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Archive for July, 2009
The Toybag Guide to Clips and Clamps
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The Toybag Guide to Clips and Clamps front cover
By Jack Rinella
Published in 2004 by Greenery Press
Just when I was ready to give up on ever reading a well written BDSM book I happened to pluck this little gem from my collection. Unlike most of the Greenery Press’ authors, Rinella writes in a clear concise style. Better still, rather than rambling about fantasies he has, he incorporates the experiences of others into his narrative and uses those experiences to explain things he’s already discussed or introduce new ideas.
If you are unfamiliar with the Greenery Press’ Toybag Guides, they are small pocket-sized books devoted to BDSM topics. Though Rinella spends most of his discussion on the most common of all clamps, clothespins, he also discusses other styles of clamps and objectively discusses their merits.
Despite this book’s short length, I enjoyed it and it will remain a handy reference for years to come. However, there were a few things I noticed that weren’t mentioned in the book that may be of use to you, so I will mention them here for your edification.
First, in his inventory of clamps, he does not discuss sheet metal clamps. Whether Rinella omitted them because they are less commonly used in play or because of concern that they are too dangerous to use, I don’t know. If it is the latter, it is a concern he can hardly be faulted for having.
The other omission I noticed was there was no discussion about clothespins modifications. While some people enjoy modifying their play clothespins with small nails or other objects to increase their bite, I personally have never found the reward worth the effort. Perhaps you have lots of free time to devote to putting small nails or rubberbands on clothespins. If so, go for it! Clothespins can be taken apart and reversed for a different sensation. Trivia lovers take note; folks in the motion picture industry refer to a clothespin as a “C47” and a reversed clothespin as a “C74.” (Full credit for that tidbit of knowledge belongs to Hardy Haberman.)
The Porn Project #1
02 years ago
by Todd
in Magazines and Zines
The Porn Project #1 front cover
Self Published in 2007
While some people are put off by any hint of amateurishness in a zine, I typically find it endearing. There is something a little annoying about a zine that’s too slick or perfect. No one is likely to accuse The Porn Project’s inaugural issue of being too slick. For one thing, unlike most zines which are saddle-stitched (stapled in the middle) each issue of The Porn Project is lovingly hand assembled and bound with a rubber band.
Usually I appreciate that sort of personal attention to each issue of a zine, but that amateurishness makes the cover price of $5 seem a bit stiff. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the fine ladies of The Porn Project are profiteering. Doubtless the writers and publishers of this would be fortunate if they broke even financially. Still $5 bucks is a hefty price tag for a publication of this type.
If that were the only thing wrong with The Porn Project, I would give it my hearty endorsement. Alas, despite its name, The Porn Project is devoid of anything approaching porn. Instead, you get bad poetry and some ho-hum “herotica.” It’s a shame really since girl porn tends to be much better than boy porn; I expected a much better offering from an all woman porn product.
That said, the first issue did show promise and the women of The Porn Project do deserve some praise for getting off their asses and making the sort of porn they like instead of griping about the sort that other people make (yes, I am fully aware of the irony here.)
If you want to get a copy in your own sweaty palms, you can contact The Porn Project via MySpace at www.myspace.com/thepornproject. (Maybe you’ll have better luck than I did.)
The Porn Project Issue 1
Encyclopedia Sexualis Volumes 1 and 2
22 years ago
by Todd
in Reference Books
Encyclopedia Sexualis Volume 1 front cover
by Anonymous
Published in 1970 by Eros Publishing Company
Strictly speaking, Encyclopedia Sexualis is more dictionary than encyclopedia. Volume 1 covers letters A-L and Volume 2 covers letters M-Z. The terms described in each contain a hodge-podge of sexual terms from medicine, psychiatry, antiquity, and various forms of slang such as common, vulgar, military, and so on.
Because of their age, some of the terms mentioned have fallen out of favor or changed meanings. This is the book is at its best: a time capsule from a bygone era. For instance, did you know that an African toothache was any sort of venereal disease? Or that a canoe inspector doesn’t work on the river but instead in a hospital?
While it would have been easy for the book to editorialize or be silly, the compilers resisted these temptations. Definitions are presented in a concise factual manner free of judgment. Unfortunately, many of the definitions are far too concise even for a dictionary. The inclusion of word origins and/or pronunciations for obscure medical terms would make this a better reference. Also mysteriously absent is a key to explain the meaning of abbreviations. (To be fair, I didn’t have to strain too hard to figure out that “Vulg sl” was vulgar slang, but still.) Curiously, despite these omissions, the compiler’s felt it necessary to list a term’s part of speech.
Encyclopedia Sexualis Volume 2 front cover
My copy of Volume 1 has a sticker with a price of $6 which made me wonder if that was the original sales price. Since $6 in 1970 adjusted for inflation amounts to the prohibitive price of $31.18 in 2006 (the latest data available as of this writing1) I have to imagine the sticker was added later by a reseller.
While the book doesn’t shy away from including all sorts of slurs, it also covers terms that sexual subcultures use to describe each other. Equally impressive is the book’s scope as it includes terms that include homosexuals, the transgendered, the kinky, and so on.
With one or two minor exceptions, the editors obviously culled photos from a small group of photo sets and slapped labels to serve as the illustrations. At first, I thought the illustration for “animalism” and “bestiality” had been repeated, but a closer examination revealed the models hands were in slightly different positions. Humorously, the same group of three women is presented as the illustration for “Lesbians” with the dog cropped out of the picture. While the illustrations do little to enhance the book several are quite entertaining in their own right.
Despite the few criticisms, this is a really useful reference book. I’m sure the next time I encounter algolagnia in print, this will be the first reference source I check.
1. See the Bureau of Labor Statistics website at http://www.bls.gov/cpi/ if you want to check for yourself.
Play Piercing
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Play Piercing front cover
by Deborah Addington
Published in 2006 by Greenery Press
I’m not sure what to make of this book’s appearance in print. On the one hand, it’s good that a publisher with the stature of Greenery Press finally went on the record and published a resource about play piercing. Yet for some reason, I can’t help but envision a self-serving politician hoisting this book in front of the cameras of a media all too eager to play along about the latest menace to our children. Even though we’re all responsible for our own behavior, I also can’t help but worry that the book might inspire someone who doesn’t know what they are doing to try play piercing on someone too trusting and result in a bad play experience or worse.
Play piercing is one of my favorite play activities. While there is a great deal of medical literature and accepted medical practices devoted to similar practices such as phlebotomy, play piercing is an art and not a science. There aren’t lots of controlled studies dedicated to following how different piercing techniques affect the body, how piercing bottoms react to such things. Nor is there a central agency to receive trouble reports when play piercing goes awry.
Though there is little doubt that experience is imminently valuable about learning how to do something like play piercing, all of that experience is anecdotal. Just because I stuck a needle in the Nether Region A on subs x, y, and z and nothing bad happened to them, it’s a big stretch to say that sticking a needle in Nether Region A is “safe.” For one thing, I don’t think that play piercing is safe.
It is my considered opinion that if you want to enjoy BDSM but only when it’s safe, you should probably find a new sexual outlet. Most everything BDSM doesn’t meet any reasonable definition of “safe” either physically or emotionally. Which is okay. Just because something isn’t safe doesn’t mean one has to be reckless – exercising caution isn’t a bad thing.
If nothing else, Play Piercing will prove to be a good resource for those interested in play piercing, because it will stand as a handy reference for basic questions about the most common questions and techniques about play piercing. The book also suggests a few more advanced play piercing techniques and ideas that can expand the play of even the most experienced play piercing fan. The sections devoted to the joys of blood play are also of interest.
Still I can’t write about this book without mentioning a few minor things that bugged me as I read through the pages. One thing in particular was Addington’s use of the term “skinsuit” to describe the skin. I don’t know if it was intended to be clever, cute, or both, but it distracted from the text.
In another section where she discusses consuming (drinking) blood, she attempts to come across as a blood epicurean and makes silly and preposterous claims about how one’s diet affects the taste of their blood. She claims that people who eat fish often taste fishy, frequent fried food lovers taste like gravy, and so on. Until someone coducts a double blind study of the taste of blood and diet, I will remain unconvinced. Perhaps instead of a rigorous study, someone could start a crimson Pepsi Challenge. Imagine perverted volunteers like myself being surprised to discover they prefer the taste of Miss Eats-McDonald’s-Every-Day to Miss Exercises-and-Watches-Her-Diet. Then again, I’m a little strange.
While this book will not serve as a substitute for learning about play piercing by doing and observing, anyone interested in play piercing, regardless of their level of experience, will find this book a good investment of time and money.
Dirty Words and How to Use Them
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Dirty Words and How to Use Them front cover
By Alfred Ellison
Published in 1969 by Pendulum Books
This book has a slightly misleading title. When I began reading I hoped that this book would be either a dictionary or style guide for dirty talk and profanity.
While I think that I do fairly well left to my own devices, I would much enjoy a guidebook for dirty talk. Even William Shakespeare would quickly run out of imaginative ways to call his lover a nasty little slut whilst doing the deed, and I know that my dirty talk is far more repetitive than I would like to admit. Sex itself is largely repetitive, so that doesn’t seem like the end of the world. Still I would like to have new things to say when necessary.
Of course, just having new things to say isn’t enough. It’s just as important to have the right words for that special moment. Here too a guidebook would be useful. If Reader’s Digest® had an adult version of “It Pays to Enrich Your Word Power” I would be a regular subscriber. Alas, I am left to my own devices for such things.
Dirty Words and How to Use Them is another of the great faux sociological novels that were prevalent in the 1960s. This particular book examines various types of sexual fetishes driven by the written and spoken word.
Several things stand out about this book. For one thing, it introduces a number of clinical words for dirty things such as coprolalia (defined in the glossary as “sexual pleasure derived from sexual or scatological language.”), erotolalia (same as coprolalia but limited to spoken words), erotographomania (a condition where someone derives sexual pleasure from writings and drawings about sex), and others. Pull those out next time you play Scrabble® – just don’t expect them to be in The Official Scrabble Players® Dictionary.
That said, I would strongly advise against using them if you teasing your lover about you have in store for them later. It’s hard to imagine that anyone would be filled with an overwhelming passion after you told them about your plans to tie them up and engage in an intense round of erotolalia. Then again, perhaps there is such a person out there and I just don’t know them. If that’s you, do drop me a line.
Another thing that stands out about this book is that it is very well written. Even though most of the sex is rather tame compared to many of its contemporizes, the fluid style makes this a fun and easy read. Even though reading about someone who gets their sexual thrill from writing dirty words on the bathroom wall doesn’t sound that interesting, it is.
This is a good read and I enjoyed it thoroughly.