07.10.08 Outlook Weekly - 2008 Pride Recap by Outlook Weekly

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ION • PET TALK • FILM • FAGGOTY ATTENT

! RIDE P ROM F S HOT SNAPS

2 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY OWNERS AND PUBLISHERS Michael Daniels & Chris Hayes EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / ART DIRECTOR Chris Hayes hayes@outlookmedia.com ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR / PHOTOS Robert Trautman traut@outlookmedia.com

SNAPSHOT

Pride Weekend Kickoff started at Axis on Thursday June 24 with a dragathon starring the melting faces of Nina, Virginia, Alexis, Beverly, Freesa, Samantha and Amailia Black. Pride goers packed the house and the show was so hot that Virginia actually lost her eyelashes. Helen stayed dry out of face but no less fat. Wilber hosted cute boys at the mezzanine bar and James frolicked on the back patio… yes, sometimes he frolics.

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Mette Bach, Danielle Buckius, Wayne R Besen, Chris Crain, Jennifer Vanasco, Tom Moon, Regina Sewell, Leslie Robinson, Gregg Shapiro, Mick Weems, Julianne French, TF Barton, Romeo San Vicente, Jeff Fertig, Simon Sheppard, Tristan Taormino, Dennis Vanke, Mario Pinardi, Rick Kramer, Aaron Drake, Jennie Keplar, Scott Varner, Derrik Chinn, Dan Savage, Felice Newman, Tim Curran, Chris Hughes, Stephen J Fallon, Felice Newman, J. Eric Peters, Crystal Hawkins, Brent Wilder, Matthew Burlingame, Jacob Anderson-Minshall, Matthew Veritas Tsien, Cheri Meyers

BUSINESS & ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Michael Daniels mdaniels@outlookmedia.com NATIONAL ADVERTISING Rivendell Media - 212.242.6863 ADVERTISING DEADLINE Each Wednesday 8 days prior to publication. Call us at 614.268.8525. HOW TO REACH US Outlook Media, Inc. 815 N High St, Suite ii Columbus, OH 43215 614.268.8525 phone 614.261.8200 fax www.outlookweekly.net web www.outlookmedia.com business www.myspace.com/outlookweekly friends www.flickr.com/outlookweekly photos SUBSCRIPTIONS Call 614.268.8525

READERSHIP: 210,000 PEOPLE / MONTH Outlook Weekly is published and distributed by Outlook Media, Inc. every Thursday throughout Ohio. Outlook Weekly is a free publication provided solely for the use of our readers. Any person who willfully or knowingly obtains or exerts unauthorized control over copies of Outlook Weekly with the intent to prevent other individuals from reading it shall be considered guilty of the crime of theft. Violators will be prosecuted. The views expressed in Outlook Weekly are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or personal, business, or professional practices of Outlook Media, Inc. or its staff, ownership, or management. Outlook Weekly does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness or reliability of any interpretation, advice, opinion, or view presented. Outlook Media, Inc. does not investigate or accept responsibility for claims made in any advertisement. Outlook Media, Inc. assumes no responsibility for claims arising in connection with products and services advertised herein, nor for the content of, or reply to, any advertisement. All material is copyrighted ©2008 by Outlook Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008 VOLUME 13 NUMBER 02

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

SNAPSHOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .........2 ABOUT TOWN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...3, 34 LETTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .........4 COMMUNITY CORNER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .........6 SPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .........8 OUT BUSINESS NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......11 EARTHTALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......13 PET TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......15 EXAMINED LIFE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......17 FEATURE: PRIDE SNAPSHOT . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .19-24 DEEP INSIDE HOLLYWOOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......26 ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......26 INTERVIEW : ADAM JOSEPH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......28 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......29 FILM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......31 PUCKER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......32 SAVAGE LOVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......33 THE LAST WORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......35 SCOPES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......35 NEXT WEEK: CAMP SUNRISE!

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 3

ABOUT TOWN by Chris Hayes THURSDAY, JULY 11 PINK DOUBLE VISION Gay Double Feature @ Drexel Theatre, 2254 E Main St, 614.231.9512, www.drexel.net: Head to this double feature of two new gay thrillers. Polar Opposites, is a thriller about a bestselling author and scientist who discovers a plot by Iran to set off rogue nuclear tests to damage the earth’s magnetic fields. Solar Flare, concerns a young math genius who has developed a groundbreaking way to accurately predict the frequency of dangerous solar flares. When a huge solar storm threatens a potential global disaster, it’s up the fifteen-year old Riley and her no-nonsense professor to try to convince the world about the pending problem. Through July 17. See back cover. WANT TO WATCH A MOVIE, DAVE? Stanley Kubrick Retrospective @ Wexner Center for the Arts, 1871 N. High St, 614.292.3535, wexarts.org: In July and August, the Wexner Center presents a 10night, 13-film retrospective of acclaimed filmmaker Stanley Kubrick’s work, including a rare 70mm screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey and his littleseen first feature Fear and Desire. This series includes all of the late filmmaker’s feature films. Tonight kick’s it off with Barry Lyndon, Kubrick’s sumptuous adaptation of William Thackeray’s novel. 7p; $7, $5 mem, student, senior. FRIDAY JULY 11 NO WINE BEFORE IT’S TIME The 7th Annual North Market Food And Ohio Wine Festival @ North Market, 59 Spruce St, 614.463.9664, northmarket.org: The North Market will host its seventh celebration of Ohio’s finest wines and great foods to pair with them during all the weekend of July 11-13. See page 35 for more info. NO FREE LUNCH…WHATEVER! Summer Fridays Free Lunch Concerts @ The Ohio Statehouse, High St (btw State & Broad), www.ohiostatehouse.org: The Ohio Statehouse and the Greater Columbus Community Orchestra will present a free concert tomorrow as part of the performing arts series, Summer Fridays at the Statehouse. The FREE lunch-time outdoor performing arts series takes place on the West Plaza (High Street) of the historic Statehouse each Friday throughout the summer. Summer Fridays provide an opportunity for the public and downtown community to gather on Capitol Square to experience Columbus’ diverse arts groups and to visit the beautiful Capitol building. 12p; free. SATURDAY, JULY 12 THESE SHOES WERE MADE FOR WALKING AIDSWalk Central Ohio 2008 @ Franklin Park, 1777 E Broad St: AIDSWalk Central Ohio 2008 will take place today. This successful and rewarding event will begin and end at Franklin Park Conservatory. AIDSWalk Central Ohio is the largest HIV/ AIDS awareness event in the Franklin County area. The mission of AIDSWalk Central Ohio Raise Awareness and Funds for HIV/AIDS Service Organizations through education and promotional activities leading up to the walk and through participation of walkers and volunteers in a safe, fun, educational event. DO YOU WANT TO DRAW MY PICTURE? Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School @ The East Village, 630 N High St, 614.228.3546, www.myspace.com/sketchyscolumbus: In case you didn’t know, Columbus, OH is the “Indie Art Capital of the World.” Something else you might not know, art, or at least drawing, is more fun with booze, pretty girls, and laughter. Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School

brings you all of the above. Founded in 2005, Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School is a crazy mix of cabaret and fine art that gives ordinary people, including those who couldn’t even draw a straight line to save their lives, the chance to indulge their artistic tendencies by having a cocktail and sketching a rotating cast of burlesque performers. Come to Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School Columbus class tonight Bring your sketch pad, pencils, and sense of humor! 5p-8p; $5-15. WANT TO WATCH A ANOTHER MOVIE, DAVE? Stanley Kubrick Retrospective @ Wexner Center for the Arts, 1871 N. High St, 614.292.3535, wexarts.org: In July and August, the Wexner Center presents a 10night, 13-film retrospective of acclaimed filmmaker Stanley Kubrick’s work, including a rare 70mm screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey which is tonight’s feature. 7p; $7, $5 mem, student, senior. OKAY! The Capa Summer Movie Series Presents Oklahoma! @ Ohio Theatre, 39 E State St, 614.469.0939, www.capa.com: Beautiful voices, glorious choreography, and expansive vistas make Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oscar-winning landmark Broadway musical a joyous film. A great evening of music and memories - “Surrey with the Fringe on Top,” “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” and “People Will Say We’re in Love.” 2p&7:30p; $3.50. SUNDAY, JULY 13 EVERY ROSE HAS IT’S THORN Poison with guests Dokken & Sebastian Bach @ Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center, 555 Borror Drive, 614.292.2624, www.schottensteincenter.com: Poison was formed in 1984 by singer Bret Michaels, bassist Bobby Dall, and drummer Rikki Rockett. The band later added guitarist C.C. Deville to their lineup. The group was signed to Enigma Records in 1986, where they released their first album, Look What the Cat Dragged In. The record spawned the Top Ten hits “I Want Action,” “Talk Dirty to Me,” and “I Won’t Forget You,” and sold two-million copies within a year following its release. While the band was already quite popular by the end of 1987, 1988’s Open Up & Say...Ahhh! was their commercial breakthrough, due to the massive hits “Fallen Angel,” “Nothin’ But a Good Time,” and “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” Poison continued to release albums on and off for the next two decades. Onetime frontman for hair metal hitmakers Skid Row, singer Sebastian Bach (“Angels Down”) and vocalist Dokken (“Alone Again”), known for his captivating stage presence, will open for Poison. 7p; $32$60, $42. I’M GIVING IT ALL I CAN CAPTAIN Return To The Forbidden Planet @ Shadowbox Cabaret, Easton Towne Center, 614.416.7625, shadowboxcabaret.com: What do you get when you combine Shakespeare, Star Trek, Jym Ganahl, and 1950 / 1960s pop classics? You get Shadowbox’s summer musical: Return to the Forbidden Planet. Sundays through Aug 3. 3p & 7p; $20-$30. THURSDAY, JULY 17 SHOP TILL YOU DROP SN3TH @ various shops in The Short North, www.shortnorth.org: Starting today, more than 40 of your favorite shops will be open late every third Thursday of the month. Make a date. Start with happy hour, then stroll the strip, shop the shops and finish with a great dinner. Special sales, music, fashion, prizes and surprises. Till 9p; free. JUL 10 - JUL 17 2008

4 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

LETTERS

ONE HOMOSEXUAL LIBERAL DEMOCRAT

The Reader Poll Last week we asked:

What is your best Pride '08 moment?

HAS A MESSAGE FOR OBAMA To the Editor: Senator Obama, it could be that you have a conflict within your supporters over what may be the most important issue, national security. And it could be that you are only hearing, for instance, the “gay’ view from a small, elitist, professional “gays” crowd that do not represent the vast majority of homosexual voters. I am a homosexual, liberal, Democrat, and I have common sense-I may only know what I read in the newspapers, but what I know is that where Islam controls, they are killing homosexuals. Therefore, it is clear to me that I must support any war that keeps Sharia law from taking over, any place. I think too many “gays” only read the slick gay publications that ignore our issues and try to sell us expensive cars, clothing and cover only “gay” “entertainment”, most of which is by nongays. I see little on the “gay’ network (LOGO) that helps our community/movement-what I see are old movies. I’m not saying you should not use these resources, but don’t think you have reached

the vast majority of homosexual voters, or our friends, neighbors, families, allies by reading the Advocate. It is good to get same-sex marriage, but that will be of no value if we allow Muslims to take over our government and impose Sharia law. (Obviously that is true of extremist “Christians” too, including the “religious” preacher person from New Orleans that just lost a lawsuit in Wisconsin where he suggested, in some way, that listeners should shoot homosexuals.) But homosexuals, I say again, are being killed in Islamic countries. To quibble over whether or not Iraq is worse off now than before is nonsense when we should not be bringing the troops homethe “heterosexual troops (since our nation still fears homosexuals as much as Islamists so we are, in theory, not allowed to fight for our country even when we would suffer more under Islamic control than heterosexuals, although women would also)-but sending them to Afghanistan to actually fight the people who attacked us and are still in control makes discussion of when to withdraw, etc, irrelevant. How to stop sending our money to enemies

like Saudi Arabia (for oil) I can’t help you with. But I tell you security may hurt you if you only listen to those who want you to be an idealist and ignore reality. Something these young “gays,” making lots of money running gay organizations don’t know is that our community/movement has succeeded beyond our wildest imagination, because our pioneers did NOT work for money or power, but for their beliefs in change within the system and from one secret organization we grew each decade. What these young people - as young people in all civil rights struggles - need to remember is they started from where we brought them, taking risks they don’t have to. Which, come to think of it, is true of all Americans, who benefit from what the founders of this nation, and subsequent citizens have done to bring us to where we are today as we celebrate another 4th of July.

• Visiting the Outlook booth! • Too early to know yet! • Reading the column explaining what a complete whack job Mickey Weems is. Seriously, that guy needs to GO. Love, Feeney • Leslie Jordan book signing, meet & great and performance!

B Glover

NEXT WEEK’S QUESTION:

What is your best Pride '08 moment?

Got something to say? We want to hear from you!

Log on to: www.outlookweekly.net to take this week’s poll.

Email us at editor@outlookmedia.com or logon to www.outlookweekly.net.

25%

ALL TIME LOW

SO U RC

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

E : CBS NEWS

CATEGORY

NOV 2 ’04

JUL 01 ’08

DIFFERENCE

AMERICAN DEAD

1,122

4,113

2,979

AMERICAN WOUNDED

8,124

30,333

22,209

IRAQI CIVILIAN DEAD

16,342

1,225,898

NATIONAL DEBT

$7,429,629,954,236

$9,368,687,503,046

DAYS ‘TIL 2008 ELECTION

1,463

126

1,209,556 $1,939,057,548,810 (1,337)

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 5

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

6 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

COMMUNITY CORNER

Rainbow Graduation Recognizes Scholars and Graduates

On May 28, 2008 the Ohio State University Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Alumni Society held its annual Rainbow Graduation. Rich Hollingsworth, Ohio State University Vice President of Student Affairs, gave the keynote address in the brand new Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center. The program honored seven students and eleven graduates of the University for their contributions to the community. There were seven $1,500 scholarships given to students, whose activities and achievements included Kaleidoscope Youth Center, re-

search on HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, forming a Gay-Straight Alliance in high school and volunteering for Columbus AIDS Task Force. Graduates were equally diverse, representing concentrations ranging from Electrical and Computer Engineering to Japanese to Anthropology. The scholarship recipients are Janay Gilbert, Merideth Lively, Aleah Perry, Matthew Rehfuss, Carlos Taylor, J.P. Thompson and Anthony Weston. The graduates are Randy Askin, Alina Bennett, Tyler Davis, Joseph Donatone, Billy Earn-

hart, Garrett Elliott, Abby Menter, Benji Michalek, Nicholas Steinbrecher, Tim Valentine and Janaki Vijayaraghavan. The GLBT Alumni Society has been dedicated to making studying at The Ohio State University a financial reality for more GLBT and students and their allies. Realizing that the financial demands placed on students and families because of the rising cost of higher education is often magnified for GLBT students, fundraising efforts by the society has made these scholarships a reality. There is a hope that we can reach students who have

been turned away by their family for “coming out” and help GLBT students address other financial issues that are unique to them. The Ohio State University Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Alumni Society’s mission is to promote the best interests of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender alumni and students of The Ohio State University. The Society sponsors a scholarship program, social events for students and alumni and collaborates with community organizations regularly to promote awareness and education of GLBT issues.

HRC Columbus Names 2008 Equality Award Recipient

bers throughout the country. HRC effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support and educates the public to ensure GLBT Americans can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community. For more information, visit www.hrc.org.

company to sign on as a corporate supporter. The goal is to engage 9 other corporations at the same level. “We are starting a movement of people dedicated to erasing hate from our schools, workplaces, and communities. For the last ten years, individuals have been raising themselves to do amazing things with no resources. What we are trying to do is give this great work a structure and create a community of individuals who are using their voices and talents to address these issues,” said Judy Shepard. The Matthew Shepard Foundation is dedicated to ‘Erasing Hate’ through education, advocacy and awareness. The Foundation is the voice for inclusive hate crimes legislation and works to empower and ensure the safety of gay, transgender and allied youth. For more information, please visit http://www.matthewshepard.org/ and http://www.matthewsplace.com/ The Campaign to Erase Hate is a program of the Matthew Shepard Foundation. It models the principles that were core to the beliefs and aspirations of Matthew Shepard. To join the campaign, visit www.MatthewShepard.org/CampaignToEraseHate

the resolution to have an impact, concrete changes in law and policy must follow.” The OAS General Assembly on June 3, 2008, adopted the Brazil-sponsored “Resolution on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity” during its 38th session in Colombia, with support from 34 countries. The resolution takes note of the importance of the adoption of the “Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in Relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity” and affirms the core principles of non-discrimination and universality in international law. States also agreed to hold a special meeting “to discuss the application of the principles and norms” of the Inter-American system on abuses based on sexual orientation and gender identity. At least 10 OAS countries have state or national laws that protect all people regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. Chile, Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina are discussing specific anti-discrimination laws at the national level that include these as protected categories. More than 20 activists from Latin American LGBT organizations met with members of the OAS during the General Assembly to advocate for the resolution. They pointed to how harassment and violence against members and leaders of the LGBT community continue throughout the Americas. They also underscored their concern about impunity and inaction by authorities. The rights organizations highlighted the particular violence that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex boys, girls, and young people face and the need for specific protections for this group. In a separate process, states in the region are negotiating the text of a proposed Inter-American Convention against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance, which includes sexual orientation and gender identity categories to be protected from discrimination. “Sexual rights are human rights,” Long said. “It is critical that member states of the OAS continue to support protections against violence and discrimination in other international venues.”

HRC Columbus recognized Abercrombie and Fitch as its 2008 Equality Award recipient during the 25th Anniversary Gala Dinner that will took place at 6:30p, Saturday, June 21, at the Hyatt Regency Ballroom. The HRC Columbus Steering Committee presents this annual award to the individual or group who offers distinguished service and leadership for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) community. This award recognizes the outstanding efforts of those who dedicate time, energy, spirit and wholehearted commitment to advance the fight for our civil rights. Appreciating our current leadership will foster others to follow in their footsteps. Abercrombie is taking bold steps to provide leadership in diversity and equality in the workplace by making it a thread woven into their company philosophy. Ranking 100 percent on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index, the report card that annually rates corporate America ’s treatment of GLBT employees, Abercrombie is one of 195 companies that received a perfect score, demonstrating their commitment to equality. Columbus is proud to honor Abercrombie & Fitch as being part of the forward-thinking corporate community that is working every day to make Columbus and Corporate America a better place for GLBT individuals. Abercrombie’s Chairman & CEO, Mike Jeffries, says: Diversity and inclusion are key to our organization’s success. We are determined to have a diverse culture, throughout our organization, that benefits from the perspectives of each individual. Abercrombie & Fitch is committed to increasing and leveraging the diversity of our associates and management across the organization. Those differences will be supported by a culture of inclusion, so that we better understand our customers, enhance our organizational effectiveness, capitalize on the talents of our workforce and represent the communities in which we do business. HRC is the largest national gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender political organization with memJUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

Coors Brewing Company Becomes The First Corporation To Support The Matthew Shepard Foundation’s New Campaign To Erase Hate A matching gift of $25,000 encourages individuals to give their time and funds to erasing hate in our society. Coors Brewing Company was the first corporation to respond to a public call by Judy Shepard to join her in her commitment to ensure dealing with hate is a top priority in our schools and workplaces. Coors, a national sponsor of the Foundation, will match 100% of the first $25,000 in individual’s donations through the Campaign to Erase Hate website. Shepard launched the ‘Campaign to Erase Hate’ at the organization’s recent annual gala by asking the crowd of more than 500 people to join her in helping the Foundation fulfill its mission of erasing hate. “Coors takes great pride in being a partner with an organization with such a powerful and important message.” Said Doug Sanborn, Manager, Corporate Relations. “We wanted to help the Foundation engage more people in this important campaign as well as help provide the crucial funds it takes to fulfill such a movement. Coors is dedicated to its on going partnership with the mission of the Matthew Shepard Foundation.” The Campaign to Erase Hate was created to mark the 10th year since Matthew’s death. The overall goal is to equip individuals with the necessary tools to discuss and address hate in our society. These tools include personal webpages, resources on dealing with hateful speech and actions, monthly correspondence and most importantly, a way to invite ten others to join. Coors is the first

OAS Adopts Resolution to Protect Sexual Rights - Condemn Violence Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity The General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) has unanimously adopted a resolution condemning human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity, taking a crucial step to end the silence around violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the Americas, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on OAS member governments to ensure that the resolution is implemented in their countries, and to continue their support for sexual rights internationally. “This resolution is a bold first step toward ending violence and discrimination,” said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “For

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 7

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

WEEKLY STANDINGS

8 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

SPORTS

international gay bowlers coming to columbus may 25-31, 2010 - memorial day weekend Every year the International Gay Bowling Organization (IGBO), holds its annual meeting and tournament over Memorial Day weekend. The city and country it is held in changes each year and brings hundreds of bowlers and their guests to that lucky city. From its original 6 member cities in 1980, to over 200 member leagues and tournaments worldwide today, IGBO has grown into one of the largest international gay sporting organizations in the world. IGBO was created out of a desire to unify all of the gay leagues and tournaments, and open lines of communication between them. IGBO today has grown to over 11,000 members representing the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In January 2008 a small group of bowlers from Columbus submitted the initial intent bid to host the 2010 annual IGBO meeting and tournament. Over the next 5 months the group worked tirelessly to plan the event with a written proposal and a presentation in Atlanta, Georgia on May 23, 2008. Washington D.C. also prepared a bid to host the event and presented in Atlanta as well. The general membership of the governing body of IGBO voted and awarded the group from Columbus the 2010 event on that day. Over the next 24 months the organizing committee will be preparing to host the 30th Annual IGBO meeting and tournament. What can participants and guests expect to see and do:

May 24 – 26: Board meetings and IGBO general membership meetings • Thursday, May 27: Bowling competition begins continues through Sunday May 30 • Thursday, May 27: 2012 Bid cities hospitality suite • Friday, May 28: Host city hospitality suite runs through Sunday May 30 • Friday, May 28: Host city committee show • Friday, May 28 & Saturday, May 29; Shuttles to sponsor establishments • Saturday, May 29; Women’s social • Sunday, May 30: AIDS Quilt viewing and memorial Service • Sunday, May 30: Scratch Masters bowling tournament • Sunday, May 30: Reception and Awards banquet • Sunday, May 30: Closing Party While in Columbus the bowlers and guests will have plenty of time to experience all that Columbus has to offer. From a visit to the celebrated Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, COSI, Franklin Park Conservatory, or just a stroll through one of the many dynamic downtown districts, all are ensured to have an experience to remember. If you’d like more information or to inquire about sponsorship: www.ibgo2010.org .

O-H... I-O: Plan now for OSU GLBT ALUM FOOTball EVENTS Make your plans now to join the GLBT Alumni Society at our Autumn 2008 Football events. The Buckeyes are likely to be top-rated going into the season so tickets are likely to sell out quickly. This year we are offering home game tickets to the OSU vs. Ohio University game on September 6, 2008. This will feature our annual pep rally with food and drinks, entertainment, and a variety of special guests and surprises. Our away game package will be to the OSU vs Northwestern game on November 8, 2008 in Evanston, Illinois. As usual, we will be offering hotel and airfare specials and a weekend of activities including welcome receptions, bar crawls, shopping, theater, and museum trips. Plan to spend the entire weekend in Chicago with the society. We have received an unprecedented amount of JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

interest from members for the USC game as well. The university has a very limited number of tickets for the game so we are not able to offer tickets as part of our package this year. However, we will be notifying members of ticket opportunities as we hear about them. We will also plan events and travel packages in the Los Angeles area the weekend of the game. Remember that you must be a member to purchase. If you aren’t already a member, you can buy a GLBT Alumni Society membership from our site and an OSU Alumni Association membership from their site. Confirmations for both the OU and Northwestern games will be sent at the end of July. To purchase tickets online, visit http://osuglbt.org/store/index.php?main_page=ind ex&cPath=1.

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www.clgsa.net Roberts

Tradewinds Grizzlies

Division Win Loss Tie 10 2 0

PCT

PTS

0.833

148

Roberts

0.708

125

105

Edward Jones Switch Hitters

Roberts

0.583

141

133

Otero's

Roberts

0.292

119

Q-Bar

Roberts

0.292

120

Axis

Roberts

0.292

111

142

Homewreckers (Q-Bar)

Akers 2

0.875

160

Village Pet Supply

Akers 2

0.750

174

Union / Hard Times

Akers 2

0.458

150

124

Team X (La Forgata)

Akers 2

0.458

133

226

Molly Woo's Planet Score (Planet Smoothie / Score)

Akers 2

0.375

151

147

0.083

152

Stix-n-Chix (Carriage Trade Reality)

Akers 2

--RC 2ORC

Columbus Lesbian & Gay Softball Association (Week 6) Team Score

-2RC -FRC

-G X@AA"%)*''?

0",("2,#%&(-./)&B"C"!&'+0$-(.&$"#.1" 234567589&49&:;&<=DA=>@@A !"#$% &'() *'+, - T5,)Y)Z'R 29 F 2 /:%)E"KC(D).'(G%K+ 2> ? 9 L#C5K.#5KA$#5KE#C5K -ORF ?RF @ E'05)A,''D%+ -? -> F A011%5)A0$G%5+ -@ -@ 3 *%[)W()X#K -9 -F 8 /:%)M0N)AC+,%5+ -9 -F ? *CN"%).#()A,5#CD:, -2 -3 O /:%)E'05)\0%%(+ -2 -3 --8 -> Z:%$G%5;'#5H)Z:C$G+ -- /:%)!C()=5'BB%5+ 8RF 2>RF -2 M#""+)]()\0%+6'( F 29

Akers 1

1.000

110

Somewhere Else / Oz

Akers 1

0.833

Plugged Nickel

Akers 1

0.667

Red Devils (Pierceology)

Akers 1

0.600

Cutters (Creative Foundations)

Akers 1

0.333

Bottom's of the 9th (Q-Bar)

Akers 1

0.200

Orange Crush

Akers 1

0.167

Renegades (Tradewinds)

Akers 1

0.167

101

River Rats (Franklinton CTC)

St. Clair

0.917

Exile Pirates

St. Clair

0.750

Club Diversity

St. Clair

0.667

Pyramid II

St. Clair

0.500

Ford's Fielders

St. Clair

0.400

Chase

St. Clair

0.400

Mo Money (5/3 Bank)

St. Clair

0.167

New Creation / MCC Metz

St. Clair

0.167

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 9

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

10 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 11

OUT BUSINESS NEWS by Chris Hayes

MILITARY PERSONNEL EXCEL IN SECURITY CAREERS By Doug Lucas, AlliedBarton Security Services In today’s marketplace, business owners are constantly challenged with finding and keeping talented employees who can help meet goals, satisfy customers and ultimately grow the company. Potential employees not only need to be properly qualified for a position but also possess an ideal set of characteristics, which can be hard to find. For most business owners, work ethic, loyalty, leadership and discipline are all qualities that make the difference between a good employee and a truly great employee. The security industry in particular has found former and current military personnel to be ideal job candidates. When the men and women who have served our nation return to the civilian work force, the security industry can offer very successful careers. The combination of those much sought-after characteristics and their familiarity with understanding, respecting and following orders, position them for success in the security field. Since the security services industry and the military go hand in hand, the transition from the military to security comes naturally to these extraordinary individuals. They are better acclimated than a person without military experience in adjusting to the responsibilities and procedures of serving as a security officer. And while the security industry has found military personnel to be excellent candidates, recruiting and human resources professionals in other industries should also tap into this wealth of well-trained, respectful, goal-oriented individuals. “Recruiting these extraordinary people who have provided so much to secure our freedom in this country is always an honor,” said Robert Rorick, Facility Account Manager for AlliedBarton and Persian Gulf War veteran. “You can’t put a price on the one-of-a-kind training that military personnel receive. They have phenomenal discipline, loyalty and work ethic that would be a great asset to any industry.” That is why AlliedBarton Security Services, www.AlliedBarton.com, the industry’s premier provider of highly trained security personnel, is always looking to hire former and current military men and women. The AlliedBarton team includes hundreds of current and former military members who are proud to continue their efforts to protect our country by working for the largest American owned and managed security services company. “Their impeccable leadership qualities make them great additions to our team,” said Rorick. “Military training combined with AlliedBarton’s award-winning training programs provides us with security officers who wear their uniform with pride, relate well to people, and carry out his or her assignments thoroughly and efficiently.” It is important that we provide our clients with dependable, motivated and highly trained security officers. Whether hiring veterans exit-

ing the field or active personnel looking for a great job between deployments, our company is confident in the quality and success of these talented individuals. And, our customers are equally appreciative of the skills and values former and active military personnel bring to their security team. For more info contact Doug Lucas is Director of Talent Acquisition for AlliedBarton Security Services, www.alliedbarton.com, the industry’s premier provider of highly trained security personnel.

PROGRESSIVE TRAINING IN COLUMBUS FOR 2008 CAMPAIGNS Ohio’s progressive candidates and their campaigns will be learning the ropes of running for office, as Camp Wellstone comes to Columbus next month. A hands-on training program, Camp Wellstone provides practical skills in grassroots politics to progressive issue activists, campaign workers, and candidates for elected office. Camp Wellstone is an intensive and energizing training program that is proven effective in providing practical skills in political action. Camp Wellstone teaches progressives how to win on issues and elect good candidates by organizing and mobilizing their communities to demand change. This strategy is not only outside-the-box political thinking, but a proven path to winning elections. In 2006 and 2007, 112 graduates of the program won elected office. The program is at Camp Wellstone in Columbus, beginning at 3p on Friday, July 11 – Sunday, July 13 at the Vern Riffe Center for the Government and the Arts. If you are interested in being a part, registration is a must – visit www.wellstone.org or call 651.645.3939

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS Survey: CFOs Cite Heavy Workloads as Greatest Workplace Concern Today’s accounting and finance professionals are used to having a lot on their plates, but a new survey shows that growing to-do lists could be taking their toll. More than one in three (35 percent) chief financial officers (CFOs) interviewed cited heavy workloads as the number-one workplace concern for their financial teams. Job security ranked second with 19 percent of the response. The survey was developed by Accountemps, the world’s first and largest specialized staffing service for temporary accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals, and conducted by an independent research firm. It was based on telephone interviews with more than 1,400 CFOs across the United States.

Executives were asked, “Which one of the following do you think is the greatest source of work-related concerns for finance and accounting professionals?” Their responses: Heavy workloads 35%; Job security 19%; Corporate governance mandates/compliance issues 17%; Personnel issues (e.g., coworker conflicts, office politics) 14%; Work/life balance issues 11%; None of these 2%; Other/don’t know 2%. “The combination of compliance mandates, traditional projects and shifting priorities has challenged accounting and finance professionals to keep up with their growing workloads,” said Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International and author of Human Resources Kit For Dummies®, 2nd Edition (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). “The problem is further compounded by a shortage of highly skilled candidates in many specialties.” Messmer continued, “Managers should closely monitor employees’ workloads to right any imbalances and maximize the productivity of the entire group. This might include realigning responsibilities, reprioritizing assignments and bringing in temporary support during peak activity periods.” The national study was developed by Accountemps, the world’s first and largest specialized staffing service for temporary accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals. It was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on more than 1,400 telephone interviews with CFOs from a random sample of U.S. companies with 20 or more employees. For the study to be statistically representative and ensure that companies from all segments are represented, the sample was stratified by geographic region and number of employees. The results were then weighted to reflect the proper proportions of the number of employees within each region. Accountemps has more than 360 offices worldwide and offers online job search services at www.accountemps.com.

DRIVING LESS BECAUSE OF HIGH GAS PRICES COULD LEAD TO LOWER INSURANCE PREMIUMS As gas prices hover around $4 a gallon across the state, many Ohioans are driving less, using public transportation or car pooling to get to work. Ohio Department of Insurance Director Mary Jo Hudson is encouraging Ohioans to tell their insurance agents if they are using their cars less, as it may result in a decrease in their auto insurance premiums. “How much a person drives their car is one of the key factors insurance companies use to determine auto premiums,” said Director Hudson. “Changing your car’s designation from ‘work’ to ‘pleasure’ could result in a lower premium.” Most insurance companies divide drivers into three categories: pleasure drivers, those who drive 15 miles or less one way to work and those who drive 15 miles or more one way to work. Drivers who drive as part of a carpool may be eligible for pleasure driver status if they drive less than two days a week or two weeks in a five-week period. Also, Ohioans who have recently moved closer to their jobs or have switched jobs to a location closer to their home may also be eligible for lower premiums.

A change in designation could save a driver anywhere from 5-15% depending on the insurance company. A quick call to your insurance agent will determine whether or not you qualify for a rate reduction and how much that reduction will be. Ohioans with questions concerning insurance are encouraged to call the Department’s consumer services hotline, 800.686.1526. Additional tips and more information about insurance, including a link to the Insure U web site, can be found at the Department’s web site, www.ohioinsurance.gov.

IRS INCREASES MILEAGE RATES The Internal Revenue Service announced an increase in the optional standard mileage rates for the final six months of 2008. Taxpayers may use the optional standard rates to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. The rate will increase to 58.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven from July 1, 2008, through Dec. 31, 2008. This is an increase of eight cents from the 50.5 cent rate in effect for the first six months of 2008. In recognition of recent gasoline price increases, the IRS made this special adjustment for the final months of 2008. The IRS normally updates the mileage rates once a year in the fall for the next calendar year. While gasoline is a significant factor in the mileage figure, other items enter into the calculation of mileage rates, such as depreciation and insurance and other fixed and variable costs. The optional business standard mileage rate is used to compute the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business use in lieu of tracking actual costs. This rate is also used as a benchmark by the federal government and many businesses to reimburse their employees for mileage. The new six-month rate for computing deductible medical or moving expenses will also increase by eight cents to 27 cents a mile, up from 19 cents for the first six months of 2008. The rate for providing services for charitable organizations is set by statute – not the IRS – and remains at 14 cents a mile. Taxpayers always have the option of calculating the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the standard mileage rates. Mileage Rate Changes

Rates 1/1 through 6/30/08

Rates 7/1 through 12/31/08

Business

50.5

58.5

Medical/ Moving

Charitable

Purpose

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12 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 13

EARTH TALK From the Editors of E

Dear EarthTalk:

Recent NASA photos showed the opening of the Northwest Passage and that a third of the Arctic’s sea ice has melted in recent decades. Are sea levels already starting to rise accordingly, and if so what effects is this having?

What’s available now in lawnmowers that are easier on the environment? My yard is too big for one of those “reel” mowers, and I’m no longer a spring chicken, so I have to buy something that runs on more than human power. What’s out there?

Dudley Robinson

Joel Klein

Researchers were astounded when, in the fall of 2007, they discovered that the yearround ice pack in the Arctic Ocean had lost some 20 percent of its mass in just two years, setting a new record low since satellite imagery began documenting the terrain in 1978. Without action to stave off climate change, some scientists believe that, at that rate, all of the year-round ice in the Arctic could be gone by as early as 2030. This massive reduction has allowed an icefree shipping lane to open through the fabled Northwest Passage along northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland. While the shipping industry - which now has easy northern access between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans - may be cheering this “natural” development, scientists worry about the impact of the resulting rise in sea levels around the world. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, made up of leading climate scientists, sea levels have risen some 3.1 millimeters per year since 1993. And the United Nations Environment Program predicts that, by 2010, some 80 percent of people will live within 62 miles of the coast, with about 40 percent living within 37 miles of a coastline. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) reports that low-lying island nations, especially in equatorial regions, have been hardest hit by this phenomenon, and some are threatened with total disappearance. Rising seas have already swallowed up two uninhabited islands in the Central Pacific. On Samoa, thousands of residents have moved to higher ground as shorelines have retreated by as much as 160 feet.

And islanders on Tuvalu are scrambling to find new homes as salt water intrusion has made their groundwater undrinkable while increasingly strong hurricanes and ocean swells have devastated shoreline structures. WWF says that rising seas throughout tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world have inundated coastal ecosystems, decimating local plant and wildlife populations. In Bangladesh and Thailand, coastal mangrove forests - important buffers against storms and tidal waves - are giving way to ocean water. Unfortunately, even if we curb global warming emissions today, these problems are likely to get worse before they get better. According to marine geophysicist Robin Bell of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, sea levels rise by about 1/16” for every 150 cubic miles of ice that melts off one of the poles. “That may not sound like a lot, but consider the volume of ice now locked up in the planet’s three greatest ice sheets,” she writes in a recent issue of Scientific American. “If the West Antarctic ice sheet were to disappear, sea level would rise almost 19 feet; the ice in the Greenland ice sheet could add 24 feet to that; and the East Antarctic ice sheet could add yet another 170 feet to the level of the world’s oceans: more than 213 feet in all.” Bell underscores the severity of the situation by pointing out that the 150-foot tall Statue of Liberty could be completely submerged within a matter of decades.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), traditional gas-powered lawnmowers are a public nuisance to say the least. Using one of them for an hour generates as many volatile organic compounds dangerous airborne pollutants known to exacerbate human respiratory and cardiovascular problems - as driving a typical car for 350 miles. The EPA estimates that, with some 54 million Americans mowing their lawns on a weekly basis, gas lawnmower emissions account for as much as five percent of the nation’s total air pollution. Beyond that, homeowners spill some 17 million gallons of gasoline every year just refueling their lawnmowers. So what’s a green-minded property owner to do about keeping the grass down? Go electric, of course! Electric mowers, which either plug into a wall outlet via a long cord or run on batteries charged up from the grid, create no exhaust emissions and run much cleaner than their gas-powered counterparts. They also need less maintenance, with no spark plugs or belts to worry about, and are easier to use, as they tend to be smaller and come with pushbutton starters. The icing on the cake might be the fact that electric mowers are cheaper to run, using about as much electricity as an ordinary toaster. Most electric mower owners spend about $5 a year on electricity to keep their grass trimmed just right. The non-profit Electric Power Research Institute reports that replacing half of the 1.3 million or so gas mowers in the U.S. with electric models would save the equivalent amount of emissions of

taking two million cars off the road. But going electric has some minor tradeoffs. Electric mowers tend to cost up to $150 more than their gas-powered counterparts, and the plug-in varieties can only go 100 feet from the closest outlet without an extension cord. And the cordless models last only 30-60 minutes on a charge, depending on battery size and type, though that’s plenty sufficient for the average lawn (just remember to recharge it in time for the next mow). And, of course, just because electric mowers don’t consume fossil fuels or spew emissions directly doesn’t mean they are totally green-friendly. Most people derive their household electricity from coal-fired power plants, the dirtiest of all energy sources. Of course, running an electric mower on electricity generated from clean and renewable sources (solar, wind or hydro power) would be the greenest of all possibilities, and those days may be upon us soon. For those ready to take the electric mower plunge, the Greener Choices website, a project of Consumer Reports, gives high marks to Black & Decker’s corded ($230) and cordless ($400) models for their efficiency, reliability and ease-of-use. Corded models from Worx and Homelite (both around $200) also fared well, along with cordless offerings from Craftsman, Homelite, Remington and Neuton ($300-450).

CONTACTS: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), www.ipcc.ch; WWF, www.panda.org; Earth Institute at Columbia University, www.earth.columbia.edu. Black & Decker, www.blackanddecker.com; Remington, www.remingtonpowertools.com; Homelite, www.homelite.com; Worx, www.worxpowertools.com; Neuton, www.neutonpower.com; Greener Choices, www.greenerchoices.org. http://www.emagazine.com/ GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? E-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com.

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

14 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 15

PET TALK by Dean Vickers

THE POWER OF PREPAREDNESS As a Field Responder with The Humane Society of the United States Animal Rescue Team, I was contacted to deploy to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to assume the Logistics Command with the Emergency Animal Sheltering Team. At the request of the State of Iowa, our team was deployed on June 14, 2008; to assist with animal rescue in the worst flooding Cedar Rapids, Iowa has ever seen. Our specialized team was put to the test with more than 100 rescue requests coming in daily. So many families were desperately seeking their animal companions that we stepped up our water rescue efforts - more than doubling our presence during the first three days. The variety of rescues that we performed was amazing - we used a longreach ladder to save two abandoned dogs from a second story apartment, searched flooded homes high and low for stranded cats and dogs. But the most memorable mission was to a 12-story assisted living building where we searched each of the 198 rooms for any pets in need of rescue. The sweltering building had been shut up for several days without electricity - creating a potential death trap. The filth left behind by the floodwaters and the heat was suffocating. Our rescue teams saved 125 animals that single day. As with other disasters – natural and manmade; floods are a drawn-out ordeal for humans and their animal companions. People are unable to reach home to see if their pets survived, and their pets are incapable of understanding why they are left stranded. In Cedar Rapids, hundreds of people lost their homes and thousands were evacuated in the face of floodwaters – but the number one concern for many of the affected residents was seeing their pets safely rescued – and that is what we did. This was an exhausting mission, but seeing the look of relief in the eyes of each animal we plucked from the waters made it all worthwhile The approximately 875 rescued animals – ranging from cats and dogs to a variety of exotic species – were housed in an emergency shelter at Kirkwood Community College. All of the animals have been decontaminated, assessed and treated by veterinarians before entering the facility. Although we saved close to 900 animals, unfortunately we were too late for some and they perished unnecessarily. To prevent this from happening to your pets, I would like to encourage you to plan ahead by doing the following:

The following actions are recommended to make sure your pets are taken care of when everyday events like these prevent you from taking care of your pets: Disaster Supply Checklist for Pets Every member of your family should know what he or she needs to take when you evacuate. You also need to prepare supplies for your pet. Stock up on non-perishables well ahead of time, and have everything ready to go at a moment’s notice. Keep everything accessible, stored in sturdy containers (duffel bags, covered trash containers, etc.) that can be carried easily. If you reside in an area prone to certain seasonal disasters, such as flooding or hurricanes that might require evacuation, create a kit to keep in your car. In your pet disaster kit, you should include: • Food and water for at least five days for each pet, bowls and a manual can opener if you are packing canned pet food. • Medications and medical records stored in a waterproof container and a first aid kit. A pet first aid book is also good to include. • Cat litter box, litter, garbage bags to collect all pets’ waste, and litter scoop. • Sturdy leashes, harnesses, and carriers to transport pets safely and to ensure that your pets can’t escape. Carriers should be large enough for the animal to stand comfortably, turn around and lie down. Your pet may have to stay in the carrier for hours at a time while you are away from home. Be sure to have a secure cage with no loose objects inside it to accommodate smaller pets. These may require blankets or towels for bedding and warmth, and other special items. • Current photos and descriptions of your pets to help others identify them in case you and your pets become separated and to prove that they are yours. • Pet beds and toys, if you can easily take them, to reduce stress. • Information about your pets’ feeding schedules, medical conditions, behavior problems, and the name and number of your veterinarian in case you have to board your pets or place them in foster care. Other useful items include newspapers, paper

towels, plastic trash bags, grooming items and household bleach. Find a Safe Place Ahead of Time Because evacuation shelters generally don’t accept pets (except for service animals), you must plan ahead to make certain your family and pets will have a safe place to stay. Don’t wait until disaster strikes to do your research. • Contact hotels and motels outside your immediate area to check policies on accepting pets. Ask about any restrictions on number, size and species. Inquire if the “no pet” policies would be waived in an emergency. Make a list of animal-friendly places and keep it handy. Call ahead for a reservation as soon as you think you might have to leave your home. • Check with friends, relatives or others outside your immediate area. Ask if they would be able to shelter you and your animals or just your animals, if necessary. If you have more than one pet, you may need to house them at separate locations. • Make a list of boarding facilities and veterinary offices that might be able to shelter animals in emergencies; include 24-hour telephone numbers. • Ask your local animal shelter if it provides foster care or shelter for pets in an emergency. This should be your last resort, as shelters have limited resources and are likely to be stretched to their limits during an emergency. When You Evacuate, Take Your Pets With You The single most important thing you can do to protect your pets is to take them with you when you evacuate. Animals left behind in a disaster can easily be injured, lost or killed. Animals left inside your home can escape through storm-damaged areas, such as broken windows. Animals turned loose to fend for themselves are likely to become victims of exposure, starvation, predators, contaminated food or water, or accidents. Leaving dogs tied or chained outside in a disaster is a death sentence. • If you leave, even if you think you may only be gone for a few hours, take your animals. When you leave, you have no way of knowing how long you’ll be kept out of the area, and

you may not be able to go back for your pets. • Leave early - don’t wait for a mandatory evacuation order. An unnecessary trip is far better than waiting too long to leave safely with your pets. If you wait to be evacuated by emergency officials, you may be told to leave your pets behind. If You Don’t Evacuate, Shelter in Place If your family and pets must wait out a storm or other disaster at home, identify a safe area of your home where you can all stay together. Be sure to close your windows and doors, stay inside, and follow the instructions from your local emergency management office. • Bring your pets indoors as soon as local authorities say there is an imminent problem. Keep pets under your direct control; if you have to evacuate, you will not have to spend time trying to find them. Keep dogs on leashes and cats in carriers, and make sure they are wearing identification. • If you have a room you can designate as a “safe room,” put your emergency supplies in that room in advance, including your pet’s crate and supplies. Have any medications and a supply of pet food and water inside watertight containers, along with your other emergency supplies. If there is an open fireplace, vent, pet door, or similar opening in the house, close it off with plastic sheeting and strong tape. • Listen to the radio periodically, and don’t come out until you know it’s safe. Although I have responded to other disasters, this one was different in a major way. As I would talk to residents, many of whom had lost everything, more often than not, they would thank me for coming to assist and offer to buy me a cup of coffee. Animals are intertwined in our daily lives, this is most apparent during times of disaster. It is during these times that they need our help the most, and it is during these times that people like me have an opportunity to give back to the animals that enrich our lives on a daily basis. Dean Vickers is the Ohio State Director for the Humane Society of the United States. He can be reached at 614.607.7139 or dvickers@hsus.org. JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

16 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 17

THE EXAMINED LIFE by Tom Moon, MFT

Nonviolent Communication 2: “Killing People is too Superficial” Last time I talked about the basic ideas of Nonviolent Communication (NVC), a form of interaction developed by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg which offers an alternative to the competitive, judgmental, and violent forms of communication in which most of us have been socialized. This time I’d like to talk about how NVC approaches the issue of expressing anger. Rosenberg acknowledges that members of oppressed groups are often “uneasy when they hear the terms ‘nonviolent’ or ‘compassionate’ communication because they have so often been urged to stifle their anger, calm down, and accept the status quo. They worry about approaches that view their anger as an undesirable quality needing to be purged.” He replies that NVC isn’t about stifling anything – it’s actually about expressing ourselves more fully and deeply. In his book, Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life, he offers this startling point of view: “I would like to suggest that killing people is too superficial. Killing, hitting, blaming, hurting others – whether physically or mentally – are all superficial expressions of what is going on with us when we are angry. If we are truly angry, we would want a much more powerful way to fully express ourselves.” Anger, he argues, is “a result of life-alienating, violence provocative thinking. At the

core of all anger is a need that is not being fulfilled (italics added).” The problem of succumbing to the temptations of violence or self-righteous rage is that when we do, we divert our attention from our unmet needs and focus instead on punishing other people for being “bad.” That’s why the way most of us express anger is superficial: it diverts our attention away from the needs and feelings that provoked the anger in the first place. Nor is punitive rage particularly effective in persuading others to take our needs seriously, because “when our heads are filled with judgments and analyses that others are bad, greedy, irresponsible, lying, cheating, polluting the environment, valuing profit more than life, or behaving in other ways they shouldn’t, very few of them will be interested in our needs. If we want to protect the environment and we go to a corporate executive with the attitude, ‘You know, you are really a killer of the planet, you have no right to abuse the land in this way,’ we have severely impaired our chances of getting our needs met. It is a rare human being who can maintain focus on our needs when we are expressing them though images of wrongness.” So how can we express our anger in ways that are more likely to be effective? We really only have four options when we hear a negative message: 1) We can blame ourselves, 2)

We can blame others, 3) We can shine the light of consciousness on our own feelings and needs and become aware of the unmet needs behind our anger, or 4) We can shine the light of consciousness on the other person’s needs and feelings. Clearly, the second two options are the ones most likely to evoke understanding and cooperation. “Instead of engaging in ‘righteous indignation,’ I recommend connecting empathically with our own needs or those of others. This may take extensive practice, whereby over and over again, we consciously replace the phrase ‘I am angry because they…’ with ‘I am angry because I am needing…” In practice, the nonviolent expression of anger has four components. This first step is to stop and do nothing except breathe. Instead of blaming or punishing, we stay quiet. Being non-reactive makes it possible the emotional clarity for the second step, which is to identify the judgmental thoughts that are provoking our anger. Third, knowing that all judgmental thoughts are indirect expressions of unmet needs, we internally identify the needs and feelings behind our thoughts. Only then do we open our mouths and speak the anger, which has by then hopefully been transformed into needs and needs-connected feelings. Since the core idea in the NVC approach to anger is that all rage and violence ob-

scure unmet needs, learning to express anger more effectively entails becoming more conscious of our habitual thoughts of blame, and of our judgments, labels, and ideas about what people “should” do and what they “deserve.” One way to facilitate becoming more conscious is to do the following exercise: Write out a list of the judgments you make most frequently by responding to the cue “I don’t like people who are …” After collecting your negative judgments, go through the list again and ask yourself “When I make that judgment of a person, what am I needing and not getting?” Practicing this exercise helps us retrain ourselves to think in terms of unmet needs rather than in terms of judgments of others. NVC is a powerful tool for improving relationships and resolving conflicts. Its most important application, however, may well be in the way we treat ourselves, because to the degree that we’re internally violent toward ourselves we are handicapped in being compassionate toward others. How NVC fosters connecting compassionately with ourselves will be my theme next time. Tom Moon is a psychotherapist in San Francisco. His website is tommoon.net.

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

18 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

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OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 19

PRIDE 2008 Photos by Don Fackler

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

20 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

ROCKIN’ Photos by Sally Smith

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OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 21

PARADE & FEST Photos by Don Fackler

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22 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

PARADE & FEST Photos by Chris Hayes & Robert Trautman

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 23

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

24 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

PRIDE BRUNCH & BAT n’ ROUGE Photos by Chris Hayes & Robert Trautman

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 25

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

26 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

DEEP INSIDE HOLLYWOOD by Romeo San Vicente

REESE WITHERSPOON AND BEN STILLER GET SECRETIVE

DAN BUTLER TO KARL ROVE: I LOVE YOU

When powerful gay super-producer Scott Rudin wants something done, it gets done - even if you don’t get to know what it is. That’s the current secret state of affairs with his latest movie project, and the reason for all the hush-hush/DL-ness can be traced to the film’s creator, Cameron Crowe. Crowe is known for keeping his celluloid visions under wraps for as long as he can, and this one is no exception. But here’s what we know: it will star both Reese Witherspoon and Ben Stiller, and it’s a romantic comedy. And that’s it. Now, of those info-bytes, the presence of gay-favorite Reese Witherspoon and the words “romantic comedy” seem like the most promising. They mean that no matter what happens, it can’t be as awful as Elizabethtown. So the future is tentatively bright. For now.

What happens when a liberal, gay, Hollywood actor falls in love with an arch-conservative political strategist? The consequences of such a strange crush are explored in the latest indie comedy from writer-director Dan Butler, Karl Rove: I Love You. Best known for his role as Bulldog on Frasier, Butler stars in this self-produced mockumentary as “Dan Butler,” a depressed careerist actor in 2004, who dreams of making the leading-man fame-leap by creating a one man show about President Bush’s top (at the time) political adviser. The goal? The win-win scenario of both swaying the 2004 election and getting his own name above the title for once. The Hollywood/D.C. satire is Butler’s debut as a quadruple threat: producer, screenwriter, director, and star, and audiences can see the finished funniness as it makes the film-festival circuit rounds, starting right about now.

JENNA JAMESON TEACHES HOW TO MAKE LOVE TO A WOMAN Yes, the upcoming indie comedy How to Make Love to A Woman stars attractive young acting talent you’ve seen on TV: Ian Somerhalder (Lost), Krysten Ritter (Gilmore Girls), and Josh Meyers (That 70s Show). But the story of young heterosexuals suffering from sex dysfunction isn’t the reason queer audiences might be interested. That reason is Jenna Jameson, the iconic, pneumatic adult film star who’s done more to bring porn (and, specifically, faux-lesbian porn) into the mainstream than just about anyone. She plays herself and is, according to leaked plot details, brought in to assist the befuddled men in making love to the woman of the title (whom Romeo presumes is Ritter). And while the politics of casting Jameson are quintessentially incorrect and also very Hollywood (“Real lesbians? Still too scary.”), it can’t be denied that she’s definitely the most straight-guy-ticket-buying-friendly option. Here’s hoping female pleasure ensues.

PROJECT RUNWAY GOES TO THE MOVIES Winning Project Runway may have been great for last season’s Christian Siriano, the sassy wunderkind who’s become a household name after his “fierce” TV debut. But what about season one’s winner, the independent-to-a-fault Jay McCarroll? What happened to him? The documentary Eleven Minutes follows McCarroll as he navigates the treacherous terrain that is the fashion industry, a world that didn’t quite know what to do with the man who seemed poised to become fashion design’s newest star, but whose insistence on controlling his own destiny made for a rockier road than even he imagined. Much like the Isaac Mizrahi documentary Unzipped, Eleven goes behind the scenes as McCarroll pulls together a collection. And if audiences warm to it (it’s currently making the film-festival rounds), it should be a welcome shot in the arm to the talented, knit-cap-wearing designer’s career.

Romeo San Vicente was fierce before fierce was cool. He can be reached care of this publication or at DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com.

ARTS by Nancy Colvin

Come Explore African Art And Beyond: Treasures From The Josef Floch Memorial Collection Through october 5 African Art and Beyond celebrates the Josef Floch Memorial Collection, an extremely important addition to the Museum collection. Jenny Floch generously donated the works from the collection of her father, artist Josef Floch, which includes works from the present day West African nation of Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Republic of Mali, and the Republic of Benin. The gift also includes pre-Columbian and Oceanic works. “This collection is a magnificent addition to the Columbus Museum of Art because of the significance and beauty of the works themselves and because of their vital connection to our permanent collection,” said Executive Director Nannette V. Maciejunes. “African sculpture had a profound influence on twentieth-century art—a great strength of our collection. We now can present both exquisite examples of African sculpture in context with works by artists such as Pablo Picasso and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, all of whom found great inspiration in African sculpture.” The Josef Floch Memorial Collection is exceptional because it reflects the personal aesthetic of a collector who was an outstanding JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

artist in his own right. While other African art collections were ethnographic in nature, Floch’s criterion was artistic merit. Josef Floch was born in Vienna, Austria, and studied at that city’s Academy of Fine Arts. In 1925, he moved to Paris where he showed his paintings at the gallery of legendary dealer Berthe Weill, who also represented Amedeo Modigliani and André Derain. With the Nazi threat impending, Floch left Paris with his family. After being sheltered for two years in the small town of Turenne, in 1941, the family immigrated to the United States. They settled in New York City, where Floch was associated with other American figurative artists of the 1940s, including Raphael and Moses Soyer. Following World War II, he returned to Paris annually to paint. He also began acquiring the objects that were to become a passion. The breath and depth of Josef Floch’s collection, which included works as disparate as French medieval sculpture and Persian pottery, is remarkable. His favorites, however, were the powerfully elegant works of West Africa that are now an important part of the Columbus Museum of Art. The Columbus Museum of Art creates great

experiences with great art for everyone. The Columbus Foundation, the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the Ohio Arts Council and Nationwide provide ongoing support. The Museum and the Museum Shop are open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm and until 8:30 pm every Thursday. The Palette Café is open for lunch Tuesday through Sunday from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. Museum admission is $8 for adults; $5 for seniors and students 6 and

over; and free for members, children 5 and under, and everyone on Sunday. For additional information, call 614.221.4848 or visit www.columbusmuseum.org. Nancy Colvin is Marketing and Communications Manager for Columbus Museum of Art, a member organization of the Columbus Arts Marketing Association. For more information, visit www.camaonline.org.

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 27

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INTERVIEW by Mark Bruno

BASKING IN THE FAGGOTY ATTENTION Local Artist’s New Single is Getting Him Noticed Cincinnati-born Adam Joseph is like a pink diamond – not just because he is shiny and glittery – but because he is a rare find in the world of music today. Not only does Joseph write, produce, engineer, arrange, and play on all of his recordings, he releases and distributes them through his self-owned record label, JAH Records. After moving to New York’s East Village, he has become a leader in the new genre of beats known as faggot music. His latest track, “Faggoty Attention” has become something of a cultural phenomenon, largely because of the record’s down and dirty music video. A little bit Michael Jackson “The Way You Make Me Feel”, a little bit Madonna “Music” (at least the part where she is dancing in her limo), the video depicts Joseph as he lures a vulnerable straight boy. But it’s the use of the word “faggot” that has sparked the most attention for the twinkolicious diva. Some people love that Joseph is reclaiming the word “fag,” while others revile it … and it’s all being played out in new media. The singer returns home to perform at Below Zero on Saturday, July 12th. Mark Bruno: Growing up in Ohio, did you always crave attention? Adam Joseph: I wouldn’t say I was the type that craved attention. I’ve just never been opposed to being the center of it. MB: What are some things you have done for attention? AJ: I’m actually more shy than most would think me to be. That’s why I love making music because it allows me to express my fantasies and desires in an unapologetic way. MB: When did you know you wanted to be a pop star? AJ: I never had my sights set on pop stardom but I guess that goes along with making pop music. I started recording and producing because I wanted people to hear my music. I didn’t realize until much later that it would bring this type of attention where people like you want to ask me questions. MB: Do interviews make you nervous? AJ: Hell yeah. MB: We won’t bite, unless you want us to. AJ: (Laughs) Let’s see where this interview takes us. MB: Fair enough. After moving to New York, you were signed to Sony Music but then left the label. What happened? AJ: I was signed to Sony’s “Music with a Twist” label. It was supposed to be the first major American label with a roster of all out artists.

MB: Would Sony have released Faggoty Attention? AJ: My A&R at Sony actually really liked the song but said it wouldn’t work in the U.S. marketplace. He said he thought it could be a hit in Europe, especially the U.K., but the label wasn’t trying to tap the UK at the time of the release. MB: You are part of a whole faggot music movement coming out of America. Who are some of the other prominent members of the movement? AJ: There are lots of out artists coming from the U.S.A, especially in NYC. I have had the opportunity to produce and write for a lot of the them including Jonny “The Gay Pimp” McGovern, Peppermint, LaMady, and Princess Xtravaganza. It’s amazing to be in the middle of a movement like this and realize that I am a part of it. It’s something I’m very proud to be a part of. MB: You’re correct to point out that most artists are coming out of New York City. AJ: In truth, the movement can be pinpointed to a small area of New York City called the East Village. The East Village has been a breeding ground for up and coming out artists for quite a while. MB: Legendary artists like Klaus Nomi, Johnny Dynell, Dean Johnson, and The Ones all originated in The East Village. AJ: Exactly. I came to NYC to create music in an environment that would be nurturing and enriching. I found a strong sense of community and many other artists with similar goals in the East Village scene. Collaboration and cooperation were almost inevitable. MB: Who decided that Jonny McGovern’s “The East Village Mix Tape” album - produced by Adam Joseph - would be the first release? AJ: The East Village Mix Tape came from a weekly series of shows that Jonny McGovern was producing for Club Spirit in NYC in which we wrote and produced new songs each week for different NYC gaylebrities. We then put all of the songs that were part of the series and East Village Mix Tape was the result. It’s not the first release for either of us though. I have a full length soul album that was released in 2004. I’ve been grinding for a while now. MB: What was your favorite track on “The East Village Mix Tape” album? AJ: I would say “This is NYC Bitch” by LaMady. I think that song really represents what The East Village Scene is all about.

MB: Let me guess – it folded. AJ: They released a compilation with one of my songs on it but then, for reasons unknown to me, dropped all the artists on the label.

MB: “This is New York City Bitch” is fierce. When legendary queen Kevin Aviance says “Who do you think I am, Rude Paul or something?,” I cheered. AJ: Being good friends with RuPaul and Kevin Aviance, I have no comment other than they are both fierce!

MB: It’s not a good time for major music labels. AJ: That’s true. It appears to be a very shaky time for labels and the artists signed to them. Also, maybe America’s just not ready for such a Faggoty endeavor. An out male artist has never been pushed by a major label in the U.S.A.

MB: On the heels of “The East Village Mix Tape” release came McGovern’s Gays Gone Wild, another Adam Joseph production. Were you as surprised as everyone else by the success of “Somethin’ for the Fellas” track? AJ: Hell to the Nah! I knew that song would be a

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smash with the gays. It’s everything you need: growling bass, cunty beats, sexy boys, and a fat screaming black lady. It’s pretty much the perfect equation for a gay underground hit.

able people are still with homosexuality.

MB: The video introduced the world to the players of Team Pimp; “Erickatoure”, Linda James and Nita. What is a nice Ohio blonde boy like you doing hanging around that motley crew? AJ: Those are my girls and I produced and sang all the background vocals on the track. I love my queens and those girls are some of the fiercest...and by the way, who said I was a nice Ohio blonde boy?

MB: In the East Village world you and Jonny McGovern portray in your records, life is a non stop party of sex, drugs, and dance floors. Mainstream isn’t giving much respect to partiers these days. Look at Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Amy Winehouse… AJ: I think the mainstream is obsessed with people who party hard. It seems like in America that it is the most important news for some reason. I like to party but it’s not my first priority any more. I’m way to busy working on all this music!

MB: I stand corrected. AJ: Snap.

MB: What do you think about sex? AJ: It’s great!

MB: What are you queens hoping to change? AJ: We are just trying to bring it hard to the kids and make people realize that you don’t have to conform to the mainstream to be successful. You can be yourself and people will accept you for who you are.

MB: Drugs? AJ: Don’t let them get the best of you, but get the best of them.

MB: In the album credits of “Gays Gone Wild”, Jonny thanks Jesus for making him a homo “because there ain’t nothing better”. AJ: I love being gay. I think we get to have a lot more fun than your average straighty. Of course we have a lot more fun than the average fag...but seriously, I don’t thank God. I thank myself for being comfortable and happy with who I am. MB: You’ve said faggots can never be mainstream. So is faggot music just a call for attention? Another way to say hey world, we’re here, we’re queer, get used to it? AJ: When did I say faggots couldn’t be mainstream? It’s up to the audience in the end. There are so many gays working in the mainstream right now and gays are influencing our culture more and more. The only difference is I will talk about it when most others hide it or refuse to speak on it. MB: Faggoty Attention seems to go beyond that though. The record seems to demand not only that the world notices and accepts the homos, but gives homos respect. AJ: The song is celebrating the lifestyle. When you look at it from the point of view of straight people flaunting their sexuality in music constantly, why is a song about a gay guy trying to pick up another guy such a big deal? It just goes to show how uncomfort-

MB: Dance floors? AJ: Run to it! MB: If you had to give up two and only keep one, which would you keep (sex, drugs, or dance floors)? AJ: I’d rather kill myself. MB: What’s next for the kid Jonny McGovern calls “The White Hummingbird”? AJ: I’m working on my next full length soul/R&B album. I’m also about to release a soulful house remix and remix video for the song “You’re Mine” off of my first album. I just signed the group “LaMady” (This is NYC Bitch) to my label (JAH Records) and am about to start producing their first album and we just released Jonny McGovern’s new remix album (“Keep it Faggity: The Remix Project”). MB: How can faggots support faggoty music? AJ: Buy it, spread the word; respect it. MB: When it’s all over, what do you hope people will remember you for? AJ: Songs that made them laugh and cry; beats that made them move; and a look that made them cream. See Adam Joseph live when he performs at Below Zero on Saturday, July 12th. For more info, visit adamjosephmusic.com and myspace.com/adamjosephmusic.

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 29

CLASSIFIEDS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY FLORAL BUSINESS 70-year-old family-run floral business for sale. Established clients, great location. Please call Mary McCarthy at Sunbelt Business Brokers, 614.734.8338, for more information.

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OLDE TOWNE EAST 1096 & 1104 Bryden Rd, 1 BR BANK TELLER apartments available, new Looking for an experienced kitchen, wd flrs, vaulted ceilBranch Banker. Must have In ing, $450/mo. More OTE Branch sales experience in the rentals available. Call Beacon financial services industry. Property Mgmt. at 614.228.6700. Outbound calling required. Please direct inquiries or send resume to: Jeff Bergandine 647 N High St Columbus, OH 43215, 614.241.5600, or email resume to jbergandine@firstcommunitybank.com.

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TEAM DRIVERS Cryogenic transportation expanding tanker runs along I80 corridor. Awesome hometime, pay, benefits. Consistent work available! Avg $3000 gross per week. CDL-A w/X, 2 yrs exp req. Jerry 866.339.0072.

Dear Diary, OH BOY! Pride was finally here...my favorite weekend of the year! Friday night we Danced in the Streets and walked over to Comfest... .there were so many interesting smells there. Saturday, we watched the parade with all our friends in Columbus. I was glad Mary Katherine Gallager struted her stuff again this year. SuperSTAR ! And the Flaggots are always so in sync even while walking down High St. Love and peace and community is everywhere.....it made my tail wag ! I couldn't wait to stop by Marshall’s house to visit with Quox and Pogonip. Sunday we watched Bat-nRouge.... those gals can really run well in high heels. Wish they had Pride once a month instead of once a year!

I’m still hoping to find a new family. Please call my rescue group if you are looking for a new family member. Columbus Dog Connection.com

CALL MICHAEL TODAY! 614.268.8525

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OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 31

FILM by Adam Lippe

Wanted Wanton violence and nihilism is not always a bad thing. As with anything, it is entirely about tone. Having just finished watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, in all its studio-polished, R-rated glory where the question of character deaths was not an “if” proposition, but rather a “when” - it became clear what the major difference was between it and Wanted. TCM: The Beginning is joyless and perfunctory, the filmmakers filling the screen with bored dread. It is made even more disingenuous by watching it on DVD, even in its unrated form, because there are hundreds of underfunded exploitation films that don’t have (or need) the money to add such a glittery sheen to its brutality and don’t have the benefit of a theatrical release. All they have to rely on is their willingness to be offensive and over the top, well past what any mainstream house would allow. So it would be a curious choice to choose TCM: The Beginning over one of its lower budgeted and more honest brethren, like Ichi the Killer, Mute Witness, or May. Why worry about the level of tastelessness if you’re willing to put yourself through unsettling violence in the first place? The professionalism and money simply makes it less honest. An abundance of money, however, is the only way that Wanted could have been made. Taking the energy and ridiculousness of his Russian hits, Night Watch and Day Watch, director Timur Bekmambetov pushes his fantastically nonsensical creativity to the limit. Night Watch and Day Watch were both quite entertaining and ambitious, but slightly hampered by financial limits. Wanted has no such issue. All of the stunts that he couldn’t quite pull off in Russia have been exaggerated here and go so much further than even the Wanted trailer suggests. This self-aware pastiche of John Woo gunfights, Fight Clubstyle story and CGI is the most wonderfully disreputable studio film since Crank. It is exactly the film that last year’s Shoot Em’ Up should have been, straddling the line between intense and serious when dealing with the story, allowing for an acceptable level of emotional involvement, and entirely mind-blowing gun fights that completely ignore any sense of physics, logic, or common sense. Wanted is also one of the few recent films to handle voiceover properly, without making it seem like a studio addition intended to over explain plot to the audience. The voiceover allows us into what appears to be a typical, clichéd world, wherein James McAvoy deals with his pent-up frustration of dealing with office politics and the fact that he is aware that he is a complete nonentity as a person. Yes, we get a very Matrix-y revelation that, in fact, McAvoy is “the one” - a wizard with guns, bequeathed through hereditary means. This happens as he is swooped up (literally) in a car by the heroin(e) (a tranny-looking Angelina Jolie, in medias res) so

he can be trained to be an assassin. It gives us the impression that we’ll have to sit through generic training sequences, but these are the most inventive and silly since 36 Chambers of the Shaolin, and involve more mousebombs than you would have thought possible. Wanted is simplistic in theory, boy must become a man, but has a twist or two that would generally be beyond a film of this ilk. The way the assassins choose their targets, using a loom machine, is amusingly silly, but also reveals the religious overtones involved in their code, with a special emphasis on the notion of fate. There’s even a parody of the typical action gun fight conclusion in the standard “steam and flame factory;” which, with its convenient catwalks and explosions, cause many a visual distraction. Sure, there’s the occasional awful digital effect thrown in (note to the computer visualists, CGI looks good in close-up, silly and distracting from a distance) and Jolie’s angular features resemble a cubist painting, and do not infer someone who can fight like a pro and curve bullets. While an elitist could easily scoff at Morgan Freeman selling out in his boilerplate leader role, it is clear that he, along with the other actors, are having such a good time in this fanciful universe that it becomes infectious. Wanted is stupid, profane, and violent enough to question the logic of giving it an R rating. It is some of the best trash imaginable.

Get Smart On the other hand, Get Smart is a totally generic and indistinguishable cash-in. Steve Carell’s deadpan can work wonders and, indeed, he’s the whole movie here. Every other character seems to be the straight man - which is five too many. But this is a dreadfully dull script, oddly drenched in attempts at legitimate action sequences. Indifferently directed by the king of anonymity, Peter Segal (Anger Management, Tommy Boy), the movie clearly never decides whether or not it wants to beat the dead horse of an ancient TV show (such as the movie version of I, Spy), or a forgettable action-comedy that has nothing to do with the source material (I, Spy). I think it is more of the latter, as the movie never puts in any effort to get near the wackiness and absurdity of the Mel Brooks-created original. This is something that has plagued big budget Hollywood films for a long time. It began in the early ’90s with films like Hudson Hawk, Demolition Man, and Last Action Hero - movies that should have played as straight comedies, satires of ridiculous action, but fell victim to what I call genre-breeding. Basically, the producers get cold feet and figure that they can’t spend $100 million on a comedy, and only action films can deliver the payload, so they shoehorn it in, defeating the entire purpose. So you get a comedy that makes fun of middling action

movies, but simultaneously is one, and therefore a total wash. Get Smart isn’t helped by the miscasting of Anne Hathaway, who is entirely out of her element as an action heroine. And the fact is that most of the serious action moments were already parodied nearly 15 years ago, in True Lies. I can’t think of a single scene in Get Smart that doesn’t seem extraneous and badly organized (including a pointless Bill Murray cameo). Segal even steals from himself, repeating a gag from his own My Fellow Americans, when a sharp object goes through the windshield of a car to the point of near decapitation of the passenger. The other two funny moments are in the trailer, so just stay home and watch that.

Hancock The fallacy of the test audience makes the fact that a big budget action-comedy spectacular is actually an entirely honest movie about marketing a complete surprise. If I told you this movie was Hancock, Will Smith’s new summer tentpole about a grumpy superhero who the public doesn’t much like because of his drunken sloppiness, you’d probably be surprised. As was I. I don’t know how director Peter Berg got away with something so subversive and dark. (Maybe that’s why some of the special effects resemble the quaint ineptness of its television brother, The Greatest American Hero. The studio must have been so annoyed at the tone that they wouldn’t give him money to smooth out the CGI). But this is certainly the first e-ticket film in memory to have a public relations guy be the hero. That the trailers barely mention this character, smoothly played by the current king of sincere smarm, Jason Bateman, is either an attempt to hoodwink the potential audience or save the surprises for personal discovery. Smith mostly scowls his way through the first half of the film, annoyed with his immortal status, cursing at the public, destroying massive amounts of city property. This is all very deceptive, because it suggests that the character arc will be about how he softens and spends the last half of the movie finding his true calling in protecting the people. That would have been the easy way out, and probably the more profitable one, as well. But no. Hancock is mostly about corporate branding, public image, and political correctness. And it doesn’t hide that fact at all. Certainly this is the canniest way to handle the need for product placement and their appearances in the film become like another joke. That’s not to suggest that Hancock is a laugh riot. Mostly, you will be consistently amused, and there are a few chuckles here and there (for those who are more adventurous, seek out the much funnier Big Man Japan, which deals with a very similar topic). But compared to the same concept gone wrong of a few summers ago, the dull and uncreative My Super Ex-Girlfriend, this is a tremendous achievement. JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

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PUCKER UP by Tristan Taormino

Desire in the Desert Tristan Goes To a Unique BDSM Event Palm Springs: Imagine if the courtyard from Melrose Place were relocated to the desert, decorated with slings and spanking benches, and populated by leatherwomen. That’s pretty much where I hung out over the weekend. I’ve been to hundreds of BDSM events, but I’ve never been to one quite like Desire (DesireLeatherWomen.com). This was the fifth annual conference, held at a small gay resort smackdab in the middle of a cluster of other resorts populated by sun-seeking gay boys; for this one weekend, the queer women (and a few transmen) had the run of the place. The connected rooms of the charming establishment formed a square around a courtyard (à la Melrose Place), and the play space was entirely outdoors, with equipment from handmade wooden crosses to sling frames weighted down with sandbags scattered around the pool. Because of the size of the hotel, presenters and event staffers stayed on-site, with the rest of the attendees staying in nearby lodgings. In the morning, I could open the blinds in my room, peer out my window, and see a woman getting caned until dark red stripes appeared on her ass. At night, I fell asleep to the sounds of drumming, flogging, and coming. The 100-degree weather was definitely worth sweating through. There are only a handful of events in the country that are primarily for kinky women, and they are becoming more and more rare. This fact, along with the structure of Desire, makes it entirely unique. Perhaps the biggest draw is that in addition to group classes for attendees (a staple of kink cons), each presenter teaches five one-on-one workshops throughout the weekend; when people register, they select a presenter and one of that person’s topics and can go to as many group classes as they want. These one-onones made me a little nervous, since I didn’t know what to expect. They were much more low-key than I’d anticipated, but they were also quite intimate; I mostly had couples come to mine. Some of them wanted to talk and get some advice, tips, and techniques; others took the opportunity to try out new things as I coached them from the sidelines. One woman came to me wanting her partner to fist her ass. We discussed a plan in advance for warming her up; in the end, just when we all thought it might not happen, it did - it was dramatic, cathartic, and really, really amazing to watch. One of those moments I’ll never forget - and one that reminds me why I love what I do! At another class, a woman brought a girl she picked up at lunch to be her fisting demo–ee; elsewhere, a sexy blonde asked me if I’d autograph her ass (of course, I happily obliged!). The whole thing felt more like a vacation than probably any other event I’ve taught at. Maybe it was all the time I spent in the pool. Maybe it was the rowdy Wet T-Shirt and Dildo Contest, or the surprisingly competitive Fist-a-Thon - my idea of cool preplanned activities. Mostly, I think it was the atmosphere that was so refreshing: about 150 naked

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and nearly naked women and trannies of all shapes, sizes, gender expressions, and sexual identities hanging out and being themselves in a judgmentfree, uninhibited environment, with an unlimited supply of Gatorade and lube next to a helpful sign that read: “It’s hot: Stay hydrated!” I was surprised to run into an old friend whom I hadn’t seen for quite a while. Many years ago, I took her anal-fisting cherry, so she has a special place in my heart (for that and other reasons). She told me that she had volunteered to be the demo bottom for my class on anal sex, which I thought was the perfect warm-up to a fisting date later that night. During the class, I taunted her with a giant metal flashlight, but just put a clear acrylic butt plug in her ass and strapped on a leather butt-plug harness that locks in place. (I had forgotten my locks, but I borrowed some zip ties from another presenter, which worked just fine.) She roamed around with the plug in for a little while, and then I took it out and told her to meet me later. I knew she would be defending her title as a vaginal-fisting champion at the Fist-a-Thon, so I wanted to get to her before then. When we hooked up later, I put her into a black sling with dark maroon fuzzy ankle straps (she’s so tiny that her legs barely reached them). Above the sling was a light switch to turn on an overhead spotlight - gotta love those industrious dykes for thinking of everything. I slipped on a glove and went to work fingering her ass. It felt relaxed and ready, so we moved on to three fingers pretty quickly. I wanted to get this thick black butt plug I had brought with me in her ass. It’s kind of like a good-luck butt plug - if I can get it in someone’s butt, I can always fit my hand in there. It took some maneuvering and lots of lube, but I finally managed to get it all the way into her ass. A cute tranny boy offered up his cock for a quickie blowjob, and she slurped away at it while I let the plug work its magic (you’ve got to leave it in for a while to get the best results). When I slid the plug out, her ass was open and ready for all five of my fingers. I went slowly, and I could tell she was getting into the zone. I rocked her back and forth on my hand by pushing the sling gently. I inched closer with each rock until her butt swallowed me whole . . . wow, there is just nothing like that feeling! I stayed in her ass longer than I’ve been in anyone’s ass, and she came and came and came, all the while screaming for all the boys in the neighboring resorts to hear, I’m sure. I finally pulled out, wiped up the lube dripping between her cheeks, and sent her on her way to the festivities on the other side of the pool. Before she left, I pinned a note to her dress: ASS PRE-FISTED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE.

Please visit my websites: puckerup.com and openingup.net.

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 33

SAVAGE LOVE by Dan Savage

I’m writing in celebration of the California decision to allow gays to marry. I’m thrilled I’ve always thought that the idea that gay marriage could hurt or affect straight people in any way was ridiculous. But a year ago, I found out I was wrong. I’m a straight woman in her late 20s dating “the one,” by which I mean the man who I’d be happy to wind up married to. We’ve been dating about two years, very happily, but one year into the relationship he informed me - he didn’t ask - that he was going to be the sperm donor for a lesbian couple that wanted to start a family. I had an immediate, visceral, physical reaction to the idea of another woman bearing his child. That’s an experience I hope to have with him! What shocked me was the range of reactions among my friends. My gay friends and my boyfriend insisted that it was “none of my business”! They also accused me of being selfish and called me a homophobe! My straight friends, female and male, agreed that doing this without my consent was outrageous! Ultimately, he didn’t do it, but this conflict very nearly ended our relationship. So going forward, I think we straights and you gays have to talk about this question: If gays have a right to marriage and family, do they also have a right to start those families with my boyfriend - no matter what I think and feel about it? Wouldn’t it, at the very least, be only polite to ask the girlfriend or wife for her consent and blessing, too? Questions About Gay Marriage So, QAGM, you’re thrilled that gay people won the right to marry in California even though you realized a year before gay marriage was legalized in California that you had been wrong to support marriage equality because it would lead gay people to believe that we have a right to your boyfriend’s spunk - the position that lesbian couple and all your gay friends arrived at before gay marriage was legalized in California. What the fuck are you talking about, lady? I’ve read the Supreme Court of California’s decision legalizing gay marriage, all 140 pages of it, twice, QAGM, and I can assure you there’s not one word in it about your boyfriend’s spunk. The gay marriage decision and your boyfriend’s aborted decision to serve as sperm donor for this lesbian couple have nothing whatsoever to do with each other, and your efforts to link them only make you look like a nutcase.

And that’s a shame, QAGM, because you’re actually in the right. Setting aside the legit mystical crap - the fact that most breeders regard having children by their spouses as the ultimate expression of their magical heterosexual love - you had every right on purely logistical grounds to object to your boyfriend fathering a child by these women. Was your boyfriend planning to be involved in the life of this child? If so, time he spent with this child would have taken time away from whatever children you might have together. And what sort of relationship did he imagine this child would have had with your children? Could he have wound up on the hook for child support, which would’ve impacted you financially, too? And what if this lesbian couple had died in a car wreck after this child had been born? Would the child then come to live with you? Your boyfriend should have been able to see how donating sperm to a lesbian couple would impact you and that you had a right to be involved in making this decision. The fact that he didn’t involve you, and still doesn’t think he needed to, should make you think twice about marrying him. And finally, QAGM, a question: When you say you had an “immediate, visceral, physical reaction,” does that mean you threw a punch? If you did, a word - or an initialism - to your boyfriend, if he’s reading this: DTMFA. A few months before I graduated, a friend revealed that she had been lusting after me for as long as she’d known me, and wanted to hook up. The trouble was that she’s in a long-term relationship. She didn’t see this as a problem - she was willing to cheat - but I didn’t want to be a part of that, and turned her down. She then played some silly games and convinced me to kiss her when I was drunk, and later flat-out propositioned me (again while I was drunk), and I refused again. Then we graduated and moved hundreds of miles away from each other, which I expected would be the end of it. Now, though, a month later, she wrote to tell me that she’s “not over” me. Was I right to turn her down, or should I, as she argued, let her make her own mistakes? Should I let her boyfriend (and likely fiancé) know about any of this? Not An Adultery Helper Can we please - all of us - resist the urge to define adultery down? To commit adultery, a person has to be married, not just dating or going steady or even engaged. This girl, if you

fuck her, may be a lying, cheating sack of shit, and you may be a cad, but she won’t be an adulteress, NAAH. She can’t be one until after she’s married. Now clearly you want to sleep with this woman - why write to me otherwise? - and you’re probably hoping I’ll say that you were wrong to turn her down. But were you? Well, that depends on why she’s pursuing you, NAAH. Perhaps she wants to cheat before she marries - before sleeping with someone else rises to the level of adultery - because she wants to live a little first. Perhaps she wants to make sure before marriage that the sex she’s getting from the boyfriend is as good or better than sex she’d get elsewhere. Or perhaps she wants to fuck you because she’s a skanky, skanky whore. Perhaps you should ask her. One final thought: If sleeping with you convinces this woman that she could never truly be satisfied with her boyfriend and she ends that relationship before she marries him, you will not only have gotten into the pants of a woman you find attractive, NAAH, but done your bit to bring down our divorce rates. In your most recent column, you wrote, “The Scouts are famously antigay and antiatheist.” While I believe this is true for the Scouting organization, I have to take issue with the idea that Scouts themselves are antigay and antiatheist. I was a Boy Scout. In fact, I am an Eagle Scout. But this is not exclusive of the fact that I am also gay (and am pretty much unreligious). But I was not “out” until last fall, my first year of college, after I was finished with the Scouts (and high school and living at home). Sadly, I’m pretty sure that the title of Eagle Scout would be taken away if the BSA organization knew that I was gay. So if you publish this, please don’t use my name or identifying info. Anonymous Eagle Scout Thanks for writing, AES, and I apologize for not being clearer in that response: It is the Boy Scouts of America that is antigay and antiatheist. There are a lot of individual Scouts and Scout leaders out there - I’m hearing from them - who reject and denounce the BSA’s antigay, antiatheist positions. It’s too bad the BSA isn’t hearing from them, too. Download the Savage Lovecast (my weekly podcast) every Tuesday at www.thestranger.com/savage. mail@savagelove.net

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008

34 • OUTLOOK WEEKLY

THE 7th ANNUAL NORTH MARKET FOOD AND OHIO WINE FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY NATIONAL CITY With years of experience serving high quality local wines, the North Market Food and Ohio Wine Festival presented by National City has firmly established itself as the premier showcase for Ohio wines in Central Ohio. The North Market will host its seventh celebration of Ohio’s finest wines and great foods to pair with them during the weekend of July 11th-13th. As the number of wineries in our great state continues to increase, 10 more opened last year for a count of 106, the event has grown. The festival added a couple of booths this year to include MerandaNixon Winery from Ripley, Ohio and local favorite Wyandotte Winery from Columbus. Sponsoring organizations include National City, Ohio Grape Industries, Master Clean and Columbus Alive. The festival will kick off on Friday night with a special preview party from 7-10p. Tickets to the event are $20 and include a customized wine glass and 10 tasting tickets with proceeds benefiting the historic North Market. Columbus celebrities will serve as guest pourers for the wineries. Local favorite Honk, Wail and Moan will have guests dancing in the street with their lively music. Discount coupons good for $5 off Preview Party admission are available at local National City Bank branches starting in July. Throughout the weekend the following wineries from around Ohio will offer select wines by the taste (50 cents to $2.00 each), glass, bottle and case: Chalet Debonne Vineyard, Madison; Ferrante Winery, Geneva; Firelands Winery, Sandusky; Henke Winery, Cincinnati; Laurello Vineyards, Geneva; Maize Valley Winery, Hartville; Markko Vineyard, Conneaut; Meranda-Nixon Winery, Ripley; Mon Ami Winery, Port Clinton; Ravens Glen Winery, West Lafayette; Slate Run Vineyard, Canal Winchester; St. Joseph Vineyards, Thompson; Stoney Ridge Winery, Bryan; Troutman Vineyards, Wooster; The Winery at Wolf Creek, Norton; Valley Vineyards, Morrow; Viking Vineyard, Kent and Wyandotte Winery, Columbus. “Ohio is a great agricultural state and the growing of grapes and the production of wine is an extension of that.” said David Wible, Executive Director for the North Market. “As people are focusing

more on local foods, those grown or created closer to home, what better opportunity to celebrate that than to taste a host of wonderful wines made right here in Ohio? With the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s increased attention to and support for better viticulture practices, the quality of wines made in Ohio is ever-improving. The outstanding wines produced in-state is a real testament to the dedication of the winemakers and wineries.” Barrels of family fun to be had this weekend include shopping the at the farmers’ market on Saturday and the artisan fair on Sunday, live music, culinary demonstrations by some of Columbus’ finest chefs and children’s activities including, face painting, balloon twisting and a chance to scale the Ohio Farm Bureau’s corn climbing wall! The North Market Food and Ohio Wine Festival is truly an event for all ages. Festival hours are Friday, July 11, 7p10p, Saturday, July 12, 10a – 7p and Sunday, July 13, 1p – 6p Preview Party admission is $20 with $5 discount coupons available at local National City Bank branches. Saturday and Sunday admission is free. A $5 tasting fee includes souvenir glass and 2 tasting tickets.

Additional tasting tickets available for purchase at $.50 apiece. For additional information on the North Market Food and Ohio Wine Festival, please call 614.463.9664 or visit www.northmarket.com

COLUMBUS NEXT MEETING: AUG 13, 6P-8P; LOCATION: FRANKLIN PARK CONSERVATORY [1777 E BROAD] : THE COLUMBUS COMPACT • WWW.NETWORKCOLUMBUS.COM

JUL 10 - JUL 17 2008

OUTLOOK WEEKLY • 35

fin

THE LAST WORD by Chris Crain

GETTING THROUGH GAY PRIDE PUBERTY Gay may be all grown up in the culture, but our annual party and the movement it launched remain mired in immaturity. It’s Pride season again and this grumpy gay man is wondering when we’re all gonna grow up already. For years now, a lot of us Baby Boomers and Gen-X’ers have watched as the whole Gay Pride thing seemed in arrested development – all rainbows and pink triangles, just like our baby Prides lo those many years ago. Back in the day, Gay Pride parades felt edgy – even dangerous. As recently as the early ’90s, when I came out, gays were non-existent on television and the butt of jokes in the movies. AIDS was going full-tilt, mowing down a generation of gay men and scaring the bejeesus out of those of us in the one that followed. I still remember how my heart was pounding when a hot summer afternoon traffic jam back in 1990 forced me practically into the parade route for Atlanta Pride. I circled the gayborhood in my car for an hour, sun visor down and heart pounding. A couple of years later, still neither out nor proud, I rode my bike along the outskirts of Capital Pride in Washington, D.C., and I remember being shocked (shocked!) that Laura Branigan had agreed to perform for these perverse masses. Since then, of course, gay has gone mainstream and the new generation gays seems bliss-

fully non-plussed about what all the fuss is about. We’ve gone from Jerry Falwell hissing at Ellen “Degenerate” for coming out on prime time, to the Republican candidate for president coming on to her daytime chat show to wish her well in her pending nuptials. But have Gay Pride events and their accompanying movement matured along with the culture? For years now, big city Pride fests seem geared more for the suburbs and surrounding region, places where coming out is still edgy and being proud can still be dangerous. It’s maturation only in the cushy couch potato sense. Those energized calls for equality of yesteryear – the air filled with chants of protest and counter-protest – have been replaced by crass commercialization and corporate sponsors. Even the bible-thumper with barely legible placard seem to be phoning it in. With the exception to a few political bromides and opportunistic candidates, most Pride stages are fluff entertainment these days. There’ll be folk rock for the dykes; bad drag and disco for the fags. All that’s not bitter, just descriptive. If Pride still helps clear the closets of suburbanites, small town queers and rural gays, while even raising a

bit of homo and hetero awareness, then it’s better than harmless fun. The real problem is that our gay civil rights movement also seems trapped in puberty, or worse yet gone fat and complacent, losing any connection to those of us who’ve been “out” longer than we were “in” at this point. There’s a dangerous disconnect here. The deep and broad cultural advances we’ve made as gay and lesbian Americans have not been matched by political and legal advances. At the federal level, there’s not a single gay rights law on the books – still. Congress has refused to protect us from discrimination at work or at home, and even hate crimes meant to terrorize us go unchallenged except as petty crimes. What’s worse, Uncle Sam himself is still discriminating against us. Not only are our valid marriages and civil unions refused any federal recognition, but our brave gay service members still risk discharge even as they risk their lives. The political party that calls itself our friend and champion took back the Congress almost two years ago, and yet even the most benign legislation on our behalf remains as mired in the mud as ever – despite bipartisan backing and overwhelming public support.

Despite landmark gains in the courts and some select state capitals, the D.C. beltway remains the blackhole of the movement, sucking up millions with nothing to show for it. The bloated organization that sits at the head of our movement pays outrageous salaries to its top executives – more than a quarter-million dollars annually to its leader alone and six-figures each to almost another dozen – even though their signature achievement is to have none. When workplace and hate crimes bills died an ugly death this year, the “largest gay political organization” issued a press release – thanking the failed leaders of Congress. Do we really think we will “nice” our way to equality? Hoping we’ll forget the broken promises of the 2006 election, the Democrats and their apologists at the Human Rights Campaign are claiming anew that this is “the election our lives depend on,” as former HRC chieftain Elizabeth Birth has been saying every November since anyone can remember. All that’s not bitter; it’s descriptive - and angry. If only some of that energy will rub off on all those g.d. rainbows.

HOROSCOPES by Jack Fertig

CANCER (Jun 21 - Jul 22): Arguments that seem to come out of nowhere are really about your hidden doubts and fears. Expert opinions can help set your mind at ease. Try exploring some artistic medium or musical style that wouldn’t normally interest you.

LIBRA (Sep 23 - Oct 22): Cooperation is usually more productive in the long run than competition is. Both have their place, but your eager ambitions may blind you to better opportunities. Careful listening can turn rivals into allies.

CAPRICORN (Dec 21 - Jan 19): Keep your focus right in front of your nose. Accidents are just waiting to happen; being overloaded and distracted only encourages them! Teamwork is helpful, if you can resist the urge to get drawn into turf battles.

ARIES (Mar 20 - Apr 19): Before speaking up, try to remember some bit of wisdom from a wise old woman, probably your grandmother or a teacher from early childhood. Her insight could smooth out the rough edges, turning your initial ideas from disastrous to helpful.

LEO (Jul 23 - Aug 22): Your own ideas of sexual politics could shake up your corner of the GLBT community, which can stimulate new thinking. Discussion points that come from the heart will go over better than battle cries that sound like P.C. cliches.

SCORPIO (Oct 23 - Nov 21): Sexual experimentation is fine in principle; just be careful that you don’t land in a bad situation. Think ahead and be cautious! Be clear about health risks, discuss at length what you really want, and look before you leap.

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 - Feb 18): The cost of fun can be a lot higher than expected. Be inventive (you can manage that!), and have a great time on the cheap. Debates over aesthetics may seem more heated than they should be, but welcome the arguments for potential inspiration.

TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): You may be overly invested in a set goal that isn’t as realistic as it originally seemed. We all need to revise plans now and then. Be practical, not stubborn! Discuss it with friends, and take time alone to reconsider priorities.

VIRGO (Aug 23 - Sep 22): Flirtations and sexual politics can complicate relations with bosses and colleagues. Acknowledging sexual tension may help to dispel it, but that doesn’t always work. Think deeply and far ahead before trying it. Discuss any problems at your job with friends who work elsewhere.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 - Dec 20): Disruptions at home can make you cranky and argumentative. Looking for sex to blow off steam may prove more frustrating than helpful. Competitive games - especially those that test communications skills (Scrabble, Charades, Pictionary) are probably better for releasing tension.

PISCES (Feb 19 - Mar 19): Feeling like a stranger at home isn’t fun, but it can fuel the creative juices. Get playful, make like a tourist, and let someone take you to places you’d never go on your own. Take a more objective, outsider’s stance in community politics.

GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): You may be trying too hard to get ahead and to organize people you see as “your team.” Stand back, think about what’s really important, and listen carefully to your friends and their aims. Communication is the key to cooperation.aa

Jack Fertig, a professional astrologer since 1977, is a founding member of the Association for Astrological Networking. He can be reached for consultations at 415.864.8302, www.starjack.com, and by e-mail at QScopes@qsyndicate.com.

JUL 10 - JUL 16 2008