A virtual treasure trove of 1950s bondage goodies. Irwin Klaw fans check out these classic bondage originals for sale on eBay . The seller's split the lot into 9-card sets. Click on the seller's listings to see the collection.
Oh, it may not be your favorite fast food joint, but even if you can't stomach a Big Mac, stop by Mickey D's and order a beverage. I'm planning to take a little detour to the golden arches myself today.
In case you haven't seen this news, the fast-food giant McDonald's has recently come under fire by the right-wing American Family Association (AFA) for being sympathetic to and supportive of equal rights for gays and lesbians. The AFA, which has aggressively lobbied to criminalize homosexuality, has called for a boycott of McDonald's. Happily, people of sounder minds and superior morals are turning the tables on this one by calling for a "Buycott," urging those of us who believe that all Americans are entitled to equal rights under law to eat at Mickey D's and show some support for one of the few corporations with balls enough to shrug off the AFA.
Yep, here's your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pig out on greasy delights and feel virtuous. If you always kinda sorta wished you could show some support for glbt rights, EAT DEM FRIES! BIG BONUS: you won't risk being stuck next to any anti-gay air-heads when you do!
Fresh from my mailbox, here is the Woodhull Foundation's call to action.
Washington, D.C. July 9, 2008 Woodhull Freedom Foundation calls for McDonald's BUYCOTT-that is buy more at McDonalds by making an extra purchase regularly at McDonalds in recognition of its action supporting Sexual Freedom as a Fundamental Human Right
The Woodhull Freedom Foundation (WFF) says that the McDonald's Corporation's role in joining the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, giving it a $20,000 donation and placing one of its executives on the Chamber's board of directors is a strong step toward reinforcing American values including affirming sexual freedom as a fundamental human right as recognized by the US Supreme Court in Lawrence v Texas.
WFF especially welcomes McDonald's action as further evidence that claims of a "culture war" in America are highly exaggerated and are, in fact, most often the last gasp cry of fading political leaders seeking to fool their followers. In fact, data suggest that wide majorities of Americans are openly tolerant, religiously diverse and positively supportive of the rights of their fellow citizens.
In recognition of McDonalds' strong support of individual rights and bolstering of the Supreme Court's affirmation of constitutionally protected sexual diversity WFF urges McDonalds' customer to regularly make an extra purchase (conduct a buycott) from the McDonald's chain.
These extra purchases also help Ronald McDonald House Charities, Inc. (RMHC®) support programs that directly improve the health and well being of children.
The Woodhull Freedom Foundation
Ricci Levy
Executive Director
email: rlevy@woodhullfoundation.org
Extra points if you tell the counter-person "God bless you for supporting equal rights for all." They probably won't know wtf you're talking about but who cares, it'll taste like special sauce for your soul.
Category: Sexual Politics
Posted on 7/10/2008 4:21:30 AM by Gloria Brame
At home with the Brame-y Bunch
Setting: the three of us sitting on my bed, discussing how we'll have paid off our mortage in 10 years. 10 years! Wow. On so many levels.
Ketzl: (confident) "Of course, by then, we'll have a successful poultry and goat operation going."
Me: (wistful) "If only I had the time, how I'd love to have a dog rescue by then."
Will: (pensive) I would like to start a prostitute rescue.
Come listen to the Cult of Gracie on BlogTalkRadio...and listen to me to live! That's right: me with vocal cords not just riotous fingers. Amazing!
Don't bother linking now but surf on over tomorrow at 10 pm est and you can hear the divine Gracie Passette --sex-kitten and all around erotic goddess -- interview me live on Internet radio. In fact, you can call in and ask me anything you like. Fun! For you. Scary! For me.
Check out some of Gracie's previous guests:
Politics Progressive online radio shows and xxbn internet talk radio by XBN SWOP East Broadcast Network | BlogTalkRadio
What they really mean is "have orgasms" -- it doesn't make a difference if you have it from intercourse or masturbation as long as you keep that penis busy and happy throughout your life.
There's new advice for older men who want to preserve their sexual function: have sex, and have it often, researchers say.
In a study that followed nearly 1,000 older Finnish men for five years, researchers found that those who were regularly having sex at the start of the study were at lower risk of developing erectile dysfunction (ED) by the study's end.
In fact, the more often the men had sex, the lower their ED risk.
Link: More sex means less chance of ED for older men
Category: Sexual Health
Posted on 7/9/2008 5:10:36 AM by Gloria Brame
Baltimore get erotically Sprinkled
My friend Annie's the main attraction at this fun event. Wish I could be there!
Former porn stars, sex gurus, belly dancers and performers make an appearance at this event, filled with drag and burlesque shows, orgasm workshops, fetishism and more. The festival also includes an erotic arts exhibit at Load Of Fun Studios, running through July.
The main attraction, however, is Annie Sprinkle, a former prostitute and porn star whose experiences led her to become an author, performance artist and an influential member of the sex positive feminist movement of the 1980s. Jacq Jones, owner of Hampden's sex shop Sugar and one of the sponsors of the festival, said she has long been a fan of Sprinkle.
Link: Baltimore Erotic Arts Festival
Category: Sex and Culture
Posted on 7/9/2008 5:09:36 AM by Gloria Brame
FOUND: Freudian Ex Libris
Sweet bookplate by Russian artist (?). No idea what it's supposed to represent but I like to think that's Freud powering the ship. Any other ideas?
Category: Sex and Arts
Posted on 7/9/2008 5:08:38 AM by Gloria Brame
For gas mask fetishists
...and even if you don't have the fetish...you might after looking at this scary beauty.
This brass and leather Soviet gas-mask is the genuine article, not a steampunk fetish-fashion prop (though, of course, it could be both).
Category: Sexual Beauty
Posted on 7/9/2008 5:06:40 AM by Gloria Brame
Et and to be et
For those following our harvests, it was another yummy weekend fresh-food fest chez Brame. From the Ketzl's blog:
weekend garden update [07 Jul 2008|08:48am]
Harvest total for the week: 10 cukes, 15 tomatoes, 5 acorn squash (there's more, I just haven't brought them in yet), 1 pint raspberries, 22 pints of blueberries (!), 1/2-pint wild blackberries, 3 quarts green beans. Oh, and one giant red marconi pepper.
What to do with all that fresh food? We made the best blueberry pie you or I have ever tasted, froze a quart of blueberries and 2 quarts of beans, made 9 jars of raspberry/blackberry jam, 1 18-oz jar of blueberry pie filling, 1 jar of blueberry-curacao jam, made tasty cucumber-sour cream salad and a bean-tomato ratatouille (W's delicious creation), and still have baskets of fresh produce littering the kitchen.
Let me second the girl's words: the blueberry pie was just incredible. So plump and juicy they were like tiny sweet plums. The beans tasted better than any beans I've ever tasted, no doubt because of the fresh sweet tomatoes Will cooked with 'em, to toothsome saucy perfection. As for the cucumbers, I keep marveling at how much better they taste than anything I've had from a grocer's shelves--especially with the sour-cream dressing Ketzl makes for 'em. *slurp* I've never been a fresh-food maniac but this summer's harvest could easily make me one now.
I remember back to our first and second years here -- we did get some fine tomatoes but mainly it was squash, squash and more squash (crooknecks, from reseeding plants the previous owners had). I got so sick of eating squash, I got a little surly about all the creative recipes to make one night's squash taste different from yesterday's squash. You can't fool me: it was still SQUASH for fuck's sake. Delicious when rare but a food that gets awfully old awfully quick. But now I'm actually looking forward to squash, esp. since Ketzl has finally fought back the crookneck and planted some interesting winter varieties. Of course what I can't WAIT to try are the jams. Blueberry jam in liqueur: that's what I want to be eating when the apocalypse comes, yeah.
Thanks to Noel for this pointer to a review in Slate of Angelina Jolie's latest movie...which is now on my MUST SEE list!
The Dominatrix Angelina Jolie crushes James McAvoy like a bug in Wanted
When I first heard that Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy would be paired up in an action movie this summer, I remember scoffing about what an unsexy couple they'd make. I believe my exact words were, "She'll crush him like a bug." "Sounds pretty sexy to me," said my interlocutor, giving me an unsolicited yet bracing glimpse into his fantasy life.
He was right. For those whose fantasies include being crushed like bugs by Angelina Jolie (or beaten senseless by hulking Russian thugs, or forced to use dead pigs for target practice by Morgan Freeman), Wanted (Universal Pictures) is a compendium of bedside erotica. I don't know when I've seen a mainstream movie that so explicitly caters to the S&M niche. And the chemistry of the central couple, which seemed destined to bring the movie down, is instead the hottest thing in this effects-laden but ultimately empty film.
Link: Wanted, with Angelina Jolie, reviewed. - By Dana Stevens - Slate Magazine
My girl Ketzl found this interview with Uma Thurman's father.
From an interview with the first American ordained as a Tibetan monk, Robert Thurman (father of Uma):
What do you think about when you meditate?
Usually, some form of trying to excavate any kind of negative thing cycling in the mind and turn it toward the positive. For example, when I am annoyed with Dick Cheney, I meditate on how Dick Cheney was my mother in a previous life and nursed me at his breast.
You mean you fantasize about being breast-fed by Dick Cheney?
It’s a fantasy of releasing fear and developing affection. It’s a way of coming back to feeling grateful toward him and seeing his positive side, finding the mother in Dick Cheney.
I think this is a totally fantastic idea! Kudos to Dr. Romanzi for inventing the concept. Particularly brilliant for the baby boomer generation whose genital fitness is undergoing significant changes.
(Thanks to Mike for sending the link.)
First came the “medical spa,” or medi spa, offering dermatology services in a retail setting. The medi spa begat the dental spa, bringing tooth bleaching to storefronts nationwide. The dental spa begat the podiatry spa.
And now comes the first medi spa in Manhattan wholly dedicated to strengthening and grooming a woman’s genital area. Phit — short for pelvic health integrated techniques — is to open this month on East 58th Street....
Dr. Romanzi developed her own concept of “pelvic fitness” for healthy women. She said that Phit (www.theperfectphit.com) will help women get “in shape from the inside out.”
Link: Skin Deep - A Spa for Those Women Concerned About ‘Pelvic Fitness’
Category: Sexual Health
Posted on 7/7/2008 9:04:40 AM by Gloria Brame
I have to agree with commentators on a post about Google data being used in court -- in that case, the cause was good.
But what worries me is that so many lawyers are hauling Google into courts and forcing them to release data of all kinds. One day it seems harmless...and the next day it could translate into witch-hunts.
Judge Orders YouTube to Hand Over User Data
In a potentially huge blow to the fight for privacy on the Internet,a judge has ordered that Google must hand over data about every video viewed by YouTube users to Viacom, including usernames and IP addresses. Viacom is suing Google for allowing its copyrighted content to be posted to YouTube, and hopes to use this data to prove that copyrighted material is more popular than user-generated content on the site.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has already called the decision a violation of the Video Privacy Protection act, and you can bet Google will fight the ruling tooth and nail.
I think and hope that Google attorneys can figure out a way to protect the data. Sure, it's great when it can be used to help people for the right reasons. But the US Courts' belief that the data is a treasure-trove of American secrets scares me.
This story fascinates me. A transman and his wife wanted kids -- and she couldn't have them, so he decided to lend his (still in place) womb for this miraculous event. It is a reminder that anything in this life is possible, and that expanding human potential through science and technology can bring surprising blessings.
Pregnant man Thomas Beatie has given birth to a baby girl
A man has given birth to a baby girl at a hospital in the United States.
Thomas Beatie, who was born a woman but after surgery and hormone treatment lives as a man, had the child in Bend, Oregon.
Beatie, 34, kept female reproductive organs when he legally became a man 10 years ago.
The baby, conceived through artificial insemination using donor sperm and Beatie's own eggs, was born on June 29 and Beatie and the baby are "healthy and doing well," according to reports.
Aha! I knew there had to be at least one economic disaster we can't blame on George Bush.
Husband and wife Francisco and Casilda Figueiredo are among the last exponents of a traditional Portuguese handicraft -- making ornamental ceramic penises.
For more than three decades, the couple have carefully shaped thousands of ceramic male organs, moulding them into upright shapes and painting them in life-like colours for export to Germany, France and north america.
Francisco and Casilda, aged 68 and 65, still toil away in a humble village workshop in the Caldas da Rainha region, about 100 km (60 miles) north of Lisbon, but say the tradition is dying out.
"The days of the ceramics trade here are numbered, I see no possibility of survival," Francisco said as he prepared moulds of the couple's top-of-the-range two-foot phallic-shaped bottles in his workshop.
The couple produce ceramic mugs with a penis sticking out of the bottom or the side, penis-shaped bottles and ceramic soccer figures with the male organ popping out from under a flag.
Story and image: Couple maintain Portugal's ceramic penis tradition