Solicitation

i thought women in skimpy clothes 'solicit customers' only in garapan. i saw them in san antonio and chalan kanoa, too. talk about expanding the market. at one time, my friends and i tried to ask some of these women in garapan for their 'price'. my lady friend and i tried to hide at the back seat of the vehicle while our male friends tried to do the talking. but the women in sexy clothes had to really look inside the vehicle just to make sure, and saw us, so off she went. then a friend asked, maybe there's a code, like 'what time is it?' or 'how much is a can of soda' or something. we'll have to find out. while others who bragged about their night endeavors tried to give us figures, we thought it would be best if we get the numbers from the women. maybe i have to convince real men to do the talking next time.

On Women's Day

Random facts about women in the CNMI:

• According to the 2000 Census, the CNMI population is made up of 54 percent women and 46 percent men.
• Each house of the 15th Legislature has one woman member: Maria Frica T. Pangelinan in the Senate and Jacinta Kaipat in the House of Representatives.
• Not one of the CNMI's Covenant negotiators was a woman.
• Agnes McPhetres founded the Northern Marianas College in 1981.
• Virginia Sablan Onerheim was the first indigenous woman judge to have served in the Superior Court.
• Ramona Manglona is currently the only woman judge in the CNMI.
  
• Rebecca Warfield is the first woman to become commissioner of the Department of Public Safety.
• The Domestic Violence Intervention Center, only one of the agencies offering help to family abuse victims, handles an average of 125 domestic violence cases a year -- or 10 a month. Almost all of the victims are women.
  
• Guma Esperansa served 30 victims of human trafficking in the Commonwealth in 2006 (according to social worker Lauri Ogumoro's testimony before a U.S. Senate committee on Feb. 8, 2007).
  
• If things were left to the government, the 2007 International Women's Day might well pass unobserved. The Women's Affairs Office says fiscal austerity measures prevented any official activity marking this day.
• Thanks to the volunteer group Off The Beaten Path, local audiences will have another chance to see The Vagina Monologues on stage. Eve Ensler's acclaimed play returns on March 24 at the American Memorial Park's Visitor Center.
  

"Stray Cats" to invade Saipan

Attention: Movie lovers, gay men and women (and their friends!), Filipinos, islanders who have just had enough of Hollywood! Here’s a chance to see an indie film that has film buffs talking all over the world.

Mga Pusang Gala (Stray Cats) will be shown at Fiesta Resort and Spa's Hibiscus Hall on Monday, June 4, 2007. There will be two screenings--5:30pm and 7:30pm. A forum on gay rights will follow at 9:30pm. The panel will include director Ellen Ongkeko, actor Ricky Davao, and local community members.

Tickets are at $10 each.

Here’s a synopsis of the Stray Cats from the UH website:

Director: Ellen Ongkeko

Cast: Irma Adlawan and Ricky Davao

Philippines 2006

118 min.

Tagalog w/English Subtitles

Mga Pusang Gala (Stray Cats) is a daring, innovative comic-romance fantasy, a parody which depicts love, sex, romance and loneliness in a way never before seen in Philippine cinema. It is fantasy incarnate all over: a battle of the sexes where this time around, the sexes are not just two but three.

Mga Pusang Gala tells the story of parallel love lives: that of Marta, a middle-age advertising practioner; and that of her, just as aging, gay friend and landlord Boyet, a romance novelist. Their lives are punctuated by their waiting for the menwho they think will fulfill their dreams. Boyet’s novels are inspired by Marta’s idiosyncratic anxieties for Steve, her non-committal boyfriend. Marta is tacitly envious of Boyet’s gathering of a family by adopting Jojo, a 15-year old pickpocket and Dom, his financially dependent lover. Both are willing to play the stereotypical roles of woman and gay to embrace a hopeful fantasy. But as these hopes turn out to be illusions they decide to take matters into their own hands, in a riveting confrontation. What happens next is inevitable but unsettling.

To date, Stray Cats has been shown in, or invited to, these international film festivals:

• 20th edition Fribourg International Film Festival, Switzerland,March 12-19, 2006
• Panorama Section, Philippines: Digital Cinema from Revolution to Evolution
• Newfest 2006: The 18th New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Film Festival, June 1-11, 2006
• Frameline 30, the San Francisco LGBT Film Festival,USA, June 15-25,2006; Winner, Docker’s Best 1st Feature
• Dallas LBGT Film Festival, Oct. 28, 2006
• Reel Affirmations, Chicago LGBT Film Festival, Nov. 5, 2006; Competition
• Montreal, Qb, Canada. Image Nation Film Festival Nov. 16-26, 2006
• Melbourne Queer Film Festival, March 15-25, 2007
• Mardi Gras Film Festival, Sydney Australia, Feb. 15-March 1, 2007
• TLVFEST 2007, Tel Aviv, June 18-23, 2007
• Films of Desire: Sexuality and the Cinematic Imagination, India, March 6-10, 2007.
  
• Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, April 27-May 6, 2007

For more information, call Oscar Yema at 483-6489 or send an email to ravesaipan@gmail.com.

Saipan's Sexiest Women

You guessed it right! It was only a matter of time before we came up with a list of Saipan's Sexiest Women. Here it goes, in no particular order:

• Ramona Manglona
• Rebecca Warfield
• Lori Demaine
• Tina Sablan
• Gin Gridley
• Agnes McGrath
• Nahal Navidar
• Laurie Peterka
• Jessica Jordan
• Myana Welch
• Sophie Chin
• Kimberlyn King
• Dorothy Hill
• Ashem Bray
• Marie Igitol
  
• Pi Wasana
  
• Amanda Armstrong
• Aimz Weiss
• Anna Glushko
• Elena
  
• Power 99's Nola
• Theo Wong
• Malou Mendoza
• Josephine Plinske