Musings

Kink, consent and ‘charity’?

alternative lifestyles, charity, donations, grift 12th September 2023 Musings 0 Comments

Fewer people than you might think, these days, will just accept “it’s for charity” as a reason to put their hands in their pockets, and this is not entirely due to the fact that fewer people have any spare change … Continued

Of Ghosts and Greed

celebrity, ghostwriter, ghostwritten, money, plagiarism 30th July 2023 Musings, Other Things

Another bout of irritation is erupting about the amount of celebrities ‘writing’ books and picking up fat cheques for doing so. People are not, on the whole, overly annoyed about those who employ a lot of help when producing their … Continued

Phone away, blown away

outdoor trading, technology, weather 22nd July 2023 Events, Musings

Outdoor trading is something I have always loved, but some outdoor gigs are definitely more hassle than others. The worst thing to contend with is definitely wind. Last weekend’s potentially wonderful day at Croydon Pridefest took place in something that … Continued

Concerned parents, culture war tropes and tabloid twattery

bigotry, concerned parents, sex scandal, tabloids 10th July 2023 Musings, Other Things

The latest BBC ‘scandal’ has got the lot, hasn’t it? You’ve got the starting point of a celebrity being accused of inappropriate behaviour towards a minor: well, there’s a lot of it about, isn’t there? Then you’ve got the fact … Continued

Cheaper online?

Amazon, bookselling, discounts, pricing 7th April 2023 Fairs and Markets, Musings

Every now and again someone picks up a book, examines it with interest, then looks it up on their phone, announces it’s cheaper on Amazon and puts it down again. This is fine, I get it (particularly these days, of … Continued

Ann Summers: achievements and ambivalence

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

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

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