Remembering the Millenniums (2000&2001)

The first decade of the 21st Century is drawing to a close. 10 years ago the world waited with anticipation for the year 2000. Some with hope, some with dread. Many thought the world would end either by God’s doing or by faulty computers. Remember Y2K? Anyway 2000 came and went as did 2001 for those crusty pedantic people who maintain 2001 was the real first year of the millennium – though all the big soiree were scheduled on New Year’s Eve 1999 (as Prince would have wanted it).

Where were you when the new Millennium dawned? Were you partying it up like there would be no tomorrow as some prophesied or were you at home cleaning the guns waiting for the Apocalypse of civilization?

I was at a New Age Concert thrown at the Pyramids of Giza.
Millennium at the Pyramids

For the 2001 New Years, I was working at a country&western club in Austin, Texas getting my lip chewed on by some tasty fillies.

Post your comments or video responses on your memories of what you were doing when the Millennium(s) dawned.

An account of my 2001 New Years’ experience and my disappointment of not having a hover car.

I threw a bone up into the air, and it still came down a bone

Well the New Year has dawned and still no Apocalypse.
Damn, I was so looking forward to rioting and looting!
I finally had to cancel my subscription to the “Y2K
Survival” Magazine. 

It’s 2001. Where the hell is my hovercar? Wow, hey,
guess all those past predictions about this year have
become pretty disappointing. No moon bases, hover
cars, ray guns, alien invaders, flashy futuristic jump
suits, black monoliths, or world peace (ha! we were so
naive back then). 

[NOTE: I had no idea how bad things were going to get 9 months down the road that year]

I worked security at Dallas, a country/western club
my uncle manages in Austin, TX. I wore a white tux
shirt with a black bow tie, cowboy boots and a black
cowboy hat (and trousers of course). I looked more
like a stripper at Chippendale’s than club security.

It was my job to check IDs and walk around breaking up
any fights. As these Texans tend to be rather big and
my karate a bit rusty, my plan was if a fight broke
out let them beat each other senseless then go over
and kick them in the balls. Granted, it wasn’t much of
a plan but at least I had one.

I drank too many cheap champagne toasts when the New
Year struck so I was buzzing when they put me back on
the door. I tried hiding this but it was hard when new
arrivals showed up and I greeted them with a “What the
hell do you want?” instead of “Hi! Welcome to Dallas
etc…”

Some inebriated young filly gave me a New Year’s kiss
that practically turned into a New Year’s mauling. She
damn near chewed my bottom lip off then tried to
convinced me that I liked it. She couldn’t possibly
have known that I had given S&M up as my New Year’s
Resolution.

She later staggered out of the club with the
assistance of her friends and to assure us at the door
everything was under control she said: “It’s ok, I’m
the designated driver.” Ah, my lips still bleed when I
think of her!

I left Austin Jan 4 heading back to Tennessee. The
miles clicked slowly past as the gene pool drew
steadily shallower while I drove through Louisiana,
Mississippi, and Alabama. Near the Alabama/Mississippi
border around 2 am, I came to the conclusion that
admiring deer while driving was hazardous especially
when they are standing in the middle of the freeway
and you’re doing 75 miles per hour. In trying to avoid
God’s simple yet stupid creature, my car swerved left
and right then completely around. (A Hovercar would
have been helpful at this point) I was now continuing
on my journey which was fine except I was going
backwards at 70-75 m.p.h. In this harrowing near death
experience the only lofty soul-searching thought that
ran through my head at the time was: “Well, this isn’t
good.”

My car must have had the same thought because it went
off the road and crashed into the woods. I actually
was able to drive off minutes later. My driver’s side
mirror had been sheared off but the rest of the car
was fine except for the mashed up front end but that
was from an earlier encounter with an inbred that
couldn’t read Stop signs.

Damn flea-ridden beast! To think I once cried when
they shot Bambi’s mother. Now I wish I had pulled the
trigger myself!

As no one was around when it happened, had I been
forced to shuffle off this mortal coil no one would
have ever known what had happened. If ever I do pass
the way of all flesh in a similar manner you know the
deer are behind my vehicular demise and I hope some of
you will wreck unholy vengeance upon their misbegotten
tasty hides in my name.

At least I lived to tell the tale. For a bit I was
wondering if perhaps I was dead living out some
bizarre Jacob Ladder-like pre-Afterlife until I pulled
over at a truck stop at the next exit. The singing
fish display, the bumper stickers that said “My other
car is also a piece of shit”, and the mud flaps with
naked women silhouettes reassured me I was still in
the land of the living. No self-respecting Afterlife
Limbo dimension would display such vulgar items and
even Hell wouldn’t be so tacky.

I hope no one else had such a close shave from the
Reaper’s scythe.

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Sexy Japanese Belly Dancers

jud Wa – Sexy Japanese Belly Dancing Duo
The Far East Meets The Middle East

jud Wa: Japanese Belly Dancing Duo performing on Sado Island

Belly Dancing: the word conjures up in the mind’s eye exotic desert locations where beautiful women in silken robes dance sensuously either in opulent palace harems for the pleasure of sultans or in luxurious, enormous tents of nomadic desert chieftains. In modern times, belly dancing has spread across the globe finding adherents everywhere including Japan.

Modern belly dancing is a mish-mash of original folkloric elements, strong stereotype images, and modern pop culture additions. Some groups hold to the traditional ways while others use a variety of forms.

Aco has been doing Belly Dancing for 6 years

Belly dancing was introduced to the West from Turkey and Egypt. Heavily-laden with misconceptions and lingering Victorian repressive prudishness, the old Western view of belly dancing was one of heathen hedonism that was at the same time exotic, repelling, alluring, sensual, and morally damnable. One form of belly dancing which evolved (or de-evolved) from the Vaudeville days of entertainment became burlesque dancing which later became full on stripping. Even today some uninformed people still associate belly dancing with stripping.

K has studied Belly Dancing in Turkey and Egypt

Like many Americans, my image of belly dancing had been firmly entrenched in my brain by old episodes of “I dream of Jeanii” and the like. The silken robes and tassels, the coin-bras/belts, the navel jewels ? much of these were actually products of Hollywood imagination. In addition, despite the impression given by the Silver Screen, belly dancing was not a seductive dance used in order to entice the sultan and win from him favors and attention. Belly dancing was often performed at celebrations such as weddings or it was done privately in small groups with members of the same sex as a way of passing the time.

I first saw live belly dancing performed at night clubs in Cairo several years ago when I was living there. A few of the belly dancers that I saw were Russians and were rather new to the dance. This was obvious when their male patrons would come up and dance around them often doing the dance better than the girl. In fact, belly dancing has not always been exclusively for females. There have been male dancers as well both in the modern times and in the past.

Although Japan has many of its own native dance styles from formal geisha dances to traditional folk dances, the appeal of foreign dance has always been strong from hip hop to flamenco to belly dancing.

I encountered a Japanese belly dancing duo recently during a taiko drum festival on Sado Island in northwestern Japan. They call themselves by the Hindu name “jud Wa” which means “twins” due to the similarity of their appearance. Their stage names are K and Aco. jud Wa is currently based in Tokyo and perform there regularly.

Aco playing the sagat: Egyptian finger cymbals

They use a variety of forms in their performances. K balances a sword on her head and Aco uses the sagat — Egyptian finger cymbals. At night they dance with fire. Fire dancing is another addition to modern belly dancing that many audiences have come to expect. On Sado, they were accompanied by another Japanese-based belly dancing group named gKazoku h which had both a male and female belly dancer. The male dancer performed in the evening while Aco and K rhythmically waved fiery torches.

Both of the girls have studied belly dancing close to five years. They have visited Egypt to study the techniques of dancers there. K has also traveled to Turkey. When I asked them why they liked belly dancing, their first response was: “It’s sexy!” I couldn’t argue with them on that point.

Their choice of using a Hindu name for their group is interesting one because it coincides with one of the origin theories of belly dancing. One theory is that belly dancing was part of the native dance of the Roma people or gypsies whose roots go back to India. Supposedly they picked up other dance styles from the lands they had traveled through and incorporated them into their dance.

The popularity of sword-balancing in Western Belly Dancing was sparked by a painting from French Orientalist Jean-Leone Gerome

Other origin theories say belly dancing came from the birthing rituals of Northern Africa designed to ease the child birthing process. Some theories trace the origins of the dance all the way back to Ancient Egypt. The fact is many countries from India to Middle Eastern and African countries had similar native dance styles that over the centuries have been melded into a variety of belly dancing styles.

jud Wa also plays with fire

Let the experts dither over the details, though. Belly dancing is a fascinating and exciting form of entertainment and not a thing to miss wherever it is performed — but leave your misconceptions behind.