eveningsout

Say hello to Josie and the Pussycats' alter ego

by Michelle Tomko

For those who are big Josie and the Pussycats fans but don't have the Cartoon Network, there is a live alternative: Betty. This three-member spectacle of aural sound effects, acute harmonies, and spoken word moves with the fluidity, gumption, and motivation of Scooby and Shaggy running for a Scooby snack.

"Hello-0-0 Betty!" shouted the informed crowd at the Millennium March on Washington and the same weekend's Millennium Festival and Venus Rising Dyke Dance. The 15-year-old band has their audience trained that when they say, “Hi, we're Betty," the audience should reply, "Hello, Betty." And they will keep doing it until the crowd gets it right.

"Step right up. Woman copulates with bulldog. See the results in a jar," is the first sound you hear on Betty's new CD, Carnival. This gives an indication of their brand of humor, and a taste of cynicism yet to follow.

The band is made up of sisters Amy and

Not Feeling Yourself?

Elizabeth Ziff, and the luscious Alyson Palmer; three distinct archetypes that miraculously blend into one harmonic sound.

Women at the Venus Rising event on April 29 in Washington D.C. got a rare chance to hear the rock band sing a capella. This really made their voices come alive.

After hearing them live, the full band on the CD leaves you a bit disappointed, which shows the amazing talent of this girl band. Often, bands left to their own devices, aside from technical wizardry, sound flat. But these girls sound so great you hate to hear them compete with the music.

But media darlings these three are not. Elizabeth Ziff is prone to slamming down her microphone at the end of a song, and was unable to be reached for comment. This writer did catch up briefly with Amy Ziff and Alyson Palmer in D.C.

Michelle Tomko: What do you think about all the events this weekend? Amy Ziff: Awesome. We're thrilled to be here.

Nova Behavioral Health, Inc.

offers affirming behavioral health services to all people including gay, lesbian, bisexual and/or transgendered people.

• In Canton (330) 455-9407

In Massillon (330) 833-4132

⚫ In Alliance (330) 821-1995

•

Medicaid Accepted Fee Discounts available All Services Confidential

Betty

How long has the band been intact? Do you think we're like Menudo? That we change? We just add on more people to play behind us.

What is your perception of this Millennium March weekend?

It's fabulous. It's so political here. Anytime you have a conversation with anyone in Washington, you're going to be talking about something substantive.

Do you enjoy going from event to event?

I love it. I live for it. That's why we chose this life. We're entertainers and we like to go where the party is.

PAT HUGHES

What is Betty's long term goal? We've been very lucky in our career that fabulous things have sort of fallen into our lap. The way that we are working very hard to communicate our art has made great things happen for us. Right now we're working on a play with the director of Rent. He came and saw us and said, "We have to work together. Write a play." Can you give us a sneak peek? They say, write what you know. We've been together for fifteen years longer than most relationships. So that's basically what this play is about.

WindEm

Landscaping

▾ Spring and Fall Clean-ups

▼Perennial & Small Tree Maintenance

New Flower Beds

▼Mulch, Topsoil, Humus

440-846-9849

▼Periodic Landscape Maintenance ▼ Paver Installations ▼Low Voltage Lighting Installation ▼Plantings ▾ Arbors

Serving Cuyahoga, Summit, Lorain and Medina Counties

CHIROPRACTIC HEALTH ESERVICES

DAVID A. BUDNY, D.C. 16900 DETROIT AVE LAKEWOOD, OHIO 44107 (216) 228-6622

Dedicated to your wellness

Come In Today,

Drive Today!

Bad Credit,

No Credit,

No Problem!

Come in and see a family

member you can trust.

12201 Detroit,

Lakewood

216-521-4300

Getting a car and credit is only a phone call away

Bev Briggs

J.D.

BYRIDER

Films

Continuned from page

he said. "So that in a way makes it a lesbian movie. The fact that there is this cult following. I would have liked to have seen some films on this list that don't have any explicitly gay or lesbian characters in it. Because I don't think that's what makes a gay movie, necessarily. Maybe there's such a thing as gay point of view. I think that we don't need to focus only on movies with one hundred percent certifiable gay and lesbian characters with happy endings."

Waugh was asked if films of the nineties lacked the passion of earlier works. "They don't lack the passion. I think they lack the feeling that we are going the change the world. That this is the first time this has ever been done. The filmmakers don't feel so isolated."

"I think the golden era of queer cinema is now behind us," Wittkowsky said. "It was a short but brilliant run from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s, and featured stories and characters that queer filmgoers had been waiting lifetimes to see on the big screen. I don't think it's a coincidence that the height of queer cinema and the AIDS epidemic occurred simultaneously; AIDS united our communities in a new way, gave us all kinds of new energy and political passion, and

sparked important work in all the arts, including film."

Both men were hopeful about the future of queer movies.

"Hopefully they'll be greater diversities. It's getting harder and harder to make independent films. I hope everything doesn't end up Hollywood," said Waugh.

"Just because the golden era might be over doesn't mean we're headed back into the closet," said Wittkowsky. "The Queer Cinema movement has achieved many important gains. Today gay and lesbian stories, gay and lesbian characters are, like gay and lesbian people, much more accepted in Western society and, I think it's safe to say, even embraced in the film and arts world. We're seeing meaningful and sensitively portrayed queer characters and storylines in many mainstream films and on prime time TV. Gay and lesbian filmmakers also have many more opportunities to express their artistic vision than they once did.

"So, while there may not be as clear a queer cinema genre in the years ahead, and while queer cinema may be co-opted by the film studios, TV networks and other mass media, incredible progress has been made. We'll now be able to see ourselves in the movies and on TV in numbers unthinkable in 1980. And every now and then, an instant queer classic will come along to bump one of GLAAD's top 20 out of place," Wittkowsky added.

SENEX6

Bring your actions into congruence with your values

A Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Questioning Affirmative

A Transgender Affirmative λ Age Affirmative

A Culture Affirmative

2. ADA Compliant &

Accessible

v.senexcare.com

JEFFREY MOSTADE PCC, NCC

Fairhill Center 12200 Fairhill Road Cleveland, OH

Near Shaker Square 216.421.1793