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Todd
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Posts by Todd
Naked Vinyl
02 years ago
by Todd
in Multimedia
Naked Vinyl front cover
By Tim O’Brien and Mike Savage
Published in 2002 by Universe Publishing
As a fan of cheesecake and vinyl records, I had high expectations for this book.
The album covers reproduced in Naked Vinyl are nicely printed on glossy paper and the decision to reduce the album images to the size of a 45 was a good one. Full-sized reproductions would make the book only suitable for a coffee table, but the reduced size still makes the images large enough to appreciate all of a record’s detail.
The book begins with a brief introduction to the galleries to follow with short explanations of stag, party, comedy, and exotica records. Unfortunately, the introduction is all too brief and not particularly informative. The galleries that follow are arranged in a mostly chronological order beginning in 1950s and ending in the 1980s.
Curiously, this is one book where I wish the illustrations were left to themselves without commentary. Or at least, I wish that the album covers included different commentary. My biggest complaint with this book is insightful information is given short shrift over corny jokes. The commentary would be much improved if it told me more about the artists, the music on the records, or even the art direction on the covers.
Overall though, this is a good book and a nice reference for collectors of cheesecake vinyl.
Genderbent #1
02 years ago
by Todd
in Magazines and Zines
Genderbent #1 front cover
By various
Self-published in 2008
I had never given much thought to drag kings prior to coming across this little DIY cut and paste zine. If you aren’t familiar with drag kings think of drag queens only vice versa.
The inaugural issue of Genderbent has articles focusing on the first International Drag King Extravaganza, a drag king conference, reminiscences of people’s first experience as a king, and tips on how to be a better king.
A fanzine shouldn’t be judged by the slickness of its layout or binding. Instead, for a fanzine to be good, it should have a level of enthusiasm for its subject that is contagious. By that standard, Genderbent is a wonderful little gem and I look forward to reading future issues.
To purchase copies of Genderbent, visit http://cherrybombe.etsy.com.
SCUM Manifesto
0
SCUM Manifest front cover
by Valerie Solanas
Published in 1996 by AK Press
Valerie Solanas, mostly remembered for attempting to assisinate Andy Warhol, originally wrote and self-published SCUM Manifesto in 1966 if the epilogue’s publishing history is to be believed (other sources I found cite the date as 1968). Though Solanas’ diatribe against men and society in general never explicitly mentions what the acronym SCUM stands for, it is popularly recalled as an acronym for Society for Cutting Up Men.
This book isn’t much of a sex book, so you might wonder why I listed it here. To Solanas, sex is an activity devoid of value to women. Her claims of asexuality and hope for a future completely devoid of sex are evidence of a sex obsession more pervasive and destructive than sex addiction.
Seemingly produced during fits of mania interspersed with short bits of depressed transitions, it doesn’t take long to realize that SCUM Manifesto is clearly the product of a deranged mind. No wonder I enjoyed it.
Solanas’ use of then-current slang is particularly charming . Solanis often describes women, or at least the ones that share her viewpoint, as “groovy.” On the ohter hand men, in Solanas’ view, are creatures almost wholly incapable of doing anything of any worth. As she wrote, “The male has a negative Midas touch – everything he touches turns to shit.” She also is a strong critic of capitalism and the money system; claiming that so long as they are existent women will never be able to reach their full potential.
If there is anything kinky about this book it is the ending where the final few pages read like they were intended as a primer for Femdoms. She writes of men in the SCUM Men’s Auxiliary:
…SCUM will conduct Turd Sessions, at which every male present will give a speech beginning with the sentence: “I am a turd, a lowly, abject turd,” then proceed to list all the ways in which he is. His reward for so doing will be the opportunity to fraternize after the session for a whole, solid hour with the SCUM who will be present…
Coming in at just the right length for what it is, SCUM Manifesto is a fun and entertaining read.
Intimate Invasions
6
Intimate Invasions front cover
by M.R. Strict
Published in 2004 by Greenery Press
Klysmaphilia or enema play is one of those topics that embarrasses most people to talk about, much less express an interest in. Given that, a Greenery Press book devoted to the topic would seem a very worthwhile effort towards expanding everyone’s comfort and familiarity with the topic. Or at least, that’s what I thought prior to reading the book. It pains me to have to say this (for one thing I bristle at the bad pun), but simply put this book is shitty.
One consistently annoying thing about BDSM books in general, and Greenery Press titles in particular, is a writing style that uses fantasy scenes interspersed in between matter of fact discussion. Having endured more of these books than anyone really ought, I have come to the conclusion that most BDSM books would not be published were they written about any other topic. Books about even such potentially mundane topics as gardening, cooking, and sewing are generally better written than even the best BDSM book. It is so bad that I own any number of books that I would be embarrassed to have the coroner find on my bookshelf not because they are dirty but simply because they are poorly written.
But I digress. The most astonishing part about Intimate Invasions is that even though it clocks in at about 140 pages, there are perhaps 20 that contain useful information. Without the awful fantasy sequences this book might have been a good fit for Greenery Press’ “Toybag Guide” series. But even that might be a stretch since even those 20 pages are not reliable because M.R. Strict’s knowledge and advice seems suspect. As bad as the factual sections are, the fantasy sequences are even worse.
Just how bad is this book? It is so bad that I would put more faith in the advice from any number of 1970s enema guides marketed by the same companies that specialized enema themed pornography. Even though they often recommend such potentially dangerous practices as giving wine enemas, they tend to demonstrate a greater passion and knowledge of their subject.
I hope that another BDSM publisher and/or author will devote a book to this worthwhile topic. They certainly will have no trouble writing something better than this.
The Pleasure’s All Mine: Memoir of a Professional Submissive
12 years ago
by Todd
in Working Girls
The Pleasure’s All Mine: Memoir of a Professional Submissive front cover
by Joan Kelly
Published in 2006 by Carroll & Graf
This book opened my eyes to the mere existence of professional submissives. No doubt I’m naïve, but while I’m familiar the concept of a professional Master/Mistress (I’ve met several), being a professional submissive always seemed too risky a proposition. At least that’s certainly the impression I have gleaned from repeated reading of memoirs of ordinary hookers and true crime books. I can’t help but wonder where professional submissives would fit in the pecking order of sex workers. My best guess is that, like with mainstream sex workers, independents have a higher status than agency girls in turn who have a higher status than street workers. But that’s just a guess. At any rate, they certainly are much less visible than other categories of sex workers. If Kelly’s book accomplishes nothing else, she single-handedly has raised the profile of professional submissives not just in my mind, but the alternative sexuality consciousness. For that feat alone she deserves kudos.
Readers hoping for shocking descriptions of sexual depravity won’t be entirely disappointed, but for the most part the interests of Kelly’s clients are, to a full-fledged pervert like me, fairly tame. The most shocking part for me was her admission that the sight of an extremely well endowed man’s cock excited her immensely. You’ll have to read the book to learn the rest, but it did confirm what men always know and women usually lie about: size really does matter.
Why the book is short on the lurid, I don’t know. It does not seem likely that it was because her clients simply lacked any other outlet for their kinky explorations. Nor do I think they were simply too shy to share their more extreme desires. (I have often found myself suprised to hear others openly talk abour kinks I would be loathe to ever admit to. Similarly, I’m often surprised to hear about the kinks that folks would rather die than discuss.) What seems more likely is that in order to engage in edgier play one needs to have a more intimate relationship with their partner than one can have in a professional session (I’m sure those familiar with the requests made of professional Masters/Mistresses might quibble with that point, but the difference is that it requires much less commitment to have something done to you, than it does to do to someone else. The notable exception is your average sociopath, though they are notoriously poor negotiators.)
I suppose it’s also possible that lurid descriptions of scenes aren’t included because Kelly simply didn’t include them perhaps out of the fear it would hurt her credibility. The credibility of a memoir is always suspect. People’s recollections tend to paint themselves in the best (or occasionally worst) possible light. This is especially true when for memoirs about illicit activities. That said, Kelly’s account seems fairly credible to me with one exception: early in her career as a submissive she describes a humiliating encounter with a client who cancelled a session appointment to play with a more attractive colleague. Though I’m familiar with the magic of photography and makeup, looking at Kelly’s photo on the cover and in pictures from her book tour reveal her to be very attractive (my crappy scan notwithstanding). I find it hard to believe that she would passed over because of her looks.
The only flaw in this book is its extremely abrupt ending. While it was refreshing that Kelly didn’t proffer any regrets about her career turning the book into a morality tale or try to eloquently defend the choices she made, when I got to the last page I couldn’t help but wonder if there wasn’t a final chapter that was omitted. Perhaps rather than an omission, the final chapter in Kelly’s memoir has to be written. Abrupt ending aside, The Pleasure’s All Mine is a great book that every kinky person should read.