9 minute read
Crossword
Across 1 Out of (Paula Martinac novel) 5 Like a bleak fairy tale brother? 9 Parenting couple, sometimes 14 Forbidden fruit site 15 Chaplin partner 16 Last letter on Lesbos 17 Enjoy Harper Lee 18 R. Nureyev’s land, once 19 Like a fem’s clothing 20 She plays the title role in 39-Across 23 Tickle pink 24 Elton’s john 25 Larry Kramer, to Yale 29 Come upon 33 Queer three-dollar bill 34 Wet one’s lips, e.g. 37 Wood not needing moth balls 39 Web television series based on the Ken Kesey novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 40 Venue for 39-Across 42 Release from bondage 43 Where to see Cats 44 JFK preceder 45 Porn Santa’s member? 48 Jane of a 1944 Moore head flick 50 Like Kopay, from the NFL 51 Type of queen 56 She plays Gwendolyn Briggs in 39-Across 60 Traditional Eden fruit 63 Part of a split in a religious body 64 Mambo king Puente 65 Lindsay of Liz & Dick 66 Fruits did this in the orchard 67 Dirt clump 68 Comes out 69 buco 70 Gay cable network Down 1 Closemouthed 2 Everett’s An Husband 3 Ben Stiller’s mother Anne 4 Finish with 5 Take back a blow job? 6 Painter Bonheur 7 Kind of shot 8 Streetcar guy 9 Teri of The Fosters 10 Kitchen appliance brand 11 Chest muscle, for short 12 Personal-ad info 13 Like McCullers’ cafe 21 Town for fudge packers? 22 Karen Walker, perhaps 26 It’s for giving “more” in Oliver 27 Old line for cockpit workers 28 Karl or Harpo 30 Versatile vehicle 31 Composer Rorem 32 Love triangle expanded to eight? 34 Barry Manilow hit 35 Playful swimmer 36 In this place, to Colette 38 Small salamander 39 Sort of awakening 40 Bobby Orr’s org. 41 Anti-discrimination letters 43 Some S&M restraints 46 Grecian vessel 47 “Get your rear in gear!” 49 Fame 52 Throw, to Billy Bean 53 Wilde in France 54 Turner that goes either way 55 Battery pole 57 Longs, to a Samurai? 58 Tops cakes 59 Part of Welk’s intro 60 Maugham’s Cakes and 61 Curse wrongly attributed to Mercutio 62 F-word start, for Socrates?
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S 17 magic on their porches and lawns. This year the season is off to a slow start and things are not nearly as decorated as usual. There is no word of any great costume parties or costume contests this year. The LGBTQ community loves Halloween and a good excuse to dress up, or down. With bars and restaurants not being able to “fully” open and plan some great Halloween activities, guys and gals are feeling the pinch of COVID. For the first time in many years, Robert’s Lafitte will not be presenting their annual “Rocky Horrible” production. Like the Bolivar Ferry, the giant crab at Gaido’s, the Bishop’s Palace and Lady Victory on Broadway, Lafitte’s yearly Halloween show has become iconic and will be missed. Not happening this year is yet another clear indication of the seriousness of the pandemic. But all is not lost. For the community that seeks a hangout or place to catch-up with friends, Todd and Tommy have reopened 23rd Street Station Piano Bar. Manager Jim Greaser says the supportive crowd has returned and with many new faces in the mesh. Still offering a live music venue, the regular performers are bringing in the patrons and entertaining the island community and visitors. Louis Johnston is now tending bar on the patio and, as always, serves up a mean Bloody Mary on Sundays! The community looks forward to the reopening of Rumors and Robert’s Lafitte. Todd Slaughter, owner of Rumors, has worked very hard on some renovations and changes to the popular seaside bar and, having recovered from COVID himself, is taking every precaution to ensure bar patrons are safe and happy. Now, onto the Ghost of Halloweens Past! Galveston, as everyone knows is full of ghosts and stories of abnormal happenings. Over the years, many paranormal investigative teams have visited the Island, and all agree Galveston is a very haunted place. The nighttime Ghost Tours remain exceptionally popular and continue to bring folks to the Island, hoping to experience some of the ghostly stories and activities that have given rise to Galveston’s claim of being haunted. Sadly, with COVID-19 and the fear of contamination, things are just not the same as before. Islanders comment that the usual Halloween excitement is simply not around this year and there is great disappointment in not being able to celebrate as before. Just about everyone has great Halloween memories. In childhood, no matter what generation or time in history, the night of goblins, witches and ghosts, was anxiously awaited and vigorously celebrated. Times change and so do the costumes and customs of Halloween. Older folks readily recall bobbing for apples at a neighborhood party and being given homemade treats such as popcorn balls and other delicacies. There has always been yellow and white candy corn, SweeTarts, and birch flavored wax lips and teeth as well as carved pumpkins and fake spider webs. Country folks recall having few to no trick-or-treaters and usually going to a PTA carnival or church social before it became “demonic” to celebrate Halloween. Many remember hayrides, making candied apples and, of course, the costumes. In the 1960s, Perry Brothers and Woolworths were the places to go, long before Walmart took over. Halloween aisles where lined with orange and black boxes containing masks and a tie-on suits — devils, witches, ghosts and monsters. Everyone carried a huge orange bag, usually with a witch or black cat on the side and the words “Trick of Treat.” In simpler times, parents did not stress over the dangers and social ills that now cause so much alarm and concern. Long before hidden razor blades and rat-poisoned candies, a tossed egg or water balloon was about the worst of it. Tricks and treats! It is easy to say “times were simpler then.” Perhaps they were. Thing is, each generation had their time and those memories over the years make that time different or better than anyone’s, before or after. Time is a great thing when it comes to recollections and making things “better” or “simpler.” In troubled times, we all look back. Whatever you do this Halloween or as you approach the day, do so with a spirit and fun memories of your Halloweens past. Recall the childhood excitement, the anticipation and joy experienced in a time that was unique to you. People are still people and that does not change. Joy and happiness abound, even if only in memories. Get out your orange bag, put on a plastic mask that smells and go trick or treating. You just might fill your bag with some good stuff. Happy Halloween. e
A resident of Galveston where he can be found wasting bait and searching for the meaning of life, Forest Riggs recently completed a collection of short stories about his beloved island and is working on a novel.
PAGE 20 | MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 14, 2020 DEEP INSIDE HOLLYWOOD Star Trek’s first trans and nonbinary characters
By Romeo San Vicente
THE CBS ALL ACCESS SERIES STAR TREK: DISCOVERY will continue to fulfill the franchise’s progressive ideals and for the upcoming third season include the show’s first transgender and non-binary characters. Queer characters already existed in the ST:D universe, played by Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cruz, so the addition of the two new characters will be a welcome expansion of the ranks. Ian Alexander, a trans actor most known for his role on Netflix’s The OA, will play a trans Trill named Gray (Non-Trekker? A Trill is a species of humanoid from the planet Trill. And now you know.) and UK actor Blu del Barrio, who is also non-binary, will play the non-binary character Adira. This will be del Barrio’s first major acting role, and they have told the press that they realized that “non-binary” was the best way to describe their gender nonconformity after seeing Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s non-binary cast member, Lachlan Watson. In other words, we see ourselves in the media for the first time and it sometimes makes things a little more clear, gives us the words to describe ourselves, and, to adapt a Trek cliché, go boldly and get our life.
Dominique Jackson, Alec Mapa, Fortune Feimster get into a Chick Fight
The question of the day is, “What if Fight Club, but comedy-plus-women?” And the answer is – coming Nov. 13 to theaters and streaming platforms – the indie feature Chick Fight. Please credit KathClick. The story of a woman who is introduced to an underground, all-female fight club, and who then discovers she has a personal connection to the history of the club, it stars Billions regular Malin Akerman, Alec Baldwin, Bella Thorne, Kevin Connolly (Entourage), and former pro wrestler Kevin Nash (Magic Mike). Meanwhile rounding out that cast are three queer champions that Dominique Jackson we’ll follow anywhere: comedians Fortune Feimster and Alec Mapa, as well as Pose’s Dominique Jackson. Originally developed by Ash Christian, the queer indie screenwriter and producer who suddenly and tragically died last month at age 35, the film is directed by Australian actorturned-director Paul Leyden (As The World Turns) from a script by first-timer Joseph Downey. We plan to channel any post-election rage into watching this cast commit acts of comedy-violence. Should work.
Trans musician Billy Tipton’s story told right in No Ordinary Man
Billy Tipton was a successful touring jazz musician from the 1930s until the 1970s. Billy Tipton was also a trans man. His story is remarkable for many reasons, but in the hands of non-queer, cisgenderdominated media, his story is also almost never told with respect or understanding. The late musician is routinely misgendered, treated as a kind of gender double agent, and discussed in terms of deception and secrecy, as “a woman pretending to be a man.” No Ordinary Man, co-directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, a film that premiered this week at the Toronto International Film Festival, seeks to change all that. It’s a documentary of sorts, written by Amos Mac (co-founder of the trans magazine Original Plumbing), telling the story of Tipton’s life, elements of which are recreated by actors and trans artists because there was no traditional archival material available. Picked up for distribution by Radiant Films, keep an eye out for a streaming/theatrical release of this fascinating story, one finally properly told by queer people.
Good Joe Bell walks the walk
Apro-queer film starring Mark Wahlberg? Well, we were a little surprised ourselves to be honest, but there’s a first time for everything (being a Calvin Klein underwear model doesn’t count). And that’s why we’re pleased to see that Wahlberg will be giving a world some good vibrations in Good Joe Bell. Based on a true story and also co-produced by Wahlberg, the plot follows Oregon dad Joe Bell, who walks across the United States with his gay son Jadin ( Play by Play) as they try to raise awareness about the bullying and abuse of LGBTQ kids. Co-starring Connie Britton, and directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (Monsters and Men), it also boasts a script from Academy Award-winning Brokeback Mountain team Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana (and that’s about the gold standard of screenwriting cred when it comes to straight writers). The film has its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, no doubt with some award season hope on its mind. Look for it to pop up on screens (big or small) later this year. e
Romeo San Vicente is regularly described as a sweet sensation.
