Pole Position

Later in the night, 21-year-old Christina — our upside-down private dancer — was joined by her friend, Nori, also 21, a beautiful brunette wearing a brown, spaghetti-strap tank top and jeans. Both ladies danced intimately with each other throughout the night, twined around the pole, arching their backs and interlocking their denim-clad legs. They resembled a caduceus, the medical symbol of two snakes curled around a staff. Christina pulled her legs up high and rested them gently on Nori's shoulders. A third woman, in a maroon T-shirt that read "98% Naughty, 2% Angel" squatted at the base of the pole, watching them intently. "Wow," she mouthed in admiration. At the end of the night, Christina ventured up there one last time as someone sang Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb." She did a great crotch pat lying on her back, legs spread apart.

Our RAs were equally entranced. "I can't believe we don't have to pay for this," Robert said. It was indeed a free show, and we later found out that Christina's a stripper. ("No, really?" our RAs sarcastically said, as we relayed this fact back to them.) She has worked at Bonita Flats, Tango's, Temptations and the Outhouse.

"I'm from a family of strippers," Nori said. She isn't one, but her grandmother worked at Studio 64 in California, and her mom worked at the infamous Bunny Ranch in Nevada.

Christina explained that she and Nori are best friends who like to dance with each other. We asked about the effect their dancing has had on guys. "I've had guys follow me," Nori said.

"These are natural!" Christina interjected, touching Nori's breasts. "We like girls!"

Later in the night, we met 29-year-old Allen, who was sitting at the table of Kevin Smith wanna-bes. He told us that he met the other guys through the live role-playing game Vampire: The Requiem. He also works at Renaissance festivals as a street performer and a barbarian.

So, Allen, with all the pole dancing, is this better than being at a strip club?

"I don't go to strip clubs," he said. "I've got too many friends who are dancers, and I'm afraid I'll run into them."

We finally met the friendly birthday girl. Cassandra, whose friends were periodically handing her shots all night, was outgoing and sweet. She made the rounds and adopted our table, complimenting all of us and flirting with our male RAs. She shared that she has four kids, which was surprising — she did not look as though she could have popped out four at all — and also told us that her ex-husband, the father of her two youngest, is in Iraq. But he still sent her a beautiful bouquet of orchids. She proposed a toast before doing a shot: "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Here's to men who lick women's stuff."

When she wasn't talking with us and others, she'd go shake her ass at her friends. At one point, she put one foot in a booth and one on our table, leaning over and wriggling in the face of one male friend, who just laughed. In the meantime, off in the back, two guys — apparently, one of the BO brothers — were making out on the pool table in the wood-paneled area. Talk about a rumpus room.

In fact, if there's ever a place that gives new meaning to pole position, that'd be the Roxy. Thongs and pole cleaners are optional.