Prelude to the Sith

After work yesterday, I headed over to Paul's for another abbreviated tutoring session. The poor guy is being worked like a dog at his job as they're shorthanded. He started a 10-day stretch without a day off on Tuesday and was working 12-16 hour days last week. Needless to say, he is worn out by the time I get to his place to try and help him learn to read and write. Hopefully his schedule will improve soon so he can approach the lessons fully armed and operational.

I headed over to the Gateway Mall for a class at A Woman's Touch on anal play. Being a bit early, I stopped in at Mad City Music and walked out with a copy of the newly remastered Broadsword and the Beast by Jethro Tull. It was the first Tull album that I really got into and thusly has a special place in my heart. Eight bonus tracks are included, although I have them all already. My main concern here was improved sound. The album has always been, for me, the sonic equivlent of cardboard. I've never understood why it was allowed to be released with such a dull, flat mix. The songs are compressed into tight little packages and not given a chance to breathe.

Since the album's release in 1982, 14 or 15 other songs from these sessions have been released with another two still in the can awaiting daylight on a rarities compilation of some kind. Having heard all of the leftovers, I've always felt that there were 2 or 3 songs that were unfairly left off the album and roughly the same number that should have been left off of it. In my opinion, "Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow", "Jack-A-Lynn", and "Commons Brawl" definitely merited inclusion while "Flying Colours" and "Seal Driver" should have been omitted. "Jack Frost" and "Commons Brawl" just fit thematically with "Clasp" and "Fallen on Hard Times" and continue the exploration of themes that Anderson really met head on during the late 70s. These songs also seem to me to be better examples of the band's ability to marry the mandolin and flute with the synthesizer. But these are the gripes of a dorky hard core fan and should be ignored by most of the population of the Earth.

I read an old interview with Ian Anderson a few years ago that Broadsword wasn't a big hit in the UK and did poorly in the US but was enormously popular in Germany. He reiterated this in the liner notes of the remaster and it got me thinking about why this should be the case. Is it merely the Viking rampage described in "Broadsword"? Or was there something more? The album definitely has a darker, stormier feel to it than their previous efforts. It's a winter album. Must be something about this that appeals to the Teutonic folk. Being a quarter German myself, I must wonder if all its Teutonic goodness is what attracts me to it.

After my swift purchase, I was off next door. Approaching the counter, our instructor recognized me and the Pleasure Clerk or whatever they're called figured out who I was immediately. I was a bit early still and, much to my surprise, found that The Dulcinea was there as well. The planets must have aligned just right as she was able to pawn off her kids for the night and take the class as well which made it more fun than had I been alone.

I have some experience in this area but figured some pointers from an expert would be helpful. I'm at work now so I don't have pictures and I'm very tired so I don't have copious amounts of detail. However, when I get home, I'll get some pics up and perhaps this weekend I'll go over my audio recording of the class and be able to post some handy advice. For now, though, it should suffice to say that I learned a few things anatomical and a handy technique or two. Like last week's class, we watched various video clips. The first couple concerned anal massage for men. The next couple were from a video called "The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women" or something like that. One sequence showed a woman on all fours with the instructor inserting a dildo. I noticed that I started chewing my gum very quickly during this clip, unlike when some guy was on the TV screen fingering his asshole and jacking off. One thing that disturbed me about the guy in the video was how thin he was. Mind you, I wasn't hoping for a big, fat, balding truck driver with a gut that stuck out so far as to hide his dick from his own eyes but the hyper-thin-I-can-count-your-ribs look on either gender isn't pleasant either.

Anyway, there were half a dozen bullet points made but I cannot recall them all. I remember the call for lots of communication between partners and for using lots and lots of lube. And we were told how to prepare oneself for anal penetration by relaxing, proper diet, et al. All in all, a good learning experience.

After class, The Dulcinea wanted to make out in the parking lot. While I wasn't adverse to the proposition, I had to bail to meet up with a co-worker who was at his second job so I could get me a ticket for the midnight showing of Revenge of the Sith.

OK, here's a few pics:

Firstly we have The Dulcinea giving some anal beads a test run on a picket asshole.



Next we have me doing a little light reading.



Thirdly there's the lube section of the store.



And lastly some dildos and vibrators.