Tomorrow night (Friday the 16th) it’s time once again for the next Club Fantasy in North Hollywood. Last month’s was pretty good, a slightly smaller turnout than usual, maybe 20 people, but everyone was in the front room and there was a lot of fun interaction. It was probably one of the most enjoyable ones we’ve had so far, from my perspective. I need to practice some ties for this upcoming Bondage Workshop that I’m doing on the 25th, so I know what I’ll be doing at the party (besides hopefully getting tied up.)
New L.A. Tranny Night?
I just heard that this Sunday night, February 18th, there’s a new venue also in North Hollywood that’s having a tranny night, a place called Blue Moon Nights. Wow, nice website. Might have to go check it out. Ever since the Lodge closed here in L.A., the TG nightclub scene has been pretty spotty. It would be great to have a new place to go. We shall see.
I’m not really very sexually active but I agree that if you’re not in a monogamous relationship it’s a good idea to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases every now and then. Since I have a few routine health tests coming up (just a check up), I went over to the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center and got a full work-up of tests run for STDs, all for free. They provide some really excellent services, and you don’t even have to be gay or trans or whatever to use them. When I first moved to L.A. a few years ago and was pretty depressed, I even got a therapist there for about eight months at a fraction of what it would cost to see a shrink in private practice.
They’ve gotten really fast with the HIV test. They just swab the inside of your mouth and in twenty minutes you have the result: negative (which I had no reason not to expect). You have to wait five days for the results of the blood tests for those good ol’ fashioned diseases like gonorrhea and syphilis. It’s been at least two months since I’ve done anything even remotely risky, so unless you can catch something from your computer (or your right hand) everything should be A-OK. I’m kind of into tests and statistics, though, so I sort of enjoy the process and reading those little pamphlets they give you.
A friend recently sent me a couple of old Sally Roberts VHS tapes which I checked out the other night. I love that stuff from the late 70s and early 80s. Technically the videos are pretty bad, but as a model Sally Roberts was so good that she overcomes all the glitches and corny acting. She just nails that whole girl next door look and is really hot, with a super cute voice and that straight brown hair. There was one scene where she’s being held by Susan Blair (another regular from that period) and Sally asks in the cutest way, “I don’t suppose you have to gag me?” So, of course, she gets gagged – and very well, with a wad of cloth shoved into her mouth and a long white scarf wrapped between her teeth and wrapped twice around her head.
I’ve looked at way too many bondage pictures and videos over the years, which has kind of deadened the spark a little, so to speak. But I was amazed at how hot this scene was. It was simple but had a real charge, like back when I was 18 and went into my first adult bookstore and – holy cow! – saw this whole wall of bondage books and videos. My mouth went dry and I felt weak inside. It’s frustrating and a little sad that when you get older re-awakening those old feelings becomes so much harder. But every now and then something still really connects and takes me away.
Anyway, these tiny pictures are from some different Sally Roberts tapes, but still nice to look at.
That astronaut story is so bizarre. It kind of shows what craziness “love” can lead to. I kind of feel sorry for the woman who allegedly did this, but jeez, you can’t go around pepper spraying people and sneaking up on them with a bunch of rubber tubing. I saw there was one of those polls online asking, “Should she be allowed to fly again?” It sounds like she’s going to be going away for a long time first. And then that horrible mugshot is going to follow her around for the rest of her life too. What a nightmare.
Last night I was out at a meeting regarding some of the local kink events here in L.A. and had the funniest conversation. A nice woman whom I’ve briefly chatted with before was asking me about Trannies In Trouble and the Club Fantasy parties. She said there’s a TG girl online whom she occasionally talks to, and that she had mentioned the parties to her but then after that never heard another word from her.
I could tell she was choosing her words carefully and she finally said, well, maybe this girl is put off by the name “Trannies In Trouble.” I paused for a moment thinking, Hmm, no one’s ever said they were offended or anything but maybe so. I asked her if she’s seen the site and then realized that she thought Trannies In Trouble was a counseling service or some kind of outreach for, well, TG girls “In Trouble” – like living on the streets or experiencing job discrimination or something. I nearly burst out laughing and had to explain that, well no, it’s a bondage site! You know, “In Trouble” as in bound and gagged! Suddenly it clicked and she let out an “Ohhhh….” I could see she was a little embarrassed, but it was really really funny.
I hate to be insensitive to people’s fears of terrorism, but have to say I love this marketing ploy scare that happened in Boston. I mean, it’s really pretty funny, and definitely a huge success as a marketing campaign. Now everyone knows about “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.” And I love the artists and how they’re having fun with the whole thing. Gotta love a good troublemaker.
I don’t know if I’m reading the news stories correctly but it sounds like these cartoon “devices” had been up for something like three weeks before they caught any attention from the authorities. But what I really want to know is, where can I get one of those things? I want to hang one on my wall, right off the foyer would look nice.
So today I was up before dawn to get ready for a shoot with sexy fetish vixen Sirena Scott. We’ve been emailing for a few weeks and were finally able to set up some time to shoot some pictures. I’d been familiar with Sirena from her work with Harmony Concepts and with Ropexpert, so it was pretty exciting to be shooting with a “real” bondage model. It’s funny, I’ve tied up a few “genetic” girls at parties and at bondage demos but haven’t actually done much work with a GG (I hate that term but you know what I mean), since I worked with Sweetties about five or six years ago (has it been that long already?)
Anyway, Sirena was a lot of fun to work with and her photographer is going to be mailing me some pictures on a disk, so I should have some previews in a few weeks. In our set, I was playing Sandra in domme mode and got to tie up Sirena and spank her for borrowing some pantyhose without asking – You know, the kind of thing that happens all the time in real life! It’s really wild to meet someone for the first time and within a half hour, I’m tying her up and feeling up her legs. A pretty cool way to spend the morning. I’m hoping we can work again before too long.
I’ve been figuring out some ties to demonstrate at the Rope Bondage Workshop for this Sunday. I sometimes feel like I’m repeating myself when I give these demos, and wonder if people get tired of yet another “two column tie” or “bikini chest harness.” But it always seems to go pretty well. I figure some people may just come to see someone get tied up, or perhaps get tied up themselves, which is good enough reason for me. And in spite of my occasional moments of self-doubt, there is usually some good interaction and a feeling that I’m at least sharing something worthwhile.
I sometimes wonder if I haven’t benefitted from the workshop myself more than anyone. I tend to be a quiet sort of person, so getting up in front of a group doesn’t come easily. But once you do it a few times and realize that you’re not going to have a heart attack, it’s not so bad. I don’t know if I’m ever completely relaxed, it is kind of like a performance, but there are moments when it’s really fun and afterwards I usually feel almost a little high. Like most things in life, the anticipation is usually worse than the actual event…And as long as they keep asking me to come back I plan to be there.
Rope Bondage Workshop at HollywoodLand Studios
Sunday, January 28, 2006
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Hollywoodland Studios
11300 Hartland St.
North Hollywood, CA 91605
Notes:
Open to all interested members of the BDSM Community. Join Sandra to
learn the basics as well as some new tricks! $5 for Threshold
members and affiliates, $10 for non members, proceeds going
to Threshold.
We get a lot of graffiti and tagging around where I live, especially since there are quite a few warehouses and industrial buildings around here. I noticed this girl the other day working on a mural but didn’t pay much attention till I went by today and saw what she’d done. It’s really beautiful. I don’t know what that “Rio Fat Bat” means over on the side, but figure it must be her artist name or something. I also just bought a new camera so I took a couple shots. It won’t be there forever. Purty!
Well, I finally finished up the DVD that I’ve been working on for the last few months and I’m really excited about it. Now that it’s done, I’ve been having lots of ideas for the next one. It’s a lot of work to shoot all that video but is really satisfying when you’re editing a scene and it’s working. I just put up a link to the DVD on the website and there’s a 40 second streaming video preview there, in three different sizes depending on your internet connection, also some frame grabs.
It’s that time again. Friday night is the next Club Fantasy party. I sure hope we get a big turnout. The parties have been a lot of fun, with about 20 to 25 people there each time. I’d love to get 50 people there one of these evenings. If you’re in the area, come on out and hang with us. Proceeds go to a good group: Threshold.
I did tear myself away from the computer for a little while, though, and had a chance to see the DVD of this movie “The Descent,” about six women friends who go caving and end up in big trouble. I really liked this one. It’s super creepy. And has a rather cool website too.
Well, there hasn’t been much blogging lately, but I’m still out here. I’ve just been working too much and spending hours finishing up that DVD. I think it’s just about there. I should have some dubs burned in about a week or so.
Yesterday I went out to see the new David Lynch movie, “Inland Empire,” and I thought it was really great, and so freakin’ weird, and even scary in parts. It’s really long too – 3 hours. The first hour is the most straighforward part, in terms of having something like a story and plot, about a has-been actress named Nikki Grace (Laura Dern) working on a melodramatic movie called “On High in Blue Tomorrows,” but after a while it just goes crazy and much of it is like watching extra-long versions of the really strange scenes from “Twin Peaks” or “Mulholland Drive,” where you don’t know what the heck is going on but it feels like it sort of makes sense – or not – in an emotional sort of way. I tend to love stuff like that so found it thoroughly enjoyable. Apparently it was shot on regular ol’ DV video – not even the hi-def stuff – but it works surprisingly well on the big screen and fits the weirdness of the movie. If you like David Lynch, you’ll love this one; if you don’t, your patience will be thoroughly tried. It looks like it’s just in limited release right now so it may take a while for it to come around. If you have a chance to see it though, I’d definitely check it out.
Well, I finally left snowbound Colorado back to L.A. On the flight yesterday, I got bumped up to one of those “coach plus” seats with the five extra inches of leg room – I love those! Usually my knees are jammed up against the seat in front of me, but that little extra space makes such a difference. It doesn’t take much to make me happy. And it’s pretty warm here today in So. Cal. Back to work!
The snow finally stopped falling today, so at last my best friend K. and I were able to get out. We’ve been playing Scrabble, eating too much and watching lots of DVDs.
Last night we saw Mulholland Drive, which is really excellent. I’d seen it a few years ago and was completely baffled by it, but this time we were able to go back and check out key scenes and kind of figure out what the heck was going on. It plays like a dream, so the logic behind it is still odd and hard to figure out, but it’s worth the effort. If you like weird movies this is a good one, very sexy too (though no bondage.) The clothes and make-up that the two female leads wear are terrific.
Well, I’ve been hunkering down in Colorado at my best friend K’s place and it looks like we have another big storm coming through tonight, maybe lasting through Saturday or Sunday. I’m really going to love getting back to sunny California in a few days, and getting back to work. I feel like 2007’s going to be awesome.
Thankfully my flight was scheduled to fly into Colorado Springs, rather than Denver, or I never would have made it. It was cold and snowy when I got in but nothing like the pounding that they got 60 miles north. Apparently there are still people stuck in the Denver airport waiting for a flight out of there – poor bastards…
But today it was clear enough to drive up to Denver to see some of my family. The snow’s piled up everywhere.
I’m heading off to LAX later this week and was just looking at some air traffic safety statistics, out of curiosity. It’s really amazing the safety record of U.S.-based airlines when you compare them to the thousands of traffic fatalities that occur every year. I have a bit of a morbid streak so I always find these kinds of statistics quite fascinating. When you consider the thousands of flights that occur every day it’s amazing that this list of fatalities fits on one medium size web page. Of course, that’s not to diminish the horror and loss of these awful events – especially 9/11 and that awful crash in Belle Harbor, NY, a few months later in 2001.
But when you then look at highway fatalities, things are really crazy – 43,443 people dead on our highways in 2005 alone. That’s like 125 people every day. That’s a lot of people. With figures like that I sometimes wonder why I drive at all.
Sandra Gibbons talks about what's happening in her world, both bondage related and not
