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 Jonathan Kipp When long time local LGBT newspaper Just Out abruptly announced that it would cease publication last December it came as a shock. But many people in the community (including us) have come forward to make sure local queer news and events are still covered. So it was, perhaps, an even bigger shock when it was announced this Tuesday that Just Out was making a comeback. It seems like many plans are still in the works but qPDX had a chance to ask new publisher Jonathan Kipp of Glenn-Kipp Publishing, well known for starting Portland Bride and Groom magazine, some questions about bringing the 30 year old news source back to life.
qPDX: What prompted you to take over Just Out and when did you decide to do so? Why do you feel it’s important to continue this publication with the same name?
Jonathan Kipp: I’ve wanted to be the Publisher of Just Out since I walked into the Just Out office many years ago as a freelancer. And over the years I’ve asked if Just Out was for sale a few times. It wasn’t because it was a thriving publication. When that changed I reached out to express my concern. And then I shared my vision about how I thought our community could keep Just Out. The rest is history.
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  Wicked Awesome's Freddie Fagula There’s plenty of gay Halloween happenings this weekend but one of the most different and fun is Friday’s Wicked Awesome. This 2 level party features costumed dancing upstairs and a host of amazing cover bands downstairs. Even the music is in the spirit of dressing in disguise! But it’s still awesome, wicked awesome, because it mixes the skills of our local talent with the fun of past pop songs, and brings together those who like to dance with those who just like to listen. So basically, it’s the Halloween party for everybody. I had an amazing time last year as well as at it’s similar predecessor All Homo’s Eve. So read the interview with organizer Freddie Fagula below to find out what all the fuss is about and I’ll see you Friday. Because you’ll regret it if you don’t go.
qPDX: What gave you the idea of a Halloween party centered around cover bands?
Freddie Fagula: Olympia! Halloween cover bands show every year at the Capital Theater. So fun. All the punks and the queers and hipsters together. I moved here and had some lack-luster Halloweens in Portland and decided that was what was missing. Wicked Awesome is gay-er, but has a lot of the same spirit.
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  New contributor Hans Ryan got a chance to sit and have a telephone conversation with Scott Thompson, the openly gay actor best known for his sketch comedy on Kids in the Hall. He discusses the inanity of his Fruit Blog, how tough it was to be gay in the 90s and how much he loves Portlandia. He is currently on tour with Kevin McDonald performing their new touring stand up show, Two Kids, One Hall. The show plays this Thurs – Sat at the Helium Comedy Club (details below).
On Being on the road with Kevin:
It’s a thrill being on the road with Kevin and his girlfriend, because they’re so madly in love that they text up to 200 times day. Two and half years and they’re still like that. They just can’t let go of each other for a second. It’s really very nice. Kevin and I don’t really fight. On stage, it’s very much like the fights that we do have, which is basically about Kevin’s passive-aggressive nature and my aggressive nature. And so what happens, because we turn it into comedy every night, there doesn’t seem to be as much need to have actual fights. The most talented thing about Kevin is his food issues. He is a vegetarian almost Vegan. He’s almost one of those Gluten People. He’s very healthy. You know, I mock veganism and vegetarianism a lot. But, with Kevin, I look at him and say “Wow it’s working for him!” It kind of bugs me, because I really wish it wasn’t working. Most comedians if you look at them are just a wreck. And it’s not just the booze and the drugs and the lifestyle, it’s those chicken fingers!
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  "Not Enough! chimera" painted by Sergio Torres and decorated by Not Enough! volunteers. It is a representation of the Not Enough! chimeric spirit. Disparate heterogeneity united in one. Photo by Mary Christmas. This weekend sees the second annual Not Enough! Festival, a weekend long event aimed at creating more opportunities for queer art and music in a collaborative setting. The art/music/film/performance festival that showcases, encourages and supports new work by queer folks regardless of experience and/or “skill” level will take place throughout the weekend at Cathedral Park Place.
qPDX sat down with creators Sheana Corbridge and Edgar Frias to talk about what to expect from Not Enough’s sophomore outing and how it came about.
qPDX: What’s your involvement with Not Enough!?
Sheana Corbridge: I started it with Marlena Chavez, Sergio Torres and Edgar Frias last year and the group of organizers has grown to around 10. I mostly deal with music and bands and took the title of Executive Director last year-but we all work fairly equally within the group. I played in a band last year, my first band playing drums and I am playing guitar in a band this year.
  John Cameron Mitchell (center) in the DJ booth at Mattachine in NYC with PJ DeBoy and Amber Martin. Here this Saturday at Mississippi Studios. Photo by Mark Tusk. Thursday
Monthly QPOC social – It’s hard being a person of color in Portland, Oregon, so much more even as a queer POC. I have my own inner-ish with the whole idea, but I’m down to meet others in a summer filled patio session. Perfect beginning to your evening and weekend.
I still haven’t been to the ST Johns queer monthly Sweet Tea at the Fixin’ To but I hear such good things about it. I haven’t been to one of my faves, Dirtbag!, either, and damn if I don’t have a gay ol’ time at that neighborhood party when I do. So if I manage to drag myself out, it’s gonna be a tough call.
Friday
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  Samuel Thomas, the man behind the music Portland may be known for both its music and its queerness but the two have never come together in quite the cohesive way that this Saturday’s Portland Queer Music Festival aims to. A full day and two stages of back to back acts at Red Cap Garage for only 3 bucks is one of the most reasonable prices I’ve ever heard too, in true PDX fashion. Plus, despite the dive drink prices, Red Cap’s bar menu is quite delicious, with that unpretentious but slightly upscale goodness that Portland bars are starting to do so well.
Bands, producers and DJs of multiple genres and genders have come from our own backyards as well as across the country to participate. You can see a lineup of all 30 in an earlier post for just a taste of the days never-ending aural pleasure.
And the man behind it all? That would be Samuel Thomas, director and founder of the Portland FREE Music Project and an organizer of the (nearly) weekly Maricon dance party. This hard workin’ man booked all 30 acts himself. He’s hopeful that the fest will be a success, anticipating over 800 attendees over the course of the day. Here’s what he had to say on the eve of his inaugural summer celebration of queer music.
qPDX: What made you want to start a queer music fest in Portland?
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  Patty Schemel I won’t say that I’m always particularly verbally eloquent but I was a little aghast at my rambling questions posed to Hole drummer and subject of QDoc Friday night film Hit So Hard Patty Schemel. I wasn’t necessarily nervous, but I can’t deny that Hole’s 1994 album Live Through This was second only to Team Dresch as the most played tape on my Freshman year walkman. And despite any verbosity on my part it was great to hear Schemel’s take on the documentary, and I’ve included the uncut audio below, in addition to the written interview. For a brush up on the film you can read the earlier post reviewing Hit So Hard.
[display_podcast]
qPDX: How was it coming out publicly as a musician in the 90s? Any contrast to being out personally?
Patty: I didn’t have any concerns about it. I was out with my peers and in my band. In my band it was a safe place to do that.
q: Any public backlash?
P: None that I knew about. It was a good experience. I got a lot of kids that would say thanks for coming out.
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  Ask the meat man I was inspired to write about Berlin Reed aka the Ethical Butcher because of his BCN/PDX Spring Slabs deals, but Berlin is a busy guy and I just had to take this opportunity to ask him a whole host of queries. Luckily, he was amenable to answering all my questions ranging from butchery to blogging.
Scroll down to the bottom and hit up page 2 for full information on how to order your spring slabs and descriptions of their mouthwatering flavors. Act soon because ordering ends Thursday!
qPDX: What made you decide to bring Slabs and Slices back to Portland? Where else have you brought it?
Berlin: Well, I do these bacon cures and bacon events as part of one of my projects, The Bacon Gospel. I have been doing installments of the project for over 2 years now, this is just the latest one. I did the Winter Slabs & Slices back in December and now it’s time for Spring Slabs! I am really liking the seasonal aspect of it, it sort of gives it a little more structure to BCN/PDX, the Portland leg of the project, and lets me time events through the year a little more predictably. I did Bacon Gospel events in Brooklyn, Seattle, Portland, Cincinnati in the first year, and returned to Brooklyn in February.
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  Michelle Machete keepin' it real With new nights at Mississippi Studios, Saratoga and more it seems Monday nights are coming back as a night for queer fun. One particular night is taking a genre that has gained some mainstream ground and bringing it to our community and our hood. Not brand new, DJ Michelle Machete‘s Pansy Soul is bringing the jive to Sloans (36 N Russell) this Monday and it’s worth checking out.
I haven’t had a chance to really check it out myself so I wanted to get some insight from the Machete herself on what’s so great about Pansy Soul.
qPDX: When did you start PS and why?
Michelle (Machete) Garcia: I stared PD last Summer. After I started my radio show “Turn Down the Lights.” Langano Lounge needed a DJ for Sunday nights. I feel a lot of the queer music scene is saturated with a lot of poppy dance music and top 40; new and commercial. When I say queer music scene I mean dance parties I frequently dance at and have a great time. Just wanted change it up a bit and bring some California Chicano influence to the scene.
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  Mikey takes part in the "gun show" at Dingos The Real L Word just presented its finale with a Portland appearance by co-star Mikey Koffman the recent weekend of the 15th and I’m all kinds of ambivalent and intrigued.
Firstly, many Portlanders may not have tuned into the show at all, seeing as Los Angeles seems so different from us, even if we do share a sexuality. Autostraddle gives a really good critique of the show’s shortcomings while at the same time giving some background and advice for ways to grow.
And then there’s Mikey herself. I have not had the chance to meet her, as the interview below was via email, but there are two very distinct impressions as far as I can. First is the egotistical shade-wearing alpha-bitch as presented by one unhappy E-Room attendee on Mikey’s Official Fan Page that has since been deleted. And then there’s the gregarious and down-to-earth woman that comes across in this ShewWired interview from early in the season.
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