classifieds and chat - 18+ ONLY. Interactive Male

 780-409-3333 trial code 8871  1-800-777-8000  www.interactivemale.com

Robertson-Wesley United Church

 10209 - 123 St. NW  780-482-1587  jravenscroft@rwuc.org  www.rwuc.org  Worship: Sunday mornings at 10:30am

People of all sexual orientations welcome. Other

Directory & Events LGBT events include a monthly book club and a bi-monthly film night. As a caring spiritual community, we’d love to have you join us!

• Soul OUTing

 Second Sunday every month, 7pm An LGBT-focused alternative worship.

• Film Night

 Bi-monthly, contact us for exact dates.

• Book Club

 Monthly, contact us for exact dates.

Same Gender Speed Dating Ltd.

 780-221-8535  www.samegenderdating.com

An LGBT-focused alternative worship.

• Gay Male Speed Dating

 Boston Pizza Private Party Room, Whyte Ave

 TBA Must pre-register to attend - please contact us.

• Lesbian Speed Dating

 Boston Pizza Private Party Room, Whyte Ave

 TBA Must pre-register to attend - please contact us.

Theatre & Fine Arts Exposure Festival

 http://www.exposurefestival.ca Edmonton’s Queer Arts and Culture Festival.

The Roxy Theatre

 10708 124th Street, Edmonton AB  780-453-2440  www.theatrenetwork.ca

Banff/Canmore Community Groups Mountain Pride

 BOX 4892, BANFF, AB, T1L 1G1

 Brian, 403-431-2569  1-800-958-9632  mountainpride@gaybanff.com  www.gaybanff.com

Serving the GLBTQS community in Banff, Canmore, Lake Louise and Area.

Lethbridge Community Groups GALA/LA

 403-308-2893  http://www.galalethbridge.ca Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Lethbridge and Area.

• Monthly Dances

 Henotic (402 - 2 Ave S) Bring your membership card and photo ID. • Monthly Potluck Dinners

 McKillop United Church, 2329 - 15 Ave S GALA/LA will provide the turkey...you bring the rest.

Please bring a dish to share that will serve 4-6 people, and your own beverage.

• Support Line

 403-308-2893  Monday OR Wednesday, 7pm-11pm Leave a message any other time.

• Friday Mixer

 The Mix (green water tower) 103 Mayor Magrath Dr S  Every Friday at 10pm Gay & Lesbian Integrity Assoc. (GALIA)

 University of Lethbridge  galia@uleth.ca GBLTTQQ club on campus.

• Movie Night

 Room C610, University of Lethbridge Gay Youth Alliance Group

 Betty, 403-381-5260  bneil@chr.ab.ca  Every second Wednesday, 3:30pm-5pm

Lethbridge HIV Connection

 1206 - 6 Ave S PFLAG Canada

 lethbridgeab@pflagcanada.ca  www.pflagcanada.com

Pride Lethbridge

 lethbridgepridefest@gmail.com

Red Deer Community Groups Affirm

 Sunnybrook United Church  403-347-6073  2nd Tuesday of the month, 7pm

Composed of LGBTQ people, their friends, family and allies. No religious affiliation necessary.

Activities include support, faith and social justice discussions, film nights, and potlucks!

LETHBRIDGE EVENTS Fridays

Friday Mixer-----------------------------  10pm See GALA/LA

Canadian Rainbow Health Coalition

 P.O. Box 3043, Saskatoon, SK, S7K 3S9  (306) 955-5135  1-800-955-5129  http://www.rainbowhealth.ca

Egale Canada

 8 Wellington St E, Third Floor Toronto, Ontario, M5E 1C5  1-888-204-7777  www.egale.ca Egale Canada is the national advocacy and lobby organization for gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, trans-identified people and our families.

Membership fees are pay-what-you-can, although pre-authorized monthly donors are encouraged (and get a free Egale Canada t-shirt). Egale has several committees that meet by teleconference on a regular basis; membership on these is national with members from every region of Canada.

Wednesday, May 12th

Gay Youth Alliance Group----------  3:30-5pm

By GALA Lethbridge

Theatre & Fine Arts Broadway Across Canada

 http://www.broadwayacrosscanada.ca

OUTtv

 http://www.outtv.ca

GLBT Television Station.

Products & Services Squirt

 http://www.squirt.org

Website for dating and hook-ups. 18+ ONLY!

Alberta Community Groups Central Alberta AIDS Network Society

 4611-50 Avenue, Red Deer, AB  http://www.caans.org

The Central Alberta AIDS Network Society is the local charity responsible for HIV prevention and support in Central Alberta.

Western Canadian Pride Campout  www.eventmasterinc.net YouthSafe

 http://www.youthsafe.net

Alberta’s website for youth with sex-and-gender differences. Youthsafe.net lists the resources, information and services to help youth find safe and caring spaces in Alberta.

Theatre & Fine Arts Alberta Ballet

 http://www.albertaballet.com

Frequent productions in Calgary and Edmonton.

Canada Community Groups Alberta Trans Support/Activities Group

 http://www.albertatrans.org

A nexus for transgendered persons, regardless of where they may be on the continuum.

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

23

Community Letter to the Editor Dear GayCalgary,

 James Demers

Mosaic Youth Group

Queer Youth Group Empowers and Takes Back Prom

By Janine Eva Trotta Based on a desire to “do something queer more than once a month,” in March, the Miscellaneous Youth Network(MYN) launched the Mosaic Youth Group for gay, bi, queer, lesbian, questioning, trans-identified or two-spirited youth, ages 10–25.

“We wouldn’t turn away anyone,” says James Demers, who has sat on the MYN board since its inception. “The organization kept me in high school. …It gave me someone to go to, something to do; an outlet for the frustrations I was going through.”

Demers was kicked out of his home when he came out to his parents at the age of 15, and still managed to graduate with scholarships; something he says would most likely not have been possible had he not met the MYN director and become the first youth member of the board.

Now Demers is giving back in the best way possible: being there for other youth feeling displaced or simply in need of a peer group that is understanding and safe.

The Mosaic Youth Group meets every Wednesday at the Old Y to discuss queer issues, attend educational workshops, watch theme-relevant films, or to just hang out and have fun. Demers says Mosaic is a culmination of all the years of growth and affiliations the MYN has acquired, and its biggest project to date.

The meetings are alcohol and drug free and there is a three strikes policy on infringements of respecting others physically or mentally. Mosaic has zero tolerance for bi or trans-phobia.

“You have a right to self-identification, self-label, or no label,” says Demers.

One meeting a month is dedicated to a “fieldtrip” activity. In April the group went roller skating and in July they will have a family-friendly barbeque and carwash fundraiser. Every third month Mosaic offers a friends, family and straight allies night, which youth are only encouraged to attend if comfortable.

Mosaic is completely self-funded, which allows the group the freedom to act in its best interests. For the last six years and running, MYN’s staple fundraiser has been the Fake Mustache Drag King and Variety Show, held on the first Thursday of every month at Soda. An all-ages show begins the evening with an 18+ performance to follow. Demers says that punctual Queens are more than welcome to join the act.

Another grand fundraiser will take place June 12th. Queer Prom 2010 is an event inspired by Constance McMillan, a 16year-old from Mississippi. She was bold enough to take her school 24

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

I originally intended on writing this letter to you last month, but with Telus disconnections and moving, that proved to be a challenge for this old absent minded queen.

What I have to say is a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who came out and supported the 5th ANNUAL ST. PATRICK’S DAY AUCTION on March 14. We had a small but mighty crowd who, through their generosity and huge hearts, we managed to make a difference for BESWICK HOUSE (The S.H.A.R.P. Foundation), to the sum of $1500.00. This brings our total in the last 5 years to just over $10,000.00. Without the Texas Lounge donating the space each year, GayCalgary donating all the media/advertising, and the community being there for a very worthy cause, this never would have been as successful as it has been since it started.

I also have to commend Sean Hogan, as he organizes this event every year as his birthday party, asking the community to bring an open heart and mind (and some cash too) instead of gifts. It’s not often you hear someone say they would rather not be the recipient of gifts, but rather give to a charity. KUDOS to you.

Also Sean, thank you for having me as your hostess/ auctioneer all this time. From the bottom of my heart I thank you all and I hope to see you all next year.

Love always, MYSTARE

to court after they cancelled prom, following a petition to take her girlfriend. While McMillan has been invited to the event, Mosaic had not received a response by the time this article was written.

This is an opportunity for anyone who doesn’t leaf through their yearbooks with the fondest of memories to redo prom night any way they want, sans parental supervision. Video projections, DJs and Polaroid photo ops are sure to make this night a hit and, if it is, the event could become an annual occurrence.

Demers says the group is at a stage of demanding rights for LGBT youth, rather than relying on a sense of deserving. “Pride is a cultural expression of the community.”

The MYN also puts out a Queer Zine which it hopes to re-launch bigger and bolder in time for Pride, Youth under 25 are encouraged to submit poetry, prose, art or photography and, in turn, will receive up to five copies of the edition in which their contribution appears. Furthermore, MYN will be holding the 5th annual Homo Hop, a free, underage queer youth dance, on September 3rd.

“These youth are looking for community,” Demers says.

“Ultimately that’s what we provide them. With community we can ultimately build anything.”

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a1680

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Community

When is a Crime a Hate Crime?

Recent Attack on Lesbian Woman Sparks Controversy

By Dallas Barnes and Sam Casselman On April 30th, the Edmonton Police Service’s LGBTQ Community Liaison Committee released an open letter to the community regarding an attack that occurred early last month.

There has been much community concern and media coverage regarding the alleged assault on Shannon Barry, which occurred in the early morning of Saturday, April 17th. This alleged assault has been described as an attack against the LGBTQ community because its victim is a lesbian and because the perpetrator allegedly used homophobic language during the altercation. Other concerns have been expressed about the investigating police officer’s 4-day delay in filing the incident report. As a result of the concerns expressed by the victim herself, the LGBTQ community, and Edmontonians in general, the LGBTQ Liaison Committee has engaged in a case consultation with the EPS Chief of Police, Mike Boyd, members of the Hate Crimes Unit, and senior police officers.

Upon review, a number of actions have been taken or are planned in regard to this case, including an: • internal review regarding the processes of the investigation, • investigation by the Edmonton Police Service’s Hate Crimes Unit, and • independent review of the matter by the Alberta Crown Prosecutor’s Office.

The investigation into the incident continues. Edmonton Police Services has told the LGBTQ Liaison Committee that based on its initial review, the alleged assault appears not to be motivated by hate, but was an altercation which involved an exchange of slurs, some of which included homophobic language. According to the Edmonton Police Service, the alleged assault does not meet the legal threshold for being considered a hate crime.

Whether or not this alleged assault constitutes a hate crime will ultimately be determined by the independent review of the Crown Prosecutor’s Office. How this alleged assault is defined does not, however, mitigate its serious nature and we deplore its impact upon the individual, the LGBTQ community, and Edmontonians.

We acknowledge that the Police Chief has publicly apologized for the breach in reporting policy by the attending Constable. We also acknowledge the timely arrest of the alleged perpetrator, the investigation by the Hate Crimes Unit, and statements from the Chief of Police, which demonstrate the gravity in which the EPS has taken our community’s concerns. The LGBTQ Liaison Community Committee will continue to monitor this investigation and Edmonton Police Service’s action relative to this case and we will continue to respond publicly to this issue as the investigation continues and more information emerges.

This was in response to a crime committed on Saturday, April 1st, when Shannon Barry of Edmonton was kicked in the face by a 14 year-old boy causing a broken jaw, crushed left eye socket and facial nerve damage, while walking along 96th Street near 75th Avenue in Edmonton with five of her friends.

According to Barry, accompanying this physical assault were “sexual epithets” in the tune of “dyke and faggot.” The constable investigating the incident did not finish and file his report before his shift ended and he went for days off.

Over the next week, there was a public outcry for an explanation. First of all, was this boy going to be charged with a hate crime, and secondly, why was this attack not followed through?

According to the Edmonton Journal, “police confirmed they began investigating the incident only after a CBC News report came out Wednesday. It detailed how the officer who responded to the women’s 911 call had not followed the standard police

practice of calling in a dog team or helicopter to search for the attackers, who had fled after the assault.”

Barry criticized the Edmonton Police Service for its lack of follow up. “I’m overwhelmed by everything. I’m happy that somebody is going to be held responsible for what happened and, as far as his age goes, I’m just really sad.” She claims to have had little contact with the investigators until the following Thursday and does not understand why there was such a communication breakdown or follow up to the assault.

The next Saturday a press conference was held by Chief Mike Boyd confirming the mistake made by police. “This was a breach of policy which led to the victim being told on Tuesday that there was no record of the incident,” he said.

“First, I want to offer my apology to the victim and I also want to offer my apology on behalf of the Edmonton Police Service to our wider minority communities here in the city of Edmonton for the response that the victim got on Tuesday when she phoned the Edmonton Police Service, and this apology includes for the original officer not filing that report.

“If information was in the file, as is proper procedure, she would have been told that the member fully intended to investigate this crime and pursue leads based on the suspect description. The error in judgment made by the responding officer was a mistake and he is genuinely remorseful for that mistake.”

After police learned of the error Tuesday, the hate crimes unit on Wednesday started investigating, Boyd noted. The officer is expected to face internal discipline for failing to properly file his report, Boyd said. “There was a breach of policy in this case and, as a result of that, I will need to take the appropriate action with the officer involved here.”

According to Kris Wells, Co-chair of the police liaison committee for the GLBTA community of Edmonton, the relationship between the committee and the EPS is strong, and they will be kept well informed of all that is happening with the case.

“If this person can be assaulted because of their identity, then any one of us from the lesbian and gay community is vulnerable to being victimized,” says Wells.

According to the EPS, a Hate Crime can be defined as “an offence committed against a person or property, which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the suspect’s hate, bias or prejudice towards an identifiable group based on, real or perceived, race, national or ethnic origin, language, color, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation or any other similar factor.” If Barry’s attack wasn’t considered a hate crime than how is one determined?

Although the conviction is still being considered by the Crown Prosecutor’s Office, the EPS does not believe that the incident falls under their definition of a hate crime.

What we can be certain of, however, is that this attack has been felt across the province and beyond. Currently, the Shannon Barry (hate crime) Facebook page has over 1400 members from across the world. There are posts of sympathy for Shannon, anger at the EPS, petitions in favour of penalizing the officer in question and stories of similar attacks.

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a1682

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25

Interview

Wild Child: A Cherie Currie Q&A Lead singer of the all-girl group The Runaways

By Chris Azzopardi Never did Cherie Currie think her life – the drugs, drama and debauchery – would be part of a movie. She still can’t believe it.

But as Currie tells us from a Michigan hotel suite how unfathomable it is that Dakota Fanning portrays the lead singer of the all-chick band The Runaways in the eponymous biopic, there’s also a sense of relief that it’s now just a movie.

All the baggage of being a rock star took a toll on Currie’s life, told thoroughly in Neon Angel, her recently released memoir that inspired the film, which she says only scratches the surface.

Currie also dishes on messing around with Joan Jett, how the ’70s was a time for sexual experimentation and what we’re missing in the movie.

GayCalgary: What was going through your mind the first time you saw The Runaways?

Cherie Currie: So much, because they took a lot of creative liberty in the film and changed a lot. About our record deal: We got signed right away before we even went on tour and they have us signed (in the movie) after we’ve been on the road for a while. They have me putting on the corset for the first time in Japan when I actually put it on before we even went on our first U.S. tour. And I won the talent show! I wasn’t booed off stage.

I do really like the way Floria (Sigismondi, director and screenwriter) shot the film. It’s very personable and gritty and I just loved Dakota – how good she is, how gorgeous she is and how completely destroyed she becomes in this film.

It’s very true to life – we were run into the ground basically in The Runaways. Kristen (Stewart, who plays Jett) was 26

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

phenomenal. Michael Shannon (as Kim Fowley, the group’s manager) just lights up the screen every time he’s on.

GayCalgary: Almost literally with that red lipstick.

Cherie Currie: I know it! It’s funny, I didn’t even remember Kim Fowley wearing that much makeup, but then I look back at pictures and he was wearing makeup all the time (laughs).

GayCalgary: Did you ever think that Kim was gay?

Cherie Currie: No. That never crossed my mind.

GayCalgary: What were you feeling seeing your life essentially right in front of you?

Cherie Currie: Just shock. To be honest, it took me so long to wrap my brain around it, that this (movie) was actually happening. I kept thinking I’m going to wake up. It still feels that way. I wonder if it’s going to really hit me how huge this is – and, of course, Dakota being my favorite actress of all time is such a perk. I’ll never forget seeing her in Man On Fire and saying, “Who the hell is this girl?” because she just takes the most seasoned actors and wipes up the floor with them.

GayCalgary: What advice did you give her on the set?

Cherie Currie: I didn’t have any advice to give at all. I just told her how I was feeling at particular moments that were happening in the film. One was in Japan when the whole magazine thing goes down and Floria had her playing it like she didn’t care. And I was devastated. I had no idea that I was the only one in this magazine. Kim had told me that everyone was going to have their own personal photo session, so I realized that not only did he lie to me, but these girls were pissed! And here we are in Japan on the greatest tour of our lives and it all just came to pieces, and I needed to tell Dakota that because Floria didn’t.

GayCalgary: What was left out of the movie that’s in the book?

Cherie Currie: I, of course, wish there was more of what we went through. Europe was insane. Kim’s “sex education class.” When you read the book you’ll see what I mean. You’ll see really that this would’ve been an epic.

GayCalgary: I felt the kissing scene with you and Joan Jett was a big tease. I wanted more.

Cherie Currie: Well, you know there was more. They’re in bed together in the morning for crying out loud!

GayCalgary: How would you describe your intimate relationship with Joan Jett?

Cherie Currie: Oh my God! Back in the ’70s, Elton John, David Bowie, Mick Jagger – everyone was talking bisexuality.

It was the time of experimentation and freedom from being shunned for it, and we took advantage of that. Why not?

Everyone thinks it. Everyone.

GayCalgary: How would you compare that era of sexual liberation to what’s happening currently?

Cherie Currie: Equality is definitely further along than it was in the ’70s, but there’s still people that hang on to those old ideas. They believe that it’s some kind of a disease or they believe it’s something that people choose. It’s ridiculous that even adults think this way. And you know why? It’s fear.

Fear is the most debilitating emotion on this planet, and if you just shun it – the fear of admitting fantasies of being with another woman or another man – it pushes away the reality that you’ve actually considered it or wished it. We’re human beings. We’re far more open than people want to believe. But fear is a horrible emotion that I wish people would just get rid of. It would change their perspective.

GayCalgary: So despite some experimentation with the same-sex, were you labeling yourself as bisexual in the ’70s?

Cherie Currie: Oh yeah. It was pretty obvious.

GayCalgary: Do you think it’s important for kids to experiment with their sexuality like you did?

Cherie Currie: I say you have to go with your heart. It’s got to be something that you want to do. There are some kids out there who will probably not want to, but if you have a desire, absolutely. I’m not kicking you out the door and telling you to go find out. I’m just saying kids are going to do it. They’re going to experiment. Let them do it. It’s healthy. It’s parents turning around and crushing kids like I was crushed as a kid with my first experimentation, when my sister slapped me across the face and I wanted to throw myself off a building.

But that’s fear again. Her fear.

GayCalgary: How have you taught your teenage son tolerance?

Cherie Currie: My son is so remarkable. From the time he could understand I was telling him how big and bad this world was. I was kidnapped as a kid. I’ve lived through a lot.

And this child just loves and understands everybody. He’s never understood discrimination. He’ll say, “Mom, this doesn’t make sense.” He’s going to make waves in this world.

GayCalgary: You’re doing some shows with Joan Jett this summer. Will you bust out the corset?

Cherie Currie: I’m 50 years old, come on. It’s not the Pussycat Dolls revisited.

GayCalgary: Do you miss being part of The Runaways?

Cherie Currie: Oh sweetie, no. We were kids. It’s like asking if you’d want to go back to high school again.

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a1683

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Q Scopes

“Strut your stuff, Leo!”

With the Sun in Taurus, Venus in Gemini and Eris in Aries all in harmony one can hardly resist the urge to flirt and banter, even a bit competitively. Do keep the quips friendly!

ARIES (March 20 – April 19): Try to keep those playful impulses simply playful. You can get caught up way too easily in one-upmanship. If you really know who you are and what you’re about, you have nothing to prove.

TAURUS (April 20 – May 20): What you own is not who you are. Keep repeating that. You’re in no immediate danger, but as a spiritual exercise imagine losing all your belongings, having only your own self and the people you love. Scary? It could be liberating!

GEMINI (May 21- June 20): Venus is augmenting your own natural beauty. That alone won’t help you find love.

Throw yourself into community service or political activity.

Invest your time and energy in a better global future and your personal future should brighten up too.

CANCER (June 21- July 22): Meditative inspiration, support from friends and professional advancement are as necessary as food, water and air. Each of the three is necessary to support the other two. If you can balance them all, you’re sure to thrive and succeed.

LEO (July 23 – August 22): Strut your stuff. Don’t hold back. Be gracious in welcoming all challenges and arguments as they will give you an opportunity to show your prowess. But go easy! Kindness to your opponents will pay off big for you.

VIRGO (August 23 – September 22): Charming your way to the top will get you noticed – and annoy the competition. Stay nice and principled in dealing with critics and backbiters. Don’t sink to their level; kill them with kindness.

LIBRA (September 23 – October 22): Looking for love?

You’ll find it more easily far from your usual hunting grounds. Keep an eye out for someone you can play and compete with. Got love? Spice it up with some competitive sport. Wrestle for top – or bottom.

SCORPIO (October 23 – November 21): Your erotic charisma is cranked way up. Enjoy it the easy way (the gym, jogging, any exercise or sports make you irresistible) or sublimate that energy to promote your work, and to get colleagues to cooperate more effectively.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 – December 20): Your competitively playful spirit can help boost morale at work. If you and your co-workers have no rivals to conquer, strive for a team/personal best. Pride in your work and going for that personal best will help you find love or keep it.

CAPRICORN (December 21 – January 19): You can shine in games or sports, especially where you can show off your running or your vocabulary. Creative handicrafts, particularly which come out of your ethnic background, can show you to be handier than some people – including yourself – may think.

AQUARIUS (January 20 – February 18): Try your hand at any sort of domestic creativity. Cook, decorate, upholster the children, whatever strikes your fancy. Add your own touch to old family recipes and styles. Can you do better than Mom? Better than your sister at least? Prove it!

PISCES (February 19 – March 19): Swap old family stories, either with your family to brush up your genealogy or with friends just for the fun of it. No family tales you care to share? How about recipes? Invite a few pals to share old favorite dishes.



 



 

  

 



Jack Fertig, a professional astrologer since 1977, is available for personal and business consultations in person in San Francisco, or online everywhere. He can be reached at 415-864-8302, through his Web site at www.starjack.com.

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

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Gossip female Glenn Beck while Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm) will pick up duties on the left. And best of all, Carrie Fisher will star as the sarcasm-dispensing boss. And how weird will it be if the Will & Grace star’s new character has an anti-gay bent?

Will she choke on the dialogue or deliver it like a pro, Archie Bunker-style?

Romeo really wants this one to make it on the air.

Superheroes in the Family

 Daniel Radcliffe, still casting spells

Deep Inside Hollywood Ron Weasley explodes in Cherry Bomb Romeo San Vicente Turn kids into movie stars and soon enough they’ll want to start acting in movies about hookers and drugs to show you how grown up they are. Daniel Radcliffe went the art-theater route by getting naked on stage in Equus, but his Harry Potter pal Rupert Grint has gone full-tilt depraved in Cherry Bomb, a film about a wild teen weekend that goes all wrong. According to early reports, Mr. Grint snorts coke, has sex with night-ladies and is somehow involved in a bisexual love triangle before the closing credits roll. Sounds like Romeo’s idea of a fun weekend.

Shot back in 2008, the movie has no official release date yet but it’s about to hit film festivals, which means multiplex audiences will get their eyes on it later in 2010 or sometime in 2011.

Jennifer Beals: Chief of Police On The L Word, Jennifer Beals as Better Porter was quite often the one character in the mix who seemed to keep her head screwed on properly when everyone else was coming unglued.

So it makes perfect sense that Fox would want to cast the unflappable one as Chicago’s first female police chief in its new series Ride-Along. Don’t get too excited yet, lesbians. This might signal major progress since the days of Police Woman, but it’s still a pilot and comes fully equipped with the usual warnings – it might not make the schedule, its star could be re-cast, or they might decide to set it in outer space with a choir of singing teenagers. But as of right now you’re one step closer to seeing the lady packing heat and using it on wrongdoers.

Ann Coulter, The Sitcom Wright vs. Wrong, at first glance, sounds like a show made up to justify its cutely clever title. A conservative right-wing TV commentator doing regular comedy battle with a liberal counterpart and a snarky manager, a workplace sitcom designed to appeal to both red and blue states, but one that will probably swing to the left (it’s Hollywood, after all). And who knows, that may be what we wind up with, but at least it has a cool cast to flesh out the material. Debra Messing stars as the 28

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Greg Berlanti, the talented gay writer/producer with credits like Dawson’s Creek, Everwood and Brothers & Sisters under his belt, wants to introduce you to a new pack of brothers and sisters in No Ordinary Family. Starring Michael Chiklis, Romany Malco (Weeds) and Julie Benz (Dexter), the action series centers on a family who discovers that they all have superpowers, sort of like X-Men crossed with The Brady Bunch.

It’s due in the fall. Meanwhile, Berlanti is currently directing the feature Life As We Know It, about two single adults who become overnight parents to the children of mutual friends who die in an accident. That one stars Katherine Heigl, Josh Duhamel, Josh Lucas and Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks and, in spite of its heavy premise, is actually a comedy and is scheduled to surface sometime later this year, which is far enough into the future to help us forget about those other Katherine Heigl-starring comedies we’ve seen.

Romeo San Vicente thinks children are great, as long as they belong to someone else and are already good at fixing martinis. He can be reached care of this publication.

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a1685

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Lifestyle

Cocktail Chatter Gearing up for housemates season

By Ed Sikov “They eat grasshoppers there.” This came from Kyle, one of “the puppies,” as the rest of us called them behind their backs. “You moron! It’s cicadas!” — the inevitable put-down by Robbie, the other puppy.

Generically shirtless but periodically pantsless, too, the puppies moved and spoke in tandem. They played with each other like restless young Weimeraners.

“Kyle is right,” I shouted from the kitchen just before pushing the blender button marked “pulverize,” mainly to mix up the brunch cocktail du jour, but also to drown out the conversation. The puppies were more than hot; they were scorching. But they could also be tedious, especially when clothed.

I was making Sangres de Marias — which my partner Dan and I thought up during a trip to Oaxaca, where they serve mezcal – a fierce, smoky drink made from the maguey agave plant. Mezcal is tequilaish, only better — more like a barbecued brandy than the druggy but mixable star of the 7-Eleven-Slushee-like frozen Margarita. Mezcal is smokier and more refined.

When they aren’t drinking it with ground up worms preserved in salt (I said no, no, no), Oaxacans serve shots of mezcal with sangrita, the perfect chaser — Bloody Mary-like, but more complex and citrusy.

And it’s spicier and more refreshing than those awful hint-of-powderedhorseradish disasters sold to the gullible as Bloody Mary mixes. (Oh, come on! Get some tomato juice, a bottle of real horseradish, and some Tabasco, and make the damn Bloody from scratch.)

Here’s our recipe for Sangres de Marias, but you should adjust the proportions and make it your own way: • 1 48-ounce bottle tomato juice — don’t get the low sodium kind or you’ll simply end up with cocktails that need salt • 1 cup orange juice (freshly squeezed is best but pricey) • ½ cup unsweetened lime juice (use ReaLime, not Rose’s, which is sweetened) • 1 teaspoon ground cumin • 1 teaspoon ground ancho chilies (optional) • A handful of roughly chopped cilantro • A few shakes of Tabasco • Premium vodka – I recommend Absolut Blend the first seven ingredients until almost smooth. Pour the mixture into a large pitcher, and add as much Absolut vodka as possible.

Just be careful not to overwhelm either the cocktail or your guests. Add it by the slosh until you think it’s enough. Never forget this cardinal rule: You’re not making a hydrogen bomb. You’re making a drink. Proportions aren’t critical with Bloody Marys or Sangres de Marias.

Ed Sikov is the author of Dark Victory; The Life of Bette Davis, and other books about films and filmmakers.

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a1686

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Dan and I have a house in Fire Island Pines, which we can only afford by having housemates, so we were launching the upcoming 2010 season with the annual housemates brunch — a slightly sodden prelude to another summer in Alice’s Gay Wonderland — the gorgeous beach full of gorgeous men, the joking and the bitching, the flashes of skin in our outdoor shower (conveniently located outside the kitchen window — the puppies were superstars in this arena), and of course the cocktails.

We served the Sangres de Marias in tall, thin flea market glasses, but you can use any glassware you like. Just show some class — no plastic cups. And add enough vodka so you can taste it. I’m sorry, but vodka is not tasteless — it adds flavor as well as punch. If all you want is watered down tomato juice, then add more ice and let it melt.

Except for Robbie’s obnoxious response (“This tastes like pureed grasshoppers” — I was outraged), the Sangres de Marias were a hit.

Craig, the shall we say fat former theater student turned legal aide, blurted, “You should call it el cuaderno de la virgen.” “You’re dating yourself, doll,” I said, to which he retorted, “Of course I am — no one else will.”

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

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Out of Town

National Parks of the Southwest

Experiencing the Nature and Beauty of Americas National Parks

By Andrew Collins Visitation at America’s best-known national parks has skyrocketed in recent years, so it’s no surprise that these monuments to natural scenery and wide-open spaces have become increasingly popular with gays and lesbians. Whether you’re into camping, serious hiking and off-road trekking, or you’re more likely to stay in a romantic lodge, check out the park museums and spend most of your time in your car, you’ll be happy to know that most national parks offer a balance of both mellow and rigorous diversions.

The southwestern United States, from the sweeping deserts of interior Southern California to the spectacular rock formations, deep canyons and craggy cliffs of Arizona and Utah, contains several of the nation’s most celebrated national parks. Here’s a look at five of the most impressive.

Of the five national parks and one national monument in southeastern Utah, Arches and Canyonlands — which lie close together, near the funky and low-keyed town of Moab — are among the most memorable.

The Colorado River cuts through the southern edge of Arches and then — where it’s joined by the Green River — snakes around the brilliant red sandstone formations of Canyonlands. The latter park takes days to investigate thoroughly. It comprises four districts, all miles from one another by car.

At Arches, on the other hand, you can get a quick sense of the park’s grandeur in one day. More than 2,000 sandstone arches — some of them as tall as 50 feet — dot this jagged, almost surreal landscape. A paved road allows access to most attractions, but you have to get out and follow one of the many trails to truly appreciate the park. The must-see is Delicate Arch, reached via a moderately strenuous 3-mile round-trip trail (with an ascent of 500 feet).

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GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

Driving distances: Salt Lake, UT (225 miles), Aspen, CO (230 miles), Las Vegas, NV (450 miles).

Where to stay: Sorrel River Ranch for elegantly rustic accommodations by the Colorado River, and Mayor’s House B&B (www.mayorshouse.com) for attractive, mid-priced rooms in downtown Moab.

Where to eat: Sorrel River Ranch for upscale, regional American fare, Eddie McStiff’s for local microbrews and great burgers.

Covering an astounding 5,200 square miles (making it just slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut), Death Valley National Park is immense in scope — it contains the lowest point in the United States, Badwater Basin, a salty, mud-caked spot that you can walk to easily from the road. And it claims the hottest summer temperatures in the country (late fall through early spring are mild and comfortable, however). But the park’s extreme aspects sometimes take away from the tremendous diversity of its terrain, from the cooler high mountains peaks (some with elevations above 10,000 feet) that overlook the valley to the undulating sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells.

You could explore Death Valley for a full week and never come close to seeing all of the park’s notable sites — the remains of historic borax works, hikes through the dramatically colored rock formations of Mosaic Canyon, costumed tours of the remote and eccentric 1920s mansion known as Scotty’s Castle. This is one park, because of its enormity, where it can be very helpful to book a guided excursion — Pink Jeep Tours offers informative trips around the park in modern, comfortable, fully enclosed vehicles.

Sample driving distances: Las Vegas, NV (120 miles), Los Angeles, CA (285 miles), Palm Springs, CA (300 miles).

Where to stay: Inn at Furnace Creek for historic, atmospheric rooms with expansive valley views, and Ranch at Furnace Creek for affordable, smartly furnished rooms in the heart of the park.

Travel Where to eat: Inn at Furnace Creek for truly exceptional, creatively prepared American food and a lavish Sunday brunch, and Wrangler Steakhouse for hearty burgers and steaks.

It’s fair to say that enough has been written and said about the Grand Canyon that even those who’ve never been often feel they have a good sense of it. Still, it’s nearly impossible to comprehend the full splendor of this massive chasm that’s 18 miles across, 300 miles long, and over a mile deep — it must be seen to be believed.

A surprising number of visitors come by for a day, stop by a few viewpoints, and continue on. If at all possible, try to spend at least a couple of days here. The South Rim is the most accessible than its higheraltitude counterpart, the North Rim (which is also closed in winter). On an ideal visit to the South Rim, you’ll stay at one of the several lodging options inside the park (book many months in advance if you’re planning a summer visit), hike at least part of the way into the canyon, and ride the park shuttle bus along the rim, stopping at the many noteworthy viewing areas. If you have extra time, consider riding the scenic Grand Canyon Railway from the town of Williams, about 60 miles south.

Driving distances: Phoenix, AZ (230 miles), Las Vegas, NV (280 miles), Albuquerque, NM (400 miles).

Where to stay: El Tovar Hotel for its architectural significance, upscale accommodations, and enviable setting on the South Rim, and the nearby Bright Angel Lodge and Cabins for less pricey rooms and wonderfully charming rustic cabins that are also steps from the Rim. Where to eat: El Tovar Dining Room for its old-world elegance, and Cameron Trading Post for simple, hearty, and delicious Southwestern and Native American cooking about 30 miles from the park’s east entrance.

A short drive from the world-famous gay resort Palm Springs, this 800,000-acre park at the convergence of the deathly hot Colorado and slightly cooler Mojave deserts feels miles away from civilization. It looks almost lunar like in places. Of course, it’s famous for the thousands of curious-looking Joshua trees for which the park is named. These distinctive members of the lily family grow about an inch a year and bloom winsome white flowers ever so rarely.

Driving distances: Phoenix, AZ (130 miles), San Diego, CA (425 miles), Albuquerque, NM (440 miles).

Where to stay: The new Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain for its thoroughly posh yet refreshingly hip and modern vibe, and Hotel Congress for rockbottom-priced, funky rooms on the edge of Tucson’s gay-popular 4th Avenue district.

Where to eat: Janos for refined classically inspired Southwestern cuisine, and Bentley’s Coffeehouse for inexpensive coffees, terrific sandwiches and salads, along with fun people watching.

Andrew Collins covers gay travel for the New York Times-owned website About.com and is the author of Fodor’s Gay Guide to the USA. He can be reached care of this publication.

The Little Black Book Arches and Canyonlands national parks, Utah (www.nps.gov/arch, www.nps.gov/cany). Grand Canyon National Park (www.nps. gov/grca), Arizona. Death Valley National Park (www.nps.gov/ deva), California. Joshua Tree National Park (www.nps.gov/jotr), California. Saguaro National Park, Arizona (www.nps.gov/sagu) Sorrel River Ranch (www.sorrelriver.com) Eddie McStiffs(www. eddiemcstiffs.com) Inn at Furnace Creek (www.furnacecreekresort. com) El Tolvar Lodge (www.grandcanyonlodges.com) (www. camerontradingpost.com) Palm Springs Riviera Resort & Spa (www. psriviera.com) Copleys on Palm Island (www.copleyspalmsprings. com) Wangs in the Dessert (www.wangsinthedesert.com) Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain (www.ritzcarlton.com) Hotel Congress (www. hotelcongress.com) Janos (www.janos.com) Bentley’s Coffeehouse (www.bentleyscoffeehouse.com) http://www.gaycalgary.com/a1687

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This aside, seeing a Joshua tree is but a minor reason to visit. There are several scenic drives — the 6-mile spur out to 5,100-foot Keys View affords breathtaking vistas over the entire Coachella Valley. Several short but fascinating trails penetrate the park’s myriad ecosystems: a brief scramble through the Cholla Cactus Garden will introduce you to the regional flora, while the 1.3-mile High View Nature Trail entails a 300-foot ascent to magnificent Summit Peak. Longer trails past piles of massive boulders and by oasis like hot springs offer the possibility of spying bighorn sheep and golden eagles.

Driving distances: Palm Springs, CA (50 miles), Los Angeles, CA (150 miles), Phoenix, AZ (270 miles).

Where to stay: Palm Springs Riviera Resort & Spa for swanky, overthe-top whimsical rooms, and Ace Hotel Palm Springs (www.acehotel. com/palmsprings) for economical, arty rooms and a retro-hip attitude.

Where to eat: Copleys on Palm Canyon for stellar contemporary American cuisine, and Wang’s in the Desert for enticing pan-Asian fare and a hugely gay-popular happy hour.

Comprising two distinct districts that bracket the scenic city of Tucson, this 91,000-acre park is named for the captivating, cartoonlike saguaro cacti that dot the region. These massive plants, with enormous forks, tower as high as 50 feet and grow at an amazingly slow rate of speed — many are well over a century old. Although the park is dedicated to preserving the saguaro landscape, it’s actually a preserve of countless types of flora and fauna that thrive in the Sonoran desert, from cholla cactus to elusive pig-like javelina.

You’ll find visitor centers, scenic park drives, and numerous trails in both sections of the park, one about 15 miles east of downtown Tucson, and the other roughly 20 miles to the west. Highlights include the 8-mile Cactus Forest Drive loop-road, in the eastern section, which has several short and notable hikes off of it. If you’re exploring the western sections, drive along the Bajada Loop Drive, setting aside an hour or so to stroll the short Valley View Overlook Trail — this is one of the best photo ops in the park. And while you’re at the western part of the park, check out the nearby Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, where naturalistic enclosures provide a viewable habitat for more than 300 different animal species indigenous to this part of the Southwest.

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

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Community

 “The Golden Pin”

 “The Island”

The 12th Annual Fairy Tales Queer Film Festival Something for Everyone under the Rainbow

By Dallas Barnes From May 27th to June 3rd, Kensington’s own Plaza Theatre will be host to 47 award-winning and thought provoking films dedicated to exploring issues in GLBTQA culture. Promising to be “a lineup that is it’s most bold, beautiful, and inclusive selection of films yet,” The Fairy Tales Presentation Society has again outdone itself.

Jessica Dollard, Programming Director of Fairy Tales can only attribute this success to dedicated hard work by both herself and all the organizations and individuals that have given their time and energy to the annual festival. “This year has been busy, one big adventure, and I think the organization has benefitted from the renewed effort and energy of our new team.”

This is, in fact Dollard’s first year as Program Director with the departure of last year’s Program Director Matt Salton. Jessica stepped into Fairy Tales with a passion for film and a desire to expand the organization into more than it already was.

“I come from a theatre background, so I had a lot to learn about how the film industry works with distributors, negotiating screening fees, and creating a program guide – it has been quite an adventure for me. We have also done quite a bit of work rebranding the organization and beginning new programs, such as Reels on Wheels this year. I can honestly say that our team has found that outreach through Reels on Wheels and community partnerships are an integral part of what Fairy Tales is about, and we have found these endeavours very rewarding.”

Fairy Tales 12 has something for everyone. “Don’t be fooled or frightened by the GLBTQA acronym,” says Dollard. The Festival’s features encompass a large, international, societal, and cultural base.

Not only are there film’s from such places as Canada, Australia, Sweden, China, USA, Israel, Peru, and Argentina, but there is also a “Bring a Straight Night” on Wednesday, June 2nd, with enticing 2 for 1 offers.

This night features the film Beyond Gay: the Politics of Pride,” which is a documentary exploring pride festivals around the world. Following the film, there will be cocktails and discussions with Calgary’s Pride Board in attendance at Sam’s Bar and Grill, two minutes from the Plaza Theatre.

At the heart of the festival, and in conjunction with AIDS Calgary, Fairy Tales will be running AIDS As A Catalyst on May 30th and 31st which “promotes the understanding of media arts, cinema, visual arts, opera, and the placement of AIDS.” This project consists of screenings,

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art installations, and panel discussions that will work in tandem to keep the discussion of AIDS current and meaningful.

This two-day focus will be full of the works of John Grayson, Trevor Anderson, Keith Murray, Ted Kerr, and Sharon Stevens. There will be panel discussions on how art and film can work objectively to “make a difference.” Included will be a discussion of John Greyson’s new film Fig Tree, focusing on “challenges in making an age old art form accessible and relevant in order to tell stories to modern audiences.”

Rounding out AAC is a panel discussion on how AIDS and societal reactions to AIDS contribute to those who produce works combining art and activism. This follows General Idea: Art, AIDS, and the Fin De Siècle, a film by Ted Kerr who brings to Fairy Tales his work with HIV Edmonton and Exposure: Edmonton’s Queer Arts and Culture Festival.

All panel discussions are free with the ticket to the preceding film.

Each day of the Festival is in tandem with a general theme and corresponding community sponsor.

Opening night on May 27th will be host to the enigmatic film The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, telling the story of Jools and Lynda Topp, New Zealand’s “only comedic, country singing, dancing, and yodeling lesbian twin sisters.” This film is guaranteed to win your heart, and make you laugh.

Immediately following the screening, guests are invited to join in at Dolce Sapori in Kensington for the Opening Gala. Free admission and refreshments are granted with a Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls ticket stub.

A unique addition to this year’s Festival is the Spoon Me Youth Gala being held on Saturday, May 29th. This program features shorts with young people ages 12-17 in mind. Within the nine shorts is an animated film depicting a love letter from a young boy to his father who has grown into a beautiful, strong woman. According to IMDB, it tells a story of “an exploration of memory, loss of innocence, growing up, and being who you are,” a definite familiar tale to many youth in the community.

Following Spoon Me, the theme continues into Eclectic and Electric Shorts. This is a definite must-see, with films that explore a number of gritty and humorous topics. If this isn’t enough, Ultimate Sub Ultimate Dom: Maria Von Trapp and Mary Poppins by title alone, will bring the crowds to the Plaza Theatre.

A staple in the GLBTQA community is Constable Lynn MacDonald of the Calgary Police Service’s Diversity Resource Unit. She will be leading a panel discussion at the end of the first screening at the Tuesday, June 1st Identification Please? Program. This evening is guaranteed to

 “Undertow” be both objective and subjective as the films deal with transexualism, transitioning, and the individuals that both oppose and approve. One such film being showcased this evening, Boy I Am, a USA made film from Sam Feder and Julie Hollar, examining the lives of young transitioning FTM’s (female to male) in New York City. Not only does the film look at their own processes, it also examines the impact of transexuality within feminist and lesbian culture. Feminist and lesbian varied degrees of non-acceptance of MTF’s (male to female) and FTM’s is perhaps the dirty little secret of queer culture. This film opens up this discussion and “challenges all viewers to rethink their concepts of activism and identity.”

When asked about the films that are part of the Festival, Jessica Dollard asserts that the theme this year is one we can all identify with.

“I think the common thread here is love stories! The Festival is filled with stories of love - a universal and accessible theme in my estimation.”

A strong part of this all-encompassing theme is Thursday, June 3rd’s evening entitled Love Stories, which tells the stories of the triumph of love over prejudice, and international and prehistoric law.

 “Dancing to Happiness”

FairyTales Queer Film Festival May 27th - June 4th, 2010 www.fairytalesfilmfest.com http://www.gaycalgary.com/a1688

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One feature this evening is Edie and Thea: a Very Long Engagement

by Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir - the story of two women, their forbidden love through the ages, and their eventual marriage. They met in the early 60’s, became engaged, bought a house, took trips, and finally married in Toronto in 2007. This story will pull at your heart strings, yet will leave an undeniable feeling that love can, in fact, conquer all.

Rounding out the Festival, on Friday June 4th, is an evening entitled The Happily Ever After-Party brought to you by GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine! Kicking off the party is the screening of Violet Tendencies a film by Casper Andrea the director of The Big Gay Musical at the Uptown Theatre.

Violet, played by Mindy Cohn of The Facts of Life, is missing something.

Her loving group of friends are all men, but none want to love her the way she wants to be loved. She is the quintessential and beloved staple in the gay male world - the fruit fly. The story of her search for love takes hilarious turns, and with all of her looking she may have just looked a little too far - the right love for her may just have been right in front of her the whole time!

Following the screenings this evening, The Marquee Room on the second floor of the Uptown Theatre will be booming with music of Vancouver’s DJ Lisa DeLux from The L Word, and local DJ’s mollyfi, DJ Fleur, and DJ Michelle C. Advance tickets for the screening and afterparty are $20, and for just the after-party are $15.00.

Tickets for the Festival are sold at the door on a first-come, first-serve basis. To avoid lineups, and to guarantee yourself a seat, Festival passes are available. Dollard agrees. “Buy a festival pass, grab a program guide and then come to anything you like! It’s the easiest way to go, since having a pass means you stand in the Priority Member Line-up, have a guaranteed seat, and then you can just relax and eat popcorn.”

See page 42 for an official Fairytales Film Festival Guide with a schedule of films, panels, programmes, and social events.

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

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Adult

Adult Film Review Rascal, Service Me

By Jerome Voltero

Rascal: A Toy Story By: Chi Chi LaRue From: Priape Genre: Fetish/Dildo Cast:  Story:  Visual: 

While “Woody” and “Buzz” would make excellent nicknames for dildos, this is definitely not the Disney/Pixar flick. Dickney/Prixar maybe...but if you’ve ever wandered through your favourite sex toy store and asked yourself, “what the heck am I supposed to do with that,” then this film may have some answers.

It starts with Blake Riley scouting the shelves and picking up a plastic mould of Drake Riley’s ass. He takes the large toy home and lays beside this creepily realistic looking plaything (as if the rest of Drake were embedded in the mattress thanks to a failed teleportation experiment), fingering it and getting intimate with himself. Reality crosses with fantasy as the actual Drake Riley appears – beside his own ass mould to boot. At a few points Blake apparently becomes disoriented and does things with the plastic ass rather than the real ass right beside it. Gee, I wonder how they compare. It would have been a blast if Drake had decided to pound his own ass though.

The film features Johnny Hazzard, who will be making an appearance at Edmonton’s Pure Pride dance this year June – as an easter egg, the mould of his cock was clearly visible on a shelf in the 1st scene. He appears in the last scene where he catches Rod Daily jerking off to a porno at work. In this case they break into a 3-pack of Rascal dildos – the “Initiation Kit” as it is called. The sizes ramp up from small to large, and he uses each one on his buddy.

Aside from being a big product demo, you’ll enjoy this porno if clean cut 30-somethings are your dirty pleasure.

Reid is a big guy with a moderate build, and the others range from light to moderate. All guys are clean shaven and smooth chested (with the exception of bearded muscle-bear, Maxime Fuuq, and I love him for it). Many of them have tattoos, and jock straps seem to be a recurring theme.

Don’t expect very much more than an amateur film from this early work. The editing is terrible, from cellphones going off, to instructional talk during sex, to sound cutting out during orgasms, to the camera man asking “pause?” when it was time for a fluffer break. But hey, you like what you like – and I certainly liked Maxime Fuuq for his look and puppydog enthusiasm.

And if you weren’t gagging enough already, check out the gag reel for a few luke-warm laughs with the boy from scene 4.

While you’re at it...

Refocus By: Raging Stallion Studios From: Priape Genre: Murder Mystery Cast:  Story:  Visual:  Faves: Steve Cruz, Bruno Bond, Jason Crew, Ricky Sinz, Adam Killian, Mitchell Rock Bonus: 2 disc set Big Poles, Tight Holes By: Citi Boyz From: Adult Depot Genre: Twink Cast:  Story:  Visual: 

Service Me

By: Muscle411.com From: Adult Depot Genre: Muscle/Amateur Cast:  Story:  Visual:  Faves: Maxime FuuQ, Tyler Reed Good old Tyler Reed, who appeared on our cover for October 2005...apparently wearing the exact same criss-crossing leather harness on the cover of this DVD. I love how polite the question mark is, at the end of “Get On Your Knees For This Big Man?” You mean you have to ask? For old time’s sake I always keep an eye out for Reid’s pornos, even though his early ones are pretty bad – hey, you have to start somewhere! He tells me his latest work is miles ahead but we have yet to see it here in Calgary.

Call Reid self-indulgent, but this porno centres around him, the muscle stud, in a series of encounters with guys who are eager to please his needs. The result is some fairly vanilla sex, unless you count the wearing of jock straps to be particularly kinky.

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http://www.gaycalgary.com/a1689

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Photography ISCRW Turnabout Show at Play NightClub, Edmonton

ISCCA Fairwell Show at the Texas Lounge, Calgary

GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

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Interview

The Church of Rudd

Xavier Rudd Returns with New Album and Tour

By Jason Clevett A year ago I had no idea who Xavier Rudd was. When offered the opportunity to interview him for the July 2009 issue, I realized there was a musical gem dancing out in the Australian bush. A few days later when I saw him live in concert, I realized exactly the type of influence and impact he has.

For nearly three hours Rudd held the packed Jubilee Auditorium spellbound by his energy and music. To see Rudd in concert is a nearreligious experience for some.

“Thank you for your kind words, I appreciate that. What I do is play live, it is always what I did and want to do. I have a good time.

The experience is that exchange of energy, an interaction of everyone in the room. They are giving me energy, I am channeling it and it is coming back out. It is kind of like church,” Rudd said from his home in Australia. “I like to see people smile, it is a real treat. To come from a small town in Australia and see people laughing and enjoying the music is a real blessing.”

In a day when a musician or group will come out, do 70 minutes and leave, Rudd is refreshing in that he plays for a longer time. You truly get your money’s worth in seeing him.

“I love to play. I’ve come a long way to be there. I am constantly getting pressured to make the show shorter, but it doesn’t feel right to make them shorter. Setlists are something we don’t stick with, we make a couple of changes depending on the tour. We do focus on the new material but different songs. I will be in my day somewhere and something will remind me of an old song, and we will run through it before the show and include it.”

His current tour is in support of his new album Koonyum Sun, returning to the Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary May 29th; the Eric Harvie Theatre in Banff May 30th and 31st; and the Edmonton Events Centre in Edmonton June 2nd. The album is his first with bassist Tio Moloantoa and percussionist Andile Nqubezelo under the unified banner of Xavier Rudd & Inzintaba.

“I had a lot of music coming through me man. It has always been that way since I was a kid. This is a new record that I made with two incredible South African musicians. It has a very African vibe and sound. It is heavy man - spiritually and musically, they are incredible players. They grew up in apartheid in South Africa. They carry amazing stories, spirit, energy, ability on their instruments. It is heavy in every way, very powerful.”

Rudd always makes a point to visit the rockies, both for his own spiritual connection to them, and the bond he has formed with its inhabitants. Many Australian and New Zealand visitors work and stay in Banff, and as was described to me by a friend who saw him there last year, “they lose their mind for him” as a little piece of home in their adopted country, so to speak.

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 Photos by Kane Hibberd (2010) “My music comes from pretty big roots here in Australia. Spirits come to me and reveal themselves through my music. People who are familiar with that music, country, energy can relate to it when they hear it.”

It is not just his countrymen. The lobby of his show is incredibly diverse - and very good looking.

“I noticed that. There are lots of different people coming to the shows, good people with good energy. The smiles, hugs, connections, hands joined, unity for the environment, culture, a brighter future. That is very powerful. I respect that I really do.”

It is somewhat amusing to visit Rudd’s website, with links to his MySpace, his Facebook page, and his iTunes store. It is an interesting contrast between the barefoot, environmentally conscious throwback and the digital age.

“The internet is great, the connections that come from it have always been really good for what I do. The internet is really important in trying to preserve our earth. For example something I am interested in right now is the Kimberley Coast in Western Australia (savethekimberly. com). It is a place that is under threat heavily by 10,000 hectares of gas industry in one of the world’s last great wildernesses. That alone has built huge momentum from people connecting online. I don’t spend a lot of time on it or get involved too much in the digital world but I can definitely appreciate it.”

If you, like I, hadn’t been aware of Xavier Rudd prior to now, give him a listen. If you like what you hear, you have to see him in concert, as it is the best way to experience the church of Rudd.

“It is high energy. Pretty much what people know of me, new stuff as well but also an African influence and two heavy spirits that have a similar energy to me in their own way.”

Xavier Rudd Koonyum Sun now available. www.xavierrudd.com Calgary May 29th at the Souther Alberta Jubilee Auditorium Edmonton May 30th & 31st at the Eric Harvie Theatre http://www.gaycalgary.com/a1691

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Theatre

Keep it Gay!

Well-produced Producers Fabulously Queer

By Jason Clevett I had a certain amount of trepidation going in to The Producers at Stage West. Having seen the Broadway touring production and hating it, I steeled myself for the worst. I was getting a delicious meal out of it, and even if a show isn’t great, Stage West is always fun. So I buckled in and prepared to be bored.

But to my surprise, Stage West has made me enjoy The Producers. I can’t quite put my finger on what it was that made it stand out from the previous show I saw, but I do know that I walked out of the theatre with a huge grin on my face. A big part of that is the casting, which, from leads to ensemble was absolutely spot-on.

The Producers is written by Mel Brooks. Max Bialystock (Sheldon Davis) was once the king of Broadway, but his new show flops and closes after one night. His accountant Leo Bloom (Mark Allan) realizes that a show could make more money as a flop then a success. The pair try to find the worst show in the world, and think they hit their mark with Springtime for Hitler written by Franz (Sheldon Bergstrom, one of the many show stealers). In the meantime, sexy swede Ulla (Jayme Armstrong) appears in their lives and begins to drive a wedge between the two. When the show ends up a success, trouble ensues.

“It has been a great show. I am shocked and amazed every night by how the audiences here receive it,” Armstrong said. “I had only seen the movie and I thought the show had such great potential, but I wasn’t really a fan of the movie. The reason this production works so well in comparison to others is the casting. Because it is so comedic and there is so much singing and dancing it requires performers that can do a little bit of everything.”

It is an interesting challenge to do the show with a smaller ensemble than the Broadway version. It is that much more work for the performers, and in fact some of the guys don drag for a few numbers.

“That is a reality in Canadian theatre casting, you always have to downsize the ensemble. It is frantic for the ensemble and they make the show happen. The showgirls are also the little grannies. Someone came to the show last week and said, where did you find all those grannies to come in? They didn’t realize they were played by the same people playing everyone else. It was a great compliment.”

While a vital character, Ulla makes her debut late in the show. The role has posed a number of pleasant challenges for Armstrong.

“A week before we started rehearsals for this, I finished playing Guenevere in the US tour of Camelot, a very demanding roll the polar opposite of this. It is so much fun to play Ulla because it is a bit of a vacation in a way. She doesn’t come in until an hour into the show and does the last big number before intermission. She does come out guns blazing, which is a challenge in itself because you don’t get to ease into the show. You come on and start belting and jumping off tables. It is interesting to stay warmed up and still feel part of the show when you are separate.”

The ditzy character is also opposite to her real life persona. “I had a great director tell me once that it takes someone incredibly intelligent to play dumb well. Otherwise it is just sort of flat. Any time I play a role like this I really look forward to it because it is so different. You couldn’t ask for a bigger challenge than to create something the complete opposite from you.”

The show is gay. Gay gay gay gay gay. In fact, a song is entitled Keep It Gay. Patric Masurkevitch’s director Roger De Bris and Joseph Davies Carmen Gia are absolutely wonderful as the over-the-top gay couple.

While certainly playing on some stereotypes, it is so overstated that it isn’t realistically offensive.

“I heard that this is the first time there has been a gay kiss on stage at a Stage West Calgary show and that made me happy. The theatre community is really dependant on gay people, they really embrace it and love it and have so much knowledge of musical theatre. This is a show that celebrates them. Yes there are gay stereotypes in the show, but I am a stereotype. I am a tall swedish dumb girl. Max is a short Jewish chubby man. The stereotypes are presented in a way that is really entertaining, and with a lot of love and heart. I personally think the Keep It Gay scene is my favorite scene. Everyone comes out at these hilarious characters, it is lovely to see that on stage in such an open away.”

Aside from the show, many of the cast members are also “family.” In fact, Armstrong has taken them on as roomates.

“I am staying in a condo with three of the gay guys in the show. Aside from being surrounded by that at the theatre I am also surrounded by that at home. I jumped at the opportunity to live with three gay men! We watch lots of movies and make yummy food and go to the dog park. It is a really fun lifestyle.”

If you saw The Producers elsewhere and didn’t like it, I suggest you give the Stage West production a chance. If you haven’t seen it at all, it is a very entertaining night of theatre with awesome singing, hilarious comedy, and some amazing talent.

“If you are looking for a great night out and a good laugh, it is really enjoyable. I had never been to a dinner theatre show before, and this is the first time I have been involved with it. It is a show that is very funny and a little bit different every single night.”

Being in one city for awhile is a nice change as well.

“It has been amazing. The Camelot tour was every two days somewhere new. To be able to be in one place is amazing. I brought my dog out from Vancouver, I am getting to settle in to Calgary and explore lots of areas; friends are coming to visit; seeing downtown. Getting a feel for the whole city and really getting to know my way around somewhere is really refreshing.”

The Producers - Stage West Threatre Restaurants Playing until June 13th www.StageWestCalgary.com http://www.gaycalgary.com/a1692

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Advice

Queeries

Kids at a Dinner Party, Lesbians in the Workplace and One-night Stands

By Steven Petrow

What to do about uninvited kids at a gay party?

Q: I was completely shocked when two of our gay friends showed up for a dinner party with their twins in tow. I hadn’t mentioned kids in the invitation and the table was set for eight–four adult couples. I did the best I could, but I don’t think I hid my irritation very well, especially when the twins complained about the caper sauce I served on the fish.

Suggestions for the future?

A: Here’s the problem: You have too few kids in your life. If you had more of them around, you’d know better than to invite two parents to dinner without addressing the kid issue one way or another. It pays to be explicit in such an invitation, writing or saying something like: “It will be the eight of us on Saturday.

I think you know the other couples.” Or, “It’s just the big people this time. No little ones.”

Of course, in this case one of the parents could have asked beforehand, “Just checking: Is it okay to bring the twins?”

Still, I imagine they felt horrible when they saw a table set for eight adults. Or I hope they did. And, I trust that the parents apologized profusely in the moment and in their thank-you note, as well.

Finally, about that caper sauce: Please don’t blame the kids for not taking to that. I suggest keeping emergency provisions in your cupboard—like mac ‘n cheese—for the next set of freeloading toddlers.

New lesbian on the job?

Q: I think the new copy editor at my newspaper is a lesbian and she sure knows I am (everybody does). She hasn’t actually said anything, though, and doesn’t show up for our company’s LGBT events. Is it OK if I just ask? Since I’m gay too, I figured it’s not so invasive—or is it? She’s really cute, by the way!

A: Did it occur to you that she might not be rushing to come out to you because she can tell you think she’s “cute”? Some people have a really bad reaction to flirtation at work. There are, of course, a million other possible explanations for her not being upfront about it—if indeed she is gay. Maybe she’s the private type. Maybe she’s had bad experiences in the past with coworkers knowing her business. Maybe she’s not even sure she’s a lesbian herself.

In any case, no, don’t ask. Especially in a workplace situation, it’s better to let things unfold organically. Not only is her sexuality technically none of your business and not related to your work, asking the question directly could end up alienating someone you may need to work with or otherwise benefit from as an ally—no matter whether she ends up being straight, gay, or bi.

Wasn’t that a one-night stand?

Q: Here’s the deal. We met at a bar, had a couple of drinks, went back to his place and had great sex. Period. End of story.

Or so I thought. As I was leaving, he asked me for my number so that we could “get together again.” I thought he understood this was a one-night stand. I just said, “I’ll see you when I see you.” Did I do anything wrong?

A: Not really, no. It just sounds like one or both of you could have been more explicit ahead of time. But it’s a tricky situation. Unless you’re having sex at a club or in a backroom, it’s easy to misunderstand where the other guy is coming from.

Next time, try to set some limits. In the throes of passion, it may not feel quite right to say, “I only want to have sex with you and then got to go.” But what about: “I need to be asleep in an hour because I’ve got an early flight tomorrow” or “My boyfriend will be home in a little while so let’s get busy…” It’s also important what you do after you climax: Avoid getting into a lot of post-coital chitchat. Don’t be rude, just don’t get drawn into a lengthy discussion.

Three things to remember: If it’s a no-strings-attached hookup, don’t expect to exchange last names, email addresses or phone numbers. If you’re at a guy’s house, make sure you remember to take everything that’s yours because you may never see him again. Finally, and most importantly, be prepared and be safe. That means having condoms on hand and using your sixth sense to make sure the guy’s not a psycho. Oh yes, also enjoy yourself.

Steven Petrow is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post and Yahoo!

He’s also the author of The Essential Book of Gay Manners & Etiquette.

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a1693

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GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

Sports

The OutField Wrestling Without Borders

By Dan Woog At the 1990 Gay Games in Vancouver, wrestling was an afterthought. Organization was so haphazard, longtime devotee Gene Dermody paid $300 of his own money to get mats in place for competition.

That galvanized the small but intense gay wrestling community. Realizing that no one would help them except themselves, they formed a coalition. Wrestlers Without Borders – dedicated to promoting the freestyle and GrecoRoman versions of the sport – has grown into an international umbrella organization for wrestling clubs. Its focus is on gay clubs and events, though it welcomes any group that shows “a commitment to wrestlers of all ages, genders and orientations in a safe, non-elitist environment.”

WWB has helped push wrestling to the forefront of the Gay Games. Its Web site provides a clearinghouse for LGBT wrestling events. And it offers help to any group or individual new to the sport.

In 1994, the group worked with New York organizers to include women’s wrestling in the Gay Games, says WWB chair Roger Brigham. Four years later, in Amsterdam, WWB helped introduce gay wrestling to many Europeans.

That, in turn, led to an impressive wrestling presence at the 2002 Sydney Games.

Along the way, WWB has served as an ambassador for gay wrestlers. “Everywhere we go, mainstream organizations are impressed by our professionalism,” Brigham says. “We’ve gained acceptance and broken down barriers.”

At the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago, some of the sport’s top national officials became vocal advocates of WWB’s all-encompassing approach.

When the games ended, they threw their support behind the formation of a gay wrestling club in Chicago.

The Chicago organization joined counterparts in Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, London, Paris and Sydney.

Allies are a crucial part of Wrestlers Without Borders. “Our clubs have a higher percentage of straight athletes than other sports organizations,” Brigham notes. “We couldn’t survive without them.”

His friendship with Jim Michael provides an excellent example of such support. A Chicagoan, he was intrigued by the 2006 Gay Games. The next year, on a trip to San Francisco with his wife, he visited a practice of the Golden Gate Wrestling Club. He loved the atmosphere; his wife was treated well – and a year or so later Michael returned for a tournament. “He got his ass kicked,” Brigham says.

Yet Michael grew emotional when he told Golden Gate members how respected they made him feel – “not like a has-been or washed-up old guy,” Brigham says. When the Chicago Wrestling Club hosted a WWB event the following year, Michael was a primary backer.

“Wrestling is a sport of great intimacy. When you wrestle you know a man’s character, and he knows yours,” Brigham says, explaining the ease with which gay and straight wrestlers get along.

Yet despite the growth, all is not well in the gay wrestling world. The World Outgames – an upstart organization that began in 2006 in Montreal, continued in Copenhagen in 2009 and now plans a 2013 event in Antwerp – has diverted focus from all gay sports, Brigham says. Wrestling – a sport that does not attract wealthy participants, and that needs a critical mass of athletes in each weight class to run an effective tournament – has been hit hard by the Gay GamesOutgames schism.

“It’s hard to fill all the classes, and it’s asking a lot to travel internationally so often,” he says. “We worry about ‘event fatigue.’” WWB has drafted an online petition to keep the Gay Games “the premier global LGBT sports-cultural event.”

WWB has also taken a lead in documenting the history of gay wrestling. A comprehensive page on the Web site (http:// wrestlerswob.com) explores wrestling’s role in both the Gay Games and the birth of the LGBT sports movement. The Don Jung Hall of Merit honors the sport’s LGBT pioneers.

As it looks back, WWB inspires wrestlers in unexpected ways. “People hear about us, and even if they’ve been out of wrestling for years, they get involved again,” Brigham says with pride.

“They realize the importance of giving back.”

Many times, former athletes find that doing so – while identifying for the first time as a gay wrestler – is both empowering and exciting.

At the same time, sexual orientation is only part of Wrestlers Without Borders. “As the barriers of homophobia in sports wear down, people in the gay sports world are saying, ‘We’re so successful – do we still have a reason for being? Are we losing our gay identity?’

“We don’t call people ‘straight allies’ or ‘straight partners,’” Brigham says. “We call them ‘wrestlers.’”

And because of that philosophy, borders between straight and gay wrestlers are falling around the world.

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a1694

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Music

Music Review

Hear Me Out: Madonna Mania!

By Chris Azzopardi

Also Out Rufus Wainwright, All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu

The Power of Madonna Glee: The Music Genre: Rock My Rating: 

Glee, we were already crazy for you. But then you went even gayer and did an all-Madonna episode! With Sue Sylvester doing “Vogue”! Turns out, we can love you more. The cheer coach adds her infamous cutthroat attitude to one of music’s most delicious songs in a way that even the Material Girl herself could, ya know, cherish. With her show-singing debut, one of TV’s favorite meanies sings with apropos swagger, not sounding all that different from Her Madgesty with slight Auto-Tune and hilariously dropping her own name among the legends in the spoken-word bit. Other New Directions kids get into the groove with equal – if not more – Madonna moxie on this EPish release, which includes seven other faves from the veteran diva. A mash-up of early career classics – “Borderline” and “Open Your Heart” – works even if Finn wrestles with Rachel’s powerhouse pipes. No surprise, she keeps him down. Finn fares better with the series’ guy gaggle, giving an all-dude adaptation of “What it Feels Like for a Girl” that’s shockingly sweet and tender and not at all as weird as it should be. Out theater doll Jonathan Groff – one of the Fox show’s fresh faces – joins the rest of the cast on “Like a Virgin,” and Mercedes injects some of her sassy soul into “4 Minutes.” Arrangements stay true to their originals – right on, Ryan Murphy! – and the ensemble totally nail “Like a Prayer” with a chilling intro and the choir’s moving end-runs. So good it is, in fact, just like a dream.

Sticky & Sweet Tour Madonna Genre: Pop My Rating: ½

Even if our Gay Goddess ran out of reinventions and sold into mainstream trends with Hard Candy, the unremarkable album she supported on this 2008-09 tour, Madonna’s mojo still makes for one heck of a show. Over several hours – a couple on DVD; one on CD – the enduring diva gives us a shotgun seat on her disco ball. The album, thankfully including many of the genius do-overs of such heyday classics as “Vogue” and “La Isla Bonita,” is cool and almost too polished, but what hardcore fans really wanna see is Madonna get her jump-rope on, enter on a throne and masturbate with her guitar. Watching her do so during this Buenos Aires stint – being both playful and intense – is definitely a steal compared to the in-person cost, but no DVD could ever mimic the magic of seeing Madge live. With full-screen videos and scoping cameras, it captures that rush as best as you could hope for from someone of such Queen of Pop caliber. Seeing Madonna rip apart her guises, sing “Human Nature” alongside a videoed-in Britney Spears or make “Into the Groove” a pulsating playground were just a few highlights of this tour – one filled with frilly fun, flamboyant theatrics and the kind of energy that’s typical of someone half Madonna’s age. Go behind-the-scenes of it all with a 30-minute feature that actually feels like a backstage pass to one of music’s most iconic fixtures. How’s that for Sweet?

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Troubadours like Rufus Wainwright get off on being grandiose, but what happens when you lose something you can’t get back?

You scale it down, as he has after the recent death of his mother.

On his sixth studio album, Wainwright comes equipped with his rich croon, the piano and lots of grief. It weeps and wallows, only once sounding anything like his usually flamboyant baroqueinspired self on “Give Me What I Want and Give it to Me Now!” Otherwise, he’s sulking – crying for sibling civility on the standout “Martha” and then leaving us with an emotional juggernaut, the lonely “Zebulon,” that shoots right through your heart.

Usher, Raymond v. Raymond Usher’s one horny hottie. He basically does the dirty enough on his latest CD to make you forget about his other career – the music one, where he’s wooed followers with his smooth falsetto and crunk club grooves. Even though nothing ever goes as deep as the album’s title might suggest, the sampled “Making Love (Into the Night)” works its bump-and-grind magic and “Foolin’ Around” is a decent “Burn” redo. Rapper/bi-of-themoment Nicki Minaj springs “Lil Freak” to life, but the disc is still remarkably flaccid for someone who always seems to have a hard-on.

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a1698

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 Melissa Etheridge - From Page 13 GayCalgary: You’re touring this summer, but without your hot, longtime electric guitarist Philip Sayce – why?

M.E. Because Philip’s got his own little career going on, so I just cleared the board. I went, “This is a new page for me.

It’s a new album, it’s a new sound, and it’s a new feel. I’m just breaking out.” It’s hard because I get very attached to my band, but they weren’t available to make the album, so that was the first step of going, “Ya know, I think this is leading me down another path and I need to be open.” I sent him off with love and I’m sure we’ll get together in the future, but right now I’m putting these guys together and they’re dedicated to working with me now.

GayCalgary: The music video for “Nervous” – the second single – stars Edie Falco, which reminds me of all the other hot actresses who’ve appeared in your videos – Jennifer Aniston, Juliette Lewis and Gwyneth Paltrow. Of them all, who made you the most nervous?

M.E. Edie Falco, probably. Did you see the way she looked at me? (Laughs) GayCalgary: How did her cameo come about?

M.E. I actually know the creator of Nurse Jackie. She’s one of my BFFs, and her and I have been trying to do a television show together for a long time and when she landed Nurse Jackie, I was so happy for her. I played the album for her months ago, and she goes, “Can I use ‘Nervous’ in the final episode of Season 2?” It was just a really sweet and fun thing to do.

GayCalgary: Have you seen Crystal Bowersox on American Idol this season?

M.E. I have! And my kids love her. The first time they saw her, they paused it – because I only let them watch it on the weekend on TiVo – and came running into the kitchen. They said, “Mom, come here!” They had paused it on the shot of her guitar and they said, “Is that your signature?” And holy cow, that was my signature.

GayCalgary: Besides a couple of tracks, there are far less politics on Fearless Love than on The Awakening.

M.E. (Laughs) They’re just hidden underneath. “Miss California,” a song about the state’s ban on gay marriage, is blatantly political. How do you think music and political activism – or activism of any sort – work together?

Music reaches past people’s minds and it goes straight into their spirit, their soul, their body. You can take advantage of that in a way. Music and activism is natural. It’s always been a way through time to bring us closer to the unity we all need to be in.

GayCalgary: Is “Indiana” about your ex-partner Tammy Lynn Michaels?

M.E. It’s completely about Tammy. She’s from Indiana, and her journey has been so inspiring to me – and I’m around it so much – that this song popped out. To be able to sing with compassion about another person is new for me. For me not to be in the song, I’m working on that.

GayCalgary: Why didn’t you before? Was it easier for you not to?

M.E. Yeah, I guess so, because everything was so autobiographic. I still do that, but I want to expand as a writer.

GayCalgary: Is “Miss California” taking a dig at Carrie Prejean?

M.E. It’s not necessarily her. I certainly don’t know her and I don’t really have a comment to the sadness that – I’m not even going to comment. It fit perfectly because when I started to write it, I said I really just have to address this. I have to address my home state, my people and the feeling of, like, being spurned by a lover. I thought, OK, I’m going to write

a song about that and I’ll call it “Miss California,” just like Carrie Prejean – even though I’m definitely not singing to her.

It just worked into the whole thing.

GayCalgary: This album seems to reach back to your roots.

You’re rocking out more like you did in the ’90s and you have a weary woman in an isolated room in the “Fearless Love” video much like the one for “Come to My Window.” Was that intentional?

M.E. Yeah, that’s still a part of me. I’m maturing and I create it differently, but that girl is still me, and so when I get on stage and sing “I’m the Only One,” “Come to My Window” and “Bring Me Some Water” – from over 20 years ago – that’s still me.

I might not be going through those experiences in that moment, but they happened to me. So I’m able to reflect on it, remember it, understand it in my life now, still see where that’s happening in my life and rock from that place and feel comfortable now.

http://www.gaycalgary.com/a1677

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GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine #79, May 2010

Interview

Here For Your Entertainment

Adam Lambert on Post-Idol Success, the Media, and his “Talented Tongue”

By Jason Clevett In the week prior to my conversation with Adam Lambert, he performed sold out shows in Richmond and Coquitlam, B.C., appeared as a guest mentor on American Idol, and performed his current single Whataya Want From Me on the results show. He was also in one of the funniest moments in Idol history with host Ryan Seacrest.

If you haven’t seen the clip yet, hunt it down. While talking about Whataya Want From Me Adam told Ryan he had to stick his tongue out to hit the high note. In response Seacrest replied “my tongue is not nearly as talented as yours.”

“That made me laugh too. That was a brilliant moment. It was not rehearsed. It is moments like that which make interviewing fun,” Lambert told GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine. The look on everyone’s face, from Lambert’s to Seacrest’s to the Glee cast seated behind them added to the hilarity. To top it off, Adam mouthed the words, “It’s true.”

“It is true!” he said, chuckling at the memory. “Whatever went through my mind was pretty clear on camera. It was like oh... ok. I thought it was funny.”

Seacrest always seemed to stumble over his words around Lambert, even when he was an idol-contestant last season. Is it possible he has a little man-crush on Lambert?

“Ryan’s great. I don’t know him personally, my only interaction is being interviewed by him either on Idol or his radio show. He is always really cool with me. I think he knows I can take a joke and he can tease me, it will all be in good fun. We have a good time.”

For someone with only a year of experience since Idol, Lambert’s advice in leading contestants through Elvis week was often spot on.

“It was really exciting to be asked, I was honored. I like helping people and trying to figure out how to make something better. It is something that I did a lot of last year when I was on the show.

I became friends with a lot of my fellow contestants and wanted to help them wrap their head around their mission, which was to keep it fresh and keep it the best it can be every week. It was great to be on the show and mentor the contestants they have now. I did the best I could at trying to put myself in their shoes, where I was last year, and give them my best.”

In what has become his trademark, Lambert switched up Whataya Want From Me for the live performance.

“It was like a homecoming. I was excited to come back and see such familiar faces, it was like going back to high school the year after you graduate. It was really exciting, everyone was sweet and I was thankful to do something different with [the song] on stage - it was a great challenge.”

It was a teaser for what fans can expect from the Glam-Nation tour this summer. No Alberta dates have been announced yet.

Orianthi and Idol runner up, Allison Iraheta, will open the show.

“It is a two and a half month tour so there are a lot of dates.

Creatively it is under wraps right now, it is going to be very atmospheric, visual, theatrical and take the audience onto a journey to this crazy little world for an hour and a half. I am so excited to have Allison! She is like a little sister. She has such

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an incredible voice and is such a natural performer. From day one she was my pick to win, she is a force. It is going to be great to share the stage with her again.”

The BC shows were a warm up for the tour, which will begin rehearsals after Lambert completes a UK promotional tour.

“I really got a kick out of the diversity of the audience. I saw a lot of familiar faces of fans. I saw younger gay guys out there in makeup and fabulous clothes. I was glad to see the diversity that I should have, that people are appreciating the music from all different age groups and backgrounds, that is kind of my goal.”

Furthermore, the line “Whataya Want From Me?” seems to reflect Lambert’s relationship with the media. It seems like everything Lambert does, ends up splashed on entertainment pages. “Adam Lambert slams Susan Boyle” read some headlines; “Adam Lambert made out with Ke$ha”; “Adam Lambert stands up to pee”. ...Ok that last one wasn’t reported, but between comments being taken out of context and reactions to things like the American Music Awards performance, there seems to be a lot of press, some not so positive, about him.

“It is interesting; it has definitely taken a little bit to get used to. I am still not used to it but I am getting there. It comes with the territory. The one thing I find interesting is how sensationalized everything gets. Various media outlets will look for a way to create controversy or paint you in a certain way and that gets a little frustrating, it being painted inaccurately.

Something I say being used against me or turned around is frustrating at times. Other than that I am really glad I get the attention because that is half the battle as an artist, you want people to hear you and see you, and I am thankful it is working out well.”

You can’t believe everything you read about Adam. Such is the case when I read reports of him starting a male make-up line, and brought that up to him.

“Not true. Think you’ve got a rumor there! It is something that I think could be fun and I would like to do it but it hasn’t 52

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been done. It’s one of those internet rumors that aren’t true, and there is a lot of that. Welcome to my life.”

It is a higher profile than other Idol alumni have achieved.

Both winner Kris Allen and runner up Allison Iraheta are exceptionally talented and have released their own albums, but neither seems to have captured people like Lambert.

“I think the thing that is really interesting is that Idol is this great forum. It puts you on the map, it’s a platform. It really comes down to what you do with it, how you run with your opportunity after the show. What people don’t see behind the scenes is that there is so much work involved in having a career in this business. It is tireless, endless, 100% every day.

That is what it takes to make it. I’m working my ass off and hopefully its showing.”

Lambert also took control of the album For Your Entertainment, to keep it 100% his own, from start to finish.

“It is definitely me. I sat down with the label at the get-go and said basically, ok let’s do everything. Let me make the most eclectic, all over the place album you’ve ever heard. They went, ok, why? I said, that’s who I am as a music lover and a performer, I don’t want to be boxed in to one thing. Luckily they went with me on it and we created an album that is a journey through genre and sound and time references. The underlying theme is that it’s me and it’s about relationships. That is the common theme throughout the album.”

While the album doesn’t have an outwardly gay theme, it doesn’t try to pretend he is something that he isn’t. Fever starts with the lyric There he goes, my baby walks so slow, sexual tictac-toe yeah I know we both know it isn’t time, no. The honesty of the album is certainly appreciated by his gay fans. While there have been more and more celebrity coming outs, most of them are well established or on the tail end of their careers.

Lambert hopes that being an open, proud artist who happens to be gay and successful will open the doors for other young gay artists to just be themselves.

“That has been really important to me from the get-go, being who I am. What is so exciting is, for example, my song is doing

really well on the radio, and sales. Hopefully it proves that it doesn’t matter what your sexual preference is, it matters how good your music is. Hopefully record labels and artists will go, oh ok you can be successful, it is just work. Everyone is afraid that it won’t sell, it will affect the product. Hopefully this sets the example that it doesn’t matter as long as the product is good. If you like the song, you like the song.”

Lambert didn’t have many “famous” gay influences when he came out, and hopes to be able to positively affect teenagers of all types.

“I am excited about being visible and proud to be who I am, publicly. I think that in itself is the important part. This is me, take it or leave it. I like who I am, hopefully you do to. I think that in itself is the best example to set for young people. It goes beyond gay; any kid that feels unattractive, unloved, unpopular, weird - all those things you feel as an adolescent. It transcends sexuality and about being proud of yourself.”

It took awhile to get Adam Lambert on the phone because he is so busy. Between phone interviews, TV appearances, concerts, tour planning, and promotional tours, how does he make time for himself?

“It comes and goes. I get my days off and have free afternoons.

It is a lot of work and I feel very immersed in everything. I take time for myself whenever I can get it. I am lucky that I have great friendships and a really supportive family. Having worked for it for so many years here in Los Angeles helps me appreciate it even more because I feel I put time and effort into it over years. And now it is paying off and I can celebrate that.”

Adam Lambert For Your Entertainment in stores. www.AdamLambert.com http://www.gaycalgary.com/a1701

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Interview

Our Lady Peace Revisits Classics

By Jason Clevett Instead of taking the typical route in touring to promote their current album Burn Burn, Canadian rockers Our Lady Peace took a different, and somewhat unique approach: performing twonight stands in cities, including Edmonton May 7th and 8th and Calgary May 10th and 11th. Night one features the album Clumsy in its entirety, while night two features Spiritual Machines. Both shows will then feature a second set of OLP hits.

“There has been some confusion about these shows. It is a two part show. We are basically being our own opening band. If you don’t care about the record we are playing, you are still seeing a regular OLP show.

It is a really cool experience.

The two parts of the show look and sound very different. It is an experience and we are really proud of it,” guitarist Steve Mazur explained. “It has been better than we could have hoped. We come out and do the first set, we don’t jump around as much because we want to play it really well. People tend to just listen a little bit more and don’t go as crazy. Then we get done playing a song and people are freaking out and loving it. The reaction has been cool to talk to people about these records. Doing a whole show with no opening band, it is an hour of Our Lady Peace, take a break, and then another hour and a half. By the end of the night the audience feels like it is an experience, not just a concert.”

The idea came about from hearing Cheap Trick do something similar, and then Mazur saw the band Devo do the same idea in Los Angeles.

“We had heard about Cheap Trick had done three nights in a row at the Metro in Chicago, each night doing one of their three records. We thought it would be something cool to do in Toronto, a seven night stand doing a different album every night. I went to see Devo in LA, they were doing two nights in a theatre, doing a different full album each night. The night I saw wasn’t the record I wanted to see because the other one was sold out, but I thought it was great. We were all having dinner, the band and our manager, and talking about our Canadian tour for Burn Burn.

We wanted to do something different this time, we’ve always done the big hockey rinks and theatres. It is great but we’ve done it and wanted to do something different. The Devo show came up and we got really excited

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about it. Let’s do two nights in each city, a different record each night, a two part night with an intermission, no opening act just an evening with Our Lady Peace. We got really excited and said to our manager, lets do it.

He said it would be a logistical nightmare and we said, Well ok, cool, deal with it and send us the routing.”

Then came the hard part of choosing which of the band’s seven studio albums to play. To do so, the band (Mazur, vocalist Raine Maida, bassist Duncan Coutts and drummer Jeremy Taggart) went to their fans.

“We originally came up with Naveed and Spiritual Machines. We ran into a lot of fans in person and online that say Spiritual Machines is their favorite record. We all love it as well. We thought we would do those two records, but we decided to ask the fans what they wanted to hear if we did something like this. We put it up on our website and facebook group asking what album the fans would want to hear, and Clumsy and Spiritual Machines came back the strongest. We were glad Machines came back so strong because we really wanted to do that one. It is definitely two different periods of the band so we went with it.”

It presents an interesting challenge for a band to tackle a project like this. To play songs you haven’t played in years is difficult enough. Mazur, who replaced Mike Turner in 2002, was not part of the recording process for either album and had to learn them from scratch.

“We really wanted to recreate them as close to the record as possible. A big challenge included how to recreate some of the sounds. There are songs you record that would be really hard to play live so you realize you probably never will.

You can’t do that with this. We don’t play to any tracks when we play live. So the challenge was how to make this happen with the sounds and multiple guitars. How to recreate the album live when all we have is drums, bass, guitar. We had to do some mind bending to make the songs come across. We worked our butts off and for the most part the songs sound a lot like the record. Remembering all these songs we have never played, the notes, chords, Raine remembering all the lyrics. We usually played 1 song live at our shows off of Spiritual Machines and there are 11 songs on that record. It is kind of like memorizing lines from a high school play.”

Maida has changed his vocal style since the albums as well.

“He doesn’t do as much of the falsetto stuff, he likes the register he has been singing in the last few years, it suits his voice. He had to go back and revise and get his mind back into the approach he had for those records. He has been able to pull it off note-wise no problem; it was just getting into that mindset again.”

The tour will be almost a “revisiting of youth” for both the band and the audience. Clumsy was released in 1997 and Spiritual Machines in 2001. Many fans were teenagers at the time and band members were not yet married with kids.

“For me going back through these records - from knowing the guys and where the band was at in different periods and dissecting the songs a bit - I got an inside perspective of where the band was at different periods. On Clumsy, there are some songs on that record that, holy shit they are so crammed with notes and so much singing. As you get older you tend to not want to fill all the spaces with a note, you mature and let stuff breathe more. We will be done with songs some night from Clumsy and it’s like, Jesus man could there be any more notes in this song?”

get bit by that bug, that inspiring thing, it is addictive and you want to keep doing it. That transcends sexual preference, age, race, everything.

When you feel that, you feel it, it doesn’t matter what kind of person you are or where you come from. That is hopefully inherent in our music. I don’t think we could write songs from a place of wanting fame, that is not how we started or how we know to do things.”

Alberta has always been a rock-n-roll province. Bands often comment that Calgary and Edmonton are some of their favorite cities to play, and OLP is no exception. Mazur said they can’t wait to bring this tour to us here.

“Pretty much on all of our Canadian tours Calgary and Edmonton are two of our strongest places to play every time. It is where people automatically come out, we always know we will have strong shows. We never have to worry about attendance, and the vibe of the crowd is just out of hand. We are so thankful for Calgary and Edmonton, every time we know we will have good shows there and that is a great feeling.”

It may also be a chance for fans who haven’t seen OLP in awhile to rediscover the band.

“When we first started doing it, it was a tip of the hat to the fans who have supported us. That is something we felt really good about this tour.

But we are getting people who are going, they are playing Clumsy, that was my favorite record junior year in high school. So they see us play that and some of our newer stuff and hopefully that re-ignites the flame.”

One comment that receives scrutiny is when Maida says, at the start of the second set, that “the work is over” and it is time to have fun. Mazur clarified that statement.

“It has been a lot of hard work for us trying to perform these records.

We know there are people in the audience that love these records so we feel a little more on our toes and nervous in playing those first sets. A lot of the music especially in Clumsy is pretty challenging so we have to focus pretty hard during that set. The second set is songs we have been playing almost every night for years, that is a little more ingrained in us and we don’t have to concentrate as hard.”

Another unique thing about the tour is the VIP experience. A limited number of packages were available for $199 that included prime seats, merchandise and a meet and greet with the band. VIP packages are becoming something many artists, from the Black Eyed Peas, to Bon Jovi, to Lady Gaga are offering. The difference is the price tag ($250 $1000), and still you don’t get to meet those bands.

Our Lady Peace Burn Burn now in stores. www.ourladypeace.net Tour Dates Edmonton - Event Centre - May 7th to 8th Calgary - Jack Singer Concert Hall - May 10th to 11th http://www.gaycalgary.com/a1702

View Bonus Pics/Videos • Share with a Friend • Post Comments

“It has been really cool to meet fans. At the most we usually meet them on the way to the bus, we might get to talk to 20 or 30 people who have stood out there for a long time. Other nights we have to leave right away. Some nights in Canada it is too damn cold for people to wait. So to get to meet people in back and take a picture and talk to everyone for a couple of minutes, it is a one-on-one thing; a nice relaxed time.

Everyone is not crowding in. We have heard way more people’s stories. I have never felt so warm and fuzzy from meeting OLP fans and so fullfilled by what our music does for fans up until this tour. It does just as much for us as it does for them, honestly. After a show I can be tired and not feel social but I look forward to the VIP events after the show. Towel off, grab a drink and meet a bunch of the fans. I think I will miss it now, when we don’t do it.”

It seems like OLP has played every venue in Calgary - Saddledome, Edgefest, Coca-Cola Stage, small clubs, MacEwan Hall, and the Jubilee Auditorium. This is their first time in such an intimate venue as the Jack Singer Concert Hall.

“It sounds diplomatic but they are all different and I love them all.

Playing a festival is one kind of amazing experience, playing a theatre or club is another. We wanted theatres for this show because we are being meticulous with the performances, really trying to get as close to the record as possible, we wanted to make sure people could really hear that. You can hear better in a theatre because it is smaller.”

I know a lot of LGBT OLP fans. An OLP audience ranges from gay and straight, men and women, people in their 40’s down to teens who were not alive when the band broke through with Naveed in 1994.

“We are definitely not a band that writes about chcks and cars. A lot of bands, that is what they are about, and we love those bands. I am not going to say I don’t love AC/DC just because their songs are all about girls. Raine has always lyrically steered towards things outside of that.

One thing I know for us is that all four of us didn’t start playing music to become famous; we were bit by the music bug at an early age. When you

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Photography ISCCA Coronation 34 Week Photos - Calgary taken at the Backlot, Calgary Eagle, Money-Pennies, Texas Lounge and the Westin Hotel

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Photography

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Photography ARGRA Dance - Calgary (taken by Jason Clevett)

Money-Pennies Rave - Calgary

Red Deer Taboo Show

Aids Calgary Open House - Calgary

Kinky Flea Market - Calgary

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