Hide and Seek

The Australians amongst us were complaining since time memorial that, with most events being aimed at Europe and the US, they had to be put on a coffee diet in order to attend one. The remark is justified of course, but I then returned the sally by explaining that Lady Bella and I weren't going to be caffeinated either , in order to organize an event in another timeslot. For a long time this ended in an unproductive stalemate and nothing happened.
But finally, with the arrival of more ladies akin to the Aussie timezone, boldness increased and a suggestion was made for an event. I was pleased to see that it was an original idea and not a "second session" of an event that already took place in the Atlantic timeslot. Not that that would have been a bad thing, but it is always best not to worry whether things are done "the right way".
And so the ladies Shashasha and Tania, with the staunch support and guidance of our maid Kington, embarked on a terra incognita, and found two gentlemen more than eager to join them.
The rules were simple : the ladies would hide on the premises of the Pearl and the gentlemen would strain themselves to find them. Once found, the lady had to shed a piece of her dress.
After that : rinse and repeat.
Because of its repetitive nature, I was a bit concerned that the partaking gentlemen would get bored, especially with Victorian dress code in the way of nature's glories. This did not turn out to be so, as evidenced by the substratum of cloth I discovered when I came in later that day. Learning that the entire exfoliation took place in less than an hour, until there was nothing more to shed, I had to conclude that both gentlemen -one hampered by a rubber duck , it seems- were enthusiasts indeed. In a moment of vicious glee I wanted to jumble up the wardrobe items and watch the ladies milling about, but it appeared that such a thing was unnecessary; the company had set up a nice illustration of the Erlang distribution (maybe Chi Square, didn't check too thoroughly). I don't know how the ladies managed, but the clothes were effectively reclaimed soon afterwards.
Judging from the empy bottles and broken glassware, the event was also sufficiently lubricated. it was a miracle, but none of the shards had the distinct red coloration that would suggest an unfortunate mishap, so i guess it is true that there is a special (and very sober) angel for the inebriated. I understood that Lady Pearl had the ladies lined up for questioning, as could be expected after a possible breach of the behaviour code, but a wisper in her ear set things soon to right.

Holland's Leager

The previous entry, though written from the top of my mind gave me a taste of history, so I decided to try my hand at it again, and at a similar subject. We are a brothel (yes, ok, a Gentlemen's Club AND brothel) , so why not write something about great Houses from the past ?
No such dissertation would be complete without "Holland's Leager". The House was acquired around 1600 by a woman calling herself "Donna Britannica Hollandia" (but also Dame Elizabeth Holland) , presumably because she wanted to advertise the fact that she was a Flemish Madame, i.e skilled at running a brothel. The lady was said to have been a beauty herself, and in possession of a "strong and imperious character". She was very protective of her girls and would not tolerate unruly behaviour.
The House, situated at the southern banks of London, was more than a mansion; it was nothing less than a fortified island, with ditches, a moat, a drawbridge , a portcullis and who knows what else. The woodcut shown supposedly is very near to the real thing. The house also seems to have boasted nice gardens, on the other hand, so once in, it must have been nice. Any visitors had to pass "Cerberus", the drawbridge guard, and pay an entry fee. If they misbehaved after entering the premises, they were summarily thrown into the ditch. Aside from that, visitors seem to have been treated with respect for their person and wishes.
Around 1631 the lease on the house seems to have been acquired by other persons, who subsequently tried to drive her out by manipulating a yearly event, basically a riot by the apprentices, hoping that the druken, unruly lot would destroy the house. Some damage was suffered, but the house still stood afterwards. After that they blackened the name of the establishment , resulting in the authorities sending in armed troops to arrest Dame Holland. It didn't end well for them. They were halfway the drawbridge, when Holland ordered its collapse, landing the hapless soldiers into the stinking moat, after which the girls pelted them with everything that came to hand, including chamberpots. The soldiers, watched from a distance by the gleeful southwark mob, subsequently tried several times to enter the house, but to no avail.
Eventually, the formidable lady had to submit to better organized assaults. Holland's fame was immortalized in song, as can be found at this spot (very nice music, by the way), where a soldier spends his possesions in his dallying with the girls. Another song's lyrics can be found here (where I also found the woodcut).

most of the information presented here is from
J.L. Simon's "A place for Pleasure",
J .A Browner's article in Essays in History vol 36, "Wrong Side of the River: London's disreputable South Bank in the sixteenth and seventeenth century" , see http://etext.virginia.edu/journals/EH/EH36/browner1.html
"The borough of Southwark manors " , see http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43043

Cybering

I have been cajoled for several weeks now by an unnamed gentleman, who seems bent on proving that women, heaven forbid, have feelings beyond the generally accepted romantic ones. His main concern seems to be that Lady Hagar's decision to take a vacation from escorting will be a lasting one. His argument being that the lady loves the work too much and wil return to normal soon enough.
It is not up to me to go into Lady Hagar's private life and her reasons for such a decision. Likewise, I wil not endeavor to sojourn into the dangerous waters of the lady's apetites and make predictions. It does make sense to ponder on the hart of the matter though. Do women in the Young Queen's days like the procreative act ?
Often, the opinion that they don't is illustrated with a quote, ostensibly from a lady that gave this as advice to her freshly married and frightened daughter : "lay back and think of England". Unfortunately, there is no diary, letter, book or article that can be named as source for this quote and the earliest evidence suggests general use -in mockery or earnest- after Victoria's reign. In addition, as can be evidenced from Hagar's republication of the original 1879 Pearl Magazine, it seems that at least some men accepted and expected women to favour the carnal activities.
Also, sexual morals were different from person to person and also throughout the century. The outspoken freedom of the regency period probably triggered a period of reticence afterwards, but the 19th century also had its roaring 60'ies, and the 90'ies were a period with conflicting ideas. The great discussions seemed to have revolved on masturbation (as eagerly described in all details as it was denounced, as it was supposed to cause a wide range of ills) and prostitution, which changed from acceptance as a fact of life to open persecution from the 1840's onwards. By the 1870'ies, the Social Purity movement succeeded in banning indecent theatrical displays, which says more about what went on before as the largest tract on the subject. In all this disease was the central argument, as intercourse itself seems to have been regarded as natural, as evidenced from diaries of the period.
Recently, some data was published (in Dutch, I'm afraid) on behaviour of women inside virtual worlds. 1093 women that frequented virtual worlds were questioned. 54% had flirted at least once, even though they had a steady RL relationship and most of them (64%) consider a virtual escapade as infidelity. Women often (50%) prefer to keep their affairs secret for their partner and apparently most men do not bother to check, as it is the women that delve into the histories of their partner's cell phones and browsers.

The Halloween Ball

It seems that I am cursed. I already get the more awkward visitors to entertain, a consequence of being one of the owners I guess. All the while the sane ones engage in other pursuits, obviously thinking I have too odd tastes. The punishement for my sins is also extended to inappropriate internet problems , however, leaving me high and dry at moments I least want it. This made me miss the start of our Halloween ball and, as I wasn't there to nag, this resulted in the Grand March being broomed quietly onder the grass carpet. By the time I finally made my entrance, visitors were too drunk by far to get them into a queue, so I made no further attempt to promote some Victorian culture. Alas, but not to worry. I will terrorize the participants of another ball.

Our lady Anske had prepared well, sprinkling otherwordly oddities all over the garden (and in the ballroom of the house as well) to promote the right ambience. I was glad the two conical house spirits were duly banned shortly after being let loose though, as they pestered me to no end in the days that preceded the event. Fortunately they put each visitor on a par, including the owner of the wretches, who subsequently sent them back to purgatory.

The gents I noticed came as vampire, inappropriate diver and mad scientist. The girls picked some variation of the Gothic girl , except for Anske , who opted for the demonic, fire wings and all. Myself, I picked the evil witch look, with scary wolf eyes, but later querying amongst the male portion of merrymakers revealed that this detail passed their notice , their eyes dwelling more in the depths of my neckline.
One of these gentlemen was thus engrossed in the subject, that he mumbled something about the beauty of my blue eyes when prompted to shift his weight of my foot, so I decided to reward his fish-eyeing with a more appropriate shape shift.

Lord H gracefully braved my dangerous mood afterwards and passed considerable time dancing with me (It was I who stepped on his foot). Lord S , as ever, showered his graces by dancing with as much girls as he could lay his hands on, hereby hampered by the costumes he had chosen. I assume that the brain we found afterwards was his (well, not his, but his property, I mean).

Lady Anske, in the mean time, had a meeting with Death, who turned out to like her too, fueling the jealousy of the other women present, who already think her charms are way too effective as they are, without her getting gifts from Death as well. It was suspected that the untimely disappearance of Lady Bella had been the original pursuit of Death, but the lady appeared later in full health and the subsequent deshabillement of the merrymakers proved that Death had too much live flesh to be the real thing.

The Grand March

Do not forget, ladies and gentlemen, tomorrow we have a pre-Halloween Ball at the premises of the Pearl. It will be a costumed ball, and the ladies will do their utmost best to look scary and sexy (yes , I know gentlemen, you prefer the last). I decided to go for the scary accent this year, so be aware of my entree. The faint of heart are best advised to grab a Lady and let her hold your hands. We expect nothing less from our admirors, by the way. Do not flout tradition and show up in "Peeled Banana" costume, or worse "Newbie in Freebie". Make an effort, scare the other gents so the ladies can offer appropriate solace.

As Victorian Balls go, SL is not well endowed, because the majority of the dances that are most commonly practiced at similar occasions, are in fact post Victorian and way to lewd for the tastes of the time. Even the majestic Walz was originally received as the 'Dirty Dancing' of the age, and only gradually accepted. Of course, we at the Pearl do not particularly mind being subjected to the horrors of a lascivious dance, even a futuristic one like the Tango, but it wouldn't hurt either to re-enact the decorum of our more restrained brethren. And , yes, I am extremely tempted to explain some of the grueling facts of the Walz to our esteemed, but demure sisters of Antiquity, hereby proving, as some have maintained, that I am quite a vicious person.

But I digress. Re-enacting the Victorian dances is difficult as SL does not have equivallents. With some tools, however we CAN enact the opening dance of a Victorian ball : the Grand March. Basically, it was all the couples at the ball walking up and down the ballroom. On the internet , one can find several schemes for the dance, proving that there was quite some diversity. Wich allows us the interpret this with some leeway and adapt it to our needs.

I took the liberty to make a brief choreografy for the Grand March, which is to be held in our Garden. The picture shows a top view of the garden and two landmarks, marked with A and B. These landmarks you will find on the dance schedules that follow after.
Three colours are used : orange represents the ladies, blue the gentlemen and Green is for couples
to form couples, you will use the couple ball rezzers that will be available at the appropriate places

the first figure starts at point A. We form couples and walk calmly (to allow other couples to mount their poseballs) to point B. There the couples split up and ladies and gents separate , walking in diffrenet directions around the garden. Both lines cross roughly at the dancing floor and end up and the lower corners, from where they march back to point A

The second figure also starts at A. Couples walk again towards point B, where every couple goes either left or right (1st left, 2nd right, etc..) . Roughly near the dancing floor, the couples split. The ladies cross the dance floor , the gents kep on walking the same direction

both meet at the lower corners , meaning that different couples must be formed here. These couples walk back to point A

The final figure, once more starting at A, has the couples walk a bit in the direction of point B, and then turn right, for a stroll over the docks. There is a hole in the fence that will allow to re-enter the garden grounds, from where you walk toward point B
Here ladies and gents separate and form two lines, facing each other.
Ladies and gents wait until the line has settled and then they greet each other formally
This is the end of the dance.
I am aware that this is quite simple, as the real Grand March had a whole list of figures, but I gathered that 3 will be enough for a start, and that we will probably end up in giggling confusion anyway.

Truth and Dare

I love games, especially games with a twist, and that twist is a problem. The average fun loving crowd at the Pearl is quite used to naughty merriment, but privacy is nevertheless an important prerequisite. Group fun, while discussed with blushing cheeks and twinkling eyes, is something that has been rarely embarked upon. Yes, we do have events and there is always a saucy element, but never more than that.So, after having tried an impromptu "Truth or Dare" a few weeks ago, I was wondering if we could concoct a naughtier version of the game, not only with spiced up missions delt to the participants, but with an element of punishment for missions refused or botched.
Realizing that events are notoriously difficult to organize -people liking the freedom of movement in time and space SL offers, and thus resenting such barbaric constrictions such as a set date and time- I prepared myself for a quiet evening with a friend or two. I neverteless prepared a list of truths and dares that could pass muster for a first tryout, as even with friends one needs some passtime, preferably on topic.
Those who were present know what happened.
I was busy setting up the inimate Seduction skybox for the occasion, when Kington whistled through the speaking tube. I couldn't quite understand what was said with all the background noise, but I could discern a frantic note in her voice that seemed to suggest some urgency. A quick look out the window told me that a relocation was in order; at least 15 people were waiting, all looking upwards attentively. While Lady Bella coordinated the swift delivery of more sitting couches, I wrestled with the notion of hosting the first event at the Pearl that attracted more than 15 people (with exception maybe of the first edition of the Pearl Regatta).
Not having anticipated this, the unwinding of the event left a bit to be desired, but if any lessons were to be drawn from the experience, first and foremost among them was that naughtyness was in demand. I also suspect that part of the crowd showed up in the hope to hear juicy confessions kindred to the Dare I pulled at the precious T&D edition, and which involved feverish adventures with a mister J.
Three complaints were filed: a) Hagar didn't pull the right dares and Truths b) it took ages before everyone had its turn, and some participants fussed and dithered c) contemporary female fashion urgently needs to evolve to less components and a greater proneness to accidental breaking of buttons and hooks.
To those that were present : feel free to react to this article and give your opninion on how we could improve the next edition of this event. Thanks in advance for your positive criticism

We were slacking in updates on these pages, I know. The inevitable summer recess, many ladies and gents on vacation, the drop in traffic .. It should have been an invitation to spend the free time in the composition of new and provoking pieces of literature, but it was not meant to be. That doesn't mean nothing happened.

For those who did not keep visiting us loyally during those days , we may be persuaded to forgive you, on condition that you have returned into the bosom of our Sorority. If you did not, I can only repeat the words of one of our Ladies , whose name I shall not mention, "I will pelt them with my shoes. Don't wear the things anyway"'. To any of you who care to read these pages I will summarize some of the news of the past two months.

The Sorority itself was not at a standstill; ladies left and ladies came and one has the impression at times that staff has been completely replenished. We have not kept up at publishing the profiles of the newer ladies, the omission of which is entirely my responsability. I beg for forgiveness for this lapse, and I can only offer the weak defense that publishing seemed to be jinxed : many who appeared on these pages promptly disappeared within a few weeks. I will offer recompense for the oversight by now and then picking a new lady (preferably one who has shown the stabiloity to stay a few weeks) an interview. I know that Lady Luna used to "interview", but rest assured, you will not have to use this as a pretext to pick up your skirts and run when I produce pen and paper in your vicinity

The Ladies Hagar and Bella suffered mild bouts of hysteria, each time the reigning sim owner sold the sim in which the Grand House resides. Yes, our sim was sold two times in just a few weeks, and each time the sale was unanounced. As a result the sim is now called Invernaver, instead of Pamlico Sound, and the cosy collection of sailing sims of which it was a part is completely desintegrated. Today you can only sail in our sim, and we can no longer organize a Regatta. That is, not in our sim. We will have a Regatta again, be it in another location. Lady bella was quoted to have said "I want to dethrone the vixen and wipe that condescending smile of her demeanor" by which she might have been referring to the fact that Lady Hagar and Lord S won the two editions of the Pearl Regatta.

Lady Hagar's bout of restlessness (she was rumoured to have been running around in american native outfit for some reason) had its positive side efects : several games were added on the grounds : a chess board in the garden, a sheet shooting piste at the docks and a pool table in the upper parlour. All these games are playable and especially the skeet is very popular. We added a 7seas fishing spot at the docks too, but that's ..uh... for the people amongst us with a collecting disposition.

Lady Bella will now give regular fencing lessons on monday. Not only does she want to groom ladies and interested gents to form a fencing team and inspire fear in the harts of our opponents, but both she and Lady Hagar have given in to their overheated fantasy to organize n ... adapted... version of the En garde fencing match. More details will folow later.

I will leave it at that, for the time being, although not all has been related. But I need material for later publication, untiul Lady hagar can be persuaded to come down from the roof and start writing again. Do take a look at the Pearl Agenda, though. It's back from the dead and we already planned several events.