36 I Out in the Mountains [October 2000‘

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V   Mourrrain Pride Media is

OUT...

in rhe Moun+ains, and in the
valleys and coming -to see vou!

 

The next stop on the
1999-2000

Green Mountain Tour:
C w1NDsoR COUNTY )

Sunday, November 5
Hosted by Fred Pond

1 - 3 PM WORKSHOP

“Writing for print media"

Hone your press release and letter-to-the-editor vvriting
skills. This is a hands-on workshop designed to help you

and your organization get what you have to say in print.

4 - 6 PM RECEPTION

Meet members of the Mountain Pride Media Board and
the staff of Out in the Mountains and mountainpride-
media.org. We'll be there to chat with you about the ser-
vices we offer, ask for your input, and answer your ques—
tions.

We need volunteers in each area to
make food, help us with local con-
tacts

and invitations, assist with

set up and break down.

We're already planning the
rest of the tour.

Please Contact us if

you can help in your area..

    

Please Contact us at:

REE” M0“ editor@rnountainpridernedia.or

   

TOUR STOPS
Or 802-434-648

511"" 1];:’n§i':g“:::NEAR ‘ to RSVP, volunteer, or
Gmd Isle get more information
Royamm about the tour

St Johnsbury

The Green Mountain Tour is made
possible by a generous grant from
the Green Mountain Fund
for Popular Struggle

Film Fest First in the Granite State

This month, the Colonial Theatre
in Keene, NH, is beginning what it
hopes will be a yearly event. Lambda
Rising is billed as New Hampshire’s
first gay and lesbian film festival. It
runs October 11 through 15 with the
following films:

Benjamin Smoke: The true story of
a musician, a genuine underground
figure named Benjamin. He- is an
outsider whose difficult life was
channeled and ‘transformed by the
music that he made — the reflection
of art and chance. It is a film about
the struggle with AIDS and the
effects of addiction, but it is also real
life, and naturally, it is something of
a comedy. Directors: Jem Cohen and
Peter Sillen. NR. 80 min.

The Night Larry Kramer Kissed
Me: Commanding the screen in a
one-person show is a daunting task,
but this frenetic, frank and touching
film manages that feat under the
intelligent direction of Tim Kirkman,
whose credits include “Dear Jesse.”
The translation of a series of mono-
logues about the life and times of a
gay American growing up in the era
of the Stonewall riots, the first Gay
Pride parade, and the plague of AIDS
becomes not _ just a riveting perfor-
mance but the spirit of a time.
Director: Tim Kirkman, ast: David
Drake. 79 min. NR.

The Man Who Drove With

Mandela: This is the story of Cecil
Williams, a Communist, an anti-
Apartheid activist, and a fairly open-
ly gay man during the 19405 and
1950s — not an era in South African
history noted for its tolerance.
Through archival footage and inter-
views, including one with Nelson
Mandela, about the incident that
placed Mandela behind bars for 28
years, this film provides a fascinat-
ing look at one man’s negotiation
and struggle to make sense of a
changing political landscape.
Director: Greta Schiller. Cast: Corin
Redgrave. 82 minutes. NR.

Just One Time: A. clever comedy
about happiness, trust, and sexual
identity in which a young couple
attempts to turn fantasy into reality.
Prior to getting married, they decide
to fulfill each other’s sexual fantasies
with a same-sex tryst for each of
them. As the wedding date looms
near, things spin out of control and
they quickly discover that just one
time may, in fact, be one time too
many. Director: Lane Janger. Cast:
Joelle Carter, Guillermo Diaz,
Jennifer Esposito. 92 min. NR. V

Dar Williams and Catie Curtis Review
continued from page thirty-two

model, cinema idol, or goddess. “I
don’t want to be fascinating; I want
to be fascinated,” explains Williams.
“I Won’t Be Your Yoko Ono”
explores the flip-side of the popular
image of a woman holding the male
artist back from greatness. Her trip
to Bhutan, “the land of the

' monastery,” to cure feelings of being
“SO blond,” and a bad Buddhist to
boot, inspired “What Do You Love
More Than Love.” Evocative and
moumful, “Calling the Moon” illu-
minates the tug and pull of our desire
for deeper connection with the natur-
al world, and ourselves.

Of all the gems on this album, the
most musically spare, “After All”
and “It Happens Every Day,” are the
most rich. The simply graceful “It
Happens Every Day” tells the many
small tales unfolding in a neighbor-
hood each day. It opens with only
voice and guitar, quiet like the morn-
ing. As the day progresses and
schoolchildren give way to college
students “looking up at their reflec-
tion on the other wall, with every
new idea, wondering if they’ve
changed at all,” keyboard, drums,
and bass join in one by one. The gen-
tle emphasis on the details of this
life, “the steps we’ve chosen on this
day,” makes for a song that distills
life down to its essence. A bold chal-
lenge—“Go ahead, push your luck,
find out how much love the world
can hold”—opens “After All,” a bal-
lad that blossoms slowly from “once

upon a time I reigned my soul in
tight.” Anyone who has emerged
from a painful past, or the painful
pasts of their parents, will immedi-
ately recognize the truths in this
song: the despair of being in a place
where “you catch your breath and
winter starts again,” the relief of dis-
covering that “sometimes the truth is
like a second chance,” and the sur-
prise of laughing at “how the world
changed me.”

Though Williams is clearly chal-
lenging herself to reach different and
deeper places in her music, she
shows no reluctance to please a
crowd with an old favorite. The
riotous demand for an encore by the
crowd of mostly women, likely
mostly lesbian and bi-, produced
equally spirited renditions of “lowa”
and “As Cool As I Am.” The audi-
ence sang along, swayed to the
rhythm, and waved their lighters
before breaking into a final round of
thunderous applause. Dar may or
may not be a “bad” Buddhist, but she
is without a doubt a truly transcen-
dent songstress, whether live in a
Burlington chapel with ascending
planes crossing the darkened win-
dow behind her or emanating from
the speakers in your living room.

Carolyn Ashby lives in
Burlz'ngton.V