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Volume 20/Issue 14/2002

Rip & Marsha

by Rip & Marsha Naquin-Delain


Visit their site: ripandmarsha.com



The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Set Coronation 2002 Announcing SDGM XXX July 20 at Oz

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, Southern Decadence Grand Marshals XXIX Bianca Del Rio, Pat "Estelle" Ritter & "Big Rick" Thomas have set Coronation 2002 for Sat., July 20, 8-10pm. All roads will lead to Oz, 800 Bourbon St., as Southern Decadence revelers rush in to find out just who will be SDGM XXX! After all the new grand marshal will lead this 31st year setting the tone with their own chosen theme and colors. This will give revelers time to get their ensembles in line for Labor Day Weekend. And as most everyone knows, the Official Southern Decadence Parade begins at 2pm sharp, Sun., Sept. 1 at the Home of Southern Decadence, Lucille's Golden Lantern, 1239 Royal St. You can find out the very latest by visiting the Official Southern Decadence Web Site, SouthernDecadence.COM or watch for additional info in the Official Southern Decadence Guide, Ambush Mag.

The coronation extravaganza promises to be an evening New Orleans will not soon forget. Outgoing SDGMs XXIX Bianca, Estelle & Rick will lead the evening's entertainment lineup along with scheduled appearances by SDGMs XXVIII Tony Langlinais & Thom "Smurf" Murphy, SDGM XII Mumbo and other surprise guests.

2002 will be the 31st anniversary of Southern Decadence. This will actually be the 29th year with a grand marshal [the grand marshal selection did not begin until the third year], but the new grand marshal will be the 30th grand marshal [the two in 1978 were counted as grand marshals 5 & 6]. However, this is actually the 30th parade [there was no parade the first year].

It all began in 1972 with a mixed party of gays, straights, blacks and whites, at Belle Reve, 2110 Barracks St. There was no parade.

In 1973, an informal march began from Matassa's bar to 2110 Barracks. There was no grand marshal yet.

The grand marshal selection began in 1974. Grand Marshals include: SDGM I Frederick Wright 1974, SDGM II Jerome Williams 1975, SDGM III Preston Hemmings 1976, SDGM IV Robert Laurent 1977, SDGM V Robert King and SDGM VI Kathleen Kavanaugh 1978, SDGM VII Bruce Harris 1979, SDGM VIII Tom Tippin 1980, SDGM IX Tommy Stephan 1981, SDGM X Don Ezell 1982 [deceased], SDGM XI Danny Wilson 1983 [deceased], SDGM XII Mumbo 1984, SDGM XIII Michael "Fish" Hickerson 1985, SDGM XIV Kathleen Conlon 1986,

SDGM XV Olive 1987, SDGM XVI Jerome Lebo 1988, SDGM XVII George Goode 1989 [deceased], SDGM XVIII Ruby 1990 [deceased], SDGM XIX Jamie Temple 1991, SDGM XX Rhee 1992 [deceased], SDGM XXI Ms. Fly 1993 [deceased], SDGM XXII Alain 1994, SDGM XXIII Blanche 1995, SDGM XXIV Wayne White 1996, SDGM XXV Miss Love 1997, SDGM XXVI Robin Malta 1998, SDGM XXVII Errol Rizzuto 1999, and SDGMs XXVIII Tony Langlinais & Thom "Smurf" Murphy 2000, SDGMs XXIX Bianca Del Rio, Pat "Estelle" Ritter & Rick Thomas, 2001.

GAA Gala Raises $3,000 for AIDS Monument; Austin, New Orleans & Pensacola Winners Chosen by Gulf South Readership

The 15th annual Gay Appreciation Awards [GAA] Gala raised $3,000 for the New Orleans AIDS Monument construction project. Due to the generosity of corporate sponsors Bud Light, Ambush Mag and AmbushOnLine, all expenses for the event were covered. The use of Cowpokes, the evening's venue, was also donated for this charity event. Susan Levingston, chair of the New Orleans AIDS Monument committee told the audience that that construction project is scheduled to begin before year's end.

Monies were raised between VIP table sales, door admissions, stage performance tips and an additional contribution. The Board of Directors would like to extend a special thank you to the businesses and one performance group which purchased VIP Tables including Ambush - $600, Kenneth Gue & Slutpuppy Revue - $200, Something Different - $200, Bywater Bar.B.Que/Lorenzo's - $200, Oz - $200, Arthur's House of Glamour - $200, Phoenix - $200 and Cowpokes - $200; for a total of $2,000. An additional $590 came from door admissions, $303 from stage performance tips and $107 from an additional Ambush contribution.

The Gulf South readership of Ambush chose winners hailing from Austin, New Orleans and Pensacola. Public voting took place May 29-June 5, with ballots appearing in print in Ambush and on-line at AmbushMag.COM/GAA. This was the first year that more on-line voting ballots were received than those in print.

Due to 9/11, the 15th awards presentation was postponed until June, 2002, so the winners won for both 2001 and 2002. Winners include Circuit Party/Event of the Year: Memorial Day Wknd.: Bounce, Wave, Sweat, Luna, Abracadabra, Goddess & Spellbound/Pensacola; Hair Salon of the Year: Arthur's House of Glamour; Newcomer of the Year [new entertainer]: Blanche DeBris; Neighborhood Bar of the Year: Corner Pocket;

Buzzy Fanning Fight Against AIDS Award [organization or individual]: Taylor Trinity/Austin; Bitch of the Year: Bianca Del Rio; Show Bar of the Year: Oz; GLBT Friendly Business of the Year: Queen Fashions; Performing Arts Award [play or performance group/no individuals]: Glitz; Restaurant/Deli of the Year: Quartermaster: The Nellie Deli;

Dance Bar of the Year: Oz; Bartender of the Year: Rex Romans/Cowpokes; DJ of the Year: Tim Pflueger/Oz; Leather Bar of the Year: Phoenix; GLBT Business of the Year: Queen Fashions; Leather Person of the Year: Wally Sherwood; Transgender of the Year: Tonisha "TT" Thompson; Lesbian of the Year: Emily Armstrong; Gay Man of the Year: David Weick; and Entertainer of the Year: Austin Babtist Women/Austin.

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to New Orleans businessman Steve Mettner for his outstanding community service by the GAA Board of Directors. Mettner, in association with his business, Quartermaster: The Nellie Deli, has donated thousands of dollars in both food and monetary contributions to various organizations vital to the GLBT community over the years. In his acceptance speech, he announced that on his 60th birthday, and in celebration of Quartermaster's 20th anniversary, all profits from sales on Thurs., Aug. 1, would be donated to the New Orleans AIDS Monument construction project. Please join in this effort by stopping in at 1100 Bourbon St. to make your selections or calling 529.1416 for delivery orders on Aug. 1.

Past Lifetime Achievement Award recipients include Jimmie Callaway, Dan Fountain [Betty Buttons], the late Andy Boudreaux, the late Buzzy Fanning, the late Dirty Dottie, Miss Fury, Rip & Marsha Naquin-Delain, the late Dan Romero, the late Miss Do, Louise McFarland, Dixie Fasnacht, Alice Brady and John Dodt, Gene Adams and Charlene Schneider.

The board also presented the Cheridon Comedy Award, in memory of the first GAA Pres. Sonny C. Cleveland, to Bambi & The Dixie Chunks. Two Fly Fashion Awards, in memory of Ms. Fly, were also presented by the board including the Fly Fashion Glamour Award to Miss Gay Louisiana America Asya Alexander and the Fly Fashion Victim Award to GAA Founder Marcy Marcell.

The Marsha Delain Award of Excellence [the drag ambassador award] was presented to Derisha Jenkins by Rip & Marsha Naquin-Delain.

The spectacular entertainment brought the audience to their feet in appreciation, time and time again. The acclaimed Austin Babtist Women, one of the Top 5 Entertainer of the Year Finalist were special guest along with Top 5 Show Bar of the Year Finalists' Cowpokes, Golden Lantern and Oz. Last Entertainer of the Year Bianca Del Rio, as well as GAA Founder Marcy Marcell, rounded out the performance spectacle at this year's gala.

King Cake Queen IX Lisa Beaumann along with Easter Grand Marshal III Teryl-Lynn Foxx did an excellent job as celebrity emcees. Filling in while the girls made costume changes were Ms. L [Miss Gay Easter Parade] and Rip Naquin-Delain. Additionally, the board would also like to thank Kenny Zibilish for the great stage set design depicting Sunday Night Revival; Carl Ford and Clarence Jackson, door collection volunteers, and Ambush Austin Rep Eric Crabtree who handed out those special Budweiser glow sticks in brilliant Pride colors.

The GAA Board of Directors includes Pres. Toni J.P. Pizanie, Vice Pres. Rhyn Pate, Lisa Beaumann, Lance Ford, Teryl-Lynn Foxx and Rip & Marsha Naquin-Delain. For additional info., visit AmbushMag.COM/GAA.

7th Annual Dining For Life Benefits NO/AIDS Task Force July 18

The NO/AIDS Task Force is asking locals to make a date to make a difference on Thurs., July 18, and dine out for its seventh annual Dining For Life fund-raiser. The Task Force has teamed up with over 45 restaurants to raise funds for NO/AIDS, which is the oldest and largest AIDS service organization in the Gulf South.

It's simple. Dine at one of the more than 45 restaurants participating, including: Bombay Club, Bywater Bar.B.Que/Lorenzo's, Kelsey's, Petunias, Quarter Scene and many more, order your favorite culinary delights, sit back, relax and enjoy. At the end of the day, those participating restaurants will donate 25 percent of the daily proceeds to NO/AIDS.

Dining for Life is sponsored by Phelps Dunbar LLP, Counselors at Law, Abita Beer, RAIN Vodka, Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Abbott Laboratories, The Ritz Carlton, New Orleans, The Times Picayune, Gambit Weekly, Ambush Magazine, AmbushMag.COM and Where Y'at Magazine.

For more information, check out Dining For Life ads in The Times Picayune, Gambit Weekly, Where Y'at Magazine, Ambush Magazine, CrescentCity.COM/NOAIDS or call 504-821-2601, ext. 250.

Since its inception, Dining for Life has raised over $350,000 to support the efforts of the NO/AIDS Task Force. The agency was created in 1983 with only 14 reported cases of AIDS in New Orleans, and now proudly serves 12 parishes. To date, over 20,000 men, women and children have tested positive for HIV in Louisiana. More than 50% of those reported cases are in the Greater New Orleans area, ranking the Crescent City 14th in the nation per capita. NO/AIDS Task Force assists those infected with HIV/AIDS by providing a continuum of services such as: The Louisiana Statewide HIV Hotline, early intervention, services, prevention education, HIV antibody testing and counseling, community outreach, mental health services, case management, housing coordination, medication distribution, meal delivery and a food bank program. Proceeds from this event will go directly to providing these vital services to New Orleans and its surrounding communities.

11th High Heel Pool Tourney Kicks Off at Friendly Bar

The 11th annual High Heel Pool Tournament kicked off at the Friendly Bar, playing for Buzzy's Boys & Girls, June 26 as 9 teams joined this year's charity event. The tournament progressed with play on July 3 at Another Corner, playing for Belle Reve, with Chet's Queens' Pub, playing for the Lesbian/Gay Community Center, up next on July 10. All games are set for Wed.'s at 7pm.

Bryan Lowrie is Pres. of the High Heel Pool Tournament. Tourney play is held at each participating bar, with their team playing in high heels, for their chosen charity. The tournament, sponsored by Ambush Mag from the very beginning, has raised over $50,000 for charities throughout the greater New Orleans area over the past ten years. Miller Beer and Queen Fashions are corporate sponsors as well.

The remaining schedule includes July 17, Voodoo, playing for Food For Friends; July 24, Ninth Circle playing for Brotherhood, Inc.; July 31, Country Club playing for LaCARP; Aug. 7, Big Daddy's, playing for University Hospital Hospice; Aug. 14, Angles playing for Project Lazarus; and Aug. 21, 4 Seasons playing for Whole Health Outreach.

Additionally, a huge fund-raiser is the Miss High Heel Pool Tournament Contest & Drag Show, returning this year to Ninth Circle on Sat., Aug. 3, 10pm. In its 5th year, all tips raised during the contest and drag show benefits all team charities. This is one contest where YOU CAN TIP the contestants.

Tournament finals are scheduled for Wed., Sept. 18, 7pm, at the Friendly Bar. Payoff night is Wed., Oct. 3, 7pm at Voodoo.

Traditions in Elegance Showcases Rare Teapots at NOMA

The fine art of tea drinking, a tradition familiar to many Southerners, is the subject of the latest decorative arts exhibition at the New Orleans Museum of Art. TRADITIONS IN ELEGANCE, on view through Aug. 11, 2002, presents 100 English porcelain and earthenware teapots spanning two centuries of design and style. These prime examples have been selected from the more than 3,000 pieces in the acclaimed collection of the Norwich Castle Museum's Twining Teapot Gallery in Norwich, England. The exhibition explores the teapot's dynamic period of development from the early 18th to the mid-19th century, a time when this vessel came in a great variety of styles, sizes, and mediums. Visitors to NOMA will find the world's largest teapot, measuring nearly three feet in height as well as a Neo-classical porcelain teapot printed in pure gold, a rare technique patented in 1810. Among these exceptional examples are other more traditional pieces produced by the greatest masters in English ceramic history: Derby, Minton, Spode and Wedgewood.

"While teapots today are a common commodity, the 18th and 19th century examples from the Twining's collection show a greater degree of craftsmanship and design," stated John Keefe, the RosaMary Foundation Curator of Decorative Arts at the New Orleans Museum of Art. "The teapots on view in this exhibition illustrate another time and place when everything, even the simple act of taking tea, was elevated to an art form."

While taking tea did not become a popular pastime in the West until the late 17th century, thousands of years after its introduction in the East, once in place, the custom was quickly embraced by society's elite. With a pound of tea costing the equivalent of a skilled craftsman's weekly wage in 1700, it is no wonder that England's tradition of taking tea everyday at 5 PM was not at first practiced by all members of society. The custom is believed to have originated with the trend-setting Anna, Duchess of Bedford, who commented that tea at that hour prevented a "sinking feeling." Not surprisingly, fashionable American colonists closely followed English custom, and tea-drinking became a popular 18th century pastime here as well.

The pieces on view in TRADITIONS IN ELEGANCE illustrate the costly and fashionable associations of tea-drinking in the 18th and 19th century. The 100 luxury teapots by famed ceramists reflect the major European art trends of the time such as chinoiserie, Rococo, Neo-classicism, the Gothic Revival and Romanticism among others.

TRADITIONS IN ELEGANCE not only highlights the history of the teapot, but also the story of R. Twining and Company. Believed to be the world's oldest tea merchant, Twining has been operating from the same location in the Strand, London since 1706. The exhibition celebrates both Twining's illustrious past and the teapot's intriguing history by demonstrating the care and attention that was lavished on the design and making of teapots while at the same time explaining the social importance of tea drinking in the world during the 18th and 19th century. Tea drinkers, china collectors, art lovers, indeed anyone who appreciates the pleasure of a fine cup of tea will be delighted by this fascinating show.

NOMA is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Louisiana State Arts Council, the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. The New Orleans Museum of Art is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Mondays and legal holidays. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors (65+) and students with I.D. and $3 for children ages 3 - 17. On Thursdays from 10am until noon, admission is free for Louisiana residents with valid I.D., courtesy of The Helis Foundation.

For more information: 504.488.2631, TTY/Voice 504.482.1406, noma.org.


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