TES®
The Eulenspiegel Society™
The TES Weekly - January
27, 2002
Staff Volunteers: Flagg, Lolita,
NyghtOwl
Contributors: LaRubia
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT: MICHAEL THE ARTIST
by Lolita Wolf
LW: How did you hear of TES?
MTA: A couple of years before I finally showed up Bond St., I had
seen the Village Voice ad--the ad that used to run in the back of
the Voice. On the one hand, I was glad to see a reminder that there
are others who do BDSM, on the other hand the ad was on the back
of Voice with all of the medical experiment ads so I thought it
could be shady. I finally showed up after reading an article in
Details that mentioned TES. It was not a very good article--it mentioned
some nonsense about people showing up to meetings in disguises.
But, the article also gave the sense that the people who showed
up were real people and gave me some idea of what to expect. The
timing was also perfect. I had finally made up my mind just prior
to seeing the article to try to seek out the scene that I knew existed.
When I was still in High School I had read an article in the Village
Voice about a S/M club in Long Island, I once even drove to the
location of the club in the day time and parked out front in awe
that it was physically really there.
LW: Was TES your first real time BDSM experience?
MTA: Yes and no. When I was in college I experimented with some
bondage and role-play. I also tried to experiment with a little
pain, but the person I was with at the time drew the line there.
Here's a shocker for some of you--in all of that experimenting I
used to switch. In the end the person I was with made me feel that
BDSM was wrong and we stopped doing it. Though she was not without
her own kinks, she turned out to be an exhibitionist of the first
order who could only orgasm if she thought other people could see
us having sex. I guess that was my first experience with "my kink's
OK, your kink is not."
LW: What was your first TES event/meeting?
MTA: Pat Bond doing a novice meeting.
LW: What was your first volunteer job at TES?
MTA: Doing design and layout of Prometheus I think, that or designing
a flyer for the DM/sw SIG.
LW: Why did you decide to volunteer at TES?
MTA: I wanted to give something back. Also, it's a great way to
meet people at TES and really get to know them.
LW: What volunteer jobs do you do at TES?
MTA: Right now, I am the Co-Chair of the NY S/M Film Festival. The
Film Festival is really starting to take off. It's covered world
wide in both BDSM and film circles and gives the BDSM community
a unique method of outreach. I also help out with a TES Ad here
and there.
LW: What do you like best about TES?
MTA: That TES is made up regular people.
Meeting Reports
Sat. Jan. 19: DM/sw Party at Paddles: "Fire, Ice, Corsets and Kisses" by LaRubia
Despite the
snow, brave people came out on Saturday night for the Dominant Men/submissive
women SIG's party at Paddles, "Fire, Ice, Corsets and Kisses." Many
of the women in attendance were resplendent in their corsets and
other formal attire. Linda, amanda, mo and camille helped their
Daddy, Master Jim create a wonderful party. Linda created a beautiful
centerpiece with banners, dry ice and fire. The excellent food (with
lots of protein and veggies) kept everyone playing long and hard.
Club owner Michael
has added extra heaters and which made the back dungeon warm and
comfy for some interesting scenes. There were singletails, canings,
swordplay and knife wielding. For such a cold, wet night, Paddles
was warm and cozy inside.
Meeting
Reports
Tue Jan 22 "What An Old Guard Leatherman Thinks About the Old Guard"
with Jack Rinella
TES: 7:30pm Ground Floor
Jack Rinella, author of 'The Master's Manual' came to TES on Tuesday, Jan.
22, offering his unique perspective on the definition of the "Old Guard" in
the leather scene. His lecture used the Socratic method, inviting the
audience to join him in an exploration of scene history, from the erotic
photography of 1890s Victoriana, to the 'Fetish Fashion' photos and pro
Dommes of the early 20th century, to the gay biker image and its roots in
the 1954 Marlon Brando film 'The Wild One.' Jack also pointed out that while
the gay leather scene has its anchor in motorcycle clubs, heterosexual D/s
people would use etiquette guides (like Emily Post or Miss Manners) to train
servants--and submissives of the period. Throughout, the parallel evolution
of the gay and straight leather scenes was traced, explained to the audience
as two 'rivers' that had only begun to commingle in recent years.
Meeting
Reports
Wed. Jan. 23: The Switchables Group: Ecstasy and Ritual
TES: 7:30pm Downstairs
A small but
devoted audience was present as Mark Richards tied the ancient traditions
of paganism and modern witchcraft together with this meeting of
the Switchables Group. Bringing with him a beautifully written and
detailed outline of a ritual ('The Passing of the Winter King')
and conducting a circle discussion, Mark outlined the basic concepts.
He drew the parallels between the 'famous Eulenspiegel Circle,'
a created 'mental space' in an SM environment for tops and bottoms
to work and a 'working space' for sacred pagan rites. In such a
ritual, he explained, elemental spirits are called at the four points
of the compass as guardians, or "watchtowers." Then, he
explained, the actual SM activity, (in this case a temporary piercing
or ritual cutting/scarification would take place between the male
and female celebrants, with the priestess topping the priest. The
ritual he proposed would be a blood-scene of some kind, be it a
temporary piercing or cutting/scarification. Points discussed in
the meeting included the necessity of maintaining energy in the
room during such a scene, celebrating the union of male and female
deities with a 'love feast' and conducting the conclusion of such
a rite by reopening the circle and letting the 'players' come back
to the mundane world. Who said there's no connection between sex
and religion?
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