Another amazing and affordable educational resource available to us here in NYC is The Eulenspiegel Society or TES. Last night I attended a presentation called "Edge Play Exploratorium". I love this format where several instructors come in and a variety of topics are explored.
Dov presented on Knives and Pointy Things. He brought a variety of delightfully sharp and scary things including a straight razor (shiver) and proceeded to demo them on several lucky volunteers. Just watching made me, well, how should I put it... quite - fucking - horny. Sigh. Dov's demonstration on a couple of his demo's emphasized how incredibly sensual this form of play can be with an experienced player. He also brought up quite a few points (no pun intended) on safety; some common sense, but others about the way knives work that were not quite so obvious. As, usual Dov's presentation was informative, entertaining, and very hot.
Lady Raven presented on caning. Lady Raven's presentation style is a lot of fun. She has amazing comedic timing and kept us laughing. Lady Raven brought with her a plethora of canes and finished up with a great demo with her gracious demo bottom, John. It was fun to see the broad variety of canes from your basic rattan canes to acrylics and the dreaded rawhide.
TES charges a big $4 for members and $8 for non members. Membership rates can be found on their website. On Tuesdays they have a General interest meeting and on Wednesday they have the SIG meeting of the week. They have a large selection of Special interest groups or SIGs:
Bondage Group
Relationships Group
Dominant Men/submissive woman's Group
Dominant Women/submissive Men's Group
Men's Group
Novice Group
Queer SIG
Singles Group
Spanking Group
Switchables Group
TEC at TES (The Equestrian Club)
TES TiNG (The Next Generation)
Women's Group
I would highly recommend TES meetings for folks new to the scene. The meetings are very informative and it is a fun way to meet like minded folks in a low stress environment. That way when you attend your next party, you may very well find you run into friendly faces you have already met. Come join us.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Suspension - The Hitachi-thon
Another successful party was held last night at "Suspension" put on by the NYC Fetish Tribe at China 1. This party featured the "Hitachi-thon". One of the large booths was set aside and loaded with power strips, Hitachi Magic Wands galore, many friendly "helping hands" and 8-10 ladies in varying states of orgasmic bliss. Mmmm, the sights and sounds in that booth were luscious. A very good time was had by all, including myself. If you are equipped with or particularly fond of someone's (or several someone's) clit then the Hitachi is a must-have.
The rest of the party was hopping as usual. Good music, many spankings and scenes, lots of leather and Latex. It's a wonderful party.
Sadly, it is becoming quite clear that Suspension is outgrowing it's venue. When the party reaches peak critical mass, it's becoming harder and harder to actually scene. Singletails knocking drinks out of hands and that sort of thing. But people manage, and it's still a great time.
The rest of the party was hopping as usual. Good music, many spankings and scenes, lots of leather and Latex. It's a wonderful party.
Sadly, it is becoming quite clear that Suspension is outgrowing it's venue. When the party reaches peak critical mass, it's becoming harder and harder to actually scene. Singletails knocking drinks out of hands and that sort of thing. But people manage, and it's still a great time.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Lesbian Sex Mafia:Takedowns, Resistance Play, and Kidnapping
Well, you know the new year is up and running right when LSM has it's first meeting. LSM's meeting last night at the LGBT center in Manhattan was a real treat. The topic was "Takedowns, Resistance Play, and Kidnapping" presented by the very hot Angel and Sebastian. Sigh. Just warms you heart (and other places) doesn't it? The presentation was intelligent, practical, and wildly entertaining. I particularly enjoyed their demonstration of body slamming. Safety and pratfalls were presented and discussed but in a non-judgmental and informative way. The duo mostly focused on how to enjoy this exciting form of edge play.
I have been consistently impressed by the high quality of LSM events. I have been to three presentations: Breath Play by Mistress Suzanne Sxy Sadist, Predicament Scenes by Sir C, and this event. In every case, the presenters were prepared, entertaining and extremely well-versed in their topics.
LSM is having a party 1/31 at 5:00 PM at Paddles, 15$ for members, 20$ for non-members.
From the LSM web site:
LSM is a support and information group for all women 18 years of age or older, including transexual and intersexed women who live their daily lives as women and all female-born transgender people who feel they have a connection with and respect for the women’s community. And, who are interested in fantasy and role playing, bondage, discipline, S/M, fetishes, costumes, alternate gender identities and uninhibited sexual expression in a safe, sane, consensual and confidential way.
I have been consistently impressed by the high quality of LSM events. I have been to three presentations: Breath Play by Mistress Suzanne Sxy Sadist, Predicament Scenes by Sir C, and this event. In every case, the presenters were prepared, entertaining and extremely well-versed in their topics.
LSM is having a party 1/31 at 5:00 PM at Paddles, 15$ for members, 20$ for non-members.
From the LSM web site:
LSM is a support and information group for all women 18 years of age or older, including transexual and intersexed women who live their daily lives as women and all female-born transgender people who feel they have a connection with and respect for the women’s community. And, who are interested in fantasy and role playing, bondage, discipline, S/M, fetishes, costumes, alternate gender identities and uninhibited sexual expression in a safe, sane, consensual and confidential way.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
Calendar Roundup
One thing I don't want to do on "The Kinkster Review" is to reinvent the wheel. This is why I am not announcing all the upcoming events all the time. There are several people running calendars and email lists that are already doing a great job at that. What I will do is try to list the best Calendar/Event resources for you.
nycALTevents.com is still in the process of being built. Morpheus and MinaMeow are working on this and they are trying to put together a calendar of calendars of sorts. While it is being built this google calendar is the temporary solution.
Here are some more resources to tell you what's going on:
TES
DomSubFriends
The GLBT Center Calendar
The Gate
Black Rose
The Crucible
The Society
New England Dungeon Society
Lolita Wolf's Predictions and Predilections (formerly The Leather Yenta) posts leather events about once a week
There are also numerous groups on FetLife where events are listed.
Clearly, this is not an exhaustive list. If you have any other suggestions, email or comment and I will add it!
nycALTevents.com is still in the process of being built. Morpheus and MinaMeow are working on this and they are trying to put together a calendar of calendars of sorts. While it is being built this google calendar is the temporary solution.
Here are some more resources to tell you what's going on:
TES
DomSubFriends
The GLBT Center Calendar
The Gate
Black Rose
The Crucible
The Society
New England Dungeon Society
Lolita Wolf's Predictions and Predilections (formerly The Leather Yenta) posts leather events about once a week
There are also numerous groups on FetLife where events are listed.
Clearly, this is not an exhaustive list. If you have any other suggestions, email or comment and I will add it!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
WInter Solstice at Black Phoenix
The problem with the perfect place to play in NYC is that it's not in NYC. It's a short hour and a half drive away in Philadelphia. I just attended the first annual "Winter Solstice" event at the Black Phoenix club in Philly. Four days stuffed chock full of presentations, a pony show, vending and a wonderful New Year's Eve party with a full hot buffet dinner to boot. All for a measly 75 bucks.
About the event:
The event was well worth the money. The New Year's Eve party was great, with tons of play going on in the dungeon and a nice dinner. Philadelphia's midnight fireworks display was fun to watch at midnight. Classes over the next three days were on a diverse array of topics from Dov's "Basic Rope Bondage" to Dottie and Zebrianna's "Skin Stapling". Lord Ramirez taught on the "Japanese War Fan" and "The D/S of Argentinian Tango." (Hot!) Other topics included Jay Wiseman's "Thin Cord Nasty Bondage" and Pyro Sadist's "Fire Cupping". The event was completed by a Pony show.
About the club:
The Black Phoenix is in the top floor of an old warehouse. Admittedly, it is still a work in progress, but the crew and management there is dedicated and full of ideas and the space has tremendous potential.
Unlike some NYC BDSM venues I might mention, a snack bar featuring a wide selection of sodas, juices, bottled water, candy and chips, pre-made salads, instant soup, hot coffee, hot chocolate and more are available for hungry players to refuel on. And no, they don't just advertise that they have it, they actually keep the place stocked.
There is a large area in the front of the club set up with tables where people can sit and eat and chat.
The next area, the aftercare/chill out section of the club features several couches, comfy chairs and rugs, separate from the main dungeon space. Imagine an area about triple the size of a living room with plenty of comfy places to sit or snuggle. From there we move into the main dungeon.
Black Phoenix's main dungeon features 10,000 (soon to be 20,000) square feet of space filled with play equipment. Since they have so much space, the many pieces of equipment are placed far enough away from each other that you can really play. There is even a long whip area in the back of the dungeon where I observed play with an 8 foot bullwhip. There is ample room to accommodate it, which is a rarity even at some large events. Lots of tables are available for needle play, medical play, and fire play, most of which was happily in progress on all four nights of this event. There were lots of suspension frames available so, of course, multiple suspension scenes were in progress at any given time. Next to several of the the St. Andrews crosses, there were racks to hang your toys for you scene. There is also comfortable seating scattered around the dungeon.
This is a club built by experienced players for people who really want to have serious BDSM scenes. The thought put into the dungeon lay out really shows. The management (Thomas/Shibari Warrior) is approachable and very dedicated to creating the best possible play environment.
Granted, there are a few issues to be worked out. It's a huge space; heating all of it is a challenge. Many extra heaters were brought in and the staff bent over backwards to keep people comfortable. There is more work to do but it is being addressed.
The thing that impressed me most about Black Phoenix, actually the most important thing, is the tremendous sense of community. The event that ended the weekend was a ceremonial branding of slave tami by her Master, Master Steve. Master Steve presented it as a class followed by a live demo but it was way more than that. The feeling was more like that of being invited to watch a major life event like a wedding. In many ways this act was so much deeper. I can not imagine this type of event happening at any other "club". Master Steve and slave tami must have known they would be surrounded by their community and the friends that love them to be able to share such an intimate part of their lives together this way. It is clear that somehow this place is way more than a BDSM club. It is a place where friends play together, learn from each other, and support each other in times of crisis and joy. It is a place where strangers are warmly welcomed and can feel safe. It is home to a diverse community, with the common thread being WIITWD. That sense of community is Black Phoenix's biggest strength.
So the search is still on for the best play in the NYC metro area... For now if anyone wants a ride to Philly - hit me up.
About the event:
The event was well worth the money. The New Year's Eve party was great, with tons of play going on in the dungeon and a nice dinner. Philadelphia's midnight fireworks display was fun to watch at midnight. Classes over the next three days were on a diverse array of topics from Dov's "Basic Rope Bondage" to Dottie and Zebrianna's "Skin Stapling". Lord Ramirez taught on the "Japanese War Fan" and "The D/S of Argentinian Tango." (Hot!) Other topics included Jay Wiseman's "Thin Cord Nasty Bondage" and Pyro Sadist's "Fire Cupping". The event was completed by a Pony show.
About the club:
The Black Phoenix is in the top floor of an old warehouse. Admittedly, it is still a work in progress, but the crew and management there is dedicated and full of ideas and the space has tremendous potential.
Unlike some NYC BDSM venues I might mention, a snack bar featuring a wide selection of sodas, juices, bottled water, candy and chips, pre-made salads, instant soup, hot coffee, hot chocolate and more are available for hungry players to refuel on. And no, they don't just advertise that they have it, they actually keep the place stocked.
There is a large area in the front of the club set up with tables where people can sit and eat and chat.
The next area, the aftercare/chill out section of the club features several couches, comfy chairs and rugs, separate from the main dungeon space. Imagine an area about triple the size of a living room with plenty of comfy places to sit or snuggle. From there we move into the main dungeon.
Black Phoenix's main dungeon features 10,000 (soon to be 20,000) square feet of space filled with play equipment. Since they have so much space, the many pieces of equipment are placed far enough away from each other that you can really play. There is even a long whip area in the back of the dungeon where I observed play with an 8 foot bullwhip. There is ample room to accommodate it, which is a rarity even at some large events. Lots of tables are available for needle play, medical play, and fire play, most of which was happily in progress on all four nights of this event. There were lots of suspension frames available so, of course, multiple suspension scenes were in progress at any given time. Next to several of the the St. Andrews crosses, there were racks to hang your toys for you scene. There is also comfortable seating scattered around the dungeon.
This is a club built by experienced players for people who really want to have serious BDSM scenes. The thought put into the dungeon lay out really shows. The management (Thomas/Shibari Warrior) is approachable and very dedicated to creating the best possible play environment.
Granted, there are a few issues to be worked out. It's a huge space; heating all of it is a challenge. Many extra heaters were brought in and the staff bent over backwards to keep people comfortable. There is more work to do but it is being addressed.
The thing that impressed me most about Black Phoenix, actually the most important thing, is the tremendous sense of community. The event that ended the weekend was a ceremonial branding of slave tami by her Master, Master Steve. Master Steve presented it as a class followed by a live demo but it was way more than that. The feeling was more like that of being invited to watch a major life event like a wedding. In many ways this act was so much deeper. I can not imagine this type of event happening at any other "club". Master Steve and slave tami must have known they would be surrounded by their community and the friends that love them to be able to share such an intimate part of their lives together this way. It is clear that somehow this place is way more than a BDSM club. It is a place where friends play together, learn from each other, and support each other in times of crisis and joy. It is a place where strangers are warmly welcomed and can feel safe. It is home to a diverse community, with the common thread being WIITWD. That sense of community is Black Phoenix's biggest strength.
So the search is still on for the best play in the NYC metro area... For now if anyone wants a ride to Philly - hit me up.
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