4 On The Floor...
I don't normally do any music that is 'dancey', but I put together a REALLY short track for a game prototype video we're doing. Figured I may as well post the music here too. It's probably the only music I'll ever create that Suanie will like :P
Get the MP3 -
HERE.
Nic.
"It was a good day. I didn't have to use my AK."
WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO - what a BUMPER day for COOL music!!!!
Music goodness number 1! Wayne (
http://www.ploom2.com) brought in the M.I.A album.
I'd seen them on the Gastonbury footage on BBC3 and thought they were pretty interesting. Well - the album is really, really fucking good. It's kinda like a heavy dancehall version of Fannypack (hold your breath now) - which makes it right up my street. It's cool, it's funny, it'll have you shaking your ass on your daily commute. Fav lyrics so far? "Tight like J-Lo in her jeans. Tight like R. Kelly in the teens". Genius.
So I hope you were holding your breath cos... Music goodness number 2!
I'd almost forgotten I ordered this, but direct from the source it's the "Fannypack - Ghetto Bootleg". WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
A collection of unreleased Fannypack goodness. And my God it's good!!! Listening to it now and what with the earler MIA goodness - this is making me feel all 'loved up' by blissful tunes. Some old skool jams that rock the block. Some remixes that touch the spot. Some Fannypack pics that make me hot.
Fannypack's new album is out now (in the US - GRRRRRRRR, but I picked it up while I was out there). Go get it!!! Big thanks to Matt for sending this out :)
Go here (
http://www.myspace.com/Fannypack) to slip dollar bills in Big Black Matt and Fancy's thongs ;)
Music goodness number 3! I picked up The Faders single (CD2 and the DVD for Faders watchers). CD2 has a great remix of No Sleep Tonight on it (yes - it's better than mine, but hey - I didn't have the masters :P), but the remixes of Jump are a stretch. It's a hard track to do anything else with. It is what it is. So for a taste of pop rock in a 'Josie and the Pussycats' stylee (and you know you just want that!), go buy that too!
Music goodness number 4! (yes there's more). Okay - so I'm a million years behind on this one, and I blame Wayne (ploom2 etc...) for saying this sounded like The Pet Shop Boys, but I spent the whole of last week listening to one album, "The Postal Service - Give". Amazing album. I didn't like it that much at first, now - can't stop listening to it. Enchanting.
Okay. Other random Medulla Corp stuff. I finally cleaned up my studio. It was a real fucking mess. Now it's CLEEEEAAAANNNN.
And I spoke to a long lost friend last night. OFICIALLY THE CUTEST GIRL EVER TO WALK PLANET EARTH! JYUUUUUUUUU - my friend from NEEEEEEEEW YORK.
What's more. SHE'S LEGAL NOW - so I don't feel like such a dirty old man perving over her ;) (kiddin honey :P)
Her BF is TOTALLY CUTE TOOOOOOOOOOO!
And as if all that wasn't enough, Martin kindly donated his Japanese Dreamcast to me!!!
I blew mine up plugging a PS2 dance mat into it (don't ask). Now I can play Capcom vs SNK 2 again and lust after the lush manga breasts of Mai!
Days like this only exist in my universe. You wish you were me :P
Nic.
More on work hours...
Kinda leading on from something Dabs wrote in the comments on the post about email, it reminded me of an excellent book by Steve Maguire, 'Debugging the Development Process' (Microsoft Press). In it are great guideline for running a project well... I found a great summary here...
http://www.fountain.btinternet.co.uk/rapiddev/debugging.html...and 're-printed' it here.
1. Be clear about what you are trying to do. Don't try to do too much, understand what is important and seek to achieve it.
2. Ensure programmer have the time to code - all the distractions of reports, meetings, reviews should be cut back so they can spend most of their time programming. The task of the 'lead' is to free the paths of the programmers.
3. Fix bugs as you go. Always put fixing bugs first - certainly don't leave fixing bugs in the project until last. Programmers shouldn't go onto their next task until they have fixed the bugs in their previous task. Fix bugs now.
4. When a programmer finds a bug, ask how it could have been avoided. What could be done to stop a similar bug going in again?
5. Ensure programmers "batch up" admin tasks such as e-mail to keep a clean stretch of the day for solid programming.
6. Learn to say 'no'. It is best to tell people you can't do something than to fail to deliver.
7. Always understand why somebody wants something - don't just implement something without understanding the background. There may be a better way to do it, or the solution may already be available.
8. Don't implement features because your boss tells you to, or because they are technically interesting or cool - only implement features that are strategic. Be very firm about what goes into a product - cut everything you don't need to spend time on, to make time for what you need to do.
9. Also beware of "rewrites" - rewriting C in C++ or adding headers or comments or using a new naming convention. This will all take time. If you do anything, say do it in line with development - spend an hour a week adding comments for example.
10. Find out why someone wants a feature - what is their motivation?
11. Question everything you do - don't just follow a practise for the sake of it. Look at reports and meetings - are they really necessary? Programmers are often distracted from programming due to too many reports and meetings. No programmer enjoys a day spent doing reports or sitting in meetings, so not only are you potentially wasting time that could be spent programming, you are lowering morale.
12. The exception to this is postmortem meetings. However finding out what went wrong must have an effective attack plan, who will do what and when. It is no good just saying what went wrong, it is not even any good saying what should be done about it. It is only when what should be done is assigned to people with time allocated and deadlines to do it in that something will happen.
13. Unrealistic schedules not only create logistical problems for the company due to project dependencies, they lower programmer morale and make the liklihood of "quick and dirty" programming go up. Any project end date is a best case estimate made in good faith on the information available - it is not a promise to hit that date regardless. Telling programmers they are behind with their schedule and continually emphasising the project end date will only lower morale and cause quality problems. The only way to address schedule problems is to extend the end date and/or cut functionality. For this reason do the most important features first, so if anything gets cut it is less important. Also create milestones within a project to be aware of how on track it is - typically every two months. Adding resource to a project is typically not an option - resources take time to get up to speed and production is not directly related to team size (four programmers don't produce twice as much as two).
14. Make sure programmers are constantly learning new skills. It keeps them sharp and adds value to the team, and makes it less likely a valued member of staff will leave for something more interesting.
15. Don't set goals at reviews, set goals during the year as work that makes sense to use new skills comes up. Simply document new skills and goals achieved at reviews.
16. Aim for each programmer to learn a new skill every two months.
17. If as a lead you see something wrong or that could be improved do something about it immediately. Don't wait for the next review.
18. Programmers must work as hard as possible to remove bugs from code. When code is written, programmers must always at least step through it to check it is working. Other tasks in debugging might include writing tests and test scenarios. When considering spending time on testing, beware of the programmer who objects on the grounds that it will take too much time or would be too difficult. Always ask (a) does adding the debug code make sense, (b) does it fulfill the goals and priorities of the project, (c) is it important enough to justify the time?
19. Encourage ideas and suggestions to prevent an environment of can't do. Listen to people raise possible problems even if they don't have the solution.
20. Beware of the "it's good enough for users" attitude - users have high expectations. Also never release a low-quality feature, even if you think something is better than nothing. This is never the case - if it isn't good quality, don't release it. If it is really important, delay the ship date.
21. Beware of duplication - two programmers doing the same thing. Work for re-use where possible.
22. Think about the whole product, some developers and leads adopt a "blind spot" to weak areas of the product, they focus on the goo bits and put their head in the sand about the weak areas. Remember users want the whole product to work well.
23. If programmers are working long hours something is wrong. It is like sailing a ship with a leak - if the sailors are constantly bailing out water they are working hard, but to what end? It would be more effective to block the leak. Similarly look at why people are working long hours. Are the schedules unrealistic? Are the programmers unable to effectively manage their time? Ask a programmer who works long hours to write down what they do all day. As a suggestion, work all morning on the project then after lunch look at e-mail for the first time, then work on the project again, half-way through the afternoon take more interruptions, then work on the project, and finally before you go home check e-mail and take interruptions for the last time. Only work long hours for a short aim - a show or release date - not as a way of life.
Still with me??
Dispite being written about code, you can pretty much apply all that to any kind of project. It's about setting realistic goals, working in a structured way, and knowing when to say NO. That's pretty much how I work now.
I've learnt the hard way that killing yourself for the sake of a project just doesn't work. Sure, all projects have phases where extra hours are required, but if they last more than 2 days, your project is in trouble IMHO.
There's another excellent article on Gamastura about 'crunch times' that is worth a read. You might need to register though.
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20040123/fristrom_pfv.htmAnyway - enough of all that.... go buy The Faders single!
Nic.
Faders information service..
As I'm sure you all know (cos it's a worldwide holiday, with stores opening at midnight around the globe beacause...) 'The Faders' new single is out tomorrow.
Go buy it. I will be. And if I'm suitably moved by the mass panic buying of all 3 versions of the single - I might even do another remix.
ゴゴ！ファダール ちゃん。 すばらし！すごい！ゴゴ！！
ニック。
You Got Mail…
I commute, like 100s of 1000s of people every day into London. I use the train. In theory I could drive. It would probably be quicker but since my place of work doesn’t have a car park (not for us anyway), it would cost me just as much as my £371 a month train fare, plus petrol and extra servicing and all that good stuff.
I don’t really enjoy the daily grind into work, but at the same time – I like the fact that I can read, or listen to music, or masturbate furious to the shock and aghast of the other passengers.
I’ve kinda covered all this before in other blogs, but what I wanna do here is talk about email.
Thursday evening on the way home there was a guy sat across from me. He started the journey messing with his Motorola ‘Razor’ phone (surely this years I-Pod... I.E. not actually that good but they ‘look nice’).
Then, he then grabbed his laptop from his briefcase.
I noticed he had an Orange Data Card. One of them 3G wireless internet cards. Now – here’s the thing. I’m with Orange, and at times their normal 2G service sucks (like when I’m sat at my desk and on the train), so I would imagine that their 3G service is not going to be any better.
This guy spent about 50 minute getting dropped connections, pulling the data card out of the pc and slotting it back in to reset it, moving seats (when the train started to empty) to try and get a better reception, and on, and on, and on. He gave up about 3 minutes from the last stop.
Because he was moving around I could see that he just had outlook open, so I guess he was trying to pick up his email.
And here’s what I really want to talk about. Since when did work time extend to include the journey into work, out of work, and evenings when you should be with the ‘kids’.
Don’t get me wrong. If I need to do extra, I do it. However I seem to manage to self schedule well enough these days that I can get most things done in my working day.
You can’t move for people with Blueberries (or whatever, you know those stupid phone email things) and laptops. Actually – in that same evening a guy nearly missed his stop and ran off the train with his laptop precariously held in one hand, seconds before the doors nearly snapped it in half. I thought that was pretty funny.
So really. Ask yourself. At 7:30 in the morning, do you really need to read the email that arrived over night? Is it REALLY that important? I’m still waiting for someone to look up from their laptop and shout, “MY GOD THEY DID IT! THE US OFFICE FINALLY A: MADE A DRUG THAT CURES CANCER, B: FOUND A WORKABLE SYSTEM TO CURE WORLD POVERTY, AND C: A DIET PILL THAT ACTUALLY CURES THE PSYCHOLOGICAL REASONS FOR OBESITY AS WELL AS DROP THE WEIGHT IN JUST 2 DAY!”
You know – I used to be a work obsessive back at the old gig. I’d check my work mails first thing, drive into work, work, drive home, check emails all night. Guess what – I think that made me worse at my job. I didn’t have any distance from it. It gave me no perspective.
I know all jobs are not like that. I know that work these days is harder and more competitive. I know that people use their jobs as a means to try and forget the state of their personal lives. Maybe I shouldn’t care so much. It’s up to people what they wanna do with their lives.
It just struck me as I watched bemused at the Orange 3G data card guy, I wonder how the hell we did business when we only had the postal service.
Nic.
"Trade this - dirt bag"...
...I've started playing 'City of Heroes'. I've never really played an MMORPG type game before cos I'm not really into the whole orcs and elves scene. I tried the World of Warcraft beta, but after an owl killed me and I couldn't find my body - I uninstalled it.
City of Heroes appealed more because I guess I like the whole comic book thing. It's camp as your Mum and you can just completely go to town on your character.
This is my guy...
...Dante Jones...
He's an ex-stock market trader turned super hero. His battle cry is "Stocks are down Big Boy!" and he, naturally, wields a katana.
So far it's fun... totally accessible and silly. Most people do seem to dress as normal super heroes...
...so I'm glad I look a little different.
It's also cool watching people fly by :)
How long I'll play it for? Who knows. I don't wanna become too hooked on this kinda game cos I know that will be bye bye for my life. But it's a side of gaming that is ever growing, and as a designer it would be wrong of me not to at least check out an example of the genre.
I'll let you know if Dante Jones's crime fighting life takes off in the near future ;)
Nic.
P.S. If my blog just turns into shots from City of Heroes - please please please break into my house and uninstall it for me. It means I've crossed over into a dark place. And I don't wanna be going to City of Heroes conventions dressed as my character!!!
Hot cyber geek!!! WOOHOOOO!!!
My good friend Suanie is expanding her evil empire by become the poster child for all things geek-cool with this front page pic in The Star (Malaysian paper, not the UK tab - or Sheffield local paper ;)
Awwwwwwwwww - ain't she the cutest!!!
The full article is
HERE...
...and her blog is of course
HERE...
...So go thrash her bandwidth some more - then maybe she'll find time to answer those 5 questions I sent her. Though now she's a super-cyber-sexy-geek-poster-child... maybe she'll never speak to me again... or is she just holding off answering that question about anal sex while all the media hype is buzzing :)
Nic
P.S. Oh - and I stole the pic from
HERE.
Fill under...
..."Boss - I have back ache and I'll sue your ass three times over if you don't get me one of these!"
From the ever excellent
Akihabara News.
Nic.
P.S. Blog is still suspended in blogspot hell cos I still can't get Blogger to post to my main site. Fucking monkeys never even bother to answer my emails.
5 Questions...
...a few weeks ago,
Suanie posted the answers to 5 questions she was asked by a friend. It was then opened to the floor. She forwarded me these questions a while ago, but since my blog has been so up and down lately I just got around to answeting them... enought history - here we go.
1) If you were in ultimate power, what are the 5 things you would change about U.K.?
First, giving me ultimate power would be such a bad mistake, for the following 5 reasons.
1: I’d make sure no one can use the outside lane on any road except me. Cross that line and it’s the gas chamber for you matey. There’s also no speed limit in that lane and I should be allowed to take anyone’s car I want, just like Grand Theft Auto.
2: Casual sportswear would be outlawed. People who dress with some semblance of personal style (that's clothes that show some personal expression) will be awarded with clothing coupons to enhance their wardrobe. People found wearing casual sportswear will have it burnt on the spot by the fashion police and forced to walk the streets naked with the words “I’m a Chav. Please kick me” tattooed on their ass.
My friend Barnaby will be forced to change his clothes at least once!!!
3: My train to work will not stop at any other station except London. It will also be allowed to go 200 mph, and the cute Chinese girl that I see everyday on the 7:31 train will be given anything her heart desires, cos she is the only thing of beauty I see on the entire journey.
That’s for the days I don’t use the car. Got to think of the environment after all.
4: Car Boot sales will be outlawed. Period.
5: I’d beat the shit out of George Bush.
Basically Mao would have nothing on me – so never ever put me in a position of political power and I’ll stay the nice, polite, loving, caring Nic you all know and love.
2) "Winning may not be everything, but losing has little to recommend it." How badly do you want it?You know, I’m so not competitive. And you know what is so great about that. It drives competitive people CRAZY!!! Especially if you beat them at something. I’m all about self-improvement, but do it for yourself – not to be a smug ‘winner’. I think people who constantly live to prove their worth sense no true worth in themselves. How badly do I want it?? Meh...
3) If you were to migrate to a different country and stay there for the remaining of your life, which country would you choose and why?I’d probably like to be stranded on a desert island (alone), that has a super fast Internet link so I can stay in touch with people, grab music and movies and stuff like that.
I like my own company and I think it’d be the most tranquil experience.
Of course, just as I get lonely a boat hosting a stripper convention will conveniently break in two and they will all be swept ashore for a few weeks before being rescued by Hugh Hefner. This will happen every 6 months or so.
4) If there were a Church of Nic, what would it preach?In contrast to my political party, I’d teach absolute tolerance of all things. That no one is better than another person. No religion is the right religion. Financial desire is for the weak. Inner wealth is paramount. Treat every animal on the planet with respect. Selflessly help those that need help.
And if you don’t like it, you’ll find me and my followers hauled up in farmhouse somewhere with semi-automatic weapons.
5) Why do strippers always have nicer boobs?
It’s relative, and dependent on the ‘class’ of stripper.
If you go to a dive strip club, I’m sure you’ll start to see the cracks. However, if you’re serious about the profession then you want to make sure you have the tools required to maximise your profit – then go get yourself a good surgeon.
Some people, I’m sure, are born with naturally ‘perfect’ boobs. For those who need a little help, the investment will pay off dividends.
Skin care is also very important. A lasting memory of
my strip club experience was how soft “Devon’s” skin was. (Actually she pretty taken of how soft my skin was (are you guessing I haven't told you the WHOLE story yet! (NO we didn't have sex))... moisturising is important guys!!) Look after the skin, shake what ya momma (or surgeon) gave you, and I’m sure you’ll do just fine. And Suanie – you’re boobs are just fine ;)
There you go. In spirit of this interview game... leave a comment below if you want me to write you 5 questions for your blog (bloggers only please).
Nic.
You can never go home again/The Faders @ The 100 Club part 2
Yesterday I got a comment left on my Blog from Toy’s Dad telling me that he enjoyed my ‘Faders’ concert review and that I should come down to the 100 Club again to check them out.
I had completely forgotten they were playing, so I’m glad he reminded me.
I decided I’d pop into London again and check them out.
The trains from my local station weren’t running today so I decided the best thing to do was to drive down to Edgware and get on the Northern Line. Now – I used to work in Edgware, worked there for 10 YEARS!! I have done this trip easily 5000 times, yet this time – I took a wrong turn! Ended up going north on the M1 (and hit a massive traffic jam) instead of south. This really freaked me out. Sure – I haven’t doing the trip in like 6 months, but still... I must be getting old.
Anyway – made it to Edgware, parked up and jumped on a tube to get to Oxford Street.
So who are The Faders??? Well...
1: Find out by going to http://www.thefaders.co.uk
2: Read my concert review from March here: http://www.medullacorp.com/blog/2005/03/faders-gig.html
3: Have a listen to the remix I did of ‘No Sleep Tonight’, their first single by clicking HERE.
The Faders, God bless them, have put on three concerts at The 100 Club, completely free – and just for the fans. I’ve been to two of them.
They were on stage about 2:30pm (not AM!) and played for about 50 minutes, which I think is longer then the first time I saw them. They went through most of the album, which isn’t out yet (or is it... hmm... I should check) and just like the first time, they were great. A really competent, totally together band.
I really hope the music industry is good to them. Their first single, the excellent ‘No Sleep Tonight’, hit the charts at about 15 and hung around for a few weeks. It should have done better. The new single ‘Jump’ is out later this month, so go buy!
Afterwards I hung around to get an autograph and some pics... but I look like a monster in them so I won’t be posting them ;)
What was really cute was there was loads of really young kids (like 5-8) sat on the stage, covering their ears and dancing every now and then. Was a real mix of ages again – but the whole demographic was younger this time. Still – I think I enjoyed this set more than the first. Probably because I felt more comfortable about being there in the first place (read the March review).
I didn’t really hang around in London. Saturdays are a nightmare and I’m there every day for work anyway. I jumped back on the Northern Line and headed back to Edgware.
On the way back I decided I would pop into Oriental City in Colindale. ‘OC’ is a small mall with oriental shops and restaurants, and a great food court. It’s pretty much where I had lunch every day when I was working at Argonaut, partly cos the food was great, partly cos there was nowhere else to go.
OC’s glory days have been and gone. It used to be the Yohan Plaza, which made it’s shops predominately Japanese. The Yohan corp collapsed and it changed its name to Oriental City and suddenly more shops from all over Asia started to pop up. This was probably its hay-day. Had a great Japanese book shop where I spent far too much money on books I couldn’t read. The Sega arcade actually had some new games (cos people were still making arcade games) and it had an overall sense of elegance.
Now, it’s a little cheap and tacky. Lots of smaller stalls packed into large rental spaces. I think the rents were REALLY high cos loads of companies came and went from within its walls.
It’s still a great place to go – especially for the food.
Upstairs you have two restaurants and a Karaoke bar.
Downstairs you have the food court. I mainly eat at Yummy Yummy Thai (and it was very Yummy), Yong Tofu (or Corneal Yang’s House of Flesh as Joss named it cos it did wonders with Tofu skin), and the sushi place.
The sushi is great here, and not too expensive. The chef in the photo is also one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. Was a good place to practice Japanese :)
Unfortunately, I’m not eating right at this moment (coming soon to a future blog) so I couldn’t sample the delights. However – I think I might go crazy on sashimi at the beginning of next month!
They often has festivals on, and today was no exception.
They were so cute!
On the way back I stopped off at the old Argonaut HQ.
You can never go home.
I guess what with forgetting how to drive to Edgware and seeing the old office up for rent, it made me realise I really am over working their (I was there 10 years and as anyone who has worked there will tell you – it was more than a job). I have moved on. I love my current job and the potential it holds.
You can never go home again, and why would you want to.
Nic.
Blog problems...
...sorry for the up and down nature of the blog at the moment. I tried hosting it locally on my desktop PC but that was a real pain.. so now I'm linking direct to blogspot for a while until they fix the problem with their servers...
Nic.
The female of the species is more deadly than the male...
[note - I wrote this post a few weeks ago... but never put it up...]
There’s another LA ‘first’ that I haven’t talked about yet. Partly cos it didn’t really go exactly as planned, partly cos I wanted to tell my girlfriend first before posting it here.
Many months ago Suanie and me were talking about strip clubs. She couldn’t believe I’d never been to one – but I hadn’t. Now – there are a lot of changes happening in my life, and I’ve decided to try and open myself up to different experiences, at least once in my life.
I decided back then that if I was going to go to a strip club – I may as well go to one in LA. So I did.
It was a Saturday night. I hadn’t really done anything on the evening while I’d been here. I was alone, awake, and finally convinced myself that I should just go.
'4 Play' is on Cotner Avenue between Pico and Olympic. About 5 minutes drive from my hotel. It’s not much to look at from the outside, but actually it’s a pretty inviting place. The bouncers don’t look too mean, the seating in comfortable, the music at a good volume, the people a good mix of single men, couples, groups, and lesbians. Basically – it didn’t feel sleazy.
There’s a $10 door fee and parking is $5.
So there I am. I sit far right of the stage, trying to hide away – not looking too eager. I order a sparking mineral water ($6.50) and then things start to go wrong, in the nicest possible way.
What I expected:
A totally impersonal experience. Buy a few drinks. See some strippers. Leave having accomplished what I set out to do.
What I got:
The drink arrives, I’m still semi-freaked out by even being in strip club. A girl approaches me. “Hi” – holds me hand. “Hi, I respond”. The girl is Asian, slim, tall in those crazy stripper shoes, pretty. We talk for a second – I ask her to sit. Looking around I see another single guy with a girl – she has a drink.
“Would you like a drink?”, “Okay – just a coke”. I ask her to sit.
“This is my first time ever in a strip club”, I tell her. Nerves got the better of me. “Really?? Awwww – I’ll look after you. I’ll show you around.”
We get talking. “What part of Asia are you from?”, I ask. “Thailand”, she responds. “Oh – my girlfriend is Thai”... and so the trap (intentional or not) is fully laid.
It’s not her fault. She’s working. But a combination of me missing my girlfriend like crazy, and her being Thai made it exactly what I didn’t want it to be. Personal.
“You can pretend I’m your girlfriend”.
We talked for a while. No idea how long. The bar wasn’t too busy at that time, so I guess she stayed longer than she normally would have. Honestly, she was a really nice girl – someone who if I’d met socially I would have got to know. Likes to read, play golf. Been in the US 4 years and still has broken English, which I always find charming.
Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t ‘into’ this girl. Maybe if I was single – I would have been in real trouble, but this has been a fairly solitary trip. I’ve spent most of my time alone – which I don’t normally mind, but everyone likes a little company.
She wants to take me upstairs for a bed dance. $200. I must have sounded cheap. “That’s… more than I have on me”. I started to realise I was woefully under-funded with only $100 in my wallet going in. Naturally there is an ATM in the club. I resisted, and she showed me into back room.
I sat.
It’s $20 for a song. A song seems a second long in that back room. She danced for three. In the darkness of the room, I was home – with my girlfriend. Maybe she felt how much I missed her. Maybe there are a few basic stereotypes that come into strip clubs and I fitted one of them. I was being exploited, in the nicest possible way.
The three songs ended. I paid up. I was out of cash. I had to hit the ATM or the parking guys would hit me.
She held my hand. Walked me back to me seat. Sat for a second. Took a drink of coke. Then said goodbye and left to find a new client.
This is when I graduated from my strip club education. It had become personal. And now – she’s off to make more money. Honestly – it hurt. I was dazed for a few minutes until it all started to sink in what had happened.
I stayed for a while at the club. The stage show was basically the girls dancing for a song to drum up business. All the girls were attractive, but not really my type. A few came over and started talking – I declined dances. If I was going to have another dance it would only be with one person. I’m loyal to the end. Even with a stripper.
Around 11:30 I started to get tired. I’m still adjusting to LA time. I noticed she’d been hanging by the bar. She had changed clothes and in the dim light I hadn’t actually realised it was her. Primal needs kicked in, and she danced another three songs for me.
The whole evening had made me realise one thing. How much I love my girlfriend. And how much I need to be with her. I got back to my hotel room and lay on the bed, guilt stricken.
It wasn’t meant to be like that. It was meant to be detached. Some harmless fun. Now – I felt like I had cheated.
I tell my girlfriend everything – and I will tell her this (I’m writing this Monday morning with an intension to post when I’ve talked to her).
The reason I had never been in a strip club is this. I hate the exploitation of women. I know realise how wrong my perception of the whole scene is. I’m sure there are some real dive strip clubs that would appal me. This wasn’t one of them. It was a safe environment and the women were almost certainly in control.
Would I go again? No. It’s like doing drugs. An expensive and temporary high. The only time I would go is if I was with my partner. Never again alone.
I blame no one but myself for how I feel after this experience. The Thai girl was sweet to me and doing her job, and doing it well. Any negative consequences are purely down to me.
If you are looking for a strip club in LA, 4 Play seems like a good place to go. Not that I have been to any others, naturally. But I’m sure there are far, far worse places.
Nic.
I'm still alive...
...only blogger is dead. It wont connect to my main site anymore - so here's a redirect... Basically I've had to completely change server for a while - which is a total pain, but blogger don't answer my tech supprt requests - or offer any time scale for a fix.
If parts of this site seem slow for a while... sorry :(
Finally I can get on with answering Suanie's 5 questions - and maybe post my secret LA blog that never made it on to the site while I was out there...
Hmmmm..... Maybe in the morning.
Nic.
This is just a test
......
