I’ve already begun to get some notices from people questioning my placement of the electrodes on Arielle’s breasts during the last Ropecast review of the Deluxe Digital Power Box from Extreme Restraints. Allow me to address this issue here, before it gets out of hand:

Everybody says no E-Stim above the waist!

Actually, they say “not recommended” and “general guidelines” and the like. It is true, there is some risk of putting any kind of electricity in the area of the heart - especially in the case of pacemakers. I am not advocating the use of e-stim of any kind above the waist.

Then why did you do it, Graydancer?

Well, in researching for different ways to use it, I went to a lot of different places - and one of them was Kink.com’s Wired Pussy. The people that work there are very concerned with the safety and health of their models, and I mirrored the placement of the pads in several cases with photo shoots, including the ones on the breasts.

But those are healthy, strong, young fetish models! Most people can’t do the things they do!

True, very true. However, Arielle is a young, healthy, strong dancer, and as such I determined that the risk, such as there was, was minimal. In other words, this was a “risk-aware consensual kink”, and should not be used as a suggestion for play. Make your own educated decisions based on your own situation.

Kind of like Sir C is fond of saying, “She didn’t die. The scene was a success.” View the MPEG to see the technique in action.

I know, I’m breaking rules by not going on and on about Shibaricon. Trust me, enough happened to keep the pornoblogosphere going for years. We’ll all get around to it eventually.

Instead, I want to put forth a follow-up to the “coke bottle cap” game invented by Lqqkout at the Minnesota GRUE. See, one thing that bothers me about the traditional “Count your strokes, slave!” idea is that it’s so simple. I mean, counting is something anyone over the age of two can do. Even making it challenging by having them count separately on each cheek as you spank gets a little too simple, in my opinion.

I found a little fun in having the foolishly willing Terrorlynn count to the beat of a metronome while two file clips (applied by Lochai) were attached to her nipples. First I had her guess the speed of the metronome (she guessed 190 beats per minute) and subtracted from that the actual bpm (122) which gave me 78, the number she needed to count to before the clips could be removed.

Then I started the metronome (one of the old-fashioned, mechanical kinds) to ticking…and ticking…and at about 36 I suddenly speeded it way up, and she lost count. As she started over, I realized that she probably wouldn’t make that mistake again, verified when I again speeded it up and she didn’t miss a beat up through 51. So I decided to take the direct sadistic approach, and slowed it down as far as possible, letting her watch the swinging arm back and forth as it incremented her torture bit by bit.

Such fun.

But I imagine an even more fun game, for those submissives who are somewhat geeky and/or good with math. Ever heard of the Fibonacci Number Sequence? The first number of the sequence is 0, the second number is 1, and each subsequent number is equal to the sum of the previous two numbers of the sequence itself.  So 0+1=1, 1+1 = 2, 2+1 =3, 3+2=5, and the sequence would be 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5…and so on.

So the challenge would be to pick out some punishment - a spanking, something similar - and have the bottom only shout out the numbers in the Fibonacci Sequence! If a mistake is made, you start over.

The only problem I have with this is this: I don’t know the sequence well enough. Perhaps using a sharpie to write it along the bottom’s spine before spanking? Projecting it on the wall? It’s the age old dilemma of kinky sapiosexuals…it’s far too easy to find subs that are smarter than you are.

To inspire you, here’s a gallery from Kink.com’s Sex & Submission site with more beautiful people doing terribly wonderful things to each other.

Klawdya told the story better, but I’m going to paraphrase and attempt to catch some of the spirit of how she told it:

 So, I get up to the room about 1,2am, and Grace is pacing back and forth, back and forth. I ask her “What’s wrong, honey?”

She looks up at me with a concerned expression. “I think I may be in labor,” she says.

I calmly look at her and say “Now, now, the con has just started, maybe it’s false labor, maybe you just have an upset stomach…”

“No, you don’t understand,” she said. “I’ve already lost the mucous plug.”

I was taken aback. “Then…what are we doing here? Are there contractions?”

“Yes…” she said.

“About how far apart?”

“About…three minutes or so.”

“THEN WHAT THE HECK ARE WE DOING HERE?!?”

And so, early in the morning of the first day of Shibaricon V, Ryatt Elijah, six pounds nine ounces, came into the world, becoming Shibaricon Staff Member #17.5.

On a sobering note, there were some complications, and he’s been in NICU for a few days. Please send whatever well wishes, positive thoughts, prayers, or healing energies to mother and child. They are our family.

A lot of other things happened.

• There was a wedding.
• Another couple celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary, made the more special because he’s a veteran of the current war.
• A ring ceremony was held, the rope equivalent of a collaring or a cap in the leather community, and Suzanne Sexy Sadist and Steve Morgan (aka Firefly) were honored by their peers.
• JD of the Knotty Boys played with a g-string (ok, and 5 others, on stage).
• Lots of naked people.
• A bowsprit.
• Proof that a sex swing from eXtreme Restraints is a really good suspension frame (and if you listen to the last podcast, there’s a special discount you can get).

Personally it was a little hard, I’ll be honest - but that’s no reflection on the event. Kudos to Diana and the rest of the Shibaricon team for pulling it together even bigger than before.

Even people I don’t know.

A while back, when Monk had put up one of his very cool videos, I read on his blog a kudo from a fan, Aitch. No problem with kudos, but the guy called audio podcasts “old and tired”, and I kind of took offense at that. Well, not really offense, but it played on some insecurities.

In talking to Monk about it, later, he reminded me that in audio, no one can see you perv. Well, they can hear you, but they don’t really have any way to object to what you’re doing, even if you’re doing it, because it comes down to free speech. So I took advantage of that and had a very fine, intimate interview with Vincenza.

And then, today, on the Ropecast page, I get this:

Did Graydancer just fondle breasts in response to my remark? (cue it up,roll tape) Yes, yes I believe he did. That ought to teach me a hard lesson; never insult the medium unless you want women to be fondled.

Love the Ropecast. I wouldn’t miss one. I meant to give kudos to Monk for the vloging, seeing how Breakfast at the Abby has fell by the wayside. Under threat of fondling, will promise to (n)ever do it again.

posted by: Aitch on Mon, 5/19 09:26 PM EDT

And it made my night. Because not only does he like the Ropecast, but he has a sense of humor (coincidence? I don’t think so!). So cheers to you, Aitch. Cheers to you.

(sigh) It’s happening again.

It happened the first time when I was just starting to really study rope bondage. I studied it from the photography and rigging of Ian Rath of Fetish Nation, and occasionally through the bondage sets by Kelly Lind. I paid for membership to both sites, for as long as I could afford it, and looked at them over and over.

Really, I did. No, I was not wanking; while I can appreciate a good visual as much as the next lover-of-female-forms, I don’t - can’t - get off on visual porn, photographic or video. I am entertained by them, but when I want to get off, I head straight for literotica, click on the “nonconsent-reluctance” tab, and away I go…

But I digress. I was looking and looking - I think the particular model was in purple latex, in a very harsh arm-binder lifting up in strappado - and suddenly I realize that I was not seeing the model at all. I was focusing so much on the ropes that I didn’t see the beautiful woman.

It happened again. Via Catalina Loves I found my way to January Seraph. Fine, independent fetish model, and kudos to her for also having the toughest alternafetish model around, Apnea, on her site too. While going through the preview (you should, too, you might run into some old friends) I came to the preview pic you see here, and clicked through (kind of like the people who say “Oooh! Shiny!” I said “Oooh! Rope!”

I looked at the picture, and thought “Why would she put this up as a preview? It’s such a basic chest harness, and just a two column tie…there’s hardly any bondage there at all!”

I hang my head as I write this, because it took a full five seconds before my libido came roaring up out of my lizard brain and said “THERE’S A FUCKING INCREDIBLY HOT WOMAN LYING ON THAT TABLE, WHO LOOKS LIKE SHE’S EAGER FOR YOU TO FUCK HER BRAINS OUT, YOU OVERANALYTICAL SHIT!”

Yes. Almost five seconds to remember that. I’ve been working too hard, I think, on classes for Shibaricon and Spankfestival and my other jobs…and suddenly the rope and knots have hidden the true purpose of What It Is We Do: beauty, connection, intent.

Let’s all try and remember that, ok? And remind each other, on occasion?

This morning I had the privilege of a visit from N, a bondage model who wanted an inverted suspension - not, as you might expect, for the kinky pleasure of it, but actually because it would stretch out her back. I put her in the most comfortable inverted harness I know - the famous “drum tie” harness, a modified swiss seat.

And yes, she did in fact need to be naked, why do you ask? We also took some time to check out the possible positive effects of my new electrosex toy from Extreme Restraints - we found that putting the pads on her inner thighs and lower buttocks didn’t do much for her back, but made other things very, very interesting. Speaking of ER, they are also giving me a suspension frame (spider-style) to bring with me to Shibaricon, so if you’ve ever wanted to try one out, let me know.

Enjoy the new gallery, and yes, I’m aware that I need a better camera - feel free to donate one!

Updates on travel, etc.: I am going to be presenting at TESFest the weekend of July 4th, and also will be attending Thunder in the Mountains July 25-27th (actually as a tourist, believe it or not!). If you’re going to be at either and would like to meet up, let me know!

“The difference between a dominant and a control freak is this: a dominant takes what they want. A control freak takes everything, whether they want it or not.”

“Routine and ritual are direct opposites. The former is when actions become so everyday that they are performed without thought; the latter is when everyday actions are performed with intensely focused thought and attention.”

Any opinions?

I’m very glad to announce that I’ve been asked by Extreme Restraints to review a couple of items that may work well in our rope-ish endeavours:

The Deluxe Digital Powerbox is going to be my foray into “electrosex” (which is what you call it when you’re not into medical play and “TENS” units and such). I’m actually more familiar with this kind of thing from a massage thingy that my former slave used to have. I’m interested to see how it can be integrated into a scene, providing some involuntary muscle stimulation. It can be made to feel like a massage, or a kneading motion…how about punching? Slapping? Or for that matter, what does it actually feel like?

Kink.com has a whole website devoted to this kind of thing, Wired Pussy. The gallery shows an interesting combination of rope and electrosex and other toys (obviously a huge dildo is what I need to ask to review next). I was encouraged to see that you can, in fact, use the patches on some of the more obvious places that I’d want to explore. I find myself watching videos like this one very closely, to see if I can identify the involuntary muscle twitches that might be happening. It’s going to be a tool of layering sensations.

And to go along with it, they’re sending me a Sex Swing Stand, and I’m to evaluate it’s suitability for suspension. I’ve been cautioned to remember “It’s designed for SEX SWINGS“, and I recognize that dynamic loads are going to probably be a bad idea. For a static suspension, though, I think it will be fine - I’ve used similar swings at other events, with wonderful results. There’s also a pic of a suspension Midori did on a frame like this, a sort of inverted swan dive, that I love and have replicated with Abby.

Stay tuned to the Ropecast for live reviews of these products, and to hear about a special discount for listeners, as well, on all the Extreme Restraints products.

I’ve been remiss in updating my Shibaricon classes, and it’s turned into a bit of challenge: I have to limit the class descriptions to 100 words. So here are the updated class descriptions - see what you think:

The Defining Moment

New to the scene and unsure of what you want? Or a veteran jaded and trying to renew the magic of rope?  The Defining Moment is a practical approach to getting what you want out of kink. Rather than “I want to do what HE’s doing” we’re going for “I want to FEEL what they’re feeling.” Whether you want to tie for sex, for pretty, for pain, or some combination, the focus will be on how to get to what you want to do, using resources that you already have. Learn to find your defining moment, again and again.

Flying on the Floor

A great rope artist once said “if you can’t make your sub fly on the floor, you’ve no business putting them in the air.” Suspension? Who needs it? We’ll explore techniques to give a great experience to both top and bottom without frames and carabiners. Using basic bondage principles we’ll learn how to layer the ties in a ever-building web of sensation and tension, letting those endorphins take the sub flying with no fear of dropping. Part demo, part discussion and brainstorming by subs and tops alike, this class is a great way to start your Shibaricon.

I get to be bookends: first class and (I hope) last class, or at the very least second to last. If you’ve not registered, there’s still time: http://www.shibaricon.com.

The pics from the Dr. Sketchy’s that Phaedra and I did are up, and I’ve decided I need to work on my “scary” face. I just look like I’m having a lot of fun. Still, I’m pretty happy with the way the images came out - the rope work for the most part looked the way I’d hoped, and the drawings were loads of fun.

Phaedra deserves special kudos - she stayed up in the takate-kote suspension for a solid 15 minutes. Let’s keep in mind this is designed to be a torture position, and is very much not designed for comfort. But for the sake of art she took one for the team…a lovelier rope model could not be asked for.