A Fair start to the Season

It's December, and the spirit of the season is upon us - well, by 'spirit' I mean that truly fantastic bottle of Jura 12-year old Elixir whisky that arrived on my doorstep last week - thank you, 'M'.  I suppose, however, that I should be referring to the season of goodwill and cheer that is Christmas... so I'd better get any long-standing gripes off my trouble-causing chest quickly.  But  more of that later.

For the first weekend of December I headed into beautiful North Yorkshire to visit Haworth.  I always try and visit the brilliant 1940's event at Haworth every Spring, but the lure of a 1940's vintage Christmas fair was too hard to resist.

Dexi - Haworth in December

 Haworth, of course, is lovely, and I was not surprised to see that the village had dressed itself up beautifully for the Christmas season.  The vintage fair was held in the lovely Old School Rooms next to the church.  All the day missed was a touch of snow, but then that can make the journey to and from Haworth rather 'interesting', so I wasn't complaining too much.

This weekend was a rather more rushed affair - Saturday brought the Heresy and Heelz Alternative and Burlesque Fair back to Manchester, so it was time to don my heavy leather coat and Natacha Marro boots against the cold and head off to Sound Control on Oxford Road.

Dexi - Heresy and Heelz Fair in Manchester

   Being a busy girl, this was the first that I'd acutally managed to attend since the Spring.  As always, it is a great opportunity to check out the displays by some of the talented artists around.  This time around my eye was caught by the brilliant artwork of Aly Fell.  Very dark and sensual paintings, with a totally decadent and perverted fairy-story quality, so right up my street, as they say.

The evening brought the final fling of Club Lash at Legends.  Before that, however, I will mention my ulcer-inducing gripe.  As an 'immigrant' to Manchester in 2001, I remember that one of the deciding factors in coming to the city was the vibrancy of it's independent spirit.  The first meeting of the official Vegetarian Society in 1847 and the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League in 1838, both held in Manchester, are classic examples of the city's unique stance against 'the establishment'.  So, I wonder, how can the city's Council be happy to give away chunks of Manchester and it's history to the highest bidder, as appears to be happening now.  Since arriving in Manchester, I have seen the loss of the Coliseum to make way for more city-centre apartments (like we need more of those, of course), the erosion of the independent-led Northern Quarter, the loss of Jilly's nightclub to make way for, of all things, a Tesco, and now the loss of the Legends nightclub and surrounding buildings for a budget hotel.  I cannot help but wonder how the council can defend it's position on selling the city's assests and history.  Legends has it's own place in music history, and to lose the venue for such an eye-wateringly ugly and unnecessary budget hotel is nothing short of shameful.  Once the council have removed any reason for people to want to a) live in the city centre or b) visit the city, what will they do with all the empty apartments and hotels?  What the city needs to rejuvenate iself is not another city-centre apartment block, chain supermarket, Next, Primark or (insert any of your chosen high-street regulars here).  More and more shop fronts are being boarded up, and yet at the same time we are losing more and more outlets for the independent small artists and manufacturers - but it is these people that Manchester should be relying on to create it's own counter-culture and draw in the people tired of being fed the usual chain-store tat and rubbish.

I haven't been a regular visitor to Club Lash for some time.  As a girl who remembers all too well the astonishingly hedonistic nights in the 1990's of Submission, Pleasurezone and The Gate, etc, where having full girl-on-girl sex on the dancefloor (oooh yes, I still remember one of those nights - she was a lovely Danish girl.. mmmmm!) was regarded as part of the evening's entertainment, many of the current fetish clubs are rather less outlandish and rather more toned down - (all down to the fear of SEX from the prudish and unliberated local authorities, of course, not the clubs themselves) - and so there isn't the same lure to attend for a girl like me.  Also, as someone who can get into trouble at fetish events, I don't always trust myself completely to behave appropriately.  However, as this was a last chance to say "Goodbye" to Lash at Legends, and also to Rosie Lugosi, one of the original founders (who, due to other commitments can no longer take part in running the event), I slid into my latex catsuit, and, as it's nearly Christmas, my Miss Santa robe, and revisited Club Lash.

Dexi - latex catsuit and Miss Santa Robe at Club Lash

  It was a great night, and some old friends who had disappeared to different parts of the country managed to turn up too to say their own farewells.  Sadly, the dancefloor was too crowded for some girl-on-girl sex, so I had to be content with a kiss and grope from a latex-clad beauty...

Dexi - latex lovelies at Club Lash

  Finally, to keep up-to-date, last weeks Picture Of The Week on my website was from the balmy days of Spring - taken, as per the title, on a client's bedroom balcony.  I certainly wouldn't be stood out there at this time of year with so little on!  This week's takes us back onto the streets of Manchester, in particular the Northern Quarter.  Coat and hat required here, of course, to add some layers to the high-heels and stockings!