The Bay Area's own Pansy Division are the stars of a new documentary chronicling their blood, sweat and tears as one of the country's first out queer rock bands. The title of the film is, appropriately, Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band. It will have its first US festival screening this Thursday, June 26 at 7pm at the Victoria Theater as part of this year's Frameline LGBT Film Festival. For more info on the screening click here.

The film was created out of older footage and recent band member interviews and was directed by Michael Carmona. Bass player Chris Freeman has a film degree and was the editor of the film! I spoke to band member Jon Ginoli about it and he related that the documentary is "an outsider's perspective with insider's access." 

The band will be in attendance at the screening and there will be an afterparty at the fabulous Eagle Tavern, where Pansy Division will perform!

Well, I hope that all of you dear readers are all still loving hearing me spout about Tales of the City author Armistead Maupin, cause I have more news!

Here in San Francisco, Armistead will be honored at the Opening Night of LitQuake '07, which is an annual literary festival here in our highly literary city.  He will be awarded the festival's first Barbary Coast Award for lifetime achievement!

Notable Bay Area residents/Armistead- related famous people Laura Linney, Michelle Tea, Jon Ginoli of Amoeba and Pansy Division fame AND Judd Winick, among others, will be speaking.  At last, the mystery of spotting Armistead and Judd of the Real World San Francisco eating together recently at Zazie is solved!  I feel better now.  According to Judd's Wikipedia entry, Armistead even spoke at Judd & fellow Real Worlder  Pam's wedding!  Who knew?

Jon Ginoli
Returns
Nearly 8 Years Employment

ME:  Hi Jon.  So what music was playing in your house when you were a kid?

JG: My parents didn't really have records but they always had the radio on. 

To pop stations?

Yeah, and when I turned 6 my parents moved to a new house out in the suburbs in a new development where there weren't any other kids around, so I made friends with the radio.  So from the time I was 5 until I was 10, which is roughly 1965-1970, I absorbed Top 40 radio like a sponge.  Pretty good timing, huh?

Totally, you lucked out.  What was the first song/record that really got you into music? 

Um I remember being really blown away by "Reflections" by the Supremes and "Monday Monday" by the Mamas and the Papas.  Oh and "Windy" by the Association.


What's the first show you went to?

The first real concert I went to was one of the worst concerts I have ever been to because when I was 14 I went to see Jimmy Buffett in Peoria.

Gross.

Peoria got very few concerts back then.

Who took you?

I went by myself.  He had a song on the radio that I liked.  When I heard other songs I thought , "Oh, this isn't very good."

Smart kid.

But the second concert was Bob Seger and that was a big step up.