Shortbus

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Comedy

"Jesse, the John: You're taking a picture of yourself at Ground Zero: do you smile?"

Voyeurism, Menage, Bondage, Lesbianism and Gay Sex, Orgies, Arts, Painting, Auto-fellation, Pre-orgasms all crammed in a city which everyone comes to be fucked, a city which everyone comes to be forgiven.

I learned about this film from a friend who was disgusted enough to throw the DVD away. Being such a curious film buff such as I am, I searched for the film and watched it today. Written and Directed by James Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), the film is also known as "The Sex Film Project" and it does contain a lot of graphic sex.

Plot Summary (from imdb)

Shortbus (2006)

Numerous New York City-dwellers come to the exclusive club Shortbus to work out problems in their sexual relationships. Rob (Raphael Barker) and Sophia (Sook-Yin Lee) are a happily married couple, except for the fact that she has never experienced sexual climax. This irony follows her to work, because she is a couples counselor who frequently has to deal with the sexual issues other couples have. Two of her patients are Jamie (PJ DeBoy) and James (Paul Dawson), a gay couple who have been monogamous for five years and counting. James wants to bring other men in to the relationship, and his own history with depression may hint at an ulterior motive. Ceth (Pronounced like Seth, played by Jay Brannon) may be the perfect addition to their family, but Caleb, a voyeur from across the street, may have his own ideas about that. Sophia visits Severin, a dominatrix with secrets of her own to reveal.
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The explicit sex that was portrayed in the movie masked the underlying tones of pervading and smothering sadness that befalls most of the characters. A shattering and painful melancholia that can be claustrophobically oppressive- from the pregnant moments of silences caught in the eyes of Sophia, Jamie and James, through the lenses of Caleb, and the cameras of Severin, to the haunting musical scoring - this film is a definite gem if one starts looking underneath all that massive onscreen sexuality. It is a love story of people with themselves trying to find themselves a place in the city that constantly eats and chews up its own citizens - a reality that seemed so jarring to the uninitiated.

If people should accuse it being a porn film - then it was the first porn film that ever made me cry.

Thank you James Cameron Mitchell.

Gaybirds by Repertory Philippines

Start:	Mar 31, '07 08:00a
Location:	Onstage Greenbelt

Filipino Adaptation of Les Cages Aux Folles.

Philippine Fashion Week Finale

Start:	Apr 1, '07 5:00p
End:	Apr 1, '07 8:45p
Location:	Glorietta Activity Center, Makati

See you Sunday in Glorietta. My friend Pia will be exhibiting Ready to Wear fashion.

AIESEC

http://www.aiesec.net

Bondage.

If you are given the chance of engaging in safe BDSM, would you consider it?

Yes

 

 57

No

 

 3

Maybe

 

 2

Maybe I am a latent Masochist. The prospect seems appealing to me. Being handcuffed, gagged, bound, blindfolded, tied down. I feel that it is some sort of a release of my very strong personality that I want someone to dominate me. So I am doing some readings about BDSM and I found it interesting. Here's from Wiki:

Why bondage?

Man in leather cuffs and chains during street fair

People who find it erotic to be tied up find it so for a variety of reasons:

• The most frequently cited reason is a mental freedom from inhibitions and responsibility since they have, in a way, given up control of the sexual situation to follow. This is sometimes referred to as a "power exchange."
  
• Some like the tactile feeling of restraint, that is, the feeling of pressure or pulling.
  
• Some enjoy the feeling of helplessness for its own sake. Some like to struggle aggressively against their bonds, particularly when being sexually or otherwise stimulated. There are some in this category who play bondage games that do not include a significant sexual component.
  
• To intensify the experience of orgasm control or of orgasm denial.
  
• Some derive pleasure from symbolic degradation (less common). People who enjoy role playing prison or mental hospital situations probably fit best in this category.
  
• Fetishistic interest in the mechanics of bondage, with particular interest in the equipment and restraints used. Some of these people are interested in the look, feel, and aroma of leather and rubber restraints. Others are fascinated by the relationship between the geometry of the tie, the degrees of freedom remaining and the feelings elicited.
  
• As an adjunct to other BDSM activities
  
• Like hang gliding or mountaineering, some feel that bondage allows them to do something potentially dangerous in a safe way.
  
• Extreme forms of bondage such as mummification some people enjoy because it is like being placed in a sensory deprivation tank and may allow the person being placed in extreme bondage to experience an Out-of-body experience.
  
• In the wide range of human sexual experience, there are probably a few other reasons.

People who enjoy tying other people up are motivated by a variety of reasons, including:

• Taking pleasure in the erotic submission of their partner
  
• The feeling of trust which comes from another person placing their physical freedom in their hands
  
• Wishing to please their partner, and the stimulation engendered by their partner's pleasure in it
  
• Fetishistic interest in the elegance of bondage, with particular interest in the geometric patterns and symmetry (or artistic asymmetry) of the restraint
  
• Using bondage as an adjunct to other BDSM activities
  
• Enjoyment of the power and control one has over a restrained partner; people for whom this is a principal motivation may have trouble making it much fun for the other person.

What do you think?

In the context of BDSM, bondage involves people being tied up or otherwise restrained for pleasure. Bondage is usually, but not always, a sexual practice. The paraphilia of being sexually aroused by bondage is sometimes known as vincilagnia.

Studies in the U.S. have shown that about three quarters of all men find the idea of bondage to be erotic; many women do as well. As with any study of sexual thoughts and behavior, the available studies are not well controlled and the best studies are now out of date.

Bondage philosophy

Perhaps the most interesting and ardent "bondage philosopher" was Michel Foucault. While it is believed Foucault had only a limited personal involvement in the practice of bondage, he wrote a number of intellectual explorations of BDSM culture. He was particularly interested in the power relations that bondage brought to the surface, and how these relations reflected upon a larger societal discourse. Of further interest was the notion of a "Limit Experience", wherein the participant attempted to navigate the line between the most intense pleasure and nearly unbearable pain. While some have derided "Limit Experience" as a perverse manifestation of the Freudian "death instinct", Focault believed bondage could provide a safe and telling environment for studying this concept.

Dinner at the Sri Lankan Ambassador's Residence

With the Sri Lankan delegates from National Savings Bank of Sri Lanka (Mr. Perera and Chairman Gunaratne; Mr. Roshantha Jayatunge), His and Her Excellencies, Ambassadors from United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Mexico, Egypt (Im not sure if I miss anyone), the Asst. GM for Sofitel Philippine Hotel Plaza Mr. Mo Ihsan, and the wonderful hosts His Excellency the Ambassador of Sri Lanka WM Senevirathna and his lovely spouse.

Rockwell Foolin'