The "Herb-Garden State"

Every morning ......and throughout the day......I check in on the news of the day. In the last Trump-dominated year, that has been a daily trial of patience and near-constant affront to my senses and sanity. This morning however, a tidbit on my non-commercial Classical music station marked the first time in a long time that I heard something on the news that actually made me smile: NJ is just a short time away from legalizing marijuana, probably before the end of this year, according to the report.

Finally! Legislation I can appreciate!

"Hey, Jeff Sessions!"

Now to put this in perspective, let me say that while I agree with this move politically for a LOT of reasons, I am no heavy-duty stoner. I am also not averse to the occasional indulgence.....and I have plenty of opportunity to engage more than I do. It's just a "mood thing" with me. 

Having grown up prior to the "Just say no" generation, when the sentiment was......

.......I have little aversion or concern over legalization. It will be a good source of state income, decriminalize something that never should have been illegal, take an unnecessary burden off of law enforcement, and restore a bit more personal freedom allowing individuals to decide these things for themselves. (I am also willing to hear opposing views.....especially any citing the "gateway" argument, because I'm in such a good mood, I would welcome more reasons to snicker.)

Another of those 'tough choices' life presents: which do you want to take a hit off first?

Still, despite growing up around it, it WAS (and technically still is) illegal. Given that fact, I am not sure how legalization is going to affect me. Odds are I'll probably react the same way I did when NJ legalized some forms of fireworks that had been previously banned: I'll buy some and enjoy the novelty until I settle into a more "what works for me" pattern. I mean, to be honest? I like the stuff, but it can't compete with a smokey single malt Scotch. LOL

But, speaking of alcohol, I DO know what I want to do with my first legal joint when the time comes. As with booze, I want to raise it up in a toast:

"To all the folks who made this illegal for so long, to all the self-righteous hypocrites who scorned users and turned us into 'criminals' while chugging cheap, shitty American beer, to all who still want to tell me what I can and can't do with things that don't hurt anyone else, to all of you I say.....FUCK YOU!"

Now, put that in your pipe and smoke it! 

Time shift

Anyone who has been following my blog knows that besides Halloween, my favorite party of the year is our annual backyard RenFaire! In fact, you could say that while Halloween is my favorite holiday, the RenFaire is my favorite party. As I am recovering from surgery, I am a little more apprehensive than usual because I will be more dependent on others for decorating, since there is quite a bit of lifting involved.

Anyway, the RenFaire is fast approaching (the 29th.....the latest I've ever held one) and I am using my convalescence to work on the various "paper" stuff. We have been doing a faux "Quest for the Holy Grail" the last three years and each year involves coming up with new clues, dares, and riddles. So far, that is progressing nicely and I'm nearly done with the changes.

But, speaking of changes, the most interesting change for me this year is going to be my costume. Since its inception, the RenFaire was always moderated by me in my role as "Sir Dynaden" dressed in late Renaissance attire.

Me as "Sir Dynaden" posing with our resident effigy, "Torvald Drumpf", who bears a striking resemblance to a fairly well known figure in modern day politics.

But, as I've mentioned earlier in the year, the surprise gift of a chain mail coif from my Little Monster, Ana, and a badass mace from my son, have prompted me to roll back my attire a few centuries to something much more Medieval.

"So don't be vain and don't be whiny. Or else, my brother, I might have to get medieval on your heinie"----------Weird Al Yankovic

Recently I also picked up a few yards of a rustic, cream-colored fabric so that Rosa can make me a tunic that looks something like this one from Medieval Replicas Ltd.

I love the look of this, but will not be wearing the mail shirt.

I have some new surprises in store for this year......but as always am already worrying a bit about the one thing I cannot control: the weather.  One thing that won't be changing that is more apropos of this blog is the role of "Lady Marta-Disciplinarian". Marta stopped by recently and I told her that I was working on the RenFaire stuff as she mentioned she was going to make a new dessert for this year. Then I teased her that I was concocting plenty of situations where she should have no shortage of bottoms to whack. She smiled and assured me she was very willing and ready to once again execute her duties to her best ability! She sounded pretty eager. So 'watch out, everyone!'. 

Robotics

Well, I'm going in for surgery tomorrow.................... "robotic" surgery to be precise. This will be my third round of surgery for hernia repair and the first time the surgeon is going to employ robotics. Part of me is glad that I won't be cut 'down there' again and I think this might be a quicker recovery too.  Still......a robot?

It's probably my age showing, but when I think of medical robotics, I can't help but picture this scene.

Now I know it's nothing like this, but I am a little nervous and to keep my mind from wandering and worrying , I decided to think of 'robotics' within a much more interesting vein:

"Nothing to worry about" ? Tell her that. LOL

Now this young lady seems a little less apprehensive.......but from the look of that pristine backside it might just be a matter of time before she changes her expression.

But to be fair, I've already done a few posts on "spanking machines", so today I think I should feature images that are less mere machine and more robot-like:

They say robots don't have feelings........but there's a lot sensitivity in a bare bottom!

I think the contrast of emotion in the human victims and the clinical efficiency of robots is the major appeal for robotic spankings.

One paddle arm for each cheek! Now there's efficiency for you.

Another common theme in these robot images is the robot as the impassive intermediary between the victim and some human tormentor who exploits the situation.

This anime couplet depicts just that......

....with the twist being the look of sympathy from the robot instead of the human!

And this one is just too cute! I wonder if this is the price for not following the doctor's orders?

Anyway, depending on how I feel, I should be posting again soon. In fact, that might be one of the few things I'll be able to do for a couple of days?

A different look at 'coloring'

Often the contrast of dark and light is just beautiful.

I’ve written about faked kinky photos before, and even touched on the loaded issue of D/s situations where a person of color is the clear dominant over a much paler submissive. It’s pretty obvious that if you just want to explore some BDSM in a photo shoot and decide that mixing races could make for a new angle, that certain pairings are going to evoke predictable responses. Have a White male dominate a Black female and you’ve triggered every red flag for racism and slavery possible. Similarly make the Top a White female with a Black male slave and you’ll be thinking of Kathy Bates as Delphine LaLaurie in the “Coven” series of ‘American Horror Story’ 

(link for more on the real Madame LaLaurie).

But reverse the colors and whole new emotions are triggered. Unfortunately, for me, a Black Mistress dominating a White sub still reeks of exploitation. I continue to get this, “you’re getting off on this because deep down you think she IS inferior to you”-vibe. It may not be true, but it’s there, hovering in the air like a musty smell that won’t go away no matter how many windows one opens. 

Personally I have written in the past about Nickki’s authority over me and she is a woman of color. And while it’s hard to completely ignore that, it’s not the driving attraction for me as much as her personality, and if her white partner, Jean, was the kinky dominant type and displayed the same attitude, I’d be equally vulnerable to the dynamic. Still, Nickki’s color is an objective fact……..and that fact carries some baggage with it.

But, make the D/s dynamic between two different races of women, cast the lighter one in the subordinate role, and well…...it’s kind of powerful and yet interesting. I must not be alone in this because there are a lot of images out there of precisely this situation, however, so many are fake!

This one looks like someone was sitting around with some magazines, scissors, and too much time on their hands. 

Why is that? There are definitely studios who have “gone there” with this topic. 

The "real thing". Lana Miller has been out there whacking away at bottoms of both colors and making them all redder for a while now! No fakery here. Go, Lana!

But is the market bigger than these studios think? Are there fewer models willing to be a part of this? I have a hard time to believing that and feel a model is more interested in making money than angsting over the color of the feet she’s being paid to kiss.

This young lady doesn't seem to be agonizing over skin color.

But maybe I’m wrong? Maybe there are fewer willing models out there than one might think? Whatever the underlying reason, it does seem like Photoshopping fake Black Dominant/White submissive Lezdom scenarios is VERY prevalent, especially when the racial aspect is being somehow highlighted. And it therefore seems to me that professional studios are missing a lucrative market……..for some reason.

Here are a few that I just happened to find the "before and afters" for:

Issue-laden........and fake.

Cool idea........but fake.

Believable........and fake

Here's to Black Women in charge.......ooops, not.

So, obviously somebody has been very busy with their brown Photoshop 'crayons'. LOL  Maybe if there is so much interest in this dynamic, some willing and real people should capitalize? It is kind of interesting though, how once one sees the mixed race image, the original White-on-White seems less powerful. I wonder what this says about us, no matter how enlightened we may think we are with regard to race and equality?

Coloring as art

It seems like the following drawing has been around the internet for ages. You see it pop up all of the time......and admittedly it's not bad:

One of the things I look for in a realistic drawing is proportion and the other is gesture. If someone can capture how the body looks in reality and then can pose it in a way that conveys the right attitude, I feel like the artist has some definite talent. Even if the rendering is a little rough or stiff, I can chalk that up to personal style as long as the overall depiction has that believable feel. This drawing certainly does.

But look what a bit more internet searching came up with:

I don't know what it is, but I just got this weird deja vu feeling!

So, it is quite obvious that "Westfield" did NOT have an innate sense of gesture and anatomy, nor did he work from a model. What he did do was trace over the photo and change a few details.

But Westfield is not the only person out there doing this. In fact, it's rampant. And I suppose for many viewers, it's not a big deal, but I feel let down by the practice. And, if you look back on some of the classic kinky artists from the past, you'll see that a lot of them were either working from models or just had a good sense of anatomy.

A classic "RedRump" illustration, and........

.....a rare look into the process that led to it. Using a photo as a model is a very practical way to get a sense of what you want without having to pay a live model......but......you ARE still drawing it.

Now it seems like anyone with "Photoshop" can be an "artist". Some do it well and convincingly like Barb, others are more clumsy and barely hide the fact that a photo is underneath their 'coloring'. In fact, for the longest time I couldn't quite figure out if Barb WAS or WAS NOT drawing over photos........but then some pieces popped up where it was pretty obvious. That then called into question the earlier work where it was hard to tell, but now became likely.

A classic "Barb" illustration. Hmmmmm, colored photo or super-realistic rendering? Hard to tell.

Another Barb piece........looking a bit more like some photo doctoring, but still possibly drawn.

Oh well......the cat's out of the bag in this one, huh? Makes you wonder about the others.

Now a lot of people have used this 'trick'.......even the legendary Eric Stanton experimented with drawing over fetish photos later in his career.....but to me it just seems more like a 'cheat' than a 'technique'.

Oh Eric, Eric, what's the fucking point? Why not just use the original photo?

In my own (fetish) work I have rarely if ever used a model.......or even a photograph....and tried to rely more on what I learned in 'Figure Anatomy' and 'Life drawing' classes. Admittedly, without a reference, sometimes it works and sometimes it's a little off, but at least I feel I'm drawing and not coloring. (and let's not even get into CGI!)

An 'out of my own head'  pencil drawing I did a while back.

What do YOU think?

Facial Expressions: Pt. 6

SYMPATHY /CAMARADERIE. After a brief foray into "science deniers" (with an emphasis on man made global warming) I figured we may as well conclude the expressions series with the last installment. The following pictures show group scenes where there is a witness present whose expression reflects a certain sympathy or bond with the person being punished. Again, these are likely ALL posed, but I still find these particular shots to be convincing:

Elizabeth Burns giving it pretty good to Lily as her actual younger sister, Kailee looks on with concern. I am admittedly a sucker for anything with these two siblings in it.

I find a lot of these Russian/Ukrainian photo sets to be objectively severe enough to make the fellow models' looks of sympathy seem quite genuine.

The seated model's expression here seems to convey not just sympathy for her friend, but a sort of sense of worry that she will be next.

True sympathy? Good acting? You decide.

Before finishing up, I've decided to add one last 'group shot' that doesn't quite fit in with the "sympathy" angle...........but I felt I'd prefer to end with something more lighthearted.

I happen to love when a witness 'enjoys' the plight of their friend perhaps even more than when they seem sympathetic.

Science Deniers

Whenever I read some dismissive opinion from someone who is clearly misinformed, I feel like saying, “hey, just because neither you nor your parents chose to spend any money on an education, does not mean that I am going to educate you now for free.” 

The thing is people always seem to want things to be simple…...and while some things can be, others are far more complicated. But because complexity and depth are problems for our short-attention-span world, I’ve decided to continue the rest of this post in a format of brief, easy-to-understand ‘bullets’. I’ve also limited my list to ten, because everyone seems to like when a collection of points coincide with how many fingers they have. To the smart readers who will probably find the following snippets obvious: My apologies.

1: Neither the Earth nor the universe care one bit what you believe…….meaning you can choose to believe that a glass of boiling water is really just cold, bubbling seltzer, but if you try to drink it you will still burn your mouth because the water doesn’t care what you thought it was. Likewise, the universe does not care what religious or political beliefs you hold.

2: A ‘scientific theory’ is not speculation from some Sherlock Holmes in a lab coat…..meaning the “Theory of Evolution” is not comprised of the same idle speculation as your hunch on who ate the last cookie. Which brings us to…….

3: If you know nothing about scientific method, or logic, or scientific terminology, you should probably learn………...or if not, just keep your mouth shut. Remember, as the oft-misattributed saying goes: "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt."

4: I personally find it interesting that conservatives, who are usually the ones who dismiss the word of modern scientists, are perfectly willing to take the word of a bunch of Iron Age Jews as a basis for their beliefs. I think this may be because they are on the same academic level when it comes to science? Which brings us to…….

5: Willingness to accept science seems very conditional. It’s ironic how a conservative with cancer is way more open to even the most theoretical  treatment from a doctor or scientist, yet refuses to believe them when they warn against man-made climate change. I guess just like “there are no atheists in foxholes”, “there are no science-deniers in cancer wards”. Science-deniers also seem quite content to acquire the latest I-Phone…...even if they haven’t the slightest idea of how it works.

6: Normally I don’t care how stupid a person chooses to be, but if their ignorance endangers me or my loved ones, I do take exception. It’s not a matter of “being right”, it’s a matter of survival. I used to even have sympathy for the stupid, but now that they are so happy about it, and are gathering in number, I feel less charitable. 

IQ - I = Q........A quotient sans intelligence. Actually these are Trump-following QAnon folks.  If you are not familiar with "QAnon"  it's a deep state code word for "mind numbingly stupid".

Which brings us to……..

7: Ignorance never used to be a source of pride…..and probably still shouldn’t be.

8: Not having a complete answer does not negate the validity of looking for one.

9: Statistical correlations are not proof of causality unless causality was specifically tested for. So when you read that "a recent survey shows a correlation between health and happiness" and they try to imply that being happy leads to a healthier life, it could just as easily be that being healthy makes people happy.

10: Your legal right to an opinion is not validation of that opinion……..meaning believing something does not make it so. Just ask Galileo.

Expressions Pt.5

AMUSEMENT: Amused expressions are not only easy to fake, (we've been practicing phony smiles from the time our parents stuck a camera in our little faces and said, "smile!" ) but also predictably common even in posed, professional settings.  Due to the ridiculously high number of photos out there with convincing smiles, I am only going to offer a few select examples that have some 'little extra' appeal for me:

Take one CB, add five women and enjoy the variety of expressed amusement. (And don't you love the  expression on the brunette on the left in the back?)

Again, quite staged but I just love the contrast in expressions!

"What are friends for?"........except for laughing at the plight of their comrades?

I am sure that during a photo shoot plenty must happen to crack up the models. I don't know what happened here.....maybe the photographer tripped over a lighting cable? or maybe the sub model farted in mid-spanking? Whatever it was, it must have been good!

Equally enjoyable is when the sub can find humor in their own situation.....even while blushing. "Honey, do you know where that finger's been? Um ...uh, yeah, well I guess you do."

There are a lot of smiling faces in this crowd......but check out that boy in the center foreground!  (Reminds me of the "Thank you, God." scene in "Animal House" [link])

And I dare you to not smile yourself  with THIS one!