For the best time, Trust you're reviewer.

South Miami?

Tootsies is practically in Broward it is so far North. And, the other good clubs are so located in the general area as long as you stay within Miami-Dade County.

Rick's Seattle, at various points, lived up to its rating, if not moreso. I lived there for 9 years, and I've experienced its ups and downs. Sounds like now is horrible, but a year from tonight, after the elections, the erections may be back..who knows. Those owners are cats with nine lives...

Right now a couple places in NJ may be among the best, but they can feel the heat from time to time also.

The Block... just go with no expectations. You may be pleased, you may not. Just as it's always been.

You guys *might* want to avoid Miami. I had to go downtown today and took a cab because I'm having difficulty walking and downtown doesn't have convenient parking unless you're a government employee. Total cost for the cab was a little over a hundred; round-trip.

Anyway, on the way back on I-95 the government has decided to make 2 lanes toll lanes. WOW! Traffic was backed-up in the 3 remaining non-toll lanes bumper-to-bump at about 2 PM (which used to be clear-sailing time). The cabbie took the toll lanes, but then he couldn't get off at any nearby exits. Along the trip you had cars stopping to try sneak in and out of the toll lanes: EXTEMELY DANGEROUS. Twice I tell the cabbie to watch for stopped cars---he was trying to get back over into the non-toll lanes so he could exit. I told him, that I didn't want him to get a ticket. He says it is only a $100. I say yes, but, the insurance companies will rip you off for the rest of your life. Don't stop my account, I just hate see you get ripped off by the insurers forever.

He thanks me and then stops the meter!? That was one nice cabbie and a wonderful surprise, of course taking a cab from downtown to my home is quite a trip. And, boy the trip got MUCH longer once it became clear that it wasn't worth trying sneak back in. Amazed there weren't a bunch of accidents. No wonder the gas prices are going up: why travel 20 miles when the government can force you to go 50 miles! :) One thing this ain't particularly bad cause I loathe conservation and or protecting the environment. Thumbs to the government; this time. :)

Truth, I have a present ATF at Houston Dolls. When she drank, we would get hot, sweaty, and nasty together. Last time I went there, she wa purposely not drinking, and nowhere near as fun as she had been in the past.

She was stringing me along, acting non chalant about whether she wanted to spend time with me. Anyway, I was curious about this one gal, so I got a dance from her. ATF wasn't happy about it and finally decided to go in the room with me.

Anyway, the whole time I was curious about this well built hard bodied 18-19 year old dancing there. I'm probably going to go within the month, but if my ATF is still off the sauce, I want to check the toung un.

I too read njscfan's review of Hot Lap Dance and found it enlightening. I thought some of the previous reviews were of the "too good to be true" variety. I always thought it strange for there to be only one place like this in NY of all places. I am old enough to remember all of the wild venues in Times Square and I'm sure there are plenty of entrepreneurs who would gladly reopen the live show emporiums if they thought the city would let them operate. From what I have read even the famous "Scores" is a rather tame place next to Platinum Plus and some of the other clubs I frequent in the South.

I too read njscfan's review of Hot Lap Dance and found it enlightening. I thought some of the previous reviews were of the "too good to be true" variety. I always thought it strange for there to be only one place like this in NY of all places. I am old enough to remember all of the wild venues in Times Square and I'm sure there are plenty of entrepreneurs who would gladly reopen the live show emporiums if they thought the city would let them operate. From what I have read even the famous "Scores" is a rather tame place next to Platinum Plus and some of the other clubs I frequent in the South.

I guess jablake is in my camp as being strongly opposed to lowering the national speed limit to 55. I say if you want to conserve and drive slow, go ahead and do it, don't force me and everyone else to strict to your stingy ways. The only place the speed limit is higher than 55 in my area is on the interstate. If I want to drive slow, I don't have to get on the interstate. I think many people can choose otherwise. You can drive slower than 70 on the interstate as well. Besides if we slow down, conserve, that just means some guy in Asia is driving 70 or so burning up the gas you conserved. I'm not against conservation but if I want to save 30 minutes and spend a few extra dollars to get somewhere faster, I think I should be able to do so by going the current speed limit 70 on the interstate. I guess that is what congress and politicians are for though. To see how much they can fuck us up and get our money in the process.

I really believe oil companies and entire governments want the price of oil to remain high and are doing manuevers to keep it up. Ever heard of just in time for the oil supply? I read years ago it was working great to jack up oil prices. This was when oil was a lot cheaper. It's all a big game to keep the reported supplies down. Someone is probably happy Americans are no longer buying SUV's etc. that much anymore and we're talking about electric plug in hybrids. I doubt we would be if gas was still $1.75 a gallon.

Sorry about going off topic a little.

As for the green guys who promoted ethanol
You were wrong.
I read a Time magazine article that stated the model only looked at the carbon used in growing the plants and the carbon emitted during burning of the oil and gas. What they didn't consider is that Ethanol would drive up corn prices. Farmers would plant a lot more corn and less soybeans. The price of soybeans would jump up in price. Down in Brazil, farmers are using all available farming land including land that used to be used for livestock (maybe cattle) grazing to grow soybeans. The livestock grazers or cattle crazers need land so they are burning down the rainforest to have land available. The rainforest is getting destroyed at a record pace. This is happening around the world. Thanks green guys. You really helped alot. In recent news the green guys stopped development of Solar power construction in the southwestern US because they claimed they needed 2 years to do environmental impact studies. In other news, the green guys and many democrats in Congress are still more worried about caribou in Alaska than about mom and pop having enough gas to get to work or buy groceries. If they were less concerned several years ago, we would have bigger supplies now. I guess this is what the green guys and democrats wanted though. High gas prices so we are forced to abandon our gasoline engines (Al Gore wanted to ban them a long time ago) and use something else. ok I'm through with my rant.

Hi casualguy,

When I'm driving I try and stay at a speed that flows with the traffic. Ideally, because my car is an old economy car a fairly slow speed of 55 mph works well. IOWs, I'd rather drive at 55 mph--the posted speed limit---or violate the speed limit if necessary for increased safety; go with the flow of traffic. Having said that I like to see the speed limits abolished.

Oh, we now have camera enforced tickets to go with the new campaign so those drivers sneaking in and out of lanes can expect $100 tickets in the mail. A double win for the State: increased revenue from tickets and rate increases for the insurance companies. :)

Next, step is for drivers to obsure their plates using different methods. Years ago a buddy was in a 5 car pile up. He said that 2 of the drivers took off running for whatever reasons. He later had his license suspended without notice for driving without insurance---of course, he had insurance. He had a fun time trying to resolve the problem with the State and ended up hiring an attorney who fixed everything for a few hundred dollars.

Another buddy was getting threatening letters from the State of Florida's Bureau of Financial Responsibility over his supposed lack of insurance. He was losing his mind somewhat so I needed to check and see if he was insured with his insurance company; he was. Anyway, reading the letters he had been sending in response to the State's letters was very interesting. He actually wrote rambling letters that they should be investigating the Kennedy murder and the faked moon landing and etc. :)

I don't think there was anything in njscfan's review that I could believe only because I've learned to trust in his word as gospel. If anything, I take much of it with a grain of salt, given his tendency for wild exaggeration, as well as his bias for extras and against lapdances. (Not that there's anything wrong with those traits - they make his postings quite entertaining.) Even that I could have picked up on just from reading the review without looking at who wrote it. There's plenty to be learned from it, but only by taking into account the standpoint it's written from, which is easily recognized, as is the case with most reviews.

BTW, Tampa sucks? Oh, really? That's a new one. Where do you come by that info, Shadowcat?

jablake,

The problem with I-95 you mentioned is simple. There are hundreds of thousands of idiots driving in Miami. Many can not even read the signs, much less comprehend them. Combine that with the idiots that do not even read them, and you end up with chaos. Real simple.

Hi clubber,

Those "hundreds of thousands of idiots" weren't clogging I-95 at 2 PM that I can ever remember (even during tourist season) unless there was an accident. NO accident and yet it was bumper-to-bumper at 2 PM. What is new? Two of the 5 lanes have been taken to turn them into toll lanes---on the surface that doesn't sound bad, but the problem is extreme with people attempting to sneak in and out. And, it is very DANGEROUS----these idiots were doing very well not to be crashing.

I submit, that if you turned all the driver into BRAINS with high driving skills, then it would still be a mess. Three lanes will have far too many cars and two lanes will have far too few---but, getting extra money from the tolls and tickets and higher insurance makes it all good. And, paying the toll isn't even the problem; I can't use the toll lanes unless 1) I want to end up driving a much greater distance because my exit is cut-off or 2) I attempt to sneak back into the non-toll lanes at some point. The plastic separators between toll lanes and non-toll lanes make it very difficult and very dangerous to sneak into or out the separated lanes.

You really need to see this to believe it. Fortunately, I don't do much driving.

chandler: you are correct that I'm extremely opinionated and tend to hyperbole (I like that better than "wild exaggeration" because it sounds more poetic). Obviously it is possible that some people like this place and genuinely get something out of it, although why is somewhat of a mystery to me.

On the other hand, I am not kidding that there are several extremely suspcious reviews that I think are completely fake for Hot Lap Dance. The keys are that they sound like advertisements, not reviews, and the authors are people who have never written another review, and have never posted on this board. I am firmly convinced that this place is a top rated club only because of the numerous fake reviews. While I am super biased, for the reasons you state, I am objective enough to see this place is no different than a lot of other low mileage, overpriced clubs just like it, and thus there is no reason for it to be ranked so high. It is ranked so high only because of a phony ad campaign in the form of fake reviews.

I also do not think it is just my imagination that Hot Lap Dance is but an extreme example of the strip club scene in NYC. Having lived in or near the City for many years, all I can tell you is that the clubs there are frequently disappointing. The problem is not just that they are often very low mileage, but also that they are insanely overpriced.

Btw, the rumors about the fake reviews for Hot Lap Dance have been rampant for a while. I was in the City for work anyway that evening, and figured I would go to see for myself, which felt more intellectually honest than trashing a place I've never been to. Not quite taking a hit for the team, but certainly with the idea of providing a public service. I do think it's a bummer when the entire review process is skewed by a strip club owner that posts a lot of fake reviews. I would love to see this place knocked off the top ten list as a punishment for fake reviews.

But I agree with your overall point, which is that you have to read the reviews with a grain of salt, and take into account the author's particular bias.

I have found, that even for legit reviews that one has to read between the lines. Often, discernment reference point starts at the day of the week, & the time of the day reviewed. One man coming in on off peak Mo. afternoon may love the laid back/intimate atmosphere, and the "extra" attention that he gets from the 30 something "7" who knows how to please, while another may lament at the lack of hordes of 20 something barbie dolls, and "things happening". Likewise, one reviewer may be google-eyed at all the hotties to choose from on Sa. night, while another may hate the crowds,the unavailability of stageside seating, and that the 6-10 dancers in a row that he asked for lapdance were already "taken".
As for HLDC reviews- yeah, the earlier ones looked like shill jobs, but as time went on some credible reviewers(eg- those with many reviews & diverse geographical experience) gave some positive, if not, glowing reviews. I saw a fair number of lukewarm reviews that occured during off peak hrs. that cited mediocre dancer attractiveness as a grading factor, while some 8ish grades were on a more active night shift. Yet, nj-fans writeup prompted me to investigate further. Upon further reading of reviews & reviewers background, I'm reasonably convinced of the possibility that shillls/freeloaders may be getting more sophisticated. Specifically, a reviewer that has reviewed several clubs have remarkable similarities in all reviews: They're long on generalities & platitudes, short on length & specifics. High profile clubs are often chosen & review almost looks like it could have been gleaned from 2 or 3 prior writeups on club.
I guess we'll recall caveat of "all writings here should be considered fiction", and chuckle.

jablake,

Tootsie's IS in South Miami, compared to it's previous location. Only about a mile, but still south.

As for the road, if your idea were possible, "...that if you turned all the driver into BRAINS with high driving skills...". I submit that there would NOT be the mess. Drivers, all with high skill levels drive many times every week, all together, and they do a pretty damn good job of it, throughout the world.

Having driven in South Florida my entire life and mostly while traveling for work, many of the drivers ARE idiots and THEY cause the problems, not the roads.

Minnow, NJSCFAN, and a couple others made some excellent posts to this thread. We can all benefit from more critical reading of the reviews and especially checking the QUALITY of other reviews by a poster who gives a really high rating to a club like Hot Lap Dance (which has been REPEATEDLY accused, with good reason, of using shills.) To reinforce Minnow's point -- does the review sound more like it was written by a good advertising copy writer than an actual customer? That's a good clue of a shill at work.

Jablake, Casualguy, and Clubber -- I invite you to read a new thread entitled "Staying On Topic". Your comments are definitely invited, for that thread, cause I think if we all stayed on topic this board would be more USEFUL, and more ENJOYABLE TO READ

chandler, just my opinion based on reading reviews and by comments made by TUSCLers that I have personally met. Btw I did some dances with chandler last month and she has really turned up the heat.

I think that most of you missed my point. Which is that if you know the reviewer, you are pretty much assured that is truth full. If Bones tells me that they are doing $5 BJ's down at the Pink Pussycat, I believe it and am on my way. Btw, he is alive and well and hopes to be back posting soon.

With one exception, I believe all of the reviews posted by the people that post on here. In case you cannot read between the lines, when I say high mileage, I mean nasty as hell. I do share explicit information with my buddies but only by email or PM's.

Shadowcat: For God's sake use a spell checker or something! "...Trust you're reviewer." I assume you mean "trust your reviewer". If you didn't, WTF do you mean?

Shadowcat, I think we got your point. But it seemed your real point, was to trust Shadowcat, make Columbia PP #1, and beat down all those other clubs. I agree, it's a good club. One of dozens of clubs around the country where a regular can find paradise. Who cares whether its rated higher or lower than a bunch of other clubs. They're in a down cycle now, but most of them will be back. Anyway, reviews are opinion pieces, not just reportings of fact, true or false.

njscfan: Wow, your response was remarkably mature and free of wild exag- erm, hyperbole. A bit short on entertainment, perhaps, but I guess we can't have it both ways.

When I used to travel a lot and therefore read lots of reviews, the only part I paid much attention to were the descriptions of what the club was like, eg. big or small, moderately priced or expesive, LDs or not, how much hustle, how many girls and how attractive at a particular time of day, etc. Unfortunately too many reviews devote most of their discussion to how good a time the reviewer did or didn't have, which as far as I'm concerned is irrelevant. I've had way too many good times in bad clubs and vice versa for that to be any sort of meaningful indicator of the kind of experience I might expect. And I think the numerical ratings are meaningless, particularly the differences between clubs that are rated 5 or higher. I found little correlation between them and how much I did or didn't like a particular club. Everyone's tastes are different.

FONDL, it's not simply a matter of "some dude had a good time, therefore I will have a good time." It's the kind of good time (or bad time) he had and the impressions that are conveyed in his telling about it. Read enough accounts from posters with different tastes, and a cumulative picture emerges that I feel is more descriptive than a dry recitation of the same data points. Above all, people like to tell stories, and tend to learn better in the form of hearing a story. You can't get any more relevant, IMHO.

Shekitout, I have known you for several years. You continue to attack my spelling. I use Firefox and it has a built in spell check. But spell check does not tell you that you are using the wrong grammar.

chandler: Ok I am a shill. I promote my favorite club. What else do I know. My email and PM's runneth(spell check did not work on this one) over. Today I got a message from a guy that I don't know. He gave me his real first and last name and telephone number. Thats a first for me. I do have Bone's phone number and mailing address. We have become more than just strip club buddies.

No, Shadowcat, you're not a shill when you post about Platinum Plus. You're honest and you know your shit. You just seem like a shill when you cut down other clubs you don't know so well. What appears at first glance to be a neutral topic turns out to be another plug saying, "Trust me. PP should be #1, and all those other Top 20 clubs are overrated."

Or maybe I'm misreading you, and you really want to have a general discussion on the topic of credibility in reviews. (Just kidding.)

BTW, hearing about my namesake turning p the heat with you is even weirder than tipping her was.

Chandler, I've found that the clubs I usually like best rarely have many reviews. In fact I used to avoid the clubs that had a lot of reviews. I rarely like the popular places.

Except for the noise sounds like PP is a #1. $10 for lap dances in private rooms sounds difficult to beat----of course, I'd prefer a quieter club and the dancer be named Chandler. Chandler sounds like Chandelier; enlightening & exquisite $ expensive.

I ran into chandler again yesterday at my favorite club for the 2nd time. We swapped some stories. He wanted to know if I was upset about him calling me a shill? Hell No.

BTW, I got some more dancers from your namesake. The heat is still going up. I think she is looking to take it farther. We were discussing another dancer that we both know well that has a reputation for being extremely high mileage. She said that she could never go that far ITC for fear of getting caught. But what she did with a customer OTC was her own business. And that, of course, could only happen with guys that she knew and trusted. Was she hinting or just throwing out stripper shit?

Certain aspects of a club will appeal to different people. One local club for me Nepals is small, many of the girls are pretty and friendly even though which girls show up one week versus another seems to vary. The waitresses and bartender know the beer you usually drink and it seems to be a friendly fun place to visit. This appeals to certain people. Meanwhile because it is small, the number of customers and number of dancers is low compared to a much larger club. Just a few miles down the road is Platinum Plus. A club that is several times larger. There are lots of dancers working and walking around the club especially during a busy weekend night. The wanna dance hustle factor is here while not really at the smaller club. The music is at times a lot louder. The place is very big inside and can seem less friendly. One place might appeal a lot more to one customer than it does to another. I see pluses and minuses to both but both are different. I believe business may be down at both due to economic conditions. I'm not sure but I have been limiting my spending and will do so even more over the next several weeks because my credit card bill just seems to keep getting higher and higher and I thought I was only buying necessities other than an occasional strip club visit where I never use a credit card.

Chandler,

I thought you were a Michigander....what's up with your recent reviews of Carolina clubs and running into Shadowcat? I assume you moved?

Oh....you better PM me and not answer that question on this board. You might think I am trying to discover your TRUE identity....there seems to be some of that going around.

Chandler is actually the soon-to-be-former Mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick (the guy with the text messages to his mistress).

And I'm New Jersey's Governor Jon Corzine, by the way.

David, It's not a permanent move, but I've been spending most of my time down here since last fall. I don't know how long it will last. You see, I was so skeptical of Shadowcat's boasts about his favorite club, I figured I had to thoroughly check it out it on my own. Now I feel obligated to stay in the region until I can clear up all of my remaining doubts.

Since we seem to be returning to the topic, if tangentially, here is what we discussed as constituting a good review in the past:

http://www.tuscl.com/discussion/39054