MUSIC BY: The One Ups
CONTESTS: Johnny Depp look-a-like & nerf sword fight skill contest

SYNOPSIS: Picking up where the first movie left off, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan are to be married. However this is interrupted when both are arrested for aiding in the notorious Captain Jack Sparrow's escape. The new captain, Beckett, will lift all charges, if Will can hunt down Jack and bring him back to Beckett, along with his magic compass. However, Jack has other problems. Years ago, he made a deal with Davy Jones to raise the Black Pearl. Time is up. His part of the deal was to give Davy Jones his soul. Once Will finds Jack, unaware of the current situation, Jack coaxes Will into boarding Davy Jones's ship, the Flying Dutchman, and retrieve a mysterious key. This key opens the chest that contains Davy Jones's secret. With it, you can control Davy Jones and his fearsome beast, The Kraken. Once Will retrieves said key, Davy Jones is hot on his trail, now hunting down both Jack and Will. It is now, only a matter of time, before something happens. Hopefully the pirates can reach the chest and stop Davy Jones, before he reaches them and sends them all to a watery grave.... (PG-13)

Gates open at 7, movie starts at dusk.

More details here: www.lucky13cinema.org

Popularity: 2% [?]

MUSIC BY: The Awesome Possums
CONTESTS: Worst audition monologue

SYNOPSIS: The town of Blaine, Missouri is preparing for celebrations of its 150th anniversary. Corky St.Clair, an off-off-off-off-off-Broadway director is putting together an amateur theater show about the town's history, starring a local dentist, a couple of travel agents, a Dairy Queen waitress, and a car repairman. He invites a Broadway theater critic Mr. Guffman to see the opening night of the show. (R)

Gates open at 7, movie starts at dusk.

More details here: www.lucky13cinema.org

Popularity: 2% [?]

MUSIC BY: Mountain Sprout
CONTESTS: Get-a-way toss

SYNOPSIS: Colorful and unconventional slapstick comedy. Ex-con Hi (Nicholas Cage) and ex-cop Ed meet, marry and long for a child in the wilds of Arizona. When Ed discovers she's barren the God-given solution is presented: to snatch a baby from a set of quints. Thus begins a series of kidnappings, capers and rum goings-on that revolve around the helpless yet universally-loveable child. Hi's convict friends, his boss, and even the Lone Biker Of The Apocalypse become involved in the ever-twisting plot in the quest to own the baby. (PG-13)

Gates open at 7, movie starts at dusk.

More details here: www.lucky13cinema.org

Popularity: 2% [?]

Ever energetic and often controversial, Charlotte Buchanan can't be hushed when it comes to promoting the arts in Eureka Springs.

Whether it is the art of the pen, the cinema, or the visual arts, Buchanan never wavers in her determination to keep creativity alive and in the forefront of her adopted hometown.

One of Charlotte's greatest achievements is «taking a parking lot and turning it into paradise». She achieved this by installing an eye popping open air gallery in what was a downtown eyesore. A collection of 25 four by eight foot paintings known collectively as the Artery, cover an unsightly and crumbling concrete wall at the rear of a parking lot on North Main Street. Each panel stands as an individual work created by local artists.

Charlotte endured many council and commission meetings and opposition from some citizens who for some reason thought the project was inappropriate. When approval was granted she then had to convince artists that it would be fun to paint large pieces using latex house paint on exterior panels. Some of those approached were not trained as painters but worked as jewelers, photographers, and sculptors. All climbed out of their boxes, grabbed a brush, and created a display that gained national attention.

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I saw an article in the news today describing how your organization is protesting the decision of the city of Eureka Springs, Arkansas to welcome participants in the Celebrate Diversity festivities this coming weekend.

After hearing about the goings on in Eureka Springs during the last visit by a motorcycle gang in which a handful of members of the Bandidos were clubbed like baby seals by a handful of Hell's Angels, I can understand why you would want to protest who the city of Eureka Springs allows to visit their quiet and peaceful community. This is particularly true in your case since your cause is so much more vital and important than the drug addled, jack booted thugs who were responsible for the recent light hearted rabble rousing.

Given the choice between the widely divergent agendas of your «gang» and the fun loving gypsies celebrating diversity, I should think the city would have little trouble in seeing your way and banning those free thinking peaceniks forever.

I get goosebumps just thinking of the awe inspiring sight of your mighty warriors riding into town, windows rattling as you ride by, thunder and righteous fire belching from the rectums of your steel horses. With the symbol of your mission, a tool of crucifixion, proudly emblazoned on the back of your black leather armor and a dog eared copy of the scriptures jammed in the back pocket of your greasy, bug splattered jeans, you will strike fear and repentance into the hearts of those peace loving rainbow huggers.

You will carry on the tradition of holy soldiers who came before you. You will ride among them, like Pastor John Chivington, that Methodist icon, rode among the Cheyenne Indians, slaughtering those heathen women and children at Sand Creek in the name of all that is holy and good, his faithful followers returning to town with the body parts of the children and babies decorating their uniforms as their chests swelled with pride. They sure taught those dirty, godless Indians what it means to be a true Christian. What a sight it would be.

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Compared to the Diversity Weekend dance parties, pool parties and the non-confrontational showdown with the motorcycle evangelists in Basin Spring Park on Saturday, the Cake n' Cocktails reception for Domestic Partners was low-key, high-calorie affair.

Several out-of-town couples who arrived early enough on Friday to get their Domestic Partnership certificates at city hall were in attendance at the soiree, along with local couples who swarmed city hall June 22 when the DPR went into effect. Hosted by Henri's, 19 1/2 Spring St., the event drew enough of a crowd to fill the bar, the dining room and the outdoor deck.

Three of Eureka's finest pastry chefs--Lee Kroll of Out On Main, Yves Dallenbach from Eureka Swiss Cafe and Tracey Saunders of Legacy Cakes created--and donated--three exquisite confections for the occasion.

Kroll's featured a made-from-icing map of Arkansas with a you-are-here star for Eureka Springs and «Domestic Partner Registry...only in Eureka!» in script. Saunders produced a three-tiered wedding cake/work of art and Dallenbach presented a two-layer cake of rich, dark chocolate and a cherry filling adorned with red roses.

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In a show of civic and civil solidarity, town residents and tourists turned out en masse to celebrate Diversity at noon in Basin Spring Park on Saturday, August 4th.

There were singles, couples, entire families with kids, dogs and even a pig. They stood shoulder to shoulder to mug for the camera with big, genuine grins. And somewhere on the fringes were the very dour faces of the Jericho Riders and some of their local supporters. They had come to «witness,» but what they witnessed was joy, not shame, inclusiveness not discrimination.

To give the Riders credit, they were not disruptive, intrusive nor belligerent--though they did look a bit stunned to see a couple of hundred residents and tourists--gay and straight--having such a good time. The Riders behaved and thus were treated with dignity and respect by everyone else.

Here at Gay News, we're proud to be among friends and neighbors who, simply by being themselves, made a strong statement for kindness and acceptance. It was yet another memorable day in Eureka Springs.

Click here to view photos of the event.

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Because GLBT travelers can't get enough of the place our favorite preacher calls «the most homosexual city in the South,» Eureka Springs cannot content itself with just one Gay Pride Day nor even a single Southern Decadence meltdown per year.

Nooooooooo, we got to have ourselves four--count 'em four--Diversity Weekends scattered throughout the 12-month calendar.

So, make your hotel or B&B reservations now for August 3-5. Here's the low-down on the high points of our annual summer sizzler:

Friday, August 3

Last Chance: For out-of-town couples to get their DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP REGISTRY CERTIFICATES. For details, see these instructions, check out our list of businesses that offer DPR discounts and our guide to becoming domesticated.

Friday/Saturday, August 3, 4:

Hitch up the U-Haul: The 12th annual YARDS AND YARDS OF YARD SALES (almost 100 last year). Find locator maps at shops and restaurants. Sponsored--oddly--by the Greater Eureka Springs Chamber of Commerce. Patronized--avidly--by antique queens from far and near.

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On the heels of a successful campaign to have the first municipal Domestic Partnership Registry in Arkansas, gay and lesbian business owners in Eureka Springs are now joining forces to create the first gay business association in the state. The goal, advocates say, is to bring more gay tourists to a resort town that has had a long history of being a gay-friendly travel destination.

According to the Associated Press, gay tourism is a $55 billion a year industry, representing about 10 percent of the American tourist market. Each dollar spent by gay travelers generates more than $150 for a local economy. At least 75 cities around the world now have marketing campaigns aimed specifically at gay and lesbian travelers, as do travel companies like Orbitz, Travelocity, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

This week alone, at least nine gay/lesbian businesses expressed interest in joining a new Eureka Springs Gay Business Guild. The first meeting of the group is scheduled for 6 p.m. August 15 at the Harken Building at 50 N. Main St.

The effort to create an umbrella organization to represent gay and lesbian business owners is being spearheaded by Rob Wagner, owner of Eureka Springs Limousine, and Harold Ellis, proprietor of the Texaco Bungalow B&B.

«Other popular gay travel destinations--Key West, Provincetown and Palm Springs just to name a few--have had gay business associations for years,» says Wagner. «With almost fifty gay- and lesbian-owned businesses in Eureka Springs, the time has come for us to band together to support each other and to pool our resources.»

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On the level you're a little devil (but I'll soon make an angel of you.)--Ragtime ditty, 1918

The Hells Angels left Eureka Springs on Sunday morning in a cloud of exhaust and badass attitude. Curtain call. Set change.

Enter stage left: Simmering Summer Diversity revelers and their faithful, helpful saviors-- the Jericho Riders-- who will not be here to protest anything, no not anything at all, you understand. The Jericho Riders simply intend to «storm the gates of Hell» (as they put it), serve the Lord, and game our «sinful» souls, with a full courtier press.

We won't say, «stay tuned,» because we do want you to touch that dial, turn off the TV, and c'mon down, up or over to Eureka Springs for Diversity Weekend and Saturday's party in Basin Park.

Some of us will be kissing, others will be praying, perplexed tourists will be observing the scene with puzzled expressions, furrowed brows and o-shaped mouths--and everyone's predilection will be synchronized to the live pornabillly soundtrack of the Mountain Sprouts.

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