This has nothing to do with Eliot Spitzer

Women For Sale trailer, c. 1960. NSFW...sorta.


Have a great weekend!

Burlesque

Tuesday night, we went to see our friends The Honeybees play at a burlesque show. New Burlesque, if you haven't caught that particular trend, is a melding of vintage pre-Playboy-era striptease aesthetic with sex-positive feminism and performance art. If that sounds all Camille Paglia-ish and academic, don't be put off. It's a blast to see women with real bodies (curvy) and attitude take it all off to jaunty rockabilly music. The current show, produced by Angela Eve's Twisted Tassel, has one more engagement at Chicago's temple to live nudenude girls, Admiral Theatre, then they move to a new venue. The photo above is Miss Holly Wouldn't, one of the performers at Tuesday's show. Her Naughty Librarian routine was the hit of the entire event. That must have been one dirty book she was reading.

When I first moved to Chicago, there were at least a dozen strip clubs in the city limits. Today, it's down to a handful. This is mostly due to a law prohibiting alcohol sales and nudity in the same venue. I've read somewhere that a majority of the old clubs were champagne joints, where the performers pressured customers to buy overpriced drinks. The Admiral circumvents the alcohol issue by having a $25 door, and charging anywhere from 10 to 75 bucks for more personalized dances at the customer's table or in a VIP room booth. Drinks, all non-alcoholic, are $5.

During intermission, the regular crew of dancers came out to entertain the crowd. They all seemed to be under 25, and all deeply bored. The girls gyrated languidly on poles sporting facial expressions which I suppose were meant to indicate sultriness. Their costumes (mostly cheap-looking lacy thongs) were a let-down too, especially after the sexy glamor of the burlesque show outfits.

TGINF: The Party

I'm totally punting this one today. Square America, a "gallery of vintage snapshots and vernacular photography," has a naughty photo set from a very wild party. Judging from the hair and (skimpy) clothing, this swingin' happening was sometime in the late sixties.

The Party (NSFW)

Thank God It's Naughty Friday

Since Cancer, the most important character in my dramatis personae, is on vacation, I have to create some gimmicks to thwart writer's block. So, I do a music post every Sunday, which is pretty low-pressure and indulges my obsession with obscure Europop. I think Friday needs a theme, as well...something which requires almost no effort, yet immediately draws eyes to the blog.

Yes, Sex! It will be fun and challenging to find something sexy, yet not too NSFW. After all, my mom reads this. (Mom, NSFW means "Not Safe For Work")

I sometimes lurk at the message boards of a website for young cancer patients called Planet Cancer. I mostly just lurk because I am, er...well over 40. The people who post in the PC forum are heroic in their struggles with the disease, and also in their determination to lead normal lives. And, an important part of being young and normal is to be sexual. In the Dating, Relationships & Sexuality forum a woman wrote:

Hi guys, I'm a little embarrassed to admit to this, but I think it is so funny and amazing, that I just have to post it, thanking the internet for the anonymity...

One night when I was in the hospital and my counts were really low, I think I was having some sexual dreams or something, and since I was awake at 4 am, I um...pleasured...myself. It was the first time in a long time, and definitely the first time since I was diagnosed with cancer. But let me tell you, it must have done some medical good because my blood counts shot up the next day! The doctors were stunned, but I didn't have the guts to tell them why!! I really think that short bit of happiness did some healing to by body and blood!

A mini-experiment followed, with her fellow posters trying to replicate the results before their scheduled tests. Their blood counts improved, too. So, not only will it not make you blind, but it may actually boost your immune system. Have a great weekend!


Photo: Jackie Farry. Order a Fuck Cancer hat Here