Pucker up

The Electric Kiss. The Music Kiss. The Perfume Kiss. The Underwater Kiss. The Prostitute and Customer Kiss.\nMichael Christian has done them all. Now he wants to kiss and tell.\nChristian, who is giving a presentation on kissing at 7 p.m. today in Alumni Hall at the Indiana Memorial Union, is a full-time writer and speaker on the topic of kissing. He has authored several books on the subject, including "The Art of Kissing," which has been published in 19 countries and 17 languages, according to his Web site, www.kissing.com. \nHe began his career as a "kissing expert" while he was a professor of English at Boston College in the 1990s.\n"I always had a romantic streak, I was always interested in kissing," he says. "Then a young woman told me I should keep my eyes closed while kissing, and I thought, 'Is that true? Do you really have to keep your eyes closed while kissing?'"\nPondering that question led him to create a 218-question survey to find out what else people knew, or didn't know, about kissing.\nAfter he wrote the book, he was invited by the school to talk about "The Art of Kissing," and that led to other schools asking him to talk about the book, he says.\n"But I never just talked about the book; I had people demonstrate. People found it very funny, seeing people they knew onstage demonstrating these kisses."\nChristian's presentation is being brought to campus by the Union Board. Michal Jander, a Union Board director in charge of the event, says he is excited because it's interactive.\n"Mr. Christian's presentation is very, very involvement-intensive. Usually, he just has a mic and walks around," Jander says. "He's got a lot of music, a lot of film slides, and it's all really fast-paced and fun. He really keeps students motivated and interested."\nEmma Cullen, who is in charge of public relations at the Union Board, says the student group wanted to bring Christian to IU because he has a reputation of being highly entertaining. \n"It's an interesting topic to be an expert on," Cullen says. "It's something you don't hear about very often, so I think the students will be interested in seeing it."\nIf students come, they can expect a variety of visual demonstrations.\n"They will see 30 different romantic kisses demonstrated," Christian says. "They will find out what men and women prefer, what their differences are, (and) how to make themselves more kissable. They'll find out how to please their partner.\n"But the most important thing is they'll be entertained by seeing 30 different romantic kisses. Yeah, they'll learn things. But it's funny."\nJander says that in Christian's books, he is good at not only being entertaining but at making his audience feel comfortable with easily embarrassing content. \n"It's not cheesy or creepy or anything like that," Jander says. "Like a really good textbook. Not a textbook you wouldn't want to read, but very informative; not just someone's made up advice."\nChristian says the type of kiss he offers the most advice on is the French kiss.\n"The number one question I'm asked is, 'How do I do a French kiss? Do I really have to use my tongue?' And the answer of course is 'yes,'" he says.\nBut too much tongue can be as much of a problem as not knowing whether to use it at all, he says.\n"The number one mistake people make when it comes to kissing is triggering the gag reflex in their partner by using their tongue too much and too far in their partner's throat," Christian says. "The number one mistake girls make is not initiating enough French kisses. According to men, they want women to initiate more French kisses and be more active with their tongues."\nChristian has been asked so often about French kisses that he has also turned "The Art of Kissing" into a DVD. \n"I got so many questions from people asking me how to do a French kiss, every day three or four times, and I thought, 'Don't people read the chapter on the French kiss?' Our society is becoming so illiterate, unfortunately. So I said, 'I'll just show them.'"\nChristian then gathered several actors and shot the film in Boston and New York. The film spends a full 40 minutes on the French kiss but also covers the other kisses he talks about in his book.\nBut even those who think they have the French kiss down will find interesting and exotic kisses to learn from Christian's presentation. \nAmong these are kisses like the biting kiss, "lip-o-suction," and one called the Trobriand Island kiss, a kiss from the South Pacific.\n"One of the most unusual kisses is the vacuum kiss," Christian says. "You can actually see a vacuum kiss in the movie 'Coneheads.' The vacuum kiss occurs when you suck the air out of your partner's mouth and lungs. And if it's done properly, it's a great intimate experience."\nLip-o-suction is his personal favorite kiss.\n"That occurs where you kiss your partner's top or bottom lip as your partner does the other, then you reverse."\nBut Jander also pointed out that Christian's presentation is not exclusively on advice.\n"He talks not only about techniques and different kinds of kissing, but he also talks about different kisses across different cultures," Jander says. "It's educational in an unconventional sort of way."\nJander hopes that bringing Christian to IU will show the student body that the Union Board is thinking creatively about programming.\n"We're not just here to bring concerts like Ben Folds, or serious 'academic-minded' lectures, like Ehud Barak ," Jander says. "We're just here to represent student interest. As students, we strongly identify with the student body and we thought we should bring this since we're one of the few student organizations with the money to do it."\nHe also stresses that student participation is key for the event to be a success.\n"If students get involved, this could be the best program of the year," he says. "If the students are a little more reserved, the program will be reserved. But trust me, we'll have great volunteers."\nChristian says as long as students get a good seat, they'll have a great time and learn a lot.\n"Kissing is a very subtle action of the lips. The closer you get to see, the more you'll get out of it," he says. "But you may want to bring binoculars if you sit in the back."\nSee coverage of the event in the Indiana Daily Student's Campus section Nov. 17.