Save The Main

A little late…but hey i am not the best royal watcher.

sign the petition here

0911: Gentrification—NOT sexy.

This episode of Audiosmut discusses in greater detail what’s up on lower st. Laurent these days.  Last time we checked, Cafe Cleopatra and some other thriving businesses were being expropriated for a 12 story office building under a contract awarded to the Angus Development Corporation by the city of Montreal (Gerald Tremblay). 

First we talk to Emilie Laliberte from Stella (an organization for and by sex workers whose goal is to provide information and support to people in the trade so that they can work in safety and with dignity) to get a grasp on how the development of the lower main has been impacting the sex worker community.  Needless to say, there has not been much understanding or acceptance coming from the city with regards to women working the streets.  The Tremblay administration is particularly closed to including sex workers in the discussion of solutions for st. laurent.  Instead, petty policies are being enacted (expensive tickets, and quadrilatere’s restricting sex workers from entering the quartier) to remove them from the area. 

We also hear throughout this show, a special edition of Pleasures.  Loosely based on what is happening to Cafe Cleo, we return to Pleasureburg and see how our characters react to this unsexy situation.

[act 1]

Next, we hear some audio clips of the Contre Courant event, put on to rally support for Save the Main.  The dead doll dancers, who perform regularly on the thrust stage at Cabaret Cleo, put together a satire of the Public consultations that occured discussing the merits of the Angus Development contract, and whether or not Cafe Cleo and the other establishments on this part of the main are indeed historical sites that ought to be preserved. 

Lastly is the porning news, where we speak with Eric Paradis, who gives us an update on the situation.  Despite recent discoveries that the head of the Angus Development Corporation has been involved in fraud, the project is likely to go through.  Especially since Gerald Tremblay has been re-elected.  Eric brings up the injustices of the situation:

1) The proposed project–payed for with tax dollars—benefits a very small group of people

2) Pouring money into fancy architechture and clean cut edifice does not cultivate cultural richness.  Money is being put into facade rather than into real creative projects.

3) The people whose businesses are being expropriated, the people who have worked long and hard and contributed to the community in many ways, have every right to be there and stay there.

Support the inclusion of everyone in the decisions made about developing the Quartier des Spectacles.

Paddling the Pink Canoe

This weekend I was amazed to learn, when I’m put on the spot I couldn’t come up with *any* slinging slang for one of my favourite activities. How can I be a bona fide radio gal if I can’t talk about solo sex in anything but the most feminist clinical language? What a disappointment. How are we supposed to experience pleasure when we can’t even name it?

PORNO CORNERS…

‘ >0908 Audiosmut porn

Discovering the corners of porners…this episode Audiosmut asks: how are people taking porn into their own hands, transforming meanings, and making it their own?

FIRST: Some history.  The victorian punishment.  We learn about the way that something which was never intended to be pornographic gets appropriated and eroticized, leaving a legacy of arousal surrounding flagelation.

SECOND: Pornographic ponderings of Lily Cade: representing authentic sex and sexuality in *sorta* mainstream porn

THIRD: Chelsea Chainsaw shares her experience of creating kickass DIY porn (it’s called…the Cumming of Jizzus)

FOURTH: ROBOT PORN.  We talk to the author of Robot Porn, an experimental novel with pornographic interludes, about redefining porn and what we think porn is.  The interview weaves in and out of the book-reading turned performance piece.

BODILY FLUIDS

Audiosmut dives into the depths of our oozing orifices.

First we heard a tune by MATMOS….a group that records real live oozingness and incorporates these surgical sounds into their music!

We aired an interview with Maya Rolbin-Ghanie who is empassioned about bodily fluids among other things.   Her ambition was to create a zine that crushed the taboos surrounding the body by discussing and exploring different forms of fluid.  Later in the show we hear a short story of her own experience with one of the most mysterious but sought after human rivers: lady cum!

We also had the opportunity to speak with Vanessa Tiegs, a many talented woman creative in many ways.  Vanessa went on a three year journey of documenting and becoming intimate with her menstrual cycle by making 88 paintings using her own bright red blood.  She calls them Menstrala, a reflection on the word Mandala, which represents the way that the menstraul cycle makes us whole.

the grand finale of masturbation month of may: Audiosmut investigates SOLO SEX

Over the course of the month of May (which is official masturbation month) Audiosmut contemplated and conversed on the topic of solo sex.  Making love to ourselves is a crucial element of knowing our bodies and what we like—not to mention it relieves stress, improves blood circulation, helps us sleep better, low risk of contracting STIs (still gotta make sure you clean your toys and think twice about what you use to get off), it’s a great work break, the list goes on and on and on. 

This month’s show featured some anecdotes involving masturbatory adventures: childhood memories of those first masturbatory discoveries, masturbating brothers, mutual masturbation, and public masturbators who seem to have no respect for people’s space.  [There's a fine line between the thrilling experience of getting off beyond the bedroom, and slightly traumatizing acts of masturbatory harrassment.]

LESSONS FROM JOYTOYZ - The queen of masturbation tools *Phuong Ly* tells us about her treasures

 1) No need for crazy multi-purpose vibrators with 8 thousand functions and a built in flashlight….go with something simple.

2) Masturbation is a really important part of your sex life: if you expect someone else to make you come you should know how to do it yourself!

3) Vibrators are awesome (and there’s a vibrator to suit the needs of the most diverse sexual tastes to be sure) but nothing beats old fashioned finger fucking! Touching yourself with your own hand can be doubly rewarding: you’re feeling sensations on both ends! 

In our interview we hear Phuong describing some masturbatory masterpieces…a simple vibrator, the legendary BUTTERFLY (handsfree vibes!), a handsfree and PORTABLE (you can wear it through the workday) bullets, hand crafted glass dildos , and revolutionary male masturbation toy called Lip Service. Mmm. 

This video features Phuong herself, the lip service, and the amazing glass dildo!

 

 Britt tracked down Mary Roach, an author/journalist who reveals to us the wiles of science in plain and unbelievably interesting terms. Her latest book, BONK, features her research on an outrageous variety of scientific experiments done on sex and sexuality. In Britt’s conversation with Mary Roach we hear about people who think themselves to orgasm, people who orgasm from stimulation beyond your typical erogenous zone, and all the unexpected things people penetrate themselves with.

This is a clip on her book, in the interview we focused on solo sex

That’s all for now folks!  Send us your own thoughts about masturbation at audiosmut@ckut.ca

 

 

 

 

SEXY SENIORS: Audiosmut lends an ear to experienced voices

“The truth is, older people, and especially older women, have always been more sexual than society has been prepared to accept”

- from Dierdre Fischel and Diana Holtzberg’s Still Doing It: The Intimate Lives of Women Over 60

First thing’s first: The widespread denial of elderly sexuality not only restricts the sexual freedom and openness of seniors themselves, but also paints a completely distorted picture of what is actually going on between the sheets of older ladies and gents.

This inaccurate picture is further distorted by the media’s obsession with youth (and while you could analyse the biological or psychological motivations at play there, in the end it really has to do with marketing strategies to access impressionable minds and disposable incomes) which defines beauty in terms of freshness and firmness.

“Society persists in seeing aging in terms of loss rather than benefit, because capitalism is invested in this vision of its aging people. Capitalism is modeled on the idea of constant change, of what is new. Therefore to look on aging people as becoming better instead of becoming deficient would be to fundamentally challenge the way the whole system is organized and structured.”

Lois Banner, a cultural historian featured in Still Doing It

 While viagra ad campaigns have effectively brought elderly sexuality onto the stage of mainstream media, and has even in some ways contributed to breaking the taboo surrounding the sexuality of the elderly, the viagra phenomenon demonstrates one of the enduring problems in addressing sexuality in general: its focus is on the male.  Many women cite this all too familiar double standard as one of the prominent obstacles in the sexual liberation of the elderly.

SO.

This month the Audiosmut crew decided to explore eroticism that lies beyond realm of youth, and with a general focus on women, talk about the all too often omitted sexuality of the well ripened.

THE RUNDOWN:

PLEASURES episode 6: Betty’s First Client

Betty spends hours and hours listening to Dr. Eckheart’s LP on elderly sexuality.

Sexy Senior #1: GRACE MOORE 

A precocious and passionate writer-scholar-volunteer with an open mind, a girly giggle, and a lot to say about sex.Grace affirms that sexuality is broader than interactions that take place within the bounds of bonded couple-dom. “I don’t believe in what they call the ownership of people in the name of affection” says Grace. One of the biggest challenges as an older woman being the sparse selection of eligible bachelors (or bachelorettes), Grace believes that you don’t have to be in a monogamous relationship to be sexually satisfied, nor does a woman need a partner to feel complete. She talks about the role of fantasy and making love to yourself as a way to achieve sexual satisfaction, and shares a poem that was quite controversial in her writing group.

Making Love to Myself

When I make love to myself

I feel guilty

I feel like an adolescent

doing it because I am too young

to have a partner

I am 61 years old

and this is no first awakening

of sexuality

When I make love to myself

I feel that the only real sex

exists within bonded couples

regardless of the quality

I feel that I am violating a trust

convention tells me

that any old romantic fantasy

is better than this physical indulgence

When I try to make love to myself

I sometimes cannot do it

for all the above reasons

plus the one supreme one

like a wife

I am just too tired

At other times

it is perfect

I reach a climax

and then I fall asleep

Then, making love to myself

is the best sleeping pill I know

SEXY SENIOR # 2: Our Man Chris

Chris is a distinguished gent at the ripe age of 75 with toned legs and a passion for people.

Chris reveals the nuances of his sexual preferences and resulting experience. We capture a glimpse of his life history from mind-blowing acid trip inspired romps of his youth to steamy disrobings in the saunas of his older years. He illuminates the interesting mystique surrounding the ‘older man’ in gay male culture, explaining that many a youngster really get off on the idea of an elderly gent.

SEXY SENIOR #3: Roz, a vivacious and outspokenwoman shares her opinions and exeriences of sex over margaritas with a couple of friends (one of whom just happened to be Britt)

Taking a minute to listen to Roz as she relates tales of her encounters with ‘the big dong’, the ‘daisy chain’, and dating younger men will make you think twice before you assume that older women aren’t interested or indulging in sex.  This woman is living (and how!) proof that sex can get better with age.

Email us at smut@ckut.ca and we’ll send you a copy of the show!

 

Sex, stories told: February Show Notes

Well here’s the links to some of the fun thoughtful pillow talk from Wednesday, 4 February 2009!

The conclusion to the CASE of the MISSING VIBRATOR can be enjoyed here:

Stories drawings and news from funny sensual story teller, Julie is available here.

Zoe Whittall’s Polly is from With a Rough Tongue: Femmes Write Porn

Kristyn Dunnion writer, preformer, fairy tale lover, was also in With a Rough Tongue but she’s been in a lot of other pieces too and she’s known to read erotica in laundrymats so check her out!

Finally our last guest, the DEAD DOLL DANCERS have a show coming up:
The Swamp Pussy Revival Cabaret
Saturday Feb. 21,2009

Cafe Cleopatra
1230 boul.St. Laurent, Montreal
showtime : 9pm Doors: 8pm

tickets at door $10
presale: $8 available at Joy Toyz

AUDIOSMUT 3: A rundown of our long lost december show

AUDIOSMUT 3: LEFTOVERS (it’s exam time for some and just plain busy time for others)

December 3rd

Here’s the rundown:

 ****PLEASURES**** Episode 3: The Case of the Missing Vibrator!

Ceasar and Fanny are at it again—Ceasar has moved out of Betty’s apartment so he and Fanny can fornicate in peace on Fanny’s pull-out couch. Sugarmuffin turns to her vibrator in an attempt to alleviate her newfound frustrations, only to find. . .

[dum dum DUUUUM]

 

The Long Lost Shame Doc!

Documentary is a strong word.

This is an audio-collage of 10-12 interviews Kaitlin and Linda did with friends and family asking about SEXUAL SHAME….sources, experiences, and strategies for evading, surmounting, extinguishing, or ignoring it.

 

Highlights: mortifying sexual experiences—talk about it? Yeah right. / masturbation—guilt, and changeroom bitchfights / BAGAGGE. / “talking about sex is like talking about music”: division between the mind and the body** / lots of intellectualizing

 

What’s missing:

One interviewee spoke about his experience of sexuality as an Asian male, and how he often feels de-sexualized as a result of images and values of masculinity imposed and reinforced in North American media.  

In our discussions of sexual shame, the Audiosmut collective pontificated on whether shame could be sexy: “can it be hot in that it might add to the lustiness of an encounter when we see one another’s vulnerabilities translated through feelings/expressions of shame in our desires, facilitating bonding?” Britt wonders…..what do you think?

Kaitlin’s little rant:

***Two of the interviewees attributed their difficulty in talking openly about sex to the fact that its such a physical act—”sex is not a conversation.” This made me think of the way our language is structured to exclude the experiences deemed irrelevant to a rational/western/patriarchal system of values. Traditions of western rationalist thought have made a habit of relegating the reality of the body, the female, and the emotional to the negative side of the binary (in contrast with the mind, the male, and the rational). I couldn’t help but ponder whether this recurring annoyance is one of the sources of our cultural difficulty in confronting, expressing, and discussing sex. As sex lies within the sphere of the physical, it has therefore been rendered indecent because it reminds us that we are animals and not gods. While things are slowly changing, there is still a long way to go before mind/body, man/woman, human/animal, positive/negative binaries are abandonned and we realize that everything is the same but different. As a result of this modernist debris, many still lack linguistic and social avenues to speak comfortably about our animal urges.

Linda and Nora discuss queer and trans politics with THE Mattilda Berstein Sycamore in a diner at 1 AM.

Here in Montreal to promote their NEW BOOK: So Many Ways to Sleep Badly Mattilda was cornered after a talk at McGill by Linda and Nora. Mattilda is the author of several other assumption-shattering books such as : Nobody Passes: Rejecting Rules of Gender and Conformity and That’s Revolting! Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation among others. (Check out their website for more info!!! http://www.mattildabernsteinsycamore.com/ )

Even Mattilda was surprised at the wieght of discussion topics they covered in the wee hours of the morning—ranging from identity politics to the questionable nature of marriage as an institution, Audiosmut (in the form of Linda and Nora) debates the landscape of queer activism today and captures some of Mattilda’s insights. The 20 minute clip we aired is—to put it bluntly—heavy, laden with all sorts of specific terms.

We provide for you a small and by no means definitive glossary just in case a few words fell dead on your ears:

Gender queer: an individual or an act that that challenges the little boxes labelled ‘male’ and ‘female’ that are wrapped accordingly . These boxes come without labels and in a wide variety of wrapping paper.

butch: also having to do with the wrapping paper. Someone who likes to wrap themselves up in what is generally thought of as a MALE aesthetic.

trans : people that break away from one or more of the society’s expectations around sex and gender. These expectations include that everyone is either a man or a woman, that one’s gender is fixed, that gender is rooted in their physiological sex, and that our behaviors are linked to our gender.

scene (bdsm context): a division of time that encapsulates a BDSM activity, ranging from a few minutes to several hours. Also used as a verb, as to “scene” with someone implies that you have been or will be involved with someone for the scene. Alternatively, this term has been applied to the BDSM community’s more public gatherings or the state the community is in. ["The scene around Houston is very active."]

Domsub.info: http://www.domsub.info/glossary.shtml

femme: also having to do with the wrapping paper. Someone who likes to wrap themselves up in what is generally thought of as a FEMALE aesthetic.

pass/passing: is the ability of a person to be regarded as a member of a combination of sociological groups other than his or her own, such as a different race, ethnicity, social class, gender, and/or disability status, generally with the purpose of gaining social acceptance. (wikipedia.org)

A critique of the this term’s use:

“the crux of the problem is that the words ‘pass and ‘passing’ are active verbs.  So when we say that a transsexual is ‘passing,’ it gives the false impression that they are the only active participant in this scenario (i.e, the transsexual is working hard to achieve a certain gendered appearance and everyone else is passively being duped or not duped by the transsexual’s ‘performance’).  However, I would argue that the reverse is true: The public is the primary participant by virtue of their incessant need to gender every person they see as either female or male” Julia Serano

http://questioningtransphobia.wordpress.com/2008/10/17/evolving-a-trans-vocabulary-passing/

cultural capital: For Bourdieu [the guy who coined this term], capital acts as a social relation within a system of exchange, and the term is extended ‘to all the goods material and symbolic, without distinction, that present themselves as rare and worthy of being sought after in a particular social formation (cited in Harker, 1990:13) and cultural capital acts as a social relation within a system of exchange that includes the accumulated cultural knowledge that confers power AND status. Wikipedia.org

m to fs/f to ms: MtF(male-to-female, masculine-to-feminine) and “FtM” (female-to-male, feminine-to-masculine) are two of the common ways trans people describe themselves.

assimilated: a pretty complicated concept. Mat/tilda wrote a book about it actually. Check out their website

proposition 8: ELIMINATES RIGHT OF SAME–SEX COUPLES TO MARRY. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. as articulated on the 2008 offical voter information page for the California general elections

If you feel your intelligence is being insulted or that ours is lacking, please email us some of your own interpretations of these terms! audiosmut@ckut.ca

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