| --Sunday, September 30, 2007--
Hungarian prostitutes to emulate Radio Shack
 ...by providing receipts.
Hungary's tax authority will allow sex workers (or Budaprosties) to apply for permits and pay taxes on their earnings, adding legitimacy to an occupation that is already quasi-legal but not part of the Hungarian tax base.
Opponents say this move will allow Hungary to capitalize on human trafficking without improving conditions for sex workers. It also doesn't address how johns might declare "Fellatio Services" on their taxes.
Read the full article after the gap.
Hungary Gives Permits to Prostitutes
By PABLO GORONDI, Associated Press Writer
Monday, September 24, 2007
(09-24) 14:29 PDT BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) --
In an effort to bring prostitutes into the legal
economy, officials said Monday that Hungary will allow
sex workers to apply for an entrepreneur's permit ˜ a
move that could generate government revenues from an
industry worth an estimated $1 billion annually.
Human rights groups often have criticized European
Union member Hungary for legalizing prostitution ˜
which has been fully allowed under certain conditions
since 1999. Opponents say legalization does not help
prostitutes.
The permits allow prostitutes to give receipts to
customers and become part of the legal economy by
paying taxes and making social security contributions,
said Agnes Foldi, head of the Hungarian Prostitutes'
Interest Protection Association.
Hungary's sex industry ˜ including prostitution and
the production of pornographic materials ˜ generates
an estimated $1 billion annually, said Agnes Bakonyi,
the spokeswoman of Hungary's tax authority APEH.
"It is one of the leading sectors of the shadow
economy," Bakonyi said. "With this project, APEH is
trying to help a group of professionals, in what is
called the world's oldest profession, who have never
paid taxes in their life."
Prostitutes in Hungary, can work legally only within
certain zones ˜ distant from schools and churches ˜
and must get regular medical checkups. Pimping and
bordellos are banned.
Prostitution is legal in most of the EU with a few
exceptions such as Ireland, where it is banned. The
Netherlands has legislation comparable to Hungary's,
where prostitution has a similar status to other jobs.
Foldi said about 20 prostitutes already had been
issued permits and more than 500 had applied to attend
counseling sessions organized around the country with
the help of APEH on issues such as financial planning
and accounting, as well as legal matters.
"Our aim is to make sex work become accepted as any
other job," Foldi said. "Prostitutes come from the
poorest sectors of society ... and it's very hard for
them to, for example, get a loan to buy their own
home."
Foldi's group received a grant of $86,000 from the
government's National Development Plan, which includes
EU funds, to advise prostitutes on the licenses.
"It is important for us to have as many participants
as possible," Foldi said, adding that there are about
7,000-9,000 full-time prostitutes in Hungary, rising
to as many as 20,000 during the summer tourist season.
One of the prostitutes who already has been granted a
permit said she applied for it in an effort to improve
her future and self-image.
"From now on, no one will be able to ask me where I
got the money to buy my house or my car," said Rebeka,
who would not give her last name. "Now we are also
part of a taxpaying group and we too are making a
contribution to society."
Hungary is a signatory of the 1950 United Nations
convention for the suppression of human trafficking
and prostitution. But officials claimed the program
did not go against the spirit of the convention
because even though prostitutes would now be able to
get licenses, the government would not keep a separate
registry of them.
Critics say many prostitutes in western Europe are
foreigners often lured there under false pretenses.
They link prostitution to human trafficking.
Human Rights groups have said legalization and
decriminalization of prostitution and the sex industry
does nothing to address the violence of prostitution
and does not help prostitutes.
Janice Raymond of the U.S.-based Coalition Against
Trafficking in Women said by issuing entrepreneurial
permits to prostitutes, Hungary is violating its
international treaty obligations under the U.N.
convention. She said countries such as Hungary that
have ratified the convention agree not to regulate
prostitution or subject women to any administrative
controls such as registration and taxation.
"Hungary is not issuing entrepreneurial permits to aid
the women in prostitution but rather to increase the
state coffers with the additional taxes to be gained,"
Raymond told The Associated Press by e-mail. Previously: Hookers have no sense of humor; Memoirs of a Madam
See also: Hungary gives permits to prostitutes (sfgate)Labels: Hungary, news, prosties
posted by Gram the Man
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--Friday, September 28, 2007--
Barely Legal: Generations
 Like wizened Army veterans gathered to share a drink and a laugh over fallen comrades in ancient battles, several performers from Hustler's Barely Legal series gathered last night at Hustler Hollywood to swap stories and talk about the old days.
Some, like Audrey Hollander and Kimberly Kane, had appeared as far back as Barely Legal 45, released in 2003.
"Jesus CHRIST," I shouted so the antique ladies could hear through their ear trumpets. "I'm surprised you're still ALIVE. This should be called Barely BREATHING."
"Oh, shut up," they said.
Read more after the gap.
The event, such as it was, consisted of nine or ten girls (including Alexandra and Jenny Hendrix from Barely Legal 75) signing posters and posing for pictures. Director Erica McLean walked through the crowd, as did, inexplicably, Danny Bonaduce. But there were other redheads I needed to take pictures of.
 Audrey Hollander whispered that, of the three female redheads in the room (the other two being Jamye Langford and Alexandra), she was the only natural one. Then she proved it. My camera wasn't that fast, and besides, I'm all about LIVING, baby. I can't take pictures of everything.
 It is, of course, impossible to tell if Alexandra is a natural redhead because she's shaved down there. And Langford was too busy with markers up her nose for me to check.
I am always happy to see Angie Savage, and it happened that I had just seen her in pornographic form not three hours before in Babysitters. I always feel uncomfortable saying to porn performers that I'd seen them in a movie, but I think that's my problem. I should just not say it to them while sweating, drooling, or in front of their children at Costco.
 Anyway, Savage and I got to talking about spanking. I don't know why, but I'm also not complaining.
"I'm more of a domme lately," she said, "and I'm rarely on bottom, but when I am I love getting spanked. It makes my butt tingle."
I replied that, while petite, she looked like she could take a spanking onslaught. I am always wary of pornstresses who are so small and thin that they look like they might break in half, or quarters. And then I am wary that, by saying someone looks like she could take a spanking, that I am implying she is fat. This is not true, of course, of Savage. Get off my goddamn back.
O, Reader, would that I could have stepped away from my august role as America's Beloved Porn Journalist and spanked Angie Savage halfway down San Vicente Blvd. But it's important I maintain some objectivity. I do this for you.
I talked with director Otto Bauer for a while. He told me had scenes in the can that he couldn't even release in Europe, but that he hoped the cycle might comee around again to make that material saleable in the U.S. He described footage in which there was so much fisting that people were forgetting whose arms the fists were attached to.
 I wish Jenny Hendrix would stop looking at me this way. I want to do terrible things to her. If she were an infant, I'd say the look was gas. But Jenny Hendrix is not an infant.
I have always admired anyone in the porn industry who is cordial to fans and spends hours on her (or his) feet being gracious at signings and conventions. Many of the women last night spent as much time taking pictures with a roomful of fans as they did at the table. I couldn't do that; I'd need to drink.
See a gallery here (now with no nudity!)
Previously: Barely Legal 75: Stacks of nudes spotted in Sunland; Angie Savage and Crissy Moran in different underpants; Good Friday at the Filth Factory; Young Hollywood; Report: Night of 101 Girls "Pleasant", "Good"
See also: Hustler Labels: "kimberly kane", "nautica thorn", "vena virago" wgl, angie savage, audrey hollander, events, hustler, jenny hendrix, otto bauer, redheads
posted by Gram the Man
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--Thursday, September 27, 2007--
Even John E. Depth can't believe it
 The image on the back of Anacondas & Lil Mamas 2 makes it look as if John E. Depth is entranced by himself to the exclusion of his scene partner, who seems to be yelling "Focus!"
Depth seems to be saying, "Holy fuck! I'm awesome!"
Read more after the gap.
 Here is the front cover. I don't believe these women are actually mothers.
Here is the front cover with a cat instead of a penis.
Previously: Caverject makes women grow; Gargantuan cock public toilet; Slime Ballin'
See also: Juicy Entertainment, John E. DepthLabels: fotodoctor, john e depth, male talent, new porn daily
posted by Gram the Man
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--Wednesday, September 26, 2007--
No Man's Land: White Man's Burden
 I visited the set of David Aaron Clark's No Man's Land: Asian Edition 6 this weekend. The film stars Lana Croft, Ange Venus, Jandi, and Kitty. I brought a videographer friend of mine for whom this was her first time attending a porn shoot.
She threw up on the way. Twice.
"I drank a lot last night," she explained, but I remember feeling a little jittery the first time I watched Asians having sex (it happened in Science class).
The first porn set I ever attended was also an Asian picture (Whoriental Sex Academy 4, starring Mika Tan), so it was as if a circle closed in my august porn career by bringing my vomitous friend.
Afterward, she said, "Everybody was so nice; I guess I just didn't expect people to be walking around naked."
Read more after the gap.
The house in Encino looked like The Love Boat without the calming presence of Gavin MacLeod. It was a massive and ornate building, this rental, and, though I am no Howard Roark, my sense of design was offended. But it was perfect for the Porn of Manners film Clark was shooting inside, which required interpretive dance and multiple tableaux.
The setup was this: Lana Croft sits in the middle of the floor reading a Michael Manning manga that comes to life in front of her. Ange Venus is attended by Jandi and Kitty, the latter two wearing no shoes as they minister to Venus, who towers above them on her heels.
 After Venus appears behind a column and totters seductively toward Croft, all the while doing a sultry dance, Jandi and Kitty appear to relieve her of her garments.
"You are removing the cloak from the queen, as it were," Clark tells them. Clark has directed numerous Asian titles and was recently named an honorary Asian by the Lakota Sioux. Like me, he is a so-called white man.
 Clark makes fetish movies for fetishists; he is not punching the clock and delivering an Asian movie that might be a badonkadonk movie but for the presence of Asian talent rather than bubble-butt wielding sistahs. He has Venus redo her steps several times to perfect the effect.
The BDSM firecracker Aiden Starr is today the costume department. As Kitty walks by in a jangle of necklaces and beads, asking if she can adjust them, Starr replies that they'll just fall off when she starts fucking, anyway. It's good to have someone on set who knows her way around porn jewelry.
Sadly, Starr is not performing herself. It is not the first time I wished she were Asian.
Croft puts down her book and watches Kitty and Jandi go to work on Venus.
There are about 12 caucasians on the set watching this ritualized exchange between these four Pan-Asian women doing a dance of Clark's whimsy.
I asked Croft if she was more often stereotyped as a geisha or a schoolgirl.
"Definitely schoolgirl," she said, "though I'm more outgoing."
Later, Croft lies on the star in the middle of the floor. It looks freezing. Still, it makes me sad that the dentist who lives here will someday sully Croft's buttock prints with her slippers.
Would Captain Stubing be so heedless? No, he would not.
See a gallery here.
Previously: The World is your Royster; Legend of the Oriental Love Motel!; Team Hardcore on the move!
See also: David Aaron Clark, MetroLabels: "david aaron clark", "set visits", ange venus, asian, lana croft, metro
posted by Gram the Man
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FBI busts Florida company for TMI
 FBI 2257 inspector and XBiz BFF Chuck Joyner has cited two Florida porn companies for a number of minor violations, but the one that sticks out is TMI, or too much information, heretofore merely a social offense like when one's wife tells less-attractive girlfriends that "we sometimes let people into our marriage."
"Another violation involved having too much data with the records for a given title, (CandidCam.com rep Mark) Dolan said. In that instance, records for performers who had nonsex roles in the video were included in the records for the performers who did engage in sexually explicit conduct. Curing that violation involved merely removing the records for the nonsex performers, Dolan said." Previously: When Feds say "porn", do they mean Max Hardcore?
See also: FBI confirms 2257 inspections (xbiz.com), CandidCamLabels: 2257, analysis, legal, xbiz
posted by Gram the Man
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God Bless the Trannies
 A recent trip to the West of Ireland revealed numerous shrines in the hills with signs reading "God Bless the Travellers", the nomadic band of tinkers and itinerants who live in caravans mostly off of the country's grid.
A recent visit to the lively comments section of Videobox reveals a depth of feeling about transsexuals that made me wonder what would happen if Ireland shipped its traveller population to Brazil and I reland got the trannies.
Read more after the gap.
Videobox members are guaranteed five new porns to download or stream every day, with different subscription plans for different picture quality. What is fascinating is that members do not control what porn is made available, so every now and then in the onslaught of blondes with fake boobs having vaginal sex, a tranny video is thrown in.
Response to tranny videos, strap-on movies, midgets, etc. is mixed, but we'll get to that later.
Can you imagine watching five porn videos a day? Even before my faith guaranteed me three wives legally and spiritually required to have sex with me, I never felt the need to populate the earth that much. I'll say one thing about porn addiction: it's probably good for your Kegels.
So Videobox is like a Secret Santa crossed with the Wine of the Month club: you don't know what you will get. And the members feel compelled to share their feelings.
Of Brazil Bizarro:
I know all that there is to know / About the crying game... Like how FREAKED OUT I AM by a seemingly hot chick with a cock that makes mine look like a mushroom laying on barbershop sweepings. Better than that same mushroom atop the sweepings of a salmon hatchery, but I get your point.
and
Trannys, grannys, CRAPPYS! This is an adult porn site, not a house of freak, so please, regular male/female movies and everybody will be happy! For God's sakes, you guys think we are all that perverted?! LOL you freaks
Well, yes. You watch five porn videos a day.
Of the redundantly-named (unless I'm missing something) Transsexual SheMale Spectacular 2:
Scary... some of them actually looks like girls. Imagine bringing a girl home from the club and just as you are about to fuck her, she whoops out a fat dick... This vid reminds you to be aware... they're out there. I've never heard of anyone whooping it out. I guess Geronimo might have whooped it out. But he wasn't a tranny.
and
Ya know I'm starting to think they upload movies like this to make patrons better appreciate the other movies on this site. I know I sure as hell do. Finally, this heartwarming comment about My Girlfriend's Cock, which highlights the compromise many trannies must make - the nicer a tranny's boobs are, the more his/her schlong merely appears to be along for the ride:
it seems to me there is a basic problem: how do you take hormones to accentuate your femanine side and end up with a dick that is big and cabable of a decent ejaculation which is probably what they would wish for. At any rate, GOD BLESS THEM ALL. Previously: Time management: Just Turned 18 And Transsexual; New Porn Daily: Transsexual MILFs; Allanah Starr will try anything once
See also: VideoboxLabels: analysis, transsexual, videobox
posted by Gram the Man
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--Tuesday, September 25, 2007--
Shameless promotion
 "The images, text and videos on this site belong exclusively to Digital Playground and are protected under copyright.
By downloading images from this site, you agree to adhere to the following terms:
(1) Digital Playground content may ONLY be used in the promotion and marketing of Digital Playground titles, stars, directors and entities, unless otherwise negotiated and executed in writing. Any other use, publication, reference or commercialization is strictly prohibited.
(2) Photo credit is required on each image in a font that is legible to the naked eye, as follows: When a contract star is pictured, "Image of Jesse Jane (or replace 'Jesse Jane' with the name of pictured contract star) is courtesy of DigitalPlayground.com"
and
When a non-contract star is pictured, "Image from Island Fever 4 (or replace 'Island Fever 4' with name of pictured movie) is courtesy of DigitalPlayground.com
These terms are not negotiable and damages will be sought for any and all copyright infringements." Er, go buy Contract Star?
Previously: Shane's World made me a dick; Eon McKai and the elephant in the room; Mug shotLabels: Digital Playground, sic
posted by Gram the Man
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--Monday, September 24, 2007--
I still haven't found what I'm looking for
 It is rare that I find a porn boxcover poignant (unless I'm thinking: what an idiot) but Hustler's Pussy Cum Cocktails cover is as wrenching as any woodcut representation of the Irish Potato Famine; Cassie Young searches for something, having left herself literally naked and vulnerable, but Tiffany Taylor isn't giving her any satisfaction. I wonder if she's British.
Previously: Squirting and self-censorship; Squirting and terrorism
See also: HustlerLabels: cassie young, hustler, new porn daily, tiffany taylor
posted by Gram the Man
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What Would Bob Seger Do? Girls on Film: Solo 2
 As easy as it might be to forget why I'm here, now and then I am reminded that at all times we must pay homage to Bob Seger.
Here is Holly Morgan on the set of Platinum Blue's masturbation (theirs, not necessarily yours) epic Girls on Film: Solo Edition 2.
Seger's influence on the porn world is everywhere, from Tampa's Night Moves show to movies like this.
"She was a black-haired beauty with deep dark eyes
And points all her own, sitting way up high
(Here Seger reconsiders, then adds, for clarity):
Way up, firm, and high." You can see a gallery here.
Previously: You can think about the woman, or the peeler you knew the night before; Paige Turner reminds me of Daisy Buchanan; Way up firm and high on Cahuenga Blvd.
See also: Platinum Blue ProductionsLabels: "platinum blue", bob seger, breasts, holly morgan, new porn daily
posted by Gram the Man
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--Thursday, September 20, 2007--
Joe Gallant channels Sir Mixalot
 In my bootlegged copy of Joe Gallant's The Screw Movie, the saucy Heather Pink is captured puttin' 'em on the glass.
You'll have to come over to Gram Ponante Towers, Crematorium, Dairy, and Foundry to watch this movie.
Previously: Pabst Blue Ribbon night with the steveporn kids; Joe Gallant: "The machinery is weird"
See also: Joe Gallant, Sir Mix a lot's "Put 'em on the glass"Labels: Heather Pink, joe gallant
posted by Gram the Man
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Banana seat
 Few aspects of our daily lives cannot be improved by porn, and the bicycle is no exception.
(Not that people use bikes in Los Angeles, except as things to steal (and have you noticed that the bigger the person, the smaller the bike, the worse the neighborhood?) and drop in riverbeds.)
Oregon's Reverend Phil Sano has made a film about hot girls on bikes that is playing everywhere from Bellingham to Vancouver. The movie is called The Pornography of the Bicycle, of which the filmmaker writes:
"What is this fascination? Is it the blending of mobility and sensuality? Is it freedom? Independence? Hornyness?
"Whatever the cause, bike porn has griped the consciousness of the citizens of Portland, Oregon. These are a people now obsessed. These are people who are determined to travel under their own power, people who are determined to liberate their bodies, people who cross lines ass-first dancing backwards with their pants around their ankles."
Previously: Hookers have no sense of humor
See also: Local filmmaker takes bike porn on the road, Pornography of the BicycleLabels: oregon, portland
posted by Gram the Man
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Operation Desert Stormy party art
 Wicked Pictures threw a party for the new Stormy Daniels movie Operation Desert Stormy last night at the House of Blues that was characterized by scarcity and excess. For example, the event had a generous three-hour open bar but parking cost .50 for every foot away from where I stood that the valet parked my car. And while porn is a gloriously visual medium, I was not allowed to bring my camera.
Here, then, are artistic renderings of some of the more memorable events, starting with the screening room in which adults not accustomed to watching porn together viewed the movie all the way through.
See more art after the gap.
 I spoke with Gia Paloma, who tried to reduce my natural affection for her to wanting to be in her. Is that all you think you are to me? I sobbed. I can think of so many other prepositions in addition to in, such as atop, aboard, and amid. Deliciously amid.
 I also met the charming Roxy DeVille, who had a refreshing list of things she wouldn't do in porn. "Also, no spitting in my mouth," she said. I don't even spit in my own mouth.
 Tommy Gunn showed up with a new haircut. "I'm thinking of reinventing myself," he said. Gunn is a cool dude. It seems like assholes should be the ones reinventing themselves. I want to go up to some asshole and say, "Go reinvent yourself, you asshole. Don't make good people do it."
I noted that the IAFD thought this week was Gunn's birthday, but at least they took seven years off the total.
 Evan Stone made a big deal of Ron Jeremy being there. I feel my rendering of Jeremy is my greatest achievement. Signed prints of all of this art will be available when I self-publish my book.
 As a hardy man of purpose, my biggest gripe with Los Angeles is having to pay a ridiculous (to me) amount of money to have some working-for-tips shmoe park my car within feet of where I'm standing. Unlike going to a sushi restaurant and paying to eat food I can't prepare myself or going to a bar to buy drinks in glasses that light up, I have the ability and means to park my own car. Still, I tipped the poor slob three bucks to back my car thirty feet. Least he could have done was wash it.
Still: free drinks!
Wicked has, without a doubt, delivered the best packaging of its tentpole movies in anticipation of this month's AVN nomination deadline. Read the review of its other contender in the drama category, Brad Armstrong's Coming Home, here.
Previously: Stormy, but everything will be fine (on the set of Operation Desert Stormy)
See also: Wicked Pictures Labels: "stormy daniels", Evan Stone, events, gia paloma, interviews, ron jeremy, roxy deville, Tommy Gunn, wicked
posted by Gram the Man
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--Wednesday, September 19, 2007--
Joanna Angel tackles boobs
 There are a lot of things people are shy of talking about in today's porn industry: drug use, sexual harrassment, malfeasant distribution deals. Now Joanna Angel has the courage to say that Big Boobs Are Cool, and Burning Angel has released a filmic document of her beliefs.
Angel shot the movie here.
"I think boobs tend to be larger (in Los Angeles)," habitual Brooklynite Angel told me. "Maybe because apartments in New York are small, big boob girls can't fit their boobs in them."
Read more after the gap.
 Because Los Angeles is better than New York (it's also better than San Francisco and Seattle, in case you're wondering, but not Montpelier), Angel did as I predicted and as she denied she would do and moved here last year. She visits New York once every other month.
"You know how you always find what you're looking for when you're not looking for it?" she asked.
I thought about how I got a blowjob from my Media Theory And Literary Criticism professor. "Yes," I said.
"After the movie was done I found some big boob girls in New York. So maybe I'll shoot the sequel there."
 At first Angel's boobs were judged neither big nor cool enough for the film's director, Burning Angel co-founder Mitch Fontaine.
"So I went on the opposite of a diet," Angel said. "I ate a lot of fast food for two weeks. Because when you gain weight your boobs grow." (This also happened to William Howard Taft.)
 Angel employed the drive-thru technology of Jack in the Box and Del Taco and said that the movie captured "a little belly" which, sadly, she has since gotten rid of. "But I do have some big boobs."
"Your commitment to your craft is impressive," I said, reminded of Robert DeNiro's weight regimen preparing for Raging Boob.
As you know, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is coming up at sundown Friday. I asked Angel if she and her boobs were going to Temple.
"No," she said, "but I will fast."
 "Good you're not doing Big Boobs Are Cool 2 the next day."
Big Boobs Are Cool stars Angel, Ariel Alexus, Harmony, and Adrianna Nicole.
View the trailer here.
Previously: Joanna Angel eats grilled cheese, tomato
See also: Burning AngelLabels: "burning angel", "joanna angel", adrianna nicole, breasts, food, harmony, interviews
posted by Gram the Man
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--Monday, September 17, 2007--
Maxim photographer has just enough time for you
 Maxim photographer Alan Strutt is doing you a favor by appearing on Tony Batman's KSEX show Thursday night.
After all, he says, "I'm in Los Angeles for this week, and then off to Thailand where I'm shooting 20 girls from 20 different countries for Maxim International. I'm looking for girls here to use in that shoot, as well as in other pictorials over the coming months."
OK, so he's off to Thailand soon but he still doesn't have the United States representative? And if he's shooting "20 girls from 20 different countries" why is he looking for girls from here? Wouldn't he just need one?
E-mail Tony Batman to figure it out.Labels: events, ksex, tony batman
posted by Gram the Man
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Sexualizing your firewall
 In the lurking world of the Internet, where the best face we can show the outside is our public unresolved digits, a northern California company has created a site that moans your Internet Protocol address.
Intervis Media dabbles in different projects, its founder says, but "there is a special place in our hearts for Internet security." CEO Richard Stevenson told me the women moaning IP addresses wish to remain anonymous and aren't pictured on the website.
For me, the money shot is the "3".
Stevenson's company also owns Hear My IP, which features a terse, vaguely menacing dude reading the same numbers. It doesn't have the same effect, but it gets to the point.
See also: Moan My IPLabels: geekery
posted by Gram the Man
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Rob Rotten provides jobs for gay homeless, Sasha Grey
 I never understood blowjob movies; the same amount of clothing comes off and the result ends up in the same place as it would in a full penetration movie. Is it for people who, like Bill Clinton, don't consider the blowjob sex?
Regardless, Rob Rotten, after nearly a year away from the porn fold after suffering injuries in a racing accident ("I lost my right front brake going 140," he said), has returned with Swallow My Children, a very funny movie that happens to have blowjobs in it.
"Blowjobs are less expensive," Rotten pointed out. "That's why blowjob movies have a million girls in them."
Read more after the gap.
Rotten makes and appears in three kinds of porn movies. Funny ones, scary ones, and porn movies utilizing his tattoos. Swallow My Children is of the first category, and as such it really is fun to watch, as everyone in it plays his or her white trash character expertly.
There are a few people making funny porn movies. Cram and Grip Johnson of Chatsworth Pictures and Jim Powers of JM and Sin City don't put their characters on pedestals but do allow for gallows wit. When the performers are smart, the viewer is left with a winning combination of sexy women with senses of humor. Naughty America's new line, Naughty Flipside, crafts scenarios that are more whimsical, but not so whimsical that the scene becomes something other than the sex people are having.
I forgot to ask where Rotten grew up and how much money he had while doing so, but if you can judge his overall aesthetic from Swallow My Children, I'd bet the lifestyle and characters depicted in the movie and Rotten's weekend world aren't far apart.
 There's surf punk/metal playing in the background, purple-haired Daisy Tanks playing shuffleboard barefoot, amiable dudes with nothing to do but lift weights, and Tony Tedeschi pissing on the roof. California affords many a lifestyle that allows them to continue the best part of their high school existences until at least age 42.
There's a genial vagrant serving as narrator.
"I didn't want to narrate the movie myself," Rotten said. "I said 'I wish I had a homeless guy or something' and one of the guys in the crew said, 'Are you serious? There's this gay homeless guy outside the liquor store down the street' and I said 'Go get him."
Angus McGillicuddy wanders in and out of the movie, a stunned Hungarian model sitting behind him ("At first I think she thought she was going to have to blow him," Rotten said) and lends the project its California-inclusive, Nothing But A Houseparty vibe.
I asked how much McGillicuddy got paid.
"Four beers? Five beers?" Rotten replied.
 I like to think that Rotten had a few women in mind for this large-cast, low budget movie, and he filled out the rest of the roster with blondes. Some of the most inspired and goofy scenes involved non-blondes, including newcomer Daisy Tanks, Jocelyn Jaden, and Sasha Grey.
People talk about exploitation and empowerment in porn, and I've never found an example of either. While there are those who weren't clever in making a decision to appear in a porn movie, they have agreed to a wage and they are not being exploited. In fact, those who would argue that porn exploits the not-too-clever draw a line between the higher-paid mistakes of these performers' mainstream counterparts. Is appearing in an MTV teen drama or Fox reality show not exploitive because an AFTRA contract is involved?
Whereas accusations of exploitation come from the outside, the empowerment defense is employed by pornographers who say that their material actually helps women. This, too, is bullshit.
Anyway, I think that people like Rotten have the right idea; he made a movie full of natural light and women who, given the right circumstances, might actually have fucked these dudes without being paid for it. It almost seems democratic.
"Isn't Sasha Grey hot?" Rotten asked. She plays the bemused girlfriend of a loser who rolls himself down a hill in a barrel. You don't normally hear people in porn saying things like this, because most people who have the confidence to fuck on film at the very least are attractive because of that confidence.
"Yes," I said. "It's nice seeing her in the sunshine."
"I ask them to not show up with all that porn shit on," he said. "It doesn't make them look good."
Read the review here.
Previously: Rotten, "Too Close for Comfort" rift worsens; Daisy Tanks is the solution to Rob Rotten's lap mystery
See also: Punx ProductionsLabels: "rob rotten", daisy tanks, reviews, sasha grey
posted by Gram the Man
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Podcast Week 5: Jazm And Tanks
 This week's podcast title sounds like an 80's buddy crime show.
He's a genius ex-cop with muscular dystrophy and a secret (other than the muscular dystrophy, which is pretty obvious); she's a hooker with a heart of gold and a plate in her head. Together they solve crimes from their laundromat in sleepy Bogue Chitto, where everyone is just a little bit "retarded"! Starring Ben Vereen and Delta Burke. Larry Storch as Gumball. But is isn't. Click here.Labels: podcast
posted by Gram the Man
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--Friday, September 14, 2007--
Postcard from Porn Week
 Porn Week Vacations was established in 2000 to offset the cost of filming porn movies, and has become an international brand with several revenue streams.
"We knew that fans wanted to see porn being shot, and that they'd probably pay for it, but we didn't want 30 guys hanging around," said founder Dave West, a Chicago native who began his career in direct marketing before capitalizing on Internet porn. "So we kept the guest list small and invited the right girls."
Read more after the gap.
Porn Week will attach itself to one or several movies being shot in a given area and open the doors to fans, each of whom has paid upwards of $2150 for the privilege. Since the company's first outing in the Dominican Republic in 2000 (with a stable of willing porn stars that included Belladonna), Porn Week has traveled to the U.K., Prague, the Czech Republic, and has regular stops in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
"We tell the guests what's expected of them so that everyone knows the rules," said director Gazzman, production manager of London's Harmony Films, who partnered with West in 2004. "But the environment is light enough so that lines don't get crossed."
That is not to say that guests only watch. If the right guest has been tested and if he (or she) is willing to step in front of the camera, he might be part of the action on film. But most guests are happy watching.
"People ask if we're being laid all the time, but it's not like that," said former Porn Week guest and current production assistant Big Bad Dave. Big Bad Dave (not to be confused with West) was learning how to white balance a camera he had trained on Nikki Jayne, a stunning Manchester native in the United States on her first porn jaunt. "But we definitely try to find the women who are not only comfortable in front of the camera but also with a party full of fans."
 Guests must fend for themselves with hotels and transportation, but they attend parties with the performers, which are then filmed for XXX Porn Parties, a regular pay per view event. In addition, the guests are encouraged to bring cameras themselves.
As an executive at Harmony and a partner in Porn Week, Gazzman has a built-in party destination. Born in Scotland, Gazzman worked for several years directing television in the U.K. and then began what he calls his "porn apprenticeship" filming BBC documentaries about porn.
"I followed porn directors around for four years, thinking I knew what to do and what not to do in a porn film," he said. "But I ended up making some of the same mistakes."
Gazzman praises writing partner Victoria Stuart, herself a documentarian, who writes porn scripts keeping in mind "that you've got to write them like interchangeable dolly heads, because some of the dollies don't show up."
Still, Gazzman's first porn film was the big-budget ($100k) The Scottish Loveknot for Private, which won AVN's Best Foreign Feature award. He has since become known for what in the United States are called "high-end gonzos" but what he refers to as "professional low budget features." This translates to porn with good lighting design, attractive international locations, and leggy Euro models.
What is low budget for Gazzman is actually about twice as expensive as a standard U.S. gonzo, but Gazzman tends to shoot at rental castles by the banks of Loch Ness rather than Encino.
I always feel a little awkward when attending a porn shoot if the cast is unprepared for guests not involved with the production. I asked West if there was a learning curve since 2000 with regard to fostering a good dynamic between the cast and Porn Week guests.
"All of our performers tend to be very friendly," he said, pointing out that Porn Week regular Poppy Morgan has become a face of the show, "but we definitely have to get the right mix of people. In the early days we did get a lot of the performers saying 'What are these guys doing here?'"
 At a recent party in downtown L.A. at Eli Cross' and Kylie Ireland's Fallout Shelter studios, it seemed the blend of vacation revelry and porn filming had reached a balance. Guests (who asked not to be filmed) milled around an open bar or just outside as a group of women including Poppy Morgan, newcomer Katie K., Nikki Jayne, Gwen Diamond, and others cavorted in hanging cages, on prop beds, or "Star 80"-style bondage chairs for a scene from Gazzman's "Slam It In" series.
The big event of the evening was the U.S. debut of Nikki Jayne who, after disrobing spectacularly, delivered a blowjob to performer Oliver Sanchez, who was posing as a photographer and pretended, at least for a few seconds, that the stunt wasn't staged.
Jayne walked into Harmony's booth at Birmingham's ETO adult trade show on July 22 saying she wanted to do porn. "We had her on a plane to (a Czech Republic Porn Week event in) Brno the next Wednesday," Gazzman said.
Jayne is tall and blonde and looks like a California girl save for her charming accent. Porn Week does not have contract girls (though Poppy Morgan has come to be associated with the company) but a special effort was made to introduce Jayne through Porn Week, and it has been successful; Jayne has already met with Digital Playground and Vivid, she said.
Digital Playground's Samantha Lewis reminded Jayne that the company already had a "Jane", so a possible contract would require her to change her name. Prior to her trip to the states, Jayne was intent on a Vivid contract, but Digital Playground has already wined and dined her and had the good luck of meeting her before her meeting at Vivid. We'll see what happens; this might be the last time you see "Nikki Jayne".
 Across Porn Valley in Poltergeist Hills, an area so named because it resembles the rolling housing development built over a graveyard in the movie Poltergeist, the Porn Week guests have gone home but the Harmony crew is still there, filming scenes between Jayne and San Jose's Bobbi Starr. Just before her anal scene with Sanchez, I took a picture of Jayne on the carpeted stairs.
 "I don't want a pattern on me bum," she said.
"That's the least of your worries," I said.
Gazzman and West explained Porn Week's marketing forks, starting with Bravo UK's midnight broadcast of the company's exploits.
 "We are fortunate to have a deal with them in which we retain ownership of the material, they just broadcast it on the telly," Gazzman said. To that end, Gazzman and West may make DVDs, sign pay per view deals for XXXPornParties, and continue to add Porn Week publicity to productions by other companies. Ownership of the product is great.
It seems like this week witnessed the crossed paths of two exciting commodities, Porn Week and Nikki Jayne, who appears poised to be very big.
I asked Gazzman what advice he might give to Jayne in the American porn market, and he replied with a Scottish brogue, "Ach, she won't listen to an old man."
See a gallery here.
Previously: Wayne doesn't know why he's being interviewed, either; Czechs for cash; 2007 AVN wrap-up
See also: Porn WeekLabels: "eli cross", "set visits", bobbi starr, directors, fallout shelter, gazzman, kylie ireland, nikki jayne, porn week, vivid, WGL
posted by Gram the Man
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--Thursday, September 13, 2007--
Your weekend of erotica
 L.A.'s Knitting Factory is host to the surprisingly expensive Los Angeles Erotica Film Fest this weekend, featuring screenings of 70 abridged and full length films and panels covering everything from classic porn to steveporn. I talked with steveporn's Eon McKai and Classic Porn moderator Roy Karch about what was on their agenda this weekend.
Read more after the gap.
"Demystifying altporn will be quality entertainment," said Eon McKai, who will be enlisting the likes of Dana DeArmond, Violet Blue, and Winkytiki for his panel discussion. McKai will be screening the documentary Llik Your Idols about New York's 80's-era Cinema of Transgression Movement that involved Lydia Lunch, Richard Kern, and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore.
McKai likens Cinema of Trangression to steveporn.
"The work of Nick Zedd and Richard Kern have a major influence on how alt girls are captured by the moving image with sound," he said, referring, I think, to what we know as film, "so for me it's the perfect type of movie for me to help set the tone for this new Los Angeles institution. Llik has a good non-porn insider appeal. It's funny to note what the alt porn movent takes from that movement."
In an e-mail, McKai added: "if alt was a the C.T. was a FW to the film school establishment... The Alt Porn Movment tasks the same attended in it's PR and it's spirit... "
I don't know what this means, but I think FW might mean "Fuck You", so McKai might be saying that steveporn is a Fuck You to the prevailing porn standards the way the Cinema of Trangression was a Fuck You to the film school movement.
I have a feeling that McKai can actually spell just fine, but he enjoys having his words puzzled over and interpreted.
On the other side of the spectrum, veteran director (and still very hard at work) Roy Karch moderates a panel on porn's Golden Age that will feature Marilyn Chambers, Christy Canyon, Seka, Ron Jeremy, and the beloved director Henri Pachard.
"All these people are in the Hall of Fame," Karch said, "including me."
"The AVN Hall of Fame? Make sure you mention AVN a lot during your appearance at this XBiz event..." I said.
"Well, they're probably also in the XRCO Hall of Fame," Karch said.
"The showcase will feature a compendium of clips from some of the hottest and more prominent films from the Golden Age of Porn," Karch said. "The clips wil be interspersed with conversation from the panel led by me. The showcase will close with a section devoted to q |
...by providing receipts.
