November 29, 2012 editon of the Bay Area Reporter

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Global AIDS pandemic wanes

Vol. 42 • No. 48 • November 29-December 5, 2012

Strike up Budget cuts the Season! worry HIV Carolers joined by the Lesbian and Gay Freedom Band herald the lighting of the annual Castro Street Holiday Tree. See page 6 for the Bay Area Reporter’s holiday gift guide.

by Chuck Colbert

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he global response to the worldwide AIDS epidemic continues making remarkable progress in HIV prevention, improved treatment, and reduced AIDSrelated deaths, a new report says, holding UNAIDS ED out hope and the Michel Sidibé possibility for the end of AIDS. “The global community has embarked on an historic quest to lay the foundation for the eventual end of the AIDS epidemic,” stated the United Nations in its latest report on the global AIDS pandemic. “This effort is more than merely visionary. It is entirely feasible.” See page 13 >>

Few Castro clinics treat women for HIV by Heather Cassell

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n San Francisco HIV has long been a male dominated disease. Men, particularly gays and bisexuals, account for the bulk of the city’s HIV and AIDS cases. As such, there are not as many services available for women who are living with HIV and AIDS. While women can get tested for HIV at various clinics run by nonprofits in the city’s Castro district, they have fewer options for accessing treatment and care than their male counterparts. The reason is a matter of money and numbers. The majority of HIV/AIDS cases new and old in San Francisco are among gay white men and men who have sex with men who inject drugs intravenously, according to the city’s Department of Public Health. By the end of 2011 there were 15,489 San Franciscans diagnosed and living with HIV/ AIDS, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s annual HIV/ AIDS epidemiology report. In 2011 men accounted for 92 percent of living HIV/AIDS See page 12 >>

Rick Gerharter

activists by Liz Highleyman

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n the eve of the 25th observance of World AIDS Day, people with HIV and those at risk are well-positioned to benefit from recent medical advances, but they also face some sobering political and fiscal realities. The election of Barack Obama to a second term as president brought relief that the Affordable Care Act - his hard-won health insurance reform package - would not be immediately overturned. But its implementation remains a challenge, and the looming “fiscal cliff ” threatens budget cuts across the board. “For the first time in the history of the epidemic, the president’s bold leadership has dramatically expanded health care access to people previously considered ‘uninsurable,’ including millions of Americans with HIV/AIDS and other serious illness,” said James Loduca, vice president for public affairs at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. “With his re-election and the future of ACA now certain, we move one giant step closer to having a health care system See page 17 >>

Wash recalls friends lost to AIDS by Seth Hemmelgarn

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hirty years after the AIDS epidemic began devastating San Francisco, singer Martha Wash recently recalled how she started helping to combat the disease. “When it first started, it was just ravaging so many people that I knew and had worked with off and on over the years,” Wash, who’s perhaps best known for the song “It’s Raining Men,” said in an interview earlier this month. She said she and her partner in the duo Two Tons of Fun, Izora Armstead, started getting calls from organizations asking them to help raise money. “We just wanted to be involved with it and help as many people as we could ... and I’ve just kind of kept up with it,” Wash said. Wash will be in San Francisco Saturday, December 1 for World AIDS Day 2012, for which numerous events in the city have been planned. She’ll perform at the AIDS Emergency Fund’s 30th anniversary gala Under the Big Top. The benefit will take place 7 to 11 p.m. in the National AIDS Memorial Grove, located in the eastern end of Golden Gate Park at the intersection of Bowling Green and Middle Drive East, across from the tennis courts. AIDS Emergency Fund will give Wash a lifetime achievement award to honor her friend Sylvester James, the singer who died from AIDS in 1988, and for her years of work raising money and awareness to combat HIV and AIDS.

Courtesy Martha Wash

Singer Martha Wash

Mike Smith, AIDS Emergency Fund’s executive director, pointed to Wash’s efforts to help HIV/AIDS organizations and LGBT causes over the years. “Having someone of her stature and talent give so much of themselves to the community has helped those organizations raise hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years,” Smith said. “Long before there was Cyndi Lauper and Lady GaGa, Martha Wash was there for our community.”

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James was usually referred to just as Sylvester. The flamboyant, openly gay superstar was best known for the disco hit “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real).” Wash, who was a backup singer for Sylvester, indicated her friend would have given pop stars like Lauper and GaGa some healthy competition. “Sometimes, you never knew what to expect, but he was a great entertainer, and he just kind of put himself out there,” she said. “I believe that he was way ahead of his time. I think if he was still alive today, I don’t think there would have been any kind of problems with him, as far as the entertainment industry. I just think he was really way ahead of his time.” As for the progress that’s been made fighting the disease that killed Sylvester and others, Wash said, “It has gotten better with the research, which I’m glad about, but there still needs to be awareness. It hasn’t gone away. People still need to be concerned and careful, because it hasn’t gone away.” Wash declined to share her age but said, “Let’s just say I’ve been around for a while. I’m seasoned.” Something Good, her new CD, will be available on iTunes in December. For more information, visit wwww.facebook.com/themarthawash. Individual tickets for the AIDS Emergency Fund gala are $300. According to Smith, 30 tickets were left as of Tuesday, November 20. For more information, visit www.aef-sf.org. See page 17 >>

<< Community News

2 • BAY AREA REPORTER • November 29-December 5, 2012

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SF Pride hires new leader by Seth Hemmelgarn

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rganizers of the San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade and celebration have hired a new leader, replacing an executive director who’d garnered praise for helping to save the event from serious financial and leadership problems. Earl Plante has been appointed chief executive officer by the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee’s Board of Directors, which in a news release called him a “long time advocate and executive leader of nonprofit organizations that work to empower the LGBT community.” His most recent job appears to have been at New York City’s Latino Commission on AIDS. He replaces Executive Director Brendan Behan, who had expressed a desire to stay on the job. In a phone interview, Pride board President Lisa Williams said among the reasons for Plante’s selection was his leadership skills and experience in strategic and event planning. Plante has some “great ideas,” said Williams, related to grant writing, working with community partners, and putting on events in addition to the main June festival, such as workshops. The Pride Committee has seemed to have enough on its hands just putting on the festival in recent years, but Williams said, “Part of our mission statement is to educate the community … Earl is the right leader to do that.” Behan decided not to apply for the post, she said. Reached through Facebook, Plante referred questions to Williams. Behan didn’t respond to an interview request.

Incoming Pride CEO Earl Plante

In the news release Plante stated, “I look forward to working closely with SF Pride leadership, sponsors, and the diversity of community stakeholders as we continue to build upon SF Pride’s mission and visionary legacy.” The board’s recent decision to seek replacement for Behan caught many, including Behan, by surprise. The move seemed to be based on a desire for Behan to be an at-will employee, meaning the board could terminate him at any time. Pride’s news release says Plante will begin transitioning to the Bay Area in mid-December. Williams declined to say what his salary would be. She said Behan, whose salary has been $80,000, would be helping Plante make his transition, but she didn’t say when Behan’s last day would be. Behan became Pride’s interim executive director in April 2011 and eventually gained the permanent position. The top post had been vacant since former Executive Director Amy Andre

left in November 2010, just over a year after she started the job. Soon after the 2010 celebration, several community partners complained that Pride had shortchanged them. In December 2010, the city controller’s office revealed that the nonprofit was $225,000 in debt. As of September, most of that had been paid down. Pride’s news release says Plante joins Pride from the Latino Commission on AIDS, where he served as development director. But staff at that organization said that Plante left there more than six months ago, before Pride’s search for a new leader started. Plante has also worked as executive director of One Voice Political Action Committee, an organization that works to elect progressive candidates to Congress. He’s also worked as chief operating officer for the National Black Justice Coalition and as development director for the National Minority AIDS Council. According to his Linked In profile, he’s had four jobs since January 2005. His Facebook profile, which indicates he’s bisexual, says he’s 40.

Board member quits Just as Pride prepares to greet Plante, board member Bill Hemenger, who had served as treasurer since early 2011, has resigned. In a phone interview, Hemenger said he quit because of “time limitations,” and because he was brought on “to help balance the books and help get [Pride] in the black,” which he said has been accomplished. David Currie is the board’s new treasurer. ▼

Bill attacks antigay therapy by Lisa Keen

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ollowing on the heels of a ban passed by her home state of California, Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) is now pushing at the federal level to end antigay therapy targeted at children. At a Washington, D.C. press event Wednesday, November 28 Speier introduced a resolution aimed at stopping “reparative therapy” operations from preying on young gay people. The bill, dubbed the “Stop Harming Our Kids” (SHOK) resolution, seeks to express “the sense of Congress” that efforts directed at LGBT minors to change sexual orientation and gender identity or expression “are discredited and ineffective, have no legitimate therapeutic purpose, and are dangerous and harmful.” The efforts to change sexual orientation are generally referred to as “reparative therapy” or “conversion therapy.” A reportedly small number of mental health care facilities purport that the practices can change a homosexual sexual orientation to heterosexual. Both the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association have raised concerns about the efforts, saying there is no sound evidence that the practices work but that there is evidence they can pose significant risks of self-destructive behavior to the client. “Being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered is not a disease to be cured or a mental illness that requires treatment,” said Speier at the press conference. “Any effort to change sexual orientation is not medicine, it’s quackery, and we should not be supporting it with taxpayer dollars.” Introduction of the bill comes less than two months after California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a first-ever bill to ban the use of reparative therapy on people under the age of 18. That law takes effect January 1. Speier’s bill does not seek to estab-

Rick Gerharter

Rep. Jackie Speier

lish a legal ban but rather to put the weight of Congress behind the professional community’s determination that reparative therapy can be harmful to young people. Speier said she also hopes her resolution will prompt other states to “take steps to protect minors from efforts that promote or promise to change sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, based on the premise that homosexuality is a mental illness or developmental disorder that can or should be cured.” The day prior to Speier’s press conference the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a high-profile lawsuit against a reparative therapy group in New Jersey. The lawsuit, filed in New Jersey Superior Court, accuses a Jersey City reparative therapy group of violating the state’s laws against consumer fraud. The lawsuit states that the group, Jews Offering New Alternatives for Homosexuality (JONAH), engaged in such practices as “violent role play exercises where they beat effigies of their mothers” and derided as “faggots” in mock locker room scenarios. The lawsuit also says the group’s cli-

ents, all young men, were “instructed to remove their clothing and stand naked” with a group counselor who was also naked in front of a group of other clients. Speier said Wednesday she is investigating whether federal taxpayer funds have been used to fund conversion therapy for minors. So far, she said, she has found two instances of “so-called mental health professionals that advertise these services and appear to be eligible for federal dollars.” She has sent letters of inquiry to Medicaid and TRICARE (which provides health to the military and its families) “to determine if these instances reflect systemic weaknesses that allow federal taxpayer dollars to go to harmful, illegitimate medical services.” Speier will have to re-introduce her resolution next month after the start of the new session of Congress. Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin issued a press statement praising Speier’s resolution and calling change therapies “junk science” that has “been proven harmful to children and adults.” As of deadline Wednesday, the only co-sponsors identified were Congressmen Ted Deutch (D-Florida) and David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island), who is openly gay. Joining Speier at the press conference were representatives of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and HRC. NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell said her group is committed to working with Speier and state legislatures “to ensure that no young person is subjected to these dangerous practices and that no parent is deceived by therapists who falsely claim to be able to change a child’s core identity.” “Every child deserves acceptance and support,” said Kendell, “and families deserve honest, accurate information about how to protect their children.” ▼

Read more online at www.ebar.com

November 29-December 5, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 3

<< Open Forum

4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • November 29-December 5, 2012

Volume 42, Number 48 November 29-December 5, 2012 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Thomas E. Horn Bob Ross (Founder, 1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko Seth Hemmelgarn Jim Provenzano CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dan Aiello • Tavo Amador • Erin Blackwell Roger Brigham • Scott Brogan Victoria A. Brownworth • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Chuck Colbert Richard Dodds • David Duran Raymond Flournoy • David Guarino Liz Highleyman • Brandon Judell John F. Karr • Matthew Kennedy David Lamble • Michael McDonagh David-Elijah Nahmod • Elliot Owen Paul Parish • Lois Pearlman • Tim Pfaff Jim Piechota • Bob Roehr • Donna Sachet Adam Sandel • Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Ed Walsh • Sura Wood

ART DIRECTION Kurt Thomas PRODUCTION MANAGER T. Scott King PHOTOGRAPHERS Danny Buskirk Jane Philomen Cleland Marc Geller Rick Gerharter Lydia Gonzales Rudy K. Lawidjaja Steven Underhill Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge Christine Smith GENERAL MANAGER Michael M. Yamashita DISPLAY ADVERTISING Simma Baghbanbashi Colleen Small Scott Wazlowski

After senate win, Galgiani needs to lead O

n Election Night it appeared that the political career of California Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani had come to an end. Initial election tallies had the Central Valley Democrat behind her Republican opponent for a newly drawn state Senate seat. But last week Galgiani emerged as the surprise victor against Assemblyman Bill Berryhill after provisional ballots were counted. As of Tuesday her vote total was 140,192 or 50.4 percent, while Berryhill had 138,086 votes or 49.6 percent. Barring a recount reversing the latest outcome, Galgiani is set to become the only out lesbian serving in the state Senate during the next legislative session. Current lesbian state Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) is leaving the Legislature this year due to term limits. Her surprise victory for the Stockton-based Senate District 5 seat makes Galgiani one of three out members of the state Senate. Assemblyman Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) ran unopposed this year for a Los Angeles Senate district seat, while gay state Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) easily won election to a second term. Her win, combined with that of Stockton City Councilwoman Susan Talamantes Eggman to a state Assembly seat, upends long held notions that the San Joaquin Valley is a conservative hotbed unwelcoming to Democratic lawmakers. Instead, it is another signal of how moderate and increasingly LGBT-friendly that part of the Golden State has become over the last decade. It was just a year ago that Galgiani, who had long faced rumors about her sexual orientation, came out of the closet. She told her local newspaper The Stockton Record that she did so to inspire LGBT teens and other youth following reports on a rash of suicides by youth struggling with their sexual orientation. But since then Galgiani has been more muted when it comes to championing LGBT issues in Sacramento or Stockton. Noticeably, she has not agreed to be an official member of the LGBT Legislative Caucus and is not listed on its website. She has attended the group’s events over the last 12 months and, during her Senate bid, Galgiani courted support from numerous LGBT groups. Her campaign site listed

LEGAL COUNSEL Paul H. Melbostad

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Equality California, the statewide LGBT advocacy group, and the national Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund as endorsers in addition to the LGBT-focused Central Valley Stonewall Democratic Club. Although the election battle between Berryhill and Galgiani became heated at times, the barbs never centered on Galgiani’s being a member of the LGBT community. And a majority of voters in the Senate district apparently could care less about who their senator dates. Now that the campaign is behind her, it is time that Galgiani live up to her promise to be a role model for LGBT youth. Her position in the Senate allows her a chance to not only have an impact statewide but also nationally. Her first act as a newly seated senator should be to announce that she is joining the LGBT Legislative Caucus as a full-fledged member. And while we fully expect her to champion causes that she has been fighting for in the Assembly, such as building high-speed rail in California, we also want to see Galgiani take the lead on LGBT legislation in the Senate. Her defeat of Berryhill bolsters the Democrats’ hold on a supermajority in the Senate, and with it their ability to pass legislation that

CA Senator-elect Cathleen Galgiani

in the past had been blocked by Republican senators. The minority party had, in particular, impeded budget talks that had profound impacts, especially on state AIDS programs. With Leno and Lara as Senate colleagues, Galgiani has the chance to lead on many issues of importance to the LGBT community. We hope she takes full advantage of the position her constituents just elected her to serve.▼

Older adults with HIV/AIDS need homes by Brian Basinger

NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

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any of us can relate to John, a gay man who never believed he would live to see his 60’s. John has been living with AIDS since the 80’s and has been disabled due to his health for decades now. Until recently, he did not have access to employment that worked for his medical condition, so he has not been able to develop savings for retirement. Confronting the loss of his long time companion, a German shepherd named Tom, John is living alone again. With an income of just $854 from Supplemental Security Income (SSI), John rents a room in a boarding house in an alley South of Market with barely any funds left over for food and other basic necessities. John is not alone. This is the experience of many, if not most, of the seniors and older adults living with HIV/AIDS in San Francisco. By 2015 over half of all people living with HIV in the U.S. will be over age 50. A major reason for the “graying” of HIV in the U.S. is the tremendous success of medications that have dramatically increased the lifespans of people living with HIV, for which I, and many of my community members, are deeply and profoundly filled with gratitude. While more people aging with HIV are living healthier, more productive lives than ever before, growing older with HIV presents multiple challenges. Because the immune systems of people living with HIV are constantly fighting infection, we are more prone to ongoing inflammation, which is linked to co-morbid conditions associated with aging such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and cancer.

Liver disease, often the result of co-infection with hepatitis C, is prevalent. Decreased bone density is also common, potentially due to a combination of the normal aging process, medication side effects, and the direct effects of the virus itself. In addition to these medical challenges, people with HIV/AIDS in San Francisco face a unique set of housing challenges due to the extremely high rents in relation to individual incomes. This is especially pronounced for HIVers living on a fixed income such as a retirement pension or Social Security Disability Income. While San Francisco has invested in affordable housing, there are surprisingly few units of housing targeting people with HIV/AIDS, especially older adults. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has listed San Francisco in last place in the nation in terms of meeting the housing needs of people with HIV/AIDS. Only 9.1 percent of people with HIV/AIDS are getting their housing needs met here. Clearly, there is room for increased effort. This unmet housing need is highlighted every day in our work here at the AIDS Housing Alliance/SF. Of the members we serve who are 62 years of age or older, 26 percent are literally homeless, compared to 21 percent of the total population of our members. The remainder is about to become homeless or is at-risk of homelessness. Sixty percent of people with HIV/AIDS will experience homelessness at least once during the course of their illness. Some of this disproportionate rate of homelessness can be attributed to the additional housing barriers faced by the elderly, such as lack of mobility and cognitive decline. Anoth-

er factor is the perceived stigma and discrimination faced by LGBT and HIV positive elders in accessing some senior housing programs. Activists and community stakeholders recently won our struggle to create 110 units of senior housing at 55 Laguna - and to ensure that 100 percent of those units are affordable to the majority of LGBT seniors. However, 110 units of housing for the entire LGBT senior community is a drop in the bucket compared to the need, especially for those of us with HIV who need to remain in San Francisco to maintain access to the highly specialized medical care that has allowed us to live this long. The Housing Trust Fund recently passed by voters opens up the opportunity for the Mayor’s Office of Housing to implement a Small Sites Acquisition Fund. The AIDS Housing Alliance/SF is committed to working with Mayor Ed Lee’s administration, the Board of Supervisors and our sister agencies to use this fund to purchase a building that can be developed into a co-op targeting HIV positive older adults who are 55 years of age or older. Cooperative housing is an alternate form of ownership in which the property is owned by an organization and then sold as shares to the residents of the community for a price that is affordable to them. This model provides for a remarkable sense of belonging, community, and safety. I feel it is just what the doctor ordered for many HIVers who are facing their “golden years.” ▼ Brian Basinger is the executive director of the AIDS Housing Alliance/SF. For more information, and to be added to the invitation list to attend an upcoming HIV+ Elders Co-Op informational meeting, email brian.basinger@ahasf.org.

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Letters >>

November 29-December 5, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5

Nudists belong in SF In Dustin Lance Black’s biopic Milk, the late San Francisco Supervisor Dan White says, “I see naked men walking around, naked women walking around which doesn’t bother me as far as my personal standards of nudity or what ‌ but it’s not proper!â€? This is the quote that comes to my mind every time I listen to the arguments against nudity in San Francisco and I just can’t help but wonder if, in the year 2012, we take guidance about what is “properâ€? for San Francisco from Dan-White-sounding-like political figures and mindsets! I am just an immigrant scientist who was invited to relocate to San Francisco from Europe nine years ago to take a position that had been vacant for a decade. I knew of San Francisco even before I moved here – I had visited the city as a tourist many times in the past and I always said to myself that if I ever had the opportunity in my lifetime, I’d move and live in San Francisco. This is because I knew San Francisco welcomed and celebrated all those who were different (just like me), who had strange and wacky ideas and humor (just like me), who didn’t take themselves too seriously (just like me), who looked different than most (just like me). It took me just a few seconds to agree to relocate and nine years later I consider San Francisco home. The nudists in San Francisco are just another piece of the mosaic that makes San Francisco what it is and what attracted me to this city. But the Board of Supervisors recent vote to establish a nudity prohibition in San Francisco scares and worries me. Their actions have the potential of condemning future generations of San Franciscans to years of skepticism and fear of nudity and hate of the human body similar to what happened in Europe during the Dark Ages. Their actions may take away our ability to celebrate the most wonderful possession we each possess – our body – irrespective of shape, color, age, weight, height or any other visible characteristic. Their actions may bring exactly the same level of inhumanity as that of the proponents of Proposition 8 if they choose this as their legacy. They may all be remembered as the group of politicians who turned back time and who turned San Francisco into just another average, middle-ofthe-road, American city where fear, restriction and prohibition rule. Is this the San Francisco you want to live in and be part of? Is this the progress you wish to bring about to San Francisco? Is this the San Francisco you want to leave behind for future generations? Is this the legacy you all wish to leave behind? I urge the supervisors to vote against any nudity prohibition thus clearly showing that they appreciate and respect the history and values of our San Francisco. Nikolas P. Lemos San Francisco

Nudists a welcome sight As is our pattern, the other day my partner of 35 plus years and I were seated at our usual table in Twin Peaks Tavern at Castro and Market streets, and also as usual there were a few naked men (and a topless woman) out in Jane Warner Plaza. Okay, seen them before. Then we heard the comment, “Well, if they were just better looking.� So is the objection over an attraction issue or is it over public nudity? If the men and women at the local gym gathered and stripped, that would be okay because, presumably, they would be found attractive by more of the folks on the sidewalk? I’ve seen plenty of porn film men from our spot at Twin Peaks. Would Supervisor Scott Wiener’s proposal make an exception for them, because the porn guys would be found more attractive than just the regular folks?

As we left the bar that day, I went up to each of the naked guys, gave him a thumbs-up, and an emphatic “Yes.� I even thought a couple of them looked pretty damn hot. James W. Mason San Francisco

Let new supervisors vote on nudity ban Supervisor Scott Wiener’s amended nudity ordinance passed, on first reading, by merely one vote; since the November 20th tally was 6-5. The final vote or “second reading� is expected in early December. But when will newly elected supervisors take their seats? Please postpone the final vote until the new supervisors can participate. The new supervisors, not the outgoing incumbents, will be living with whatever situation prevails after February 1, the earliest possible date on which this proposed ordinance may take affect. Considering the closeness of this vote, please take the time to make sure that each supervisorial district is properly represented. Whichever side prevails in the final vote, that side will have more credibility if its victory doesn’t depend on a lame duck. Why rush to the final decision? Won’t the newbies be seated before February 1, 2013? Tortuga Bi Liberty San Francisco

MUMC right on rainbow flag I disagree with Ray Tilton about the rainbow flag policy [Mailstrom, November 22]. This is the world’s original, unique flag of the gay community in San Francisco and it shouldn’t be replaced for any reason at any time no matter what. The leather flag can be installed on Folsom Street during Leather Week directly at any leather bar or club, so it doesn’t need a special flagpole. Yes, the gay community has adopted different flags, but only the rainbow flag represents the meaning of gayness around the world. So, let’s respect it today, tomorrow, forever. Georgy Prodorov San Francisco

Vote for Save KPFA slate I question the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club’s process and transparency regarding its endorsement of Tracy Rosenberg’s handpicked slate in the current Listener Station board elections at KPFA. They have chosen to side with known AIDS denialists such as Mitch Cohen and Gary Null. Has the Milk club become embedded with the wackos from the SF Green Party? Tracy Rosenberg changes positions and makes things up as she goes along, Mitt Romney style. Particularly one SF Green, Eric Brooks, whose venom reminds me of the old denialist ACT UP/SF (not the new one) headed up by the late Michael Bellefontaine and David Pasquerelli. Save KPFA was not invited to any endorsement meeting. This is what Milk club democracy looks like? Tommi Avicolli Mecca has dropped his support for the Rosenberg slate, while Tom Taylor and Gabriel Haaland have not responded to numerous e-mails. They’ve been sold a bridge. What dark forces are at work behind the scenes here? Only Cecilia Chung has answered me. I think PWAs and transpeople share something in common: stigma! I urge all Bay Area Reporter readers to join Occupy AIDS, ACT UP/NY, ACT UP/East Bay, the Berkeley City Council, SF Board of Supervisors, Norman Solomon, Beth Lisick, Eric Larsen, Steve Zollman, Ces Rosales, Lani Ka’ahumanu, myself and numerous others in voting the entire slate of candidates listed at www.savekpfa.org. May I suggest my top three picks: Mark Hernandez, Kate Gowen and Dan Siegel. John Iversen ACT UP East Bay

City Hall to welcome World Tree of Hope compiled by Matthew S. Bajko

rainbowfund.org/tree. The tree lighting ceremony will take place from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, December 4 at City Hall. Bay Area Reporter society columnist Donna Sachet will emcee and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will bless the tree. This year’s program includes performances by the San Francisco Boys Chorus, singer Veronica Klaus accompanied by Tammy Hall, and a reading from San Francisco Poet Laureate Alejandro Muruia.

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an Francisco officials will once again welcome the World Tree of Hope to the rotunda of City Hall this holiday season. Now in its 7th year, the annual evergreen tradition features a tree decorated with thousands of origami cranes, each inscribed with written notes of hope and peace from children and individuals from around the world. The San Francisco-based LGBT humanitarian group Rainbow World Fund created the tree as a yearly holiday gift from the LGBT community to the world in order to inspire hope and promote peace, love and humanitarianism. The Delancey Street Foundation donated this year’s tree, and last month volunteers with the Gays for Good group helped prep the pa-

The World Tree of Hope graces San Francisco’s City Hall.

per origami cranes that adorn its branches. More cranes will be added throughout December as people send in their wishes via the website http://

Sober space forms alliance with AIDS agency The Castro Country Club and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation have finalized an agreement for the AIDS agency to become the fiscal sponsor of the sober space in the heart of the See page 12 >>

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Holiday Guide 2012

6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • November 29-December 5, 2012

<< Holiday Guide

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Celebrate globally, shop locally by Raymond Flournoy

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he holiday shopping season is upon us, and as the stores are decorated with tinsel and reindeer, so perhaps is your Facebook page festooned with messages encouraging you to support local retailers and to buy locally produced items. One post entitled “Occupy Black Friday” claims that out of every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $45 stays in the local economy, in contrast to only $14 of that same $100 spent at a chain store. The post originates from a Facebook group called “US Uncut” and has been shared over 16,000 times as of press time. Whether your motivation is keeping money circulating locally, contributing to the local tax base, creating local jobs, or supporting the LGBT community, the Castro offers a great way to support the “shop local” movement while finishing up your holiday shopping.

“Worn Out” made new

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A name with a long history in the Castro neighborhood is getting some company and a slightly updated look. Worn Out West: 2nd Generation (2352 Market Street) has now joined the original Worn Out West (582 Castro Street). Opened this month, the new store is unofficially connected to the original Worn Out West. The new store’s owner is Mike Holland, who manages the Castro Street location and said a deeper relationship between the two shops is in the works. As Holland explained in a press release, “While we are not yet affiliated, we are working together to assure that we continue the long legacy that Worn Out West has provided to our Castro Community! Stay tuned for a future affiliation …” Any confusion over the two stores may not last long, as the building that houses the Castro Street shop is listed for sale with a purchase price of more than $2.7 million. And one online real estate site specified that the threestory Victorian retail and residential building would be “delivered 100 percent vacant” to the new owner. Holland declined to discuss the status of the Castro store’s lease. He did disclose that one major difference between the original and new stores is

Steven Kasapi

Owner Mike Holland welcomes shoppers to his new Castro boutique, Worn Out West: 2nd Generation.

that Worn Out West primarily carries previously-owned apparel sold on consignment, while WOW: 2nd Generation features new merchandise for both men and women. Additionally, beginning in 2013, WOW: 2nd Generation will offer leather alteration services. Holland, who is gay, aims to make the leather alteration a major part of his store’s services, tailoring not only the merchandise he sells, but also any items that customers bring in. If supporting local artists and designers is on your holiday list, Holland has a store full of options for you. The shop sells a selection of apparel and jewelry from local designers, including a wide variety of unusual T-shirt designs. One example is the “I am San Francisco” Tshirt that features the names of city neighborhoods superimposed over an image of the Transamerica Pyramid. The T-shirt is priced at $24. Holland encourages designers looking to market their creations to

contact him for information about consignment.

More local options Throughout the Castro, shoppers can find a variety of products made by fellow Bay Area folk. At luxury consignment seller Sui Generis (2231 Market Street) you will find bowties, neckties, and pocket squares crafted locally under the label This Humble Abode. Featuring Liberty of London fabrics, the accessories run $20 to $65. Local artist Masami Kelly has created a line of distinctive silver rings and pendants carried by Fiat Lux (218 Church Street). The jewelry is molded from pieces of Kelly’s crochet-work, creating a light filigree effect. The pieces cost between $140 and $255. For a more whimsical option, Kenneth Wingard (2319 Market Street) carries a range of animal hats fashioned from faux fur by the brand Hat Rutha. The hats are handmade in the Bay Area, and cost $39. Looking beyond fashion, the Castro district offers many other options for locally produced gifts. Thorough Bread & Pastry (248 Church Street)

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Holiday Guide>>

November 29-December 5, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7

Steven Kasapi

General Manager Terry Asten Bennett fills the shelves with holiday decorations at Cliff’s Variety.

carries Aunt Kitty’s Kreations, a line of jams and jellies made in San Francisco. The local treats cost $5.50 per jar. Whatever… (548 Castro Street) has shelves of gay-themed comic books written and illustrated by local artists. Northern California is known for its wines, but also consider Junipero Gin, bottled in San Francisco by the Anchor Distilling Company and available at Swirl (572 Castro Street) for $31 for a 750 ml bottle. Looking a little further afield, home scent specialist ZGO (600 Castro Street) offers the Aquiesse line of candles from Santa Barbara. The candles come in a range of holiday scents, including Frankincense & Myrrh, Winter Currant, and Monterey Pine, and run $36 for an attractively boxed gift. Books and Bookshelves (99 Sanchez Street) carries a wide range of unfinished furniture, much of it made in the Bay Area, with other lines made in Oregon and Washington state. You can choose from tables and bookcases in dozens of configurations, as well as stools and children’s rocking chairs. Or gift certificates in any denomination will allow your lucky recipient to design his or her own perfect gift.

the wall of Under One Roof until at least February of 2013.

And a treat for the shopper too If you need a break during your holiday shopping, there is always a holiday treat nearby. Harvey’s (500 Castro Street) is adding a festive option to its famous Bloody Mary menu. During the month of December unwind with a “Bloody Merry Christmas,” which features a seasonal mix of red pepper and green pepper infused vodkas. And if you are hankering for an eggnog latte, do not feel bound to a national coffee shop chain. Spike’s Coffee and Teas has a selection of holiday drinks, including the eggnog latte and spiced apple cider.

Happy Bone-day! Castro pet emporium Best in Show (545 Castro Street) is celebrating its 10th anniversary in December, and you get the gifts – or rather, your pooch gets the gifts. Anyone spending $25 or more on December 8th will receive a free “Bony Baby” chew toy; a total of $50 or more will net a “Bony Baby” plus a designer tote bag from “Barkology.”

Local color Maybe you have friends or family who miss San Francisco and would like to have a reminder of the Castro neighborhood? Or maybe you just want to rub it in that you live near such fabulousness year round? Either way, many local businesses create their own branded merchandise that could be the perfect gift. Beck’s Motor Lodge (2222 Market Street) has turned its distinctive retro sign into a T-shirt, which sells for $20 at the motel’s check-in desk. FitnessSF (2301 Market Street) is a brand new local mini-chain that replaced Gold’s Gym in the Castro. It offers tank tops ($23), New Era caps ($27), tees ($24), exercise pants ($44), and sweatshirts ($53) emblazoned with its new logo. Spike’s Coffee and Teas (4117 19th Street) offers its namesake bulldog on a range of mugs, travel mugs, and shirts, priced from $8.99 to $20. Sweets shop Hot Cookie (407 Castro Street) and Hand Job Nails & Spa (565 Castro Street) both offer more intimate souvenirs – underwear with the Hot Cookie ($13) or Hand Job ($16) logos. The GLBT History Museum (4127 18th Street) sells buttons, magnets, and shirts with the museum logo, as well as a range of other gay-themed items. The buttons are $2.45 and the shirts cost up to $26.95. The items are available at the museum or online at www.zazzle.com/glbthistorymuseum. Under One Roof (518A Castro Street) started as a holiday store and continues to excel at offering unusual décor and gifts that you will not find elsewhere. A teddy bear wearing a Castro T-shirt ($16.95) could be the perfect gift for the bear in your life. While you are visiting Under One Roof, check out the new mural by local artist Meagan Spendlove. Commissioned by Barefoot Bubbly, the mural is themed on gay pride and the local LGBT community. It will adorn

A new “Top” in town Tonight (November 29) marks the opening of Hi Tops (2247 Market Street), a new bar in the Castro that bills itself as a combination of a “modern sports bar and retro-nostalgic gay bar.” Owner Jesse Woodward renovated the space formerly occupied by Lime, adding 16 flat-screen televisions and a menu designed by Top Chef contestant Jamie Lauren. For more information, visit www. HiTopsSF.com.

Well red A consortium of AIDS/HIV service organizations invite you to “Paint the Castro Red” on World AIDS Day, December 1. As people worldwide devote the day to promoting awareness of the pandemic, local organizers have pulled together an event that is part fundraiser, part remembrance, and part celebration of life. The Merchants of Upper Market and Castro (MUMC) is a major supporter of the “Red” letter day, in which the neighborhood will be festooned with red ribbons, balloons, and lights. During the all-day event, a number of Castro shops, restaurants, and bars will donate 10-15 percent of sales to support the participating charities. At 6 p.m. the Castro Theatre will screen the AIDS documentary How to Survive a Plague, with a candlelight vigil following immediately after. The organizations benefiting from the event are AIDS Legal Referral Panel (www.alrp.org), Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center (www.apiwellness.org), Maitri (www.maitrisf. org), National AIDS Memorial Grove (www.aidsmemorial.org), Positive Resource Center (www.positiveresource. org), Project Inform (www.projectinform.org), Project Open Hand (www. openhand.org), San Francisco AIDS Foundation (www.sfaf.org), Shanti (www.shanti.org), and Visual AID (www.visualaid.org). ▼

Holiday Guide 2012

<< Commentary

8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • November 29-December 5, 2012

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Transmissions: Naming all the parts by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

D

efinitions are slippery things. Language is constantly evolving and words change. New terms are created, old ones become footnotes, and others dramatically change meanings. Consider the word gay and how its meaning may have morphed from the 1890s to today. It can be even more difficult when one is attempting to define a group of people. It seems to be in our nature to defy classifications. We rankle at anything that would deny our individuality and evade even the most rudimentary attempts to define. Indeed, the only viable definition is the one we choose for ourselves,

2 two-bedroom “Below Market Rate” Units available at 2829 Divisadero Street and 1933 Divisadero Street Two Bedroom, One Bath Unit: $336,510 with parking and $296,510 without parking Two Bedroom, Two Bath Unit: $334,270 with parking and $294,270 without parking. Buyers must be first time homebuyers and income eligible. Households must earn no more than the maximum income levels shown below: 90% of Miximum Income by Household Size derived from the Unadjusted Area Median Income (AMI) for HUD Metro Fair Market Rent Area (HFMA) that contains San Francisco 2012 A two person household can make no more than $74,150 A three person household can make no more than $83,450 A four person household can make no more than $92,700 A five person household can make no more than $100,150 (Household must be at least as many people as bedrooms in the unit. Please visit www. sf-moh.org for larger households) Applications due by 5pm on Wed., December 5, 2012. Please contact Pacific Union Real Estate for an application and more information (415) 345-3064 BMR@pacunion.com | or visit www.theheightssf.com/BMR Units available through the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and are subject to resale controls, monitoring and other restrictions. Visit www.sf-moh.org for program information.

which leads to scores of tailor-made terms that serve little use when attempting to cover more than a handful of willing users. Within the transgender community - a term itself that remains contested in many circles - we have gone through decades of possible terms to describe those who transcend the gender they may have been assigned at birth. At the turn of the last century, Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld seemed content to use the term “transvestite” to cover any number of people. His seminal work, Die Transvestiten, covers those who cross-dress, performers known for cross-gender portrayals, those who underwent the rudimentary surgeries of the day, and gender variance in non-western cultures. Today the term is defined in a limited fashion, as a synonym to crossdresser, and typically refers to those who wear clothing of the opposite gender. You’ll note that even in that last sentence I am walking on eggshells, knowing that there are likely many who would argue against such a definition. Since Hirschfeld’s time, we’ve seen many other terms picked up and discarded. Earl Lind in the 1910s used androgyne and fairy. Later, the term transsexual hit the scene. Some used drag in an all-encompassing fashion in the late 1960s and early 1970s. There was the mercifully short-lived femmophile and other baggage-laden terms such as aytogynephile. The one that somehow “stuck” is transgender. Yet, pinning down a definition is slippery. One of the more inclusive is that used by the City and County of San Francisco, and coined in 1994. It defines “transgender” as “an umbrella term that includes female and male cross-dressers, transvestites, drag queens or kings, female and male impersonators, intersexed individuals, pre-operative, post-operative and non-operative transsexuals, masculine females, feminine males, all persons whose perceived gender or anatomic sex may be incongruent with their gender expression, and all persons exhibiting gender characteristics and identities which are perceived to be androgynous.” It is a mouthful and full of potential problems. For one, I do not know of many intersexed individuals who would feel comfortable within this definition today, though that may have been different in 1994. Many

Christine Smith

others in there would either not feel they are explicitly included in such, would not be comfortable to be listed within, or even would argue that some others listed do not belong. I already mentioned my own personal definition of the term: anyone who transcends the gender assigned to them at birth. It covers a lot of ground and is pretty open-ended. I don’t, for example, indicate how long one must transcend that gender, or if they have to have surgery, or anyone beyond this simple definition. Before I go any further, let me also note that anyone is perfectly welcome to opt out of any term, choose their own term, or really do whatever they wish. In providing my own definition to the above, I want to make it clear that it is mine and is how I see the world I live in. I’m certainly not saying that you have to fit such a definition any more than I’d feel obligated to accept a definition of me that I’m not comfortable with. Really, like I said above, language is slippery. Even without looking at my definition or the rather verbose San Francisco definition, many do not feel included in the term “transgender.” Some have opted for their own spaces, or opt for genderqueer or third gender, or even have dropped the “gender” from the word altogether, being simply “trans.” Let me add one more wrinkle to all this, because while we are free to define ourselves however we wish, when we face violence, discrimination, or other ills, that in itself needs to

be defined - and that is different from a personal definition. Consider the 2001 murder of Willie Houston. Houston was, as far as we know, a straight, non-transgender-identified, African-American man living in Tennessee. After taking a river cruise, his wife needed to use the restroom. Houston held her purse while she went in. Houston was also escorting a blind friend to the men’s room. On the way there, Houston was taunted with homophobic slurs and shot. Willie Houston was neither gay nor transgender-identified, yet his killer saw him as both: gay because he had another man on his arm and trans because he was carrying a purse. When we fight for rights, those rights are provided under the umbrella of “transgender,” much like the 1994 San Francisco language - or they might refer to gender identity and expression. It is largely transgender-identified people and their allies who may be fighting for those rights. Yet such rights affect a wide swath of people regardless of their own self-identity - and that is good. We may never pin one term down that we can all agree on - and in an evolving world, that makes plenty of sense. Yet while language is slippery and definitions even more so - we still need them from time to time. It’s funny that way.▼ Gwen Smith is a blue spruce. You can find her at www.gwensmith.com.

Rick Gerharter

Memorial honors slain SF leaders T

he Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club created a multicolored floral memorial altar for Harvey Milk in the slain gay supervisor’s namesake plaza. The installation was part of the 34th anniversary events marking the murders of Milk and Mayor

George Moscone. A man who identified himself as Puck places a candle before the altar that he had carried on a march from City Hall, where the Harvey Milk Foundation held an event to mark the solemn occasion.

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November 29-December 5, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9

<< Politics

10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • November 29-December 5, 2012

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he San Francisco Columbarium proudly invites you to attend our

WORLD AIDS DAY AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT DISPLAY

DAY OF REMEMBRANCE Friday, November 30, 2012 2:00 pm One Loraine Court San Francisco, CA The afternoon will include a reading of names, a candle lighting ceremony and a remembrance service by Rev. Victor H. Floyd of the Metropolitan Community Church San Francisco. Light refreshments will be provided. Admission is free. Space is limited. Please call the Columbarium at 415-752-7891 to make a reservation.

Quilt Panels on display through January 4, 2013

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SF health department eyes changes to HIV section by Matthew S. Bajko

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an Francisco health officials are eying changes in how they approach HIV as part of a planned reorganization of the Department of Public Health. Talks have been ongoing for months on how to better position the local health department’s HIV sections as the needs of those living with HIV and AIDS rapidly change. A number of factors are contributing to the push for the pending overhaul. The city’s population of people with AIDS and HIV is rapidly aging, and with the onset of their senior years, the health issues facing this population are becoming more complicated. In 2010 the number of living AIDS cases among people 50 years of age or older in San Francisco surpassed the 50 percent mark for the first time. There were 9,533 people living with AIDS in the city by the end of 2011. Age at HIV diagnosis has also shifted to older age groups over the last four years, with one-third of newly diagnosed cases in 2011 occurring in persons aged 40-49 years, according

Rick Gerharter

Herb Schultz, (at left) regional director of Health and Human Services, Mayor Ed Lee, Public Health Director Barbara Garcia, and Grant Colfax, director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, cut the ribbon to open the new offices of BridgeHIV in September.

to the health department. The city reported that by the end of last year there were 15,489 people living with HIV/AIDS. Age 50 years and older was the largest age category in 2011 for both men and women living with HIV/AIDS (49 percent and 45 percent respectively). “We are an aging society and we have more chronic conditions. We have to be much smarter on how we work with communities on chronic disease prevention,” said Dr. Tomás Aragón, the city’s health officer and the health department’s director of population health and prevention. “Sometimes with these chronic diseases we don’t get specific disease funding for those things. The challenge then is how do we leverage existing resources to be more adaptable and able to address these emerging diseases.” Funding continues to shrink from the federal government, with the city bracing for a cut of $8 million in AIDS/ HIV funding from Washington in fiscal year 2013-2014. And the size of what some derisively call “AIDS, Inc.” has decreased in San Francisco in the past several years as nonprofits have merged or folded due to fiscal constraints. During an interview in July with the Bay Area Reporter, Public Health Director Barbara Garcia said it was time for the health department to reexamine how it deals with not only HIV and AIDS but myriad diseases that afflict San Franciscans. Rather than have each disease sectioned off in its own silo, so to speak, Garcia suggested it might be better if the various sections were more closely integrated. “Before I repeat the same structure,” Garcia said she wants to know “is there a better way of structuring ourselves” in regards to HIV, STDs, tuberculosis, and other work. She said they were working on blending those offices and indicated it was possible there would no longer be a standalone HIV prevention section. Garcia said health department officials are looking for “more integration” among various units. The new approach can already be inferred from the remodel that has been underway at 25 Van Ness, the building that houses the various HIV sections. It has been primarily aimed at providing a new, state-of-the-art home to the department’s HIV research section. The work has also allowed for a more open floor plan for the offices of the HIV prevention section, and the hope is it will foster more coordination among the various sections. In September Tracey Packer, acting director of the HIV prevention section, told the B.A.R. that the HIV

prevention section and its functions would continue. But she was uncertain what her position’s job title and responsibilities would be under the changes. “We are undergoing an integration process in the division that prevention is in. Through that process we will determine how leadership of the HIV prevention section will be at that time,” said Packer. “We will probably work more closely with other departments than just the STD section, such as HIV epidemiology, HIV research and community behavioral health.” Currently the department’s three HIV sections – prevention, epidemiology and research – have separate directors who report to Aragón. There are altogether nine sections with their own directors that fall under his purview. They include community health and promotion and prevention; STD prevention and control; tuberculosis control; communicable disease control and prevention; and public health preparedness and response. Aragón told the B.A.R. in early November that the final details on the reorganization had yet to be worked out. He suggested the health department would not be ready to present its integration plans to the city’s Health Commission until sometime in early 2013. “I can say with confidence we will be much more comprehensive and community-focused in the way we deal with HIV. We are looking at the whole division,” said Aragón. “Rather than one section, how can we use the whole division and the whole health department to work on the problem. I think people will be very pleased.” He did say that the pending HIV cuts are not the main driver behind the planned changes. “We do want to be better prepared for those,” he said. “Public health funding is going down in the country. We want to be much more efficient in how we use our resources.” What appears to be at the heart of the discussions is the fact that more and more people with HIV and AIDS are living longer lives, and thus, their medical needs are growing and changing in ways few contemplated 10 or 20 years ago. “We know HIV is a big public health problem. It is a big medical care problem,” said Aragón. “We have to be much more comprehensive in the way we deal with it. And that is the direction we are moving into.” Told of the health department’s plans, Project Inform Executive Director Dana Van Gorder said it mirrors what has been happening at the national level, which is partly driven by implementation of the federal affordable health care law. See page 12 >>

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November 29-December 5, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11

<< World AIDS Day 2012

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • November 29-December 5, 2012

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Castro clinics

From page 1

cases, while 6 percent were women. Transgender people comprised the remaining 2 percent of cases. “Among women with AIDS, the most frequent exposure category for whites, African Americans, Latinas, and Native Americans is IDU followed by heterosexual contact,” stated the DPH report. “For Asian/ Pacific Islander women with AIDS, 52 percent acquired their infection through heterosexual contact, 24 percent through IDU, and 14 percent through transfusion of blood or blood products.” The rate of women diagnosed with HIV or AIDS in San Francisco is also much lower compared to men. Women accounted for 10 percent of the new HIV/AIDS cases in 2011, men made up 88 percent, and transgender people 2 percent. Thus the lion’s share of testing and treatment services at most of the city’s clinics, particularly in the Castro, is geared toward gay men and transgender women, who are disproportionately infected with HIV/AIDS. “There are women in San Francisco getting HIV, but it’s not what you hear most folks talking about,” said Dale Gluth, associate regional director of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in the San Francisco Bay Area. The relative silence on the issue can lead some women to falsely believe that they aren’t at risk for contracting HIV, he said. It’s “dangerous” to tell a sexually

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Political Notebook

From page 10

“We are going to see increasingly that large health care systems are not, for better or worse, dealing with disease specific issues,” he said. “For one thing, the population of people affected by HIV or hepatitis C or other chronic medical conditions are quite small compared to the general popu-

active person that they shouldn’t worry about acquiring a sexually transmitted disease or infection, said Gluth, adding that everyone should be tested. “AHF is an organization that provides services to anyone who needs it. That’s our strategy and it’s pretty effective,” added Gluth. Yet many of the gayborhood’s testing sites and clinics have limited services for women due to funding constraints. “It’s always been a play or paradox between what we want to do and who we want to test,” said Barbara Adler, the UCSF Alliance Health Project’s manager of HIV counseling and testing, about the desire to provide testing for women and the epidemiology game for funding. AHP offers HIV testing for women at its Market Street services center. Adler estimated that only 4 percent of AHP’s HIV tests are administered to women. For those women who test positive for HIV or AIDS, AHP will often refer them for treatment to either Lyon-Martin Health Services, a Market Street clinic for women, or the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which operates a health care center at 100 Church Street at Duboce. Gluth told the Bay Area Reporter that women are often thankful for AHF’s testing and treatment services because they are often turned away by other clinics. Women will come to the clinic and say, “No one else in town will test me,” said Gluth, “that is something that we

lation receiving health care. Plus, their needs are increasingly broader than just HIV specific issues.” At a meeting for nonprofit leaders held during the U.S. Conference on AIDS in October the overriding message was that there are huge shifts occurring within the AIDS field, said Van Gorder. “A lot of HIV specific organizations may not exist in future years un-

Rick Gerharter

HIV test counselor Luke Tao works at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, one of the few Castro health clinics that treat women living with HIV or AIDS.

hear over and over again.” Within the past six months Gluth estimated that 80 percent of the women seeking HIV tests at AHF were heterosexual and the remaining 20 percent were bisexual. Two women turned out to be infected with HIV so far this year, he said. The AHF clinic currently treats nine biological and 12 transgender HIV-positive women out of 270 patients, he said. Part of the nonprofit Magic Johnson Foundation, AHF faces fewer restrictions on the kinds of services it can offer than some other publicly funded organizations, said Gluth. “We are free to see whomever we choose,” he said. “We are one of the

less they adapt to this great dynamic that is occurring. They will need to incorporate work into broader health issues,” he said. At the macro level, added Van Gorder, “this is a trend that we have seen coming for a while.”▼ Due to the Thanksgiving holiday Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion, will not return until Monday, December 3.

few organizations in San Francisco who will provide HIV testing to women.” Lyon-Martin, located at 1748 Market Street, has provided HIV testing and treatment as a part of its primary care to only women and transgender individuals since 1992, according to the clinic’s records, said Dr. Dawn Harbatkin, the clinic’s executive director. A majority of Lyon-Martin’s patients are between 30 and 50 years, she said. The clinic provides roughly 400 HIV tests annually. It currently cares for about 20 HIV-positive patients, said Harbatkin. She estimated that the clinic’s HIV-positive patients are evenly di-

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News Briefs

From page 5

city’s gayborhood. The formal ties between the two nonprofits had been expected, as the B.A.R. reported in June that the 18th Street facility had asked SFAF to oversee its finances. Longtime fiscal sponsor, Baker Places, decided to end its oversight of the club as of July 1 but agreed to postpone handing off its duties until a new sponsor had been found. The agencies announced the news November 21. Club members should not see any changes due to the agreement. In a press release Crispin Hollings, chair of the club’s advisory board, praised Baker Places for its “incredible support and guidance” over the last 12 years. Hollings added that club leaders “are tremendously excited” and “confident” that partnering with SFAF will allow it to continue to provide a sober space in the Castro. The two agencies see the club’s programs as being “complementary to the foundation’s efforts to radically reduce the rate of new HIV infections in San Francisco,” stated Hollings. SFAF CEO Neil Giuliano added that, “In order to fight HIV, we must address the impact that alcohol and other drugs have on our community, and the significant role they play as drivers of HIV infection.” In 2010 the owner of the building housing the Castro Country Club died and the property was put up for sale. Club members tried to buy it outright and launched a fundraising drive to raise the needed funds. But earlier this year the 1901 Edwardian was bought by local businessman George “Jorge” Maumer for a reported $1 million. He agreed to maintain the club as a tenant and announced plans in the spring to open a sausage eatery in the building’s garage space. The club operates on a yearly budget of $225,000, with 60 percent of revenues generated by meeting space rentals and proceeds from an onsite cafe, with fundraising and donations

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vided between biological and transgender women. “The folks that we see come here because they feel safe here,” said Harbatkin. Throughout San Francisco there are an estimated 10 sites that test women for HIV, according to Oscar Macias, program liaison for the community based prevention unit of the HIV prevention section at the health department. The list includes the API Wellness Center, Haight Ashbury Free Clinics – Walden House, Native American Health Center, San Francisco City Clinic, and St. James Infirmary. The San Francisco AIDS Foundation is also on the health department’s list. It offers women HIV testing at Magnet, the foundation-run health center for gay men in the Castro. Funding restrictions, however, limit the AIDS foundation’s ability to provide more than testing, said agency spokesman James Loduca. Women can access an array of SFAF programs, including support groups, clean needle exchange, medical case management, and housing and financial benefits counseling services, wrote Loduca in an email. For more extensive health care needs, AIDS foundation staff will often refer women to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and LyonMartin Health Services.▼ For more information, visit http://lyon-martin.org or www.aidshealth.org.

making up the remaining 40 percent. Under the terms of the agreement with SFAF, the club is expected to be self-sufficient and responsible for covering its operating expenses. The club will be part of SFAF’s nonprofit umbrella, however, and all contributions will be tax-deductible. “This was an important step,” stated Hollings, “and we will continue our efforts to guarantee that the Castro Country Club remains open.” For more information visit www. castrocountryclub.org.

HIV seniors study needs participants A new study of people age 50 or older living with HIV in San Francisco, San Mateo or Marin counties is seeking participants. San Francisco State University gerontology program graduate student Loren Meissner is conducting the survey with support from the San Francisco Eligible Metropolitan Area HIV Health Services Planning Council. Meissner aims to enroll 200 participants by February. The first 20 eligible people will be enrolled on a first-come, first-served basis at 3 p.m. Tuesday, December 4 at 730 Polk Street in Project Open Hand’s conference room on the third floor. It is expected it will take up to an hour to an hour and half to complete the survey. Those meeting the eligibility requirements will receive a $20 Safeway gift card for their time. For more information, contact Meissner at 415-738-2525 or e-mail LMeissne@mail.sfsu.edu by 5 p.m. Monday, December 3.

SFPD is hiring The San Francisco Police Department is now accepting applications for entry-level police officers for the first time since August 2011. “If you live, work or attend school in San Francisco, think about becoming one of San Francisco’s finest; after all, it’s your city,” stated SFPD Chief Greg Suhr. Applications will be accepted until 5 p.m. Friday, December 7. To apply online, visit www.sanfranciscopolice.org/jobs.▼

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World AIDS Day 2012>>

Global AIDS

page UNAIDS document, released on the same day as “Results.” Among those goals are to reduce HIV sexual transmission and reduce The report was released on Tuestransmission among people who inday, November 20, in advance of ject drugs - both by 50 percent. World AIDS Day Saturday, DecemTwo other targets include elimiber 1. nating new infections among chilBut unsafe sexual behavior, indren and substantially reducing travenous drug use, stigma, disthe number of mothers dying from crimination, and misinformation AIDS-related causes. remain as formidable challenges in Additional goals are to provide stemming a disease that, entering its anti-retroviral therapy to 1.5 milfourth decade, has claimed nearly lion people, reduce the number of 30 million HIV-related deaths. people living with HIV who die Since the beginning of the epifrom tuberculosis by 50 percent, demic more than 60 million people Gay and bi men close the global AIDS resource gap, have contracted HIV. But there is remain at risk and reach annual global investevidence that the AIDS pandemic is Despite the encouraging statistics ments of $22 billion to $24 billion waning. globally, UNAIDS also expressed (measured in US currency) in low“Results,” the title of a 48-page concerns about specific populations and middle income countries. report issued by the Joint United most at risk for HIV. One group is Still other targets aim to eliminate Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS men who have sex with men. gender inequalities and gender-based (UNAIDS), shows a dramatic 50 “Go to any capital city in the abuse and violence and to increase the percent decrease in new HIV infecworld, men who have sex with capacity for women and girls to protions across 25 low- and middlemen are significantly more likely tect themselves from HIV. income countries, mostly in Africa, to have HIV on average 13 times The elimination of stigma and the continent most affected by HIV. more than the general population,” discrimination against people living Altogether, new infections globthe “Results” report states, adding, with or affected by HIV is another ally fell to 2.5 million last year, down “As global HIV prevalence trends goal, along with eliminating travel from 2.6 million, which represents a appear to have stabilized, there is and residence restrictions for people 20-percent decrease from 2001. disturbing evidence suggesting that living with HIV. “The pace of progress is quickenglobal HIV prevalence among men Dr. Bernhard Schwartländer, diing,” said Michel Sidibé, executive who have sex with men may have rector for Evidence, Innovation, and director of UNAIDS in a statement. increased between 2010 and 2012.” Policy at UNAIDS, sounded an up“What used to take a decade is now And the report states, “People beat tone about reaching the goals. being achieved in 24 months.” who inject drugs are the worst off: “I am optimistic that with the Better yet, in some countries with Evidence from 49 countries shows progress we’re seeing we can actuthe highest prevalence of HIV in the that their risk of being infected with ally achieve the targets we set last world, rates of infection have been HIV is 22 times higher than the genyear,” he told reporters during a reduced dramatically since 2001. eral population.” telephone conference call Tuesday, For example, in Malawi the infecOverall, in 2011, an estimated 34 November 20. tion rate dropped by 73 percent. Schwartländer holds In Botswana, the rate is a doctorate in medical down 71 percent, with epidemiology. Prior to similar decreases reportjoining the United Naed in Namibia (down 68 tions, he was the direcpercent), Zambia (down tor of infectious disease 58 percent), Zimbabwe epidemiology at the (down 50 percent), and Robert Koch-Institut in South Africa and SwaziBerlin. land (down 41 percent). Nonetheless, preDeclining numbers of vention programs for HIV infections in chilgroups of people who dren is a particularly enare most at risk - sex couraging finding of the report. Half the global – Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, CDC Director workers, drug users, and men who have sex with reductions in new HIV men - are too limited, infections in the last two the UNAIDS report years have been among says. newborns. million worldwide are living with And yet education efforts aimed Last year, for instance, 330,000 HIV, according to UNAIDS, at the at teaching about safer sex practices, children worldwide were infected same time 2.6 million people beincluding the use of condoms, and with HIV, down from 370,000 in came newly infected, with 1.7 milthe prudence of having fewer sexual 2010 and 43 percent fewer than in lion deaths. The death rate, morepartners has shown success in some 2003, according to UNAIDS. over, is down 24 percent from 2005 countries, such as Kenya, Malawi, Yet too many youth in the United and is nearly six percent below the Niger, Mozambique, Namibia, and States continue to become infected rate in 2010. Zambia with HIV, the virus that causes There is some particularly good But in other countries risky sexual AIDS, and few are tested. That’s one news about HIV prevention, as the behavior has increased - namely the overarching take away point from a “Results” report shows that subIvory Coast, Guyana, and Rwanda. new report out by the Centers for Saharan Africa has cut AIDS-related Guyana, Haiti, Lesotho, and Disease Control and Prevention, deaths by one third in the last six Rwanda, for instance, report statiswhose release was also timed ahead years and increased the number of tically significant increases in men of World AIDS Day. people on antiretroviral treatment having sex under the age of 15. Haiti Young people between the ages by 59 percent in the last two years and Lesotho report a similar statistiof 13 and 24 in the U.S. account for alone. cally significant finding for women more than a quarter of new HIV inThe report shows in fact that anhaving sex under the age of 15. fections each year (26 percent); and tiretroviral therapy has emerged as a At the same time condom use by 60 percent of these youth living with powerful force for saving lives - an men has decreased by a statistically HIV are unaware they are infected, estimated 14 million life-years, insignificant measure in the Ivory Coast, according to the CDC’s Vital Signs cluding 9 million in sub-Saharan Uganda, Benin, and Burkin Faso. The report, released on Tuesday, NoAfrica, according to the report. same results hold for condom use by vember 27. In the last two years the numbers women in Ethiopia and Uganda. The most-affected young people of people accessing treatment has The report notes another chalare young gay and bisexual men and increased by 63 percent globally. lenge in stemming the spread of African-Americans. However, the report notes, some HIV - a stepped up effort to offer The analysis looked at the latest seven million people worldwide do men circumcision, which in trials data on HIV infections, testing, and not have access to this life-saving has shown to be effective in the prerisk behaviors among young people. HIV treatment, including 72 perventing some new infections. Overall, an estimated 12,200 new cent of children living with the UNAIDS acknowledges the chalHIV infections in the U.S. occurred virus. lenge in getting people to change in 2010 among young people aged “We are scaling up faster and their behavior. 13-24, with young gay and bisexual smarter than ever before,” said “It involves knowledge, motivation, men and African-Americans hit Sidibé, a native of Mali who has and choices, which are influenced by harder by HIV than their peers. In served as under-secretary-general sociocultural norms, as well as risk 2010, for example, 72 percent of of the United Nations since Januassessment in relation to immediate estimated new HIV infections in ary 1, 2009. “It is the proof that with benefits and future consequences. It young people occurred in young political will and follow through we involves both rational decision-makmen who have sex with men. can reach our shared goals by 2015.” ing and impulsive and automatic beBy race/ethnicity, 57 percent of Sidibé was referring to ten specifhavior,” according to the report. estimated new infections in this age ic targets pledged in a 2011 United More money would also help. The group were in African-Americans. Nations Political Declaration on report says that only five percent of “That so many young people HIV and AIDS: Intensifying Our HIV funding in the worst-hit nabecome infected with HIV each Efforts to Eliminate HIV and AIDS. tions was spent on programs aimed year is a preventable tragedy,” CDC The targets are outlined and disat changing behavior, including the Director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden cussed in “Global Report,” a 108promotion of condom use.▼ told reporters during a telephone From page 1

November 29-December 5, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 13

conference call this week to discuss the findings. “All young people can protect their health, avoid contracting and transmitting the virus, and learn their HIV status.” Despite recommendations from CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics that call for routine HIV testing of youth in medical settings, the analysis showed that 35 percent of 18-24 year olds have been tested for HIV, while only 13 percent of high school students - and 22 percent of sexually experienced students - have ever been tested.

“That so many young people become infected with HIV each year is a preventable tragedy.”

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14 • BAY AREA REPORTER • November 29-December 5, 2012

▼

Las Vegas gears up for New Year’s Eve bash by Ed Walsh

L

as Vegas is getting ready for its close up. New Year’s Eve gets bigger and better every year along the famed Las Vegas Strip. For the big night, Las Vegas Boulevard is shut down and everyone from the casinos pours into the streets to watch the fireworks. In a couple of years, the icon for Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve will be a giant Ferris wheel, which is now taking shape on the south end of the Strip, across from the Mandalay Bay Hotel/Casino. Plans are in the works to launch fireworks from the wheel and the center of the wheel will feature a countdown clock that will be visible along the Strip. Las Vegas does everything big. In keeping with that theme, the city’s newest gay club will open on New Year’s weekend and is being touted as the largest gay club in the world. Krave Massive is in the heart of downtown Las Vegas, on 450 Fremont Street, next to Drink and Drag, a combination gay bar and bowling alley that opened in May. Krave will include five separate dance floors spread out over 80,000 square feet. The club’s official New Year’s “grand pre-opening” will kick off Friday, December 28. Krave is already selling tickets for that party, which will have a capacity for 3,800. By the way, the former Krave nightclub on the Las Vegas Strip closed last month. That had been the first, and the only, gay nightclub on the Strip. The addition of Krave will make three gay bars in downtown Las Vegas. The other downtown gay bar is Snick’s Place, about 1.5 miles south of Krave Massive on South Third Street. As Las Vegas’s oldest gay bar, Snick’s has been open 24 hours a day for 36 years. It has been called the gay Cheers of Las Vegas. Krave Massive is among many attractions helping to revitalize downtown Las Vegas. For the uninitiated, the two main tourist areas are downtown and the Las Vegas Strip. The Strip is the section of Las Vegas Boulevard that leads to downtown from the airport. The Strip used to be a place people drove by on the way to downtown. But with the construction of the modern mega-hotels and casinos along the Strip, more and more people stopped at the Strip and didn’t go farther. Downtown fell on hard times for a while but it is very much on the comeback trail. Since 1995, an electronic canopy has covered four blocks of Fremont Street in the heart of downtown, making it the world’s largest electronic sign. Light shows are scheduled every hour and, of course, it will turn into a big street party on New Year’s.

The sights Las Vegas’s latest attraction, the Mob Museum, is in downtown in what used to be Federal Courthouse

Ed Walsh

Ed Walsh

Bartender Roland Banks greets patrons to Escape Lounge.

and Post Office. The 1933 building was beautifully restored and reopened as the Mob Museum in February. The museum is already a big hit and is a must-see attraction in the city. With 17,000 square feet of exhibition space on three floors, you could easily spend a half-day there and not be bored. The museum includes a section of the wall from the site of the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre in Chicago, complete with bullet holes. The museum documents the Mafia’s early influence in the city. The courtroom on the second floor hosted one of the televised organized crime hearings in 1950 that became one of the first must-see TV events that had everyone talking. The courtroom now hosts a multimedia documentary on the groundbreaking hearings. The Mob Attraction is another notto-miss experience. It is on the Las Vegas Strip in the Tropicana Hotel. Like the Mob Museum, it includes artifacts and history of organized crime in Las Vegas but it takes interactivity to a new level. Actors who play mobsters greet you at the beginning of the attraction and give you an “assignment” to take an important envelope to the boss. As you are being entertained, the Mob Attraction also is a great education on how organized crime really works. If you haven’t been to Las Vegas recently, you haven’t been there. The city is constantly renewing itself. The 76-acre City Center on the Strip will celebrate its third anniversary next month. The amazing complex has its own monorail system and is home to seven buildings, including the Veer Towers, a pair of high-rise condominiums that veer in different directions like modern-day Leaning Towers of Pisa. The Aria Resort and Casino features two curved-glass and steel towers with more than 4,000 rooms. The MGM Grand will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year with a new look. In September, the hotel unveiled its $160 million room renovation. The hotel facade that includes the MGM Lion statue overlooking Las Vegas

Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue is also being renovated. But don’t worry, the lion will stay put.

Nightlife The aforementioned Krave Massive is generating a lot of buzz in advance of its pre-opening on New Year’s. If successful, Krave could help herald a gay revival downtown. Krave’s neighbor, Drink and Drag, has been open for six months and is already generating a loyal clientele. Share Nightclub and Ultra Lounge is open Thursdays-Sundays. The modern massive dance space is in an industrial area about 1.5 miles from the Strip. It celebrated its one-year anniversary this month. There are no gay neighborhoods in Las Vegas but the biggest concentration of gay nightlife in the area is in the so-called Fruit Loop. It’s along Paradise Road, near the Hard Rock Resort and Casino, about a fiveminute drive east of the Strip. That’s where you will find Gypsy, 8 ½ Ultra Lounge, Piranha Nightclub, FreeZone and Buffalo. The lesbian-owned FreeZone is mostly gay male, but Tuesdays are ladies night. Across the street from FreeZone, 8 ½ and the adjoining Piranha attract a late-night crowd. The upstairs VIP lounge at Piranha is occasionally frequented by big-time celebrities looking for a more private place to party. Next door to Piranha and 8 ½ is sister nightclub Gypsy, currently open only on Saturdays. Buffalo is a Levi-leather western themed bar that never closes. The drinks are cheap, and the crowd very friendly. Fun Hog Ranch opened in 2007 on East Twain Avenue, a mile east of the Strip. The rustic bar is known for its cheap, strong drinks and friendly crowd. They encourage fetish/leather wear but everyone is welcome. The gay bookstore, Get Booked, is next to Buffalo. It stays open until midnight every night. The Las Vegas Eagle never closes. It is 4.5 miles east of the Strip on East Tropicana Avenue. Since not many tourists go there, it’s a good place to meet locals. The bar used to host infamous underwear nights on Wednesdays and Fridays, but had to end it earlier this year after it got in trouble with authorities. But you can still get free drinks there if you go shirtless on its Latino Wednesday nights. Charlie’s Las Vegas picked up the mantle from the Eagle and offers free drinks if you wear only your underwear. Charlie’s has free food for Monday night football fans and Tuesdays are drag bingo. The Backdoor Lounge is popular with the city’s large Latino community. The bar is famous for its drag shows. On the west side of the Strip you will know the Escape Lounge by the Statue of Liberty replica that stands watch over the parking lot.

The Blue Moon Resort features a secluded pool grotto.

Eating Out Despite the stereotype about bargain buffets, which you can still find in Las Vegas, the city has been trending more toward high-end eateries. The gay-friendly Luxor Hotel and Casino is home to Tender Steak and Seafood, which helps set the standard for fine dining without being stuffy. The restaurant uses seafood that is flown in fresh daily and its wine selection won it the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for three years in a row. The lesbian-owned Border Grill in Mandalay Bay has a deserved reputation for some of the best Mexican food you will find anywhere. Chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger are well known for their appearances on the Food Network and Bravo. For a truly only in Las Vegas experience, dine at the Lakeside Restaurant in the Wynn Casino/Resort. You will be treated to a ringside seat to a spectacular show on the lake that uses light, music, water and giant animated puppets and other objects to create a show every half hour. Fleur at Mandalay Bay was remodeled to be a little more casual. Now it is the perfect place to people watch from the patio in front of the restaurant that faces an indoor square in the casino/resort. Try the signature gourmet Waygu Hot Dog that’s artfully served with sauerkraut, pretzel bread, mustard and fries for $15.

Accommodations Las Vegas has the most hotel rooms of any city on earth and that competition for your business translates into a wide variety of options and some great values. If you are looking for bargains, one of the best times to travel is right now. Because few conventions are held between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the demand is lower and hotels lower their prices to attract more visitors. But prices will go up after Christmas as people travel to Las Vegas for New Year’s. By the way, most hotels also charge more for weekends when the demand for rooms is higher. The Blue Moon Resort is a great

option for gay men. It is two blocks from the Strip and next to the I-15 freeway, which makes it very easy to bypass the Strip when traffic is heavy, which it very often is. Unless you plan on spending all your time at the resort, a car rental is a good idea. The hotel is perfectly situated between the north end of the Strip and downtown. The gay clubs, the Strip attractions and downtown are all within easy driving distance. Like a lot of hotels, the Blue Moon was hard hit by the recession. It had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a couple of years ago, but is emerging better than ever. Plans are in the works to double the Blue Moon’s existing patio spaces by expanding into the area that is now a parking lot. The resort welcomes locals on day passes, so it is a great place to socialize with the natives. Amenities include a swimming pool, steam room, XXX video room, waterfall, and hot tub. The waterfall cascades over the grotto where the hot tub is and into the pool. The Blue Moon also serves a free continental breakfast until 11 a.m., so you can sleep late and still grab a meal. Rates start at a bargain $59. It is ranked #3 out of 26 specialty hotel properties in Las Vegas by tripadvisor.com. The Platinum Hotel is one of the newer hotels in Las Vegas and it actively courts the LGBT community, with a rainbow flag prominently on the front page of its website. Click on the flag to be directed to information geared to LGBT travelers. The all-suite hotel is a mile from the Fruit Loop, where you will find a cluster of five gay bars. It is just two blocks from the Strip. TripAdvisor.com ranks this hotel as #5 of 281 hotels in Las Vegas. Rates start around $125. Some of the best and biggest hotel/ casinos in Las Vegas actively court LGBTs. Paris Las Vegas, Wynn Resorts, and the Luxor maintain LGBT microsites and use same-sex couple imagery in ads in gay publications. ▼ For more information, visit the city’s official tourism Web site: visitlasvegas.com/gaytravel.

Ed Walsh

A zip line over Fremont Street gives visitors a bird’s eye view of the famous attraction in Sin City.

Read more online at www.ebar.com

November 29-December 5, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 15

16 • BAY AREA REPORTER • November 29-December 5, 2012

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World AIDS Day 2012>>

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Several other events are planned to mark World AIDS Day. All are set to occur December 1 unless otherwise noted.

More Grove events The National AIDS Memorial Grove (www.aidsmemorial.org) will hold Light in the Grove Friday, November 30. A VIP host reception will be from 5-6 p.m. and the commemoration and celebration are set for 6-9. At the event, for which tickets are no longer available, William D. Glenn and Prescott W. Hafner will be honored for their work. “Together and separately they have provided generous support, leadership, hope, comfort, and care to countless lives, nonprofit organizations and community endeavors in the fight against HIV/AIDS,” organizers said in a statement. “They are beacons of light who exemplify the very best qualities of our community.” The gathering will be in a clear, heated tent and feature food and cocktails. The next day, December 1, the

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grove will host its annual World AIDS Day observance beginning at 12 p.m. The program includes dedication of the Nancy Pelosi Leadership Walkway, in honor of the U.S. House minority leader. The San Francisco Democrat was instrumental in passing legislation in 1996 that designated the woodland dell in Golden Gate Park as a national monument to those lost to the AIDS epidemic. It is the only federally recognized AIDS memorial in the country. Pelosi will receive the National Leadership Award, while Gina Gatta is being honored as the grove’s 2012 Local Unsung Hero. Gatta served for over 12 years on the National AIDS Memorial Grove board before resigning last year. “The grove is a very special place,” Gatta, who co-chaired 10 consecutive observances, said in a statement. “If I had to say one thing that the grove has given me, it would be peace. It became a place for me where I could come to terms with the AIDS epidemic that was not necessarily a hospital bed or another death or another illness. It gave me hope; it gave me peace. It has let me

November 29-December 5, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 17

heal. Slowly, it has let me heal.” A light lunch will be served at the December 1 event, which is free and open to the public.

Paint the Castro Red Several of San Francisco’s HIV/ AIDS service organizations are hosting Paint the Castro Red (http:// www.paintthecastrored.org/). The event is meant to commemorate the thousands of San Franciscans who have been lost to AIDS, inspire people to get tested for HIV, and raise funds for local AIDS service providers. Paint the Castro Red will benefit AIDS Emergency Fund, AIDS Legal Referral Panel, Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center, Maitri, National AIDS Memorial Grove, Positive Resource Center, Project Inform, Project Open Hand, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Shanti, and Visual Aid. Activities will include free HIV testing at Magnet, 4122 18th Street, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Alliance Health Project, 501 Castro Street, 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.; and MOMS Pharmacy, 4071 18th Street, 6 to 11 p.m. A group of Castro district business-

es, restaurants, and bars will donate a portion of their sales on World AIDS Day: Body, Citizen, Diesel, Emergence Healing Arts Studio, Harvey’s, Hortica, Hot Cookie, Lookout, Louie’s Barber Shop, Midnight Sun, Moby Dick, Midnight Sun, Mollie Stone’s, P.O. Plus, Q Bar, San Francisco Upper Cervical Chiropractic, Spunk Salon, The Edge, and Twin Peaks Tavern. Additionally, San Francisco AIDS Foundation will present a sold out screening that night of the documentary How to Survive a Plague at the Castro Theatre. The film tells the story of the emergence of the activist group AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) in New York City. The organization was largely made up of HIV-positive people “who refused to die without a fight,” an AIDS foundation news release says. “The film captures both the terror and hope of the early days of the AIDS epidemic,” and the “epic battles” that finally made AIDS survivable. Following the screening, there will be a candlelight vigil at 8:30 p.m. at Harvey Milk Plaza, Castro and Market streets.

Obituaries site sees milestone Also on World AIDS Day, the GLBT Historical Society is marking the third anniversary of its online database of every obituary that’s appeared in the Bay Area Reporter since 1979. (http://obit.glbthistory. org) The majority of the 10,344 notices, “especially those from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s,” reflect the devastating impact AIDS has had in San Francisco, Tom Burtch, the historical society volunteer who conceived the project, said in a statement. “As one of the first places where AIDS was recognized, we feel a special responsibility to ensure that the toll taken by the epidemic is never forgotten,” he stated. “This website gives us a way to honor those we have lost.” Each listing includes the full obituary and offers a guestbook for visitors to contribute their memories. The site receives an average of 3,000 visits a month, and the listings are updated regularly to include new obituaries published in the B.A.R.▼

Budget cuts

From page 1

that supports access to care and treatment that can prevent illness and disease progression, rather than a ‘sick care system’ that promotes disability and illness by limiting coverage options.” The advent of the Affordable Care Act, which is scheduled to go into full effect in 2014, means that people with HIV can no longer be denied insurance due to pre-existing conditions. “The ACA has the potential to expand health care coverage to nearly all people with HIV, reducing dependency on discretionary programs that must be funded annually by Congress and could be ended at nearly any time,” Project Inform Executive Director Dana Van Gorder told the Bay Area Reporter. But it remains to be seen how the transition from current programs will occur, and advocates fear some people with HIV are at risk of falling through the cracks. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that nearly half of all HIVpositive people receiving care rely on Medicaid, the joint federal-state program that provides health care for low-income and disabled individuals. Many more rely on AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs), joint federal-state programs that cover the cost of antiretroviral treatment, and in some cases other medications and related services, for people with lowto-moderate incomes. ADAPs are funded by the Ryan White Care Act, which also provides grants to cities heavily affected by the epidemic. Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) provides housing assistance for people with HIV. “One advantage of the ACA is that thousands of people living with HIV will now be able to access either private insurance or Medicaid, guaranteeing access to many primary and specialty health care services,” said Tim Horn, the Treatment Action Group’s HIV project director. “But we need to be careful: many people receiving HIV care through Ryan White-funded clinics have been able to access a slew of support services to maximize retention in care and adherence to treatment. We need to make sure people being switched to private insurance or Medicaid don’t lose these important programs.” One group that could be heavily affected are undocumented immigrants, who are now eligible for Ryan White services, including ADAP, but will have no federal coverage under the Affordable Care Act. In addition, the ACA is intended

“We need an increase in resources, never mind a cut, and the money is there sitting in the treasuries of corporations and banks.” – Gerry Scoppettuolo, ACT UP/Boston to be a federal-state partnership, and some state leaders have expressed reluctance to cooperate, including with expanding Medicaid eligibility and setting up insurance exchanges. “Sadly, some states are fighting the full implementation of Obamacare,” said long-time ACT UP/Boston member Robert Folan-Johnson. “This is particularly true in states where the need is the most dire, for example the ‘red’ states in the American south where the HIV epidemic is raging out of control.”

The fiscal cliff But another, more immediate obstacle lies on the path to full ACA implementation. The so-called fiscal cliff is an outcome of the Budget Control Act of 2011, aimed at reducing the federal budget deficit. If Congress and the president are unable to agree to a package of tax increases and spending cuts, an automatic across-the-board reduction of about 8 percent in defense and non-defense discretionary spending, known as sequestration, will kick in at the beginning of January 2013. According to amfAR, automatic sequestration cuts could cause 15,700 people to lose ADAP support for HIV treatment and 5,000 people with HIV to lose housing support. In addition, the National Institutes of Health could lose $250 million in HIV research funding - the equivalent of 460 grants - and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could see a $65 million cut in HIV prevention funding. Looking at the local picture, a November 15 statement from San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said that sequestration would, at minimum, cut $26.54 million in direct federal funding to the city. “We would see an annual $2 million cut to Medicare, $1 million cut to housing services for people with HIV/AIDS, and over $5 million cut to education,” according to the statement. “These sequestration cuts would result in the loss of tens of millions of dollars to our social safety net programs. These cuts simply cannot occur.”

Activists decry cuts ACT UP/Boston kicked off a series of protests demanding that the federal budget not be balanced off the backs of people who can least afford it. On November 21 about two dozen activists set up a symbolic Thanksgiving dinner table outside the Beacon Hill home of U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), asking that he take the lead in preserving services for people with HIV. “Big oil, big agriculture, and big defense contractors are all going to be advocating to keep their funding,” ACT UP/Boston member Krishna Prabhu said at an action planning meeting earlier this month. “We need to do the same.” On Tuesday, members of ACT UP, Health GAP, the HIV Prevention Justice Alliance, Housing Works, Queerocracy, and others marched to the Longworth House Office building in Washington, D.C. Several activists stripped naked in the office of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who has resisted budget deals that include tax increases. At least three protesters were arrested, according to early reports received as the B.A.R. went to press. In addition to domestic cuts, activists said they are worried about decreases in U.S. funding for global AIDS programs, including the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. According to UNAIDS, the U.S. accounts for 48 percent of all international assistance for HIV. “The naked truth is that if President Obama and congressional leaders like Speaker Boehner allow these budget cuts to lifesaving programs, global health programs will lose $689 million, while domestic AIDS programs will lose $538 million,” said Eustacia Smith of ACT UP/New York. Along with preserving U.S. international aid, advocates are also pushing for a Robin Hood tax, a small tax on financial transactions that would fund global health and climate change initiatives. “When you know that you can end the AIDS pandemic in the next 30

Rick Gerharter

Peter Dale, a hepatitis C education intern, prepares to answer an incoming call on the hepatitis C support line at Project Inform.

years, how can you not do everything possible to make sure that happens?” asked Amirah Sequeira of the Student Global AIDS Campaign.

An AIDS-free future The threat of draconian cuts comes at a time when many HIV/AIDS advocates and public health leaders have started to talk about a light at the end of the tunnel. “The so-called fiscal cliff will reverse the progress that we have made in the fight against AIDS, just when we have gotten ahead of the epidemic,” said Queerocracy’s Michael Tikili, one of the D.C. protesters. Modern antiretroviral drugs are highly effective and well tolerated, and recent studies indicate that HIVpositive people who start treatment promptly - before their immune system sustains significant damage - may be able to live a normal lifespan. A growing body of evidence indicates that antiretrovirals also have a role to play in prevention, as HIV-positive people on effective treatment are much less likely to transmit the virus, and some HIV-negative people can benefit from pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. With the tools now available, the challenge lies in ensuring access to HIV care and treatment for all who need it - a challenge made more difficult by limited resources. In the U.S., the CDC estimates that one in five people with HIV do not know they are infected, and only 28 percent of HIV-positive people have gotten tested, entered care, started and stayed on treatment, and maintain an undetectable viral load. “With ground-breaking research now showing that early and effective HIV treatment not only saves the lives of infected individuals but reduces the risk of transmission by 96 percent, a retreat in our investment in HIV prevention, care, and treatment

would carry a high price tag,” the HIV Medicine Association and Center for Global Health Policy of the Infectious Diseases Society of America stated in a recent letter to congressional leaders. “Any reduction in federal support for the Medicaid program will reduce access to health care for the poor and set back efforts to expand early access to HIV care and treatment.” UNAIDS’ annual World AIDS Day report, released this week, shows remarkable progress, including reduction of more than 50 percent in the rate of new HIV infections in low- and middle-income countries. Over the past two years the number of people on antiretroviral treatment has risen by about 60 percent worldwide. “We are scaling up faster and smarter than ever before,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. “The pace of progress is quickening - what used to take a decade is now being achieved in 24 months.” However, the report emphasizes that continued progress depends on more money. The agency estimates that $22-24 billion dollars will be required to satisfy unmet need in 2015 - some $6 billion more than the total funding available last year. Nearly 7 million people worldwide are eligible for treatment that they cannot currently obtain, and an estimated 4 million serodiscordant couples could benefit from treatment as prevention. “Fiscal cliff cuts - which are really the imposition of European-style austerity on the HIV community and all communities - will result in needless deaths and the spread of the virus just at the time when treatment as prevention strategies suggest we can end the epidemic,” said Gerry Scoppettuolo of ACT UP/Boston. “We need an increase in resources, never mind a cut, and the money is there sitting in the treasuries of corporations and banks.”▼

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Legal Notices>> notice of application FOR CHANGE IN OWNERSHIP OF alcoholic beverage LICENSE Dated 11/26/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: JOHN’S GRILL, INC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 33 New Montgomery St. #1230, SF, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 63 Ellis St., SF, CA 94102-2207. Type of license applied for

47 - ON-SALE GENERAL EATING PLACE NOV 29, 2012 notice of application FOR CHANGE IN OWNERSHIP OF alcoholic beverage LICENSE Dated 11/20/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: CAFE VERANDA ENTERPRISES INC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 33 New Montgomery St. #1230, SF, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 3499 16th St., SF, CA 94114-1731. Type of license applied for

41 - ON-SALE - BEER & WINE EATING PLACE NOV 29, 2012 notice of application TO SELL alcoholic beverageS

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41 - ON-SALE BEER & WINE - EATING PLACE NOV 29, DEC 6, 13, 2012 notice of application TO SELL alcoholic beverageS Dated 11/16/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: WHOLE FOODS MARKET CALIFORNIA INC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 33 New Montgomery St. #1230, SF, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 2001 Market St., SF, CA 94114-1316. Type of license applied for

20 - Off-SALE BEER & WINE; 86 – INSTRUCTIONAL TASTING LICENSE NOV 29, DEC 6, 13, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034736900

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Dated 11/20/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: 1401 POLK STREET, INC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 33 New Montgomery St. #1230, SF, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 1401 Polk St., SF, CA 94109-4615. Type of license applied for

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The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SF SHUTTLE, 126 Cambridge St., SF, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Yat Guang Zhang. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/26/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/26/12.

NOV 29, DEC 6, 13, 20, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034735600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FINEVINTAGECLOTHING.COM, 2140 25th St., SF, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Cynthia J. Anderson. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/26/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/26/12.

NOV 29, DEC 6, 13, 20, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034726500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: F & O ENERGY, 3300 Cesar Chavez St., SF, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed Feven Woldyohans & Osman Galato. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/19/12.

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NOV 29, DEC 6, 13, 20, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034695800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TEA ROOTS, 48 Shotwell St., SF, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Tea Party Magazine Inc. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/12.

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November 29-December 5, 2012 • Bay Area Reporter • 19

Legal Notices>> City and County of San Francisco December 2012 Monthly Request for Proposals (RFP) for Site Office Management, Outreach, and, Administrative Support to the Hunters Point Shipyard Citizens Advisory Committee The Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency of the City and County of San Francisco is seeking qualified respondents to submit proposals for Site Office Management, Outreach, and, Administrative Support to the Hunters Point Shipyard Citizens Advisory Committee. Proposals will be accepted until December 17, 2012, 4:00 p.m. To obtain a copy of the RFP, or if you have questions, contact Amabel Akwa-Asare at (415) 749-2592 or by email at Amabel.Akwa-Asare@sfgov.org. The RFP is also available on the Agency’s website: www. sfredevelopment.org, in the Jobs & Contracting Opportunities section. Mayor’s Office of Housing Notice of Availability of Request for Proposals (RFP) The Mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH) is pleased to announce the availability of the RFP for 20132014 programs under the following funding sources and program areas: • Community Development Block Grant (CDBG): Capital Projects, HOPE SF Community Building Services, Housing Development, Planning and Capacity Building and Public Space Improvements; and • Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS: Capital Projects and Supportive Services and Operating Subsidies. The RFP will be available electronically on MOH’s website at www.sfgov.org/moh on Monday, November 19, 2012. Proposals must be submitted electronically by 5:00 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012. Please visit www.sfgov.org/moh for more information. Port of San Francisco Pier 38 Rehabilitation Project REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) The Port of San Francisco is seeking submittals on proposals to rehabilitate and re-tenant the Pier 38 bulkhead structure and a limited portion of the Pier 38 shed. Contact John Doll at: john.doll@sfport.com RFP Submittal Deadline: February 22, 2013 Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund Support San Francisco’s vibrant arts community by donating to the Voluntary Arts Contribution Fund (VACF). Since its inception in 1984, the VACF has provided $1.2 million in vital support to hundreds of the city’s most beloved arts organizations, serving every San Francisco neighborhood. Your gift will make possible important artistic programs and services, including safety improvements and facility upgrades. Be part of why San Francisco is known around the world as an extraordinary arts destination – support the VACF. For more information, and to make a donation, visit www.sfgfta.org or call 415.554.6710. The VACF is a program of Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund. Department of the Environment The SF Department of the Environment introduces RecycleWhere (www.sfenvironment. org/recyclewhere): Whether you’re working or living in San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Jose, Contra Costa, or Alameda, the online tool RecycleWhere provides the latest and most convenient recycling, reuse, and disposal options for everything from plastics to couches, and much more! RecycleWhere is a collaboration among local government agencies to help each and every person reduce waste. Time for an oil change? The 3,000 mile rule no longer applies to most vehicles. You can Check Your Number by reviewing your owner’s manual or go to www.checkyournumber.org The City and County of San Francisco encourage public outreach. Articles are translated into several languages to provide better public access. The newspaper makes every effort to translate the articles of general interest correctly. No liability is assumed by the City and County of San Francisco or the newspapers for errors and omissions.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF california, county of san francisco file CNC12-548822 In the matter of the application of: TANYA B. BERNSTEIN for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner TANYA B. BERNSTEIN is requesting that the name TANYA B. BERNSTEIN be changed to TANYA KAMINSKY BERNSTEIN. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514 on the 17th of January 2012 at 9:00 am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 8, 15, 22, 29, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034681000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SF CITY IMPACT HEALTH AND WELLNESS CENTER, 140 Turk St., SF, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Clint Ladine. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/26/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/26/12.

NOV 8, 15, 22, 29, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034675300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FOOD RUNNERS, 430 31st Ave. #430, SF, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Yuriy Aydinyan. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/24/12.

NOV 8, 15, 22, 29, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034676800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ROY TRANSLATION SERVICES, 88 Yukon St., SF, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Corey J. Roy. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/14/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/25/12.

NOV 8, 15, 22, 29, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034652100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TWINKYCLEAN; MODEL MAIDS, 33 Higuera Ave., SF, CA 94132. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Eric Michael Moren. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/15/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/15/12.

NOV 8, 15, 22, 29, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034687600

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034699100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BULLION ONE, 130 Clement St., SF, CA 94118. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed JD Bullion Exchange LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/05/12.

NOV 8, 15, 22, 29, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034693100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HUSEYIN OZYOL LIMO, 229 Font Blvd., SF, CA 94132. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Huseyin Ozyol. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/02/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/12.

NOV 8, 15, 22, 29, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034699900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FOCUSED LIVING COACHING, 2043 Fulton St., SF, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Maureen Gammon. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/05/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/05/12.

NOV 8, 15, 22, 29, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034701300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TEST KITCHEN BAKERY, 1073 14th St., SF, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Andrea C. De Francisco. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/05/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/05/12.

NOV 8, 15, 22, 29, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034700700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: 1449SFCA, 1449 Valencia St., SF, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Erin Naoko Altman. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/05/12.

NOV 8, 15, 22, 29, 2012 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name FILE A-031202400 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: UNI’S DELI, 1200 Vermont St., SF, CA 94110. This business was conducted by a limited liability company and signed by Uni’s Deli LLC (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/29/08.

NOV 8, 15, 22, 29, 2012 NOTICE

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: VAGABOND INN CIVIC CENTER, 385 9th St., SF, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed Ninth Street Lodging LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/26/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/31/12.

The annual report of the BRANDY S.C. FOUNDATION INC., 760 Victoria St., San Francisco, CA, 94127 is available at the Foundation’s office for inspection during regular business hours. Copies of the Annual Report have been furnished to the Attorney General of the State of California. BRANDY S.C. HO, Trustee. Fiscal year ended December 31, 2011. L#35011

NOV 8, 15, 22, 29, 2012

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 6, 2012

notice of application TO SELL alcoholic beverageS Dated 11/01/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: BON APPETIT MANAGEMENT CO. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 33 New Montgomery St. #1230, SF, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at Pier 15, SF, CA 94111. Type of license applied for

47 - ON-SALE GENERAL EATING PLACE NOV 15, 22, 29, 2012 notice of application TO SELL alcoholic beverageS Dated 11/02/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: B PATISSERIE, LLC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 33 New Montgomery St. #1230, SF, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 2821 California St., SF, CA 94115-2515. Type of license applied for

41 – ON SALE BEER & WINE – EATING PLACE NOV 15, 22, 29, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034705600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: J & W TRADING, 164 14th St., SF, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed James Feng. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/07/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/07/12.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 6, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034708100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CHIEF GOLF OFFICES ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL, 50 Entrada Ct., SF, CA 94127. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Bruce W. Olson. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/08/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/08/12.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 6, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034708300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE CHANGE DRIVER, 50 Entrada Ct., SF, CA 94127. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Bruce W. Olson. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/08/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/08/12.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 6, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034708200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WAY BEYOND GOLF TOURS, 50 Entrada Ct., SF, CA 94127. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Bruce W. Olson. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/08/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/08/12.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 6, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034676500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: STERLING PRODUCTION TOURS, 144 Montana St., SF, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Edward Jerome Sterling. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/25/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/25/12.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 6, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034679600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DARIOUSH 0405, 350 Masonic Ave., SF, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Ali Mostoufi. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/26/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/26/12.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 6, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034663000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SALTWASHED, 2926 Franklin St, SF, CA 94123. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Kaleigh Shafer. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/19/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/19/12.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 6, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034711100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: J & J TIRE, 955 Folsom St., SF, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed Chun Kwok Wong. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/09/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/09/12.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034707900

notice of application TO SELL alcoholic beverageS

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TOUCHSTONE CITY CENTER HOTEL, 480 Geary St., SF, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Geary Street Restaurant Group Inc. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/08/12.

Dated 11/05/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: GOURMET & MORE STORE INC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 33 New Montgomery St. #1230, SF, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 141 Gough St., SF, CA 94102-5919. Type of license applied for

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 6, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034689500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DAVID’S DELI & BISTRO, 468 Geary St., SF, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Geary Street Restaurant Group Inc. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/01/12.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 6, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034711900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SIMPLY PARKING LLC, 80 Hemlock St., SF, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed Simply Parking LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/09/12.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 6, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034714100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TAGCK - MISSION, 2400 Harrison St., SF, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed Project Cheese 2 LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/09/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/13/12.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 6, 2012 SUMMONS SUPERIOR COURT OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, 222 E. WEBER AVE., STOCKTON, CA 95202 Case Number: 39-2012-00286630-CU-PA-STK Notice to Defendant: ARMANDO CATANYAG; DOES 1 to 10 You are being sued by plaintiff: BRANDON SERPA The name, address, and telephone number of the plaintiff’s attorney, or plaintiff without an attorney, is: MARK V. CONNOLLY, CONNOLLY LAW BUILDING, 121 E. 11th ST., TRACY, CA 95376 NOTICE: You have been sued. The court may decide against you without being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below. You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be court forms that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court. There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web site (www. lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/ selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000.or more in a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. Date: Sep 07, 2012; Rosa Junqueiro, Clerk; Theresa Carleton, Deputy; NOTICE TO PERSON BEING SERVED: You are served as an individual defendant. STATEMENT OF DAMAGES (Personal Injury or Wrongful Death) To: ARMANDO CATANYAG Plaintiff: BRANDON SERPA seeks damages in the above-entitled action, as follows: 1. General Damages a. Pain, suffering, and inconvenience $100,000.00 b. Emotional distress $50,000.00 2. Special Damages a. Medical expenses to date $25,000.00 Date: Oct 18, 2012; signed Mark V. Connolly

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 6, 2012

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 6, 2012

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41 – ON SALE BEER & WINE – EATING PLACE NOV 22, 29, DEC 6, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034710000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE CITY KITCHEN; THE CITY KITCHENETTE. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed The City Kitchen LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/08/12.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 6, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034705000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ARROZ DOCE, 301 Main St. #22B, SF, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed Arroz Doce LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/07/12.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 6, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034718400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WINDSOR OWENS CONSULTING, 3271 20th St. #A, SF, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Windsor Owens. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/10/07. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/14/12.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 6, 13, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034719800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HEWN, 101 Henry Adams St. #480, SF, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed Jak Home LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/15/12.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 6, 13, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034716900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GRAYLINE, Pier 41, SF, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Evergreen Trails, Inc. (WA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/13/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/14/12.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 6, 13, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034716700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HORIZON COACH LINES & SAN FRANCISCO SIGHTSEEING, 300 Toland St., SF, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Evergreen Trails, Inc. (WA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/13/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/14/12.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 6, 13, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034716800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GRAYLINE, Pier 39, SF, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Evergreen Trails, Inc. (WA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/13/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/14/12.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 6, 13, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034726200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SIT STAY SF, 48 Woodward, SF, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Althea Karwowski. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/19/12.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 6, 13, 2012 notice of application TO SELL alcoholic beverageS Dated 11/19/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: ALIREZA AZAD. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 33 New Montgomery St. #1230, SF, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 5800 3rd St. #101, SF, CA 94124-3147. Type of license applied for

41 - ON SALE BEER & WINE - EATING PLACE NOV 29, 2012

Horror fest

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Roman candle

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Out &About

Holiday stages

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O&A

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Vol. 42 • No. 48 • November 29-December 5, 2012

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‘Royal Treasures from the Louvre: Louis XIV to Marie-Antoinette’ by Sura Wood

RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY/Jean-Gilles Berizzi

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Presentation miniature of Louis XIV in a diamond-set frame, ca. 1670. Workshop of Pierre and Laurent Le Tessier de Montarsy, goldsmiths; Jean Petitot I, enameler. Miniature: painted enamel. Mount: rose-cut and table-cut diamonds set in silver and enameled gold. Musée du Louvre, Département des Objets d’Art, Gift of the Société des Amis.

o one did excess like the 17th and 18thcentury French royals. They overdid it in style and with wanton abandon, oblivious as they were to the country’s starving peasants and the rising tide of discontent among the populace. The let-em-eat-cake crowd was less interested in tending to sustenance for the masses than in plundering the treasury for the purpose of making and giving away priceless diplomatic gifts, wrapping themselves in unparalleled luxury, adorning their massive palaces and private apartments at Versailles with all manner of baubles, silver, gold, etc., and basking in the reflected glory of their status and astronomical wealth. We know their sense of entitlement and bacchanalian indulgence cost them their heads, but what happened to their loot? Some of it was ferreted out of the country or sold back to dealers for safekeeping; the portion that wasn’t destroyed was confiscated by the Revolutionary Committee and conveyed to the permanent collection of the Musee du Louvre. The museum opened to the public in

Stocking stuffers between covers by Tavo Amador

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hopping for holiday gifts is often challenging. Books, however, offer a wide range of options in all price ranges. Sixty years after her untimely death, Marilyn Monroe (1926-62) continues to fascinate the public. In some ways, she’s a bigger star now than when she was while alive. Amid the plethora of volumes about her recently released, one stands out: Marilyn in Fashion: The Enduring Influence of Marilyn Monroe by Christopher Nickens and George Zeno (Running Press, $30). Monroe lacked the youthful Elizabeth Taylor’s American Princess aura or Audrey Hepburn’s European elegance, and thus, in the 1950s, they eclipsed her as style icons. But as this su-

perbly illustrated book shows, she often was able to combine glamour and sensuousness, and at times, as on the jacket photograph, looked ready for the cover of Vogue. Oleg Cassini, Charles LeMaire, Jean Louis, Dorothy Jeakins, and the underrated Don Loper are among those who created the splendid outfits pictured here. Truman Capote insisted that Monroe was his only choice to play Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and some of the images in this volume make his contention plausible. Monroe’s early death assured her immortality. Her younger contemporary Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011), the boxoffice queen and reigning beauty of the 1950s and early 60s, grew old. Will she, 60 years after her death, continue

to fascinate? If Cindy De La Hoz has anything to say about it, the answer is an emphatic “Yes!” In Elizabeth Taylor: A Shining Legacy on Film (Running Press, $30), she chronicles Taylor’s extraordinary life with dazzling photographs and astute commentary. The pictures range from the captivating little girl who, at 12, became a star in National Velvet (1945) to the breathtaking teenager seducing Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun (1951), wearing a white gown by Edith Head that created a fashion frenzy; to the sexuSee page 36 >>

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1793, eight months after Louis XVI, a visionary art patron influenced by the Enlightenment, was dethroned and guillotined. Now that venerable institution has generously lent a substantial stash to the Fine Arts Museums for Royal Treasures from the Louvre: Louis XIV to Marie-Antoinette, the Legion of Honor’s latest decorative arts show. It’s difficult to imagine a holiday season without one of the Legion’s ritual presentations of beautiful objets d’art, produced with no expense spared, by the world’s finest craftsmen for the delectation of the super rich. These shows are a big draw, and this one likely won’t be an exception. But it’s not the equal of similar glittering exhibits of past years that showcased the likes of Lalique, Tiffany, Faberge and Cartier. It’s somewhat thin on the larger historical context of the fascinating and turbulent period it covers, the reigns of three French kings from the late 1660s, at the beginning of Louis XIV’s regency, through the end of the monarchy at the close of the See page 36 >>

<< Out There

22 • BAY AREA REPORTER • November 29-December 5, 2012

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Remembering a good friend by Roberto Friedman

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arlier this fall, Out There was contacted by the Yale AIDS Memorial Project, an alumni-led initiative to honor and document the lives of alumni, faculty, and staff members from Yale University who have perished during the AIDS

epidemic. The project is building a memorial website with profile pages for every Yale affiliate to die from the disease, estimated at this point to be approximately 500 people. The coordinator for the profile of Yale undergraduate Mark Dallas Butler (class of 1983) found OT by search engine because a few years ago, OT

wrote a column in the Bay Area Reporter addressed as a letter to Mark, dearly missed. The piece OT wrote for the YAMP follows.

o0o I met Mark the summer after what had been our freshman year in college, his at Yale and mine at Penn, in 1980. We were working as counselors at a summer program for gifted & talented high school students, a project funded by the Maryland State Department of Education. Students took college-level courses, lived in dorms and participated in extra-curricular activities at the University of Maryland, College Park, and we were there to help them through it. Mark and I became fast friends. He was lively, intelligent, fun, charismatic. I was impressed by his openness – he had brought his boyfriend at Yale, Donald Suggs, home for Thanksgiving in his freshman year. Home was Chestertown on Maryland’s generally conservative Eastern Shore, where his father was pastor at the Methodist (or Episcopalian?) church. Donald was an out gay African American Yalie. It took guts to present him at the Thanksgiving table as his boyfriend. Most of the girls in the summer program were in love with Mark, as were many of the boys. They would tag along with him until he told them, in his perfect deadpan voice, “Go away.” My memories of the escapades on our time off from duties tend to blur together. I don’t remember which year it was we took off for the Eastern Shore, crashed at the James’, drove to his favorite secret places. I do remember being on the dock at Gratitude Landing in Rock Hall on the night of the Royal Wedding (Prince Charles and Lady Di), seeing a pair of swans swim together in the inky black waters, and Mark pointing out that in art, swans were a symbol of royalty. It was timely and too perfect. We stayed good friends in the coming years. When Penn played football games at Yale, the university ran buses up to New Haven for the weekend, and I would go visit Mark at his college house, avoiding the football crowds. I was there for one of the first Yale gay dances. He wrote fabulous letters from his junior year abroad in Heidelberg – he worked at the Officers Club at the base nearby the university, and

Courtesy Doug Rose

Mark Dallas Butler in a passport photo, from his Heidelberg years.

Roberto Friedman

Mark Dallas Butler, with a Navajo rug at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, in a Polaroid stained red by candle wax.

had tales to tell. By then I was teaching summer courses in the enrichment programs held at Washington College in Chestertown, Mark’s old stomping grounds, so our paths tended to cross. I was always impressed by Mark’s dedication to his studies in art history. He was most interested in pre-modern art; contemporary art spoke little to him. After college he moved to New York and worked at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. I visited him there a few times, thrilled to be taken “backstage” into museum staff quarters. Mark showed me treasures in the storage rooms. I have a Polaroid of him wearing a delicate feathered hat from the museum’s collection that had once belonged to the Queen of England. I’m sure he was not supposed to put it on, so for years I kept the photo hidden away, lest it jeopardize his career. At that time he lived in Astoria, Queens, and had a coterie of close friends, including Katherine Gleason, who had been in Russian Studies at Yale. He encouraged me to move to NYC, told me he could get me a job in, say, the museum gift shop until I landed on my feet, but by that time I had moved to the Bay Area to do graduate work at Stanford, and knew I wanted California

to be my home. We had fun times during my NYC visits: cocktail parties with young museum professionals in Midtown, bar-hopping downtown (Boy Bar, Uncle Charlie’s, the Pyramid Club – this was the 1980s). Astoria, however, was hardly gay-friendly – on one visit, my then-boyfriend Doug Rose’s car was vandalized, tires slashed, windshield and headlights smashed in, spray-painted, as a warning. It was pretty clearly a hate crime with the message: gays are not welcome here. But Mark said he’d never been gaybashed; at most, some kids had once taunted him in Central Park: “Pee-wee Herman! Pee-wee Herman!” Because he was trim and dressed in a suit. Once he had the AIDS diagnosis, his decline in health was pretty swift. He died soon before the first cocktail therapy drugs became available. By this time he was in the Ph.D. program in art history at Penn, writing his dissertation on illuminated manuscripts. When he called to tell me about his health crisis, I was living on a gay commune in rural Southern Oregon. It took some doing, but I flew to Philadelphia to see him. I got us a room at the downtown Holiday Inn – we called it the Soviet Holiday Inn because it had all See page 24 >>

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Theatre>>

November 29-December 5, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 23

Seasonal delights under the tree by Richard Dodds

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he obligatory news story about Black Friday violence outside a big-box store in some sooty town is one way to know that the most wonderful time of the year has arrived. A somewhat more felicitous indicator is to scan the theater listings and gape at the number of holiday offerings piled up like the gift-wrapped packages under Daddy Warbucks’ Christmas tree. Broadway may have a new deal for Christmas with the current revival of Annie, but the Bay Area tilts in a different direction when it comes to spiking the theatrical eggnog. Yes, we have our A Christmas Carols (it’s year 36 for the ACT production), but gaining status as another holiday tradition is The Golden Girls: The Christmas Episodes, which is back for its seventh seasonal presentation. Local drag luminaries Heklina, Cookie Dough, Matthew Martin, and Pollo del Mar again play the Florida housemates in two scripts with gay angles from the fondly remembered sitcom. Performances are at the Victoria Theatre, Dec. 6-30, and a guest star appears at each performance during the first week of the run. Tickets are available at www.goldengirlssf.eventbrite.com. It’s the 20th anniversary for the Yuletide alternative known as Kung Pao Kosher Comedy. Created by Lisa Geduldig and inspired by a Jewish tradition of seeking repast in Chinese restaurants on Christmas Day, the Kung Pao formula includes both dinner and cocktail shows at the New Asia Restaurant, capped by standup comedy performances. The lineup for the Dec. 22-25 run includes nationally known lesbian comic Judy Gold, New York-based standup veteran Adrianne

Courtesy HBO

Courtesy Judy Gold

Michael Imperioli, an Emmy winner for The Sopranos, will join other award-winning actors for readings of holiday short stories at Berkeley Rep.

Nationally known lesbian comic Judy Gold headlines the 20th edition of Kung Pao Kosher Comedy that offers a Chinese dinner and standup comedy as an alternative to traditional Christmas activities.

Tolsch, San Francisco’s Mike Capozolla, and Geduldig as emcee. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Brown Twins’ assistance fund. Tickets are at (925) 855-1986 or www.koshercomedy.com. Still another local tradition of the season, this one in its 11th year, is Help Is On the Way for the Holidays, which benefits the Richmond/ Ermet AIDS Foundation. It often features cast members from touring Broadway productions that happen to be in town, and this is a year that includes a couple of choice offerings: The Book of Mormon and The Lion King. The Dec. 10 event at Marines Memorial Theatre also features such local and national notables as Bruce Vilanch, Connie

Jose Guzman Colon

Pollo del Mar, Matthew Martin, Cookie Dough, and Heklina play The Golden Girls in an encore run of two holiday scripts from the TV series at the Victoria Theatre.

Champagne, Mary Wilson, Spencer Day, and Paula West. Premium tickets include a post-show reception. More info at www.helpisontheway.org. Before Connie Champagne heads over to Marines Memorial, she’ll be continuing a Rrazz Room tradition in her Judy Garland guise with Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas on Dec. 2 and 9. Other Rrazz Room holiday bookings with theatrical trim include Sharon McNight’s Twisted Xmas: A Druid’s View of the Holidays (Dec. 3 and 4), musical theater veterans Franc D’Ambrosio and Jeri Sager’s

Broadway’s Best for the Holidays (Dec. 11-15), campy cabaret stars and RSVP cruise headliners Amy & Freddy (Dec. 14), and exiled Russian countess Katya Smirnoff-Skyy (aka J. Conrad Frank) with her vodka-infused holiday spectacular (Dec. 17). Tickets at www.therrazzroom.com. A lesbian Jew and a straight lapsed Christian, Terry Baum and Carolyn Myers, are longtime partners in comic crime. Billing themselves as the Crackpot Crones, the duo will offer sketches and improv with a slanted take on holiday customs. Local theater

legend Joan Makin is directing Crone for the Holidays, running Dec. 15-30 at StageWerx. Tickets are available through www.brownpapertickets. com or (800) 838-3006. The Marsh, at both its Mission and Berkeley venues, is hauling out the holly. At the Valencia Street headquarters, Brian Copeland will perform his solo show The Jewelry Box … A Genuine Christmas Story. Running Dec. 14-29, it’s the tale of a youngster heading into the “mean streets” of Oakland to buy his mom a Christmas present. Over in Berkeley, the Marsh will offer the politically agitating clown Wavy Gravy in a show that sideswipes the holidays. Wavy Gravy and His Guided Mistletoes will run Dec. 14-29, and Mr. Gravy is also on the bill at the Marsh’s holiday bash Dec. 15 at the Berkeley venue, to be joined by Sara Felder, Marilyn Pittman, Josh Kornbluth, Charlie Varon, and other Marsh habitués. More info at www.themarsh.org. See page 25 >>

24 • BAY AREA REPORTER • November 29-December 5, 2012

<< Music

▼ Too delicious an aural repast by Tim Pfaff

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tephen Hough’s new French Album (Hyperion) starts with an audial prank. You put on the disc and out comes that most famous of Bach organ works (though of course disputes rage about whether it’s really by Bach), the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, albeit sounding strange from the get-go. It’s the piece as arranged by the Swissborn French pianist Alfred Cortot, in household-name fame once the Horowitz of French pianists – and as further rearranged by Hough. You’re unlikely to mind what Cortot “does” to Bach, further in a luscious transcription of the Arioso from the Keyboard Concerto No. 5. Cortot was all about spontaneity and imagination in playing, and his artistry eschewed and lifted slavish devotion to the printed score. But what Cortot – and with him, Hough – does here in no way distorts the original with a frappe of originality, and what you get is Bach as you’ve never heard him, so clear and transparent are the textures. Hough is not so unrepentant a trickster that his absorbing CD does not deliver on actual French music, played as stylishly as could be hoped. But throughout, the CD also capitalizes on this out master pianist’s penchant for being, beyond one of the most virtuosic and incisively intelligent keyboard prestidigitators working the circuit today, a born entertainer bent on showing you a good time. Think Lang Lang with taste. Then, too, he ends the CD with Liszt, by way of the 13-minute “Reminiscences de La juive: Fantasie brillante sur des motifs de l’opera de Halevy.” Fromental Halevy’s opera The Jewess had taken Paris by storm, and the young Liszt was intent on spinning a phantasmagoria out of tune snippets that were in everyone’s ears at the time. It is, as Anthony Blanche in Brideshead Revisited loved to say, “too delicious,” the more so as played, kaleidoscopically, by Hough. And even when Hough gets around to Ravel, it’s the one-time recital favorite now virtually gone extinct in that habitat, “Alborada del gracioso,” that he plays the spots off. It’s one of the pieces the composer thought showed that he was in fact as much Basque as French. But enough. The remaining baker’s dozen pieces are as thoroughly French as can be, leaving you wishing, or reaching, for a snifter of absinthe. Hough himself referred to this program as “a sort of musical dessert trolley,” and the superb liner notes are, pertinently, full of descriptive words usually reserved for more gustatory contexts. With only three selections – “Melancolie,” the “phantom ball” Nocturne No. 4, and the dazzling Improvisation No. 8 – Hough displays virtually the full expressive range of gay composer Francis Poulenc’s writing for the instrument. Just before the Poulenc, Hough offers a taste of “Melancolie” as real-

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Out There From page 22

the charm of Stalinist architecture – and we spent a weekend catching up, telling stories, watching figure-skating on TV. I was surprised by how much sports trivia he knew, but realized that this mental capacity – the ability to memorize statistics, dates, names – was similar to the skills you needed in art history. When I left him then I knew it would be the last time I’d see him. Writing this now brings up all the feelings of rage against an indifferent government and medical establishment, helplessness and sheer terror

ized by Emmanuel Chabrier. Two more Hough arrangements – Massenet’s “Crepuscule” and Leo Delibes’ “Pizzicati” – bring us more from the masters of the 19th-century French stage, at once delicate and brilliant. Nor does Hough shy away from French piano repertoire at its best known. Cecile Chaminade’s “Automne,” another one-time recital staple fallen to the budget axe, receives particularly tender treatment, and Debussy’s “Clair de lune” – a piece with which the composer was once synonymous but that you might now go the whole Debussy Year without hearing – is infused with the requisite nocturnal otherworldliness, without, thanks to Hough’s pellucid playing, giving you the vapors. If you want to get pianophiles going, ask them who today’s best Faure interpreter is. For my taste, the four works included here – the Sixth Nocturne, the Fifth Barcarolle, and an Impromptu and an Improvisation – declare that Hough is currently unmatched, not for an instant letting this fiendishly difficult music sound hard. It’s a big leap from the dessert trolley to the red-meat orgy of

Olivier Messiaen’s TurangalilaSymphonie, but the Bay Area’s robust Messiaen fan base will want to know that there is a new CD of this hardly under-recorded work that’s a must-have and a contender for top of the pile. Hyperion’s engineering is so superb that it’s our good fortune that they got to train their mikes on a magisterial reading by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under Juanjo Mena, a name you’ll be hearing more of. It takes nothing less than a true believer to make this massive, 10-movement meditation on erotic love (which references Wagner’s Tristan, no less) work, and Mena treats the score like the tablets brought down from the mountain. No previous recording has made more notes of this dense-textured music audible. If you’ve been unclear what the ondes martenot is or sounds like, Cynthia Millar’s trenchant spook-house sounds will clear that up. Pianist Steven Osborne (whom in my excitement I mistakenly called Richard Osborne in a recent review of his Beethoven Bagatelles) is all over the enormous piano part, and, as usual, at his best in the soft, transcendent music.▼

that we all experienced in those days. I’m grateful to the Yale AIDS Memorial Project for making sure that Mark will be remembered and his life honored. He meant a lot to a lot of people. I have no doubt that were he alive today, he would be a museum director. He had the intelligence, discipline, creative spark, courage, initiative, and charisma to go to the very top of his field. And he would have had legions of friends cheering him on.

mentioned in the piece, had died of a heart attack on Oct. 7, in New York City. He was 51. After Yale, Suggs had gone on to a career in journalism as a senior editor at the Village Voice, a contributor to The New York Times and the Advocate; advocacy and activism, as a former associate director of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and program director at AIDS organization Harlem United. Katherine Gleason, also mentioned above, wrote to us, “I was stunned to hear about Donald. I stumbled across the news on Facebook yesterday evening. Donald and I used to go roller-skating together. In, like, 1984.”▼

o0o As a sort of tragic coda, soon after submitting this recollection to Yale, Out There received word from a mutual friend that Donald Suggs,

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Music >>

November 29-December 5, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 25

Symphonic holiday treats by Philip Campbell Music for a City, Music for the World: 100 Years with the San Francisco Symphony, by Larry Rothe (Kindle Edition, $28.99)

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t has been almost a year since we first read and reviewed Larry Rothe’s marvelous history of the San Francisco Symphony, Music for a City, Music for the World. As one of the brightest candles on the Orchestra’s centennial birthday cake, the big and luxuriously bound hardcover edition, filled with hundreds of interesting illustrations and anecdotes, quickly made it to the top of our must-read list. If there was any complaint to be made, it was simply about the sheer heft of the weighty volume. An elegant oversize coffee-table book seemed a bit anachronistic in 2011, but the value of having such a comprehensive (and highly diverting) chronicle available for constant reference made the old-fashioned format acceptable. The size and quality of the publication also allowed for easy exploration of the many welldesigned graphics and absorbing photos. I wouldn’t want to be without the big book edition, but after an unsuccessful early attempt at making Music for a City available digitally, it is has finally become available as a Kindle eBook. At last I can pack it for my daily commute, and even make notes without a worry of damaging the pages. Having a smaller copy to hold and carry has also allowed for more frequent visits to Rothe’s invaluable history. The only downside is the loss of some of the book’s impressive visual impact. All of the pictures remain and (as far as I can tell) all of the original text. I wouldn’t want to be without either edition. Musiclovers, life-long fans of the SFS, and American history buffs will find Rothe’s remarkable accomplishment irresistible. Taking a trip with him from the storied days of the rough-and-ready Barbary Coast to the well-manicured present-day corner of Van Ness and Grove remains endlessly informative and entertaining. American Mavericks: Cowell, Harrison, Varèse (SFS Media, Hybrid SACD), San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas (SF Symphony Store, $18.98, and Apple iTunes, $9.99) Here is another chance to savor the San Francisco Symphony in a variety of formats. Exuberant live recordings of some of the Orchestra’s most revelatory performances from the American Mavericks concerts are now available on Super Audio Compact Disc or for digital download (mastered for iTunes). Anyone with an interest in American composers and the cheeky radicalism of their unfairly neglected work in the 20th century will find a lot to enjoy in the sonically spectacular program. MTT’s championing of all the included composers comes to exciting

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Backstage From page 23

Berkeley Rep has lined up a quartet of Emmy and Tony winners for a live holiday version of NPR’s Selected Shorts series of celebrities reading favorite short stories. On Dec. 8, at 2 and 8 p.m., Kate Burton, Michael Imperioli, and Linda Lavin will present John Cheever’s Christmas Is a Sad Season for the Poor, Ron Carlson’s The H Street Sledding Record, Thomas Beller’s Live Wires,

www.ebar.com

and authoritative life on a well-filled disc that should open a lot of minds (not to mention ears). I especially like the Henry Cowell selections. The opening Synchrony, with a haunting extended trumpet solo from Mark Inouye (sinfully unlisted in the booklet), is subtly influenced by Stravinsky, but still has the composer’s own stamp on it. The Piano Concerto, with Jeremy Denk making a stunning impression, displays the trademark tone clusters that made such an impact on others and eventually became Cowell’s claim to fame. A major and delightful insight comes from Lou Harrison’s Organ Concerto. In typically big and vibrant manner he synthesizes Western and Asian classical traditions into a uniquely satisfying showpiece. There are many moods and lots of big gestures, and organist Paul Jacobs is eminently up to the

task. So, too, is the orchestra and MTT. Harrison’s sound world is gloriously captured in a recording of wide dynamic range and unbelievably crisp sonics. The final track is Amériques by Edgard Varèse, and there is no denying the importance of the piece or the power of the performance. It does raise the question of which format to purchase, however. Hard to imagine that wailing siren or those riotous climaxes at full volume for the neighbors’ sake, but then, hearing a downloaded version with earphones could be also prove a little problematic for your own hearing. Again, there is an argument for going with both versions. The recording is worthy of a place in any SFS fan’s library or that of anyone with an interest in American composers, and the download is a steal at half the price.▼

and Edna O’Brien’s Violets. At 2 and 7 p.m. Dec. 9, Rene Auberjonois will join Burton and Imperioli for Frank O’Connor’s Christmas Morning, David Schickler’s Jamaica, and encores of the Beller and Carlson stories. Go to www.berkeleyrep.org. The most traditional theatrical offering in this roundup can’t quite escape the dark side. John Van Druten’s 1950 Broadway comedy Bell, Book, and Candle takes its name from an exorcism ritual, but don’t expect projectile vomiting from a

Linda Blair character. San Francisco Playhouse does a 180 from its previous show, the rock musical Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson, for this comic tale of a witch who risks her magical status by falling in love with a mortal. It’s Christmastime when the curtain rises, providing the holiday connection, with Lauren English as the witch whose ethics fall somewhere between Margaret Hamilton and Elizabeth Montgomery. It runs Dec. 4-Jan. 19, with tickets available at www.sfplayhouse.org. ▼

<< Film

26 • BAY AREA REPORTER • November 29-December 5, 2012

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Homegrown horror with a chilly aftertaste ‘Another Hole in the Head Film Fest’ highlights among 28 features and 22 shorts by David Lamble

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should probably compose this column using a special ghoul pen name, since I’m essentially invading genre turf that I pretty seriously avoid the rest of the year. But hey, I so trust the programmers of the Another Hole in the Head horror film festival that I’m all but putty in their hands, those who still possess hands. There

are 50 films (28 features and 22 shorts, including the funny queer short Bug Chaser) at the Roxie Cinema, the Victoria Theater, Terra Gallery and Vortex Room, Nov. 28 through Dec. 9. Between opening and closing-night events Forbidden Zone in Color and Zero Killed, both at Terra Gallery (511 Harrison St., SF), there’s pretty much something for everybody. Bug Chaser Ian Wolfley’s hilarious

take on gay men’s fascination with their derrieres begins with two dashing studs, Nathan (Brenden Shucart) and Ryan (James Arthur M.), kissing up a storm outside a high-priced pad. “Isn’t it awesome?” “What?” “The condo.” “It’s nice.” “It’s nice! That’s it?” “I mean it’s great.” “It’s probably the most expensive condo you’ve ever been in.” “How do you know where I’ve been?” “Aren’t you the unemployed new kid from around the block?” The boys push past this little patch of class warfare into the bedroom. “You should work out more.” “You don’t think before you talk, do you?” “So what do you do? In bed?” “You’re one of those.” “What?”

Courtesy Anything is Possible Productions

Scene from Ian Wolfley’s short Bug Chaser.

Courtesy Shining Light Productions

Christopher Rithin meets a gory end in Ryan Lee Driscoll’s Axed.

“Oral top, anal retentive.” “What does that mean?” San Francisco homeboy Wolfley, who drolly doubles down in a tasty supporting role as an ER nurse, takes great glee in showing us what the hell that means in an 18-minute black comedy that ranges from the anthropology of urban male dating to memories of “jungle rot diseases,” to nuances of the old canard “opposites attract.” Bug Chaser represents the homegrown boutique division of the horror genre. You’ll be laughing too hard to notice the chilly aftertaste on this one. (Roxie, 12/1) Axed “Jay, are you gay?” This loaded question, sister to brother, will seem a tad innocuous by the time you reach the gory end of Ryan Lee Driscoll’s financial crisis meltdown of the Windells, an uptight British family unit. Act I: Dad (Jonathan Hansler) has been made “redundant,” to use the archaic UK slang that’s more impersonal and humiliating than our term “fired.” The setup is as subtle as the title. Mom (Andrea Gordon) may be shagging Dad’s boss; Sister (Nicola Posenir) is a cell-phone-obsessed brat; while Brother Jay (Christopher Rithin) is a wuss who’s bullied at school. Axed benefits from the slow escalation of Dad’s tantrums blaming everybody else, growing ever more deliciously unhinged as he dupes the family into a day off in the country. Driscoll keeps us tense up to a primalscream finale. Axed mirrors the psychological underpinnings of 1984’s The Stepfather while lacking the verisimilitude of Fassbinder’s Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? (Vortex, 12/8) Cross Bearer In Adam Ahlbrant’s artfully constructed mash of live action and animation, the young lesbian Heather is having troubles at home with her girlfriend Victoria and her baby, while out in the nasty world of maniac pimps and decadent drugsnorting losers, a shroud-wearing religious fanatic seeks to rid the world of degenerates. The style trumps the story with lines like, “Why is Mark even coming tonight? Does he serve any functional purpose for this? What else is he going to do but talk about old Bela Lugosi movies and try to fuck everyone?” On the plus side, it’s a horror-film banquet of bad behavior and good body art. (Vortex, 12/8) The Amazing Adventures of the Living Corpse In Justin Paul Ritter’s

Courtesy Shoreline Entertainment

Scene from The Amazing Adventures of the Living Corpse.

spectacular claymation-style version of purgatory, a recent corpse prevents a gang of zombies from eating his young son, Taylor. “Am I even dead?” the poor fool cries out, as a Fallen Angel (the graveyard version of a guardian angel) informs him that he’s that rare member of the undead with a conscience. Our hero struggles to figure out his role in the deathly scheme of things: keeping graveyard ghouls from attacking the living. Meanwhile, Taylor tries to keep his wits about him in a ghoulishly run reform school where a group of mad scientists seeks to discover “what’s unique” about the kid’s genetic code. Great production values keep this over-plotted ghost story on track. (Vortex, 12/7) The 25th Reich Stephen Amis provides an Australian straight-camp fest in this Aussie view of 1944 American GIs dispatched into the Outback to retrieve a spaceship needed to beat the Nazis. Things go awry, and the unit flips back in time 50,000 years. The Americans finally fix their time machine, but overshoot their present time by 300 years when they land in an alternative universe where Nazis rule. Amis produces an intriguing blend of Indiana Jones plotting, Sam Fuller gruff-guy acting, and a bit of Looper time travel thrown in for good measure. This heavy-handed dialecthumor satire from Down Under is surprisingly diverting. (Roxie, 12/6) Deadball Just in time for the postseason “Hot Stove League,” Japanese horror master Yuda Yamaguchi imagines a juvie rehabilitation facility See page 27 >>

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DVD>>

November 29-December 5, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 27

Judi Dench in director John Madden’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, now out on DVD.

Picture these: DVDs for holiday giving by Tavo Amador

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ncertain about holiday gifts? One of the following DVDs may ease shopping anxiety. In The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), English seniors travel overseas to create new lives or reclaim past ones. Recently widowed Evelyn Greenslade (Judi Dench) worries about her precarious finances. Bitter retired housekeeper Muriel Donnelly (Maggie Smith) needs an immediate hip replacement. Graham Dashwood (Tom Wilkinson) wants to find the young man he loved. Douglas Ainslie (Bill Nighy) longs to placate his shrewish wife, Jean (Penelope Wilton). These strangers go to India, anticipating a wonderful, inexpensive retirement at the Marigold Hotel. What they discover and learn proves much more rewarding. The fantastic cast makes this latest reworking of Grand Hotel compelling. Dench has never been warmer or more engaging. Smith gradually becomes less defensive, shedding her racism, a splendid transformation. Wilkinson is touching reconnecting with the Indian lover he has never forgotten. Their scenes together are moving. Nighy makes audiences believe he loves the angry Wilton. With Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel as the Marigold’s optimistic proprietor. Directed by John Madden. Screenplay by Ol Parker. Based on Deborah Moggach’s novel. Dench plays legendary English stage star Dame Sybil Thorndike in the marvelous My Week With Marilyn (2011), a fascinating rendering of 1957’s teaming of Marilyn Monroe and Sir Laurence Olivier for the movie version of gay playwright Terrence Rattigan’s The Sleeping Prince. Olivier had starred in the comedy on London’s West End opposite wife Vivien Leigh. In deference to Hollywood’s most famous blonde, the title was changed to The Prince and the Showgirl, and she got top billing. Michelle Williams dazzles as Monroe, capturing her charm, narcissism, sweetness, shrewdness, unprofessionalism, instability, and awareness of her potent sexappeal. It’s a remarkable, Oscar-nominated performance. Eddie Redmayne is convincing as the smitten youthful gofer. Kenneth Branagh also earned

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Hole in the Head From page 26

where the young inmates play a very rough style of baseball. Tak Sakaguchi stars as a once-promising young pitcher who went astray when his blazing fastball accidentally killed his grandpa. His descent into the role of a underworld crime-fighter is mediated by a fierce female warden whose own grandpa was a Nazi sympathizer.

an Oscar nomination for his multifaceted Olivier. The most honored stage actor of his generation knew he was more accomplished and more professional than Monroe. He doubled as the movie’s director. Yet when he sees the rushes, he realizes the camera loves her as it would never love him. With Dougray Scott as Arthur Miller, and Zoe Wanamker as Paula Strasberg, Monroe’s manipulative acting coach. Alas, Julia Ormand is woefully miscast as the elegant, beautiful Leigh, considered too old to film her stage role. Directed by Simon Curtis. Screenplay by Adrian Hodges. Based on Colin Clark’s memoir. Jill Taylor designed the accurate costumes. Monroe became a star as Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), a part created on Broadway in 1949 by Carol Channing (b.1921). Clips of her original performance shown in Carol Channing: Larger Than Life (2012) suggest that while she was funny, Monroe was right for the movie, because Channing’s persona doesn’t work on the big screen. She has, nonetheless, built an amazing career on just two hit musicals, the second, of course, being Jerry Herman’s Hello, Dolly! (1964), written for Ethel Merman, who turned it down. This uncritical look at Channing is entertaining, filled with scenes of her performing. Other highlights include San Francisco locations – she was reared here – and the unlikely way she and her first boyfriend found each other after more than five decades and other marriages. They wed in 2003 and were together until his death in 2011. Debbie Reynolds, Tyne Daly, Marge Champion (whose husband, Gower, directed Dolly), Sam Harris, Angela Lansbury, Bob Mackie, Chita Rivera, Phyllis Diller, Herman, and many colleagues praise Channing. Despite her affable image, however, she wouldn’t have survived without a ruthless determination and large ego. The latter is implied when Channing says the only other Dolly she saw was Pearl Bailey in an all-black production. (Celebrated Dollys included Ginger Rogers, Mary Martin, Ann Sothern, Eve Arden, Dorothy Lamour, and Betty Grable.) Herman insists Channing was ideal for his heroine. He doesn’t say that when Merman played Dolly

on Broadway – the only time she appeared in a role she hadn’t created – he restored a song cut from the original production. Merman’s spectacular reviews also go unmentioned. Directed by Dori Bernstein, who co-authored with Adam Zucker. Channing’s liberal politics reportedly earned her a spot on Richard Nixon’s infamous Enemies List. (“I guess he didn’t like my rendition of ‘Hello, Lyndon!’ she quipped, referring to her support for President Johnson years earlier.) Nixon’s paranoia was shared by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (1895-1972), the subject of Clint Eastwood’s gripping J. Edgar (2011), with Leonardo DiCaprio giving a ferocious performance in the title role. The film chronicles Hoover’s rise to prominence as creator and lifetime head of the FBI, his relationship with his domineering, homophobic mother (Dench, brilliant) and his tortured sexuality. Handsome Arnie Hammer plays the man in Hoover’s life, Clyde Tolson. Eastwood makes their feelings obvious if unconsummated. Hoover’s rage when Colson kisses him is selfdirected, his passion overcome by horrendous guilt. Among the historic events recreated are the Lindbergh kidnapping and the assassination of President Kennedy. Gay Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black (Milk) wrote the screenplay. Beautifully photographed by Tom Stern. Eastwood composed the original music. If Hoover were still in power, he would have tried to ban Magic Mike (2012), Stephen Soderbergh’s insightful recreation of the degrading world of male strippers. Charismatic, beautifully buffed Channing Tatum, oozing sex appeal, is thrilling in the title role. He’s an accomplished dancer who once actually stripped professionally. Mike has higher aspirations, but they’re stymied at every turn. Matthew McConaughey, handsome and in great shape, is riveting as Dallas, who produces the shows and occasionally performs. McConaughey reveals Dallas’ corrupt, sleazy nature. His oily charm and fake camaraderie are creepy. Olivia Munn is the woman who makes Mike rethink his life. Reid Carolin wrote the perceptive script. Christopher Peterson designed the striking costumes.▼

This one features the usual Japanese zest for hyper-horror, complemented by over-the-top acting and random body-cavity searches. (Roxie, 12/7) Gut “We’re here with Dan Milton, the star of the upcoming horror film by Dan Jones. Dan, what drew you to the part of the psychotic killer?” “Stop this shit!” “Let me rephrase the question for you. How many dicks did you have to suck to get the part?”

This subtly-paced drama from Elias begins with a pair of bored office buddies killing their spare time watching weird videos. One day Dan lures Tom over to see a film that changes their drab lives. The filmmaker mixes horror tropes with a more nuanced blend of sexually laced abnormality. There’s just a whiff of early David Cronenberg. (Vortex, 12/7)▼ Info: (415) 820-3907, www.sfindie.com

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28 • BAY AREA REPORTER • November 29-December 5, 2012

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Film >>

November 29-December 5, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 29

Tiger by the tail by David Lamble

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n virtually every one of his dozen features over 20 years, the Taiwanborn master filmmaker Ang Lee has made some form of spiritual awakening or growth the crux of his genre-skipping body of work. Like his skinny-boy teen hero Pi (the emotionally demonstrative, Indian-born newcomer Suraj Sharma), Lee has cherry-picked the positive core of every major world religion while tossing aside the unpleasant scraps. Life of Pi is without question the most positive affirmation of the human spirit you’re likely to encounter at the movies this holiday season, the monumental, almost operatic morality play Lincoln from Spielberg, Kushner and Daniel DayLewis notwithstanding. Among its many virtues, Life of Pi makes a strong case for the superiority of live-action drama over animation, notwithstanding Pi’s clear debt to some world-class digital-cinema tricks. Pi’s triumph comes despite a slowly paced obligatory first-act setup where we see the 11-year-old Pi (Ayush Tandon) being mercilessly teased at school because his name inspires impure thoughts among the more brazen of his classmates. Pi’s refuge from the teasing results both in his becoming a kind of kid comparison-shopper in the bustling religious marketplace of his native India, and his developing an appreciation for the wild animals housed in his parents’ private zoo – especially a ferocious, hungry Bengal tiger with the name of a colonial explorer: Richard Parker. Pi’s early scenes are not aided much by the clumsy story device of having the now-adult Pi (veteran Indian character actor Irrfan Khan) recalling his adventures lost at sea to a young Canadian writer. Rafe Spall has the unenviable task of filling the

shoes of Lee’s original choice for the latter role, the magnificent Toby Maguire. Things pick up considerably when the family packs up, the zoo animals included, for a fresh start in Canada. After a shipboard altercation with a surly cook – a nifty cameo from French superstar Gerard Depardieu, working for scale – disaster strikes: the ship founders in heavy seas with the only survivors, Pi and less than an ark full of zoo animals. It’s here where Ang Lee revs up the emotional/ physical survival stakes for Pi and his unlikely and truly deadly companion, Richard Parker. It is only when boy squares off against tiger to determine their new place in the food chain that Life of Pi engages all of our senses, thanks to Lee and his crack team: screenwriter David Magee adapting Yann Martel’s novel, Claudio Miranda’s matchless cinematography, Tim Squyres’ editing, Mychael Danna’s music, and production designer David Gropman’s ability to transform Pi’s lifeboat and a small dinghy into the film’s version of a black-box theatre at sea, where boy and beast get in their licks in the ceaseless struggle for domination. While Lee could certainly have counted on novice actor Sharma’s (16 going on 17 at the time of the filming) ability to endure the physical demands of the role, simulating endless days at sea, what you can never predict about a non-pro actor is his ability to find the emotional depth that befits the occasion. The boy rolls with the punches, from instant orphan scared out of his wits, to intrepid amateur sailor, to desperate fisherman – needing a constantly refreshed supply of animal protein that doesn’t come from his own skinny torso, to satisfy the tiger – and ultimately, to master of his ship and fate.

Pi (Suraj Sharma) and the tiger Richard Parker are lost at sea in director Ang Lee’s Life of Pi.

In much the same way that the Louisiana-shot Katrina drama Beasts of the Southern Wild held us breathless, feeling like we could actually crawl up into the madcap onscreen goings-on, Life of Pi, once its plucky boy is truly lost at sea, becomes a gripping, transcendent physical/spiritual quest. The last look that an emotionally drained Pi has of Richard Parker is like that of a heartbroken lover, without Lee ever stooping to anthropomorphizing the beast or infantilizing the boy. A shot of the bleary-eyed, barely alive Pi observing Richard Parker disap-

pearing into an island jungle shows Life of Pi’s incalculably beautiful spiritual arc in a single frame, much like the shot of Ennis holding his dead lover’s shirt does in the final scene of Lee’s Brokeback Mountain. Ang Lee has long enjoyed the power to break and mend our hearts in the climax of screen dramas that defy age-old cinema storytelling clichés: the white lover of a newly out-of-the-closet Taiwanese businessman transplant in New York achieving a state of grace with his lover’s father (The Wedding Banquet); the moment a prep-school

boy steps off a storm-delayed commuter train and discovers his father weeping in both despair and relief over the storm-caused death of another boy (The Ice Storm); the bloody showdown averted between Civil War-era sworn enemies facing impending decades of frontier violence (Ride with the Devil); and the realization by a once-good Jewish gay boy that he no longer has to put his crazy mother’s desires ahead of his own (Taking Woodstock) – all are examples of a freewheeling queer spirit that is definitely alive and well in The Life of Pi.▼

<< Out&About

30 • BAY AREA REPORTER • November 29-December 5, 2012

Thu 29>>

Play Fair @ GLBT History Museum Play Fair! The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Make Sex Safer, an exhibit of safe sex promotional efforts. Also, For Love and Community: Queer Asian Pacific Islanders Take Action 1960-1990s, an exhibit organized by queer and transgender Asian Pacific Islanders. Mon-Sat 11am-7pm. Sun 12pm-5pm. 4127 18th St. 621-1107. www.glbthistorymuseum.org

Billy Connolly @ Marines' Memorial Theatre Hilarious UK comic actor brings his solo show across the pond. $55-$65. 8pm. Nightly thru Dec. 1. 609 Sutter St. (800) 745-3000. www.billyconnolly.com www.ticketmaster.com

Classical Recitals @ SF Music Conservatory

Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws

virUS by Jim Provenzano

Students and faculty perform various classical music concerts; piano, string quartets, opera repertory and more, almost nightly 8pm. Sundays 2pm & 5pm. Thru Dec 14. Free-$20. Usually 8pm. 50 Oak St. at Gough. www.sfcm.edu

Comedy Bodega @ Esta Nocha The weekly LGBT and indie comic stand-up night. 8pm-9:30pm. 3079 16th St. at Mission. www.comedybodega.com

orld AIDS Day always makes for a solemn start to the year-end holiday festivities. As decorations festoon retail shops, others recall those long gone from the plague of AIDS. And yes, it is a plague. Don’t take my word for it. See the two documentaries about AIDS activists, attend a benefit for AIDS/HIV and antibullying causes; light a candle, and know, AIDS is still with us.

History: The Musical @ Un-Scripted Theater

Thu 29: Dining Out for Life @ Sonoma County

Hot Draw @ Mark I. Chester Studio

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Draw naughty pics of nekkid dudes at the gay men’s erotic sketch group. Donations. RSVP day of: 621-6294. 6:30pm-9:30pm. 1229 Folsom St. www.markichester.com

Eat at one of several participating Sonoma restaurants, and a portion of your bill will be donated to local AIDS/ HIV nonprofits. www.diningoutforlife. com/sonomacounty

The Lion King @ Orpheum Theatre

Sat 1: Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws: Gay San Francisco, 1985-1988 @ SF Public Library Opening lecture and talk with curator Thomas Alleman, who discusses his exhibit of fascinating new large-print photos from San Francisco’s mid-1980s gay community, from the onslaught of AIDS to nightlife and arts celebrations. Reception 1pm-5pm. Panel discussion 6pm in the Latino-Hispanic Community Room. Exhibit in the Jewitt Gallery. Thru Feb 10, 2013. 100 Larkin St. at Grove. www.allemanphoto.com www.sfpl.org

Billy Porter in Broadway Against Bullying

Mon 3: Broadway Against Bullying @ Club Fugazi Stars of Broadway musicals perform at a benefit holiday cabaret show; Billy Porter, Paul Canaan, Nick Adams, Tory Ross, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Constantine Rousouli and Annaleigh Ashford perform. $50$100 (includes priority seating and dessert reception). 7pm. 678 Green St. Also, bid on online auction items, including vacations to NYC for the Tony and Emmy Awards, and NYC Broadway shows with backstage passes! 4214222. www.charitybuzz.com/auctions/ nobully www.nobully.com

Sat 1: How to Survive a Plague @ Castro Theatre Screening of the highly-acclaimed documentary about the Treatment Action Group of ACT UP New York, and their efforts to push AIDS drug approval. Screening is free, but tickets required; 6pm, followed by a candlelight vigil in Harvey Milk Plaza, 9pm. 429 Castro St. www.sfaf.org/WorldAIDSDay

Tue 4: World Tree of Hope @ City Hall

Martha Wash

Sat 1: AEF Gala @ National AIDS Memorial Grove

Annual presentation of a holiday tree decorated with thousands of origami cranes, which symbolize hope for the new year. Performers and presenters include San Francisco Boys Chorus, Mayor Ed Lee, MC Donna Sachet, The Consul General of Japan, Veronica Klaus accompanied by Tammy Hall, San Francisco Poet Laureate Alejandro Muruia, The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence; wine, cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, sweets, free admission. 5:30pm-8pm. City Hall Rotunda. 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett St. www.rainbowfund.org

Martha Wash performs at the 30th anniversary fundraiser for the AIDS Emergency Fund, with cocktails, an elegant dinner in a tent, and DJed dancing. $300. 7pm-11pm. Bowling Green Drive at Nancy Pelosi Drive, Golden Gate Park. www.aef-sf.org

Sun 2 : Project Nunway @ AIDS Memorial Grove Fashion fundraiser pairs Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence with fashion designers; with cohosts Jane Wiedlin (The Go-Gos) and Sister Roma, with celebrity judges, Double duchess performing and more, all inside a heated tent (same as the Dec 1 AEF gala). $20.12, $51.50, $99.99. 3pm-7pm. Bowling Green Drive at Nancy Pelosi Drive, Golden Gate Park. 765-0498. www.TheSisters.org

Improv theatre company, in a new theatre, performs sketches through different time periods; a different era and show each night. $10-$20. Thu-Sat 8pm. Thru Dec 22. 533 Sutter St. 322-8738. www.un-scripted.com

Disney’s long-running musical (and the highest grossing Broadway show in history) based on the animated film makes a return to the Bay Area. $32.50-$150. TueSat 8pm. Sat 2pm, Sun 1pm. (closed or different times for some holidays). Thru Jan. 13, 2013. (888) 746-1799. www.shnsf.com

Marlena Shaw @ The Rrazz Room

The Rainmaker @ Shelton Theater

Sat 1 Connie Champagne @ The Rrazz Room The local chanteuse returns as Judy Garland in “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” $32.50. 4pm. Also Dec. 9. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. (800) 380-3095. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

Fri 30>> A Christmas Carol @ A.C.T. American Conservatory Theatre’s popular annual production of the stage adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic story about Scrooge’s ghostly Christmas Eve visitations. $20-$95 (VIP tix include premiere seating and complimentary intermission drinks). Tue-Sat 7pm. Sun 5:30pm. Various 2pm & 1pm matinees. Thru Dec 24. 415 Geary St. 749-2228. www.act-sf.org

Another Way Home @ Magic Theatre Family drama about Jewish parents whose values are questioned when they visit their son’s summer camp. $22-$62. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sat & Sun 2:30pm. Thru Dec 2. Fort Mason Center, Bldg. D, 3rd fl. Marina Blvd, at Buchanan. 441-8822. www.magictheatre.org

Ginger Snaps @ Alley Cat Books

Soul legend performs classic music with her band. $35-$0. 8pm. Also Nov 30, 8pm, Dec 1, 7pm & 9:15pm, Dec 2 7pm. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. (800) 380-3095. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

Reception, photo exhibit, prize giveaways and more at the book party for David Sweet and Richard May’s photo book about local redheaded men. 7pm. 3036 Mission St. near 24th. www.facebook.com/alleycatbooks

Monique Jenkinson @ CounterPulse

Holiday Sale @ Creativity Explored

Dancer-performer, aka Fauxnique, performs Instrument , a solo created by three local choreographers – Chris Black, Miguel Gutierrez and Amy Seiwert. (Adult themes) $20-$30. Thu-Sun 8pm. Thru Dec 9. 1310 Mission St. at 9th. 626-2060. www.CounterPulse.org

Opening reception for the exhibit and sale of new beautifully charming artwork made by local developmentally challeneged adults. 6pm-9pm. Extended hours thru Dec 23: Mon/Tue 10am-3pm. Wed-Fri til 7pm. Sat & Sun 12pm-5pm. 3245 16ht St. 8632108. www.creativityexplored.org

Nayland Blake @ YBCA

Open @ Shotwell Studios

FREE!LOVE!TOOL!BOX! , the former Bay Area artist’s new exhibit of conceptual and assembled found-object, personal installations and artworks, each with queer themes, including a DJ booth with his own large record collection. Special events: art historian Richard Meyer’s lecture about queer subculture art, Nov 29, 6:30pm, and Decorative Piercing with Lolita Wolf and Nayland Blake, also 6:30pm. Nov. 30, Queer Punks in Conversation, 6:30pm. Dec. 1, Drag & Bay Area Personae with Blake and Joel Tan, including other performers, drag makeovers and a loading dock party with DJ Bus Station John. Also, Nathalie Djurberg’s amazing colorful creature sculptures. $12-$15. Thru Jan. 27. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. 979-2787. www.naylandblake.net www.ybca.org

Jeff Bedillion’s sexy comedy about a straight couple who decide to try having an open relationship. $20. Fri, Sat & Mon 8pm. Thru Dec 17. 3252-A 19th St. 2892000. www.ftloose.org

Simón Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela @ Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley

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Out of Character @ Asian Art Museum Decoding Chinese Calligraphy, an exhibit of modern and ancient scripted art, with numerous special events, workshops and discussions. Free-$12. Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. Thru Jan 13. 200 Larkin St. 581-3500. www.asianart.org

Pal Joey @ Eureka Theatre 42nd Street Moon’s production of the classic Rodgers & Hart musical (with book by John O’Hara) about a charming “heel” with big plans to make it in the Chicago nightclub scene. $25-$75. Wed 7pm. Thu & Fri 8pm. Sat 6pm. Sun 3pm. Thru Dec. 16. 215 Jackson St. 255-8207. www.42ndstmoon.org

N. Richard Nash’s drama about a traveling con man who romances a small town woman, gets a local production. $38. Fri & Sat 8pm. Thru Dec 22. 533 Sutter St. at Powell. (800) 838-3006. www.sheltontheater.org

Sing-Along The Sound of Music @ Castro Theatre Austrian children and puppets that sing, nuns gone astray and a drag contest fling; these are a few of my favorite things! Laurie Bushman and pals host the popular family-friendly event with costume parades, subtitled lyrics and a pre-show concert of Rodgers & Hammerstein classics played on the Wurlitzer organ by David Hegarty. $10-$15. 1pm & 7pm thru Dec 2 (no show Dec. 1). 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

The Submission @ New Conservatory Theatre Jeff Talbot’s sharp play explores racism, affirmative-action and bias in the theatre world, when a white gay writer submits a play about life in the projects, and hires an African American actress to pretend to be the playwright. $25-$45. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru Dec. 16. 25 Van Ness Ave. at Market, lower level. 861-8972. www.nctcsf.org

The White Snake @ Berkeley Rep Tony Award-winning director Mary Zimmerman’s (Argonautika, Arabian Nights) visually stunning mystical drama based on a Chinese legend of romance and magical powers. $22-$99. Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat 8pm. Wed 7pm. Sun 7pm. Sat & Sun 2pm. Thru Dec 23. Special events thru run. Roda Theatre, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org

Wilder Times @ Aurora Theatre, Berkeley Four one-act plays by Pulitzer Prize winner, former Berkeley resident and closeted gay playwright and author Thornton Wilder. $32-$60. Tue 7pm. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm & 7pm. Thru Dec. 9. 2081 Addison St., Berkeley (510) 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org

Sat 1>> Artumnal Gathering @ Bently Reserve Black Rock Arts Foundation’s annual fundraiser for arts projects at Burning Man, with art displays, live performances, creative silent auction items. Formal and/or costume festive attire recommended; early VIP dinner, then dance party. $40-$200. 400 Sansome St. www.blackrockarts.org

Beach Blanket Babylon @ Club Fugazi Musical comedy revue, now in its 35th year, with an ever-changing lineup of political and pop culture icons, all in gigantic wigs. Reg: $25-$130. Wed, Thu, Fri at 8pm. Sat 6:30, 9:30pm. Sun 2pm, 5pm. (Beer/wine served; cash only). 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd (Green St.). 4214222. www.beachblanketbabylon.com

Celebration of Craftswomen @ Herbst Pavilion 34th annual large-scale exhibit and sale of arts and crafts made by women; sculpture,

Gustavo Dedamel conducts “A Celebration of Music from Latin America,” a concert of works in two programs. 8pm. Also Nov 30. 8pm. $30-$175. Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave., UC Berkeley campus. (510) 642-9988. www.calperformances.org

The Songbird of Paris @ The Marsh, Berkeley

Wed 5: United in Anger: The History of ACT UP @ Pacific Film Archive Screening of Jim Hubbard documentary about the roots of the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power, with protest footage and several participant interviews. $5.50$13.50. 7pm. 2575 Bancroft Way, UC Berkeley campus. (510) 642-5249. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu

Joni Takanikos stars as French singer Edith Piaf in an intimate production of Martha Furey’s musical near-solo drama. Thu & Fri 8pm. Sat 8:30pm. Thru Dec 1. 2120 Allston Way near Shattuck. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org

Strange Sinema, Fairy Tale Frenzy @ Oddball Films Collection of odd short films about motion picture history, kids’ creative claymation films and other camera magic. 8pm. Nov 30, a collection of beautiful animated short films based on fairy tales. 8pm. Both shows $10. 275 Capp St. 558-8117. www.oddballfilm.com

Dec 6 SantaConcert @ Davies Hall San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus performs their annual holiday concert, with the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony (formal first half) and a special second act with lots and lots of Santas! $25-$27. 8pm. 201 Van Ness Ave. Also Dec 24 at 5pm, 7pm, and 9pm at the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St. www.sfgmc.org

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Out&About >>

November 29-December 5, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 31

Stein. $15-$30. 7pm. 3200 California St. at Presidio. 292-1233. www.jccsf.org

Murderous Little World @ ODC Theater Canadian trio Bellow & Brass’ experimental music theater work, with poems by Anne Carons, composed by Linda Bouchard. $15$30. 8:30pm (pre-show talk, 8pm). 3153 17th St. 863-9834. www.odctheater.org

Sharon McNight @ The Rrazz Room The veteran musical theatre singer returns with her witty cabaret show, “Twisted Xmas: A Druid’s View of the Holidays.” $30. 8pm. Also Dec 4. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. (800) 380-3095. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

Sat 1

Ten Percent @ Comcast 104

Jason Brock @ Martuni’s The local singer and X Factor contestant returns to the SF for a concert of pop and holiday songs at the intimate martini bar; Dee Spencer accompanies. $20. 7pm. Also Dec 2. 4 Valencia St. www.brownpapertickets.com/event/299974

ceramics, fabric art and clothing, and lots more. Film screening and performances at the adjoining Cowell Theatre, plus cocktail party fundraisers and receptions. $7-$9. 10am-5pm Sat & Sun, thru Dec 2. Fort Mason Center, Marina at Buchanan. (650) 6156838. www.celebrationofcraftswomen.org

Garrett + Moulton @ ODC Theater Angles of Enchantment, the latest visually fascinating dance-theatre collaboration of choreographers Janice Garrett and Charles Moulton, with Margaret Hatcher amazing costumes and live music composed by Peter Whitehead. $30-$36. 8pm. Nov 25, 2pm & 7:30pm. Nov 29-Dec 1 8pm. Dec 1 & 2, 2pm. Dec 2, 7:30pm. 3153 17th St. 863-9834. www.odctheater.org

Jasper Johns, Jay DeFeo @ SF MOMA Two exhibits of the American artists’ works. Thru Feb 3. Also, Paul Klee’s Circus, Alessandro Pessoli, and other works and ongoing Modern art exhibits. Free-$18. 151 3rd St. at Mission. Thu-Tue 11am5:45pm (8:45 Thursdays). 357-4000. www.sfmoma.org

Royal Treasures from the Louvre @ Legion of Honor Exhibit of decorative arts, most never seen in the U.S., from the reigns of Louis XIV to Marie-Antoinette, from the Musée du Louvre, Paris. Free-$20. Tue-Sun 9:30am-5:15pm. Thru March 17. Lincoln Park, 34th Ave and Clement St. www.legionofhonor.org

Rudolf Nureyev: A Life in Dance @ de Young Museum Direct from the Centre National du Costume de Scène in Moulins, France, this exhibit displays costumes, photos, videos and ephemera documenting the amazing dancing and choreography of the worldfamous gay dancer. Thru Feb 17. 6-$20. Tue-Sun 9:30am-5:15pm. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park. 7503600. www.famsf.org

SF Swing Fest @ Hotel Whitcomb Queer Jitterbugs presents a three-day vintage-themed swing dance event, with same-sex dancing, lessons, workshops, parties, costume and dance contests dinner and more. Nov 30 Prohibition speakeasythemed events. Dec 1, USO ball. Dec 2, Tiki Tryst and Luau dinner show. Workshops by day, dancing each night. Varous prices. 1231 Market St. www.SFSwingFest.com

Slugs and Kicks @ Thick House Theatre Rhinoceros’ production of John Fisher’s backstage comedy about a young gay actor and his theatrical friends (closeted and otherwise). $15-$30. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 3pm. Thru Dec. 9. 1695 18th St. at Arkansas. (800) 838-3006. www.therhino.org

Toil and Trouble @ La Val’s Subterranean, Berkeley Impact Theatre’s comic update on Shakespeare’s …Scottish play ( MacBeth ). $10$20. Thu-Sat 8pm. Thru Dec. 8. 1834 Euclid Ave., Berkeley. www.impacttheatre.com

William S. Paley Collection: A Taste for Modernism @ de Young Museum New exhibit of varied and little seen Modern Art works collected by the New York art patron with a diverse taste, including paintings by Cezanne, Picasso, Matisse Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec and others. Also, This World Is Not My Home: Photographs by Danny Lyon, thru Jan. 27. $10-$20. Tue-Sun 9:30am-5:15pm. (til 8:45pm Fridays) Thru Dec. 30. Golden Gate Park, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive. 750-3600. www.famsf.org

Women 我們 @ Chinese Cultural Center Exhibit of video works, installation art, photography, sculpture, and more by a diverse array of LGBTQ artists including Mu Xi, Yang Meiyan, He Chengyao, and other emerging artists based in China as well as five U.S.-based artists, among them Man Yee Lam and Stella Zhang. Tue-Sat 10am4pm. Thru Dec. 15. 750 Kearny St., 3rd floor (inside the Hilton Hotel). 986-1822. www.c-c-c.org

Xavier MTW @ Glamarama Foucault at the Food Co., a whimsical visual story exhibit by a new local gay artist, at the fab hair salon. Thru Jan. 5, 2013. 304 Valencia St. www.glamarama.com

You Betta Werq! @ Gussie’s Checken & Waffles Rotissary Ethnicity Jackson Houston-Ross, Felicia Lamar, Maxine Padd, and others perform at a drag show with dinner; proceeds benefit the Castro Country Club. $15. 8pm. 1521 Eddy St. at Fillmore. www. facebook.com/events/103472676483487/

David Perry’s talk show about LGBT people and issues. Mon-Fri 11:30am & 10:30pm. Sat & Sun 10:30pm. www.comcasthometown.com

Tue 4>> Double Features @ Castro Theatre Dec 4: Searching for Sugar Man and Anvil. Dec 5: Get Carter and The Trip. Dec 6: J-R Marathon and Mystical Traveler. $8.50-$12. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

The News @ SOMArts Cultural Center Monthly queer performance series, this month with DavEnd, Cara Rose DeFabio, Elliot Orona, Nathan Rapport, Travis Santell Rowland, Rheal Tea and Deep Teens, as well as guest curator/ host VivvyAnne ForeverMORE! (Mica Sigourney). $5. 7:30pm. 934 Brannan St at 9th. www.somarts.org

Wed 5>> Hedwig and the Angry Inch @ Boxcar Theatre

Sun 2>>

New local production of John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s popular transgender rock operetta, with multiple actor-singers perfoming the lead. $25-$35. Wed-Sat 8pm. Also Sat 5pm. Thru Jan 26. 505 Natoma St. 967-2227. www.boxcartheatre.org

David Barnett @ Castro Country Club

Olympians Festival @ Exit Theater

Opening reception for an exhibit of landscape and pet paintings by the local gay artist. Sales benefit the artist and the CCC; pet portrait commissions also available. 12pm-2pm. Exhibit through Jan 18. 4058 18th St. www.DavidBarnettArt.com www.CastroCountryClub.org

LGBT Mixer @ Max’s Lounge, Corte Madera Enjoy a prix fixe menu, drinks and live music with different acts at the weekly LGBT mixer. 6pm-9pm. 60 Madera Blvd., Corte Madera. 924-6297. http://maxscortemadera.blogspot.com/

SF Hiking Club @ Marin Headlands Join GLBT hikers for a 9-mile hike from Rodeo Beach through the Marin Headlands mostly along the Coastal Trail to the Golden Gate Bridge. Details, meet-up times: 794-2275. www.sfhiking.com

Sunday’s a Drag @ Starlight Room Donna Sachet and Harry Denton host the weekly fabulous brunch and drag show. $45. 11am, show at noon; 1:30pm, show at 2:30pm. 450 Powell St. in Union Square. 395-8595. www.harrydenton.com

Toys for Tots @ St. Regis Hotel Large annual party and donation event. Bring one or more new unwrapped toy(s) to be donated to local kids’ nonprofits. Festive holiday attire (no jeans, tennis shoes). Cash bar. 4pm-7pm. Third St. at Mission. RSVP: ToysForTots.SF@gmail.com

Enjoy a baker’s dozen of commissioned plays both serious and funny, about various gods, goddesses, and prominent characters from ancient Greek literature. $10. Most shows 8pm. Thru Dec 20. 156 Eddy St. www.sfolympians.com

Russ Lorenson @ The Rrazz Room Crooner performs his annual “Christmas in San Francisco” show, with guest singer Karen Mason. $30. 8pm. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. (800) 380-3095. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

Thu 6>> The Family Stone @ The Rrazz Room Founding members of Sly and the Family Stone, with new members, perform their popular R&B hits. $40-$45. 8pm. Also Dec 7, 8pm; Dec 8, 7pm & 9:30pm; Dec 9, 7pm. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. (800) 380-3095. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

Great Broadway Sing-Along @ Jewish Community Center A talented cast and musicians lead the way singing favorite show tunes from Rodgers and Hammerstein, Sondheim, Lerner and Loewe, Kander and Ebb and, of course, the mighty Gershwins. $15-$30. 8pm. 3200 California St. at Presidio. 292-1233. www.jccsf.org

Winterfest @ Metreon City View

Sugar-coated Nightlife @ California Academy of Sciences

San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s 17th annual big party, auction, sale, and fundraiser. Enjoy drinks, music, discount bikes and cycling items galore; 200 silent auction items, and schmoozing with hundreds of cool fellow cyclists. $20-$45. Membership join or renewals get a discount! 6pm-10:30pm. 135 4th St. at Mission. www.sfbike.org/winterfest

Enjoy candies, chocolates and other holiday treats as Quartet San Francisco performs, Mom SF DJs, live reindeer visit, and the ugliest holiday sweater contestants strut the runway, plus food, cocktails and exhibits. $10-$12. 6pm-10pm, 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. 379-8000. www.calacademy.org

Mon 3>>

To submit event listings, email jim@ebar.com.

Elliot Gould @ Jewish Community Center

Deadline is each Thursday, a week before publication.

Film actor and former husband of Barbra Streisand talks with film writer Ruthe

For more bar and nightlife events, go to www.bartabsf.com

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32 • BAY AREA REPORTER • November 29-December 5, 2012

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Houston spoiler by David Lamble

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ebar.com

n a scene from Brewster McCloud that is simultaneously over-thetop and yet deadly accurate on the fate of tender souls either mistaken for or actually being “commie, hippie fags” in Houston, TX circa 1970, a hawk-faced undercover narcotics agent practically mugs a pasty-faced, horn-rimmed glasseswearing boy/man taking pictures of exotic birds at the Herman Park Zoo with an expensive (stolen) camera. The narc holds up a poorly rolled joint, barking at Brewster McCloud. “You know what this is?” “A poorly rolled cigarette.” “It’s a marijuana cigarette. It’s dope I picked up after I saw you drop it outta your pocket. You give me that camera and we’ll forget this little matter. If you don’t, it’s one to 10. Take your pick.” “Mister, one of us is crazy.” The narc shows his badge, which is promptly hit with a hunk of bird doo-doo, the trademark of the film’s whimsical serial killer, who doubles as Brewster’s guardian angel. Brewster comes smack-dab in the middle of a movie era that is beginning to receive the same respect now accorded the Pre-Code early sound movies (1929-33), which also provided an unfiltered look at drug use and changing social/sexual mores. From roughly 1964 to the summer of 1975, Mary Poppins to Jaws, many established directors, with varying degrees of success – Billy Wilder (Kiss Me Stupid), Otto Preminger (Skidoo) – joined ambitious newcomers like Brewster’s Robert Altman in abandoning timehonored story tropes, prudery and crowd-pleasing endings in favor of fractured narratives (as if the films themselves were on drugs), creating at least a hip facade to disguise growing industry panic as to what

young Americans wanted at the movies. The ironically named Jewishborn writer Christian Divine, in his critique of Skidow (by Brewster screenwriter Dorran William Cannon), labels the resulting mishegos “mind-blowing … straight camp … an awful union between Old and New Hollywood.” Although denounced at the time by its screenwriter Cannon – whose “hot script” had been optioned and largely gutted by Altman; Cannon had envi-

sioned a New York-set story starring Austin Pendleton – and leaving its Astrodome premiere audience chagrined and baffled, this Altman “ugly duckling” – hippies, crooked cowboy cops, callow youth and dope smokers running amok in the Bible Belt – the least-viewed of his better work, is a ditzy treasure house laying bare the unhinged reality of Houston, my queer hometown and America’s libertarian capital. StarSee page 33 >>

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DVD>>

November 29-December 5, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 33

Remembering too late: a melodrama by Tavo Amador

Lisa leaves her box, pleading a headache. She waits for her carriage, desperate to go home, but Stefan sees her. They speak. He insists he knows her, but how? It has been some time since he’s performed. “Help me,” he pleads, sensing she’s the woman he’s longed for, even if he cannot remember her. He wants to see her again. Johann is waiting in the carriage. “What are you going to do?” he asks Lisa. “I don’t know.” He reminds her of what he has given her. “Honor! Do the right thing or throw away your life.” She cannot help herself. Stefan needs her. “Lisa, if you do this, you can never turn back. I warn you. If you do this, I will do everything in my power for revenge.” At the train station, she and her son have a touching farewell before he returns to school. Neither is aware that his compartment was meant to be quarantined – a virulent outbreak of typhus has struck. As she leaves the station, she doesn’t see a dead body being carried away. She rushes to Stefan’s apartment, bringing a bouquet of white roses. When Stefan arrives, he’s charming, engaging, attentive, but suddenly, she understands: he doesn’t know who she is. She flees. Not long afterwards, the letter arrives. As he reads, Stefan finally remembers. His heartbreak is pro-

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erman-born director Max Ophuls (1902-57) was unequaled at portraying the gap between romantic love and reality. He made many German language films, but in 1933, he, like many other Jews, fled the Nazis and moved to Paris. He worked in France (La Ronde, The Earrings of Madame de…, Lola Montes) and Hollywood. His best American film, the brilliant Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), has just been released on DVD. Set in fin de siecle Vienna, it begins late at night, with two horsedrawn carriages dropping off a handsome, well-dressed man, Stefan Brand (Louis Jourdan), at his swank apartment. He promises to meet his two companions at sunrise – he will be fighting a duel. Nonetheless, he tells his mute valet John (Art Smith) to pack a bag and arrange for a carriage. He’s leaving before dawn. John hands him a letter written by Lisa (Joan Fontaine), and her unmistakable voice is heard. “By the time you read this letter, I may be dead.” As he reads more, a long flashback begins. A shy, teenage Lisa is fascinated when Brand, a youthful, prodigiously gifted classical pianist, moves into the apartment complex where she and her widowed mother (Mady Christians) live. She becomes obsessed, listening to his practicing, watching his comings and goings, even managing to sneak into his flat to see how he lives. He’s unaware of her. After Lisa’s mother accepts a marriage proposal from a prosperous tailor, they must move to Linz, a military town. Lisa is horrified. On the day of their departure, she runs back to her former home, hoping to say goodbye to Stefan. Asleep on the stairs, she wakes when he returns, bringing an elegant lady with him. Crushed, she joins her mother and stepfather. She refuses, however, to date a young, rising officer. Back in Vienna, Lisa models gowns for a stylish designer. She at-

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Brewster McCloud From page 32

ring two Altman discoveries, Bud Cort and Shelley Duvall, Brewster honors humankind’s primal desire to fly, with perverse tributes to The Wizard of Oz, Bullitt, Top 40 radio and the Astrodome, “the 8th Wonder of the World.” Brewster can still shock as well as titillate: Margaret Hamilton’s racist, N-word-spewing, national anthemworshipping diva; Sally Kellerman’s parody of her “Hot Lips” shower scene from M*A*S*H; Space City News writers smoking real joints; a five-minute masturbation scene (36 minutes in) with a surprisingly buff and skimpy-briefs-attired Cort –

tends all of Stefan’s concerts. One snowy evening, he finally speaks to her. Her knowledge of music enchants him. They have dinner, ride a train at the amusement park, walk, go dancing. He buys her a single white rose. They spend the night together. All Lisa’s dreams have been realized. Stefan knows she’s different, someone who can help him reach his enormous potential. “I know so little about you,” he says. Yet it doesn’t matter. “That a woman like you exists. That I found you. That is magic enough.” Alas, he must go on tour and begs her to see him off at the train, promising to return in two weeks. He doesn’t. She has his baby, refusing to re-

whose doomed aviary freak became a dress rehearsal for his suicidal grandma-dating imp in Hal Ashby’s Harold and Maude; and a glorious Fellini-style ending where the star is introduced as a dead bird boy. Released in Japan as the beguiling Bird Shit, Brewster followed on the heels of M*A*S*H as an Altman sound banquet, used Houston’s then-top-rated KILT radio as a narrative device, and employed Rene Auberjonois as a drolly funny bird-lecturer whose opening line preempts the MGM lion’s roar. Now on DVD (Warner Archive), Brewster McCloud is a spectacular time-capsule tribute to being young and too cool for school in “Space City, U.S.A.”▼

veal who the father is. But Lisa is lucky. She marries the wealthy Johann Stauffer (Marcel Journet), who knows about her past. He’s good to her and her son, Stefan, Jr. She has become a soignee, assured beauty, and is grateful to Johann. At the opera, she sees Stefan, his hair now streaked with gray, but as handsome as ever. She knows he’s squandered his talents. He recognizes Lisa, but can’t place her. As the overture to The Magic Flute begins,

found. It’s now dawn. Has he lost this second chance for happiness? In lesser hands, the film would be bathetic. Instead, it’s a rich melodrama, often rising to tragedy. Although it’s shot in Hollywood, Ophuls believably recreates Vienna. His fluid, lush camera is mesmerizing. Fontaine (b. 1917) is extraordinary – completely believable as a starstruck teenager, as a young woman in love, as the reckless wife abandoning all because of uncontrollable passion. It’s an unforgettable performance. Jourdan (b. 1921) is superb, revealing genuine anxiety behind Stefan’s handsome face and polished manners. Christians and Journet are splendid. Howard Koch, with an uncredited assist from Ophuls, adapted Stefan Zweig’s famous story. Travis Banton designed the glorious costumes. The rich black-and-white cinematography is by Franz Planer, and the fine original music by Daniele Amfitheatrof. John Houseman produced. William Dozier, then married to Fontaine, was executive producer. The film was made by their company, Ramparts Productions, with distribution through Universal. The studio, however, disliked the movie, didn’t promote it, and despite critical acclaim, it failed commercially. Today, it’s regarded as an undisputed masterpiece.▼

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34 • BAY AREA REPORTER • November 29-December 5, 2012

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Ho, ho, ho! by Scott Brogan

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hings have been fairly quiet these past few weeks. No doubt this was due to the Thanksgiving holiday and the ramp-up to a busy month: December. Yes, it’s holiday time again. Bright lights, festive decorations, everything in Technicolor. Food. Oh, the food. If there’s one thing most leather folk know how to do, it’s cook. Or eat. Or both. I’m a horrible cook, so I rely on the “kindness of strangers” (or the notso-strange) for holiday goodies, and my husband. He’s a good cook. Let’s just say that not only did I not get the “cooking gene,” but that if something isn’t microwavable, I don’t buy it. This means lots of fun parties. Some even have special post-dinner activities that help to burn off some of those calories. Nothing burns off those cookies and pies like some hot play. Just don’t burp with your mouth full. That’s tacky. Then there’s the shopping. We love our leather, gear, toys, rubber, you name it! If you like in-store shopping, your best bet is Mr. S Leather on 385 8th Street. They provide everything you could ever want, and things you never knew you needed – until you see them. I prefer in-store shopping for gear and toys because not only can you try on the clothing, you can put your hands on the toys and figure out if they’re the right, say, size or shape. If you know exactly what you want, you can order online. You can also have anything custom-made. Of course, Mr. S has their online site (www. Mr-S-Leather.com) as well as a store on Amazon. But they’re not the only game out there. Off Ramp Leathers used to be located here in SF but now reside in Palm Springs, although they can be contacted online at www.OffRampLeathers.com. For great gear and sexy articles of clothing, my favorite is Nasty Pig (www.NastyPig.com). Even if you don’t buy anything, you’ll at least enjoy the photos. Leather Masters is also great, espe-

Scott Brogan

Mark Palladini and Sandy “Mama” Reindhardt at one of Mama’s Toy Drives last year.

cially for a wide variety of leather/ kink/gear/fetish items. They can be found at www.LeatherMasters.com. Don’t forget to give a little back. I know, we’re called upon to give a little almost every week to some charity or another. That’s one of the great things about our community, we definitely give. A lot. And that’s ok. This is the time of the year when many people get filled with a bigger spirit of giving. My favorite “cause” is Mama’s Annual Toy Drive, now in its 11th year. The beneficiaries are The Sunburst Projects and the SF Police Department’s Project Dream. You can drop off toys (keep them unwrapped please) or gift cards for the older kids. It’s suggested that if you purchase gift cards, the “big box” stores like Target or Best Buy are ideal. If you don’t have the time, cash donations at the events are always welcome. You can get more details from www.MamasFamily.org. No matter what organization you give to, just be sure to give. We’re all fortunate, in one way or another, so I think it

behooves us to share – now and all year. A note about IMsL: As previously reported, IMsL is returning to the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway here in San Francisco, April 18-21, 2013. The hotel has been their home since 2007, but there were fears that they’d have to move the event weekend out of town and/or out of state. It turns out that due to some alleged “inappropriate lewd public behavior this summer during a non-IMsL leather-related event,” the hotel reevaluated all of their adult-oriented events. The IMsL producers then searched 47 different hotels in the city and East Bay, but according to them, they were turned away with “this is a family hotel.” My favorite reason is evidently they were told by one hotel that they didn’t want “costumes in our lobby.” Luckily, thanks to the help of the Austin Law Group of SF, they’re able to produce the event at the Holiday Inn. There are some changes everyone needs to be aware of, however. Due to new security measures, there is no more on-site registration. Everyone will need to pre-register. No walk-ins will be admitted. There will See page 35 >>

Coming up in leather and kink Thu., Nov. 29: All Day Happy Hour at Kok Bar (1225 Folsom). Lots of drink specials. 5 p.m.–close. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Sun., Dec. 2: Truck Bust Sundays at Truck. $1 beer bust. Warm bar, hot men, cold beer. 4–8 p.m. Go to: www.trucksf.com.

Thu., Nov. 29: Underwear Night at The Powerhouse (1347 Folsom). Strip down for drink specials. 10 p.m.–close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Sun., Dec. 2: Castro Bear presents Sunday Furry Sunday at 440 Castro. 4–10 p.m. Go to: www.the440.com.

Fri, Nov. 30: Tryst! at the SF Citadel (181 Eddy). For everyone who considers themselves to be “on the market” for new dating partners. 8 p.m.–1 a.m. $25. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org. Fri., Nov. 30: Pants Off Fridays at Kok Bar. Take your pants off for drink specials! Clothes check available. 9 p.m.-close. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com. Fri., Nov. 30: Michael Brandon presents Fetish Fridays at The Edge (18th & Collingwood). 9 p.m.–close. Go to: www.edgesf.com. Sat., Dec. 1: Leather Happy Hour & Beer Bust at Kok Bar. 5–9 p.m. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com. Sat., Dec. 1: Boot Lickin’ at the Powerhouse. 10 p.m.–close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com. Sat., Dec. 1: Stallion Saturdays at Rebel Bar (1760 Market). Revolving DJs, after-hours fun! 9 p.m.–4 a.m. Go to: www.stallionsaturdays.com. Sat., Dec. 1: Steamworks at The Edge with Michael Brandon. 9 p.m.–close. Go to: www.edgesf.com. Sat., Dec. 1: All Beef Saturday Nights at The Lone Star (1354 Harrison). 100% SoMa Beef! 9 p.m.-close. Go to: www.facebook.com/lonestarsf. Sat., Dec. 1: Santa Slave Auction at the World Famous Turf Club (22519 Main St., Hayward). Presented by the Alameda County Leather Corps. Raises money for the Tri-City Health Center’s Cancer program and The Crucible. Bring a toy for Mama’s Toy Drive! 6:30–10 p.m. Go to Facebook for details.

Sun., Dec. 2: Sunday Sports Beer Bust at Kok Bar. Tony is showing games and giving drink specials. 5–8 p.m. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com. Sun., Dec. 2: SF Submissive Safe Space at the SF Citadel. 6:30–8 p.m. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org. Mon., Dec. 3: Trivia Night with host Casey Ley at Truck. 8–10 p.m. Go to: www.trucksf.com. Tue., Dec. 4: Busted at Truck. $5 beer bust. 9–11 p.m. Go to: www.trucksf.com. Tue., Dec. 4: Safeword: 12-Step Kink Recovery Group at the SF Citadel. 6:30 p.m. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org. Tue., Dec. 4: Ink & Metal at The Powerhouse. 9 p.m.–close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com. Wed., Dec. 5: Dominant Discussion Group at the SF Citadel. 7:30 p.m. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org. Wed., Dec. 5: Kok Quiz at Kok Bar. Join Element Eclipse for trivia and prizes. 5 p.m.–Midnight. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com. Wed., Dec. 5: Wolf! for Furry Men on the Prowl at The Watergarden (1010 The Alameda, San Jose). 4 p.m.–Midnight. Go to: www.thewatergarden.com. Wed., Dec. 5: Newcomer’s Series Class at the SF Citadel. 6:30 p.m. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org. Wed., Dec. 5: Naked Buddies at Blow Buddies (933 Harrison), a male-only club. Doors open 8 p.m.– 12 a.m. Play till late. Go to: www.blowbuddies.com. Wed., Dec. 5: Nipple Play at The Powerhouse. 10 p.m.–close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

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Karrnal>>

November 29-December 5, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 35

De Roman holiday by John F. Karr

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couple weeks ago, out of the blue, I realized I needed The Erotic Films of Peter de Rome. This anthology of the filmmaker’s shorts was first exhibited in 1972, and later had both VHS and DVD releases. As it was an important contribution to gay film, I wondered why I didn’t already own it. And I found that only a month ago the British Film Institute had issued a deluxe edition of the movie, with packaging and content as impressive as a Criterion Collection release. They’ve remastered the movie from the original 8mm materials, commissioned contextualizing essays for a 32-page booklet, and on a second disc provided Special Features that include five films de Rome made subsequent to The Erotic Films of..., plus a lengthy and lively documentary interview made earlier this year with de Rome himself, who, at 88, is a scamp who doesn’t bother reining in a saucy wit. BijouWorld.com still markets their 1990 DVD issue for $30, with its box cover photo of a 1970s porn star who isn’t in the film, mastering that is assuredly VHS to DVD, and none of the goodies the BFI includes. That one’s available from Amazon for $40. But I bought mine from Amazon.uk for 10£, which is currently $16 American. Even with another £ for postage, it’s a deal. Be aware that the BFI set has Region 2 discs (PAL), which won’t play on many American machines. De Rome’s work shows substantial craft. The guy knew how to frame an image, how to present narrative, and even build and maintain suspense. His work showed that erotic films can be made with artistry, or with artistic intent. Historically, the movies are snapshots of their time, and even their creation tells a tale. In order to fool the censorious film labs into developing his film, de Rome packaged the naughty bits between introductions and endings of purposefully innocuous material, thinking they’d never check the middle. He was right – although I think some of this padding could have been trimmed; it’s only infrequently effectual for narrative or mood. Later, under Jack Deveau’s influence, de Rome filmed several scenes that retained the art while delivering full-on porno. Prometheus is one such, documenting with distressing grit the sadomasochistic treatment of Robert Rikas, a performer who was similarly pained in several better-known films; you’ll recognize him if you wince through this. The other overtly sexual scene is one of my two favorites among de Rome’s work. The first is The Second Coming, in which a mysterious stranger drops mysterious clues

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Box cover of the British Film Institute’s deluxe edition.

that lead de Rome to Europe’s cosmopolitan centers – London, Paris, and finally, Malaga, where he’s led through winding back alleys into a dark chamber where he witnesses the crucifixion of a Jesus stand-in. With his hands nailed to the cross, the young Jesus-stud experiences an erection and climax, which climaxes the film. My other favorite is Underground, de Rome’s most mainstream and perhaps most famous film. In it, a businessman blows a hippie on a hurtling New York subway train – in a daring bit of guerrilla filmmaking on an actual NY subway car during actual operation. Hot Pants is the short that first brought de Rome to prominence. It shows a black man, from chest to knees only, dancing to black pop music in an increasing state of excitement – he’s clothed, then nude, then tumescent, finally pointing straight up so hard that he just has to grab hold of the bouncing bone and burp up its creamy effusion. Pretty heady stuff, in those pre-Wakefield Poole days. Daydreams from a Crosstown Bus illustrates the (hard-core) reverie of a passenger who gazes on a desirable man curbside. Double Exposure is an ominous mood piece, in which a pair of guys cruise each other on Fire Island while mysteriously exchanging identities. I doubt de Rome was digging any deeper than spooky, but an essayist in the booklet explains that de Rome’s character, confronted by his own need for erotic expression,

Director Peter de Rome today.

observes his double offering fulfillment. Well, blah blah. You need merely read de Rome’s memoir for evidence he’s no deep thinker. So I think his films can be taken at face value. We shouldn’t need to validate his work by imputing profundity; contextualizing is mostly critics’ masturbation. The films have a refreshing innocence and simple honesty. Because de Rome initially had no intention of an audience outside of his immediate circle, and no commercial concerns, he could simply indulge his fantasies. The movies were bits of sexual manna in their day, but if they’re only mildly steamy by today’s standards, we can admire de Rome’s creativity, and his effort to imbue gay sex films with imagination and art. They’re impressive and important – and not without entertainment.▼

Leather + From page 34

be no alcohol sales in the ballroom during the evening shows – booze will only be available in the hotel’s bar during their posted hours. There will be uniformed security checking name badges before allowing entry into the event. In spite of these changes, there are some great things to look forward to. Dixie De La Tour will bring her “Bawdy Storytelling” to the event, an intensive wrestling event, books signings, and more. Please be sure to pre-register for the event and show your support for IMsL in spite of the hotel restrictions. Let’s not let the hotel “win” due to a small turnout. You can get more details at www.imsl.org.▼

Mr. S Leather

One of the many fun stocking-stuffers to be found at Mr. S Leather in-store or online, suggested for your holiday gift ideas.

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

36 • BAY AREA REPORTER • November 29-December 5, 2012

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Royal Treasures

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most important collection in Europe, though he had stiff competition from the Hapsburgs, Medicis and other ranking family dynasties. The visage of the king himself appears in a rare intact miniature that’s set in a lavish silver and rose-cut diamond frame. A gold loop at the top allowed the recipient of this “present du roi” (a gift bestowed on foreign dignitaries) to attach it to a chain. A wondrous mechanical desk from the mid-18th century is an outstanding example of the marvels of Parisian ingenuity circa 1760. Designed by master cabinetmaker Jean-Francois Oeben, the compact wooden secretary served multiple functions: a small concealed bookcase rises from the back, and inside the drawers are a writing surface, a removable laptop desk and a footstool. A room towards the end of the show recreates Queen Marie-Antoinette’s private apartments. Among the objects created in her final years is an agate, gold and jasper perfume-burner that disappeared and then mysteriously resurfaced in the hands of King Farouk of Egypt in the 1950s. (The Louvre, always on the hunt, bought it back at auction in Geneva.) Precious like a dollhouse, the beautifully appointed space contains decorative boxes, Chinese blue vases dripping in gold trim, a rolltop desk to die for, and a petrified wood display platform that, in retrospect, is a metaphor for the fate of the royals. One imagines that here, tucked away in her intimate environs, the Queen could regard aesthetic beauty at her leisure as she lounged, wrote letters, and dreamed of an escape that was not to be.▼

From page 21

18th century. The majority of the nearly 100 ostentatious objects on display – ornate gold- and diamond-studded snuff boxes, opulent silver services, porcelains, plush embroidered furnishings, a coffee-grinder in three colors of gold for a prince’s mistress, and exquisite desks and cabinets – are embellished to the hilt. It’s a case of “more is more,” so much so that visitors may feel the need to pause and get a breath of fresh air about halfway through an exhibition that’s a little like consuming a seven-course meal of cotton candy, or spending a week at the manse of the Khardashians. (OK, it’s a step up from the latter.) The finest materials and a fleet of superior craftsmen were deployed to forge these precious pieces; when Louis XIV was in the midst of building Versailles, for instance, over 800 artisans in various court workshops were recruited to design and produce furnishings and interior décor. One spectacular example, truly fit for a king, is the marble and pietre dure mosaic tabletop whose colorful interwoven design elements include semi-precious stones, lyres of Apollo, fleurs-de-lis (symbols of the king), flower garlands, and enough parrots to stock an aviary. Louis Quatorze also amassed an enormous private collection of 823 hard-stone vases, known as Les Gemmes de la Couronne, extraordinary works of unusual shapes and colorations, with luminous ground gemstones and carved imagery salvaged from remnants of antiquities and sundry sources. Their mounts are made of enameled gold, lapis lazuli, amethyst, agate, jade, and the king’s favorite mineral, rock crystal. His was the largest and possibly the

Stocking stuffers From page 21

ally aggressive Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tim Roof (1958); as Cleopatra (1963); submerging her radiance to play the harridan Martha (and winning a second Best Actress Oscar) in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966); to the voluptuous Renaissance tigress Katharine in The Taming of the Shrew (1968); and as the matronly agent in

▼

RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY/Martine Beck-Coppola

Box (bonbonnière) with portrait of the Comte de Provence (the future King Louis XVIII), early 19thcentury. Gold, tortoiseshell, and gouache. Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts Graphiques, Bequest of Mr. and Mrs. Philippe Lenoir.

her last film, These Old Broads (2000). She’s pictured with her seven husbands, attending the era’s greatest parties and events, dressed by top designers, wearing her fabulous jewelry, and for the last 30 years of her life, tirelessly fighting to eradicate AIDS. Taylor erased the distinction between celebrity and notoriety, something Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) failed to do, and it cost him his life. In 1895, at the height of his fame, with The

Importance of Being Earnest and An Ideal Husband playing to packed audiences in London’s West End, he brought a libel suit against his lover Alfred Douglas’ father, the Marquess of Queensberry, who had written that Wilde was a “posing somdomite [sic].” His suit failed but resulted in Wilde being charged with “gross indecency,” a term for homosexual acts. The first case ended in a hung jury, but an unrelenting British government succeeded in convicting him after a second trial, sentencing him to hard labor for two years in Reading Gaol. Evidence against Wilde included sections from his “immoral” novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), which, even though heavily censored by his editor, had strong homoerotic overtones. Belknap Harvard Press has just published a paperback edition of The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray ($12.95), edited by Nicholas Frankel, who also provides a superb introduction to the novel and the period. He discusses the impact of the Cleveland Street Scandal involving English aristocrats and working-class young men, and its effect on Wilde’s trials. A reader can only admire Wilde’s artistry and daring to have written this story in such a puritanical era. Frankel’s assessment of the novel and its many coded messages is compelling. His summary of the tragic fate that awaited Wilde – he died in penury in Paris – brings fresh, startling insights into a familiar story. Paris’ Marais district was once home to royalty and aristocrats. In the 17th century, Queen Anne of Austria, the Spanish Hapsburg mother of Louis XIV, had a house facing the Place de Voges. Later, it become more working-class – Maximilian Robespierre, the bloodthirsty French Revolutionary, lived there in the 1780s and 90s. By the beginning of the 20th century, it was the center of Jewish life. Today, it’s the heart of the City of Light’s gay community. In Claude Izner’s The Assassin in the

Marais (Minotaur, $14.99), readers get a compelling mystery set in the area during the 1890s. The amateur sleuth is bookseller/photographer Victor Legris. He finds himself tracking down a religious fanatic and killer. The story opens with the murder of a titled Scottish lady in her home there, then shifts to Paris. Izner knows the period and the city, which he recreates beautifully. One of the many pleasures of Donna Leon’s Venetian mystery novels featuring Inspector Guido Brunetti is his equally appealing, intelligent, and outspoken wife, Paola. Daughter of a wealthy Count

Royal Treasures from the Louvre: Louis XIV to Marie-Antoinette, at the Legion of Honor through March 17, 2013.

from one of Venice’s oldest families, she’s a radical socialist and college professor, teaching Henry James. She’s also a terrific home cook, and every novel has at least one scene in which the meal she prepares is temptingly described. A new edition of Brunetti’s Cookbook (Atlantic Monthly Press, $24.95) by Roberta Pianaro and Leon is available just in time for holiday celebrations. Recipes covering antipasti, first courses, vegetables, fish and seafood, chicken and meat, and dolce are interwoven with evocative prose about La Serenissima, a city Leon knows very well. Buon appetito!▼

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Read more online at www.ebar.com

November 29-December 5, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 37

For your best holiday: a 2012 gift guide by Gregg Shapiro

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or your best (ear) buds: There’s no doubt about it: Kelly Hogan, the grand dame of insurgent country music, released the best album of 2012, I Like To Keep Myself in Pain (Anti). Backed by an amazing band (Booker T. Jones, James Gadson, Gabriel Roth and Scott Ligon), Hogan wails and whips her way through a set of astonishing compositions by the likes of gay singer/songwriter Stephin Merrit, Andrew Bird, John Wesley Harding, Robyn Hitchcock, M. Ward and Jon Langford, among others. The recording is available in multiple formats, including vinyl (with a free CD inside). Hogan hurts so good. If you hear Christmas music, you aren’t alone. It’s been on the airwaves for months. On The Edie Adams Christmas Album (Omnivore Recordings), the late singer/actress Edie Adams can be heard performing more than a dozen Christmas favorites, including a few duets with Eddie Kovacs, thanks to a reissue campaign and an agreement struck with the estates of legendary comedian Kovacs and his widow, Ms. Adams. Seventies siren Rita Coolidge celebrates the season on A Rita Coolidge Christmas (429), featuring a number of holiday standards as well as the original tune “Circle of Light.” The V/A comp Now That’s What I Call Today’s Christmas (EMI/Universal/ Sony) collects 18 tracks by Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera, Sugarland, Mariah

Carey and Carrie Underwood, as well as Norah Jones and Coldplay. For your best (taste) buds: “Inspired by the original” is the tagline for Candy Sunshine, an homage to regional Milwaukee favorite Candy Raisins. A USA-made, gluten-free treat from the Cream City-based Osmanium Candy Company, the golden, stick-to-your-teeth deliciousness is available in 2.5 and 8 oz. bags. Visit candysunshine.co. If you only know Laura Ann Masura from her time in the queer rock band Evil Beaver, then you don’t know Laura Ann. She’s the proprietor of Laura Ann’s Jams, “artisan, smallbatch jams lovingly made in Los Angeles,” and Masura’s line includes wondrous and natural flavor combos to tickle your tongue and tummy. Selections include Raspberry Habañero, Maple Pumpkin Butter, Blackberry Bay Leaf, Hollywood Marmalade (Valencia oranges with cinnamon and cardamom) and Blueberry Basil. Visit lauraannsjams.com. For your best (fuck) buds: Victoria’s secret is out! Now everyone knows that sexy underthings are not exclusive to women. The colorful and revealing line of Jack Adams products, including the Body Mesh Jockstrap, available in an array of color combos including black with red piping, should do the trick when it comes to making sure that the goods are presented in the best light. Visit jackadamsusa.com. Know someone who is a pig be-

oyTunes by Gregg Shapiro

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hen it comes to gifts for the Hanukkah celebrants on your list, the musical pickings are slim. But here are a few suggestions of new recordings by some members of the tribe. The Singer (Columbia/Legacy), a double-disc anthology, mainly fo-

sic). Recorded live at Webster Hall in NYC in June 2011, the package includes several tracks from his lauded Graceland album, as well as the title track from his underrated 1982 disc Hearts and Bones, on which he sings “one and one-half wandering Jews,” a reference to his relationship with exwife Carrie Fisher. The A and the M of A&M Records

tween the sheets? How about someone who is drunk with love? Consider wrapping up one or both 2.0 oz. bottles of J&D’s Baconlube or Epic Meal Time’s Whiskey Dick-Old No. 69 Lubricant. That’s right, bacon- and bourbon-flavored lubes. Baconlube promises to “keep it sizzlin’,” while Whiskey Dick offers “gold medal taste.” Visit jdfoods.net and epicmealtime.com, respectively. Bedol’s H2O Clock doesn’t need

batteries, just water. Fill it up, set the time, set the alarm, and no more excuses for being late or oversleeping after a busy night (wink). Available in blue, green or charcoal, the digital readout has 12/24-hour time setting, and remembers the time when you change the water (!). Visit bedol.com. For your best (funny) buds: The six-DVD collector’s edition of The Carol Burnett Show: Carol’s Favorites highlights 16 episodes, from 1972-78,

featuring some of the funniest and most unforgettable moments from one of the last of the great variety shows. Unforgettable characters such as Eunice and Mama, and equally memorable skits such as the Gone With the Wind parody Went With the Wind are just a couple of the stand-outs. Also worth noting are the stunning list of gay guest stars, such as Rock Hudson, Roddy McDowall and Jim Nabors (long the subject of gay rumors), not to mention LGBT icons such as Dinah Shore, Joan Rivers, Shirley MacLaine and Betty White. Nowhere near as despairing as any of the Real Housewives, Marc Cherry’s Desperate Housewives – Lynette (Felicity Huffman), Gaby (Eva Longoria), Susan (Teri Hatcher) and Bree (Marcia Cross) – have provided viewers with their share of laughs (and loves and losses) over the course of eight seasons. Desperate Housewives: The Complete Eighth and Final Season (ABC Studios) brings it all together on five DVDs that also include previously unseen bonus footage. Before he was a big-time movie star, the original wild and crazy guy Steve Martin made his name as a comedian on TV. The Television Stuff (Shout Factory), a triple-DVD package, covers a 36-year period over the course of more than six hours. Standup and NBC specials, combined with an assortment of TV guest appearances and more, capture Martin at his funniest and best.▼

The Possession, which topped the box office in early September. While he hasn’t completely abandoned the Hasidic reggae shtick, he definitely branches out in a more pop-oriented direction on Spark Seeker (Fallen Sparks/Thirty Tigers), best represented by the bright single “Sunshine.” On a more traditional note, Eternal Echoes: Songs & Dances for the Soul (Sony Classical) is a stellar collaboration between violinist Itzhak Perlman and Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot (whose vocal abilities rate among the best opera singers, including Pavarotti and Domingo, according to Perlman). Knowledge or familiarity with Hebrew or Jewish traditions and religious practices are not necessary to appreciate the exquisite combination of Perlman’s playing and Helfgot’s singing. Consisting of 11 previously unre-

leased tunes from her personal vault, Release Me (Columbia) by Barbra Streisand is the ultimate holiday gift. Heretofore unavailable selections include a dazzling reading of “I Think It’s Gonna Rain Today” featuring songwriter Randy Newman on piano (from the Stoney End sessions), “Home” from The Wiz (one of two cuts from Back to Broadway), a rendition of Jimmy Webb’s “Didn’t We” (from a scrapped album) and a studio version of “With One More Look at You” (from Streisand’s movie version of A Star Is Born). After a brief flirtation with born again Christianity resulting in an unholy trinity of albums released from 1979-81, legendary folk singer Bob Dylan (born and circumcised Robert Zimmerman in Hibbing, Minnesota) returned to his secular ways after that, briefly detouring for a Christ-

mas album in 2009. His latest, Tempest (Columbia), continues some of the blues exploration he began with 1997’s Time Out of Mind and followed through into the 21st century on Love and Theft, Modern Times and Together Through Life, as you can hear on “Narrow Way” and “Early Roman Kings.” But the curmudgeonly Dylan is downright upbeat on the perky “Duquesne Whistle” and the twangy romance of “Pay in Blood.” Perhaps frustrated with the lack of Hanukkah music, nice Jewish boys Kenny G and Barry Manilow have turned to the Christmas songbook for their holiday releases. Both have released 16-track discs under the Classic Christmas Album (Arista/ Legacy) heading, and both lend their respective talents to holiday standards including “Silver Bells,” “Jingle Bells” and more.▼

Personals The

Massage>> cuses on the solo work of one Art Garfunkel. More than doubling the number of tracks found on Garfunkel’s 1988 single disc Garfunkel compilation, there is some duplication of titles (a half-dozen or so songs), as well as some exclusions (“Second Avenue”). The set also includes a handful of Simon & Garfunkel tunes and some unusual choices (the 1993 recording of “All I Know” in lieu of the 1973 original). And why the 34 tracks aren’t in chronological order remains a mystery. Garfunkel’s former singing partner Paul Simon, who has released some of his best work in recent years, including the albums Surprise and So Beautiful or So What, now has a new triple-disc set (two CDs/1 DVD), Live in New York City (Concord/Hear Mu-

are Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, two “nice Jewish boys” who founded the legendary record label in the early 1960s. A&M 50: The Record Collection (A&M/Ume) is a triple-disc, 60-track retrospective celebrating the anniversary of the label and their amazing roster of artists. Thoughtfully separated into categories (“From AM to FM,” “A Mission to Rock” and “Soul, Jazz And More”), the discs feature tracks by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66, Burt Bacharach, the Carpenters, Joan Armatrading, The Police (and Sting), Squeeze and Janet Jackson, among many others. It’s been quite a year for the newly shorn Matisyahu. He made his bigbudget Hollywood movie-acting debut alongside Kyra Sedgwick in

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