Europe tour 2013 continued...

All right, it's time for the second part of this story.

Honestly, there's not quite as much to tell about my stops in Amsterdam and Paris since these were almost purely session stops -- no videos or live performances.  But there was A LOT of wrestling, and there were some funny moments also.

I left London Monday morning on a too-early flight from London City Airport.  The silly thing was that everyone assured me this airport was very close to the studio and easy to get to, but no one knew exactly how to do it.  So I left even earlier to manage the trip, and I ended up on the only flight of my life that's been too short -- no time to nap!

I arrived too early to check into the hotel, but that gave me a nice chance to do a tiny bit of sightseeing and stroll around the Vondelpark and up the Leidesplein.  After check-in, I had three back-to-back sessions -- all with guys who'd booked wrestling but ended up preferring muscle worship.  That was a bit restful after my busy time in London and my early morning travel, but, on the other hand,  I've never done so much arm wrestling in so short a period!

The next day was quite miserable and rainy, which was perfectly fine since it was my major stay-in-and-session day.  One gentleman in particular was completely endearing -- not only was he fun to wrestle, but as a gift he brought me a rubber ducky mascot from his soccer club (so sweet!) and Murakami's 1Q84 trilogy.  This has become the very next item on my reading list; an inspired gift.

And then there was Wednesday.  This was the day I reserved for sightseeing since I'd never been to Amsterdam before.  I mapped out a walking circuit of the city with more stops on it than I could possibly make.  I figured I'd just set out, stop when I felt like stopping, and skip things when I felt like walking.

Stop number one was pancakes.  When I saw Bettie in London, she'd just come from Amsterdam and she "warned" me that the food was awful -- all potato fries and waffles.  I personally couldn't see a thing wrong with this and vowed to sample fries, waffles, and any other local delicacies I encountered, which I found included pancakes, cheese, and beer.  I admit my diet usually consists of "do more exercise" unless I'm preparing for any specific event.

Next I wandered a bit through the Jordan district, where I found two specialty balloon stores right across the street from each other.  Alas, it was still too early for them to be open, and I had to press on.  I came upon the Tulip and the Cheese Museums, which equalled gifts for my mother and sister (tulips) and my father, brother, and 2nd sister (cheese).

I passed the Palace and the New Church and did a bit of lovely, upscale window shopping.  (I would really buy too much at Desigual if I let myself get started).  I headed on to the Old Church, where I got to witness the uncanny degree of secularism in Amsterdam.  At the New Church there had been a visiting exhibit of Ming Dynasty art on display.  At the Old Church they were installing another exhibit "The Museum of Broken Relationships," which featured mementos and text explanations that people across the world had donated commemorating their break-ups.  Plus, the Old Church was smack in the middle of the Red Light District, so the working ladies in their display windows were actually facing the church wall across a tiny little foot path.  Fascinating, and quite un-American.

From there, I headed to Central Station and walked along the water to the Maritime Museum.  I was running low on time now, so I didn't try to go in.  But my hopes were fulfilled and there was an exhibit of historic canal boats moored outside the museum.  I had a great time looking these over, and then I continued to the Botanic Garden, where I used the same tactic of circling the place and seeing what I could see over the walls and through the windows.  I was trying to save enough time to get to the Stedelijk Modern Art Museum.

I soon realized, though, that I would never make it to the Stedelijk before closing, so I detoured into the FOAM Photography Museum.  Not a bad choice.  And very entertainingly, one of the exhibits was "Dalton Anatomy," a series of photos of sculptures the artist had made from found objects and refuse in Ridley Road Market -- which was practically next door to where I'd just been staying in London.

I wrapped up the day with a pass through the Museumsplein (even though everything was closed), a delicious grilled salmon dinner (have to take myself out nicely at least once per trip), and one last late-night session.

The next day I headed on to Paris, but before I leave Amsterdam, I will note that the single strangest thing about the stop was the manager at my hotel.  Bettie had also warned me that her Amsterdam hotel had given her trouble over having guests to her room.  I happily had not a bit of trouble myself, but her warning did make me hyper-conscious of the front desk and whether they seemed to be over-interested in the hotel comings and goings.  In the three days and nights I was there, no matter what time I passed by, the same manager was NEVER not at that desk.  I hope it was a set of triplets because otherwise it was a cleverly disguised robot.  Actually spooky.

Onwards to Paris.  Of this stop, there is very little to say except that it was the busiest session stop I have ever made.  I was lucky to arrive again earlier than I was able to check in to my hotel because in the time I killed waiting I walked two blocks and discovered, without trying, the best almond croissant in the world.  This was the extent of my exploration in Paris, and I'm sure I could have had equally good success at any patisserie in the city.  Lucky too that I've made more leisurely, touristy trips to Paris before.

Once I did check into my hotel, I immediately had six sessions that day, fell into bed, and was up at 5:30 am to get started again at 6.  Wonderful stop, wonderful people, wonderful matches with everything from hard competitive wrestling to tickle bondage to boot domination.  Next time I'll plan a longer stop!

So that concludes my Eurotour 2013 Travelogue.  In conclusion, I will be back in 2014, without a doubt.  Some planning is needed, but I expect even more stops (at the very least, Germany, I won't miss you next time!) and more wrestling ;)

europe travel account 2013 (london)

Written on the train b/w Amsterdam & Paris...just getting to post now:

There are no really appropriate words for how overdue I am for a blog entry, so I'll just fall back on the handy phrase “better late than never” and go from there.

I'm 2/3 of the way through my European tour right now,on the rapid train between Amsterdam and Paris. Pity it's such a grey, rainy day (again!) because I'm sure the view along the way would be lovely in sunshine.

Anyway, my first stop in London was an absolute, exhausting blast. So great seeing Monica and Richard again after years since my last London trip, and so great seeing Minxy, Venom, and Honey after their recent visits to NYC (fucking awesome how many Londoners we've had visiting New York lately; means I already know a ton of people when I visit there!)

Also, the was definitely one of the most competitive wrestling-filled tour stops I've ever made. On top of the fact that I went over for Monica's video event to fight some amazing women, quite a lot of the guys in London like to go all out as well.

I flew over Thursday night, and didn't get a direct flight, something I will never do again. So after some chopped up napping on the plane, napping in Reykavik (appropriately very cold), and napping on the second plane, I arrive slightly late in London. I struggle all my baggage (yes, I am carrying my travel mats too) down to the Underground, where the ticket machine won't take my credit card. I head back to currency exchange, then back to the subway. Now I am rushing, rushing to make it to my first session. I arrive at Monica's studio in a rained-on flurry, but ready to go. That's when I get the message that instead of the three sessions I thought I had that day, I really have five! Thank goodness Monica brought me snacks – think it saved my life ;)

So I powered through that night, and had a fabulous time – competitive, semi-comp domination with a huge opponent, competitive again, brutal Boston crab domination (crazy! – I think this guy was more masochistic than flexible, but, wow, he could take a lot, so fun!), and finally lift & carry with a gentleman who only liked shoulder rides.

The next day was sessions in the morning and the video event at night. I won't say how the matches turned out since they're all for Monica's video store, but I will say my two matches were extremely hard fought! I went up against Antscha first, and I was very curious going in to this one. I fought Antscha on my lat trip to London, and I'd heard over and over that she's gotten a lot better since then. But so does everyone who trains – I wondered how much better. Well, A LOT. Antscha was a fantastic opponent who pushed me so hard! She's gotten more skilled, and considerably stronger too! She had the power advantage over me, so I had to be tricky to get my advantages.

My second match was with Bettie. I'd fought her before too, and I'd ALSO been told she'd gotten better since then. In her case, that scared me a little since I already remembered her as one of my toughest-ever opponents. I just hoped I'd gotten equally better. The Antsha match had been hard enough that my arms were actually shaking a little before the match with Bettie. But I knew once we got going that would all disappear. And indeed it did. We fought that match hard, and it was SO close, and so back-and-forth, and thank goodness it was the last one because afterward instead of shaking I was just aching. And then we all went out for Vietnamese food – hooray! Much needed.

I also want to thank all the guys who came out to watch the event, especially the ones who met me beforehand for sessions so I got a chance to see you again. Thanks to my two great opponents. Thanks to the other ladies Venom, Tyger, Geri, and Lydia for putting on great fights, so I got to watch some as well as be in them. And a HUGE thanks to Minxy Li for photos because the one great disaster of this trip is that I forgot my camera charger.

Last day in London. Again sessions in the morning and videos afterwards. The afternoon was spent filming some mixed matches with Monica and Richard. I'm afraid I traumatized their poor victim a bit with a rather tight elbow tie as we were doing a bondage finale to a domination match. Oh dear, he did not like that at all, no he didn't. My second video there was a sporty sort of BJJ match with Richard. A lot of flow and movement, and a lot, a lot of holds. After that it was on to shoot number two.

I bussed over to LWS where I had a request for a custom in the Villainess Bondage style. This one was even more elaborate with five different ladies involved. Venom I already knew, but I got to meet Isabella, Puma, and Ivy as well. Isabella was on my team, but the rest of the ladies I got to tie up :)

After this mega project, there were two videos to go. The great tragedy of October's NYC Mega-Filming was that the footage of my excellent bondage match with Minxy was lost. So Minxy, Honey, and I arranged that I would bondage wrestle Honey's “boy” in exchange for her reshooting Me vs. Minxy.

Now I assumed bondage wrestling someone's boy would be a straight out domination, but it became immediately apparent that this guy planned to fight – hard! So I cranked the level right up on this match and took it to him viciously. At first we were trying to do the bondage with some special-for-the-occasion, extra-long pink ropes of Honey's. But they were so very long that it was impossible to do anything but make a tangle. Then Minxy tossed my short white ropes in to me, and the binding started. Once the ropes were cinched tight and all the thrashing and squirming were shut down, then I was able to bring the long ropes back to decorate my captive with pretty pink bows ;) In contrast to my early victim that day, the more horrifically rough and evil I was to this guy, the more he liked it!

And finally, my rematch with Minxy! So wonderfully good! Many, many people will not attack when they bondage wrestle me, or they'll forget within a minute. Not Minxy! She kept getting ropes around my arms, making it so hard for me to do anything, and causing all kinds of trouble. Plus she's hilarious and incorrigible with all her banter and chatter. Unluckily for her, though, I had just done a two-hour bondage session that morning where I had a chance to work out a brilliant new tie. I was beyond determined to recreate it, and ultimately, it looked great on Minxy! She says she'll get me next time, though – we pledged an ongoing bondage rivalry, and I can't wait until she comes back to New York for our next installment.

Oh, dear god, look how long this has gotten. We'll have to talk about Amsterdam and Paris in another post.

Julie Squeeze at Oct. Wrestling Expo? - seeking sponsors

Hey, Everyone!

We've just gotten exciting news here in New York that Julie Squeeze would like to attend our NYC Female Wrestling Expo Oct. 4-6.  

This would open up some awesome possibilities for matches between Julie and the other ladies on the roster - Julie vs. Skylar?  or Kara?  Maybe Orlandoe for a duel between two truly stellar pairs of legs?  And of course I would personally LOVE to get in my long-awaited rematch!

The only catch is that Julie needs sponsorship to cover her flight from LA to New York.  

We're looking for just three sponsors to each give $100 toward her airfare (or one generous guy to give $300).  All sponsors would receive all the matches Julie does with both Femwin and Doom Maidens at the Expo.

Let us know ASAP, if you would like to sponsor Julie and help us add another amazing lady to the Expo line-up.  You can write to me directly at veve.wrestler@gmail.com.

Thank you!!

             - VeVe

where to go?

I'm in the middle of planning a big session tour for August, and I'm stuck.  I've got two options that sound awfully good to me, so I really want input from readers of this post!

Where would you all like me to go?  

Who would want to meet up in any of these cities?  

With whom would you like me to film - or whom would you like me to challenge ;) - in any of these places?

Option 1 - the East                        Option 2 - the West 

D.C.                                             San Diego

Richmond                                     L.A.

Charlotte                                      San Francisco

Knoxville                                      Reno

Nashville                                      Las Vegas

Atlanta

Jacksonville

Regardless, I'm going to be ending the tour at FetCon in Tampa August 15 - 18.  But where to go first?!

may session tour wrap-up

I've been on the road for about a week now - tonight is my last night in Toronto, and tomorrow I head back to NYC.  I've got to say this has been an excellent, wrestling-heavy trip.

It's funny that no matter where I am, I think I'm going to take a break later.  I'm at home training heavy and working on the video store?  I think "Oh, I've got a trip coming up - that will be like a vacation!"  I'm on the road driving, wrestling, and meeting with other companies for video shoots?  I think "Oh, it will be relaxing when I get home"...but really I know I'm going to jump back into training like a maniac.  I do think I'll need to schedule in a couple extra days for sight-seeing on the next trip and also remember (or find time) to prepare more healthy road snacks, but, overall, this trip has been a great success.

The drive out to the first stop in Cleveland was a bit of an adventure.  Driving through Pennsylvania, I had an alternating mix of gorgeous weather and sleet -- yes, sleet in the middle of May.  I also had a flat tire, and when I called AAA, they basically said "Do you think you can handle it yourself?"  Turns out, yes.  Put on the temporary spare, drive to the next town, and get fixed up.  It did set me way back on time, though, so it was almost good (but not really) that Herbodies had to cancel their shoot with at the last minute for personal reasons.  We were both looking forward to working together; I do hope we get to try again in the not-distant future.

OK, so actually there was a slightly rocky start to the trip.  But at my next stop, Chicago, where I go more often, I got to reconnect with some of my favorite regular sessioners.  Highlights included the sweatiest non-stop endurance match ever (against a really big guy, no submissions, an hour of HARD work just holding each other down and SWEATING); a very fun, challenging match against a former high school wrestler; and some wonderful muscle worship (who doesn't love worship?!).

Next stop:  Detroit.  Detroit was just INSANE on this trip.  If I'd had any idea when I was making bookings, I would have scheduled another day.  I was wrestling from the time I arrived until the time I left, and I think I had to turn more people down for lack of time than I ended up seeing.  Unbelievable!  To everyone I had to miss on this trip, I'm sorry, and I'll be back!  It's kind of interesting the trends that come out sometimes -- in Chicago I had almost all competitive matches; in Detroit I had two spandex sessions and two very intricate roleplay sessions (plus competitive, scissors, muscle worship...like I said, this stop was crazy!)

And finally I'm in Toronto.  I got in last night and dove right into a shoot with ScissorFoxes.  They were a ton of fun to work with.  We shot four 10-minute scissors clips.  Most were in cute, basic bikinis, but I will reveal there was a Mortal Combat Scissors Death Match in there with me wearing the wildest red bodystocking ever seen.  I'll also reveal that Jay CAN take a lot of pain, it's true, but he probably shouldn't have told ME that.  Many video victims will ask me to go lighter; if you ask me not to, oh boy...

And right after the ScissorFoxes shoot, I did another with a new company Absolute Mixed Wrestling.  This was actually Absolute's very first shoot/match, so good luck to him getting everything rolling!  (I'm sure he'll have a full site coming along soon, but for now:  Absolute.)  We kicked things off with a super-competitive, skillful, mis-match fight -- my opponent was also a BJJ purple belt, but he was 100 lbs. heavier!  Body punching, smothering, and mask-grabbing (he was wearing a lucha mask) were all allowed, so things got a bit heated!

Wrestling on and off today, blogging (obviously), looking forward to one more early morning match tomorrow and then a long and hopefully pretty drive home!

a very, very, very full month!

So here's a look at what's been going on over the past month or so.

The BIG event recently was that on Feb. 8, I finally left my office job to concentrate full time on wrestling, training, sessions, and videos.  I'd been planning and looking forward to this for a long time.  There was delicious cake and terrible snow storm to mark the occasion.  And then...

I had thought, naively I suppose, that I was going to have SO much time to do everything I wanted once I got out of the office.  I was going to increase my training schedule, never have to turn anyone down for a session due to a time conflict again, and travel several times a month.

Phew!  Well, I shot out of the gate and hit the ground running.  It was quite exciting.  I booked trips to Texas, D.C., and Chicago.  D.C., especially, was a super-trip -- I don't know what it is about that city, but the guys there love their wrestling.  I was going non-stop -- domination, competitive, boxing, and -- a rare treat for me -- a real, serious, can-actually-handle-the-pain beatdown.  Drove back to New York in the afternoon (through more snowstorm warnings), and met a favorite regular client for a late session that same night.

I cranked up training too.  I joined my academy's "elite" Muay Thai program and added sparring classes to my BJJ, MMA, and pad work regimen.  I thought I was doing awesome to have made it all the way through winter untouched by cold and flu season...then March arrived and I was finally brought low by a hideous fatigue-sinus-throat thing.  I had to admit that as much as I love being busy, I needed better planning and balance.  It was actually lucky that the sponsor for my Chicago trip, originally planned for right now, had to pull out and look to reschedule at a later date.

NOW, I can say I feel like I'm beginning to get the hang of this full-time wrestling thing.  I made a few excellent discoveries -- plan trips further in advance whenever possible.  Evening training does NOT work well for me.  That one's still killing me, actually, since my academy only offers sparring and MMA at night.  And I haven't yet figured out how to get as much lifting in around my martial arts as I want to.  But I've ID'ed the challenges, and I've got the destination in mind -- just working on the map!

There's been exciting stuff going on with other ladies at Doom Maidens too.  Indra's back in the US -- for a long stay this time!  For her welcome-back present, we got her victims!  First, we offered up Ben for some classic, cheeky Indra domination, and next it was Thrash for some bondage tickle-torture.

BUT Athena spiced up the party -- like the giver of birthday spankings, she turned the tables on Indra and dealt out some tickle torture of her own.  There will be more to come from Indra this very Sunday -- she'll be taking on a visiting victim in a new bondage wrestling match, and possibly subjecting him to some judoka foot domination too!

We've also got a new lady training with us now.  Well, not entirely new -- some may remember Sircee from her matches with Clobberetta and Athena last year.  But after a recent bondage wrestling shoot, where she had a lot of fun being introduced to bondage wrestling and even more fun showing off her wily escaping skills (to my ultimate frustration), Sircee is newly fired up and ready to start rolling in earnest.  She's been coming by the Brooklyn studio for practice to beef up her wrestling skills, and she's a quick pupil.  Must be the dance background -- show her a movement, and she soaks it right up.  The next training is this Friday with me and Orlandoe.

Ah, Orlandoe!  The ongoing drama between Orlandoe's and my secret agent characters has been the video theme of the month.  This was both really cool and a little funny.  You may recall that last year we launched the Stockholm Syndrome Collection, which was soon retitled the Lethal Leotards Syndicate series -- a video series featuring the Doom Maidens ladies as black-leotard-clad super-villians, who seduce, capture, torture, subjugate, and occasionally assassinate their male prey.


And fans loved this!  So much that they began sending custom video requests that carried on the story of the Syndicate.  It has been truly fantastic to see how different guys all writing separately have been creating different episodes of this story.  BUT here's the rub -- in the hands of our fan writers the Syndicate has strayed from its original purpose of persecuting men and fallen to in-fighting -- a continuing power-struggle between the Grand Domina herself (me) and the Second-in-Command (Orlandoe).  In the past month, Orlandoe and I have struggled through two death-matches and one bondage torture abduction.  Way to protect your own necks, guys, turning us on each other!  No worries, we'll get you soon enough!

And, finally, a look ahead -- not wrestling-related for a change.  I would like to announce that my birthday will be here in just two weeks, and I'm looking forward to a fabulous present.  My mother and two sisters are all coming to visit me, and we are preparing to hit NYC in true girls'-weekend style.  Dining, theatre, wine bars, warm springtime Botanic Gardens if we're lucky, wedding planning for baby sister, and maybe (if I can talk them all into it) kickboxing for everyone ;)  So if I'm a little incommunicado at the end of the month, it's because I'm partying on the town with my guests!

new year, new adventures

Time again for another update.  I've got to say, December was a crazy work month.  So, so much filming!  And with all the holiday travel bringing visitors into the city, it was a wild high time for sessions and wrestling and meeting guys from practically all over the world.  Really a phenomenal time but a hard pace to keep up!

When Christmas finally arrived, I was both so ready for the few days vacation with my family and not ready at all (NEVER got anyone's present wrapped, but they liked them anyway).  It was definitely an entertaining change of pace to be back among people who knew me before I ever got into wrestling and are actually still surprised by it.  Fun hitting the gym with the whole family for a post-holiday workout, showing off a little (I admit), getting just a bit competitive with my sister's fiance, and working a little personal training for sister #2.  Also slightly surreal getting subjected to pictures of bridesmaids dresses (by Mom, who's more excited for the ceremony than baby sister!).

Then it was back to New York and all too soon back to work...but not for long.  In fact, I'm now less than a month away from my last day at my office, and this current week I'm using up all my vacation time - not for vacationing, but -- so I thought -- for getting everything squared away for the change.  Really, though, there's not too much to change.  I need to go hunting for a new gym not selected for office-proximity, but otherwise, wrestling and wrestling videography is already a fabulous and rewarding full-time job for me.  Things are in order.  I'm just looking forward to more flexibility to schedule shoots, sessions, and travel, and to turn up my training intensity.





And so, in fact, THAT'S what I've been doing this week.  Monday featured a very sinister lethal leotards video shoot with Orlandoe and Thrash, plus some clips shooting for Orlandoe's own store.  Orlandoe's clips are already on their way out, and Lethal Leotards Duo will be coming soon!

Yesterday was a full day of mini-clip shooting for me with a big emphasis on abs, belly punching, and belly button this time around.  (First release:  very hard belly punching -- I was a bit rocked.)




Tomorrow, I'm shooting customs for Cali Logan -- I will say the disappointment of the month is that Keri and I were supposed to film the trial run of duct tape bondage wrestling at this same shoot, but that's had to be put on indefinite hold since Keri JUST found out she's expecting a second baby.  Definitely for the best that we not attempt any match as competitive as that one would surely be right now.  Sad for the match, but a big congratulations to Keri.  Friday is a competitive face sitting shoot with a new male opponent, and Saturday is the rescheduled 2013 Resolution Rematch with Hanz.  Phew!

Plus, I'm finally getting the chance to keep up with both my lifting and my martial arts training as much as I'd like to.  In fact, I'm writing this now in between morning grappling and afternoon gym.  And this is very good because perhaps my best news of all is that I'll be competing in my first kickboxing and MMA fights in March.  And I'll quite likely be competing at 110 -- I'll need to see about scheduling a photo shoot around this fight ;)  A phase of quite intense training and miserable weight cutting begins next week.  Very exciting!