Comments by SketchinGuy (page 3)

The worst city I've been in is Las Vegas with Los Angeles a close 2nd. Sure, Las Cessvegas has a lot of SCs & you can get a bite to eat anytime 24-7, but that's the only good thing I have to say about that town. It is a truly horrible place to live. The crime there is as bad as anywhere in the US. I used to live in one aptmt complex where a meth lab blew up--that happened four times while I was there. Hordes of tweakers all over the place. Vegas can be fun to visit but you don't wanna live there. Take my word for it.

It shouldn't be a scandal but we live in an age where it isn't just what you do that matters, but what everyone else thinks of it. To paraphrase an old news media expression: If it breeds, it leads. I gotta say, though, if I'm ever in Houston & encounter a female cop, I might have to keep from saying things like "What a nice profile you have. That would look great on camera!" Model Mayhem is a legit site. I've known a few girls who find work through it. Most do not strip but there areca few. You find lots of models with tattoos there.

This will be tame by comparison, but the most fucked-up thing I've heard of thus far was of a dancer I'd gotten to like shooting herself in the stomach. With a 12-gauge. And she was petite, too. It was a friend of hers who told me about it...terrible. Amazingly the woman survived it. Who knows what happened to her after that.

Probably because we do not have any right to drive, at least not as specified in the Constitution. Driving is a privilege. Even the idea of basic rights has its drawbacks but that's for another thread. SCs do seem to attract trouble every so often. There's been at least one shooting at a club in my town since moving here. The incident in the OP had to be racially motivated; I've heard how Blacks & Chicanos don't get along more often than not.

Edgar Degas also did much the same in the salons of Paris, etc. His work shows mainly ballet dancers, but in his day they were considered women of ill repute...as strippers are sometimes viewed now. Yeah, we've been doing this for a while now! Tonester just gave me a reason to go to London. Normally I wouldn't set foot in that city...too much public surveillance.

What qualifies as "need" exactly? Just the ability to make steel at the forge or other aspects like endurance? Also, a while back I read the stuff had a similar effect on women. Anyone here know anything about that?

Yes, once. When the competition is stiff & that 1st of the month is coming up, some dancers will do anything to reel you in if they think there's a chance. In my case it didn't work: I bought two dances in the main area. That was it. Tipsy =/= stupid.

Tina Fey, hands down. Any woman with a sense of humor is not likely to be uptight in bed.

+1 on that. As long as there aren't managers or security goons nearby, the sacred herb is always a hit.

A mosr interesting thread. I'll have to look this stuff up. Am not a professional mathematician, though...if one needs a flair for numbers to use these investment tools, I might be at a disadvantage. (Anything more than Cartesian graphing of simple equations, forget it.) As for investing in general: The best thing to invest in is yourself. Learn how to do something profitable that there will always be a demand for. Look after your health. Having $$millions$$ in your account doesn't matter if you're physically too messed up to enjoy it. If you have long green to invest & really don't give a damn, check out arms manufacturers, see what their earnings are like. There's always a war going on somewhere.

Am thinking of writing an article about it...

Motorhead - I didn't think that was gonna attract attention in here! But yeah, I got turned away often. In one place (I think it was Jaguar's but don't remember now) a manager confiscated my sketchbook. He gave it back later, though--I wouldn't leave until I got it back. This was in Vegas...most of the clubs there are uptight about anyone walking in with pen & paper. Those which were cool were always the smaller ones. It was managers & security who didn't go for it; the girls almost always did. Thus your seeing 8s+ gather around that guy's table. That's happened to me, too. ;-) Too bad we're not in the same town...I'd meet you at a SC with a pad & marker for you & show you the rope, get you started.

Hmm. I either like that music or not. Depends on my mood. If the club plays only that sugary crap with twangy guitar that passes for today's country music then I guarantee you I won't stay in there very long. As for classical, why not? I could go with some Bartok...

The first time was in Las Vegas in mid-2002; I was 27 at the time. In less than five minutes I was bored. Wouldn't have gone back except that I'm an artist & at the time, I needed visual references to work from. Female ones. Couldn't afford to hire a model & didn't know of any figure-drawing groups then--the solution was clear. By Feb. 2003 it wasn't "regular" but, at times, close to it. One long search for clubs that would let me get some practice in...not easy to find in Vegas. In 2008 I moved to where I am now; fewer clubs but the scene is looser & usually no one gets uptight over some guy with a pad & marker. My trips to the clubs tapered off after mid 2011. As to my feelings about it, mmm...mixed. I don't regret the journey. I met some amazing people. And I did some great gesture studies & had fun. But I learned a lot, not all of which was pleasant to know.

It definitely has a shill feel to it.

That sounds way too good to be true.

Because it's funny as hell. Dr. Meat has a way with words!...

I've been to DITS once myself...it wasn't as bad as this review described but wasn't great. I appreciate a no-bullshit review such as this one. Nice job, ABQTraveler.

Because it's funny. Jayjay's conversation with the club's house mom, & her call to LE & the subsequent bust would make a great short film. :-)

But it still doesn't hurt to try....

The worst time thus far, for me, was years ago in one of the clubs in Vegas. I don't remember its name & it doesn't really matter. I'd started sketching inside the clubs almost a year earlier, finding the ones where the managers & bouncers didn't mind if I did gesture studies of the girls. (The girls rarely ever minded, in fact most of them liked it.) I put my sketchbook & markers on the front desk before paying the cover, so it was obvious. The desk girl didn't say anything about it. I go inside, sit down, buy a coke (I knew by this time that the beer & wine prices usually rape your wallet), uncap the marker & start doing my thing. Four minutes later a manager named Steve arrived & said he was going to confiscate my sketchbook. NO fucking way. If the club is uptight about it & they tell me to stop, that's one thing. I'm used to that & it's their house, their rules. But you do not try to take my stuff. So we had a discussion about it. I kept cool but I was about to leave right then & there & he knew it. We compromised: Steve got my sketchbook, but I got it back when I asked for it on the way out of the club. After he took it I did hang out another 20 minutes or so but didn't buy any dances or any more drinks. So much for any more business from me. Steve was true to his word & after giving it back, explained that he took my sketchbook because "we don't want anybody writin' anything about us." Which was STUPID, since the place was begging for an expose: The bouncers were big slabs of beef standing around in suits with lapel mics; they looked like enforcers for the mafia. A few of the dancers clearly had drug habits. I've seen enough junkies & addicts that I know the signs, even under low lights. At one point I heard someone a few tables away complain that his drink was watered down, & I believed it. Sure, strip clubs aren't the cleanest business there is, but that was too much. As for the best one...I'll let you know when that happens. ;-)

While I don't believe in free will, strictly speaking, there is such a thing as human volition (though it's always influenced by factors outside itself). For that reason, I find big johnson's comments some of the better ones I've read re prostitution. Legalization is not a panacea; even in Amsterdam, abuses do happen. But that just means the laws need to be written well & enforced consistently. We already "feed the machine"--look at the War On Drugs.

I've considered making skimpy togs for strippers but didn't think they were priced that high, so I figured it wouldn't be worth the effort. I have a sewing machine & have used it a bit but mostly with denim & cotton fabrics. For handling the stretchy stuff you need a special attachment for the machine. I dunno if one would even fit mine. (I use one of those mid-50's machines that's heavy enough to anchor a 6-foot boat, has computerized nothing & can punch through four or five layers of denim.) And I'd have to learn how to make them in proper sizes (especially bras & tops). Not that I'd mind, as it would require plenty of measuring. ',;-)

Even if it's plagiarism, I like it. Since I'm not on SW a post with dancer/stripper consciousness is something I usually find interesting. I agree with the list, especially #s 1 & 4. I know it's a game, so if you're gonna play it then play it _well_. "Wanna dance?" is the assembly line approach, & I'm not a fucking Toyota chassis. I can do without the booty work. Miley Cyrus ruined it for all time & it wasn't cute to begin with. Let's see pole tricks & good stepping, ladies! There is no substitute for real stagecraft.

It sounds like a night that a career stripper would prefer. Not even having to dance, let alone being asked for any extras ITC? That's easy money!