Old Dog

Elephant Man - Gully Creepa

can't.... stop.... looking.... it's so wrong and so right all at once.....

Afro Man - Because I got high

I do know that some of the clubs in Northern Ontario (Thunder Bay, The Sault, Sudbury) used to have to do this to attract more dancers. It's the economy of scale, the further you are from the major centres, the greater the need to offer incentives like paid stage time. As for the south, the talent pool exceeds the number of venues. Where smaller cities like Kitchener and Cambridge used to boast three and four clubs each, now there is one club serving the two cities. With the wealth of talent, the need to pay premiums and incentives dissipates.... but I must admit that the last time I was down in that club, there was one dancer so adept at the pole that absolutely everyone stopped what they were doing to watch. She was absolutely magical - her stage act seemed to defy the laws of nature and gravity.

Mia you have now moved up the ranks from Goddess to Uber Goddess. I have come to sacrifice this golden calf in your honour...

snoop dogg - drop it like its hot

Mike... at least three come immediately to mind, MegforFun, Nicolette Vaughan, and Angela of Ottawa.... I am sure there are more...

of course the alternative is cereal....

Alizee - j'en ai marre

Red Rider - Lunatic Fringe

If you remember this series (1968 - 1973) you may now recoil. Those young hip crime fighters (One's White, One's Black, One's Blonde!) are now senior citizens. Michael Cole and Peggy Lipton are 65 this year, Clarence Williams III will turn 72 and Tige Andrews who played Captain Adam Greer, would have been 91 (he passed away in 2007). Ohhhhhh and by the way, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) turns 60 in September....

You are now elevated to uber elite in my mind Castle. Any friend of snoogans is a friend of mine.

Gratz Andy! Although you don't get the key to the elite bathroom yet, we will take you on a tour of the luxury estate and give you a view of our grandiose amenities. Keep up the good work!

Well put... and it even goes beyond. Is looking at porn cheating? Is reading erotica cheating? Is a furtive glance at a beautiful woman on the street cheating? Ostensibly, they are mental betrayals, are they not? If you ogle someone on the beach wearing the briefest of bikinis, even if you are with her... is that wrong? I would think that even before you put it on anyone else, you have to see if it makes you feel guilty. Does guilt equate to cheating? Hell, she me be alright with some of things that make you feel guilty. It is like trying to define "right" and "wrong"... ask a million people and you are going to get a million answers. Damn. I do philosophize sometimes.

and to think that for about 400 years it was almost completely swallowed by jungle.... I can only imagine how amazing it would have been to see the beauty emerge through the restoration periods. It's a 900 year old marvel of art and architecture.

Jeebus. Mine was awful too. Of course I only have myself to blame for the casting.

I can't say specifically if there is any club in Ottawa/Gatineau that has that niche - Pigales and Nuden both have larger stages, but ostensibly the industry has changed over the years and it is just an economic reality - salary plus commission will only work when and if a "feature performer" (usually from the Adult Film Industry) is hired to bring in a larger crowd. It might just be one of those special events that could be hosted at one of the bigger clubs, but it would take an entrepreneur with a willingness to take a financial risk that would have to approach a club owner with that proposal. Nuden used to host some bigger events... but I see from their site that nothing is planned. WiT... your memories are the same as mine. I used to go to clubs back in the day when performers rarely mingled with the crowd, and there were no bonus dances at the table, on your lap or in the champagne room. Interaction was by way of slipping bills into the cup of a bra or the band of the panties or g-string. The stage was everything and the only thing. That being said, the dancers had to be beautiful and skilled in the art of strip tease; clubs paid through the nose to attract the biggest stars in the industry. I saw one contract about 17 years ago, a big club in Hamilton was paying $12,500 US per week (when our dollar hovered at about 60 cents) for 6 weeks for such an entertainer - she was obliged to do 3 - 15 minute sets a day, 6 days a week for 6 weeks... $75,000 US for 27 hours work. Frankly, I don't ever see that kind of money being offered again. The economic reality is such that they really don't need it. Guys come to the clubs to be entertained and titillated, and the dancers get paid directly by the clients. The club makes more money because they aren't obliged to pay anyone to entertain - and they also get a cut (through fees) of the dancer's money. Dancers make money proportional to their willingness to contact clients (for lack of a better term)... so the skill of the dance has been replaced by the skills of the social graces. Some, like Megan, still take pride in the entertainment they provide while on stage; I can attest that I have witnessed some amazing performances by lithe young women that have absolutely captivated me... but the majority shun the value of the stage for purely economic reasons... as Kimberly said, she would rather not have to do the stage at all - it interferes with her ability to actually make money.

Check out the original if you can.... the story is slightly different but the essence is the same!

There is a niche audience for the old style burlesque in Neo-Burlesque artists like Dita Von Teese and Julia Atlas Muz, but the target audience seems to be confined to major centres with a population that can support alternative theatre. Canada does host such a festival - The Vancouver International Burlesque festival has been running for 6 years and apparently gets bigger and better every year. The link is here: http://www.vanburlesquefest.com/Performers.html

Scent of a Woman??? I hate to tell ya my friend, but Scent of a Woman IS a remake!!! The original was the Italian movie "Profumo di donna" directed by Dino Risi in 1974 and was actually nominated for two Oscars in 1976.... best foreign movie and best screenplay!

I like Daniel... he has a charm and a way of expressing himself that is both endearing and thoughtful. Plus his avatar makes me think that he left this note at my door....

it's kinda like this one.... is Sean wearing tighty whities?

Which brings us to another movie that should NEVER be remade - Clerks II. Kevin Smith wrote a gem. His boys Dante and Randal are big time Star Wars fans, their nemeses are Lord of the Rings fans. The arguments seen here are just a taste of the arguments held there. Clerks II will embarrass, it will anger, it will make you laugh your ass off... it is a classic!!!

Great thread Ripley!!! I think what you are seeing now is just another step in the evolution of live adult entertainment. We have gone from fan dancers wearing pasties to champagne rooms in just over 60 years. As the show evolved, the need to be a great stage act dissipated - there was no longer a need to have elaborate costumes or choreographed routines - but then again, clubs aren't paying for entertainment anymore, entertainment is paying for the right to use the club. Clubs are looking to maximize profit - more dancers means more revenue and possibly more sales in liquor and food; dancers are looking to maximize profit and frankly the stage does not generate income unless you see it as advertising. Stage time is time away from the client base. To put it another way, we have gone from the days of salary to salary plus commission to straight commission. Commissioned salespeople rarely enjoy compulsory presentations for the "good of the company"; it does not put bread on the table. With all that in mind, there are great entertainers out there. There are plenty of dancers who take a pride in their stage work and do train and choreograph their routines... but that is more a reflection of their personality than the actual requirements of the job. As long as the bottom line is still in the black, I wouldn't think club owners would be willing to expend profit for the sake of art, but then again that is just my opinion. As for the guys, well, let's face it. We want to see lots of beautiful women get naked. It's base. It's primal. It's who we are. The stage routine just let's us see the dancer from different angles. If we wanted "art" we would find alternatives. Essentially it's the 3 b's at strip clubs - boobies, buns and beer.