I say unto Pharoah, "Let my people go..."

[uberreiniger]

...So we all set out for the Promised Land. Ready Set Go! (That's a joke that only dungeonwriter will get.)

This has, been, by uberreinigerien standards, a very wild weekend. I've actually been meaning to blog about it for a while now but just haven't had a moment's rest to do so.

Friday night I met some of Mel's friends for the first time (and have a slew of new LJ friends now as a result,) and celebrated a Pagan holy day by eating some of the best lamb I have ever tasted. After that we went out and this erotica writer got to see his first real live burlesque show. Apparently there's an art district in Kansas City which everyone knew about but me and once a month they have a sort of festival with live entertainment and open art exhibits. Anyway, so yeah, burlesque. And also tribal bellydancers, spoken word poetry, and an emcee who belted out the best version of "You Be Good to Mama" I've heard apart from Queen Latifah herself. I'll be honest, a lot of the dance acts were just sort of okay, but a few of them were really memorable and outstanding. Sadly Mel and I had to miss about half the show since we had about two hundred people crammed into a space that couldn't have been much bigger than our apartment. We had to spend a long time walking around outside or else risk fainting from the heat.

Saturday we continued our Gary Gygax Fairwell Dungeons & Dragons experience at kakita_shisumo and duendegrrl's house. It was another epic gaming experience complete with pizza, coke, and the infamous Bag of Devouring, a cursed magic item which all D&D players live in fear of, but that in all my years I have never actually seen in play until now. My character is currently trying to raise money to replace Mel's character's severed hand. The game session was also notable for the many puns on the names of Egyptian gods.

Between it all I've been very busy in World of Warcraft. I have started no less than five new Draenei characters this week and am leveling them all simultaneously. My Horde main isn't even to 70 yet so I don't know what I'm thinking. But I'm having fun and the beautiful cloven-hooved aliens are just so pretty to look at. They're like a kinder, gentler Satanic Winter Goat and the males sound like Sayid from Lost!

Today hasn't seen any social activity, although pinkfaeriestarsand family will be over shortly. Instead I've spent it grocery shopping and washing dishes. If there was a lesson to be learned this weekend it's that being social makes dishes really, really pile up.

On a sadder note, this weekend marks the passing of Charlton Heston; one of the last cinematic giants of his generation. A big, decadent epic film is nothing without an actor who can carry it and Heston's broad shoulders did it time and time again. I admired him as an actor and films like The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur  are still amazing works of art even to this day. But they would have been nothing without the man who starred in them. Farewell to yet another legend. 

Comments

Thoughts

[yogamary.livejournal.com]

Burlesque is definitely more than glorified stripping! In fact, the "stripping" portion of it is the least important! The neo-burlesque movement is about bringing back one of the earliest forms of performance art: vaudeville and more specifically, cabaret. The cabaret movement (which emcompasses burlesque as well as many other forms of performance art) is primarily satirical and often political. It pokes fun at society and at people in general. Burlesque itself is about the tease--that moment where we give you a bit...but not everything. Many dances are funny and laugh at life. But more than that, burlesque is an empowering, woman-friendly movement. It embraces the beauty of the female form and celebrates the fact that the human body--every human body--is unique and different and beautiful.

What's sad is that so many people think that burlesque is just a different form of stripping and we're often equated morally and ethically with the 6" spiked-heel gals you might find down the road. That kind of attitude saddens me, but is prevalent in the midwest, especially. The burlesque performers in Kansas City are working very hard to make burlesque more mainstream and less misunderstood. Thank you for coming to our show last weekend and thank you for this post!

Sincerely,
Mary Magdalene (The Dancin' Queen!)

Re: Thoughts

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

I definitely had my eyes opened in a most pleasing way! Thanks for all the hard work you and the other ladies put into it.

(adding you, btw. I always need more people with whom I can discuss eroticism and Biblical scholarship in equal measure.)

Re: Thoughts

[yogamary.livejournal.com]

Consider yourself added. But next time you come to a show, you are officially obligated to introduce yourself.

Re: Thoughts

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

I think we can arrange that :) Break a leg tonight. I haven't been down to JOB in such a long time, but it's a great space to perform in.