Diana the Valkyrie's Newsletter - June 2000
A hard man is good to beat
May. The bluebells are rioting in their corner of the garden, rivalled only by the cherry blossom. The trees have their petticoats on, and are busily getting dressed for summer again. Down on the lawn, the male pigeons are boasting to the females.
Galleries added this month.
One unusual gallery came from Ringriot.
They go on-location to real-life "fight clubs," nightclubs that occasionally feature real-live fighting, open to anyone who wants to play. The fights take place in a ring, with a referee. When the girls fight, it is often a two-on-two tag-team match.
These are AMATEURS, and most often are girls who have never fought before. The fighting is wild, unrehearsed, and primitive. The fighters are wearing whatever they happened to wear to the club that night.
Heck's excellent Brenhya series earned him a Bookshelf, and so did Supreme's stories about mature musclewomen.
Stories added this month.
Movies added this month.
Mary has been very poorly recently, I'm so glad that Vanessa is carrying the NewsThumbs load now, with Mary as a backup in case of severe problems. Unless Mary bucks up a bit, she's going to get surgery, which isn't as bad as it sounds, it means I'll take out the parts which are failing, and put in shiny new replacements.
I've also started to think about giving Joan a bigger hamster.
We're getting about 40,000 pictures per month on the NewsThumbs. And even more if you look at the 30,000 Newsgroups
The first time someone said to me "sup?" I didn't know what he meant. Then someone explained to me that it was short for "What's up?", so I started to explain this it's the direction above you. Then someone explained to me that what it actually means, is "What's New" or "What's hot?"
We've had a What's New on the web site for a long time. This is created every night by Corinne (who checks the file dates on all the Galleries) and by Sandra (who checks the file dates on all the stories and movies). They create the "Last month", "Last week" and "Last couple of days" lists. On a web site as big as this one, that's not a luxury, it's a necessity.
But the other question is "What's Hot". This is answered by the Top Twenty list, which tells you the top twenty stories, the top twenty Galleries, and the top twenty movies. And if you're an author or an artist, you'll be very pleased when you're in the top twenty. If you're not one of the web site Contributor Members, then you'll find out what other people are looking at.
Never interfere with massively muscular Kasie while she's shopping for fruit. Chuck, a self-appointed fruit expert intrudes his unsolicited advice on her. He's also too vocal about Kasie's firm melons. Kasie knows his intentions and challenges Chuck to a fruit squeezing exhibition at her place. If Kasie wins then Chuck must submit to a special physical match with her. Kasie starts by crushing fruit with her biceps, calves & pecs..with the final squeeze of a watermelon between her thighs. As the fruit juices run down Kasie's body. Chuck is stuck!! Kasie drags him into her special room lined with mats. She easily conquers Chuck & grinds him down into the mat. Kasie's huge bicep wraps around his neck & squeezes like it's a tomato. Kasie taunts him & applies the special "melon smother!" Kasie continues to mash, crush & squeeze Chuck into a pile of pulp.She deviously smiles as she subjects her prey to squeezing Chucks raw banana!! Should we say the "Banana Squeeze!" Would you like Kasie to squeeze your raw banana??
Well, I haven't seen it, but all this talk of fruit is making me feel ... hungry. You can buy the video in the Shopping Mall.
We've also got Elena Sieple's first posing and flexing video, with some armwrestling at the end. This lovely girl; sexy, feminine and with muscles bigger than a man, you've got to see her to believe. Go find her in the Diana the Valkyrie Video shop, in the Shopping Mall.
The printing press made books cheaper. That's all it did. But the outcome of making books cheaper, was an explosion of new books, literacy and learning. We're still working through the consequences; when the price of a book falls from one year's wages to one dollar, there are big, big results.
The internet does the same thing again. If you wanted to publish a book, you'd have to make and sell a few thousand copies to be economic, an investment of several thousand dollars. And radio and TV is even worse, the audiences need to be in the hundreds of thousands for a channel to be economic. But with the internet, you can publish whatever you want, and the start-up costs are nil.
And the internet is world-wide. A concert hall can only exist in a substantial city, because the percentage of people who would use a concert hall is small. So it can only exist in a large centre of population.
The low cost, and global catchment area of the internet makes it possible for people with minority interests to contact each other, even to form communities. If your interest is Etruscan vases, AltaVista reveals 1330 web sites you can visit. Interested in Etruscan vases around the year 500BC? I found eight web sites, and if you go to them and follow their links, you'll find more. If you're passionately interested in Etruscan vases 500BC, you could set up the definitive web site and bring together all the other folks around the world (maybe someone already did). They'll find you. You'll talk with them about your favourite subject. You'll all have a great time, because none of you ever found anyone else who was passionately interested in Etruscan vases 500BC.
The first thing that people do when they get on the net, is look for the porn. And they are very frequently disappointed. Yes, there's porn, but once you've seen one gynaecological study, you've seen them all. Pretty soon, people lose interest in the stuff that's presented in the name of "porn" on the net, and discover the search engines. And then they can go look for the stuff that they *really* want. Which might be 500BC Etruscan vases, it might be steam locomotives, or it might be Valkyries.
It's a minority interest. But this is the internet, the ideal place for minority interests. I'd guess there's more interest in Valkyries than in Etruscan vases, because there's no sex-and-violence in Etruscan vases. Well, not much, anyway.
Sex-and-violence is one of the great human fascinations. Look at your TV, rent some videos. Go to your local bookshop. Maybe 80% of the books there are to do with sex (usually called "Romance") and 20% to do with violence (usually called "action" or "adventure"). A huge bunch of books have both. Read Shakespeare - sex-and-violence. Read the bible. Sex and violence is the common currency of story-telling, because that's what people want.
So is it surprising that there's hundreds of fighting-women and muscle-women sites on the net? Not to me it isn't. The internet is the place for minority interests, and sex-and-violence isn't particularly a minority interest.
One of the things that people frequently say to me (either on the Message Boards or in my chat room) is "I thought I was the only one with this interest". That's because a preference for strong women is not as common as a preference for blondes, for example. And because it's not so common, it doesn't get discussed in pubs and bars. And people are delighted to discover that They Are Not Alone. There's other people with the same interests, and you can discuss the relative merits of Kim Chizevsky vs Vicky Gates without someone calling you names for being interested in female bodybuilders. Or the problem of drug-taking in the sport. Or the question of how judging should be done. Or what it's like to wrestle Gaby Hames.
And, of course, the interest is universal. People live in different cultures, but the fundamental human needs are the same. So the web site gets half a million hits per day, from all over the world. Wherever there are folks, there's an internet connection, and there are folks interested in sex and violence, and some of those are attracted to strong women.
So, on my web site, a community has formed. People from all races, creeds and cultures have come together with a common interest, and they meet and talk (including in-the-flesh get-togethers) about all the things that people everywhere talk about, plus about their common interest. And we discuss the cultural similarities and differences between the people living in different cultures, which is very interesting. And people from outside a culture can sometimes throw light on something that people within the culture can't see.
My web site is possibly the largest and most comprehensive, but there's hundreds, possibly thousands, of related sites. Some are "shrine" sites, where someone has made a web site devoted to his favourite bodybuilder or fighter. Some have other specialisations, such as fine photography, or Martial Arts. I could try to list these sites for you, but that would really just be trying to duplicate my list of links at http://www.TheValkyrie.com/links.html
What sort of people are interested in Valkyries? Well, they're either married or not, have children or not, are male or female, over 40 or under, and live in the UK or in foreign countries. The same sorts of people who are interested in Etruscan vases 500BC or steam locomotives, actually. And I know that at least one of them is also interested in steam, because he came back from America with some photographs that he'd taken at an event, and as I was processing them, there were some very fine steam locomotives amongst them. So I put those on the web site too, I also appreciate a fine steam locomotive. All that power contained for such a noble purpose. It's almost sex and violence again.
Why (people ask me sometimes) do some men find strong women attractive? I have a better question. Why do some men find weakness attractive? The purpose of sex is to have babies. The purpose of reproduction is to continue the species. Evolutionary forces mean that those best fitted to survive, will have more offspring who survive to reproduce, and so evolution means that those who are best fitted to survive, will have the most children. You'd expect that, after you strip off the cultural overlays and get down to the basic human urges, that a stronger mate would be more attractive, as being more likely to result in more babies surviving. The descendants of those people who preferred mates who are less able to reproduce, would have been crowded out by the descendants of those who are better able to reproduce and get their babies up to the age of maturity.
Clearly, a stronger woman is going to be better able to have strong babies, and better able to look after them till they're adults. And so, you'd expect that men would be more attracted to strong women. So there's no mystery there. Now explain to me why some men find weak women attractive?
A long time ago, if you had some "meat on your bones" then you would be more likely to survive a long hard winter, better able to feed your babies. Today, this isn't usually an issue; we can store food in other ways, keep warm by burning wood, and feed babies with artificial feeds. But after millions of years of sexual selection, it isn't surprising that there's still some who don't go for the "waif" look.
Of course, civilisation and culture overlay this. Cultural preferences can be for men and women to be more or less hairy, to wear particular clothes, to have a particular shape, or a particular coloration. But while these cultural differences change with time and geography, the basic human desires were formed millions of years ago, and won't change every time the fashions change.
And if you're interested in Valkyries, the internet is the place to go.
Maybe you already knew about this, but you might stop buying CDs and listening to radios stations that play adverts every few minutes. And it's high quality, and it's legal.
If you've visited Listen with Diana the Valkyrie then you'll have seen that audio can now be compressed and delivered over the internet, using RealAudio, or MP3 formats. You can get a Real Audio player free, and (assuming you have a sound card and speakers), you're all set. I got a good pair of speakers for this, if you just have a tiny pair, then the quality will be greatly degraded by them. You might pay $40 for a high quality pair.
You can get pretty much any kind of music you want. I've been prowling around the MP3 site, but I'm sure there's lots of other good ones. And the music quality is good.
So how come it's free? Because the fact is, people like to make music. And if you've made music, you want people to hear it. It's icing on the cake if the applause has a financial element. The internet gives a chance to composers and performers you've never heard of. If you eliminate the music publishing industry, and bring music makers together with music listeners, then the cost of distributing music drops dramatically. One guy with a piano and a sound recorder can play an hour of ragtime in ... well in about an hour. Then he digitises is, uploads it, and everyone else can enjoy his playing.
I like ragtime, but the same thing applies to every type of music. You can get a whole bunch of the Scott Joplin classic rags, performed by people you might not have heard of, for your pleasure (and often there is a CD Rom they made, which you can buy for a few dollars). And there's original compositions by people you haven't heard of, and they tend to be very good. You can play the music direct off the internet, or you can download things to your hard disk and play selections from that at any time, by dragging a group of them to your RealPlayer and dropping them into place.
They also have this idea called "stations". People have collected a group of pieces together, and when you play a "station", then you're playing someone's favourite selection. This is a great way to play a bunch of the kind of music you like, without having to search for each piece.
Here's one of my favourites, Nola (for fast connections) Or in lower quality, Nola
And here's Sue Keller, or in lower quality, Sue Keller.
Or maybe you'll continue to buy CDs, because the artists don't put *all* their music up for free download. I just bought a dozen CDs from MP3.com, at $5 each they're a real bargain (and I've already listened to many of the tracks, so I know what I'm buying). They arrived just seven days after I ordered them, not bad for a trip of several thousand miles. I'm a Sue Keller fan now! Definitely a Valkyrie, and recommended listening.
You may remember that I recently got "Goddess of the Month" for the second time, from the Goddess Boss web site.
I've just won another award, from the Fitness Trainers Marketing Association. Here's the letter the Fitness Trainers Marketing Association sent me:
Dear Mrs. Valkyrie:
The Fitness Trainers Marketing Association would like to commend you on your online presence, and your commitment to encouraging the public to engage in a fit and healthy lifestyle. We have reviewed your site and believe that your online contribution to the field of bodybuilding will prove to be a valuable asset to the online community.
To show our appreciation for your contribution in the fitness and nutrition industry, the Fitness Trainers Marketing Association, would like to award your site the TMA Outstanding Fitness Site Award.
If you would like to display this award on your site, you may paste the following code onto your page.
Congratulations on your online achievement, and once again, thank you for your contribution to fitness.
Well, isn't that nice of the Fitness Trainers Marketing Association! And I have to say, amongst all the things I get called (including "Diane", "Di" and "Mighty Valkyrie"), the Fitness Trainers Marketing Association have found a new one, "Mrs. Valkyrie". So, many thanks to the Fitness Trainers Marketing Association, and my best wishes in marketing your own web site.
We currently have six running; Nicole Bass, Andrulla Blanchette, Sheila Burgess, Christine Envall, Sarah Dunlap and Marilyn Perret.
INTERVIEW with ANDRULLA BLANCHETTE -- while her Biceps flex on posters across London
By Wessex Man
LONDON, June 1st - Andrulla Blanchette has become Britain's most rampantly muscled female bodybuilder and, at 33, one of the world's most perceptive and experienced champions of the sport.
Right now her glamorous image, clad in tight pink satin bodice, is plastered on walls and billboards across London. She's promoting a new broadcasting channel (Kiss100) and flexing her wildly peaked biceps to galvanise attention.
To meet her is a remarkable experience, as this interview in an Italian restaurant in north London at the end of May will seek to explain. I've known Andrulla well for several years -- she used to direct my own weight training routine -- but every encounter reveals more of her depth and drive.
ANDRULLA EATS SALAD, TALKS MUSCLE
That evening she speeds her sports car from her gym to a cluster of eating places in Crouch End about a mile away. We enter a restaurant, her favourite it seems.
Eager eyes spot her at once. And more intently when she strips off her shapeless jacket to reveal those mature shoulders, traps and biceps. Sideways glances continue to track us as we choose a quiet table at the back.
She's hungry and orders a fairly vast salad plate loaded with chunks of smoked chicken. I settle for a small salad with peppers. She sticks to coffee while I go for some Italian red wine.
A slim waitress stands by our table, eyes aglow, as the bodybuilder casually arouses the muscles on her arm. Those Andrulla biceps, now a ripe 16 1/2", have put on an inch since I last discussed the matter in 1999. The cocked contouring and the splitting at the lower end of the muscle astound the beholder. Ultra-brawny forearms, strong enough to axe the Californian redwoods, complete the Herculean symmetry.
THE BODYBUILDER SPEAKS HER MIND
Andrulla's thoughts and ideas flow easily. "A hyper-muscular woman is still an extremity to the ordinary person, but there's a great deal of interest," she comments.
She finds differing responses from the public on either side of the Atlantic. Americans tend to be frank and open in their appreciation, unlike the more inhibited British. "Just walking along the streets in New York I was being stopped by men asking if they could touch my muscles...it was sexual but friendly."
Andrulla has just been in Manhattan to help promote an exhibition called "Picturing the Modern Amazon" at the New Museum on Broadway. On the opening night she and some other muscular women were entertaining the sidewalk crowd with hard core flexing through the museum window. They were all having fun.
And this is the kind of career direction -- personal appearances, promotion work, media interviews -- that Andrulla wants to pursue. Life running a gym is not enough. She's also into scripting and directing videos such as her recent role as 'VampDrulla' in a saga entitled 'Bloodsisters Veins of Fury'. The inspirations seems to range from the KGB to Castle Dracula.
"I'm very much into producing my own videos...I'm planning more mini-films with story lines...These are particularly for fans who aren't necessarily into training," she adds.
ANDRULLA PUMPS FOR THE Ms OLYMPIA 2000
And what about the next MsO in Las Vegas in October ? Well the structure of the contest has changed this year it appears. Andrulla expects to compete as a 135 lb light weight (she's an off-season 145 lb just now) and, in my opinion, could easily win.
The taller huge women such as Vickie Gates and Lesa Lewis will be in their own heavy weight category. "I'm a top contender in my weight class," comments Andrulla. Hitherto she's ranked around 6th in the Ms O (1998, '99) when competing against females who were some 50 lbs heavier than herself.
Meanwhile brutal pumping continues at Andrulla's training base (known as Dowe Dynamics Gym at Archway, north London). Her hamstrings are in the frame at the moment.
"I'm now focusing more on hamstrings as a main priority...I'm training them 2-3 times a week." She's moved to lighter isolation work for this muscle group, away from the heavy routine she was using before.
I asked her about her famous quads. "Basically I'm thrashing them every whichway I can... High intensity heavy training."
And what about her growing calves, originally a weak area? "My calves have steadily improved and I'm not planning on stopping...I'm quite patient, I've been training for 14 years now."
London-born Andrulla came to bodybuilding after teenage years in the British judo squad. She was a Black Belt at 15. Her muscularity first started to provoke comment when she was just 12 or 13.
Would you like to know what people say in the chatroom when you're not there? Would you like to know when people talk about you "behind your back"? You can read and search the Archives, of course, but that can be a time-consuming daily job. Or you can give Clepsydra a list of keywords to scan for, and a couple of hours after the end of each day, she'll send you an email. That email will contain all mentions of your chosen keywords, with a couple of lines before and after to give you the context.
Keywords can be whatever you like, and can include spaces. You can have several keywords if you like. I would suggest that you shouldn't have very short keywords, because if you do, you'll get a *very* long email each day! And if you give your own name as a keyword, then you'll get emailed back everything you said, too.
Member | Posts |
| mookster | 4435 |
| gaily304 | 4296 |
| jmcst107 | 4110 |
| mike1965 | 3978 |
| Diana the Valkyrie | 2877 |
| TomNine | 2558 |
| tre1313 | 2401 |
| tex666 | 2237 |
| jon666 | 1900 |
| Blast222 | 1876 |
| 000wlt | 1803 |
| boomer444 | 1724 |
| franz5334 | 1620 |
| jabb6328 | 1558 |
| mit19237 | 1542 |
| k1a2t3 | 1521 |
| rdhdpwr150 | 1427 |
| stretch412 | 1266 |
| pem777 | 1175 |
| pan314 | 1024 |
Gaily has finally been toppled from Prine Chatter by the Mookster, although the Mook has had to sacrifice his message board in order to devote the necessary time to chatting.
Welcome to Crystal's Exotic Esoterica board; Crystal is ont of the mainstays of the Chatroom.
Board of the month | Poster of the month | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| And it's TomNine's board again, beating out even the chess board (who are currently working their way through all the dictionary entries for P). The "Politics and Economics" board discussions about gun laws and constitutional issues have propelled it into second place. | Patrick's numerous postings on chess matters that start with the letter P have given him a clear lead in quantity, although some might wonder about the width. Tre's been very active too, with my own postings bringing up third place. |
I've been adopted by a duck. She's laid ten eggs in a nest about a yard from my kitchen window. I think she's decided that I'm less of a hazard to duck eggs than the local foxes, who will probably be reluctant to come that close. She's right. I'm watching with great interest, and some time in June, we'll have a small flock of ducklings. If people are interested, I might shoot them. With a camcorder, of course.
I checked the site statistics. that Sandra counts up each night.
At the end of May 2000, there were about 278,000 pictures (14 gigabytes), 19.9 gigabytes of video, 3800 text files (mostly stories) and a total of about 34 gigabytes.
On Vanessa, the new Newsthumbs server, there's the NewsThumbs, which is another 3.5 million pictures in 248 gigabytes and 4.5 million text files, a total of 259 gigabytes. Yowser! And Vanessa isn't even half filled yet!