Quickies

Wow, we're still debating in the house whether or not we experienced a flu or a really bad cold. Either way, treatment was the same. Last week we holed up in the house under blankets, with boxes of tissue and large glasses of water or juice nearby, and generally acting like snot supersoakers (sorry for the gross image). It wasn't fun. We're still recovering, but that is going well.

Last week, Turkey announced that it was agitated about PKK rebels in the Kurd held areas of Iraq. The U.S. is paying attention because the Turks have discussed sending troops into Iraq which would only flame tensions in an area of the country that remains relatively calm. In the BBC today, this line stuck out:

The US argues it lacks the resources in Iraq to deal with the PKK.

The Brookings Institution warned this week that the U.S. must prepare for all out civil war in Iraq with the possibility of hundreds of thousands dead and millions of civilian refugees. That ought to be welcome news to Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, and Kuwait.

Meanwhile, remember our proxy war escapade in Lebanon? It's heading towards civil war, too. Luckily, the Saudis don't feel the anti-diplomatic angle that the Bush administration has is going to work, so they're stepping in to negotiate with Iran. Let's hope it works. Meanwhile, it's confirmed that Israel used cluster bombs - illegally, according to the agreements with the U.S. - in their attacks in Lebanon. Naturally, this will go unpunished.

Human Rights Watch issued a report today saying that last year was the deadliest in Afghanistan since the war began there. This choice quote is striking, but expected:

Kabul and its international backers have made little progress in providing basic needs like security, food, electricity, water and healthcare.

The White House has hired a new executive pastry chef. The chef is also author of Desserts for Dummies. Seems appropriate enough. (h/t to Tennessee Guerilla Women)

Another day, another death in the so-called drug war. This time it was an 81 year old man who thought he was trying to protect his property from dealers, but instead was confronting undercover police, who shot him.

Bruce Schneier does an excellent job of tearing apart the Read ID card.

Real ID is another lousy security trade-off. It’ll cost the United States at least $11 billion, and we won’t get much security in return. The report suggests a variety of measures designed to ease the financial burden on the states: extend compliance deadlines, allow manual verification systems, and so on. But what it doesn’t suggest is the simple change that would do the most good: scrap the Real ID program altogether. For the price, we’re not getting anywhere near the security we should.

Abortion

Want to know what happens in a country with illegal abortions? Check the BBC on Chile:

Despite having some of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the world, it is estimated that in Chile 35% of all pregnancies are terminated illegally.

The good news is that the country has done something to address the issue by approving the morning after pill for women 14 and older. Children would not need the consent of a parent to receive the drug. Why is it that a country described as having some of the "most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the world" would also have a more lenient law governing the morning after pill than the U.S.? Would it have something to do with Chile's president being a physician? Would it have something to do with Chile's president being a woman? Likely, both. Of course, opponents of this new decree use the same tired argument that this pill amounts to abortion. Wrong. This pill acts in every way like a regular birth control pill (I know - the opponents are anti-birth control as well, but they rarely state that fact). As the article notes:

It works by stopping or delaying ovulation, or by stopping an egg settling in the womb.

Quote

From Teddy Roosevelt, 1918:

The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole.

Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile.

To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else.

River Valley Cheese

On Friday, a friend sent me an email asking me if I had ever heard of River Valley Cheese. I had not and it was odd. Odd because the friend who sent me the email lives in California and the River Valley Ranch is only about 25 miles from me in Washington. I noted on their website that the folks there were having an open house on Saturday. I didn't think we'd make it because I had to work and it was the co-signer's birthday weekend. Still, I broached the subject with her and we decided that we could do it.

The ranch is located in Fall City, Washington. The couple wanted to move out of Seattle to a more rural area. The wife sold her business. The husband still works in Seattle, but only commutes in when he has to do so. Originally, they got just 2 cows with the idea that they were going to feed them and then slaughter them. However, at some point the wife decided to try her hand at cheese making. She's enjoyed it so much that the cows are not going to be slaughtered.

It's funny hearing the couple tell the tales. It seems that the wife/cheesemaker is the real driving force behind what has become a small business. When speaking with the husband about their new sheep, he admitted to me that he had no idea where his wife was renting the services of a buck from. She just keeps adding animals - discussing it with him, of course, so they can plan space and pens and such. He happily goes along and contributes to getting the work done.

The cheese? Very good. Several different types of goat cheese are available (click the link above). The mozarella is also very good, but very pricey. They were sold out of that when we decided to make a purchase, but we got to taste it. I'd like to bring it home and play with it in the kitchen a bit. The milk cheddar was a tad of a disappointment. It is sharp in flavor, which I like, but lacks complexity. The goat cheddar was much better. All of the cheeses are raw milk as is the goat's milk that they sell. The owners have the milk tested twice weekly and they are working towards organic certification. It's all fairly pricey, too, so nothing I'm going to run down to buy all of the time, but once in a while it's a nice treat.

When pressed about selling at farmer's markets, the couple said they weren't interested in devoting the time to do so. They also didn't want to hire people to do it. Other markets or restaurants? Nope. They are happy with the size of their business at the moment. They get the prices that they ask and they have the capacity that they want. My impression was that the wife didn't want to ruin her hobby by making the business too large. She enjoys making artisan cheeses and this size is good for her now.

As you can see from the photos below, the open house also allowed visitors to the barn and the pens. The animals took all of the attention rather well. We had a great time meeting them and petting the newborns. This was a trip well worth doing. I expect to do it again fairly soon if for no other reason than to snag me some mozzarella.

River Valley Cheese

River Valley Cheese
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

Another photo from our visit to River Valley Cheese.

Yaks

Yaks
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

Another photo from our visit to River Valley Cheese.

Goats

Goats
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

Another photo from our visit to River Valley Cheese.

Yaking close up

Yaking close up
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

Another photo from our visit to River Valley Cheese.

Water buffalo

Water buffalo
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

Another photo from our visit to River Valley Cheese.

More kids

More kids
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

Another photo from our visit to River Valley Cheese.

Kids are alright

Kids are alright
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

Another photo from our visit to River Valley Cheese.

Baby water buffalo

Baby water buffalo
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

Another photo from our visit to River Valley Cheese.

New arrival

New arrival
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

Another photo from our visit to River Valley Cheese.

Sheep

Sheep
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

Another photo from our visit to River Valley Cheese.

Baby water buffalo, again

Baby water buffalo, again
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

Another photo from our visit to River Valley Cheese.

Kids bunched together

Kids bunched together
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

This photo was taken in the pen at River Valley Cheese in Fall City, Washington.

Classic video

Mash up

It's been a while since I posted a mash up link. Enjoy Tech-Xotica!!! by Mr. Fab and RIAA.

(h/t to the equally fabulous folks at PCL Linkdump)

More quickies

Some police officers, including former Seattle Police chief Norm Stamper, have formed an organization of officers opposed to the drug war. Interesting, short article here.

In Arizona, border patrol police say it's illegal to transport undocumented immigrants. So, before you give that injured person a ride to the hospital, check their papers otherwise your car may be impounded. By the way, impounding vehicles for a number of reasons is big (police) business in Arizona...even if you're not convicted and only suspected of a crime.

The big political news yesterday was that Bush was going to deign to follow the law and let his wiretapping programs fall under the jurisdiction of the courts. However, there are skeptics who think that it's not individual cases that are being reviewed, but rather the entire program, which, you know, still does NOT follow the law.

Stephen Hawking is now warning about global warming. Will the skeptics now pay attention? Doubtful.

For something completely different, and of course academic: Lesbian Pulp Fiction covers.

Quickies

The Bush Administration is pushing out Senate approved U.S. Attorneys in favor of political "interim" appointees. No doubt the interim part is meant to be the last 2 years of the administration. Who are they pushing out? Mostly those who went after corrupt politicians like Duke Cunningham.

We've spent somewhere between $1 and $2 trillion in Iraq alone. That could have brought an awful lot of good, domestically.

In Afghanistan, attacks are surging and so will our numbers of troops.

Bush Administration official knew that there was a flaw in oil leases that cost taxpayers money over the last 3 years and did nothing about it.

RIP, Alice Coltrane

She was an incredible artist.

Also, RIP Michael Brecker. The jazz world lost 2 greats this weekend.

Republicans screwing up World Bank

From Bloomberg:

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz faces mounting criticism from directors of the international lending organization who say he relies on a coterie of political advisers with little expertise in development while driving away seasoned managers.

Half of the bank's 29 highest-level executives have departed since Wolfowitz, the former U.S. deputy Defense secretary and an architect of President George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq, took office in June 2005. Among them is Christiaan Poortman, vice president for the Middle East and a 30-year World Bank veteran, who left in September after resisting pressure to speed up the pace of lending and adding staff in Iraq.

... Three directors, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they are concerned governments might be less willing to contribute because of unhappiness with Wolfowitz.

...

New faces include counselor to the president Robin Cleveland, who as associate director of the White House Office of Management and Budget helped secure congressional funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Kevin Kellems, a former spokesman for Vice President Dick Cheney, was named director of external strategy. Suzanne Rich Folsom, a lawyer who joined in 2003 and is the bank's chief corruption-fighter, is married to George Folsom, who was principal deputy director of the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office and served as president of the International Republican Institute.

Wolfowitz, 62, ``has placed considerably more trust in a small group of outsiders from the Republican Party than in the seasoned experts in the bank,'' said Alison Cave, head of the World Bank staff association, which represents more than 13,000 employees.

``The changes under Wolfowitz are unprecedented in the calculated manner in which inexperienced or ideological replacements are being placed in senior positions,'' said Kapur, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Early morning behind the house

Early morning behind the house
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

This shot was captured before the sun came out and the snow began to drift away.

From the back yard

From the back yard
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

Afternoon photo of the scene from the back yard. Kids are sledding on the hill behind the drainage pond.

Snow Cat

Snow Cat
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

Of all of the fierce creatures which inhabit the winter, the snow cat is amongst the worst. Here we see a rare photo of the beast captured after consuming a whole den of snow mice. At this juncture, the snow cat is docile, but it won't be for long.

Snow hat

Snow hat
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

Me goofing around in the back yard the day after the storm. It's a zen practice, balancing a snow ball on your head.

Snow storm 2007

Valley view
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

We had our first big snow storm of 2007 on January 10th. I had lunch that day with a friend in Issaquah. After we parted, I did some quick shopping and was headed back to Monroe by 3:30 PM. It took me 4 hours to get home. Grrr...the payoff was seeing the beautiful views the next day as I declared it to be a day off from work. This shot is not far from the home, in a valley just east of the house. I'm about 2 blocks from the house.

Mountains

Mountains
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

Mountains after the first snow storm of 2007.

Valley view

Valley view
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

View of the same valley after the first snow storm of 2007.

Mountains

Mountains
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

Snowy mountains on the last day of 2006.

Valley view

Valley view
Originally uploaded by B.D.'s world.

Valley view in December of 2006 - before the snow storm of 2007

More Vietname comparisons

This time between LBJ and Bush. One example:

LBJ, Jan. 10, 1967: Our South Vietnamese allies are also being tested tonight. Because they must provide real security to the people living in the countryside. And this means reducing the terrorism and the armed attacks which kidnaped and killed 26,900 civilians in the last 32 months, to levels where they can be successfully controlled by the regular South Vietnamese security forces. It means bringing to the villagers an effective civilian government that they can respect, and that they can rely upon and that they can participate in, and that they can have a personal stake in. We hope that government is now beginning to emerge.

GWB, Jan. 10, 2007: Only the Iraqis can end the sectarian violence and secure their people. And their government has put forward an aggressive plan to do it.

(h/t to Laura Rozen)

Oh my goodness

I'm link to an editorial in the Washington Times and cheering it on...because it is right, correct, and True. Get off your fucking asses, Democrats. Thus far you're everything I, sadly, thought you'd be:

Take Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware. "There's not much I can do about it," responded the Democratic "leader" on foreign policy, when asked on one of the Sunday venues for pompous pontificators how he would respond to any attempt by President Bush to escalate the war in Iraq (or "surge," if you prefer it in Orwellian newspeak).

... You certainly can do something about it, Senator. It's called leadership. You rise on the Senate floor. You say you were out of your mind to write a blank check for this hideous misprojection of American military power. And then you propose immediate withdrawal, just slow enough to maximize the safety of the 135,000 mostly young men and women you helped put in harm's way by your collusion with this elective war. You do what Republican Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon had the guts to do last month, stopping just short of accurately labeling this public policy obscenity a criminal enterprise.

... So, trying to finesse their way out of their Faustian bargain, Democrats now engage in a transparent antiwar vamp, with limp proposals to implement the September 11 commission report and half-measures opposing escalation. And they receive aid and comfort from misguided and timid editorial pages, like those of The Washington Post and The New York Times, which also colluded with power in the run-up to Iraq instead of challenging it, and which now circumscribe discourse with the narrow frame of how best to muddle on through rather than promote an honest debate about whether to stay or go.
Where are the Gordon Smith's in the Democratic Party? Where are the conviction politicians willing to spend political capital to lead a citizenry which has decided overwhelmingly that this war is crazy? Where are the institutions of media power with the courage to say the emperor has no cowboy boots, no jeans, no garments at all — just a hideous, stubborn smirk that is literally making this country ill and squandering our reputation around the globe?

(h/t to Hit & Run)

Learn from history

"Few generations in all of history have been granted the role of being the great defender of freedom in its maximum hour of danger. This is our good fortune..."
- John F. Kennedy

"The challenge playing out across the broader Middle East is more than a military conflict. It is the decisive ideological struggle of our time. On one side are those who believe in freedom and moderation."
- George W. Bush

Our President gave his grandiose speech last night, proving that he still hasn't learned the lessons of Vietnam. Of course, we live in a country that hasn't been taught those lessons, much less acknowledged them in only the most sugared down entertainment formulas (music, movies). When the Japanese lost World War II and their atrocities came to light, generations were brought up learning of their affronts on humanity through their public school history classes. In 1981, when I took an advanced history class in a public school, Vietnam was left off of the curriculum. I had to make up for it on my own time.

Robert Fisk prefers a comparison to Napoleon's efforts, but offers this useful quote from Pat Buchanan from 2003 on the eve of the Iraqi invasion:

"We will soon launch an imperial war on Iraq with all the 'On to Berlin' bravado with which French poilus and British tommies marched in August 1914. But this invasion will not be the cakewalk neoconservatives predict ... For a militant Islam that holds in thrall scores of millions of true believers will never accept George Bush dictating the destiny of the Islamic world ...

"The one endeavour at which Islamic peoples excel is expelling imperial powers by terror and guerrilla war. They drove the Brits out of Palestine and Aden, the French out of Algeria, the Russians out of Afghanistan, the Americans out of Somalia and Beirut, the Israelis out of Lebanon... We have started up the road to empire and over the next hill we will meet those who went before."

The great tofu debate

Mark Morford has a funny column about Jim Rutz's tofu articles on WorldNetDaily. Rutz's articles, which claim among other things that too much consumption of soy products makes kids gay, continue to this day. In the follow ups to the December article, he cites articles and reports which he claims prove his point. Most of these are citations of print articles which Rutz surely knows his readers are not about to look up for themselves. I decided to take a look at one of the few online links that he provides, a European study, titled An overview of endocrine disruption projects financed by the European Commission under the 4th and 5th framework programmes. In that 124 page report, the EU outlines a variety of studies that they are funding that deal with environmental pollutants such as PCBs. What does estrogen have to do with it? Estrogen molecules are one of several types which can bind to PCBs in the bloodstream thereby providing a method for which PCBs to build up in the body and do greater damage. But, that's not why Rutz states the study in his 5th article. Instead, he reports the following:

A British study in 2000 showed that vegetarian moms (who typically eat more soy, of course) have five times the risk of birthing a boy with hypospadias,^[3] or about one chance in 25. The European Commission takes this matter so seriously that it's investigating.^[4] Yet here in the US of A , health- conscious vegetarian moms-to-be are swigging tall, cool glasses of soymilk. Tragically, these moms also risk giving birth to babies that are more likely to get leukemia.^[5-8] That disease, too, is on the rise, with only a few people sounding warnings that soy during pregnancy could be part of the problem. It's high time pregnant moms heard warnings. Hey, I've tasted soymilk and veggie burgers, and no way are they worth that kind of risk.

Note the technique used in this paragraph. First, he brings up a print study reference to hypospadias (a birth defect where the urethra opens at the base of the penis rather than the tip). That study also found that iron supplements had an association with hypospadias. In fact, if you read the study, the association with iron supplements and a vegetarian diet with hypospadias was about equal with those vegetarians taking iron supplements being the greatest association. However, other researchers dispute the conclusions about either iron supplements or vegetarian diets, pointing to conflicting studies which show negligible to no effects of either diets. The conclusion reached by the authors is that the cause is vegetarianism, even while they acknowledge iron supplements having a similarly "significant" effect. So, Rutz has scored twice on this point: he equates vegetarianism with a birth defect and equates the birth defect with emasculation of the human species. (In fact, Japanese babies have much more exposure to soy during pregnancy than American babies yet their rate of hypospadias is actually one tenth the rate of Western nations).

In the next sentence, Ritz makes his reference to the European study I wrote about above. That study has no connection to the previous one. In fact, it details a completely different topic altogether. Also, out of this paragraph, it is the only study which has an online link. At 124 pages, however, most people aren't likely to look through the link. If they do, then they'll find titles of studies that seem to relate to Rutz's topic, but if one looks at the actually study proposals, one sees that they are investigating environmental pollution, including that released into the human populations through growth hormones and antibiotics injected into animals and not estrogen (let alone the Isoflavones that are the focus of the first study).

The next set of references (footnotes 5 through 8) deal with a possible link to soy milk infant supplements and leukemia. We're not referring to soy passing through breast milk, but the feeding of milk supplements to children. Once again, this is a very different and unrelated issue from the first 2 citings. In the first citing, soy was introduced to the child from the mother. In the second citing, environmental pollution was introduced to people and attached to estrogen molecules. In this citing soy milk feeding formula is introduced to children when every medical article indicates that breast milk is the ideal diet. In fact, even if the mother ingests an unusual amount of soy products per day, breast milk contains very little of the estrogen associated with soy products. Still, that doesn't stop Rutz from sounding the alarm about that disease being "on the rise". Of course, none of the studies suggest that soy is the sole cause of that rise nor do they suggest that the rise, while statistically significant, is a huge problem. Like hypospadias, in fact, childhood leukemia is rare.

Rutz then ends the paragraph with a shot at a tired old joke about soymilk and veggie burgers tasting terrible. If "pregnant moms" get anything from Rutz it should be to follow a sensible diet, consult their physicians, and breast feed their babies. Yet Rutz attempts to link by weird association several unrelated studies that focus on several different items some of which have nothing to do with the ingestion of soy products and others which are widely disputed. Yet he never cites the disputes and only makes these associations and hopes that his paranoid claims stick. He is the type of propagandist that could teach Rove a few tricks.

Rutz closes his 5th article in this series (one more yet promised) with the following paragraph. Normally, people would see this as a joke, but Rutz's intended audience (cut, no doubt, from the same cloth as members of the former John Birch Society, with a special mixture of paranoia, government and corporate conspiracy theories, and bigotry - I'll cite this article as further proof in which they attack very conservative Michael Medved as being blind to the government conspiracy to erase the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada) is by this point overwhelmed with his citations and probably sees some common sense truth in his words:

If God had wanted us to eat skinless, boneless chicken breasts, He'd have made chickens that were all breast with no fat, no skin and not a leg to stand on! If He'd wanted us to drink pasteurized fat-free milk, then fat-free milk would come boiling hot out of a cow's udder! And if He'd wanted us to eat soy protein and soy oil, the little bean would easily separate into its parts and not require a billion dollar processing plant that uses chemical solvents, extreme pressure, and hellfire temperatures. Nor would God's chosen food require tons of sugar and flavorings to make it taste halfway decent.

I'm used to seeing such crap in publications like the Weekly World News (see old Ed Anger columns). Most people don't take that paper seriously. Most people won't take Rutz seriously. But there will be a significant number who do and we should know what these people are thinking and where their sources come from. Know they enemy and all...

New Year's Eve

Warning: the post below describes acts of an adult nature. If you don't want to know about this side of my life, then stop reading now.

A friend of mine and I decided to go and see the Genitorturers play live in Seattle. As usual I asked the co-signer along and, as usual, she declined the invitation. To be certain that she wasn't just being gracious, I held off on purchasing the tickets until nearly the last minute. I didn't want a situation to arise whereby I got the tickets and then found out she was miffed about me going out that night without her. Thank goodness that issue never came up. And, in fact, it was really a good idea to go out with Croctommy. He had had a bad year and an awful December and wanted to do something to ring in the New Year right. "Getting beat up by Gen sounds like a perfect way to bring in the New Year" he told me. Who am I to argue?

The co-signer made last minute plans to see a movie with a friend. She left the house before I did. I took off and picked up Croctommy at our scheduled time. He had a detour to take. He needed to check on his car which was stolen on December 23rd and was found a week later. He didn't have the cash to store it some place before taking it to a garage to get the ignition fixed, so he was checking on it daily. We spotted a restaurant near the car to have a bite at. The car was safe. We went to dinner and when we got there, the place was hopping and the manager was telling someone on the phone that they didn't have any reservations available for at least 3 hours. We began making contingency plans, but to our surprise they sat us. Now, I was prepared for a concert and a fetish one at that. I was wearing a pair of jeans, and a Genitorturers t-shirt that read "Punish Me" in glow in the dark letters on the back. It reminded me of going out for dinner in NYC in typical Seattle wear and finding myself very under dressed for the place we went. Croctommy was wearing a nice black button down shirt, black jeans and dark shoes. He passed. If I were in my 20s, I'd have been very uneasy. In my 40s I chuckled and life went on. This was aided by the fact that our waitress came to the table and said, "Nice shirt" to me.

After a very good meal, we headed down to the new Fenix Underground. The original Fenix was in a really cool spot in Pioneer Square. It occupied 2 store fronts and an adjoining basement and had a large and a small stage. I liked that place a lot and saw several shows there. The earthquake destroyed that building and the Fenix relocated to a new place, where we last saw the Genitorturers. The new place had a really cool basement with a DJ set up and plenty of quality space for a dungeon. However, the upstairs space wasn't designed well and the stage was too small. They never seemed to book the quality acts that they used to host (everyone from George Clinton to Lee 'Scratch' Perry to smaller groups like the Gens). I went there twice and didn't care to go back. A new owner, a new location this time around. We were early, parking was abundant and we ended up 30 feet from the door. The wait wasn't long. The new Fenix is much larger, on one floor, a huge stage, pool tables available, and a restaurant/bar area that gets all of the music sound and has large windows and TVs on which to see the on stage action. Croctommy and I decided that we liked it a lot. Hopefully their bookings will increase.

We had a drink then went to check out the merchandise table. I was looking at the stuff when a woman who was supposed to be watching the table came over. It turns out that she manages an outlet of the optical firm from which I purchased my glasses. She spotted them right off. We struck up a conversation. Gen had stopped in the store earlier and needed an adjustment on her glasses. The woman's husband works for the Fenix. Gen was comped the adjustment (which Market Optical does for their own customers anyhow). Croctommy came over and I introduced him. We continued the chit chat. Croctommy looked at a sweat shirt, but they didn't have his size. I bought one instead. We chatted some more and then moved on. As we walked away Croctommy asked me where I'd met the woman working the merchandise table. I told him, "Here. Tonight." He couldn't believe we had never met. She was just nice (and a good marketer and probably a tad bored as the night was young).

Several drinks and a few opening acts later. Croctommy meets an elderly gentleman who was out bar hopping on New Year's Eve with his wife. Rupert didn't expect the scene at the Fenix that evening, but was enjoying it. Lots of latex. Lots of skimpy outfits. Lots of pretty bodies. One woman wearing hot pants, stockings, and skull and cross bone stickers over her nipples (was she wearing shoes?) particularly pleased him. Rupert showed his wife my t-shirt which features Gen in a latex corset, holding a riding crop, and wearing a neo-fascist hat with script that is a take off of prison guard sexploitation films. His wife leaned over to me and said "That's fucking awesome!" Cool.

The last opening act left the stage and we moved in to seek a spot in front. We landed center stage. I was up next to the stage this year while Croctommy was behind me. Last time we saw the Genitorturers play, Croctommy was a little closer to the stage. We got a lot of attention from Gen at that show - got to stroke and suck her strap on, suck a (toy) gun barrel, got our faces stuffed in her crotch, got slapped around a bit, etc. This show was less attention, but more surprise. The midnight hour came and of course there are slightly drunken people working through the crowd hugging everyone and wishing them a happy new year. Sweet. The place was crowded up front. Some photographers had moved in next to me on my left. When the show started shortly after midnight, Gen and the band were in fine form. Gen was ready to party that night. Dressed in a latex corset, gloves, hat, impossible boots, Gen strutted across the stage, singing, and carrying on like a woman on a mission. The band turned out their flavor of industrial/goth/fetish/metal very well. Gen mostly paid attention to the side stages, much to my dismay. To the right of me, a dyke punk (DP) was working hard to get Gen's attention and she did. DP was sporting a Mohawk, sideburns, a cotton wife beater t-shirt, muscular and tattooed arms, and a plaid Catholic schoolgirl's skirt. DP wasn't certain that she had caught Gen's eyes so she flashed the bass player her pierced tits. The bass player said, "Very nice. Thanks" and I concurred.

At one point shortly afterwards DP got her wish and was pulled up on stage by Gen. Now, Gen had 3 showgirls and 1 showguy that she had been performing with. She had been simulating intercourse, anal intercourse, and finger fucking. She had been spanking the girls and rubbing their breasts. She took a lollipop out of one girl's snatch (at the last show, Gen gave me the lollipop out of a showgirl's snatch and I shared it with Croctommy - much to Gen's approval). But now was the time for audience participation and DP was first up. Gen shoved her down on the platform on stage left. She lifted DP's skirt and ripped down her panties. Gen hoisted a champagne bottle in the air and then....proceeded to give DP a champagne enema. Naturally, some of it spilled over and then Gen poured it over her pussy. DP was not exactly prepared for this, but loved it. When she left the stage, she had a delicate stride.

Audience participation was not to end there. Indeed, it's a central portion of the Genitorturer's act, but in the past it was generally not on stage. The guitarist's guitar broke at one point. As he waited for a new one to arrive, the bass player and drummer started playing a really funky (and unusual for the Gen's) rhythm. Gen announced that this was the James Brown portion of the show. She then decided that it was time for a masturbation contest. DP nominated her friend and then tried to climb on stage with her. Gen wasn't having that exactly. She decided that DP would have to sit center stage and judge the winner. Another woman was picked from the other side of the stage. Each contestant was placed on a platform and sat facing forward to the audience. Gen warmed them up by rubbing their breasts and pussies and letting them lick hers. She then announced that the ladies were on their own. Before long they were both down on their backs with their legs pushing their hips up and rubbing like no tomorrow. In the end, DP picked the woman who was not her friend as the winner (and she clearly was - DP was a fair judge). But, after that announcement, DP and her friend proceeded to mount the other woman. DP licked her pussy while her friend kissed her, rubbed her breasts, and sat on her face. When Gen saw this she said "Chaos is breaking loose on stage here tonight" and then the first chords of "I Touch Myself" began and Gen sang the tune while getting in the occasional spanking on the girls.

At some point during the show, about half way through, a woman had come up behind me. She was bumping and grinding her hips into my ass. She was clawing my back. She rubbed my chest, stomach, and hips. She sometimes grabbed my hands and worked her hips hard as if she were fucking me from behind. Needless to say, this had a rather intoxicating effect on me. I didn't turn around to see who she was. I did note that Croctommy had moved a little further back. Gen seemed to approve and came by center stage more often. She put her crotch in my face, but grabbed my head and pushed me away. She came by with a pole (about 2 inches around) and then put it in my mouth to suck it. She pushed my head from side to side with her cane. She sang to the woman behind me and forced my head to the ground. I approved of it all.

The final encore came all too soon, but it was to be memorable, to say the least. Gen was on stage singing of guns and sex and domination. She had a toy laser pistol in her hand with a long barrel. She was pouring Jim Beam down it. She had just sang the chorus again when the instrumental break came. She ran to the front of the stage and much to my surprise/delight, grabbed a fist full of my t-shirt. I was struggling to get on stage. Gen pulled, I pushed with my arms, then then the woman behind me helped push me up. Gen threw me towards a platform. She pushed me down face first on it. The three show girls, all nearly nude, were there and they quickly covered over my back, writhing. Gen yanked down my pants and underwear. Two of the girls lifted my legs. Gen then proceeded to take the whiskey covered barrel of that gun and place it next to my asshole. She didn't shove it in (that would have broken several state laws). She walked away to finish the song while the girls continued to writhe over me. One turned my face towards her and stared into my eyes with a fierce stare. I complied and looked obedient. She pushed my head away. The song ended. The girls got up. I pulled my pants up and to my surprise Gen was still saying good night. We passed each other while I went back to the front of the stage.

The girl who was behind me during the show was a cute 20 something. She and her friend helped me down. She said, "I'd have been so embarrassed." It was fine I told her. "I AM so embarrassed." I assured her there was nothing to be embarrassed about, that she was lovely, and I thanked her. She and her friend helped me pick my coat and sweat jacket off of the floor. Croctommy came forward, with a drum stick in his hand, and told me he was "SOOOO jealous" of me. "Yea, but will you respect me in the morning" I replied and he laughed. I said my goodbyes to the ladies. As we walked away, they began making out by the stage. How sweet.

We ran into the bass player on the way out. We told him that we'd had a good time and thanked him. He smiled this rather boyish smile and wished us a happy new year. I left charmed, delighted, grinning ear to ear, and horny as all hell. What a night!

The drive home was uneventful, thankfully. Cops were hanging out by the strip clubs on the way home. No doubt doing vital research for the city. When I got upstairs to go to bed I was delighted to find the co-signer up reading. It was 3 AM and she was worried about my drive home. What a night...