[DruulEmpire]

Before I blather, let me say first say from the start: Darien Vain is damn fine.  Looks great, dances great.  Recommended.  Details forthcoming.

First seriously wintry Friday noon of these (recorded) outings.  What's good: you can stash all kinds of items in a winter coat, and not even that big a coat.  Went in, paid the cover to who may be some new host I've never caught before, the barmaid offered me an Iron City.  I actually bothered to check some other things out for once -- like they're having some sort of Cinese buffet going, complete with chicken and brown rice.  Who knows, I may actually try it sometime, it is after all on the house ...

Cathedral is the first up, so I sit down to her by the end of her act.  She's one of those "pec flax" gals who can make either boob hop a little, and she has a good attitude; someday a second dance, but not today.  Next up, I'll call her Kelsey -- great body, long dark hair which is usually over her face, and it's a good face, she dances well too -- but man, I get to wondering if she smiles.  Sure, I like to see bodies in motion, but if they can actually dig it on some level, that's the capper.  Towards the end she does betray a smile.  Still don't know how to "read" her, she will bear future scrutiny.

Things get involved -- I swore to myself that I would have a dance with Esmerelda, and sure enough she's next.  A man to my far right does something I've never seen before -- namely, he just keeps playfully tossing her dollar after dollar.  Sweet, but efficient?  Luckily, Esmerelda also pays a lot of attention to me -- she dances towering above me, scopps her breasts together, she sort of laugh as we catch each other's eyes again at a crazy angle involving her looking through her legs, all that.  So, I ask her for a dance.

But wait --

[DruulEmpire]

My favorite, Kyra, is coming right up after Esmerelda, and she's been sweet as she flits back and forth around the bar, scratching my back as she goes.  Kyra can't quite get around to me in time, and here comes Esmerelda, so I leave a dollar and resolve to be right back in one song.

Esmerelda has a good look to her -- I would strive for "black Alyssa Milano," but that may just be too far out -- and she moves and laughs well.  (I remark on the dollar-tosser's enthusiasm, and she explains he was here last night too.)  To an oddly embarrassing degree, though, her dance is almost exclusively her squirming around nicely in my lap.  I'm her for that which is sexual, sure, but I've not felt anything so much like SEX since Belladonna -- or Lovette, for that matter.  Anyhow, I promise her we must do it again, and she looks very chipper about the idea.

I manage to get back out to Kyra, and I've got to be wondering if she's a bit cynical about me -- she knows I come down to check out headliners, and I just tried out Esmerelda.  In the little time remaining she's sweet to me, but I hope I've not ticked her off in any way; eh, we can always dance another day, and chat.

In any case, Kyra's quite right about me: I'm here for the headliner, and here she comes, Darien Vain ...

[DruulEmpire]

Darien Vain comes out in a very smart sequined black-and-white outfit, sort of a "Rockette in a tuxedo" look, and damn, she looks very much the classic vivacious blonde busty showgirl from some bygone time.  Her music puts a modern spin on old tunes: "Puttin' it on the Ritz," of course, gets performed MUCH better than the Young Frankenstein rendition, and with "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" she hoists her own bazooms when singing "These pears don't lose their shape," and let us hope they don't.  Darien isn't quite my beloved Jada, but she's up there.  Thankfully there's no "cooterball" or any of that, she performs right up to the end, using my scarf (hey, helps to keep a handy prop on you) to drag me up to her.  Best set in a while.

Afterwards, I let other men get to her for premiums.  Maybe I'm too Zen in some way, but for me the dance is my own private sanpshot, taken with the camera of my memory.  We need to wait for it, though, because she's GOT to get through a cigarette first, she's been dying for one.

Weird awkward time -- I comment to her about how the music  at the opening of her appearance is like something out of the movie Excalibur.  She in turn proceeds to tell me the specific movem ent it's similar to -- that is to say, she's talking WAGNERIAN OPERA.  Instantly I'm out of my depth, so I defer to my sister being the opera buff, her favorite movies being Excalibur and FLashdance.  Then I tell her the "spell of making" -- "Anauh nathrach, uthvas beythude, dochiel dienvey!" (or something like that) and she laughs and I feel a little more on an even keel.

We chat some more and finally I get a dance.  Darien has convinced me that what I seek is what I would call a "mamma-slamma," which is roughly defined as "curvy dynamic gal with hugely fake and fakely huge knockers which she can slam right in your face.  Yes, she is not quite Jada -- Jada has been very giving for me, and Darien's a bit more guarded and prefucntory -- but a hell of a delight in her own right, and I thank her again for dropping in as I head out.

And the drama continues.  How will Summer Leigh be next week?  Am I still good with my sweet Kyra?  Am I going to get to try another house girl?  Life goes on ...    

[berkovw]

Sorry I haven't been keeping up in here, but I've been busy.  Did this happen down at Blush, Druul?

[DruulEmpire]

That's right, Berk (may I call you Berk?), until otherwise specified it's the one place I get to.

I think the name is chosen for its uneasy relationship with Downtown's Cultural Trust.  After all, I hardly see any men blushing in there -- and the girls don't blush at all!

All this is pretty easily verified by the website, plus the local City Paper has finally gone back to running good ads each week.  Also, there's some newspaper called the Go-Go! put out by a Ron Bieneck of East McKeesport ... I wonder if you know him ...

[berkovw]

I've been so busy with my two jobs that I haven't been able to make much of an effort to keep up with the cummings and goings around the 'burgh.  I haven't even been able to make it here all that often anymore.

I do know Go-Go magazine.  I've gotten it once or twice when I've gone to the porn store.

I'm off the week of Christmas so I was thinking of trying to get down to Blush to see Brandi Morgan.

BTW, is Cathedral a house dancer there?  I checked the dancer schedules on the website and I didn't see any dancer by that name.  Did I miss something?

[DruulEmpire]

   In addition to being so darn busy, Berk (which probably means you're easily richer than a working-class one-jobber like myself), you may need to slow down and pick up the details of this thread over the months.  I said early on that I fictionalize dancer names, which is why for a long time I put their names in quotes but finally dropped that.  So, let me guess, you want to check out "Cathedral" for her bust, huh?  She's a nice enough gal, I may get back around to her eventuially.  I'll make you suffer just a tad -- my fictionalization is directly tied to her given name, so maybe you'll figure that out.

Naomi Knight is pre-Xmas, Brandi Morgan is near year's end -- and just in time for my b'day, plus she's an established favorite of mine, so I'll be seeing her too.  Meanwhile, looking forward to Summer Leigh tomorrow ...

[DruulEmpire]

Berk -- I took pity and PMed you.

The Dow hit a record of 12445 today -- and I believe it, becuase today scored well at the club too.  Not at first, though -- thing is, they're having a long pre-Xmas celebration down there, plus Summer didn't come on till an hour after she was supposed to, so today I took in nearly twice the sights I usually do.

Things got kicking immediately with Esmerelda as the first dance.  That early on, the crowd was still shy, so I had her to myself a fair bit.

After her, things got a bit fuzzy.  Pilar came on, a blonde with a decent body and a sort of "Gothic butterfly" on her stomach (tats at the base of the spine are practically their own subgenre of stripper, so I was struck by this obvious a location).  Pilar was fine -- but through me off slightly by being more handsome-beautiful than anything, a little too androgynous for me in the face, even though all the rest of her checked out.  Next up was Elixir, whose exotic capital got used up in her name -- a sweet basic nature schoolgirl type, but no bold curves or moves or anything.

Next up was Venice, who I've noted before.  A darkhaired hoofer with a long face, somehow I remembered that John Kerry daughter ALexandra.  What was notable about her was not her dance, but what happened later.

But first, I got reunited with my great Kyra.  You appreciate simple things, like the dancer leaning w-a-y back over so that her head nearly rests on your shoulder -- certainly helps me, because half the time I'm half-deaf in that place, what with the music and the low roar of chater from the bar, so I'm happy for the chance to talk.

Problem: the club is remodeling the private rooms!  But, solution: there are rooms available near the lobby of the original hotel!  So it's a bit of an interesting tour.  The rooms are sadly mirrorless, and the privacy curtains don't always fall 100% flat (not that I mind so much), but I get in my double dance.

Sound pipes in from the club, and that's when I hear that Summer will be an hour late.  (Sounds sort of like daylight savings, huh?)  So I tell Kyra that I will step out to "recuperate," but then come right back.

Which I do ...

[DruulEmpire]

And a good thing I do, because with all due respect to the great and reliable Kyra, things REALLY pick up.

I glimpse a blackhaired dancer, let's call her Carroll, finishing up -- and Venice, from before, walks up to me and strikes up some talk.  I wonder if I can get her anything -- she says she wants to dance for me.  So, back out I go.  Venice is a nice enough gal, a good dance, but there's really no chemistry, but she was worth trying.  The next thing I know, it's Summer time -- back to the stage I go.

Summer has an appropriately long build-up of credits, and she comes out in a bunny suit.  (Christmas ... Easter ... well, I gues there's some connection ... )  My understanding of the animal kingdom gets a bit hazy as she crawls and stalks and prowls, more like a bunny-eater than a bunny, but she's pretty with one marvelous fake rack, so I'm not complaining.

As her costume gradually comes peeling off, she needs volunteers to help her get wet.  I help her with that, squirting a bottle of water over her naked breasts and then onto her naked snatch.  (I've got to wonder, do any of these gals NOT shave?)  A little later on, I get to towel her all off too.  We've got some playful quick kissing going on -- though the real star is a guy she pulls up onto the stage for, uh, doggie scenarios.  First she plays his dog -- then he plays her dog, complete with a snout over his nose, and she rides him around horsie-style before she guides him into simulated doggie-style.

At first I'm thinking "I don't know," but I see enough of her with me and some other men that I can see that she's not too hyper after all, so I finally decide, Dance ...

[DruulEmpire]

All the girls are back out for their all-at-once.  Summer lingers with the bar crowd a bit before coming back to her table.

Before I know it, I'm one of THREE men who want dances off her.  Never saw that before, for this day and time; I even had Lovette all to myself.  So as she goes off to have two songs (though it sure does seem much longer) with the one guy ahead of me, I find myself relaxing at the stage again.

And a good thing too, because the crop really starts looking up.  First out after the all-at-once is a beauty in a nice classy black lace costume, I'll call her Jolene -- she gets some dollars off me.  Then a team comes out, the dark Reyna and the blonde Estee.  I'm amazed at Estee -- the perfect pretty petite shapely schoolgirl of your dreams, so much of what Dallas (see much earlier) was supposed to be, though she seems to have vanished.  Reyna has a nice earthiness to her, but I definitely register Estee in my memory.

At last, Summer comes back out for me --

[DruulEmpire]

Technically, it's just one song of Summer (hmm!), but it winds up taking a long time to wind up, so even with my tip it's a bargain.  There is a certain vengeance to the fact that it's that ancient Rick Springfield chestnut "Jesse's Girl."  Yes, I want Jesse's girl -- and if Summer is Jesse's girl, then Jesse is screwed (and in the bad way), because she's doing great by me.  

We're alone, she swiftly and happily peels -- and she invites me to FEEL her breasts.  Naturally, I smuggle as much fun out of this as reasonable: squashing them together, burying myself in them like twin bouquets of roses, hefting them, lightly tweaking them the works.  Summer has a forthright directness that pales only next to Lovette herself.

Summer is urgently stroking my erection during this, as she sits before me and hunches her body in sinuous ways -- but I am simply not a spontaneous ejaculator, it ain't happening.  Rather, I prefer to carefully handle and stimulate her breasts as I let her sit back against me and she shuts her eyes and hand-frigs herself.

Summer climaxes -- as quietly as possible, but the deed is done.  This to me is far more of an affirmation than any stroke-off.  She says this is only the second time that she has cum and the man hasn't.  Minor history, made in a makeshift booth!

She makes sure she remembers me, so I say -- as always -- that I am Murdock.  It takes a nice long sweet time for her to recuperate and gather herself back together, but I'm in no rush.  A shame I'm second -- if I were third and last, and there was no one left to worry about, who knows?

I thank her, for Summer cumming in winter -- and that about does me for one day, so I step out at last.

Take THAT, Rick Springfield.

[berkovw]

Dayum, Druul, that is one hot story!

And yes, I didn't know that you fictionalized the dancers name so I appreciate the PM.  It gives me some tips on who to look out for the next time I get down there.  Thanks!

[DruulEmpire]

While I'm committed to checking the club out tomorrow -- not just for Naomi Knight, but for their Christmas party -- this marks the anniversary of my becoming a regular there, and so I have to pause to wonder what I'm going to do in 2007.

Funny, how this has evolved.  I first went thinking "I'll check out the occasional headliner."  Then I got to wondering "Why not have private dances with headliners I particularly like?"  And as time wore on I realized that some of the house girls were minor stars in their own right and worth hanging out with.

This December has been a killer.  I once lamented having to go two months without an interesting headliner, but now December has really piled it on.  Darien Vain and Summer Leigh were worth it, and even if I snub Ms. Knight I may still want a Christmas dance with some favorite house girl, and then I've GOT to catch Brandi Morgan coming back in time for my birthday at year's end.  Oddly enough, this piling up of events detracts from being able to properly appreciate them all, I think I need at least a two week "breather" between such events.

That would also be highly practical.  Basically, if 2007 were to feature an irresistible headliner every week and I wanted to check out some house girls in the bargain, I would wind up blowing nine grand by New Year's Day 2008.  Financially, that's ridiculous, and I don't think I could cut it psychologically -- or even physiologically, for that matter.  What I figure is this: a maximum of twelve headliners in the new year, an investment of up to nearly a thousand dollars.  Plus, I will reserve the right to start checking out the house girls more thoroughly.  If I can keep my clubbing below three thousand and still have a consistently great time all year, that may all right.

To put it another way: the "sex budget" has reentered my life.  Time was, all I had to worry about was buying the occasional magazine or even making the occasional call.  At this point, it begins to rival actual dating.  So it becomes fair to ask: in the course of one year, is it better to have twelve headliners dance for you in a booth, or to have actual sex with a girlfriend a hundred times?  In my jaded ancientness, I've got to say: it depends on the girlfriend.

I used to think I only wanted two jobs -- either some equivalent of Robert Osborne hosting movies on TCM, or running something like the Huntsville SpaceCamp.  Today, I toy with a third: running a place like the club.  I could kick myself that I took so long to discover that.

Will see how tomorrow goes ...

[DruulEmpire]

Ahh, the library.  A chance to read, compose, research, study, refresh, reflect, ponder, woolgather -- and scribble down notes of one's memories of ninety minutes in a strip club.

It was the Christmas party, and in full swing already at noon.  If anyone has been wondering what Naomi Knight is like, I've no idea.  There was the postponement of her appearance, but there was also the atmosphere.  I gather that when you amp up the music, crowd the place up, and have lots of cigareetes going, that many people, perhaps even a majority, perk right up.  I'm the opposite, I wilt.  So I couldn't put up with it long enough to see Naomi.

HOWEVER -- what a magical word, "however" -- I decided to turn it into a reconnaissance mission.  I figure that, between my memories and what the website owns up to, there are 65 house girls connected in some way with the club, and with many thanks to today, my ability to recognize them individually has risen to 30.  There was a lot of doubling up, two dancers at once, and my mood was thrown off, so it seemed the best thing to do.

The remodeling from last week is over.  Slightly disorienting at first: restrooms and booths got switched.  Oops!  I figured, while I was back there, I'd inspect the booths.  They look nice.  Yay!  But there are NO MIRRORS IN ANY OF THEM.  Boo.  All this activity, you'd think they could spring for mirrors -- hell, I could start a fund.

All academic anyway.  No dances today, just peeling off singles -- and if they're going to hold back the headliner for all of two hours, then I'll need a LOT of singles from here on.  One way around that, though: I made sure my gal Kyra got a card, with cash in it.  (So she'd better not have trashed it; I'll check next week.)

In the time I was there, I got to see seventeen girls, many of them for the first time -- and since life seems too short to linger on the downside, I will report that there are more I could stand to dance with, such as --

Fallon.  (Do keep in mind these are my fictionalizations.)  Slight build, moves well -- fascinating face, needs the right light, but it's finely etched in a way that recalls a young Mariel Hemingway.

Granada.  Only caught her at the very end, short, swarthy (but not black), vivacious, fun, with a blonde streak through her long blonde hair.

Willow.  Ah, Willow.  Scrutiny of this thread may show how I mourn the disappearance of a classic beauty I called Dallas -- Willow seems to be the living resurgence of that Dallas mystique, very alive, very sweet, rather shockingly pretty.

Carroll.  I've mentioned her above, but she grew on me even more today.

Estee.  Much like Carroll.

That was about it on this gently rainy day -- but what can I say, I'm not a partier, and this reconnaissance should leave me in good stead in future months.  Besides, it's worth it, to rest up a week before Brandi Morgan.

Honestly, it's ridiculous to ask strippers to dance to corny old Christmas music.  Luckily that only happened for two early songs, and then the rock came on steady ...

[Mech]

They took the mirror out, what a sad, sad day.