text:
The BBC has to get over its honeymoon with this new Con-Dem Government
A rather nauseatingly easy, school-run ride for the new Government on the Today programme this morning. Especially Evan Davis's impersonation of a 1950s Auntie interviewer in Oxford bags: "Have you anything you'd like to tell the nation, before you're appointed Foreign Secretary?" William Hague couldn't believe his luck. How will the coalition work? It'll work jolly well. David Cameron and Nick Clegg seem to get on jolly well? Yes, they do. Will Andy Coulson be like Alastair Campbell? No, he jolly well won't.
Where were the supplementaries, Evan? Such as how can this Con-Dem coalition possibly work? What about Dave saying a coalition would be a shambles before the election? In what ways, exactly, will Coulson not be like Campbell? I imagine quite a lot of staff at the BBC might be Lib Dem voters, but this can't go on.
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June 20th, 2011 13:26
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May 3rd, 2011 10:40
Fortnum and Mason – just the most stupid target for those student rioters to pick
March 27th, 2011 16:24
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February 27th, 2011 15:26


text:
Anyone looking for upstream solutions to the biggest problems facing America should look to Nobel Prize-winning University of Chicago economics professor James Heckman's work to understand the great gains to be had by investing in the early and equal development of human potential.
Research. Data. Lectures. Advocacy. Use these resources to promote the value of investing in early childhood development—just use them wisely.
Professor Heckman's video message, shown at the National Summit on Hispanic Early Learning on September 18, 2013.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
To ensure you save money, when you e across cosmetic items selling at cost price, you should purchase the items immediately. You will not have to worry about buying cosmetics for a while if you end up with excess items, and you will be able to spend that extra money on other needed items. There are also a much wider range and choice when you shop online, and making payment is also a safe option, there is no reason why you cannot shop online from the fort of your home which saves money and time.
There was a shuffle in its management. The new management decided to make the Mac make-up and cosmetic products more accessible to the general customers. This is the reason why the excessive control of fashion industry on the concerned pany was loosened. And they are done in fashionable fabrics, allowing you to even carry a Transfer Bag as a purse itself Imagine knowing exactly which pocket holds your car keys no matter which purse you're carrying. Or being able to reach in and quickly snag your wallet. Because the liner is where you store your belongings, it really doesn't matter which Cheap Mac blush purse you carry.
The store stocks plenty of gift items like gift vouchers, laptop covers, gift vouchers, watches, perfumes, apparels, handbags, fashion accessories, footwear and much more. Varieties of products are available here in varieties of designs and styles to suit different needs of shoppers. The best part of shopping online here is that the store offers products from high end brands such as bebe, Mango, Aldo, Charles and Keith, Qup Accessories, Guess, Inglot and many more. This information is Mac eye pencil misleading as lotions and creams that contain collagen, only layers the skin as once again the molecules are too big to be absorbed by the skin layers. The same applies to other types of proteins and amino acids that cosmetic houses have http://www.macmakeuplove.com advertised as miracle ingredients, and include elastin which is also unable to p rate the skin when applied topically. Such mentioned ingredients only retain the skins moisture as the applications form a film over the skin and do not p rate the skin, which in turn does not make these types of skin and hair products any different.


text:
the Goods
Miriam Axel-Lute
to go in the Capital Region for sex toys and other supplies
do discerning Capital Region shoppers go for their erotic
goodies and safer-sex necessities? We surveyed a sampling
of the Capital Regions very own establishments. Heres what
we found:
516 River St., Troy. Nestled under the ramp of the Collar
City Bridge, Amazing from the outside projects the kind of
atmosphere of sleaze that makes towns want to ban adult-movie
stores from their limits. Not that Amazing is doing anything
wrong, mind you. But a windowless build- ing with a steel-
reinforced door and turquoise and purple signage that announces
En hance your life! and Video Arcade is less than welcoming
to many of us, shall we say.
But if youre in the market for some of what Amazing sells,
take a deep breath and get over it. Inside, except for the
right-wing talk radio, its nothing to be scared of. True,
its expected clientele is clearly male, as evidenced from
the buxom models on all the sex-toy packaging and sign describing
its movie categories (gay/bi = anything with male-on-male
action. The men apparently dont need to be warned about women
getting it on with each other). But that doesnt mean others
cant shop there in peace.
Amazing was definitely tops among the places we visited for
variety and selection in penis pumps and blow-up dolls. And
if youre doing some serious dildo or vibrator shopping here,
youve also got loads of options; however, caveat emptor.
The selection includes a fair amount of cheap hard plastic
on which you may have to file down uncomfortable seams, and
jelly rubber, which gets tacky and sticky after a few uses.
Silicone, the highest quality sex-toy material, is barely
in evidence.
Adult World, 1100 Altamont Ave., Schenectady, has a slightly
more welcoming ambience than Amazing from the outside, just
for having windows (even though they are tall and narrow and
you cant see anything through them, as theyre covered in
signs saying videos, magazines, etc.) and a normal looking
door. A sign outside the door lets you know youre in a city
thats had legal fights over adult stores: Only persons
having a scientific, governmental, educational, or similar
reason for viewing or purchasing any of the items herein,
may enter. Of course all of the items therein are very educational.
Take a deep breath after your chuckle, howeverAdult World
reeks of smoke inside. It offers much of the same merchandise
as Amazing, with a slightly less varied selection, except
for a more complete (though still not too huge) selection
of kink suppliescrops, restraints, etc. No talk radio hereinstead
the background noise is soundtracks of moaning women floating
out of the video arcade in the back of the store. You could
consider this free aural stimulation, or an annoying distraction,
but youre not likely to ignore it.
Leather lovers of any stripe cant pass up a trip to Russ
and Rebel, 922 Troy Schenectady Road (Route 7) in Latham.
Theyve got leather motorcycle jackets, handbags, wallets,
etc. in abundance. But in the corner one set of shelves also
sports a relatively comprehensive set of kink equipment: collars,
masks, crops, lashes, paddles, and gags, plus strap-on harnesses
and a few non-leather pieces of equipment, such as handcuffs
and nipple clamps. They have a few brands of lube to go with
it all, including one of silicone for the glycerin-sensitive.
They do have a very small selection of dildos behind the counter
(because of the kids. I knowit sounds weird at first, but
if you dont know what the kink stuff is, you wouldnt know
what it is, if you know what I mean, while the dildos are
all in X-rated packaging).
Also in the back of the first floor youll find a healthy
selection of fetish/drag/stripper clothing, from bikini underwear
in every color under the rainbow to thigh-high spike-heel
boots and feather-boa-edged robes.
The atmosphere at Russ and Rebel couldnt be more different
from Amazing and Adult World: Its just a classy, friendly
clothing store, with some bondage stuff in the corner.
If atmosphere is everything, nothing says sex is normal and
unshameful like having your sex supplies scattered among the
other merchandise. At Romeos Gifts on 299 Lark St.
in Albany, you can pick up a painting of a cluster of asparagus
for your kitchen, some X-rated greeting cards, earrings, statuettes,
dildos and butt plugs, classy home decorations, and a couple
of bottles of lube or a game of erotic dice. You get the picture.
Compared to the stores that specialize in the sex stuff, the
selection is not huge, but its quality, and for Albanians
who dont want a drive, its probably your best shot.
If youre as picky about your lube as you are about your food
(or about your sex toys!) you may want to check out the Honest
Weight Food Co-op, 484 Central Ave., Albany, which stocks
a few all-natural varieties in its health-and-beauty-aids
section. There you can find lube with all organic ingredients
(think aloe vera, for example), as well as homeopathic formulas
that are supposed to relieve irritation and provide some protection
against yeast infection and others that are supposed to help
with the effects of menopause. We didnt, however, see any
sex toysmade of organic rubber or otherwise.
The closest thing to comprehensive the Capital Region has
may be Déjà Vu, in the Wolf Road Shoppers Park, amusingly
a neighbor of the Chapel of St. Francis. There the ambience
is one of fun and play. It has a normal storefront, from which
the front half of the store, full of hippie clothing and paraphernalia,
is visible. The back half is devoted primarily to sex supplies.
Sex novelties like bachelorette-party penis-shaped drink stirrers
and koochy combs mix with some pretty serious sex toys,
and their safer-sex supplies, unlike the other places weve
mentioned, actually include female condoms and dental dams,
not just condoms. Much of the merchandise is higher quality
heresilicone dildos are common, and they also carry high-end,
handcrafted solid glass ones. Your humble researcher even
saw something completely new to her: glass dildos with attachments
on the end for fitting into a power drill. I choose to believe
that the drills they have in mind come with a low setting.
Déjà Vu also has a wide range of slings and swings for creative
positioning, Kama Sutra sets and a good amount of kink supplies,
including some no-nonsense wooden paddles. (Please sir, may
I have another?) The staff is young and of both genders, and
the colorful signs saying Buy a sex toy, get 30% off a lube
and the how-to books placed next to the relevant equipment
reinforce the idea that the proprietors dont feel that theyre
engaged in a seedy business.
If youre looking for condom variety, drug stores like CVS
and Eckerd still have all of these shops beat, offering dozens
and dozens of types to the others folks average of three
or four. And the lube selection is picking up a little too:
The drugstores (or maybe its K-Y) have gotten a little less
uptight about pretending what K-Y is or is not for. New offerings
like K-Y warming jelly are really just this side of Kama
Sutra jellies. On the other hand, if price is driving your
search for safer-sex supplies, dont forget Planned Parenthood.
Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood (www.uhpp.org, sites in Albany,
Troy, Latham, and Hudson) sells condoms, female condoms, and
dental dams priced on a sliding scale.
Of course, dont forget to look in unlikely places as well,
from bondage rope at Home Depot to battery-powered massagers
at Sharper Image.
If youre looking for some really specialized stuffthigh-mounted
dildo harnesses, violet wands, male chastity beltsyou may
still need to take a trip to Boston (www.grand opening.com)
or New York City (www.babe land.com) or turn to the Internet
(www.goodvibrations.com, www.stockroom.com). But the good
news is, if you want something to have fun with tonight in
the Capital Region, youve got a pretty good chance of finding
it in your own backyard.
Said It
highlights of Metrolands 2005 sex survey
Describe the circumstances of the best
sex youve ever had.
an experimental arts event next to a giant flaming sculpture,
the love of my life and I sat on the ground with her in my
lap wearing a dress but no underwear. We pulled my pants down
just enough so that her dress would still conceal our private
bits. In the height of our passions a few people noticed and
came over to sprinkle fresh rose petals all over us.
Completely in love, outdoors in the spring, in back of Olana.
First time with my then-new girlfriend. She came into the
bedroom; I figured shed have a nightgown or robe, but she
was totally naked. It was such a vulnerable act, it gave me
Brand new porno, 10 minutes jerking it, no talking, no cuddling.
Blow job in back of Dodge Omni.
My girlfriend at the time called me at 3 AM drunk and horny.
She promised to let me do anything I wanted to her if I picked
her up right away. It was a crazy night, and the best part
was she asked me to do it all over again when she was sober
the next day.
I was 16; I went bar hopping in Schenectady with a 23-year-old
hottie. None of the bartenders questioned my age because I
was with such a looker. We ended up back at her place. Probably
because of my age and level of excitement I never ended up
losing the wood. We went for two hours and I must have come
at least five times.
A penthouse studio in Manhattan . . . long rainy Sundays .
. . silence but for the motions of our bodies . . . smoke
. . . wine . . . hungry natural instincts sated.
Fucking my love in the ass while she was masturbating with
a vibrator. She turned into a 5-foot-4 warm, squishy, writhing
vibrator for me.
69 with wife tied to the bed.
Both of us married (not to each other), a motel room, and
a long lunch.
My place, longtime boyfriend, Apocalypse Now in the
background (sound turned down), living room floor and sofa,
deeply, deeply in love.
one fulfilled sexual fantasy.
with someone I looked at for 20 years.
Being fucked in the ass, while on Ecstasy, by a sexy girl
in a pretty strap-on.
I was having sex with my girlfriend when my roommate walked
in on us. We asked him to join and we all took turns fooling
Having sex outside while its snowing, just outside our condo
in Lake Placid.
My husband hired two guys with incredibly big dicks to pleasure
me for two hours while he took pictures.
I had a threesome with two of my roommates. It wasnt all
I thought it could be. The two girls were so into each other
that I felt like a third wheel.
Sex on a tropical ocean with a man I love.
Being with two bi men.
Coming on my wifes tits while she played with her pussy.
Once my love and I discovered a waterfall, took a dip in the
pool at its base, and then made love in the dirt and mud on
the bank of the stream.
Anal. . . . The young, conservative, Ivy League, suburban
woman insisted. What could I do?
fantasy of yours would you most like to enact?
threesomemyself and two men.
I would really like to have my wife taken by another man.
I want to do Albany River Rat Ilkka Pikkarainen after a game
with his skates still on.
Two cops at the same time.
Double penetrating a girl with another guy or a girl with
a strap on.
To have a bunch of good-looking guys masturbate into receptacle
and then mix all the semen together. Refrigerate it and use
it as lube when Im masturbating.
Photographing Teri Hatcher nude in her shower.
Sex on public transportation.
I dont have fantasies, I make plans.
fantasy of yours is best kept a fantasy?
a rock starId die of AIDS.
With a porpoise.
The training of a virgin guy of 16 or 17.
Fisting the wifey.
Watching P. Hilton having sex. Those lips are annoying.
Having sex with many many many many many male partners as
a woman. (Im a guy.).
It involves 10 women.
the worst situation sex has gotten you into?
full-scale divorce with all the trimmings.
We were attracted to each other, had much in common, and got
along real well. All of which was perfectly obvious to her
glowering, big husband watching nearby.
My current lover and my just-dumped lover wound up getting
jobs at desks facing each other three feet apart. My office
was 30 feet away.
When I was 39, I fucked nine college guys on a boat in Cancun
until their girlfriends came back from shopping and caused
a major scene. The pictures ended up on eBay.
I once fooled around with a couple who I thought were old
hands at the multiple-partners thing. They werent, and were,
in fact very uncomfortable about the whole thing and they
had some real problems afterwards.
Seven days of antibiotics.
When she said Theres something I have to tell you. . . .
Im a she-male.
Feeling like a creep after fucking an ex-girlfriend while
visitng her as a friend.
the most inappropriate sexual situation youve ever been in?
sex while driving down the freeway. Made me realize why people
have tinted windows, and why I need them.
A one-nighter with a man I despised. Ugh.
Having intercourse up in a loft over the living room at my
girlfriends parents house during a family get-together. The
living room was filled with all of her extended family, kids
and old folks alike.
I was with a married man who was the father of one of my students.
We were both out one night and ran into each other. Not
appropriate, but very hot.
Sex with a much-older professor in college.
Having sex with an intern at my company who was nine years
younger than me.
A friend and I started getting really physical at a party,
in the hosts bedroom, with a woman we just met. He threw
us all out.
Banging the girl next door who just happened to also be my
older brothers girlfriend.
the best come-on youve ever heard?
cant wait to tell you how good you feel inside me.
help you move (as in, to a new apartment).
I might not be the cutest one here. . . . But I am the only
one talking to you.
A guy spoke Russian to meI had no idea what he was saying,
but it really turned me on!
I flip a coin, what do you reckon my chances are of getting
in our [girls] locker room and staple papers for us.
not into the whole bar scene. I enjoy a good movie and a bottle
of wine. (Only to later find out he has been kicked out of
every bar in the Capital District.)
you have a Band-Aid? Cos I just scraped my knee falling for
really drunk, but if I were sober, Id rock your world.
the strangest?
we just lie together naked, no touching?
honeysex is like pizza. Even if its bad its still pretty
darn good.
At a Chinese restaurant, while I had a mouthful of food, another
patron walks past, drops a business card and says, Call me.
I beat you at pool, I get to shave you.
want to wrap your legs around my head and wear you like a
your craziest sex story that your friends still dont believe?
man walked nearly a mile, barefoot, to get to me.
A guy I knew was a detective and took me on a sting as part
of his cover. We were at a bar, hanging out with another cop
couple, and after they busted the guy, we had hot sex in
the bathroom of the place.
Sex in Washington Park many times, never caught.
us your best story about getting caught in the act.
by a cop with my legs wrapped around my partners faceand
I knew the cop.
Im a senior in high school, and havent come out to my parents
yet. I live in a dorm. Mom comes for an unannounced visit
and walks in on my girlfriend and me making out in my room.
We jump apart and stare at her like deer in headlights. She
runs away. My girlfriend is still there when Mom comes back
a few minutes later. My girlfriend, terrified, literally HIDES
IN THE CLOSET for the entire time I process with Mom.
At a hotel in Saratoga, fucking a friend of my husband on
the pool stairs, in heels, while my husband took pictures.
Then all the lights came on and the night manager and security
guard confronted us, and pointed out that the security cameras
were running 24/7. They kicked us out and told us never to
use the hotel again.
In high school I was eating out a female friend when my mom
got home. We managed to get our clothes back on, but I had
to explain why my face was all crusty.
My mom telling me she had to turn up the television to drown
out the noise of my boyfriend and I having sex.
What is your most common source for new fantasies and new
ideas of what to do in bed?
Bisexual Erotica series.
X-rated videos, especially ones that are polished and inviting.
of course.
Im never monogamous, so I am always learning from new people
and disseminating the information gleaned.
DVDs, videos, and Savage Love.
The Internet.
The Metroland sex survey.
Reading letters supposedly sent in by subscribers to mens
skin mags.
My own dirty mind.
Books of old erotic art.
the minimum sexual activity that counts as cheating?
Sensual kissing.
Contact with penis or vagina.
Heavy petting.
French kissing and petting without partners permission.
Oral sex without a condom.
It depends on what you and your partner are OK with. To some,
full on intercourse is not cheating but to others not keeping
every part of your skin covered when out of the house is a
betrayal, let alone a small smile.
Kissing with sexual intent.
If your partner knows and is OK with itdo anything you want!
If you havent talked about it, anything shared by both cheating
parties that really turns you on is going too far.
you have an arrangement with a long-term partner that allows
for sex with others under limited circumstances, what are
those circumstances?
anal sex. Oral sex is OK, but with a condom.
Everybody has to use latex. Our family is top priority, and
any outside involvements that would destabilize the family
are not OK. But low-intensity sexual relationships outside
the family are OK.
Be honest. Dont like them better. Dont bring any STDs home.
As long as the other one gets told about it, its not cheating.
My husband makes all the arrangements for me to have sex with
other men. They must be willing to allow him to be in the
room and to take photos or they do not get me.
It changes all the time depending on how we feel and what
the specific situation is. Basically we just talk about how
we are feeling and do what we are both OK with.
No $$ paid.
your most embarrassing masturbation story?
mother wondered why the water bill was so high, and then she
caught me masturbating with the water spigot in the bathtub.
I was driving home from college and it was a long ride so
I decided to play with myself. Everything was going good until
I noticed a truck driver staring at me. I freaked out and
sped away and he gave me a honk honk.
That I never masturbated until I was 20.
Watching porn and masturbating to it when my grandma walked
in and thought I was playing guitar. The porn had a really
cool, new-age guitar background sound.
One of my roommates walked in on me masturbating and I managed
to cover up for the most part. He stood there chatting for
about half an hour then went Oh my and walked out.
Friend knows about how I masturbated into socks (and I dont
know how he knows).
I went to the hot tub outside our hotel in Myrtle Beach. It
was closed and no lights were on, so I took off my bottoms
and had a good long orgasm to the forceful jets. When I got
out, clapping and cheers broke outthere were 20 or more golfers
out on their balconies watching. Turns out, with the full
moon reflecting off the ocean, theyd been able to see everything.
us about the best sexual surprise youve ever had.
boyfriend in red underwear on Valentines Daywith a hole
cut out.
The first time I was with two lovers at the same time and
it was easy and comfortable. I figured it would always be
a little awkward. But when you all know each other well enough
sometimes its just simple and sweet and yummy.
I went to use the bathroom, and came back to my boyfriends
room where we had been chatting and having wine and he was
gone. All of a sudden his closet doors open and he jumped
out wearing a wolf mask and boxer shorts! It was great sex
with lots of laughter too.
Straight-laced-seeming girlfriend using quite erotic language.
That a womans orgasms after I come can be extremely intense,
so keep going at any cost or method.
We were both camp counselors. When we finally got down to
business, I found out he was like Billy FucilloHUGE!
us about a dream come true that went bad.
with another girl. No go.
My first experience with two guys together. It turned out
they were so homophobic that they were worried about even
touching each other. I ended up kicking them out.
One evening after a romantic dinner, my girl decided to treat
me by eating me for dessert. She had me wear a condom. Then
the metalwork on a tooth bridge hooked on the top of the rubber,
slowly pulling it off. So it became a racewould I come before
it came off? I did, but it turned a great time into a tense
race, and a tricky clean-up job.
the strangest place youve had sex?
a deserted baseball diamond.
Airport ladies room in Phoenix on a very short break between
Roof of Exit 9 Dennys.
An airplane lavatory at 30,000 feet.
In a porta-potty with the stench of old piss.
In an above-ground swimming pool with her little brother nearby.
Outside Harris Bay, Lake George, on an old dock on the opposite
side of a boat slip on Mothers Day while people were walking
to their boats, just enough lower that passersby would have
to look down to see us.
On a car hood.
the strangest place youve masturbated?
subway, midday, vibrator inside my jeans.
At work, in the beer cooler, with a green pepper.
The tanning hut. I just cant help myself: Im naked, and
its so hot.
The grocery store.
While fishing along a beautiful trout stream.
In the arboretum in my undergraduate colleague with a straight
(or at least I think he is) friend.
In the john at the Chicago airport.
your favorite sex toy?
lovely little black-rubber dildo.
dildo from Good Vibrations. Mine is sparkly gold.
Butt plug.
My hand.
A leather cock-and-ball harness.
My good old-fashioned vibrator.
The mind.
Fleshy-textured vibrator.
your favorite sex toy that wasnt intended to be a sex toy?
electric toothbrush.
Plastic zigzagged swizzle stick.
The glass stopper to a fancy antique bottle. The end that
fit into the bottle was smooth and about the size and shape
of a penis head; the other end was a sphere a bit bigger than
A grapefruit.
Soiled panties.
Shower loofah.
Roll-on deodorant. When I was about 10, I used to rub it on
my penis prior to pulling the pudster. For some reason I got
it through my head (no pun intended) that the deodorant is
what made me come.
Corn on the cob with a studded condom.
A one-pint plastic Poland Spring water bottle. Fill with warm
water to the top and put the cap on tight. Remove the green
label and clean. If it begins to lose its effect, move up
a size.
sexual discovery has changed your life?
That everyone is completely different sexually
in what they like to do and how they feel and respond to different
Web cam!
Being exposed to gay sex and muscular, hot guys.
Monogamy isnt necessarily the only way.
I went through a period of about two years, after a painful
breakup, when Id all but lost interest in sex altogether.
Fortunately, and occasionally unfortunately, I found it again.
Unlocking the back door.
A member of the clergy recommended that I meditate and masturbate
daily as part of my spiritual practice. That cleared
up any residual shame I might have had about masturbating!
The fact that I come extremely quickly if someone plays with
my ass.
That sex is the perhaps the greatest gift God gave us.
Sex is not a technique learning like cooking, but an expression
of ones emotions toward your partner.
is your favorite kink, and why does that turn you on?
be tied to the bed, a chair, etc. You cant get involved,
and its all about you.
Anal sex, because its all about trust.
Female squirting.
Role-playing. Most of the roles I choose are ones where I
am submissive. I love being dominated.
Double penetration. I think its because I love to see women
come really hard and I also love anal sex.
Other peoples kinks. Everybody has something they are afraid
to ask for because people might laugh, or be disgusted, or
just not care enough to want to do it. I love it when people
trust me enough to tell me what they want, and I love doing
for them what most people wont. Maybe Im just a romantic
trapped in a perverts body.
Being peed on.
Watching a guys dick spurt come. I love having control in
my hand, knowing I control the outcome of when he comes and
how far.
Bald beavers. Nothing interrupts cunnilingus.
My wife acting like a sex-crazed slut.
Being used by two or more people. I think I like it because
it becomes much more, for lack of a better term, organic,
Ejaculating into a used condom that my partner ejaculated
into. Saves money, and allows my semen to mix with his, creating
an out-of-body union.
the most unusual thing you do to get yourself in the mood?
vanilla pudding, in a hot bath.
Wander around unlikely places (someone elses house, a grocery
store, etc.) looking for things whose shape would be fun to
masturbate with.
Listen to a Social Distortion CD.
Save up sperm for three days. (Abstinence.)
Answering the Metroland sex survey waiting for my lover
to get ready for bed.
Im almost always in the mood.
Go to Thruway rest stops and engage in dick peeping in the
mens room. I hate bathrooms with partitions between urinals.
your best story about watching or being watched?
invited to watch my boyfriends best friend jerk off in the
kitchen. His dad came home and almost caught us.
I was once dating two girls; one liked to watch, it worked
out well. It was like her own little interactive porn.
One of my girlfriends friends is an artist and wanted to
do a charcoal of us nude. While she was drawing us I started
eating my girlfriend out. When the friend was done drawing
us, she masturbated and we all came.
I was at college on the fourth floor of the student union.
A couple went at it in the woods below, then went at it again.
I doubt they realized they could be seen from above.
Being hired out by my husband for a bachelor party to fuck
the groom on stage. All the guys then chipped in $25 for a
chance to have their name drawn out of a hat for a second
show. The best mans father was the name drawn.
the best response youve gotten to delivering challenging/unexpected
news to a potential sex partner (e.g. youre HIV positive,
married, or passing for a different gender)?
wife told the guy she had a crush on that she was interested
in him, but also married. He said Oh, that means youre polyamorous!
I am too! and they hooked up. Later I joined in.
me too.
A blow job.
would your utopian sexual society look like?
all be allowed two partnersone for every day and one for
special occasions.
in the City and all the soaps combined.
No STDs, coupling upon arousal.
Less concern about sex and sexual activity and more concern
about relationships between people. The friendships, love,
and trust are the things that make the sex worthwhile.
Everyone being considered sexy and desirable regardless of
race, size, orientation, etc. Then safe sex for all!
Rooming with 10 to 15 free single women.
Everyone in shape and mature enough to handle sex in a nonjudgmental
There would be sex rooms in virtually every building, just
as there are restrooms, and people could have sex whenever
they wanted in those rooms (provided they were of legal age
and it was consensual).
An embedded bar code in the body that could be scanned for
sexual profiles for ease of hooking up.
Universal nudity, so you wouldnt be so curious whats under
those clothes.
The most important values would be honesty and caring for
how our actions affect others.
You Feel It?
By Jo Page
of cinemas most erotic scenes could score a PG ratingsometimes
its what you dont see that turns you on
mother had big knuckles, so when she clapped her hand over
my eyes there was still enough space between her fingers for
me to get a pretty good glimpse of what was happening.
They were doing it, though I didnt know what doing it was.
If there was skin I didnt see any. What I did see was a close
up of Anouk Aimees face. She looked distraught, as if something
was hurting her a substantial amount. Or maybe it was just
that she looked sad. Either way it didnt seem to me that
doing it had all that much to recommend it.
I have never been able to figure out why my mother brought
me to see A Man and a Woman. It was already a few years
old, its reputation well-known. Maybe she figured Id forget
what I had seen. Maybe she figured Id forget what I had heard.
But I didnt. That was my first erotic scenethough I didnt
have a word for what to call itand it stayed with me. Very
early on I began to discover that there is a difference between
the erotic, the explicit and the romantic.
A romantic scene charms youJohn Cusack with his boom box
in Say Anything, Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll
handcuffed to each other in The 39 Steps.
An explicit scene startles you, but also distances you: Think
of the mechanistic orgy in Eyes Wide Shut, where more
is really less, or the pretentious brutality of Blue Velvet.
But an erotic scene invites you right into it.
Erotic scenes are nearly tactile, often wordless. There may
be a lot of skin involved, or little. There may be sex or
not. Thats all beside the point because an erotic scene is
more participatory than voyeuristic. Its not about what the
characters show or what the characters do; its about what
the viewer feels.
So where will you find some truly erotic scenes?
It isnt necessarily to be found in what you see.
You wont see anything at all in A Very Long Engagement.
Thats because Audrey Tautou removes one article of clothing
at a timeand that happens only in the darkness between the
matches that Gaspard Ulliel, her lover, strikes. We hear the
rasp of the match. We see a flash of light. She has taken
off another garment. The match goes out. But the darkness
itself promises more.
Thats the funny thing about genuinely sexy movies: They leave
you hungering for more. So often sex in movies seems like
the plastic sushi in the windows of Japanese restaurants:
bright, perfect, fake.
By the time Nicole Kidman and Jude Law finally get the chance
to have sex in Cold Mountain, the Civil War has destroyed
their lives. Plus, theyre supposed to be dirty. They havent
flossed, brushed or put on clean underwear in a dogs age.
And on top of all that, theyve never even done it together
So why do they move around that cold twig-and-wattle hut as
if they were old hands in a featherbed at the Ritz-Carlton?
I didnt believe a bit of it. And so it wasnt erotic at all.
(On the other hand, watching Sam Neill wash Nicole Kidmans
hair aboard their sailboat in Dead Calm is totally
erotic. Ill have some of that shampoo, please.)
But unlike the single-wrapped sliced-cheese feel of the sex
in Cold Mountain, Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant in
Indiscreet manage chemistry fully-clothed, with their
characters on opposite sides of the English Channel.
In the split-screen scene they lie in bed talking to each
other on the phone between London and Paris. She rests her
hand on top of where his would be if he were lying beside
her. He reaches out and pats the place where her bottom would
be if she were lying beside him. You know what would happen
next if they were side-by-side.
And there is no on-screen kiss as plainly erotic as Cary Grants
and Ingrid Bergmans in Notorious.
They stand on a balcony in Rio. Its dusk. You can hear the
ocean. Theyre talking about dinner. About eating in instead
of going out. Shes talking about making a chicken. You can
tell shes no cook.
But all the while their lips are touching, moving, kissing
as they speak. Its a very long kiss, a breathy kiss, a talky
kissnot that any of the talking makes any kind of sense.
Because its all prelude. A literal amuse-bouche, as
the French call their appetizers. And by the time they are
finished kissing weand theyare hungry for so much more than
Everybody knows that not all nudity is necessarily erotic.
But Nicolas Roegs murder mystery Dont Look Now, based
on a Daphne du Maurier short story, has the sexiest nude love
scene Ive ever watched. With Pino Donaggios moving score,
its a series of jump cuts between Donald Sutherlands and
Julie Christies candidly naked bodies in bed and the domestic
gestures of their shared bathing, dressing, grooming, We are
drawn into these intimate moments as if they were our own
moments, shared with someone well-known and well-loved.
We dont see any sex in The Girl on the Bridge. Here
the erotic is unfolds as metaphor. But what a metaphor: Daniel
Auteuil is a sometimes blindfolded knife-thrower and Vanessa
Paradis becomes his human target.
Because he loves her, Auteuils character must be at his bestkeen,
strong and accurate. Anything less could kill her. But for
him to be at his best she must trust his ability no less than
she trusts his love.
With each knife he throws we feel almost palpably the pattern
of trusting and risking that makes love so strong a bond.
And maybe thats what makes a scene truly erotic: to feel
that ultimately there is safety in daring to find sanctuary
in the body of the lover.
Company, Too
John Brodeur
are an ever-present fantasyand for some, theyre a living
had a threesome with two of my roommates, says Mike, a 32-year-old
computer engineer. The two girls were so into each other
that I felt like a third wheel. As they were gratifying each
other, I attempted to enter one of them, and really just felt
as if I was getting in the way.
Two girls at the same timeits every straight mans fantasy,
they say, although relatively few actually get to fulfill
their wet dream. When and if they do make the big score, theyre
oft left less-than-thrilled with the results. (Obviously,
it works in other ways, tootwo guys and a girl, three guys,
three girlsbut none of the women we spoke with shared any
negative memories of their experiences, and we didnt reach
any all-male threesomes, so for the sake of the argument .
. . )
Thats not to say the concept of a good, steamy, Penthouse
Forum-worthy group-shag is a complete fallacy. Django,
a 26-year-old ad executive, recounts his own experiences.
I went home with one girl and . . . her roommate was home
when we got there. The next thing I know, the two of them
start making out right in front of me. One thing led to another
and . . . well, it was pretty great. Id do it again anytime.
Of course he would.
The two girls, on the other hand, had a slightly different
view. We planned the whole thing out, recalls Staci. We
just wanted to have some fun with a boy.
Michelle (Stacis roommate) continues, Yeah, I think he got
the wrong idea. He called, like, five times after that.
Others who have not had the experience themselves relay a
more utopian vision of what their ultimate threesome would
be like. Alejandro, a 45-year-old novelist, says, The true
ménage-a-trois fantasy? Im having sex with someone whos
really hot, while the third person is cleaning my house and
taking care of my bills. Not necessarily a P.C. point of
view, but perhaps hes onto something.
While many folks might think of a threesome as a one-night
stand, a growing number of relationship risk-takers have adapted
the concept into a lifestyle. Dear ol Dubya might have a
coronary imagining this, what with that whole sanctity of
marriage business hes been going on about, but three-partner
relationships (triads, triangles, triples, triumvirates, threesomesall
the terms sound awkward, really) tend to thrive, in part due
to the very concept of a third wheel.
Scott, Harry and Jenn have been involved in various romantic
permutations for almost 10 years. Scotts version of the brief
history: Jenn and I went to college No. 1 together. Harry
and I went to college No. 2 together. Jenn moved to the Albany
area and things slowly coalesced over a number of years. Jenn
and I got married in 1998. Harry and I shared various dwellings
between 1997 and afterwards. Harry moved in to Jenns and
my house in 2001.
Things were more complicated than that, of course. Jenn explains,
Scott and I did great at school for one-and-a-half years
until he moved to a university here (in Albany). . . . We
had about three years of this long-distance thing. . . . Then
I moved to the Capital District to be closer to a woman I
was planning on living with. That didnt work out at all,
but Scott and I spent a ton of time rebuilding our emotional
(and sexual) ties.
In the 18 months that led up to Scotts and Jenns wedding,
the couple began spending more and more time with Harry. We
remained very close, and a few times I would make out with
one or both of them, says Harry.
gave us matching hickeys two weeks after our wedding, Jenn
Harry continues, One day Jenn asked me to move in, since
I was looking for a new place, so three months later I moved
in with them.
realized I wanted Harry to stay, says Jenn, that he was
a part of the family, and Id be devastated if he left.
Horace explains the circumstances that led to his relationship
with Stella and Rachel. The girls were together for years
before they met me; we were all living in or around NYC. They
and I had independently found and hung out with the polyamorous
network down there. (Polyamory is defined as the theory
and practice of openly maintaining multiple sexual and/or
romantic relationships, according to romanceopedia.com.)
The relationship began with Horaces romantic overtures toward
Stella, and shortly thereafter, a bond also blossomed with
was spending tremendous amounts of time at their place. After
a couple of months, the travel time . . . just became an annoyance.
. . . [They] found they were both feeling the center of gravity
of the relationship shifting to somewhere between the three
of us. So from a very early stage, I was kind of let in as
a full member of this household.
A three-way relationship has the built-in potential for plenty
of three-way sex, but, as Scott points out, there are many
more reasons why it works. Finances, for example, and one
more person to take care of the kids, one more person to send
out to do errands, another car.
hoping that] splitting child care three ways [will] help avoid
parenting burnout, says Horace. [Having] more role models
for kids is better, too, in my book.
He continues, Beyond that, it keeps you sane. A third person
is . . . an extra perspective that can stop crazy ideas before
they take hold. If both your partners are saying no, really,
youre just completely off base, you kind of have to start
listening. Id say upward of 85 percent of arguments between
couples come down to communication issuespeople are talking
past each other, not really answering each others concerns.
. . . A third partner [can] spot those misunderstandings and
expose them.
That seems to be the common thread: honesty and communication.
(Funny, those things are generally regarded as the cornerstones
of any relationship.) Scott says, From an emotional
standpoint, the other two people serve as a reality check.
If one of us gets way out of line, the other two can have
an intervention.
for disadvantages, there are plenty of those. At this point,
introducing ones same-sex partner is not necessarily as completely
alien as it once was, but introducing two partners is looked
at somewhat askance.
Horace adds, Lots of negotiationcouples may get by without
really talking about anything . . . but that can never fly
for us. We spend a lot of time working things out.
Is polyamory for you? Everyone interviewed agreed that its
something that needs to happen completely naturally, that
cant be rushed into or forced, but if youre curious to find
out more, or perhaps become involved in a three-or-more-partner
relationship, theres plenty of information available online
at alt.polyamory. Also, the PolyLiving 2005 conference will
take place in Philadelphia Feb. 18-20 (more details at Polyliving.com).
Of course, if youre just going for one of those Penthouse
Forum type of things, we kindly recommend saving up some
money, because odds are your bar tab is going to skyrocket.
the Wild Barley
Devon Kirkpatrick
from the stereotype of ultra-monogamous lesbians, college-age
dykes are experimenting with open relationships, and with
new perspectives on monogamy
landed on the East Coast in 2000, a naïve 18-year-old dyke-in-training,
flown in from the tropics and ready to absorb a liberal-arts
education. When I moved from Honolulu to New York for my freshman
year of college, not only had I never experienced a winter,
Id never experienced a woman. I had XXX-tra curricular activity
dancing on the back of my eyelids when I dreamed at night,
but by daylight, my sex life was fresh from the closet and
smelled of clean laundry. My budding sexuality glowed as white
as a blank canvas begging to be splattered with rainbow paint.
myself in the company of other dykes my age, I felt giddy
and excited to try new things in this permissive atmosphere.
And lo and behold, before my first year was complete I owned
my very first pair of long underwear, and beneath those, my
very first (and thankfully, only) glow-in-the-dark mail-order
Liberal-arts colleges are generally a safe setting for young
queer folk to define and express their sexuality as they see
fit. During my tenure as an undergrad, Skidmore College threw
an annual DIVA night, where all students were encouraged to
express sexuality through costume, and dance the night away
in a gymnasium with gay, straight and lesbian porn projected
on televisions in the corner, while being showered with condoms
and dental dams by scantily-clad contraceptive fairies. I
arrived at DIVA with an entourage of penis-packing girls in
drag. We proceeded to gyrate and proudly shake-what-our-mommas-didnt-give
us, and I thought, Eureka! This is it! We were brilliant because
we were kinky, perverse, and pushing sexual boundaries.
These brazen exhibitions only symbolized the real stuff, however.
The juicy stuff was the boundaries my friends and I expanded,
retracing them between the sheets. We challenged not only
the idea that sex should be limited to after heterosexual
marriage, but the idea that it was even limited to any sort
of long-term partnerships or exclusive partnerships, or that
casual sex would ruin friendships.
In the interest of admiring our exploits, a friend of mine
and I once sat down sketched a web, similar to the one (for
those Showtime fans out there) drawn by the character
Alice on The L-Word, which mapped, through liplock
or more, all the dykes we could think of in our community.
As we stepped back to observe the final product, my friend
exclaimed Good God! Youre like Chicago OHare! But when
I looked closer, I saw that most of the lines growing out
of my name united me with friends with whom Id had no real
romantic relationship, just casual erotic encounters or a
little smooching.
I felt a surge of pride when I looked at the marked-up sheet
of yellow construction paper. The climate of my social life
was brilliantly charged with sexual energy. It brought me
back to the early 90s, when I was playing doctor with my
friends and telling girls on my soccer team to call me Pierro
the Lovah, only now I had the added advantage of having
gone through puberty. A game as adolescent as Spin the Bottle,
when initiated in the right setting, allowed us to test the
boundaries of our comfort zones, and expectations about how
we should or should not act with our friends.
It generally worked well. At one such party the atmosphere
overcame me and I ended up in bed with a visiting lover I
had met while traveling in Spain, and a couple made up of
two of my best friends. The mood of the party said Youre
attracted to these people, you know youre safe with them,
now scoot to the bedroom lickety-tit! Luckily, these good
feelings translated to the next morning, and I think the sex
enhanced my friendship with the couple, by allowing it an
added intimacy. And as far as their relationship is concerned,
what we did contributed to their developing a polyamorous
element to it.
We didnt just do this stuff; we theorized about it. One woman
decided that she has many hearts with which to love. In that
way, she can give her whole heart to her girlfriend and express
love to other friends and family without ever diminishing
her love toward one person. There is always a part of me
that is not accessed by one person, she explains.
Consciously or unconsciously, we were trying to shatter the
stereotype of queer women as knee-jerk masters of monogamy.
What does a lesbian bring on her second date? A U-HAUL!
Ha ha, hoo. Ha. Ive heard that one before. Doesnt apply
All this freedom from the pressures of enforced monogamy is
great. But sometimes it can become its own kind of pressure.
As young queer women, we exist in a world where gray boundaries
are not only accepted, but often encouraged. I know girls
who desire monogamy, but admit to it in hushed voices, like
its a dirty little secret. My name is ***** and I like monogamy!
Its as if theyre in an AA meeting admitting to a psychological
Perhaps its because our freedom to fuck openly as young queer
women was fought for so dearly. Am I not taking advantage
of the doors that opened so that I could live outside of tradition?
Should I feel ashamed if I dont choose to push boundaries
further? I say keep this discussion alive.
To those queer women out there having sex that works for them,
as traditional or otherwise as it may be, I raise my glass
up my ass, stomp my handcuffed feet and smack my vaginal lips
to you. As for me, after four years of college, I finally
settled on a sensible strap-on, and one beautiful girl who
understands how I work on many levels. For now, at least,
we are monogamous, and Im not distressed by that. Somebody
cue the organ music, please!
Sometimes I wonder if I should still be out there strapping
it on for a plethora of ladies and sowing my ovarian seed,
but Ive learned to appreciate comfortable and creative as
well as hot and sexy. I still have eyes, I still have an imagination.
And I still get butterflies in my stomach when I look at her.
And thats still awfully radical.
the Girls
Kevin Abbott
guys arent the only ones who enjoy watching female strippers
been to the same bars over and over again for months now.
The scene has gotten stale, and somehow you keep seeing the
same damn people again and again. There has to be an alternative
that still involves the booze, but has nothing at all to do
with bowlingsomething exotic, exciting. You call up the guys
for ideas.
They suggest a strip club. You say, Hell, why not a strip
is more or less how it went down for Alexis, who has been
to two other strip clubs since the first time she went with
her ex-boyfriend and some male friends of his.
not that Im attracted to girls, Ive never even kissed one,
Alexis says. I actually wanted to go before my boyfriend
at the time even invited me. The curiosity was built on hearing
the guys talk, movies, and the Sopranos.
This may seem odd at first, but Alexis has her reasons. She
went to a club again with male and female friends on two occasions.
She says its more about the atmosphere and the music. Its
like a bar, but with entertainment. Not so much for the
dancers themselves, but the general feel of the place.
The dancers werent the only entertainment. She got a kick
out of watching her guy friends around them. One of them
had never been to one before, so he was like a shy, little
boy, when this girl came up and hopped on his lap, she remembers.
Thats a situation most women havent seen their male friends
in, and it can be revealing, or amusing.
Alexis isnt sure if shed go without any of the guys though.
I think it wouldnt be as fun. I really like watching them,
she says. She explains that its often obnoxious when a man
is making passes at women in bars, but in this particular
environment, the dancers are by far the dominant ones, turning
the tables somewhat.
Alexis is far from alonein fact, most accounts pinpoint the
mid-90s as the beginning of a trend, still going strong,
in which women began visiting strip clubs in much greater
numbers than they had previously. Id be curious to see what
its like, Ive never been before, says Abbie. I might go
with only other girls, but I think it would be better with
guys. She doesnt believe it would be preferable to going
to a normal bar, but rather it would be a different experience.
Abbie says she expects shes probably get a lot of attention
from the guys she went with, their hormones raging from the
dancers. Id even get a lap dance, why not?
Kelly also has been to a couple of strip clubs, but just looks
at it as something to do. I dont necessarily go out of my
way, but if other people are going and Im not doing anything,
Ill go. She went to an all-nude club once and didnt find
it as entertaining as the topless bars. I like there to be
a bar. Otherwise, all it is, is sitting around watching some
girl. She can see how men may enjoy it only for the show,
but according to Kelly, If a woman is going to go to a strip
club, she should really go to one of the ones with a bar.
Again, viewing the guys responses is one of the attractions.
I wouldnt go to pick up guys, adds Kelly, but it is interesting
to see their reactions.
While some straight women may not be sexually attracted to
the dancers, making their experience different from the male
clientele, something about the sexually charged atmosphere
of a strip club seems appealing in its own right. The female
form is considered by some to be more aesthetically pleasing
than the male body, which may make the idea of a straight
woman watching female dancers and enjoying it more plausible
than a straight man heading out to an all-male revue. (One
straight woman puts it bluntly: Breasts are nicer to look
at than scrotums!)
And some women, straight women included, do get an erotic
charge from the experiencesometimes unexpectedly. In the
uninhibited and sexually heightened atmosphere of a strip
club, women who already enjoy looking at other beautiful women
can find themselves swept away in the sensuality of the moment.
Furthermore, its an open secret that some female strippers
get friendlier when performing lap dances for women. Consider
this, from a dancer writing in the June 2003 Private Dancer
looked over more than once while dancing for a woman and seen
a look of awe on her husbands face that told me he was seeing
a side of her he hadnt realized existed. Sometimes the look
on her face tells me that she hadnt realized
it, either. More and more women are realizing that sex play
is a delicious part of life, and that the erotically charged,
lively and libertine atmosphere of a topless bar can be exciting
and oddly freeing and not the den of degradation they had
always pictured.
Liana has been to a strip club and says she wants to go again.
She has no problem going, but thinks it is partly because
sexual politics make it not as much of an issue for women
to explore same-sex interactions as it is for men. Its not
shameful for a woman to be curious about women, but most men
still find it way too much of a stigma, she says. The idea
of a straight woman being in a club where other women are
naked doesnt pose the same social obstacles that would arise
from a man visiting a club with male dancers. Plus, even
men reinforce it themselves, by approving of women and women,
but scrutinizing men and men, she adds.
If exploring the world of strip clubs seems like a relatively
new and daring approach by straight women, remember that burlesque
shows and cabarets, where women would be expected in the audience,
offer a similar sexually charged atmosphere with less stigma.
The roles the human body can play change under what context
the anatomy is portrayed in and who is observing it. Whether
its for a night of entertainment laughing at the guys, a
chance to hang out with some friends, pure curiosity, or a
sexual charge, some women do enjoy strip clubs. They are comfortable
with the idea and unashamed. Bring on the ladies!
Are Us
Glenn Weiser
and other sex toys are very, very far from being newfangled
results of the sexual revolution
quiz: Which was invented first, the wheel or the dildo? You
guessed it: The wheel could wait. Our remote ancestors clearly
had, well, more pressing concerns. Ever since the prehistoric
discovery that certain objects could enhance sexual pleasure,
people of all times and places have used them. And while a
look at the history of sex toys can amuse as well as dismay,
it above all shows us something about ourselves.
Upper Paleolithic art from more than 30,000 years ago clearly
depicts penis-shaped objects being used as dildos (the wheel,
in case you were wondering, was invented in Mesopotamia around
3500 to 4000 B.C.). Some archeologists speculate that these
troglodyte prototypes were made of dried dung coated with
resin. By the fifth to third centuries B.C., dildosnow crafted
of stone, wood, leather, ivory, or ceramics and used with
olive oil as a lubricanthad appeared in Greek art and literature.
Surviving examples include a vase emblazoned with a double-ended
model and a third-century play in which two women extol the
unrivaled quality of dildos produced in the city of Miletus,
then the sex-toy capital of the classical world.
Dildosits not certain whether the term derives from the
Latin dilatare, meaning to dilate or open wide, or the Italian
diletto, meaning delightand other toys were widespread
in other ancient cultures as well. Roman women are known to
have turned to dildos when their husbands were off to war.
In China, dildos dating back to the New Stone Age (12,000
B.C.) had been found before the recent discovery of seven
cast bronze examples in a Han dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 25)
tomb in Xian. Evidence collected there by archeologists suggests
palace maids used the finely wrought tools to satisfy neglected
imperial concubines or noblewomen. And the Kama Sutra
(A.D. 200 to 300) mentions that metal cylinders were used
as penis extenders in India.
During the Middle Ages (500 to 1450), new devices debuted,
proving that human ingenuity is as limitless as lust is enduring.
Ben-wa balls, invented in Japan around A.D. 500 to provide
women with prolonged stimulation, originally consisted of
three small spheres linked by tiny chains and tied to a silken
retrieval string. Some models had clappers that rang the balls
like bells as they rolled about their merry way. Over time,
Japanese women used them in pairs to strengthen their pelvic
floor muscles, much as Kegel exercises are done today.
An old Turkish proverb holds that If man had created man,
he would be ashamed of his performance, and some in medieval
China clearly would have agreed. To increase staying power,
the cock ring was introduced there around 1200. The earliest
known ones were made from goats eyelids with the eyelashes
left intact and then hardened to increase the mans pleasure
during intercourse. By 1600, they were made of ivory and often
elaborately carved in bas-relief to depict dragons. Some rings
even sported a nub on the dragons tongue that a skilled lover
could apply to the womans clitoris.
By the Victorian era, in the English-speaking world at least,
popular understanding of female sexuality had sunk to a level
that might have appalled even a Paleolithic-era cave dweller:
Conventional wisdom held that women had no carnal desires.
Lust in females was termed hysteria, a Greek term meaning
suffering uterus, and treated as a medical condition. Women
complaining of irritability, anxiety, sexual fantasies, and
pelvic heaviness, sought relief from physicians, who treated
them by massaging the clitoris until paroxysm, or orgasm,
was induced. Not unsurprisingly, many doctors offices became
de facto massage parlors as repeated visits for such attention
became immensely popular among the ladies.
To better alleviate hysteria (and probably save his fellow
practitioners from repetitive-motion disorders as well), an
American doctor, George Taylor, invented the steam-powered
vibrator in 1869. Battery-driven models with attachments allowing
the physician to vary the sensations were in use by the 1890s,
and by 1921, magazine ads appeared promising men they could
keep their wives young and pretty with home vibrator treatments.
(To its everlasting shame, the medical profession considered
hysteria an ailment until 1952.) In the 1940s, though, the
vibrator had to go underground, as its appearance in pornography
had made its true function obvious. It later resurfaced during
the sexual revolution of the 1960s.
The Victorian era also saw the advent of butt plugs, which
were originally egg-shaped and prescribed to help prevent
loss of sperm through wasteful ejaculation, and the first
rubber dildos. Modern versions of these became available after
the invention of latex rubber in the 1930s.
Sex toys made headlines last July when a three-judge panel
of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision,
upheld a 1998 Alabama law banning their sale in the state.
To the dismay of civil libertarians, the judges ruled that
the Constitution doesnt include a right to sexual privacy.
Similar laws have long been on the books in a few other Southern
states, including Georgia and Tennessee.
In another recent development, a hardy group of Russians gave
a whole new meaning to the phrase whatever floats your boat
when, for the second year in a row, contestants in the Bubble
Baba Challenge near St. Petersburg competed in a whitewater
rafting race using inflatable sex dolls. Some priceless photos
of last years event can be viewed online at www.design boom.com/contemporary/sexdoll.html.
One suspects that our Russian rafters, as well as the ghosts
of those virile Chinese ringmasters and lonely Roman women,
would agree that a few moralists like the state legislators
of Alabama will always try to spoil everyone elses erotic
fun. But the long and varied saga of sex toys reveals the
popularity of the belief that when it comes to how consenting
adults choose to pleasure their partners or themselves, the
ends justify the means.
of an Aphrodisiac Tester
Cinnamon Stroke
I took this assignment, I began to prepare to write a standard
piece on what foods are considered aphrodisiacs and find research
on each individual item, to provide me with reasons to either
dispel myths or support theories on effective foods. But I
figured it would be a more useful piece if I were to test
out all these so-called aphrodisiacs myself.
One: Spanish Fly
sexperts at honeymoons.com say:
fly (cantharides) is a substance made from pulverized beetles
found in southern Europe. For centuries Spanish fly has been
considered an aphrodisiac. Spanish fly poorly mimics arousal
by irritating the urogenital tract and causing the genitals
to burn, swell and itch. Side effects can include pain, nausea,
vomiting, and death.
sandwich on marble rye. Yum. After experiencing said burning,
swelling and itching, and the astonishing pain each brings,
I nearly forgot about the death I was expected to experience.
Sadly, death would have been welcome compared to the retching
that came instead.
Level: -3 (Death as a side effect just isnt sexy.)
Two: Oysters
sexperts say at sexuality.com say:
scoffed at oysters sexual reputation until nutritionists
discovered that they are rich in the essential trace mineral,
zinc. Zinc is not a magic love mineral, but its crucial for
mens sexual health. Men with zinc-deficient diets are at
risk for prostate problems. Men and women with zinc deficiencies
suffer infertility and libido loss. University of Rochester
researchers have restored sperm counts in infertile men using
zinc supplements. Processed foods are often low in zinc. In
addition to oysters, whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables
contain this mineral.
a near-death day-one experience, I decided to take myself
out to dinner to try to forget about my miserable Spanish
Fly incident. I headed out to the local seafood joint to chow
down on the raw oyster bar. The oysters were mighty tasty,
but there was a setback. I found that I happened to develop
a near-deadly allergy to shellfish. Fabulous. At least my
sperm count is restored. Oh, wait a second . . .
Factor: 5 (The oysters get points for resembling female genitalia.)
3: Chocolate
sexperts at iVillage.com say:
ubiquitous treat contains mild central nervous system stimulants
that help heighten mood and yearning. According to legend,
Montezuma drank 50 cups of chocolate every day to boost his
virility before visiting his harem of 600 women. A small amount
of quality chocolate can set the mood just as easily.
say diamonds are a girls best friend. They lied. Any girl
will tell you its chocolate. And after days, I decided to
stick to my tried-and-true snack and raided my secret stash
of milk-chocolate Hershey Bars I keep in a shoebox under my
bed. Arousal jackpot! No need for oysters or dead beetles,
one bar of this blissful treat and I was beating down the
door of the Republican next door.
Factor: 8.5 (So what if he voted for Bush?)
4: Alcohol
sexperts at health.discovery.com say:
is another substance that most people believe increases their
sexual responsiveness. This is partly because alcohol has
a disinhibiting effectit lowers the sexual inhibitions a
person may ordinarily have, thus allowing sexual desire to
emerge. Alcohols reputation as an aphrodisiac also stems
from advertising and cultural myths.
sex with a Republican. Beer for breakfast, anyone? Martini
for lunch? And maybe a Mai Tai for dinner. What can be better
than washing the mem- ory of my choco- late-induced semi-
nightmare than a few cocktails? Alcohol. I drank myself into
a stupor on day four, leading to very arousing dreams, but
not much more.
Factor: 6 (Diminished by the impending hangover.)
5: Powdered Rhinoceros Horn
sexperts at sweetecstacy.com say:
belief in the potency of rhinoceros horn has brought the single-horned
African rhinoceros to the brink of extinction. In fact, the
horn consists of fibrous tissue, similar in construction to
hair and nails. Like them, rhino horn contains the protein
keratin, and the minerals sulfur, calcium and phosphorus.
The addition of these elements to a poor diet might improve
vigor, but a cheese sandwich would do just as well.
five called for a much-needed break. Powdered rhinoceros horn
was on the menu, so I ground up a horn I had handy and added
it to my daily dose of green tea, and waited to see what would
happen. Nothing much. . . . All that came of day fives test
was a surge of guilt for helping contribute to the diminishment
of the species. Ill stick to the cheese sandwiches.
Factor: 0
6: Ginger Root
sexperts at lifenetwork.ca say:
served raw, cooked, candied, or crystallized, ginger root
is a circulatory system stimulant that adds tangy flavor to
any meal. Because ginger increases circulation, it improves
sensitivity to your bodys erogenous zones. Candied ginger
is a light, delicious way to complete a romantic dinner while
simultaneously improving post-meal breath.
threw together a stir-fry heavily laced with ginger. It was
a good meal, but not a turn-on by any means.
Factor: 0
7: Avocado
Aztecs called the avocado tree Ahuacuatl which translated
means testicle tree. The ancients thought the fruit hanging
in pairs on the tree resembled testicles. This is a delicious
fruit with a sensuous texture.
was scheduled for my seventh and final day of testing. I took
it easy and ate a whole lot of chips and guacamole. Not much
of an effect here, except for bloating from overeating. Avocado
is a tasty snack, but it wont do much for your libido.
Factor: 4 (At least its got the looking-like-a-testicle
thing going for it.)
Well, it was a great seven-day aphrodisiacal whirl. I almost
died, hate-fucked a Republican (which is worse), was responsible
for the death of a rhino, drank myself into a stupor, overate,
and in the end, all I had left was bad breath, and a strange
itch Im hoping the oysters can explain. My conclusion? Dont
depend on food to get you in the mood. Its just too risky.


text:
- Filed Under
Kara and Kilala are available for adoption in Morris County.
Kara is a 6-month Lab-boxer mix rescued from a high-kill shelter in North Carolina. She is a go-with-the-flow type of dog with an easy-going personality that will fit any home. She is affectionate, friendly and smart and is already house-trained and knows to sit before getting a treat or food.
Kara is having fun in a foster home playing with the kids and the foster family's dog but she also likes playing by herself with her toys. ...


text:
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The WFMY News 2 Winterfest opens Wednesday, and to test it out, the Good Morning Show crew asked the Carolina Hurricanes mascot Stormy and the Storm Squad to make the trip from Raleigh.
The group, including Mike Witing, Miriam Cooper and Allison Cardella, played a game with Eric Chilton and Jackie Fernandez that might look familiar. The squad plays it with Carolina Hurricanes fans during game intermissions. The participants race to see who can put on the hockey gear the quickest. Wednesday, Jackie took the honors.
Click here to learn more about the Carolina Hurricanes Storm Squad and how to get tickets for the 2013- 2014 season.
WFMY News 2


text:
P.R. drops first 2009 Classic game
Squad falls to Venezuela, must beat U.S. on Tuesday to advance
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
- Box score >
- Snell's barehanded grab: Watch
- P.R. in must-win territory vs. Team USA
- Umpires don't use replay in Classic
- Classic: Tickets | Gear | Schedule | Home
Previously unbeaten Puerto Rico fell, 2-0, to Venezuela on Monday night, as Felix Hernandez and Francisco Rodriguez bookended a strong pitching performance, while the Puerto Rican pitching staff slowed but couldn't completely stop a potent Venezuelan offense. Carlos Guillen's RBI single and Ramon Hernandez's initially disallowed home run sent Puerto Rico to its first defeat in the Classic.
Ian Snell offered an admirable effort over four innings against a lineup stacked with power, allowing a single run on five hits. He stranded runners in every inning and made big pitch after big pitch, but he simply put himself in trouble one too many times.
"You see it as trouble," Snell told reporters after the game. "I don't see it as trouble. They hit good pitches. You've got to tip your hat to them. They're a good team and very aggressive. A lot of those guys are in the big leagues. They're not there by mistake. I made good pitches; they hit it. You see it as trouble. I just see it as working hard and they're working hard and you've just got to go with it."
With Hernandez and the Venezuelan bullpen dealing, a single run was enough to defeat a Puerto Rican team that has hit well but not spectacularly in the Classic. Insurance came in the form of Hernandez's seventh-inning homer off of Giancarlo Alvarado. The ball was not called a home run at first, but after the umpiring crew conferred for 10 minutes, Hernandez was credited with the long ball that made it 2-0.
Puerto Rico had chances on offense, but very few of them with less than two outs. Hernandez pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing at least one baserunner in every inning but the fourth, but Puerto Rico couldn't drive the runners home. Reliever Carlos Vasquez got the biggest out of the game, striking out Carlos Delgado with runners on first and third to end the fifth inning.
Hernandez, known as "King Felix," subjected Puerto Rico to seven strikeouts. He walked four, but never allowed a run.
"When you have a guy that's 23 years old, and he can throw any pitch in any count for a strike, that's tough," said Ivan Rodriguez. "That's a tough pitcher to hit. He struck out Alex Cora with a 3-2 breaking ball. ... You have a guy who throws 94-96 [mph] and then has that other weapon, that he can throw that breaking ball 3-2 for a strike, it's tough."
Venezuela's bullpen in front of K-Rod, which had seemed like perhaps the club's Achilles' heel, performed just as well as its starter and closer on Monday. Puerto Rico got the leadoff man on base in the seventh, and two on with one out in the eighth, but again and again the rallies were snuffed. Puerto Rico went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, including three inning-ending strikeouts.
"Sometimes you have to give credit," Ivan Rodriguez said. "When you have three, four guys that pitch great and do their job, especially the starter for five innings, then the next three guys and then K-Rod in the ninth, sometimes you have to give credit to their pitchers. That was the game. We fought, but I'm telling you, they played good ball and did the things they were supposed to do. They played little ball, they pitched great, and when you do that, you win ballgames."
Puerto Rico was shut out without one of its best hitters even picking up a bat. Geovany Soto, who hit .285, slugged .504 and ripped 23 home runs and 60 extra-base hits for the Cubs in 2008, did not appear in the game. Neither did Mike Aviles, who batted .325 with a .480 slugging percentage for the Royals as a rookie in '08. Meanwhile, Alex Cora hit for himself in the seventh inning with a runner on first and no outs, grounding into a force play.
"We were not in that situation because we could have hit and run, and Cora is a good hit-and-run player," said Puerto Rico manager Jose Oquendo.
With the loss, Puerto Rico must defeat the United States on Tuesday night to avoid elimination. The winner of that game will face Venezuela for the Pool 2 championship on Wednesday. Venezuela's win advances it to the semifinals of the Classic in Los Angeles regardless of what happens on Wednesday.
Matthew Leach is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
WINDMILL COUNTRY: Get kids into mutton bustin' amid various fun events
SAN ANGELO, Texas - Mutton bustin' has a huge fan base and is certainly a crowd pleaser outdoors and indoors. As the 82nd San Angelo Stock Show & Rodeo rolls into the third full day of activities Sunday, there will be four mutton bustin' events on the midway: at 1 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Subscribe to the San Angelo Standard-Times
Ready to subscribe to the San Angelo Standard-Times? Choose between a Premium or Digital subscription below.
Need Help? Call us at 1-877-304-7763.
Monday-Friday: 6am-8pm / Saturday: 6am-12pm / Sunday: 6am-1pm


text:
Asbestos in the Schools
Have you ever worked in or are you presently working in an old school that had/has asbestos in the building materials? Should this be of concern to an educator or anybody working in or attending a school?
Asbestos-containing construction materials were prevalent in schools from the 1940s until the 1970s. Congress passed the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act
in 1986 to protect schoolchildren and school employees from exposure to asbestos in school buildings.
Is Your School Hazardous to Your Health?
Other pages of interest:
© 2015
Asbestos materials can become hazardous when fibers are released if damaged or deteriorated over time. If the fibers are inhaled, they can lead to health problems. After inhalation of asbestos fibers, it may be twenty years or longer before symptoms appear.
According to the EPA, asbestos that is managed properly and maintained in good condition appears to pose relatively little risk to students and school employees. The AHERA school rule rarely requires the removal of asbestos materials. All school removal projects must be designed, supervised, and conducted by accredited professionals and should be performed in accordance with state-of-the-art procedures.
Your house may contain asbestos: floor tile, heating systems, ceiling tile, drywall joint compound, exterior siding, roof/attic and other areas.
What is Asbestos?
Asbestos is a mineral fiber that has been used in a variety of building construction materials for insulation and as a fire-retardant, e.g., pipe insulation. Also, the thin fibers can be spun and woven together to make gloves, for example, to handle hot materials. Asbestos is still used in some products, but is no longer used in others.
In its natural state, asbestos is commonly a white, brown, or blue fibrous mineral. The EPA (1989) announced an asbestos ban and phase out, but in 1991, a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
overturned the ban
. However, there is a regulation in place to reduce exposure.
Is asbestos just used in school or commercial construction?
Sponsored Links
When asbestos is present in a material or product, it cannot be detected by a visual examination and must be tested in a laboratory. Even trained inspectors have
asbestos tested to confirm.
Problems with Asbestos
APA Style:
Invernizzi, J. (2012). "Asbestos in the Schools." Retrieved
April 20, 2012
, from EducationDx, USA. Web site: http://www.educationdx.com/asbestos.html
This is
a legal or medical advice site. It is an article about asbestos and related problems in the schools.
John Invernizzi,Ph.D.
Some materials "look like" asbestos. A lab test will confirm if it is or is not.
Site Index
Future Teachers
Brain Games
Asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma have been linked to asbestos exposure
requires schools to develop a management plan for asbestos-containing materials, specifying safeguards to prevent the release of asbestos fibers. The law also requires schools to (update the plan) survey asbestos-containing materials, conduct surveillance every six months, conduct inspections of these materials every three years, and train personnel on AHERA compliance.
Parents, educators, and other school employees, or their representatives,
have the right to inspect the schools asbestos management plan
Records of annual notifications to parents, teachers, and staff concerning the availability of the schools asbestos management plan must be included within the asbestos management plan files.
Is asbestos really a health problem in the schools? --Students, Employees, Visitors
has been classified as a known
human carcinogen
by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the EPA, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Studies have shown that exposure to asbestos may increase the risk of lung cancer and mesothelioma.
Students and school employees spend about one third of their day in school buildings, and their health and safety should be paramount.
Researchers still have not determined a
"safe level"
of exposure, but usually the greater and the longer the exposure, the greater the risk of developing an asbestos-related disease.
Contact the EPA for more information about the AHERA asbestos-in-schools requirements.
Privacy Policy, Contact Information, and Disclaimer


text:
President Barack Obama signs the Affordable Health Care for America Act during a ceremony with fellow Democrats in the East Room of the White House March 23, 2010, after a 14-month-long political battle.(Photo: Alex Wong, Getty Images)
- Filed Under
WASHINGTON - In Tuesday's victory, Barack Obama not only won his second term.
He protected his first.
At a tumultuous victory celebration in Chicago early Wednesday morning, the re-elected president called for bipartisanship in addressing four ambitious priorities over the next four years: reducing the deficit, overhauling the tax code, revising immigration laws and reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil. ...


text:
I remember vaguely back then, that when I received a new QC, it was highlighted "blue" or some other color to represent that it is a NEW UNREAD QC. A few days ago I received a few new QCS, which I never read. And were not "highlighted" or showed any sign of being a new QC. So I didn't know I received them until I decided to check today (out of random) and noticed the dates on recent QCS.
Hope this makes sense. Using Firefox 3.6.16, but I don't think its a browser issue.


text:
If you ask me, August is not the right time to drink a pumpkin ale.
My mind turns to this seasonal favorite once fall is fully here, but pumpkin ales show up on the shelves and in the taps in August. Thats just how brewery production schedules go.
I was going to be a little stubborn, and hold out until at least September. But my wife pointed at a sign and said, Isnt that the pumpkin beer Im supposed to be keeping my eye out for?
The sign, outside Broken Rocks Cafe in Wooster, said: Southern Tier Pumking Ale under a list of brews on tap.
Yep, I told my wife, once again marveling at her ability to remember brews on my need-to-try list. My resolve to wait at least until football season to buy a pumpkin ale evaporated.
I have written about pumpkin ales a few times, and brewed a couple myself. Its one of my favorite styles. Every time I mention pumpkin ales, beer people on Twitter bring up Southern Tiers offering. It never seemed to be available when I went beer shopping, though, so my curiosity had been brewing for a while.
I walked into the cafe, sat at the bar and ordered a Pumking while my wife and daughter went elsewhere in search of cupcakes. I soon learned what the buzz is about regarding this beer.
The first thing I noticed was the bright orange-copper hue of the beer and the ample, off-white head. The second thing I noticed, even before lifting the glass to my nose, was the huge pumpkin pie aroma.
If you are a pumpkin pie aficionado, you know they arent all the same. Some lean more toward cinnamon, some lean more toward clove or nutmeg, some are sweet and some have a more earthy flavor. The same holds true for pumpkin ales.
Pumkings taste reminded me very much of a pumpkin-and-cream-cheese pie dessert that used to show up at Goble family gatherings. The flavor is complex; it goes beyond mere pumpkin pie to embrace pecans and even a hint of pie crust and whipped cream. I dont know how Southern Tier did that, but Im glad they did. Most pumpkin ales remind me of pumpkin pie filling; Pumking reminds of the whole pie.
The pumpkin flavor and scent come through strongly even when the beer is served icy cold. The usual spice notes of allspice, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon are all there, but the pumpkin is the star.
The beer is a bit on the sweet side, especially when compared to other pumpkin beers out there, but the malts and medium body balance that out. There is no real bitterness, other than a mere balancing hint in the finish.
I usually recommend a pumpkin beer to go with Thanksgiving dinner, as the flavors pair very well with roast turkey and dressing and all that. Pumking would serve very well in that capacity, but its sweetness makes it more of a dessert beer in my mind.
This year, I may have a home brew, a Dogfish Head Punkin Ale or a Frogs Hollow Double Pumpkin Ale from Hoppin Frog with my holiday dinner, and follow up later that evening with a Pumking. Thats assuming, of course, that I can keep my hands off the Pumking I bought between now and Thanksgiving.
OK, I may have to nab another bottle or two.
Twitter: @Brewologist


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Quick Contact
Heather Vincent
Associate Professor of Classics
Eckerd College
4200 54th Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33711
toll-free: (800) 456-9009
Special Topics
Barbarians in the Ancient World
Investigate how Greeks/Romans imagined the ancient world. How did they construct identity? How did they define the barbarian "other" living beyond the "civilized" world? How did notions of race/ethnicity shape political ideology?
Icon and Ideology in the Augustan Age
Investigate the political, social, literary and architectural programs that allowed Augustus to transform Rome from a republic fractured by civil war and social upheaval to a stable empire with a distinct and well-cultivated self identity.
Classical Themes in Film
Analyze the ways in which Greco-Roman myth, tragedy, and history survive and are recreated in contemporary media. Explore the enduring appeal of classical motifs and their implications for modern political and social issues.
Coming soon:
Classical Foundations of American Law
(Previously offered version: CL331H, Greek and Roman Foundations of Modern Law - Spring 2006)
A study of the Greek and Roman legal systems and how they came to influence the development of the American system of law.


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The short of it is... I'm in agony, it's been 4 weeks
The short of it is... I'm in agony, it's been 4 weeks
What type? I got the mirena coil 6 months ago. You should not feel pain after the first few days - I'd go and see the doctor, wookie, just to be on the safe side.
The 10 year copper one. Having it put in was the most painful experience of my life and I'm no wimp! It's been non stop bleeding and the pains so bad sometimes my leg goes funny, like sciatica type pain. I've got a check up appointment next week. I can't have hormone contraception so this was my only hope lol
I know it's no excuse but it's got me feeling down which means I'm eating sweets so breaking my diet. Then that makes me feel worse.
I know I can stick to dukan as I've done it before!
Really got to sort it out
Last edited by LittlestWookie : 4th July, 2014 at 11:16 PM
Feel for you... Hope it gets sorted soon x
Oh no! that doesn't sound right..... Hope you get it sorted! I was scared of the whole iud thing and am on mini pill Cerezette.... Take every day, no break and periods stop altogether... BINGO, xxxxxxxx
I can't be trusted with the pill.... Hence my daughter lol! X
I took the pill for years but was advised to stop when I hit 40. I must admit it's great not to have to remember pills everyday, and no periods anymore either. I had pain on the first day of insertion but nothing after that, so I guess I was one of the lucky ones. But I do think it was one of the reasons for me gaining weight this year, though. I here it can take 6 to 12 months for your body to fully adjust, so I'm almost there!
I have to see an other dr next week, the nurse said the threads were in place, but it sounds like I have sciatica, and that could he caused by the iud? Sounds like I need a ultra sound just to check all is ok x
Hmm... Seems like sciatica would be a very different kind of pain, though? Hope they can resolve it with the ultrasound. I had to go for one too as they couldn't find the threads and needed to check the position. Good luck!


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As we go into November we are right in the middle of the best planting season in North Texas. What's that you say? You mean we shouldn't wait now until next spring? Absolutely not! While this is not the time to plant tomatoes or warm season annuals, it is the best time for nearly everything else. Fall planting goes way beyond pansies and chrysanthemums. Trees, shrubs, ground covers, wildflowers, perennials, and bulbs should all be going into the ground now. In short, any plant that lives a long time or has an extensive root system gets more time to establish root when planted in the fall.
The reasoning here is very simple. Extensive studies by Dr. Carl Whitcomb of Oklahoma State University and our own Texas A&M have shown that the most extensive root growth occurs in the fall. In the spring and summer, our plants use most of their energy producing leaves, flowers, and finally seed or fruit. Not much is left for root expansion. Furthermore, since our soils rarely freeze to any appreciable depth, roots continue to grow through the winter even though the top of the plant may be dormant. Take for example our state plant; the bluebonnet. This annual plant will start germinating in September or October. After some initial top growth in the fall, the bluebonnet remains a green rosette throughout the winter. The top doesn't grow much but the root, which is extended down into the warmer soil will continue to expand as beneficial winter moisture soaks slowly into the soil. When things begin to warm up in the early spring, our bluebonnets are well rooted and ready to bloom.
That being said, your local nursery should be well stocked and eagerly awaiting you avid gardeners and landscaping enthusiasts. The following are a few suggestions (or reminders) of things that will help both you and your nurseryman make good choices. Shopping for plants can be frustrating (too many choices) and time consuming for those who are not prepared.
1. KNOW YOUR DIMENSIONS: Whether you are planting flowers, shrubs, trees, or simply buying lawn fertilizer you should know the size of the area you are working with. Many times when the nurseryman is trying to determine just how many shrubs it will take to fill a bed the customer responds with "Well, it's about from here to that pole over there and maybe four foot wide." The customer then goes home to discover that they have over or under estimated and now have to drive back to the nursery to buy more or return the extras. My personal favorite on dimension is when the customer buying fertilizer or a lawn care product will ask, "How much area will this cover?" I reply, "The recommended rate is ten pounds per thousand square feet. How big is your lawn?" Customer replies "I don't know!!"………..Or even worse "I have an average size lawn." What's that supposed to be??
2.KNOW YOUR EXPOSURE: Sun, shade, rain, wind, and direction all are important in plant selection. One of the most common mistakes occur when plants that like shade are placed in the sun or vice versa. Be aware that the shadows cast by buildings and trees lengthen and shorten as the seasons change. What is a shady spot in April may be in full sun by June. Southern and western exposures will be warmer than northern or eastern. Opens areas will dry out quicker from wind. Protected areas stay wet longer. Plants that receive high runoff from the roof or drainage areas may wash out or suffocate in standing water.
3. MAKE A DRAWING: One of the best ways to help your nurseryman understand these things like dimensions and direction is to make a simple drawing. Be sure to include anything you think is important. Location of doors, windows, pathways, trees, gates, storage areas, desirable views, and such are all good info at the nursery. If you don't draw up a plan you should have these things memorized at the very least.
4. BRING A SAMPLE: I wish I had a nickel for every minute I've wasted trying to guess a plant based on verbal descriptions or walking a customer through hundreds of plants so they could "spot it." It is so much easier to snip off a bit of the plant and bring it with you or at least have a picture or description from a book or magazine. A good sample will consist of a branch with several leaves and/or flowers or fruit (seed, berry). One leaf does not make a good sample as so many leaves are similar or the one leaf you selected may be deformed or atypical. Samples are especially important when it comes to damage from insects or disease. In the case of insects it is best to capture the pest itself if you can. With disease, a good sample will consist of several leaves or branches showing the suspected malady in progress. Please do not just bring dead leaves or branches! Believe me, all that even the best horticulturists can tell you from looking at a dead stick is that yes, it is a dead stick. Most of us don't have labs or training in forensics. Samples will insure quick identification and intelligent recommendations. Otherwise all we can do is guess.
5. EDUCATE YOURSELF: Learn as much as you can about what you are doing on your own. Unfortunately there are sales people out there who get a sort of twisted satisfaction out of taking advantage of innocent people. There are also those who will pretend to be expert when in reality they may know as little or less than you. Education is the best insurance policy against becoming a victim. If you are reading this magazine you are on the right track. Many good books have been recently published that deal with the various aspects of gardening and landscaping. The internet is also an excellent place to get educated. Just be aware that as you sift through all the info that what constitutes a good landscape in Vermont may not work at all in Texas.
My apologies (but thanks for reading my article) to all you veteran gardeners who would consider these suggestions as pretty much a "no brainer." Nonetheless, as a nursery owner I know that there are many people who will benefit from this. The problem is, most non-gardeners don't read gardening magazines. So I'm counting on you to pass this information along if you will. Then maybe next time you go to the nursery you won't have to stand around and wait while the person ahead of you is attempting to learn everything they need to know about landscaping…………..in one day!!
Many thanks, ……………….Paul Dowlearn


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Been reading the Mac threads now for awhile and felt like it was time to join in. I have decided to go with the Mini Mac; mostly due to its size and nothing to do with the lack of a Front End. LOL The Porsche 944 is very limited on space but does offer a Double DIN. Heres a run down on what I have so far:
'87 Porsche 944
Mini Mac w/Bluetooth & AirPort built in
LilliPut 7" (Will fit nicely into the existing double din)
Radioshark (Powered by Mini)
Belkin USB2.0 6 Port Hub (Powered by Mini)
Carnetix P1900
iMic (for mic in and voice controls)
Nothing is installed yet as I'm still putting it all together but I'll give you a list of my likes and don't likes so far. Any input is appreciated.
1. I love the Mini Mac - Fast, powerfull, just the right size. I'm very slow learning as this is my very first leap into the Mac world, but so far so good.
2. LilliPut - not so happy with this purchase as it seems to remain blurry no matter how I connect or configure it. I have tried playing with all possible resolutions and Lilliput menu settings; still blury. The touch works great. I plan on installing it with a swing so I can store the Mini behind it and will have access to the DVD Player.
3. Radioshark - wow this thing is totally cool. It was very easy to install and get running. Is powered by the Mini and I really hope thats not a problem.
4. iMic - again plug and play, works like a champ and I have played with creating keyboard commands that respond to voice to run iTunes. Works good, but limited amount of commands; trying AppleScripting for some more advanced features in the AM. Is is also powered by the Mini and it also concerns me some.
5. Belkin Hub - Very cool device, plug and play; was nothing to setup and fits perfectly under the Mini Mac. This is good because I plan on putting some foam pad under the hub to help absorbe some of the road shock, thus allowing the air to flow into the Mini with out having to sit on the foam. Powered by the Mini. It has the radioshark and iMic plugged into it. Firewire and USB's run from the hub to the Mini for connection. It also has a USB and Firewire on the front which will be great as I plan on having the Lilliput on a swing arm which would expose these connections for quick connecting.
6. P1900 - Let me just say its cool to look at. :lol: I have done nothing with this yet. I did order the special little cables for the power button though. Hope to get to it soon.
I really love iTunes. I have loaded over a couple thousand songs already and I love its features. I'm holding off on the GPS for the moment as more research is still needed. Once I get around to looking at Route 66; I guess I'll decide to buy it since is the only one out there for the Mac.
All that remains is a FRONT END, guess all of us MAC folks know that. (Newbies included) I've played with everything thats out there and I like CCar best so far, but I notice there has been little recent development. Still my favorite so far.
Just joining in on the chat.
PS The need to buy list:
Amp as the headunit has to go, hence the radioSHARK
Route 66
Rear Cam
Powermate Knob - this might be better than the voice commands