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Ann Summers: achievements and ambivalence

Ann Summers, female sexual pleasure, Jacqueline Gold, sex shops 20th March 2023 Musings, Other Things 0 Comments

Obviously the obituaries for Jaqueline Gold talked a lot about the Ann Summers brand, and how Gold was one of the pioneers of mainstreaming women’s sexual pleasure. While I’ve never actually been to an Ann Summers party, I was certainly … Continued

Censorship or sensitivity?

censorship, roald dahl, sensitivity readers 9th March 2023 Other Things, Rantings 0 Comments

One of the better takes on the recent rewriting-Roald-Dahl fuss was from someone on Twitter who pointed out that their youthful reading had included plenty of Dahl, Enid Blyton and even some JK Rowling… “and I’m woke as fuck!”. I … Continued

New release and launch: London Burlesque

bufrleque, erotic art, erotic photography, new book 22nd February 2023 New Books 0 Comments

Book launches are always fun, and the launch party for London Burlesque: A Family Album was especially so, being held in a fascinating art space in Canning Town. I got invited along as I already stock some of the stunning books … Continued

Choosing Love

bigotry, love, pleasure, Pride 14th February 2023 Musings

Choose love, because the consequences of choosing hate get worse and worse. Choose love, because choosing hate leads to teenage girls getting stabbed to death in parks in broad daylight (then mocked by bigots even as their devastated families mourn). … Continued

40 Years of the Fetish Scene

anniversary, celebration, fetish, history, SM scene 6th February 2023 Events, Musings

Yes, time passes faster as you get older; the years fly by and all that. It’s still a little startling to realise that the UK fetish scene, as most of us involved with it would understand such a thing, has … Continued

Unrepentant book-hoarder here…

book-lover, books, superiority 24th January 2023 Musings

You can generally rely on the Gruaniad for an occasional dose of tiresome, smug whinyarsery and this week’s is just in. It’s baaaaaaad to have a lot of books, you can’t have read them all, you’re just being ‘middle class’ … Continued

There there, over-share

bullies, memoir, oversharing, Prince Harry, therapy 14th January 2023 Musings

You’d have to have a heart of stone not to laugh, on most levels. OK, fair enough, Harry has suffered in ways that no amount of money could really fix: his mum was killed in a car crash when he … Continued

Starting 2023 with a bang or at least some optimism

enjoyment, markets, optimism, political change 10th January 2023 Events, Musings

Not ignoring the fact that many, many people are having a pretty horrible start to 2023, of course. Poverty and inequality are still increasing. Large amounts of space and airtime are still being given to vicious, witless bullies. And yet, … Continued

2022: Saving The Best Til Last

2022, idiot, Tate, Thunberg 30th December 2022 Musings, Other Things

It’s as well to at least try focussing on the good things when you’re looking back over the year that’s ending. And, yes, I managed to eat my share of delicious pizzas over the past 12 months and not once … Continued

Tripe, tricks and treats

beating Amazon, charity, erotica, Rule 34 18th December 2022 Uncategorised

Charity stunts can be a bit of a mixed bag, it’s fair to say. First, you’ve got the fact that charities being expected to take up the slack where government has completely failed is not exactly something to celebrate. (We … Continued