Hiya there, I haven’t been around here for a while. Long story; it deserves a blog post or two. I’m slowly, slowly getting back into the swing of things after an episode of burn-out.

What brings me here today is the news that Julien Blanc, an American pick-up artist (with a French name … wonder if this is his real name), had his visa cancelled and was expelled from Australia due to his notorious choking technique.

(If choking is a ‘seduction technique’, I’m Marie Antoinette)

Interestingly, choking is something I learned how to deal with as an aikidoka—and aikido has nothing to do with seduction! These days if a man attempted to pull the ‘choking trick’ to seduce me, my right knee would instinctively go for his beloved testicles.

 I decided to do some research on pickup artists, and I found some interesting info all over the Internet. In Psychology Today I found this article, which seems ambivalent on the topic. Sure enough, it trots out the same old favourites, such as playing hard to get, honing your kissing technique, increasing physical and psychological attractiveness, and building rapport, among others.

(How new, eh?)

The Huffington Post has published a number of articles on PUA’s (short for pickup artist) that attempt to shed light on the subject, like for example this one where female readers are warned against marrying one (duh!). There’s this other article where we can read all about the Become a Pickup Artist app, which morphs your typical Joe Bloke into a true-blue pickup artist.

What the hell is a pickup artist, you may be wondering.

It’s your twenty-first version of the serial seducer, a recycled Casanova or Don Juan, the creepy, well-disguised  sleazebag who wants to get himself laid by as many females as possible. For him, it constitutes a worthy life pursuit, complete with different techniques and even probably a a pickup diary.

Hahahahahahahahaha!!!

What blows me away is that some unsuspecting good blokes take seminars with PUA’s such as Julien Blanc, whom Scott Morrison—our Immigration Minister from hell—kicked out of the country (it’s the first time that SM does something really ethically justifiable!).

Why would good blokes want to take a crash course in ‘seduction’ with Julien Blanc? I can only think about the lack of skills that some worthy blokes appear to have when approaching ladies. Insecurity, anyone? Could be, but I think there’s something more dangerous lurking in the background …

The existence of PUA’s is living proof that some men still believe they’re not getting as much female attention as they truly deserve—the darker side of masculinity has an element of I’m-gonna-have-that-woman-coz-I’m-worth-it-and-I’ll-pull-out-all-stops. Power play … Guys like these fail to see that what Mary loves won’t do it for Lucy. They can’t see beyond their erect penises. It’s their loss …

Connection will always beat seduction. I believe this with all my heart.

PS: What does Julien Blanc have that other guys don’t? I’ve dated guys that were twenty times better looking than him, and a million times more interesting 🙂