LY #79 December 1988

On December 5, 1988 I wrote Bendnotes 4, the last issue of these reports back to my friends in Utah.  Over the holiday break I realized that no one back there really cared, so I didn't continue on with the letters.  My next few posts draw from this final communique. 

Back in October I wrote a bit about the No on 8 campaign.  (For more information on Measure 8, see this report on the outcome from Balletopedia or  this article at the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest. )  One of the primary movers and shakers of the Central Oregon resistance to Measure 8 was Gene Carsey.  Gene and his partner ran the antique store Buffet Flats, located ten minutes north of town.  On  December 2, 1988, they held a Christmas Party for people who had signed the advert against Measure 8 published in the Bend Bulletin.   My next three posts will focus on two conversations I had at that event.

Map of The Funny Farm from Roadside America

Before copying the first conversation, a few words about Buffet Flats.  It was located across the street from what is now The Fun Farm.    I first visited Buffet Flats the day after my job interview in April, 1988.    At that time it was a many-roomed antique store in which the sound system, and a few television sets (including a miniature one in a large doll house) played the The Wizard of Oz on a continuous loop.  This1993 story in The Seattle Times gives you a flavor of what it was like a few years before.   Its wacky and very queer existence suggested that Bend was far more liberal than further years of experience would substantiate.  I often attended the gay-centered Saturday night dances at The Other Side, one of the outbuildings on the Buffet Flats property.   For a bit more information on the odd-ball creation of Gene Carsey and the late Mike Craven, you can see this short video from Weird TV (made before Mike's death in 2005) or the 2008 entry to Roadside America.  Reviews with a bit of "history" can be found on Yelp.  Local Photographer Jill Rosell has a 2010 photo essay on the weed overgrown site.

But enough about local lore.  Back to talking about ME!

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      I had a chat with Hal Gillespie (who is an old timer here and who works down thehall from me.)  Hal poisitions himself as a left liberal.  He is a "card carrying member of the ACLU" and is often involved in liberal causes.  He is tall and rather fat, with a round face and a gray beard.  Hal is going to Princeton next week to read for the college boards.  He said, "Bart [dean of instruction] isn't happy about it.  He doesn't like people leaving."

      I wonder why.

      Because Hal is leaving in the middle of the week and will be late getting his final grades in.

      And Hal said, "But if he was really upset, all he'd have to do is ask me to stay.  I'm obedient."

      Hmmmmm.

      I had a bit more chat with Hal about a video we were watching on MTV out at the dance area.  It was the Material Girl video, and we talked about the way is quoted "Diamonds are a Girl's Best friend."  We shared our knowledge of the 50s period of film making.  I talked about how the dancers in the Madonna video were looser in their bodies than fifties boys chorus lines.  He noted that the set screamed of the style of Hermes Pan.  I was very aware that we were positioning ourselves (I very consciously) as fellow experts in historical/aesthetics.  I did not argue when he made a couple of statements I thought weak or fallacious because I was not at that moment into argument -- I was into creating identification with a fellow worker.