Black River Falls, eh? When I hear "Black River Falls," I hear "Wisconsin Death Trip."
Wisconsin Death Trip is a 1973 non-fiction book by Michael Lesy, based on a collection of late 19th century photographs by Jackson County, Wisconsin photographer Charles Van Schaick – mostly taken in the city of Black River Falls – and local news reports from the same period. It emphasizes the harsh aspects of Midwestern rural life under the pressures of crime, disease, mental illness, and urbanization.But let's hear about this "complete sexual freedom" from Melanie:
The book was adapted into a film in 1999.
Melanie agreed to be interviewed about the event on the condition that Isthmus not use her real name.There's complete freedom for you.
"There's a huge misconception about the swinging world," says the 48-year-old from western Wisconsin. "A lot of people look at swingers as people who are immoral, who are whorish, who jump from one person to another, but that's not necessarily the case. It's just another type of connection."Well, complete sexual freedom includes prostitution, which is another type of connection.
The group rents out the entire hotel when they come to Madison, so there's no risk of children or other unsuspecting guests getting an unexpected eyeful (or earful). That also gives the group the freedom to set up a fetish dungeon, group "play rooms" with various sex apparatuses, an area with vendors selling sex toys and a dance floor with a DJ. The entire hotel is clothing-optional, with the exception of the front desk reception area.Which hotel is this?
Though Camp NCN is LGBT-friendly, the hotel takeover events are open only to heterosexual couples and single females (who are referred to as "unicorns") as a way to ensure guests are comfortable, Melanie says. Single men are not allowed.There's complete sexual freedom for you! Which hotel is involved in hosting a business that discriminates on the basis of sex and sexual orientation?
The location of the Madison hotel takeover site is kept secret... The Camp NCN website doesn't even provide the information on its registration page....Smell the freedom!
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68 comments:
Nothing I do is immoral.... by definition*.
*The Dictionary of JAORE.
For some reason, my vision of a "unicorn" at an event like this would be a single male, not a single woman.
I can understand the secrecy in a College town where they may be 20% rapists enrolled. Holding this there is a dangerous event. The hotel could very well be surrounded by chanting rapists in a testoterone primed haze of love lust.
College life sure was safer before Obama started organizing things.
Rush Limbaugh says that is Scott Walker's best defense for not graduating. Walker probably wanted to escape college before it turned him into a hedonist rapist like it does to the other college men.
Was Bill Clinton there? If so, who was his girlfriend?
The location of the Madison hotel takeover site is kept secret...
That would be the place that you drive past next week over the course of several days and notice cleaning crews on the premises - the kind that wear bio-hazard suits.
Or, the place that is closed and out of business by this time next year because of the "eew'/"uck" factor.
OH, the poor cleaning staff.
As long as they don't exclude "single women" with penises they're inclusive enough to pass, I reckon.
Wisconsin Felch Trip.
I am Laslo.
I find this disgusting.
You know the participants are hideous looking.
My parents go to the casino in Black River Falls.
We used to stop in Black River Falls for breaky at Embers on the way to my dad's hunting lodge.
Remember Embers.
tits.
Will Wisconsin ever be evolved enough to elect an open unicorn to serve as chief executive?
They're probably called unicorns because that's how rare single females are at these events.
Sexually I am actually totally vanilla.
No groups, or anything weird.
Cockrings, Dildos, or any other device is a major softy to me.
I hope they have a medic on site; a lot of men will no doubt have erections lasting more than four hours.
I am Laslo.
I think I know which hotel it is. I saw a cucumber truck at the loading dock.
so...what room for Ann and Meade?
alan markus said...
For some reason, my vision of a "unicorn" at an event like this would be a single male, not a single woman.
When you consider that Unicorns are extremely rare to the point of not existing, it makes more sense.
I wonder how many single men hire a woman just to get in the door?
My first thought was also about the poor cleaning staff, I wonder if they get special hazardous pay.
I always think of Wisconsin Death Trip whenever someone gets nostalgic about how great life used to be.
Is Chlamydia cumming?
Hmmmm.....spell check doesn't complain about cumming. Maybe, I need to update my paradigm.
Trouble, oh we got trouble,
Right here in Black River Falls
With a capital "T"
That rhymes with "P"
And that stands for Poon,
That stands for Poon.
We've surely got trouble!
Right here in Black River Falls,
Right here!
Gotta figger out a way
To keep the lube from drying too soon!
Trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble...
I am Laslo.
The locale is kept secret so that scenes like this don't happen.
You can put me down for 50 shades of nay on these festivities, thank you very much.
I seem to recall that Lesy faked some of his pictures and claimed as a defense that successful fakery showed a deep understanding of his subject.
"I think I know which hotel it is. I saw a cucumber truck at the loading dock."
What happens in the Cucumber Room stays in the Cucumber Room.
Plus: after the weekend all the 'gently used' cucumbers are donated to a food kitchen for the homeless, so everybody wins.
I am Laslo.
Ron said...
"so...what room for Ann and Meade?"
You mean, what room that we'd be comfortable with?
That’s a question [Ann and Meade] shouldn’t be involved in one way or another.
"That’s a question [Ann and Meade] shouldn’t be involved in one way or another."
I think Meade just punted.
I am Laslo.
"I think Meade just punted."
Yes, but it was an American punt, not British.
MayBee said...
"OH, the poor cleaning staff."
Hey! Come on, honey, the hot tub is finally available!
I wonder if people are using alcohol (or other drugs). Is anything nonconsensual happening? Do drunken people assume everyone has pre-consented, because that's not the way consent is supposed to work?
Also, do they detect and discriminate against trans-women as they enforce their no-single-men policy
There were some exceptions, but, by and large, writers and scientists in Victorian and Edwardian times had truly wretched sex lives. Despite or, perhaps, because of this, the writers would start the next six hundred page novel on the same day they finished the last six hundred page novel. Scientists made one amazing discovery after another. All that repressed sexual energy went somewhere, and mankind's greatest achievements occurred during the period of mankind's greatest sexual repression...... Just think of the greater wonders Steve Jobs would have achieved were it not for his Internet porn addiction. I wonder how many medical researchers are going to this convention and what will be the ultimate cost to humanity.. There should be a Reawaken Repression movement to bring us back to those storied eras.
We go through Black River Falls a few times a year and sometimes it's a good place to get lunch. As long as this event doesn't take place at the Culver's, I'm okay with it.
"I wonder if people are using alcohol (or other drugs)"
Viagra, Red Bull and Zima.
Zima: the preferred choice of "The Golden Showers" room. A clean citrus scent to accompany the copious amounts of Febreze.
I am Laslo.
What recourse does a female at this event have if she wakes up hung over in bed with one or more individuals she doesn't think she would normally have had consensual sex with? Particularly if she was too drunk to give consent?
Why is it that the fat gals always gravitate towards this stuff?
Polyarmoiry is having more than one dresser.
"Also, do they detect and discriminate against trans-women as they enforce their no-single-men policy"
Only until the bouncer wanders into the Cucumber Room. After that, well...
"Polyarmoiry is having more than one dresser."
Yes, and transpolyarmoiry is having more than two cross-dressers.
Who's baking the cakes for this event?
"Who's baking the cakes for this event?"
'Cake-baking' takes place in the Fecal Room. Frosting is per your personal preference.
I am Laslo.
Ann, your concerns about discrimination don't apply. This is a private party, rather than a public party. You have to be invited. A "single" man could go with a couple, if invited.
It should not surprise you that hets want to sleep with hets. Gay guys wouldn't be interested in this for anything but a news story, and that is why this thing is private to PARTICIPANTS/INTIMATES of participants. All such affairs are.
Be reasonable - aging middle-aged guys don't want a lot of competition ni the form of young guys at an event like this, and the big problem is to get good-looking women to participate.
If you rent an hotel for a family reunion, access will be limited to family members by blood and family members by association, and that is really what this is.
Gay guys have plenty of such venues. It's relatively rare among hets.
I just knew there had to be an Isthmus connection.
John Henry
Will there be hot tubbing?
I hope they burn the sheets after that. Also, are they going to make a video?
People, please remember: the animals in the Bestiality Room did not choose to be there: they cannot give consent.
The horse did not ask to fuck, nor did the dog; the squirrel did not ask to be shoved in someone's ass. As to the goldfish, they did not ask for whatever twisted fate will befall them.
Just because the people are getting their kicks does not mean the animals are getting theirs.
It needed to be said.
I am Laslo.
There is a reason why Scarlett Johansson and I choose not to attend these things: all the men want to have sex with her, and all of the women want to have sex with Laslo -- it is patently unfair to the average people. And especially the below-average people.
We'll take a private room with scented candles and a cucumber, thank you.
I am Laslo.
Loving and not so loving relationships, and businesses exchanges. The institution of marriage is ripe for exploitation.
For what it's worth, the picture the organizers are displaying on their website is the front of the Sheraton on John Nolen Drive.
The nudist/swingers culture isn't too keen on non-heteros, which is why there's "sex discrimination". I'm sure there's a similar vibe on the other side; I doubt that hetero men are too welcome at all-gay sex romps. (Straight women are welcome though. Strange -- I thought "men and women were the same".)
I'm fascinated by the Professor's hangup over the word "freedom". There's multiple ways to use that word in this context, but you chose *one* particular context, and then beat it to death in the OP. Your use of the word, and THEIR use of the word, are two different things. All these people want to do is hook up with other nudist/swingers, and they want to be "free" to do so.
Ann wrote;
Also, do they detect and discriminate against trans-women as they enforce their no-single-men policy
An intelligent, clever young man may want to put on a dress and go trolling for some lesbians.
"...you chose *one* particular context, and then beat it to death in the OP"
She's a lawyer and a professor. Beating words to death is her job.
So gross. Swingers, kinksters, polyamorists and nudists in the bedroom. Homosexuals and other trans orientations in the closet. Simian and other animal lovers in the haystack. Prostitutes meet in Letterman's office. A place for everyone and no one selectively excluded.
Scarlett Johansson and I have an open relationship; it has to be, really, considering the long stretches of time work keeps us apart.
As such, the relationship is built on trust, and one overriding rule: Neither of Us Can Have Sex with Gwyneth Paltrow.
This is actually pretty easy, since neither of us like Gwyneth, so we agreed to this pretty quickly.
In fact, both of us would like to see Gwyneth trussed up with a bright red ball-gag in her mouth while a dwarf stuffs hot peppers in her ass one by one. We had tears of joy writing that rule in our relationship.
You gotta keep fun alive.
I am Laslo.
There are days when I root for the meteor to come and wipe humanity out........
"Ann, your concerns about discrimination don't apply. This is a private party, rather than a public party. You have to be invited. A "single" man could go with a couple, if invited."
Why can't I be concerned about a private organization that discriminates? I didn't say it was illegal, but we can scorn it. If it was restricted to white people only, what would you say? People are making money. It's a commercial operation big enough to take over a hotel. This group is touting its dedication to complete freedom, and I'm choosing to mock it. Your objection doesn't hit any point that is relevant to my way of thing.
And I don't see the basis for saying "you have to be invited." I'm looking at the website that Leslie linked to, and you can just register. It's not an invitation only party.
@Ann: It's not an invitation only party.
Actually it kind of is. Typically you have to apply in advance, and you have to state whether you are married or single. You can't just "show up" at one of these things. Single women are encouraged (obviously), and single guys are usually screened and limited (just as obviously).
It's equal parts social event, partner swapping, and sex. Anything that gets in the way of the social event part is discouraged. So they can't just "let anyone in".
(I have friends who are part of "the life", which is why I sound, um, "authoritative". Never engaged in this activity myself. No, really.)
"This group is touting its dedication to complete freedom..."
Complete SEXUAL freedom is, I think, what they mean.
As for scorning/mocking/whatever -- absolutely. This kind of thing flies in the face of monogamy and traditional marriage and family. They should be mocked.
Of course, they don't really give a crap. They just want consequence-free balling.
If your spouse needs to sleep around to be satisfied, then you've failed as a husband/wife, and probably are a failure as a person.
Desire and freedom are different things.
This event is for married heterosexual men.
If single heterosexual men it would 90% of the event participants, most women uricorn or married have no desire to be repeatedly gang banged.
"Actually it kind of is. Typically you have to apply in advance, and you have to state whether you are married or single."
You have to pre-register and make a reservation. That doesn't mean you have to be invited!
"It's equal parts social event, partner swapping, and sex. Anything that gets in the way of the social event part is discouraged. So they can't just "let anyone in"."
It's a commercial operation, at a hotel, and there are vendors and products sold. You're trying to make it sound like a party at someone's house. Why are you doing that? Do you think it's wrong for this to be commercialized?
"It's a commercial operation, at a hotel, and there are vendors and products sold"
Oh, I get what you're saying now. It's crossed the line from "private organization renting a hotel" to "commercial operation".
Hm. Yeah, I see what you mean. You think that because they're selling stuff (and not just screwing around) that they no longer can discriminate.
The reason I think of these things as private is that they usually are just that -- private events at people's homes.
Let me ask you a question -- if they weren't selling stuff, and if all they did was rent out the hotel for a weekend gang bang, would you still object to the discrimination?
This happen to me, but on a Halloween four years ago, not St. Valentine's. After attending two parties that had parents with kids as guests and therefore no alcohol, my girlfriend and I went to a favorite bar of ours for a nightcap. The bar was located in a national chain hotel, but with an outside entrance. It was called Area 51 (because of the nearby freeway ramp, I think) and it had a Goth/UFO ambience that I thought was cute but not too clever. The bar didn't have it own rest facilities, however. If nature called one had to pass through the inner entrance to the lobby, then go down the hallway to bit and to the right.
As to be expected nature did call, and out to the hotel lobby went I. On entering the gent's I was surprised to see a guy dressed like "Zed" from John Boorman's idiotic cult movie Zardoz, he had the ponytail, the crossed bandoliers, the boots, but the red diaper was more like a red jockstrap -- There he stood using the hand dryer with his ass hanging out in front of God and everybody, but especially me! I played it nonchalant as did the Zed guy. I returned to the lobby and noticed many people, men and women, in a state of salacious undress -- asses and tits everywhere!
When I returned to Area 51 the barflies were all laughing at me. They had neglected to mention the big multi-state "Lifestyles" party that was booked into virtually the entire hotel just to see my shocked expression.
I don't begrudge anyone their turn-ons, as we all have our own, but I have never been able to fathom the appeal of group sex, orgies, swinging...whatever one might call it. While I do find the notion of having sex with many desirable partners appealing, I would only want them one at a time. In the bedroom, even as few as three is a crowd.
There used to be a bar in Black River Falls called "The Elbow Room"- anyone know if it's still there?
Michael Lesy was a professor at the college where my wife worked back in the late 90's, and we went to a special screening of "Wisconsin Death Trip". At the time, my impression of the film (it was a 'film' not a movie) was "ok, here's another member of the east coast cognitive elite having a bit of sport with the rubes who live out in flyover country." Granted my Upper Midwest upbringing makes me hyper-sensitive to such things, but I sometimes wish Northeasterners would be aware of how provincial they really are.
There was an SF con called Disclave down in the DC area for about twenty years, roughly overlapping the big sexual-revolution decades. After a while, they became associated with the BDSM crowd, and non-fans started showing up for the kink, until it was about half-and-half. The BDSM people were... problematic, and one year somebody hooked up some sort of rack apparatus to an overhead sprinkler and the resulting flood wrecked the hotel. It killed the con dead.
A similar accident (something inappropriate hooked onto a overhead sprinkler) ruined a wing of a hotel for the much bigger anime con I helped run in the Baltimore area about ten-fifteen years later. We were greatly relieved to find out it wasn't one of our idiots, but rather some damn fool salesman hanging up his suits. But in the interim, you know the old silverback fans on staff were all worrying that the BSDM people had with fire and slaughter returned.
I work night shift front desk at a midlevel hotel in the suburbs of Austin, TX.
February 14 was the first date since I started there that the hotel was at 100% occupancy.
We had calls all night, until 6am the next morning, from people looking for a hotel room.
I was put in mind of the old bartender's last call quip, "You don't have to go home but you can't stay here."
And today I wore double gloves loading the washing machines.
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