Courtesans In Space!

I've just discovered FIREFLY, Joss Whedon's post-Buffy show that muddles plot leaves with its western and sci-fi space explorer themes. Weird! The show isn't as addictive as Buffy, mostly because there aren't as many girls in charge. It's all war and space crime, rusty ships and dusty gunfights atop colonized desert planets.
Firefly's machismo is vindicated, though, by the presence of the character Inara. Beautiful, intelligent, and socially powerful, Inara is the first high-class prostitute I've ever seen realistically portrayed on television. On the show, "Companions" are a class into themselves; women and men with years of training in everything from ritual tea ceremonies to psychology. They choose their own clients, and in several scenes Inara is seen rejecting the virtual files and appeals of some of the world's most powerful men who are vying to purchase her company, just because she doesn't like them enough to warrant the energy involved in a meeting.
Of course, there is a tense relationship with an ignorant ship captain who refers to Companions as "whores" without understanding that they are viewed by the rest of society as ambassadors from a luxury realm. An interesting nod to the fact that while history can transform social groups and eradicate prejudices, it never wipes the slate clean across the board.
Having edited and published $pread Magazine for a couple of years, I've seen a breadth of viewpoints on the sex industry from within and outside its ranks. And there sure are a lot of movies, books, and other materials that attempt to speak for people who live the lifestyle. But this is the first time I've seen a sex-working character, in any medium outside of Tracy Quan novels, that I believed was true. Too bad the show was cancelled in 2003. Wonder who is going to pick up where Joss Whedon's companions left off?

Vague threats via white supremacists

Being a freelance writer has its costs. About half of the articles I write either spark a little controversy, annoy an interview subject, or result in someone getting hurt or thrown in jail. It can be tough to shoulder the responsibility of, say, a police crackdown, after publishing a piece about escorts on craigslist.

But this is the first time that I've had to consider running out to buy health insurance just in case I get beat up. After the Nazi Skinheads piece (see below) went up on the newswire, the paper received an email from Volksfront. The white power group demanded that we pull the information about Randall Krager's neighborhood from the article (days after it was published, duh,) mentioned both my pen name and my real name (they do their research,) and ended with this lovely bit:

" The use of the address in the context published is
very obviously an attempt to provide criminal elemtents with information
that could harm or members or the general public. We sincerely hope you
consider this request prior to our exploration or other remedy."

Most interesting about Volksfront's letter is their belief that "criminal elements" might use the Krager info to harm someone. Krager is, after all, a man who served time in the Oregon prison system for nearly murdering someone in a racist hate attack. And what do they mean by "exploration or other remedy?" Yikes!

Luckily, I wrote another article covering the anti-racist skins in town and, in the process, met about 10 gigantic bouncer-types who seemed pretty willing to bodyguard anyone the white supremacists might target. I'm not really worried. Even Volksfront knows that if they tried to beat up a journalist there would be a media frenzy of national proportions. But still, it felt like kind of a close call.

Read the anti-racist skinhead article in the Hard Copy section.

THUNDERANT!

I am really loving Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein's new comedy duo, Thunderant. This clip was shot in Portland at Reading Frenzy and the 100% geniune feminist bookstore, In Other Words. My favorite parts of the video are the cursing, the silent cursing, and the deconstruction of that fucking 'drumming circle' flier that is absolutely everywhere here.

Spit Out Sister

Come to Someday Lounge (125 NW 5th Ave in Portland) this Friday, October 12th for Sister Spit 2007. There are many great lady writers representing, including special Portland-only guests Nicole Georges and myself. We'll both be reading from the fashion book. It will also, strangely, be the first time ever that I read my writing in front of people.

The Sister Spit tour is made up of sugar and spice and also the writers Michelle Tea, Dexter Flowers, Chelsea Starr, Tara Jepsen, Kat Marie Yoas, Meliza Banales, and the Australian art wonder, Textaqueen.

The press release says this: "Inspired by the legendary Sister Spit Ramblin' Roadshow of the 90s, Sister Spit: The Next Generation is hauling a vanload of killer underground female talent across the USA and into your town. The latest gang hits the road in October 2007, a decade after the first Spit van set sail, carrying on the tradition of rowdy, raucous literary adventure. As they journey across the USA, they're joined by a rag tag bunch of special guests - old Spit travelers of yore, and contributors to the brand new feminist fashion anthology, It's So You. Come and meet your new favorite performers!"

Nazi Skinheads still exist, somehow

I just put this up on the Willamette Week news wire (http://www.wweek.com/wwire/?p=9511) after an insanely long day of running around with activists and then bussing tables on a packed Saturday night shift at the restaurant I work at. I can't wait to go to sleep, but am a little worried that I might have feverish dreams of Nazi's, crystal goblets, leftover Pad Thai, and violent beatings all meshed into one big wierd white power fine dining atmosphere. Let's hope for dreamless rest.
Read on:

Earlier this afternoon in Portland’s southeast Lents Park, anti-racist activists held a rally in response to the gathering of white-power skinheads (and their hardcore bands) known as Hammerfest 2007. (See this week's WW story.) After the rally, a diverse group of about 50 people, including a number of anti-racist skinheads, spontaneously arranged a caravan to a nearby neighborhood to leaflet. The fliers warned residents that one of their neighbors is neo-Nazi Randall Krager , who lives with his partner and fellow “racialist” Abbie Chelf on Southeast 70th Avenue near Johnson Creek Boulevard. The white power leader is one of the founding members of Volksfront, an Oregon-based white power group that helped sponsor Hammerfest 2007. Krager and three others founded Volksfront in 1994 while Krager was serving a sentence for nearly beating to death an African-American father of four and leaving him paralyzed.


Most of the people who were handed fliers by the motley parade of anti-racist activists were concerned and somewhat horrified to learn that a neo-Nazi leader lives steps away from their own homes. Standing in Harney Park at Southeast 70th Avenue and Harney Street, a crew of soccer moms read the fliers and called their kids in from the field, expressing plans to talk to other moms in the area about Krager’s presence. After about 20 minutes of walking around the area, the action dispersed and leafletters went their separate ways without incident.


At the time of the rally, members of the organizing group The Ad-Hoc Committee Against Racism and Fascism still didn’t know the location of Hammerfest. Then around 6 pm, anti-racist organizers were tipped off that the Aryan moshpit was taking place at the Sherwood Elks Lodge at 22770 SW Elwert Road in Sherwood, Ore . They immediately posted their findings to activist newswire portland.indymedia.org, with hopes that Portland area residents might pressure the Elks Lodge to shut down Hammerfest by calling the venue’s booking agent at (503) 625-5977. A look at the Sherwood Elks Lodge website revealed that the club’s motto is “charity, justice, brotherly love, and fidelity,” which raises the question of whether the lodge members are aware that they are hosting an anniversary party for a crew of neo-Nazis with a violent history of assault convictions . Both Volksfront and the Hammerskins have been historically linked to the 1988 Portland killing of 28 year-old Ethiopian college student Mulugeta Seraw, who was beaten to death by racist skins on Southeast 31st Avenue.


The Ad-Hoc Committee's Indymedia post says they spoke with the Elks Lodge booker, and paraphrased his opinion that the gathering was "just a bunch of guys playing music." Check back on WWire for Elks Club response and more updates.