Office Chair Downhill
Last Friday I learned that I suck at office chair downhill racing. But, I also learned that Greg (pictured here in the lead) is quite good at it, and he won a really nice prize for being good at it! The Dead Baby bicycle club hosted the first annual Office Chair Downhill, located near Seattle Center in downtown Seattle. I almost didn't get to race because I didn't bring an office chair. There was no time to pick one up after work, and I couldn't take my own personal office chair, because then I would not have a place to sit at work. However, someone brought an extra chair so I got to race!
See more pictures of the race taken by Denny.
Boston Burlesque Experience
Sara Faith Alterman muses about her experiences as an amateur burlesque performer in Boston and what burlesque means to her. She stresses that burlesque is an art, rather than a stripshow where "tubby suburban dads stuff one-dollar bills in my crotch." She continues:I agree with her, to an extent. Burlesque is an art, but burlesque performers are strippers. Trying to make burlesque seem more posh by wrapping it up in feathers and fans is silly. The feathers and fans add an element of fun and add a very different atmosphere than a stripclub. The intent of burlesque is entertainment and not just sexual gratification. But let's not try to dress it up and make it seem like burlesque performers are better than strippers. It's like journalists looking down their noses at bloggers. There is a definite difference between the two styles of burlesque and stripping at a "gentlemen's club," but they both involve stripping.The uninitiated assume that burlesque involves bawdy women swinging their sparkly tits to the beat of some trashy-sounding vamp. Strippers, right? They’re strippers? Wrong. Burlesque artists combine dance, comedy, music, kitsch, innuendo, feathers, fans, and, okay, sex appeal, to tantalizing effect. It’s about the art of the tease, not the sleaze of the strip.
Girl Trouble Burlesque
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The premier of Girl Trouble Burlesque's new show Undercover is this Saturday, April 14. More than a traditional burlesque performance, this full theater experience tells the story of how these sexy vixens are actually secret agents who must fight crime and their archnemisis Barnyard Betty, with their special powers and talents, which include burglary, cryptography, telekinesis, and looking totally hot. Audiences can expect to see a range of media arts including film, theater, dance, comedy, and pasties.
Poubelle Twins
I love Bibi and Fifi Poubelle. They first appeared in 2000 performing as murderous French Maids with the Velvet Hammer Burlesque Revue. But, of course, that was not enough for Bib and Fifi. Oh no, they had to take it a step further and become La Luchadoras wrestling twins! Hot ladies who kick ass = genius. Weird America featured the twins in a video and their description reads:
What are these lovely (and dangerous) ladies up to now? Still wrestling to sold-out audiences in LA, and keeping busy with another exciting project. Find out all about it on their blog.Somewhere overseas from Paris live The Poubelle Twins. Filmmakers, performance artists and professional wrestlers, these versatile former Siamese twins beat down the competition with sheer French Maid girth, weight and sex. They also do private performances and never perspire.
Babes and Bikes
This weekend I got my first taste of the Dead Baby bike club. On Friday evening at around 7:30pm, I hopped on an old Schwinn Stingray I found on the street a few months ago (it had a "free" sign on it) and cruised the streets and bars of Seattle with a posse of crazy people on crazy bikes. I ended up getting a flat and I rode half the ride on the rear seat of a tandem bike behind a bad ass babe named "Dark Stephanie." Riding a tandem bike is much harder than you would think it would be.
I recently found out about a dance troupe called The Sprockettes. This all female group specializes in synchronized dance performances on mini bikes. So cool! Part of their mission statement is:
Right on, ladies! They are based out of Portland, OR, and I will definitely check out one of their shows this Spring. Check out the upcoming performances on their April schedule here.
Empower and inspire people to live out their crazy and wildest dreams, therefore embracing the bad-ass-ocity of life and living to their potential.
Burlesque and Feminism: Continued Debate
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The debate over whether burlesque sets us back a few decades in the plight of the feminist movement continues with my long time friend. My friend and I have been emailing each other for the past two days discussing this issue.
So, to continue with the debate in this public forum, I will add my dear friend's quotes in my post.
I certainly do not have my boobs hanging out at work, where it is important for me to be heard, because I have smaller boobs which can easily be hidden behind a layer or two of clothing. But, what about those women who have larger breasts and cannot hide them easily? Are we to assume that they must suffer a lifetime of not being heard simply because they have eye-catching boobs? Men and women are physically different, and trying to ignore that is like having that elephant in the room. Besides, I conduct myself in a professional manner at work, and I am more relaxed when I am in a social setting. My burlesque performances fall in the social setting category.everyone is free to choose their own means of surviving sexism. like you said, no matter what a woman does, she is sexualized. i choose to minimize this reaction to women in my own social encounters as much as possible, so as to attempt to eliminate the enormous ever-present gender divide and hopefully glean some mutual respect NOT based on physical appearance from whomever i'm dealing with. if your boobs are hanging out, you can bet they're not listening to your words.
The Male Gaze. She mentions this a few times in several emails. I can certainly see how the male gaze dictated the burlesque shows of yore, but in this modern day, there are so many different types of burlesque out there, I don't see how all of burlesque can be pigeonholed into one category: stripping for the pleasure of men. Burlesque is not a strip club for men, it's camp and silly and lighthearted and the audience is made up equally of men and women. Burlesque is entertainment in the vein of theater rather than just a strip tease aimed to stimulate arousal in men. Besides, I have not been to a burlesque show that stimulates arousal any more than an R rated movie. And as for the hole in the wall comment, I have no retort to that, I just think it's really funny.you just have to pay attention and not let the false notion of 'empowerment' via playing to the male gaze fool you into thinking you've actually got some power. there is NO POWER in the male gaze. so they think you're fuckable, so what? men will fuck a hole in the wall.
By the way, I really appreciate her input. This friend of mine and I have known each other for a long time, and I'm glad she is around to keep me grounded. She can tell me when I am doing something totally off the wall that she does not agree with, and it makes me think about what I'm doing. Most of the time, I am quick to try new things, and sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn't. I need her to voice her opinion because it makes me wonder if I'm going beyond just being open-minded and venturing into something that is ultimately not good for me based on my personal values. This time, she has not convinced me that burlesque is a step away from men and women becoming equals in every aspect of our society.
