All things come to...

Well, folks, this post is a bit of a sad one.

We're moving.

Yuppers...I've got all by ropes and gags all packed up in a bag, the computer is all packed nice and safe, and the Blog is moving to a new home...

http://tucsontiedblog.com/

The "Blogger" software here has had it's little glitches and bumps that frankly drive me IN-fucking-SANE...my "behind the scenes" folks have found me a new home to let my fingers do the typing. IMMENSLY better features and much, much more fun can be found at the new blog site...plus the new blog is linked directly to my main site, http://www.tucsontied.com/Entry/entry.html so it's a better thing all around. With the blog linked to directly from the site, it puts a bit of pressure on me to keep it updated, so no more long gaps between postings.

I shoot with a pretty model, I post on the blog...or I have egg on my face (lol)...simple as that.

This is more or less my last post here...come and visit at the new page, I think you'll be impressed...I know I was!

"Tolstoy" Tony

"Haters"

Posted this as a blog entry at another site...thought you all might like it. Please comment with your thoughts...

"Do You Have 'Haters' ?"

This got posed as a topic at the MM Forums, and tho I didn't respond, it did get me to thinking, so I thought I'd expand on it here, and maybe get myself to stop thinking about it, as I have a shoot today, and I need to stay focused (lol).

Do I have 'haters'? Oh, yah...most definitely. Why? Well, let's pick this apart a bit and see if we can get to the root of it all. First, let me put a name to what I do and then we'll break it apart from there...

I'm an Amateur "DiD" Bondage Photographer.

First: Amateur. This alone causes me grief...many is a day over at MM that some fool is calling for the eradication of amateurs from the site in a Forum topic..."ModelMayhem should only be for Professionals"...stuff like that. The ironic part for me is that most of the people who put up topics like that are usually amateurs themselves...just makes me wonder how they can be so intolerant. Everybody has to start somewhere...and we all should be willing to help each other start. My opinion. Sites like these should be open to all skill levels.

Next: "DiD". "Damsel In Distress" photography...shot to make the model look like the captive of some unknown baddie who's taken the heroine away for an unknown reason. The "unknowns", the fan of the material fills with his or her (yes, there are female fans of this type of material...I have the fanbase to prove it) own fantasy. This has caused some hating...the amateur nature of the photography lends itself to people placing their own level of thought on the pictures, depending on whether you love it or hate it. Comments tend to run from, "Great ropework!" to "Should we call the Police?" Like I always say, "It is what it is. You either love it or hate it."

Next: Bondage. Oh, BOY, does that one attract haters...lol. MM seems to have a "secret society" of members that despise bondage of any shape or form, artistic or DiD, and are very vocal in sharing said thought. According to them, I'm a dysfunctional human being with severe mental problems because of my love for the material. There's many an armchair psychologist on MM that's willing to give their opinion about it and tell us bondage folks that we're all sick puppies. Viva la sickness, then...I'd rather be sick than intolerant and so stuck to my own way of thinking that I can't expand and grow with new thoughts and ideas.

"Photographer". This one surprises me...but I do get some haters because I dare to call myself a "photographer". I guess my amateur status precludes me from being a "photographer", and I should call myself a "pitcher-taker", or some fool thing like that...

We're all gonna have "haters". Some people just need to be that way in order to exsist...the trick to it is to not let them take over your life and live it for them, or change what you are to be "better" for their sake alone. I'm an Amateur "DiD" Bondage Photographer, and damn proud of it. If you've got a problem with that, take it up with someone who actually gives a damn.

Geez, was that a blog or a rant? ;-) In any case, thanks for listening...catch ya next entry!

"Tolstoy" Tony, TucsonTied

Post from my Yahoo Group...

This post I made at my Yahoo Group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TucsonTied/) seems relevant for here too...

(This is the new Group Pic I mention in the post...)



Kind of a period of inactivity for me, gang...apologies. Kind of a mix of "behind the scenes" stuff happening, and "day job" drama happening...

"Behind the scenes": LOTTA shoot activity happening...but it's not all mine. I, as you know, shot with Pantera recently (and am planning to do so again very soon...have to call her before the night's out...lol); I hosted a couple of another producer's shoots with her (Chuck, The "Monk of Mayhem"...if you have aFetLife profile, he's uploaded a few shots of both shoots there...GREAT work!!), and Kimberly Marvel's in town! YAY!!!!! She'll be shooting with Chuck tomorrow night at my place (not me this trip out; I'll catch her next trip to Tucson). It's fun to host a shoot...just sit back and watch the magic happen...;-) Top it off; Dave is bringing in a new gal this Sunday and I'm assisting on that one. BUSY time to be a producer!

"Day Job": Well, good and bad. We've been given an updated dress code...no more F#$%KIN' NECKTIE!!! Woooooooooo-Hooooooooo!!! The downside, however, is that company-wide we all took a 5% pay cut because of the f-kin' economy. Dammit. I know...don't bitch, Tony...you HAVE a job...be thankful. I am...but it still hurts. I hope it doesn't make me any less of a person for waa-waaaaaa'ing aboutit....

New pic from my recent shoot with Pantera is up...that one's my current desktop wallpaper.

Got a question for you all...if I was to somehow offer up my pics on products(calendar, poster, etc) for some kind of a fee, would you be interested? Just curious...

5% poorer, but still wordy as hell (lol),
"Tolstoy" Tony

Pantera

Geez...had a shoot with Pantera and didn't tell you guys about it...BAD photographer...lol. Sorry, gang...what can I say? Life catches up with ya sometimes...

Well, anyway. Pantera and I shot very recently...and the results are stunning. I'm really starting to get a handle on the settings of my camera and starting to get some really great looking shots. Not to mention the lovliness that is Pantera making my job all the easier...if she even just shows up, I'm on my "A" game...the girl totally brings it out of me. We started out with a "sexy secretary" look...

Hot, huh? Like I said, that girl just brings the best outta me...it's amazing. =) Don't know what it is...but she does it well!

Next, we moved to some white rope bondage...I loved this outfit!! Once again, she provides some kick-ass waredrobe...

This shot says it all...those closed eyes just have "Oh, man...he really got it right this time..." written all over it, huh? Either that or, "Mmmmmmm...I'm so comfy I could nap right now..." (lol) One of my better bondages...I LOVE that shot! She makes working with her so damn easy...;-)

We finished off with a chair tie...sometimes I like to do a shot of the model freeing herself just for fun...check this one out:

Cute without being pretentious, no? You'll be seeing more of her soon...I've got a limited time-window where she's concerned. She's moving out East at the end of this month...have to get in as many shoots with her as I possibly can, so definitely look to see more Pantera here...=)

TW

Model Profile: Angel

For my sis...

Hello, bloggers! I like doing these "Model Tribute" blogs...lets you know that the women you see here on my page and on my site are more than just images on a webpage, but real people as well. This one's a little special to me...because of all the women that I've shot with, Angel holds the dearest spot in my heart...she's the most special to me of them all.

Let's see...where to begin? Might just as well start at the beginning...Angel was referred to me by another model. I had met Mercedes at a model networking site called ModelMayhem (you might have heard of it...), and she and I hit it off well, becoming friends. Mercedes knew a few people...one of them was Angel. "Oh, you HAVE to shoot with Angel," Mercedes would tell me, "She'd LOVE working with you, and you'd LOVE working with her!!" As hard as Mercedes was working to make it happen, one look at a particular pic and I was beyond hooked...



WOW...one look at that shot and I knew I wanted to work with this woman. Well, we set it all up and got it in motion...a small shoot to get to know each other better...knock out material, build trust and such.

I was floored. Cute, sweet, happy-go-lucky...and extremely easy to work with. The shoot went by fast...meaning that we had no problems at all...and just left me hungering for more. She was a first-timer to bondage, but you wouldn't have known it...I guess modeling can take you to many a strange place...this was just another one of them for her...lol. She did famously...and I had some great pics on my hands. I was feeling great!

Time passes. We don't see much of each other in person, but "friend" each other thru instant messaging. The next time we talk, it's thru an IM, and she's wondering if I'm ready to have her back yet. Not just yet...but I know somebody who might be, so I send her a message with the website address. I remember the line she sent me back once she looked at the site verbatim: "Nope...those girls look like they're in PAIN!!" The ironic part is, I now know that photographer personally (I didn't at the time...knew him just by his site)...she was talking about my ol' buddy, Dave Annis...lol.

My work with Angel debuts...to rave reviews. So much so that she gets work with an out of state photographer...which, unfortunately, doesn't happen. He had to cancel for some fool reason...we never found out why. While I'm hanging out with Mercedes at a pool hall, we see Angel a lot. Those were good times...they were both dating guys here and there (me, I just stayed static...I need to find a woman who'll put up with my little fetish; harder than you might think), we'd play pool, IM thru messenger...we all just became a part of each other's day to day lives. It was good...one of the better, most peaceful parts of my life.

My second shoot with Angel was also great...I knew I had a winner on my hands (or would that be, "in my clutches", all things considered...lol), and a good friend. She was even providing me with new models, which was fantastic. "Word Of Mouth" advertising is always the best...especially if it comes from someone who's worked with you before...and knows and backs your safety record. She trusted me enough now to do some lingerie and bondage work. I think Angel is most famous on TucsonTied for her lingerie work...



She talked right thru that red tape gag! Bless her ever-lovin' heart, she yakked with me the entire time I was shooting that set, and I understood every word of it (so much for the effectiveness of red tape...lol). I think she's the only one to date who's done that to me... By the way...check her eyes in that shot...we used to call that, "the stare"...so hot and seductive. When I tell a gal to "seduce the camera", that's the look I hope she fires off to me...so far Angel is the only one who has it down pat.

Angel and I didn't really begin to bond until it happened. OY, what a moment. I think I first found out while sitting online on my laptop in bed, passing time until I had to get up and head for the "vanilla" job. She made a post to her MySpace page about it...

She was pregnant.

"Stunned" doesn't even describe where I was when I read that. I knew she was seeing a new guy...I think I had even MET him...but this?! WOW. After I gathered myself, I wrote her...we probably spent the next half hour or so messaging back and forth thru MySpace, me doing my best to comfort my friend and probably fumbling over my words miserably. I'd like to think that my being there helped...I certainly hope so.

Over the weeks and months that pass, I'm keeping an extra close eye on Angel. She was a single mom-to-be on her own, and that would eventually mean that working wouldn't be possible. I knew she was going to need help...especially when she found out she was having TWINS...oy. Again, MySpace was the conduit where I found out the news...we had another long chat thru the site. I really, seriously, hope I was comforting to her...I was again so stunned, I didn't know what to say...I really hope talking with me helped.



I think this is the point where we started hanging out daily...the father of the twins was being less of a father and more of a "sperm donor" (you know the type), so I was doing everything I could. Company, shopping escort (nobody with a belly full of twins should be lifting gallons of milk, in my opinion...lol), going with her to doctor appointments, and just being a friend. Don't let me characterize her wrong...she had a full circle of friends who were looking after her too...I was just around every day; she was just that important to me.



Why, you might ask...fair question. Well...in all that hanging out together, we (and yes, I appreciate the irony in the term) bonded. Sometime during it all, she looked over at me, and for the first time labeled me, "brother". She told me I was as close to her as a brother. You talk about touched...lol. I was completely honored by that; it's something I still to this day hold in high esteem about myself. To become a lover is one thing, but to have someone take you into their life and make you a part of their FAMILY...incredible. I'd do anything for her...just in the same way I'd do anything for any member of my blood family. Like I say to all who ask...Angel is my sister in every way but blood.

Somewhere in here, I met and befriended another model. I'd hang out with either one or the other...funny enough, for the longest time, I couldn't get them together in the same place at the same time (lol). I thought they'd get along...but they were never in the same place long enough for me to test that. Eventually, we did manage to all get together; time would tell if it was for the better or the worse.....

The birth of the boys was a joyous time...even tho I was on "distract the father" duty...lol. He was a wreck, so Angel asked me to "occupy" the boy until she could get done what needed to be done. LOL...we wound up driving all around town looking for something to do until the boys were born...what a moment, one of the best in my life. Which, as life had it, happened to co-incide with a planned shoot. Man, what a rush that day was...at the hospital one minute, shooting bondage with Kordelia Devonshire the next...talk about extremes! At the end of it all, I completely f-king collapsed...but it was one of the most satisfying collapses that I've ever had. Even tho I had done some good work with Kordy, my mind was on Angel and those twins...and the smile on my face as I went to sleep was purely for the fact that I became an "Uncle" that day. I truly felt blessed.



The day we brought home the first of the boys was probably one of the best days of her life...I could see it on her. She was beaming with pride, smiling brighter than anyone I'd ever seen. Have to admit to some major smiling myself...it was the best.

Being an "Uncle" meant doing certain things when I visited to help out...making bottles, burping after feedings, babysitting while she made shopping trips...and yes, changing diapers. The big bad bondage rigger actually changed his "nephews" diapers...how about that one (lol)? And, quite naturally, I was a complete noob about it...geez, did I ever feel stupid when they told me about it...when I put on my first diaper, I put it on the boy BACKWARDS!! OY...lmao.

She kept me away from the messier diapers, doing those herself ("That wouldn't be fair," she'd tell me...thank God for fairness...lmao), but I can now say I have diaper experience. Again, a very happy time in my life...there's nothing quite like holding a baby, having that smiling little face look up at you with joy and twinkles of laughter in his eyes. Until, naturally, that particular nasty smell reaches your nose, letting you know it was time for a change of shorts...;-)

Sometime in here, the other model I mentioned had an event happen...the place where she had her "normal" job closed down. When she got behind on rent and wound up getting evicted, Angel took her in with no thought about it whatsoever. It was good that Angel did it, but looking back now, I wonder if it was the right thing. That gal took advantage of the both of us at every turn (Angel far more than me)... Ah, that's not an exactly pleasant part of this story...I don't like dwelling on it. Basically, I have a lot of guilt where that's concerned....I got them together, and a whole lot of crap came out of it. The only real good thing that came of it is that Angel and I firmly cemented our friendship during this period. I guess with her messing with both of us at every turn, naturally, Angel and I turned to each other to try to sort it all out...by product of which was us becoming even closer than we already were.



We talked about shooting again after the birth of the boys...as fate would have it, it never happened...our schedules never seemed to mesh. Hey...you've already got a 10 year old (now 11), then add two bouncing baby boys to the mix...time away from career and motherhood is suddenly a premium....I understood.

Our paths have taken different directions...she's moved to a different part of town, started a new and different life. We still talk at least once a week either thru e-mail or by phone. We're still providing each other that friendship that will probably last a lifetime...she's still extremely close to me even tho she's far away on the other side of Tucson. And she still provides me with a new face to shoot with every now and again...more now than again, actually (meaning quite a bit)...she still looks out for me in that respect. I miss her...miss hanging out at her place all day, eventually hitting the pool hall and getting slaughtered by her at pool (but winning a game or two in between...), but mostly, I miss giving her that hug at the end of the night before heading home. Such a sweetheart...such a wonderful woman.

I love you, sis.

TW

Shannon

Gonna be quiet for a change...nothing really word-worthy happened at this shoot...kinda routine. But the pics...OMG!! Like I said at one of my various online profiles...Shannon was so hot I burned myself several times just changing the ropework! Enjoy the pics...

TW

Shoe shopping...and shooting with Shannon today!

Had a strange but fun experience I thought I'd share with you all...I went shoe shopping. Nah...I won't be retiring that famous pair of sexy ankle strap sandals you see on a lot of my models anytime soon...I just wanted a little variety. Well...I happen to be a bit of a high heel lover (what guy isn't, really?) with a particular, and some would say damaging, love of the wedged heel. I don't know what it is...something about that style makes me a bit bonkers! Problem is...they aren't very "marketable" for site work...I'm very much a minority in this love, and I know it. Kimberly Marvel helped me purge this demon with some site work in wedge heels the last time I saw her, so when I went shoe shopping yesterday, I went with the "site mentality" purely in mind...sexy, high heeled, stiletto...and nothing with a wedge heel.

And damned if I didn't find nothing BUT wedge heels!

Who decided that wedgies were back in style and didn't tell me, huh? I'm a card carrying wedge heel nut, and have been for years...and now that I'm finally able to walk away for one shopping trip, somebody decides to bring them back? Maddening, let me tell you! ;-)

Seriously, tho...while it did seem like there was nothing but wedgies available, I think I did pretty good. I have three faves when it comes to heels...ankle straps, pumps, and mule slides...which were made mega-popular by Olivia Newton-John at the end of her movie, "Grease". Have a look...did I do good?



I think I did nicely...aren't those little suckers HOT? "Little"...lmao. When I was checking out at the store, the sales gal (who was a cutie...I was half-tempted to give her my business card), looked at the shoes, and with a pout on her face remarked, "I wish my feet were that small." Size 7...yuppers, they are small...and cute too!

Shannon will be wearing those bad girls for me in about 2 hours or so...we have a shoot today...my first for 2009. This should be fun...more after the shoot.

TW