More chastity in the mainstream

Gizmodo, part of the Gawker media blogs, is a blog for tech geeks, generally featuring the latest in cool gadgets, electronics, and science news. If you’re not a regular reader, you might have missed this little item:

Metal Male Chastity Device, Only $15.52 Per Unit

The poor old Gizmodo tips hotline is besieged by spam. But occasionally it pays to read some of it…

They go on to explain that the spam offered up these devices for what amounts to less than $16 US. Considering that these devices — or at least, ones that look pretty similar — sell for about 15 times this amount, it sounds like a pretty good bargain.

Interestingly, this isn’t Gizmodo’s only post on the subject. Just about three years ago, they featured a very hot picture of the Latowski belt, although their description left a bit to be desired:

“We’re not sure what to say about this stainless steel male chastity belt other than the fact that we want zero part of that. There’s a hole in the front for your junk to go, as well as a hole in the back for the stinkier junk to drop out, and the whole thing is locked with a key you (hopefully) never lose. How long can this be worn? “The experiences of my customers are completely different. They range from weekend use to the continuous carrier.” At least it beats getting your muchachos cut off forever.”

It’s ironic that in the rare news items featuring male chastity devices, they are portrayed as anti-sex toys, or sometimes, as in the latter example, as de-masculinising. Indeed, even the comments on the original post range from horror, to amusement, to disgust. It would have been enheartening to see even one comment to the effect of “Hey, that’s pretty cool!”

That said, the shiny device on the red background looks like it was made from castoffs from a plumbing shop. For $16, it’s probably not made from stainless steel, and some of those edges don’t look very finished, so it’s probably a good thing that they did not send the reviewer an actual sample.

But even as a joke, it’s still nice to see these devices make their way — slowly — into the mainstream culture. Who knows, maybe we’ll discover that a character on some evening TV drama is wearing one, and from there, well, who knows?

HNT: Sunburn

Okay, okay; I’m sorry that I missed last week’s HNT.  I just didn’t have anything new,  and I was tired of posting pics of me in my biking gear.

The Edge family took a rare day off last weekend and we went to the beach.  I haven’t been to the ocean in a couple of years,  even though we live a half hour from several state beach parks.  All work and no play, I guess.

Anyway,  for those of you who don’t get to the beach very often,  here’s a reminder why you need sunscreen,  even on a cloudy day.

Hey, don’t just stand there; how about rubbing a little aloe on the sensitive spots? And afterwards, may even running a little on the sunburn, too.

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Want to get in on the HNT ego-stroking? Go check out the guidelines at Osbasso’s place!

Piercing Screams

Here’s an interesting item from Monday’s LA Times:

Most men with genital piercings don’t fit the usual stereotypes

Most men with genital piercings don’t fit into the usual stereotype of bikers, druggies or Goths, researchers said Monday. In fact, most who responded to a survey are nearly middle-aged, middle class married men, according to an online study performed by researchers from Texas Tech University.

Anybody that hangs out in the sex blog world could have told you that.

But what you might not have discovered is a bit more squicky:

Men report many reasons for piercings, including increased sexual satisfaction, a need for rebellion and a desire for risk-taking. But they also endure a variety of complications, particularly infections and bleeding. About a quarter of men report that they have to urinate sitting down because urine sprays in all directions through the piercings. Other reported complications have included priapism (uncomfortably sustained erections), bleeding after sex, gangrene and loss of jewelry in female partners.

Losing a ring or a stud inside your partner? Oh my. Not that I was considering a PA anyway, but geez…

Although I usually doubt the statistical validity of self-selected surveys, it’s interesting to see the results, posted in the British Journal of Medical Practitioners.

• Among those who responded, the average man was 31 years old, white, heterosexual, college educated and earned more than $36,000 per year.
• 89% identified themselves as Caucasians;
• 41% were married and another 20% lived with a significant other;
• 56% reported a salary of more than $45,000 per year;
• 28% said they had a strong religious faith;
• 82% said they were heterosexual;
• 87% said they didn’t use drugs;
• 74% said they had at least some college, and 20% had a graduate or doctoral degree.
• Many of the respondents said they had solicited advice from piercers and the Internet before obtaining their piercings.

I read through the BJMP report, and oddly, I did not find “Needed to use it with a chastity device” listed as one of the reasons.

HNT: New Shorts

Yeah, some of the few remaining readers I have wondered why I missed last week’s HNT. Sorry, I was on a family vacation (actually, it was an in-law family vacation – take that for what it’s worth). And while I had just gotten my new Android phone, I hadn’t quite figured out how to use all the features. Turns out that WordPress has an Android app, so I could have taken a nice shot and blogged it right from my phone, instead of trying to find a quiet corner with my laptop. Not that there were any quiet corners last week, what with the driving here and there, picking up last minute items for the wedding, and dodging all of the other in-laws that came into town for the occasion.

I’m still a bit upset that I actually gained a couple of pounds on vacation, but I’m not totally surprised. My in-laws don’t eat the same way that I do, and I’m sure they were only being hospitable when they stocked up on cookies, cakes, chips, etc. However, we were able to mitigate some of that; Mrs. Edge and I went to the store and bought a lot of healthier food, and one of their friends loaned me a mountain bike for the week. I rode about 50 or 60 miles during that time, and managed to get in some exercising at the hotel, so I guess things could have been worse. But for those of you who are interested, here I am, just before  leaving the hotel to bike 20 miles around the corn and soybean fields of Illinois.

So, anyway, here’s yet another shot of me in what promises to be a season-long series of exercise related photos. Oh, and since the shorts from last time were practically falling off of my ass, I had to go out and buy some smaller ones. This is me in a size 34, for the first time in <mumblety mumble> years.  No Photoshop needed, either!

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Want to join in the HNT ego stroking? Check out the guidelines at Osbasso’s place!