22  Sitting one LAST one out

Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 09:28:24 -0700
From: Carlos Lima <amilsolrac@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Sitting one LAST one out

First I tried to make the originator of this born-threadbare thread realize
that he might be implying more than he thought he bargained himself into.
This, together with some simple arithmetic on his posting should be enough, I
thought, to discourage the continuation of the threat, I mean, thread; or at
least the most feared possibility: a long string of testimonials, maybe with
the ladies chiming in with pro and con dissertations.

Faced with utter failure, I am considering asking Sarah to come in with a
right-to-the-jugular shocker, a cut and stun special. Yeah, I think I will do
that.

Mientras tanto ... Some things, the least said about them, the better. (You
know, you start with heart and soul, pretty soon you are into real sleaze.)
But I will say a few, just to leave some room for improvement. This business
of "e" things happening in tango is another myth --- and this one is most
definitely not "made in BAs" --- I have to hand those guys points for not
shooting themselves on the ... foot. Ahm, moving right along, since these
things do not happen, there is no need for anyone to talk about them, and
teachers surely have never known of it first hand, either, so their advice is
vacuous. If a lady should imagine something of the sort, what she will do
with her mistake, or with the corresponding negative knowledge, is the usual
ladies' choice. But I want ladies to know the facts, and not admit the
slightest possibility of objectionable incidents happening in tango. For
those who may be disappointed by this, well, it is theoretically possible to
arrange for objectionable incidents. But they do not just happen, you know.

This is not NY in 1914. There are no lounge lizards in today's tango. All "e"
things, assuming there are any (I have no opinion on the matter), happen far
away from the pista. It is true that space is at a premium all over the urban
world. In a few cities (and I have been told that BAs may be a marginal
example) this strict separation of dancing floors and proper objectionable
incident locations (POILs) may be a struggle to maintain. Other than that,
the great majority of tango practitioners can afford a casa, and if
necessary, one or more casitas. In extremis, something like the movie set of
Psycho might be used.

I will also remind Mark that this idea of indirectly "reporting" on "e"
status has potential draw backs. First, since it is based on events well
known not to really happen, I dunno, people will say he is fantasizing.
Worse, he will have to keep up with it. It will become a terrible burden.
Then there may be (or not) whistle blowing. As to a future possibility of
making a lot of money with a different kind of confessional, like "No matter
how much I tangoed ..." --- well, Mark is not famous enough to parley "e"
status into a treasure chest.

I had no intention to write this, but Astrid commanded peremptorily that I do
it. I just do not want to contradict Astrid. I want you to know: she made me
do it. But I will not discuss underwear. I must draw the line somewhere.

Cheers,

PS (For Mark only) Do you know about alterations? No, no, I don't mean
that, I mean the tango nouveau things roughly like what used to be called
changes of direction (in Giros)? If the old recipe of running the cold tap
over the palm side of your wrists will not do, leading a continuous stream of
alterations will leave you happily exhausted --- physically and mentally.

Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 12:09:41 -0700
From: Mark Sussex <doktordogg@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Sitting one LAST one out

Carlos Lima's points about standards of decency on
mailing lists is well taken (if I'm understanding him
correctly). On the other hand, although the endless
debates on BA tourism and DJ'ing have been important
and lively, the landslide of responses I've received
in the last 2 days have made for much more interesting
reading, not least of which being his last 2 posts
whose hilarity was truly inspired (albeit by my own
unsophisticated plaints).

I don't know the step Carlos is referring to in his
post. Does anybody care to describe it? (I gotta
have a tango question in there somewhere!)

Mark