This video, shot on March 11, 2010 at the Inferno Nightclub, gives you an idea of what burlesque is like here in the Bondage Capitol of the World. It shows the mad rope skillz of Ms. Behavin' as she ties, teases, titillates, and tears off the shirt of Foxy Veronica (leader of Foxy Veronica's Peach Pies).
There's a couple of interesting things about this video. First, those of you familiar with my performances may find this to be...well, familiar. That's right, this is the same number that I've been performing for years - in fact, the same music is used as when I used to do this act with Ms. Behavin' when I performed with the group.
Am I mad that they're using my act?
Are you kidding?!? Just watch the video! They are, conservatively, 3654% hotter than I ever was performing this routine. Yet it's still mine. I look at it the way a playwright might watch his writing brought to life by talented actors - I created it and gave it to people who could express my vision better than I could.
However, YouTube, in its infinite wisdom, decided it was far too hot for general consumption, taking it down just a day after it went up, and sending me a stern slap on the digital wrist:
Most nudity is not allowed, particularly if it is in a sexual context.
Generally if a video is intended to be sexually provocative, it is less
likely to be acceptable for YouTube. There are exceptions for some
educational, documentary and scientific content, but only if that is
the sole purpose of the video and it is not gratuitously graphic.
To which I give a thoughtful "uh-HUH..." and go ahead and post it here, complete with embed code available on the handy-dandy Wizzard Player which you can use to put the video up on your web page. And since I pay for unlimited bandwidth from this fine company, I invite you all to put the code up on your sites, as well.
Meanwhile, I'll be over here watching some of YouTube's "
educational, documentary and scientific content."
Now, I like all those videos. Really. I just find YouTube's policies capricious, arbitrary, hypocritical, and ultimately ineffectual.
That's ok. From Apple to Wikipedia, it's been a rough few weeks for the Ropecast. I'll just keep putting out the content, and trust that the people who want it will find it, support it, and spread the knotty word.
