overwhelmed with awesome video options!

OK, I've been a little unable to blog lately because there's been so much *almost* going on.  And the reason things have been *almost* going on, is that there are so many options it's hard to pick which ones to do and what to do first!  

So I decided it's just time to talk about this and how simultaneously awesome and frustrating it is.  I'm gonna lay out all the video options and ideas we're considering, and if anyone wants to help the decision-making process with votes or custom orders, that would be excellent!

The "problem" begins with the fact that Orlandoe is back in NYC for the summer --  limited time, three months only!  Now Orlandoe was always one of our most capable, competitive wrestlers, and she's kept up her training while she's been away.  We had a quick roll together at a recent open mat, and I was super impressed.  A straight-up wrestling rematch between us would be pretty neat for starters.  

BUT Orlandoe is also one of the ladies besides me who knows her way around ropes -- we could set her to bondaging her own crop of victims.  AND she's such a fun personality being so tricky and devious -- she's makes a terrific villain or pro-style heel.  See what I mean?  Too many options!

Now, at the same time, Amazon Annie is back from her extended travels and pretty pumped up for action.  And we have a lot of tiny opponents who would be great in size domination matches with her -- Jade Indica, ShaSha, possibly Cali Logan if she wants to come visit, new guy Tae...

Annie vs. ???

And speaking of Tae, he's a new, very small, very quick and scrappy, but totally untrained guy.  So basically ALL the ladies would love to get their hands on him for a big [hazing] wrestling welcome.  He's also friend of Howl, so there are great options for those guys working together in multi-person team matches and scenarios.  

We actually gave that idea a first run last week in the What Goes Around Comes Around Bondage Caper video, AND we're scheduled for a Battle of the Sexes Bondage Battle II next week (Howl & Tae vs. Orlandoe & Me), along with and Orlandoe vs. Me Pro-Style Rematch.  So those are some ideas that ARE happening already.  But so many more options, even more than I've mentioned already...

Another thing going on, obviously, is that it's summer!!  This is the time for outdoor scenarios, and a lot of our ladies and guys have agreed they'd love to do some on-site adventure filming.  Of course, Annie would like to do an Amazon vs. the jungle hunters scene in nature reserve she knows.  I think gladiators meeting on the sands would be great, and I'm hearing some requests to bring last year's skin diver character back to the beach as well.  Plus Howl mentioned shooting at the Cloisters, which would give us an amazing Medieval castle setting.

And finally, there are phenomenal guest wrestlers we'll be shooting with in July and August.

Mistress Kara will be here July 17-19, and we're already planning a full-day shoot with her.  Now what do?  

Kara is a genius of mixed domination.  It's tempting to match her against every guy we have to overpower, tie-up, and/or enslave them in turn.  

But maybe we don't want to miss the chance for her do some more unusual things?  Kara could rock a pro-style match like a champ; she would make an amazing superheroine or villian; and she looks awesome in pantyhose...maybe a catball?  Not to mention the fact that she would be super-exciting in one of our 4-way or 6-way bondage battles!  One match we are certain about is a confirmed competitive custom vs. Amazon Annie.  But for the rest, decisions must be made!

***

Now, moving on into slightly further down-the-road news.  A little bit more of an FYI, advance-notice set of announcements...but still not too far off, so worth starting to think about! 

Megan Jones and Mutiny are also going to be visiting New York later in July.  We're actually scheduled to shoot with both of them in Florida in August, but only Diablo and I are going on that trip.  SO, if anyone has requests for these two awesome ladies to match up with other members of our New York crew. we would be glad to set up a home-turf shoot with them too.  (Or to take requests for videos with Diablo or me for August).

Megan  

Mutiny

And FINALLY, in August Diablo and I head down to FetCon.  We're set up to shoot so far with:  Layla Moore, Nikki Fierce, Tomiko, Andrea Rosu, Mutiny, Lily Kat, Briella Jaden, and Megan Jones.  Any requests for videos with these ladies, or with other ladies attending FetCon, are very welcome!

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!

video shoot extravaganza

Well, I'm now one day away from the end of this filming blitz that launched December.  Tomorrow Keri and I meet for a custom rematch of our 2011 bondage wrestling match.  Much higher stakes this time - the conditions include winning conditions of a full, immobilizing hog-tie, a humiliation round for the loser, and no draws allowed!  Of course, ties are allowed though ;)  Exciting!

Then after this I'll get a (much needed!) break for about a week...until Mark arrives in town on a holiday visit.  He's still the best beatdown victim I know, so I'm not about to let the season of peace on earth get in the way of my ladies and my waling on him.  The only question is how shall we do it?  Will Orlandoe, who's been branching out lately and looking to open her own clips store, terrorize him with her particular brand of physical Femi-Nazi domination?  Will Clobs crush him?  Or will I finally pull a few of my own evil plans off the back burner?  Competitive facesitting?  Mixed MMA?  My own SSC?  Time will tell!

But what I can certainly tell you right now is that in the past couple busy weeks we've gotten in some incredible matches around here.  This is just a super quick rundown:

Nov. 29 Shoot - In which I got to meet Page, a very spunky and fun beginning wrestler, for the first time; Bettie and I both proved that superior skill skill cuts bigger opponents right down to size; and Bettie and I had a rope-tie match that was as awesome for the excellent high-level wrestling as for the huge and perilous tangles of rope.

Bettie vs. Hanz

VeVe vs. Bettie with Rope

VeVe vs. Page 

Dec. 5 Shoot - In which plans changed.  We were scheduled to shoot Tommi vs. Adrian, but Adrian had to reschedule at the last moment.  We still had the studio booked, though, so I switched tack and filmed a few special requests from my balloon/inflatable fans -- a big yellow 36" balloon non-pop inflation, a 99-Cent Store beach ball deflation, and a donut balloon sit-pop.

Dec. 6 Shoot - In which we met MariQueen, who impressed the hell out of us all with her great attitude and insatiable appetite to fight everyone!  Also her ability to give me a serious run for my money after fighting Clobberetta in a BBW battle AND Adrian in a competitive match before me.  Fantastic.

Clobberetta vs. MariQueen

Plus, MariQueen's matches with Adrian and me are still in the works, pictures coming...

And later that same day, we were back for the rescheduled Tommi vs. Adrian.  Tommi was in high spirits, first demolishing Adrian almost faster than he could blink in a competitive round, then gloating and rubbing in her victory in second round.  Adrian was having fun too, as impossible as that may look...

Tommi vs. Adrian

Dec. 7 Shoot - In which Athena reprised her role as karate bounty hunter in Athena's Karate Nylons II.

Dec. 8 Shoot - In which a fantastic and beautiful shoot with Orlandoe adapting the SCUM Manifesto into her own version of SSC and then shooting additional domination scenes for her coming clips store was tragically compromised by a ridiculous musical theater rehearsal next door.  D was furious and has been working passionately to see what footage can be saved from the terrible background music.  Some quick excerpts (showing Orlandoe's *incredible* outfit) are on her brand new YouTube channel, OrlandoeSupreme.

Dec. 9 "Rest Day" - In which I got my only chance in sight to finally get to the grocery and laundromat -- in the rain -- and still shot some new bondage escape customs at the Brooklyn studio!

I should mention that in the midst of all this, there was also an all-day bodypaint photo shoot for a friend of a friend's portfolio.  I'd been hoping the images would work for my portfolio too as I work on branching out from fitness and fetish posing into more varied modeling.  I'm not sure, though, the finished product looks enough like me to be directly useful that way.  Still, a fun shoot and very interesting images -- a really lovely, delicate Venetian mask look on my face...which suddenly morphs into full-on superhero when you add the whole body.  (Credit to Merideth Haring for the painting and Last Witness for the photography.)

And finally, finally, I've been struggling with the frustration of just NOT having enough time for all the training I'd like to be doing right now.  Gym time has taken a sad hit, and I can't wait to get back in quieter days.  On the upside, I've discovered I do really like my academy's MMA class, and I'm doing the best I can being consistent with that. Interestingly, it's a class full of strikers -- we'll work on our stand-up and boxing and it's clear to me everyone is much more experienced there than I am; then we go to the ground, and - BOOM - I'm at the head of the class.  Great stuff -- back there tonight.

Then it's filming with Keri tomorrow, and sometime soon after that...Christmas shopping!

me vs orlandoe + phoenix travel

I have another busy week ahead of me here -- this is what's going to be happening in the very near future.

First up, I'm very pleased that Orlandoe is back from her travels down south.  This means that our ever-smoldering rivalry can again blaze bright.  We have two separate custom video challenges scheduled this week.

On Wednesday, we're going to be filming Wrestling vs. Striking II.  This will be similar to the match I did with Shauna in May but more personal and I'm sure more ruthless!  Again I'm going to be the wrestler not the striker -- I don't expect to get out of this one unbruised, but I think my chances are excellent for pulling off the win.  Orlandoe disagrees...  Then on Friday, after we've both recuperated a bit, we're going to have an All-Abs Contest -- most reps in 2.5 minutes for crunches, sit-ups, and leg raises wins!

After that, bright and extremely early on Saturday morning, I leave for a trip to Phoenix.  This is going to be an all-too-short trip, Saturday and Sunday only, but I've never been to Phoenix before, and it was time I made it out there.  Since it will be a weekend-only stop, anyone in the area who'd like a session and hasn't contacted me yet should do so right away -- time is very limited!  And anyone who knows Phoenix should send me a recommendation for the ONE best fun thing I should see or do while I'm there.

Also a bit more general information -- I'm pretty sure I'm going to be able to go back to Muay Thai class this week.  My annoying broken toe is sooooo close to healed, and while it's been great for my grappling to have time off from stand-up training, I'd rather be doing both.  It's silly, but to keep myself from trying to go back too soon, I ordered a nice speed rope by slow post and told myself I had to wait until it comes to return to class.  This does have a purpose -- all my academy's warm-up jump ropes are mis-fit sizes for me and catch my toes when I jump!  And my new rope should be coming by the end of the week...

Finally, this is also the week that I'm determined to set my itinerary for the sessions road trip I'm planning in August.  Today, I started playing with Google maps and got a little distracted pinpointing everywhere I've already visited for sessions.  Very fun to see how many places I've gone -- more than I realized! -- as well as how many I still need to visit and where I need to return.  This got me planning all kinds of things way out of proportion to reality (for now).  But reining it back in, this August, I'm PROBABLY going to be swinging through Philly, D.C., Charleston, and one or two stops in Florida.  Anyone who wants to cast votes for these cities or others along the same route, please do speak up, and speak up quickly!

More news after some of these adventures happen!

very exciting matches this week!

This is may be the most exciting week for video matches I've ever had.   Three different types of competitive matches (almost four, but more about that later) all in one week.

Last things first, since I especially want to mention next Saturday's shoot with visiting wrestler Shauna Ryanne.  Shauna and I are meeting up for a competitive match while she's in town, and I'm very excited for it for a couple reasons.  Shauna and I have both been beating up on one of my favorite victims (Mark of Brutal Beauties) for years, and he keeps telling us awesome things about each other, but we've never gotten to meet before.  And second, this will be my first competitive FvF match in way too long, and I've missed my roots!

But for all that, it seems a waste to shoot only one match with such a lovely and lethal lady when we've got this chance.  So if anyone is interested in ordering customs (mixed, FvF, or solo) with Shauna while she's here, please get in touch right away!  Write to veve.wrestler@gmail.com.

Working backwards, the next match in line is a competitive bondage wrestling showdown between Hanz Vanderkill and me slated for Wednesday night.  This is another type of match I haven't done in far too long, and I can only wonder why I didn't realize sooner Hanz is a perfect opponent.  After all, we've faced each other in submission grappling, an oil wrestling match, and even a lucha-pro-style spectacle.  Of course, we must face each other in a bondage challenge!  It was inevitable.  And this time he won't be wearing a mask!

Now Hanz may think he can say anything he likes behind my back, but he was foolish enough to spill his strategy to Diablo, who fortunately gave me some advance warning.  It seems Hanz's big idea is to spend all his energy UN-tying anything I can get on him.  Now that's just punkish, and my counter-strategy is going to be to take it to him hard and fast and punish him for such an ignoble scheme.  He'll have to try to tie me just to defend himself!

[Edit 5/25 - Bondage wrestling with Hanz was phenomenal!  Excellent, tough match; dramatic finish; I am SOOO proud of it!  And just released yesterday -- HERE.]

Finally the first match of the week -- me vs. Adrian.  This took place Sunday morning bright and early, and it's actually already up in the Doom Maidens store.  I was SUPER happy with this match.  In particular, I'm proud as hell of some superb bodylock takedowns and beautiful triangle transitions I pulled off.  I was also very impressed with Adrian; he brought in size and strength, put up 100% worth of fight all the way through, and put me in some real pain.  I was definitely more than he expected though!  Only one downside to this match -- if you ask my disgruntled video editor, my bikini was TOO risque.

And a footnote -- there was ALMOST a fourth competitive match this week, but Orlandoe and I couldn't quite match our schedules for it.  This would have been a striking vs. grappling match (Orlandoe striking vs. me grappling) pitting Orlandoe's slaps, punches, kicks, and sadism against my "macho-chism" and submission skills under pressure.  It's still going to happen, but with Orlandoe about to embark on a couple different travel adventures, it's sadly pushed back to mid-June.  Looking very forward to it though!

judo, L&C, Nashville, and more

A lot to catch up on since my last blog!

The first thing to report is the story of a VERY wild video shoot from last week.  There was one video on the schedule, and it was a very interesting and somewhat complicated custom request -- a judo contest, but with a messy wrestling twist.  The fighters would wear shiny leotards and tights and any time one lost a fall, she would be rubbed and massaged with bread dough while she recovered.  At the end of the match, whoever's shiny attire was still shiny (or at least less messy) would win.  Orlandoe and I were competing, and Indra was to be the ring girl in charge of the dough.

That was the plan.  But another request came through the night before for a lift and carry custom featuring Orlandoe, Indra, me, and a fourth girl.  I knew we had to do it the same night or wait a long time for everyone's schedules to line up again.  So an urgent call went out for a fourth girl who was free at exactly the right time that night.  Only an hour before the shoot we found her; a friend of Orlandoe's could do it.

Now, we often use a public rehearsal studio for our videos -- sometimes they're great.  They store our mats for us, and some of the rooms have lovely theatrical lighting.  BUT.  They've been driving me crazy lately -- getting busier and busier and more crowded, harder to book, and more full of bitchy anti-wrestling yoga and belly dancing personalities.  Not to mention drama-prone drama majors.

So, before the shoot, I'm mixing up the bread dough in the ladies' room.  "What's that?" someone asks.  No problem; it's a theater space.  "A prop," I say.  We film the judo video and it goes quite well (QUITE well -  lovely throwing and athleticism and a great match-up between Orlandoe and me), but it runs a bit late.  So after the shoot, we get the studio manager knocking on the door telling us the next scheduled group in waiting to come in.  What the fuck, little dancing group?  You couldn't knock on the door yourselves?  It prevents making an issue and it saves YOU time.  Like I said, it's the good with the bad at this place.

We sneak into another free room to do the lift and carry video.  This one is two teams performing shoulder rides and having a chicken fight, and the one major request the sponsor had was 10 minutes of continuous carrying -- no breaks or cuts in the tape.  I'd never tried a straight 10-minute lift before, so it was looking to be a challenge.  Turned out to be more of challenge than expected -- Orlandoe's friend hadn't listened to her very carefully about what the shoot would involve, so she'd decided it would be OK to show up a bit tipsy.

Orlandoe was the one carrying her, and I was carrying Indra, and we both had quite a job to do keeping our riders safe while the fourth girl got way too wild and ruthless with the fight -- for 10 minutes, with no break to calm her down!  But we succeeded, and I was quite proud of our strength, balance, and composure!  Then to top it off, the girl says she didn't realize the video would be released and isn't comfortable with that.  This is a terrible waste as it was an impressive feat in the end and deserves to be seen; I swear I get saint points for honoring her request.  Grrr.  But we definitely want to use this scenario again for a video that WILL be released.

Next item - my trip to Nashville.  Let me skip over most of it and hit the biggest highlight.  Saturday night I was supposed to meet up with a big group of friends for dinner and drinks, but everyone was coming from a different place, and no one had decided where we were actually meeting.  Everyone text everyone when you get near, was the dubious plan.  My ride and I show up first; we spot a likely looking sports bar and text everyone about it.  We go in, and honest-to-god the receptionist says to us "I don't recommend you come here.  Really.  Go to the nice place two blocks away."  And indeed, on the inside this place looks like a hell hole.  We text everyone again, and head to the new place.

Of course, they never arrive and quite possibly some of them ended up at the original miserable dive.  But we get a huge comfy booth just in case they manage to show and proceed to enjoy live bluegrass (it was an Earl Scruggs tribute), awesome ribs, and various superb Southern microbrews.  Ever had Bourbon Barrel Stout or Pecan Nut Brown Ale?  Don't wait - find them, try them.  So that was my mini-birthday celebration.  I'm STILL waiting to be un-busy enough for my proper birthday celebration.  This weekend's looking good.  And Orlandoe and Wrecks are hosting a party Wednesday that should make a nice second warm-up ;)

Third and fourth items, quickly - Taxes, killing me.  This was such a huge stressor to me yesterday.  I've gathered more receipts, and things are looking brighter, but this was a blow to my optimism about getting out of the office job this year.  I didn't need that...or, realistically maybe I did.  It's still going to happen but more likely next year.  Sigh.

AND this week's videos.  Yesterday I got to sit in on a match between my friend Hanz and Amazon Eve.  That was quite something to see!  Hanz isn't a small guy (6'-0" and 190 lbs.), and at 6'-8" Eve just dwarfed him.  Their match was for Hanz's site, not for Doom Maidens, so look for it there.  It was fun to compare notes with Eve afterwards -- I'm of course not too familiar with the giantess and height comparison corners of the wrestle/muscle/strength world, and Eve was very keen to learn more technical jiu-jitsu.

Tonight there's a judo and foot domination match coming up between Indra and Thrash, and I'll be joining the fun as well for a judo torture instructional clip.  Onward to more action...

video mega-shoot and acting class

I wanted to post a wrap-up of Tuesday's super-shoot yesterday, but my office job pretty much swallowed me whole from nine straight through to five, and after that I had my second-to-last winter term acting class.  That was fun but a little odd -- more about that later.

First, the shoot!  I would like to say that it was amazing!  We ended up only being able to get the studio for two hours, and we still managed to shoot seven videos PLUS take new profile pictures for Clobberetta and Nyx while only going 10 minutes over and *slightly* annoying the studio mangager.  HUGE thank you to everyone for being so on target.

The really unusual thing about this shoot was that I was hardly in any videos myself.  Though I do love jumping into the fray, this night was all about showcasing new and returning talent and never-before-seen skills from other wrestlers, which was exactly perfect.  I got to do a little camera work and little directing, and it was fantastic to get to watch the other ladies work, especially seeing their different styles back-to-back like that.  Clobberetta has a big bluff 'n' tough attitude; Nyx is more of a princess, letting her victim know just how gross it is that he's sweating on her while she squeezes him; and Orlandoe is simply insane!!!  But at least she knows it.

We started with Clobberetta's mixed domination video -- she grabbed an unsuspecting victim out of the hallway, tossed him on the mats, and proceeded to launch her comeback with a bang.  I LOVED watching the little guy try to crawl and scramble away as she stalked him across the mats, and when she shouted at him "I was looking for a fight, not a dog!" it was totally priceless. 



Nyx's domination of Diablo followed, and she showed she's a lady who can make scissoring a guy's head look classy and fashionable.  Next, onward to armwrestling -- this was where I got to make a brief visit to the mat.  Orlandoe and I carried our rivalry to yet another arena:  Arm Wrestling: VeVe vs Orlandoe.  I've already been notified that my form is terrible, but I do show off a lot of bicep.  And with corrections to my form (Who knew?  Probably everyone; I feel like a dolt), I may soon be ready to take the arm wrestling world by storm!

We moved next to a pair of specially commissioned tickle domination videos.  Poor Ben got to learn the true meaning of tickle torture as he was the requested victim for both clips.  In his bout with Orlandoe, that sneaky sadist AGAIN pullled a dirty trick to bind her victim's hands right at the top of the match, and after that no matter how much Ben squirmed and thrashed (and yipped, laughed, and gasped) she always managed to recapture his feet and continue tickling his soles.  Ben was looking for a break to catch his breath after that, but it was not to be!  Straight on to another round with Clobberetta, in which she repeatedly forced him into Indian deathlocks, pinning his arms behind his back and exposing his feet, and tickled away.

Our very last video was with Orlandoe, and I will repeat that she is crazy!  She also definitely has an issue with me -- she claimed that my wrestling domination videos are no good and that she could "out-domme" me.  To prove her point, she seized our cameraman, and if domination means choking and choking and choking your victim, I will admit she is damn good at it.  But better than me, I will not admit!  ...Actually, I am a big enough person to admit there is at least one department where Orlandoe is better than me -- I wish I had her legs.  Between the light and the shiny sweat and her nicely muscled capoeira legs, she looked awesome in this video.  But still psychotic!  She even told Diablo (while choking him) that she wished it was my neck she was squeezing.  I may need to be afraid.

That was the shoot! 

My other story is about last night's acting (scene study) class.  I'd previously done only a short practice scene and the beginning of a scene I had to abandon when my partner up and left on a three-week vacation in Brazil (and didn't take me with her, bitch).  This was my first "big" scene, and I was very excited for it because without performing you don't get critiques and feedback, and without that it might as well not be a class.  But after presenting, the only feedback I got was "wonderful, beautiful, great interpretation, great execution."  Now that's extremely nice, don't get me wrong, but damn it, I wanted to know how to make it better!  The scene felt *pretty good* to me, but certainly not perfect.

The really funny thing was that suddenly after I got this great review from the prof, other students I'd never even talked to before came up and started asking me for advice...but the thing they mostly asked about was how to be more comfortable wearing less clothing on stage!  The scene called for me to wear lingerie and attempt to seduce a reluctant man, so I suppose I put on a bit of a show there.  Somehow I don't think that "work out a whole lot and then practice doing sexy wrestling in front of a camera," is advice these ladies will be able to use.  (But who knows?!)  Last night gave me the feeling that domination wrestling is better preparation for acting than acting is for domination wrestling.  But quite likely that only applies to that scene.  I don't want to be cocky, and I DO want critiques.  Next week the Brazilian vacation partner returns, and we'll get to revive our daughter-fighting-with-mother scene.  We'll see how something different goes.

filming and travel galore!

Before I start talking about relevant wrestling stuff, I just have to do quick rant about the most obnoxious bus experience ever.

Though I've been warned time and again about Chinatown buses,  I've always defended them, and, in truth, I've never had a bad experience.   That is until this past Friday.  I was headed up to Albany, and when I arrived at the bus stop, the bus was there and waiting.  I was thrilled; this was unmatched punctuality!  But in fact, it turned out the bus was only there because it had flat-out skipped a stop before and planned to turn around, drive the wrong way through Manhattan rush-hour traffic, and only then turn around AGAIN and finally drive the right way.  I ended up grossly late to a session that I had deliberately scheduled with buffer time in case the bus was late!  I felt terrible - and also SO annoyed.

I have figured out what it is - Boston, D.C., the places with multiple Chinatown lines serving them - you'll be OK; competition is a lifesaver (or at least a huge timesaver) here.  Beware the Albanies!

OK, I feel better for having vented that.  Onto wrestling -


So much coming up!  We have a big six-person video shoot scheduled for tomorrow night.  Actually, I'm sure I'll have to write a ton more after this adventure goes down, but this is to set the stage.  We have coming:


Orlandoe -- who's been doing an awesome job as the nasty heel in some of my recent videos, but we feel the time has come for her to branch out, take on some new opponents, demolish some men, and move beyond this petty rivalry with me (before I totally kick her ass for that stunt she pulled in Bondage Wrestling Trickery!).  We're thinking pantyhose domination and forced arm-pit worship from her, and possibly some mixed competitive.


Clobberetta -- who is back on the wrestling mats after a brief hiatus.  She's going to be coming back with a bang; we have a competitive match with Nyx lined up for her -- she'll be facing a female opponent with more formal grappling training than she's got.  Clobs will still have the weight advantage but not as much of one as she's used to; Clobs is down to 270 these days, and Nyx weighs in at 190!  Afterwards some pinning, crushing, and facesitting of small men is lined up for Clobs.


Nyx -- a newcomer to wrestling videos but not to wrestling.  She's a student of BJJ, with some height and weight to back up her skills.  She'll be challenging Clobs as mentioned, but afterwards will also likely be joining in the wrestle-crushing of small men fun.  That should be great to see -- Nyx has quite a voluptuous and elegant look.


Our boys, Diablo & Ben -- Poor souls.  Both these guys have got wrestling chops in their own rights, but they're outnumbered 2 to 1, and in two cases heavily outweighed by their female predators -- I mean opponents.  Could be we'll see them pinned at the bottom of a pile of ALL these ladies by the end of the night, who knows?!


Me -- no telling where I'll be jumping into this crazy mix tomorrow!  I think there's been some call for a mixed singlet match?  Unless Orlandoe fields that request...  See, all the options are the trouble with having so many wrestlers for a shoot.  We actually put out a call for votes and match suggestions earlier today; there's still time to write in...


The other big item on the agenda is all the travel planning I've been doing lately.  Another instance of "there will be more to say AFTER the trips," but here at least is a listing of the travel announcements I've got to make.  In the next few months I'll be available for wrestling sessions (and of course video and photo shoots) here, here, and here:


March 30:  Nashville
April 14 & 15:  Parsippany, NJ
April 20 & 21:  Chicago
June 16 & 17:  Phoenix
Aug. 31 - Sept. 2:  Montreal


And that's not to say that's the only travel I'll be doing.  That's just what I've got scheduled so far!  Contact me to schedule a meet up in any of these cities.


Look out for the filming report on Wednesday!  And send match suggestions before 9 pm Tuesday!

the big day is nearly here...

It's less than a week until the NYC Wrestling Showcase, so you might think that all my energy would be focused on preparing for the big event, but that would just be too easy! Things have been fiendishly busy in my wrestling world of late, in all kinds of ways.

It was quite excellent to have Jenny Sjodin visit NYC over tha past week. We shot a competitive mixed video, Jenny vs. Jay, between her and one of my own favorite grappling rivals, and she and Amazon Annie got to mix it up pro-style in a match for Southern Belles, to be released at a later date. Right in the middle of her visit, Clobberetta and I left on our whirlwind session trip to Virginia Beach. So sadly, Jenny and the Doom Maidens didn't get a chance to train together, but we did manage to get together for delicious drinks and a lovely night out on Sunday after Clobs's and my return.

We've also been working here to get the newest Doom Maidens up and running with their wrestling careers. Just tonight we shot a debut video match between Orlandoe and Ivy -- very intense and *exhausting* action! It will available no later than tomorrow. [ETA: It's available now!] The ever-quarrelsome Clobberetta was also in attendance and also planning to fight tonight, but she was denied! Since her original plan to challenge Annie was foiled by some unfortunate illness on Annie's part, she intended to take on the smaller Orlandoe and Ivy both together after their match. But time ran out, and the 8 o'clock studio renters started knocking on our door. Clobs may need to take her frustration out on *everyone* at training tomorrow.

And of course in the midst of all this, I *have* been preparing for the Showcase. This is going to be such an awesome event with such a fabulous crew of wrestlers. I just drew up the full list and schedule of fights for the weekend a day ago, and *damn.* We've got Clobberetta, Annie, Sherry Stunns, Rachel Sinclair, Dominique Danger, Allana, and myself all fighting. My personal picks that I'm really excited to see are: Annie vs. Sherry -- because I know Annie is out for blood, looking for a "decisive win" in this one, and I wish Sherry all the luck in the world fending her off! Clobberetta vs. the Bulk in their super heavyweight grudge match. And Dominique vs. Allana in their clash of the bodybuilders.

Despite the excellence of the Showcase fights, with so much talent in town we couldn't stop at just seven matches, so we'll be shooting on Sunday too -- a very full weekend! Dominique and Clobberetta will be rumbling, and Mark, my best-ever video victim, will be returning to suffer torment from Sherry and a special, MMA-style beating from me! Among still other matches...

I myself have been having to train very smartly to be ready for my fights next weekend, and I'll have to redouble that this week. I'll be coming off an injury, and I'll be ready to fight and thrilled to get back in action, but this is definitely the most challenging situation I've faced since I've been wrestling.

I'll be going against Allana, Sherry, and Rachel at various points in the weekend, and at the Showcase itself I'll be facing Dominique Danger. I'm excited to get a chance to grapple with all these new ladies but definitely most worried about the Dominique match. This is a 200-lb, seriously strong bodybuilder, who can *move* and trains legitimately in BJJ. I've seen her in action before, and power is the word for it. Holy shit. This isn't any kind of warm up match. I'm going to have to be at my absolute best, and I plan to be.

Enough talk! Sleep, and early morning academy training tomorrow!

May, the good and the bad...

So June has been an interesting month for me... It started off with my breaking my foot a few weeks ago. Yes, it did happen grappling, and no it wasn't during competition or a session or training. Just messing around with a friend, wouldn't you know?

So that's really been a pain. I've not been able to keep off the foot nearly as much as I should since New York's such a walking city, and since the injury happened when I was travelling, I've had to go through a slow process to get a referral to a podiatrist close to home.

I'm really not used to being stuck with an injury I can't just tough out, and it's been driving me nuts to turn down matches lately -- sessions, videos with visiting wrestlers, rounds at the last Grapple Den. I've been worrying too about whether I would be recovered enough by June 5th to fight Xana at Monica's event in London -- after conferring with Monica just yesterday, we decided it's best if I don't make the trip. That's disappointing since I was really looking forward to that visit but also, actually, a relief. And the good news is that by playing it safe I'm 99.9% confident that I will be ready to go at the NYC Wrestling Showcase June 19th. (I'd better be; I'm scheduled to fight practically everyone!)

So here's the rest of the good news: I've been filling the time off my feet with some serious upper body work at the gym. It's always fun to make a new plan and set a challenging goal, whatever the circumstances. The goal here, volume! Oh so much lifting. Grueling but awesome. Hopefully, I'll have some good results to flaunt by showcase time.

And last but not at all least, some very exciting and unexpected news. Not one or two, but FOUR new ladies have come out to train with Doom Maidens in the past month! All looking to hone their grappling skills in preparation for video fighting and sessioning in the near future. (Perfect timing; these ladies can pick up the slack for me when I'm literally being lame - not that I'm planning on any more of these detestable injuries ever again!)

There's Clobberetta, a close friend and training partner of mine and a long-time regular and rough-houser at the Grapple Den, who's just about ready to make her official debut. She'll be taking on the Bulk in the coming showcase and also going public with her tremendous size and strength in the session world soon, where I know she's going to smother, crush, lift, and fight like no other.

And there's also Orlandoe, a capoeira expert with a Greco Roman background who's now also training to add submission grappling to her excellent and unique tool kit. She's a complete acrobat and a kicking phenomenon on her feet and a scrappy, whole-hearted warrior on the ground.

Two other ladies aren't quite ready to be introduced yet, so more about them later, but we did have everyone together at a rather epic training session lately. The new recruits teamed up with Amazon Annie and me...to the dismay of Hanz and the Bulk!