Isham Cook's Blog: Isham Cook, page 12
June 30, 2014
When poets speak of death: 100 aphorisms and epigrams on massage
“When poets speak of death, they call it the place without breasts.” Ramon Gomez de la Serna, 1917 The most eloquent means of seduction is the direct and forthright sexual proposal, though it rarely works in practice. The conventional romantic … Continue reading →
Massage: 100 aphorisms and epigrams
The most eloquent means of seduction is the direct and forthright sexual proposal, though it rarely works in practice. The conventional romantic approach of dating or wooing is a better bet yet time-consuming, expensive and often insincere as well. Midpoint … Continue reading →
May 20, 2014
Men massaging men: Three countries
Istanbul, Turkey. The attendant flushes me with soapy water on the marble octagon in the center of the hot area, whose domed chamber has holes cut out in the shape of moons and stars to let in sunlight. In other countries, there would be … Continue reading →
May 10, 2014
In search of Malaysian massage
To the east of Jalan Sultan Ismail Road and the Bukit Bintang monorail station is generic modernity - office buildings, a grand Tous Les Jours bakery whose wifi doesn’t work, an Espressamente café at the swank Pavilion shopping mall whose does. A … Continue reading →
April 29, 2014
Japanese voyeur massage: Theories
Prolonged sitting in front of the computer is really getting to your neck and shoulders. You need a massage. Guys are so lucky, you think, because they can just walk into any massage parlor like it’s no big deal. Your husband … Continue reading →
April 13, 2014
Icon, index, symbol, semen
Not content with meeting the facts, the thinking person sees in all things signs of something more, sees in all things “tokens for something else” (Roland Barthes, Mythologies). I shall take semen as my subject matter. A rather plain and … Continue reading →
March 30, 2014
Massaging the masseuse in Beijing and Bangkok
“Money is just money. But sexual companionship is priceless.” Lawrence Osborne, Bangkok Days Xia. Hujialou area, Beijing. One day I chance upon a new massage parlor in a leafy neighborhood south of the Workers’ Stadium. The girl I get, Xia (pronounced Syah), is … Continue reading →
March 15, 2014
The Exact Unknown and Other Tales of Modern China
“Cook’s erotic-grotesque collection of encounters can’t be beat for its look into the absurdist funhouse mirror of expatriate existence in China”—James Farrer, Opening Up: Youth Sex Culture and Market Reform in Shanghai “Strips away the literary decorum of the old … Continue reading →
February 21, 2014
Massaging the Yin-Yang in Pattaya
Golden Fingers Massage Therapy, Pattaya, Thailand. Along with the usual menu of services out front I see they offer massage classes. I go for an oil massage, at the standard hourly rate for Pattaya of 300 Baht (a mere US $9 – or $6 … Continue reading →
December 31, 2013
Naughty Mosaic
‘ A colorful mosaic of massage ads regularly stuck in my door in Beijing, China. If they can get away with littering my apartment entrance with these cards, then I’m going to make use of them, and not in the … Continue reading →
