The Train Wreck of Heidi Fleiss....

Last night, while letting my brain rot watching mindless television, a documentary about Heidi Fleiss came on to HBO. I have alays been very interested in this woman and the way she started her career as a Madame, etc so I sat up to watch, what i thought would be a "getting her life back together after prison" story. Wow, was I wrong. atching this sho was like going past a horrific car accidnet that you don't want to look at but actually cannot tear your eyes away from.

Here is this woman, with no family or friends around her, in the middle of an isolated desert town surrounded by birds she inherited from another former madame who had recently died (also alone). Clearly she has drug habit, or mental illness caused by the trauma of prison, or possibly both. I think if I ever have children and I am trying to teach them "don't do drugs" I'll just show them some of the footage from this programme.

She reminded me of people I know, and have known in the sex industry: the one that came to mind the most was Kym Wilde. I don't know where she is now, and I hope by some miracle she has found a genuinely good man and has a functional relationship (actually, she was Marty's girlfriend before I came along LOL). That was what was the saddest part of this documentary (at least for me) was that some people will never have a strong bond with someone else, they'll never experience the closeness that can be shared between 2 people.

Bondage Workshops!

It has been over a year since I last taught a bondage workshop or gave a private tutorial session. Things have been so hectic with Twisted Factory that teaching had to be put on hold.

While I am still not in a position to become a full time educator (actually I doubt I ever will be) I would like to do some teaching over the next 6 months. I will also be working on Volume 2 of Bondage for Sex and teaching really helps me understand what needs to be written about and how to clearly demonstrate how to do certain ties.

So, any venues out there that may be interested in having me come and teach please drop me a line at chanta@bondageexpert.com and let's try to work out the details (ie. travel arrangemnets and/or payment)! I am only able to do one east coast trip before 2009 so I am really hoping I make it out there (hint, hint Veronica Bound, get me some dates at Passional LOL!) if possible! I will also be teaching "mini" workshops at the Skin Two Expo in London, early Septmeber.

After this small teaching "comeback" LOL, I will not be holding workshops again until Bondage for Sex, Volume 2 is released, mid-late 2009.

Take care,
Chanta

Funny!!!

I was just about to start booking the August schedule for TF (including the epic January, Satine, Berlin shoot) when I remembered, it's the Olympics!!! So, I quickly went online and looked up the times/dates of the swimming events I simply must watch (full list here: http://triresults.wordpress.com/2008/05/28/2008-beijing-summer-olympics-swimming-schedule/)

Sometimes porn must come second, but in swimming, I hope Australia comes first (Gold baby yeah!)

Take care,
Chanta

The Webmaster Hunt

At the end of this month TF was about to begin training a new webmaster for www.fuckedandbound.com, this was to involve a training week in Oakland, followed by a 3 month trial if the training week went well.

Everything seemed to be going well, but things change and it now looks as if these plans have fallen through. This is stressful to me because we are starting a 4th site and I simply cannot run 4 sites. 3 is hard enough.

www.fuckedandbound.com is our biggest site, it is also our most expensive to run so it may not seem like the wise choice to give to someone else to take care of but the fact is, of our 3 sites, it is the one I least enjoy directing. I have always believed it to be crucial to the success of a site that the person running it be into the subject matter and although I like girls to be tied up and fucked by men, I simply have very little to no patience for male porn stars.

www.captivemale.com would be the easiest for me to find someone to run. Rigging men is a fantastic way to learn to be creative with limited means as most male subs are wimps in bondage (not you Rico!!!) and have little flexibility. I honestly believe if you can rig men, especially to suspension standard safely, you can rig anyone but I plan on keeping 2 sites to myself for the time being and giving up www.chantasbitches.com is not an option, and I like the variety of tying up the boys.

So, what skills does a webmaster need? On the technical level, these would be good:

1. Rigging! Yes, these are bondage sites, and as F&B is our biggest site I would like you to actually already be good at this, and of course, be safe also.
2. Video editing. We use final cut pro on Apple G5's. Photo editing. Photoshop baby! These skills can easily be taught.
3. Photo/Video shooting skills. We are a small company. If someone calls in sick one day we need people that can multitask and fill in. I also feel that, as a director, you get a lot more respect from your crew if you actually understand their jobs and be able to do it yourself if you had to.
4. Along with the above, having an understanding of lighting is also helpful.

But more important than all of the above are these traits:
1. Models must like you, and feel safe with you. I have no interest in anyone that will disrespect models limits or pressure models to do things they do not want to do. There is a misconception that in order to get great shoots you must beat the shit out of a model. It's simply not true. The talent is to be able to create awesome shoots with any girl/guy despit their fears, limits, pain tolerance, etc and then have them leave smiling and wanting to come back. Although this does not mean patty-cake shoots with loose rope, that is the quickest way for a bondage site to fail.
2. Creativity. In your rigging, your storyline shoots, your look for the site and the product you will create.
3. A good work ethic. Lazy people last 3 seconds with me, despite their skills.
4. Adapatability. Things are always changing here. You need to be able to change a shoot, etc as required by the models tolerance, etc. Change sets, due to the weather or something neediing repair, etc. Change the site you're directing for because the webmaster is sick and can't do it and by you filling in last minute you save the company kill fees.
5. Organisation skills. As a webmaster, it is your job to make sure updates are ready and go up on time, and that you have enough shoots "in the can" etc to have the site run smoothly.
6. Lastly, if you're a "know it all" then spare me the wasted time. No one knows it all. Everyone still has things they can learn.

Okay, this got a lot longer than it should have been, especially considering that it is not meant to be an offical "wanted" ad. I have deliberately not mentioned compensation here because a) we're not the glob and if you're expecting that kind of money to start here you're crazy LOL (though, in time I expect that will happen) and b) we're still figuring out our pay scales, etc.

This is a "feeler". If you think you may like to be considered then e-mail me chanta@twistedfactory.com and we can begin a dialogue. I would like to have someone in place by Feb, 2009 at the very latest.

On a lighter note...

It was lovely to be told as we were landing that San Francisco is having a heat wave and that is was 81 degrees. London had been cold, rainy and windy for the most part, which i don't actually mind there because without that, it wouldn't feel like London!!!

Spending lots of time with Memphis (my dog) at the park and beach. I always realize, when in London, that I njever took advantage of the city while I was there. Now I have to fly 10 hours to check out a gallery, have afternoon tea at Harrod's, etc. I do not make that same mistake here. I regularly go to the beach, eat at great restaurants, walk through the park, etc. That's part of the joy of living in San Francisco and I make every effort to take advantage of it daily.

Take care,
Chanta

Back to work...almost

Landed Wednesday afternoon and was welcomed back to this country by being hoarded off to secondary inspection by border control. I know I have ranted about this before but here goes again, do not read on if this will offend you but, FUCK YOU AMERICA! Seriously, what more do you want from me? I have the old passport with residency stamp, the new passport, the expired greencard, the original letter from USCIS saying the date on the card has been extended by a year, etc, etc...oh, and my husband, who also happens to be a US citizen is standing next to me (and just in case, I also have the marriage certificate in hand).

In the US, a person can basically buy their way in for $100,000(+). It's callled an E visa. This is when a person wants to start a business here and is willing to invest upwards of $100,000 into the US economy. Obviously, I am a greencard holder, not an E visa holder but to put things in perspective, I have contributed more than 10 times this amount to the economy (and that's just the house) as well as employing US citizens but I still get scrutinized. Thankfully Marty was with me because these situations with US immigration always make me nervous. They wanted to take my actual card off of me (not stop me from staying, just take the plastic) but I need that to travel, work, have a drivers license, etc until I get a new one so this would have caused me a lot of problems. Funny how saying I wanted to call my attorney before surrendering it had my passport stamped, back into the US, with greencard in hand. I have to remember, in the US, mentioning your attorney will get you everywhere.

So, this post no has nothing to do with work, which I should be doing right now (editing Bobbi Starr and daniel for CaptiveMale) but I want to make a bigger point about immigration in the US:

People come here with a dream. Regardless of where they come from, generally, I believe people come here in search of a better life; whether it be better education, more money to feed their family, a better busness opportunity, etc and although this may sound naive I truely believe that most people are honest and want to work to make a living (the foreigners). To come here, it is understood that there will be waiting, and inconvenience, and red tape. That's just the way it is, we weren't born here and we want to come here so jumping through hoops is expected, and patience is required. I am fine with all of that, and those American born reading this may think "Suck it up Sunshine" (LOL, I do) but there are some really traumatic moments in coming to this country and even when you are "legal" you still do not have the same human rights as others and the result of this is quite a simple; a resentment, possibly even a hatred for this country and this is huge problem. Now, instead of having immigrants here that are so happy to be trying to make their way in life and contribute to society you have people earning money here, not spending it here and sending it out, back to the country they may one day return to with US dollars in hand. Not good for the economy, for society, etc.

So what casues this "resentment":

1. Despite jumping through all of the hoops and doing everything correctly, and having all of the exact documentation with you, being taken into a waiting room to be grilled by border control as you return from vacation.
2. Point 1 is made worse when you (like me) pay huge amounts of tax, employ US citizens and own expensive property; in short, when you are making more of a contribution to the economy than 95% of citizens.
3. Having the required medical exam which is humiliating and involves personal questions, then being jabeed with 4 needles in the space of 30 seconds (despite the fact you can prove you've already had these vaccines and are trying to show this documentation, of course, you are ignored, you are on the conveyor belt of the "Welcome to America" wagon). Then you leave with a sealed envelope that you must forward to USCIS. The contents explain if the doctor feels you are of sound mind.
4. Being charged multiple times to have your fingerprints taken (it's not cheap, my fingers haven't changed and neither has the technology USCIS is using to capture them).
5. Last, but certainly not least. Finally, you are a tax paying, legal resident of the US using the same roads, schools, etc as everyone else, but no, you are not permitted to vote. To be happy (anywhere) people must feel that they can be part of a change...even if that is not the case with one single vote, it's the way it makes you feel inside. To deny this simple human right is to do the opposite and make those people feel like second class citizens. Yes, the IRS will take your money, yes, you must follow the las of this country, etc but no, you may not play any part in choosing it's leader.

Rant finished, going to edit.

Charity Woes LOL!

Today I cancelled my monthly contribution of $20 to Environment California. It's not a huge amount that I give, but $240 a year from someone who did not earn an income for almost 3 years and even now, makes a very modest living as what II felt I could give. There are other causes I also donate to regularly and other organizations I like to support (mainly the arts) but if there is one thing that will make me cancel my donations immediately and forever it is spelling my name wrong or getting my gender wrong.

When I receive e-mails or letters about what the charity is working on addressed to Mr. Mynamespeltwrong I resent the contribution I make. After informing Environment California of this error in the spelling of my name more than a couple of times now I simply had enough. Funny, in Gordon Ramsay's book "Playing with Fire" he also says that when he considers the many charities that ask for his help any cover letter addressed to Mr. RamsEy is immeditaly thrown in the trash.

So, now I will contribute what may be considered a meagre amount (but a lot to me) to another charity. If anyone can recommend any other good organisation that deals with environmental issues that would be helpful. I already have cancer, human rights, sex slavery of children and a couple of others covered. Please do not suggest HIV/AIDS to me. This city already has plenty of people dealing with that one.

Take care,
Chanta

Fried Hitachi!

I have been away for a couple of weeks now and rarely, when on vacation do I manage to write any journal entries, but his funny story is worth a posting!

So...I land in Rome and collect my luggage. I am well resed because Unied upgraded me to business class...woohoo! Marty's flight came in just 10 minutes later and we meet in baggage claim after not having seen each other for 11 days (he was shooing in Budapest).

After making our way to the hotel we both want to take a nap and have sex. Too tired for foreplay, out comes the magic wand. I always travel with voltage converters but the fact is, many items (laptops, phone charges, etc) are now able to be used worlwide with only an adapter for the kind of plug. Before leaving SF I had been unable to find my voltage converters so I came without them...but then Marty plugs in the magic wand...without checking if i can be used at 220 (US is 110) and it sarts vibrating super powerfully in his hand, for all of 3 seconds before it shuts off and the lights go out...not just in out room but on he entire floor of the hotel!!! LOL! A few minutes later, after hearing a couple of men run up he stairs, shouting at each oher in Italian the power to level 3 was restored!

The wand itself was completely fried so I threw it into the trash.

For Fuck$ $ake....

Did the stock market really have to drop so dramatically while I am on vacation LOL!!! Couldn't it have waited until I was back in the US and in work mode with my computers in front of me? I just hate losing money I could have prevented losing....oh well, guess I'll have to make more porn....