So, some friends* were talking about installing a kitchen trebuchet...

[randomness]

...but then one comment thread digressed to installing stripper poles, and what a steampunk one might look like.

As it happens, the same day I read that post, I also read http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/09/face-of-the--14.html:



"Susie Q performs during Miss Pole Dance Australia held at the Enmore Theatre on September 22, 2007 in Sydney, Australia. Mostly known as originating from the strip club industry, pole dancing has evolved into an artform and is used by many professional dancers, choreographers and is also popular as a fitness training exercise. By Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images."

Not steampunk, but damn impressive nonetheless.

(http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?EventId=76827464 has more images from the competition.)

*Not outing you, despite your post being public, 'cause I figure you'll speak up if you want to.

Comments

[qwyneth.livejournal.com]

Not safe for work! ...I should have guessed that.

Awesome though. I would love to play around on a stripper pole. It'd be like a jungle gym!

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Totally! I'm hoping my friends actually install one.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Oh, and from that other conversation, here's a site that sells poles:

http://www.lilmynx.com/dancepoles.php

[sukitawdry.livejournal.com]

the stripper pole in the bedroom is becoming quite popular these days....I know a few people who have them. Is it way to reclaim sexuality by moving the pole from one commercial context (cash in exchange for accepting the male gaze) to another (the fun, entertainment and fitness for women industry). Or is it women buying into the notion that only strippers are sexy and so we must emulate them. I've heard both arguments, more or less.

I have wanted to take a class in pole for quite sometime now; it looks like fun! There are so many pole classes available nowadays. I've always wondered where strippers learned to do pole dance before the emergence of pole classes. On the job training? I guess I am sheltered..

[kjc.livejournal.com]

Huh. We were talking about installing a garden trebuchet on Saturday to get rid of the slugs (we'd drowned a half dozen in beer, collected while I was out back, changing the bedding in my worm bin, which requires separating 1-2 pounds of worms from their poo and miscellaneous undigested kitchen scraps; I was using a tarp and some buckets and they were lovin' the plastic).

But I don't think you were there...

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Nope, wasn't you...but that's a good use of a trebuchet! :)

[klingonlandlady.livejournal.com]

Pole! polepolepolepole pole! It's fun, sexy, and good exercise!!

That pose you show in the picture is not for the faint of heart... boy do i respect those girls after having tried a few things... that one takes abs of steel, a straddle (side split) worthy of a gymnast (you're just holding it against gravity, not doing it on the floor where gravity can help)... and YOU'RE HOLDING YOUR WHOLE BODYWEIGHT ON THE SKIN OF ONE UNDERARM! OMG that hurts!

it's a circus maxim that all the good tricks hurt, and you do toughen up with practice, but yowie, that is a difficult one!