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Thursday, June 11, 2009
Erotica L.A. to focus on fellatio, prostitution, military
 Tomorrow begins the 340th annual Erotica LA at the L.A. Convention Center. When Gaspar de Portola (and his men) stood atop the Santa Monica Mountains in 1769 and gazed at Porn Valley to the north, they were surely thinking about Tera Patrick's annual pilgrimage from Van Nuys to what would become Figueroa Blvd.Erotica LA is the most civilized and brightly lit of L.A.'s adult conventions, and this year features appearances by more than 50 porn personalities, including the rosters of Wicked and Adam & Eve (from Kirsten Price, Stormy Daniels, Mikayla Mendez, Alektra Blue, and jessica drake to Kayden Kross and Bree Olson), Monique Alexander, Nikki Jayne, Ron Jeremy, Belladona, Alexis Texas, Eva Angelina, Teagan Presley, Nina Hartley, and the reclusive Aria Giovanni. Seminars will include a blowjob workshop by Nina Hartley (she knows what she's talking about), a porn star panel with Joanna Angel, Kaylani Lei, Lexi Love, and Mr. Pete, and a Nevada prostitution primer from Mustang Ranch Madam Susan Austin (this one sounds fascinating).  In that vein, there will also be an adult industry career center sponsored by A.I. Studios. Curious fans might want to check out that booth, as it is an established fact that porn's makeup artists are the hottest women working in the adult industry.While Erotica L.A. continues through Sunday, with the final day free for active military, Saturday's FAME Awards will likely be the highlight of the show. The FAME Awards contain all the categories you would expect from an adult awards show - Best Ass, Best Boobs, etc. - but the voting is (mostly) done by fans. And performers who are not represented at Erotica L.A. proper - like the women of Digital Playground - tend to show up for the FAME Awards.  A three-day pass to Erotica L.A. costs $75 and, since the Lakers are not in residence at the neighboring Staples Center, parking should be easier. Plus, the L.A. Convention Center is a short walk to the Pantry Cafe.With the news this week that major sponsor AVN is consolidating its publications and the rumor that the company is moving into smaller quarters, Erotica LA will likely be a welcome relief from persistent bad news; the seminars sound fun, the FAME Awards is the best-run adult awards show, and the performers appearing aren't thronged by Vegas crowds and can sleep in their own beds at night. Previously on Porn Valley Observed: Erotica LA in review - 2006, 2007, 2008; AVN 2009 - The only numbers you can trust See also: Erotica LA Labels: "joanna angel", avn, belladonna, bree olson, ela09, events, jessica drake, Kayden Kross, kaylani lei, kirsten price, Mikayla Mendez, nina hartley, ron jeremy, Stormy Daniels, tera patrick ¶ Thursday, June 11, 2009 0 Comments Links to this post 
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
On location at Mika Tan's double penetration negotiations
 Mika Tan starred in the first porn movie I ever saw being filmed, which might have been the first porn movie I ever saw. And she was great then, too.Today on the set of Ernest Greene's The Perfect Secretary: Training Day, Tan suggested ways for costars Marco Banderas and Chris Cannon to make an irregular fraction of her.  "First off, this desk is gonna break," she said. Indeed, the office furniture that Banderas and Cannon were double-teaming her on seemed to have been purchased at El Ikea in Tijuana. The threesome decided to adjourn to a pair of pleather chairs. "How much DP do we have?" asked Greene of the crew. In order to both market and edit a porn movie, there must be a certain amount of time allotted for each position and in angles both "hard" and "soft," so that there can be a useable cable version."We need four more minutes," said cameraman Ralph Parfait. "OK," Tan said, corralling her costars. "You bang me here and you stand over here. I'll stand this way and hold on to the wall? Then we'll get on the chair."  After a minute of this, it became clear that both Tan and Cannon were uncomfortable (Banderas was on a chair)."Allright," Tan said to Banderas. "I'll lie back on you and Chris will put his leg up there..."  This also worked for a minute but Tan became concerned that she was grinding her tailbone into Banderas' chest (despite his pain, Banderas was great about offering numerous thumbs up signs to the camera, a gesture that always draws viewers in to the special world porn performers inhabit)."I feel like I'm crushing you with my vestigial tail," Tan said. At this point Nina Hartley, who was working as production manager, rushed in and Baby-Wiped everyone who needed it. "The taint is a Go," she said.  Finally (and just in time for Easter) both guys dropped loads on Tan's chest as she leaned back in a cruciform position. It was a high output day."I've been holding that for two hours," Cannon said.  It's important to point out, if you didn't know this already, that porn is taxing work for everyone involved. As much as you want to have sex with Mika Tan and do horrible/wonderful things to all her cushiony places, it is an effort to do so 1.) on office furniture, 2.) under hot lights, 3.) in sweaty tandem with another dude, and 4.) not arc your descendants in a ropy volley within 45 seconds of her dress coming off.And for Tan? "My ass is sore," she said. Previously on Porn Valley Observed: Mika Tan Fights for America, Whores, and the Right to Film Sex with Asian Men; The Cropping and flogging of O See also: Adam & Eve, Mika Tan, Marco Banderas, Nina Hartley Labels: "adam and eve", chris cannon, ernest greene, marco banderas, mika tan, nina hartley, set visits, WGL ¶ Wednesday, April 01, 2009 1 Comments Links to this post
Friday, March 13, 2009
Sasha Grey: The End of Innocence
 Tomorrow Sasha Grey turns 21. She will celebrate it in Vegas at Tao, and I am assuming she will reposition the 25 or so cutouts of Tera Patrick in order to make the joint more personal. She will also drink a lot of single malt scotch, which I'm sure she will sip demurely despite the fact that there will be hoses full of it at the ready should she decide to cut loose.That Grey is now an established porn star, actor, and model at 21 throws into relief Nina Hartley's rise to fame. Hartley, who turned 50 earlier this week, said that she got into the business at 25 and had to work her way up. While Grey has certainly worked hard, the fame that she has achieved in 2009 is much different than that available to performers in the long period of porn's consumer explosion in the 80's and 90's. Deep Throat ushered in "porn chic" in the early 70's, a period that lasted a few years and which has not returned until recently, with help from people like Grey who can much more easily and competently straddle a line blurred by people like Hartley. Early reviews for Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience, in which Grey's character supplies the title, are positive. A friend saw a work print at Sundance and said Grey was "a natural, and gorgeous." Her nude scenes are limited to a couple of tame interludes and the rest of the movie she spends in scripted improvisations with the rest of the cast. Grey grew up in North Highlands, an unincorporated area 10 miles north of Sacramento. She chose her words carefully in describing it.  "I wouldn't want to raise kids there, but it made me a real strong fucking person, that's for sure," she said. "It taught me that no one is going to do it for you."Grey researched the adult industry before she started, and her first scene was an auspicious one, for John Stagliano in Evil Angel's Fashionistas: Safado. "I still can't believe my luck with meeting those people," Grey said. "And Belladonna is so nice. It meant a lot for the way I thought of this business that that was my first movie."  Grey noticed that when she started getting noticed, that her casual mentions of bands, filmmakers, or books she liked fell under the type of condescending scrutiny often reserved for porn performers."I'd profess my love for a band or a film and people would give me a hard time about it," she said. "Why are people so shocked that I like French New Wave [cinema]?" And some of the scrutiny came from within the adult industry. "You have to control your anger in this business," she said. "You have to be the bigger person, when other people are trying to tear you down."  Grey says she is not concerned about a "persona" other than being given the freedom to be herself. Indeed, she has continued to appear in everything from the grittiest gonzo movie to features, showing a sly sense of humor in movies like Digital Playground's Nurses, Rob Rotten's Swallow My Children, and Vivid's Deeper Throat.Despite Grey's mainstream profile, she has continued putting in hours on porn sets and has shown no signs of flying the coop, which is at odds with the common perception that porn performers think of the adult world as a stepping stone to mainstream riches. Since this has rarely been the case in practice, it provides fodder for critics to show how self-deluding adult performers are.  But Grey seems to treat one job like another regardless of what side of the Hollywood Hills it is filmed on. And that might be a reflection of not having to prove herself to anyone but herself. It's not a political statement, she is not a sexual revolutionary, and she is not holding a grudge.Well, maybe one. "I used to work in a restaurant with a bunch of idiots," she said. "I can't tell you how much I love the porn business by comparison." Previously on Porn Valley Observed: Live in My Secrets; Gram's Index; Gram announces Oscars of Porn; Spiegler's porn dorm See also: Sasha Grey Labels: belladonna, Digital Playground, john stagliano, nina hartley, rob rotten, sasha grey, tera patrick, vivid ¶ Friday, March 13, 2009 0 Comments Links to this post
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
25 years of Nina Hartley, 50 years of Fantastic
 Nina Hartley, a woman beloved of everyone she meets, turns 50 today."Tonight I've got a hot date," she said. "I'm waiting for the weekend for the fancy dinner." A week seems too short a time to celebrate Nina Hartley. Streets should be closed down. There should be sacrifices or something. But Hartley has always been practical. "I can't have the fancy sex and the fancy dinner the same night," she said. "I'm just not capable." To be fair, "Nina Hartley" is actually 25 this year, which is itself a tremendous achievement in a business one can't even think about until her 18th birthday. But the person who would bring Nina Hartley to life was herself born 50 years ago today. Hartley began performing in the video era, a few years after shooting porn was decriminalized in California. Porn had already changed drastically from its film-only, New York and San Francisco-centric "Golden Age," and Hartley slowly made her name in a world dominated by the likes of Ginger Lynn, Annette Haven, Sharon Mitchell, and Serena. "I was in awe (of the stars) and I wasn't a 'porn star' for several years," Hartley said recently. "Today you make one movie and you get to wear the 'Porn Star' t-shirt. I think you need to get something under your belt first."  Oddly enough, one of Hartley's first movies was the girls-only underbelt romp Anal Annie And The Backdoor Housewives ("Shot Live on Video Tape"), which co-starred Serena. According to the Internet Adult Film Database, Hartley has appeared in 815 movies, which probably places her output well past 1,000. There is not a millimeter of Hartley the world has not seen.But there's still some mystery in all that nudity, which is something the public doesn't seem to apprehend about porn. Things can hide in plain sight. While not every performer can boast of such a rich inner life as Hartley, she stresses the value of not buying the "porn star" lifestyle wholesale. "Go home," she said recently. "Read a book. Open a savings account. Have non-porny friends." Hartley has maintained an admirable throughline in her career, taking every opportunity to educate women in particular and the public in general about porn's role in relationships and society. "The public perception of porn has changed dramatically," she said. "At [porn conventions], at first, it was all guys. Then guys with horrified-looking wives. Then women who would get autographs for their husbands. And then young women who would get autographs for themselves."  Born to well-read parents in liberal Berkeley, the person who became Hartley helped effect that change. She had a strong understanding of who she was at an early age, and a Bay Area vibe still looms large in her conversation. "I'm still the Me I thought I was when I first thought the word 'Me' when I was ten," Hartley said today. And I suspect that her San Francisco attitude helped her weather the changes manifested by an Eisenhower-era birth, her early childhood in the turbulent Sixties, and a Me Decade adulthood that made cynics out of people from other parts of the country. Hartley has always had a positive outlook - or at least gives that impression.  The emergence of the MILF and Cougar genre in porn has been a boon to Hartley, although she is a sought-after lecturer who also hosted a groundbreaking series of How To videos for Adam & Eve and co-authored, with husband and #1 fan Ernest Greene, a sex manual ("Nina Hartley's Guide to Total Sex") that approaches that act and all its variations with a mixture of science, psychoanalysis, and humor, similar to the recent trend in cookbooks.In fact, Hartley herself is like the hostess of a great Thanksgiving dinner, except it's a sexy Thanksgiving dinner; you show up hungry and leave laden with doggie bags. "No, I couldn't," you say. "Really. I can't. You're too generous. I'm full. Well, one more pie." My friend P. Weasels fulfilled a lifelong dream a few years ago when Nina took a strap-on to him. In a tribute to her on Fleshbot he wrote: "You have been getting off to movies starring the legendary Best Ass In Porn now for at least as long as you weren’t before she got into porn 25 years ago." So if you see Nina Hartley any time this year, buy her dinner. Previously on Porn Valley Observed: Nina Hartley and Ernest Greene - O (the power of submission) the places they go; Sex on the nest with Nina Hartley; O2 - The Surrender of O; These milves are on the move! See also: Nina Hartley Labels: annette haven, classic, ernest greene, fleshbot, ginger lynn, interviews, nina hartley, pWeasels ¶ Wednesday, March 11, 2009 0 Comments Links to this post
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Porn stars stay connected - but at what cost?
 One of the most interesting panels at the XBiz Conference this week found porn performers discussing the evolution of the term "porn star" and the things performers needed to do to stay connected, famous, and relevant. I'll provide a breakdown shortly, but something that happened during this particular panel demonstrated how the porn world responds to crises.Above are (clockwise from left) web model Alyssah Simone, Joanna Angel, jessica drake, gay-for-pay performer Jeremy Bilding, Lisa Ann, and Nina Hartley keeping in touch with their constituencies.  Among the many entertaining and informative exchanges between the panelists was after moderator Lisa Ann asked Hartley how the perception of the porn star has changed in Hartley's 25-year career."I think socially it's OK to be an adult performer," Hartley said, "but in the political realm there's still a fascination/revulsion. We're still a bunch of Hos." "I like being a Ho," Joanna Angel said. Nina will turn 50 this year, Angel is 28, Lisa Ann is 36, and Sasha Grey (who was spirited away by a handler during an episode in the audience) will be 21 next month. Like their Hollywood counterparts, each represents a different generation of performer, an age distinction that is much more specific than, say, the generational considerations of plumbers, butchers, mail carriers, and waitresses.  But while Hartley confessed to being a technological Luddite (though her legal battle with a shoe company over the right to Nina.com firmly establishes Hartley as a digital pioneer) and Lisa Ann remembered a time when dealing with fans involved sitting on her apartment floor, stuffing envelopes, answering letters, and mailing autographed 8 x 10s, all are active on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or all three. Angel and drake texted each other during a break in the proceedings.One thing that each of the performers shared was a willingness to interact with fans, but within limits. It seemed like Angel and drake were the digital cuspers in the group, embracing the new technology wholeheartedly as a marketing tool. "I always liked it when people in high school would find out my secrets," Angel said. Grey, on the other hand, seemed wary of too much contact. "Being a porn star, people think they know you," she said. "Somebody hacked into my site the other day and 'relaunched' it. They thought they were doing me a favor."  "The best way to interact with fans is one on one," Lisa Ann said. "But I remember being in Quakersville, PA, with all my ones from stripping, and the bank teller wouldn't take my dirty stripper money. Now I can tell my real estate agent I'm a porn star."So here's what happened in the middle of the panel. While Angel was talking about "Girls Girls Girls 2," (find out how to get a copy of the movie signed by Motley Crue's Vince Neil), a man in the audience made a sound not unlike the kind one hears in comedy clubs in which someone wants other people to know he gets the joke. "Aaaaah Haaaaaa! Aaaah ha ha HA!" he said. Most people didn't turn around to look at him, thinking he really appreciated Motley Crue, but he was having a seizure, and landed on the floor. RN-turned-pornstar Persia ran to his aid while hotel staff and seminar attendees clustered around him. Persia reported that the man had been in a car accident a month ago and may have had a similar seizure in between then and now. He was brought to the hospital and is, as of this writing, still there.  On stage Nina Hartley announced that someone should call 911, Joanna Angel Tweeted the news ("Am I not supposed to do that?" she said. Good point) and, within a few minutes, various audience members began to approach the panelists with their business cards while the paramedics dealt with the unfortunate man.Sasha Grey, late for another appearance, was hustled out of the room in the interim. It is unclear if Steven Soderbergh made Grey sign the Seizure Proximity clause in her "Girlfriend Experience" contract. The panel was one of my favorites of a compelling series, and Lisa Ann was an excellent moderator. It was the sole panel that featured only performers, and as such would have been very interesting to consumers, too. Later in the evening, I ingested a substance that didn't agree with me (though I thought it would). I hope no one with a Twitter account was anywhere nearby me in that Woodland Hills bathroom, that's for sure. See also: XBiz Conference Labels: "joanna angel", alyssah simone, cougar, events, fetish, jessica drake, lisa ann, nina hartley, seminar, xbiz ¶ Tuesday, February 10, 2009 1 Comments Links to this post
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Orgasms from all the best angles
 Nina Hartley and Jamye Waxman will host seminars on various means of attaining, sustaining, and delivering orgasms to the needy this weekend at the Adult Entertainment Expo.I have seen both women speak (and act) on this compelling subject and each puts her own spin on it. Hartley, so long deprived of orgasms, believes that everyone deserves them, so her lectures are often filled with gentle prodding to go out and have an orgasm now, and demand nothing less. Hartley speaks from 3:30 to 4:30 on Friday. Waxman who, like me, does not have sex for a living (she analyzes it while I inspire it) will speak on Saturday from noon to 1. I asked Waxman to tell me something about the vagina. Not hers, but the Universal Vagina (which I think is next to Citywalk). "The first third of the vagina is the most sensitive part of the vagina," Waxman said. "You mean the first third from the street entrance, or from shipping?" I said, taking notes. "From the front," she said. "In fact, you can operate on the back two thirds without anesthesia (not that you'd want to), so next time you're thinking of trying to give her an orgasm during intercourse, odds are better if you don't thrust as deeply." "So maybe I could hover above her on little jets implanted in my hands and feet," I said, "and just dip into her like an oil well?" "Yes." Hartley and Waxman join forces on Sunday at noon to discuss how porn sex is different and similar to "real" sex. I will be on my way home in an ambulance by then, but if I were to go to that seminar I would ask if there is any hard data among couples that porn sex has influenced their own wholesome marital activities. Previously on Porn Valley Observed: Jamye Waxman - the female you; Nina Hartley's Great Sex During Pregnancy See also: Adam & Eve, Jamye Waxman, Nina Hartley Labels: "adam and eve", avn09, events, jamye waxman, nina hartley, WGL ¶ Wednesday, January 07, 2009 0 Comments Links to this post
Friday, January 02, 2009
Gram Ponante announces Oscars of Porn
 At a tearful ceremony this morning at the Lamplighter Restaurant, the grant-funded National Institutes of Pornographic And Pornotextual Arts presented their Oscars of Porn, the first and most prestigious adult awards of the year."Don't do drugs," said noted porn journalist Gram Ponante. "Ever since the Institutes instituted this institution, the cash and blowjobs have been flowing in," Ponante added. "And frankly, I'm about spent from everything that's been flowing out." Ponante demonstrated this depletion in the only way he knew how for a vocal contingent of foreign press. "Stay in school," Ponante said, unraveling for a Belgian camera crew. The Oscars of Porn were named for Oscar Goldman, Steve Austin's boss in the Six Million Dollar Man. NASA and JPL estimates concluded in 1983 that wounded astronaut Austin's cyborg rejiggering only cost $1.2 million, indicating that Goldman's assessment of the bionic man's worth was irrationally exuberant. Thus a perfect fit for porn. "Our hearts go out to our nation's military," Ponante said. 2008 Excellence in Adult And/Or Erotic Entertainment Honors  Porn Movie of the YearThe Texas Vibrator Massacre "Just about everything a porn movie should have is neatly packed into Rob Rotten's instant classic. The title alone says it doesn't take itself too seriously, yet the movie proves better than most grindhouse movies in that all the women you want to see naked actually become that way. And then, conveniently, they become dead. In this way, your ancestors are not shamed. So what if it's not original? Tobe Hooper would have wanted Roxy DeVille naked, too."  Think-piece of Ass of the YearO2: The Surrender of O "Juicy submissive Bree Olson tops from the bottom in the second excellent O movie from Ernest Greene. There's sealing wax, contracts on heavyweight paper, weeping, sage advice from Nina Hartley, excellent performances from Kayden Kross and Mika Tan, and Tommy Gunn as a bathrobe-wearing ne'er-do-well freeloader playing myself."  Conspicuous Cumsumption AwardPirates 2: Stagnetti's Revenge "'Don't you know we're in a goddamn recession?' I shouted at the lavish Pirates 2 premiere, in which each attendee was given $1,000 cash and Tera Patrick's social security number, then was driven home by Jesse Jane. Everyone should have a copy of Pirates 2 not only because it is one of the most expensive porn movies ever made but also because it looks it, with Jesse Jane, Shay Jordan, Belladonna, and Jenna Haze working their asses off, only to have them fucked back into place."  Best Couples' FilmSlave 01 "Moxie Maddron is kept in the utility closet of a comfortable Porn Valley home by Eric Swiss in this intimate film by feel-good director Mike Ramone. Ramone joins Eli Cross, Mark Kulkis, and Heidi Pike-Johnson as former AVN editors who direct movies, and he delivers a character study that is as heartwarming as a Pixar film. Mark my words: Ramone will be the country's biggest exporter of hugs and smiles in '09." Honorable Mention: Joey Buttafuoco Caught On Tape. "While it was - shocking! - staged, I believed the 'I love you.'"  Best BushThe Crash Pad "While director Shine Louise Houston's series about a wiretapped San Francisco apartment used by itinerant sex-having lesbians might concern First Amendment activists, it is Porn's most enduring legacy to our 43rd president." Honorable Mention: The Bush Administration. "It's like pubic hair for straight people!"  Best TravelogueMiles from Needles "Huell Howser would be impressed with Savanna Samson's in depth study of the California hinterlands and its colorful characters. A movie awash in death, rednecks, and boobies, Miles from Needles features excellent performances by Kimberly Kane and April Blossom, and is even better than ario Argento's Hesperia."  Most Earnest Porn without Sasha Grey in It, Though Luckily It Has Madison YoungThe Whore Within Me "Like atoms, whores just are. We needn't explain what makes someone a whore, we just need to let whores go off and be whorish without comment or examination. If we break down the whore to her component protons and electrons, we risk a spermonuclear reaction."  If By 'Oven' You Mean 'Vagina,' Well, Then Yes She's Got One in the Oven AwardNina Hartley's Great Sex During Pregnancy "The Future No-Name Jane is knocked up and up in this movie, which says that you can't get a woman pregnant enough."  Glass Ceiling AwardMother of the Year "Used to be that having children meant the end of a woman's career. Not any longer. With California's 1997 MILF Statutes finally being enforced, the sky's the limit for women unsatisfied with the limitations of Entrance Only vaginas."  You Can Leave Your Shirt On Awardcirca '82 "Whether it's a style choice or they're all burn victims, these girls are bottomless like a good cup of coffee throughout this movie, featuring appearances by members of the Circle Jerks and the Germs."  Comeback of the Year (pt. II) AwardTricia Devereaux in Defend Our Porn "Performing in the one original scene in an excellent 3-disc compilation set meant to defray Evil Angel's court costs in its recent obscenity case, the delightful Devereaux just might make you defray all over yourself."  Triple-crossed by a Tranny AwardGia Darling Will Kick Your Ass! "This movie dramatically illustrates a disturbing trend in our neighborhoods that is killing our fish and ducks: Abducted by dominatrices, fey but otherwise innocent men will be further humiliated/stimulated when the domme reveals a tranny lurking in the wings."  Robert Fulghum AwardStoya: Deeper 11 "Stoya's facial expressions give the impression that what is happeing to her is unexpected, whether she is ordering pierogies or being sodomized. This allows her to maintain her sense of wonder. Everything you need to know you can learn propped atop Stoya's near-translucent hillocks."  Best Hentai And Pickup LineNight When Evil Falls I "I'll let these tentacular underpants-probing Japanese animated professionals speak for themselves -
Previously on Porn Valley Observed: 2007 Awards; 2006 Awards Labels: 2008, awards, belladonna, bree olson, jesse jane, Kayden Kross, madison young, mika tan, nina hartley, noname jane, roxy deville, sasha grey, savanna samson, stoya, transsexual ¶ Friday, January 02, 2009 2 Comments Links to this post
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Account of a Visit from Federal Agents
  was the night before Christmas, and I was forlornNe'r a vibrator whirring in the Valley of Porn; The studios closed reluctantly down, For fear that girls' parents had flown into town; The day so beloved of all Christian saints, Found trannys' surprises tucked under their taints, And I in my tube socks, and you in your glitter Had just prepped your ass for a poke in the shitter —  hen out on the stairs of our place in Van Nuys,Came the surefooted clump of FBI guys. Away to the closet where I keep the IDs, I flew to inspect the accounts of disease. The moon through the sheen of the fog and the rain, Made it look like Wicked was filming again; And the Feds' feral shouts from behind the locked door, Were like thin, fearful teens railed by one Max Hardcore. heir hands balled in fists of self-righteous rage,They said, "This young harlot is just half your age!" I hastened to cover myself with more socks, And they rifled through my 2257 docs "Now! Audrey, now! Aiden, now! Lorelei Lee, "On! Bobbi, on! Flower, on! Nina Hartley; "From the Dirtpipe Milkshake! To the rim of your gape! "Have you shot any movies of hot nostril rape?" I admitted I hadn't, but should I get to it I'd call Adrianna Nicole: "Bet she'd do it."  o out to the warehouse they searched all my screeners,Looking for content obscene and obscener: They marveled at Kylie and Sara Vandella, Were shocked at the acts of the aged De'Bella. They wondered at Sasha, they drooled over Bree, Jealous that Jenny had made drinks for me, Or that Stoya had taken a snap of her snatch; Or Lorena allowed me to wash off her thatch. And they said as they looked at the porn on the shelves "We get these erections in spite of ourselves."  wondered again why so many behavedLike consenting adults just need to be saved, As if billions of pairs of boobies online Were just being ogled by one creepy guy, As if thousands of women, like desperate Joads. Dropped out of their grad schools for summa cum loads Abandoned their theses and novels and yoga, Embarked to the parkless Park of Canoga, Or neighboring Chatsworth where, off of DeSoto They'd grudgingly pose for the boxcover photo That, if they'd the choice, they'd surely have said, "I swallowed those dicks with a gun to my head." hey turned with tears glistening and, covered in jismThey said, "You are a model of First Amendment Patriotism." They gave me a medal, and a brand new Mercedes And told me to keep writing 'bout naked ladies. They left with signed photos of Sophia Santi — Saying, "You're America's Beloved Porn Journalist, Gram Ponante." Sincere wishes for happy holidays, everybody; you make this job even more enjoyable than it should be.  The top image was taken from a visit to the set of Hustler's Christmas in Memphis. Labels: adrianna nicole, aiden starr, bobbi starr, bree olson, jenny hendrix, kylie ireland, lorelei lee, lorena sanchez, max hardcore, nina hartley, poetry, sara vandella, sasha grey, stoya, transsexual ¶ Wednesday, December 24, 2008 3 Comments Links to this post
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Hustler commits to Vegas porn surge, Nina Hartley says I'm batting .500
 Hustler has announced the deployment of no fewer than eight porn performers, from newcomers to veterans, to January's Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas. The surge is the largest 2009 commitment to date of any adult studio to the annual event. Lisa Ann, Sunset Thomas, Roxy DeVille, Shawna Leneé, Tori Black, Madison Scott, Ryder Skye, and Brittany Amber will sign at Hustler's booth at different times over the three days of AEE, starting January 9.Digital Playground is only sending six girls, and I am sending two girls by mistake, having told them to pick up my dry cleaning.  Hustler Video creative director Drew Rosenfeld is adamant you read and understand the second paragraph.“Celebrate another year with Hustler and meet Lisa Ann, Sunset, Roxy, Shawna, Tori, Madison, Ryder, and Brittany at the 2009 Adult Entertainment Expo!!” he shouts. Ryder Skye and Tori Black posed the same way below the neck, but above, Skye was coy and Black was frank.  Either that or Frank was coy and the sky was black. I can't tell these people apart anymore.  In other Hustler news, Nina Hartley explains her turn-ons and turn-offs in Hustler's All Sex Issue, on newsstands and under dads' socks now.  “It’s about confidence,” Hartley says, “A sexy man has a sense of humor without being sarcastic. He’s self-aware but not an egomaniac. He can accept what I like in bed without feeling bruised.”Damn it, Nina. Is there no room under the sun of your groovy swinging philosophy for the egomaniacal, sarcastic, and easily-bruised? Previously on Porn Valley Observed: O the places they go; Roxy DeVille - good couches make good neighbors; Who's Nailin' Paylin for America; Once on this XXX Island See also: Hustler, Adult Entertainment Expo Labels: avn09, Brittany Amber, Digital Playground, events, hustler, lisa ann, Madison Scott, nina hartley, roxy deville, Ryder Skye, Shawna Leneé, sunset thomas, tori black ¶ Tuesday, December 23, 2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Friday, December 12, 2008
John Holmes book also measured in inches
 John Holmes single-schlongedly embodied the American narrative of success, downfall, and redemption in its porn context, which means something different from any other context. And his story as told in a new book by Jennifer Sugar and Jill Nelson, John Holmes, a Life Measured in Inches , unfolds that story as comprehensibly as possible.I say "as possible" because Holmes seemed pathologically incapable of telling the same story to everyone. And it wasn't just bullshit and bravado - he would add and drop entire skill sets depending on the group he was with. Even though he worked under his own name, Holmes' best friends didn't know who he was. It wasn't until his death in 1988, for example, that most of the porn community found out that Holmes had been married for the entirety of his adult career. Not only that, but prior to the drugs, that marriage to Sharon Holmes had been sexless but happy. If any single figure in the adult industry past or present deserves a book, it is John Holmes. Then Larry Flynt. Maybe Nina Hartley, but is a story really interesting if someone just keeps getting better? Holmes' success roughly parallels the so-called Golden Age of Porn, in which the money was piled as high as the cocaine and "porno chic," a term that arose from the fame of Deep Throat, made legitimate celebrities of performers long before anyone bothered creating a Jenna Jameson Crossover Star of the Year Award. Holmes was a boner-fide star.  And he was complex. While his wife of 19 years, Sharon, said Holmes could hardly boil water and wouldn't approach the kitchen, friends in the adult industry remember Holmes cooking feasts (director Roy Karch, who was the production manager for 1979's Dracula Sucks, starring Holmes, Jamie Gillis, Serena, and Paul Thomas, told me that one late night during the weeklong shoot he walked into the kitchen of the Palmdale-area castle to find Holmes, cooking stew for 50 people for the next day.)Not only that, but Holmes was also a cop magnet. Years before his use of drugs sidelined his career and landed him at the scene of 1981's Wonderland Murders, Holmes was an informant for the L.A.P.D.'s anti-porn unit, escaping jail time by providing info on other porn sets. But drugs were Holmes' downfall, inasmuch as it was he who chose to take them. According to the book, this casual Scotch drinker and pot smoker devolved quickly into a basehead, stealing from fellow performers, ripping off luggage from the airport, and breaking into cars to steal for his habit. All the while Holmes could be a loving boyfriend to various women (who knew nothing of each other) and a father-figure to the children of Bill Amerson, a longtime producer and his partner in Penguin Video. Inches provides an extended study of Holmes' involvement in the robbery of club-owner and drug dealer Ed Nash and the murders of the Wonderland Gang two days later, as well as Holme's imprisonment for contempt, flight across the country, and his eventual, if reluctant, exoneration. But it is the aftermath of Holmes' release from jail in 1982, up to the point when he contracted AIDS around 1986, that I found fascinating. Because it was in this time that he seemed to make the best use of this window for redemption. Accepting a divorce from Sharon (she had had enough, finally) and dumped by longtime girlfriend Dawn Schiller (she had had enough, finally), Holmes began a strong relationship with Misty Dawn on the set of his comeback movie. He eventually married her and she became Laurie Holmes. But it all slid backward when he contracted AIDS, perhaps from a gay actor in a big-budget gay-for-pay movie. Knowing he had the disease, Holmes hit the drugs as hard as he could. He also knowingly worked with other performers during this time, including the Italian actress (and future member of the Italian parliament) Cicciolina. It is believed that Holmes did not pass on the disease to anyone else. Inches is an oral and text history, meaning that Sugar and Nelson pored over existing interviews and added dozens of their own, quoting dozens of subjects in full paragraphs. I talked with Sugar and Nelson from their homes in Michigan and Ontario, respectively.
 I learned many things about Holmes and the history of the adult industry from this book. As Sugar says, the differing viewpoints let the reader come to his own conclusions about Holmes' life.My only complaint about the book is that the authors sometimes let their interviewees ramble past the point of usefulness and relevance, and the oral history aspect sometimes means that key events in Holmes' life get presented more casually than one might expect. I don't always want to have to come to my own conclusions. Like Holmes himself, Inches is a massive and compelling book. Just don't drop it on your feet. Previously on Porn Valley Observed: Two-headed Donkey Tour: The Wonderland Murders Order John Holmes, a Life Measured in Inches Labels: "paul thomas", "roy karch", books, classic, jamie gillis, jenna jameson, jennifer sugar, jill nelson, john holmes, larry flynt, las drogas, legal, nina hartley, serena ¶ Friday, December 12, 2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Madison Young turns your guilty masturbation into art
 You might think of Madison Young as a deadly serious redheaded San Francisco porn performer/director with an agenda. But she is actually from Loveland, Ohio.I pinned her down recently and asked her to submit to the patriarchal structure that is the western white male interview. But I learned something about myself as well. Gram Ponante: You’re from the Bay Area and work there quite a bit. Do you see a big difference between LA and SF performers? If so, talk about the differences in the way they look,work and are perceived. Madison Young: I love San Francisco and the Bay Area for its rich culture, diversity, strong sense of community and activism, sexual openness, value on sexual education and sex positive culture as well as its vast art scene. GP: I like the urine smell!  MY: I believe that these qualities in San Francisco are what draw its residents to this colorful city. I think you also find that the performers in San Francisco are more involved in both sex positive communities and art. I personally also find that being a part of the sex positive porn revolution is about more than commercial gain.GP: Not about commercial gain? You're losing me. MY: For me being involved in porn both as a performer and director is a revolutionary act in which I’m increasing the visibility of women embracing their sexuality, owning their desire, and truly expressing their honest sexual selves on film. For many girls in LA they are simply interested in making what they believe is quick and easy money which they spend on a pair of heels or a Prada bag. A lot of these women are still young girls who have yet to really come into their own sexually. They are still looking for direction and don’t really know what they plan on doing after porn. GP: Explain the San Francisco difference. MY: The performers that I direct in San Francisco are mostly queer, sex positive, artists, and activists. They are people that I connect with intellectually and sexually. And they love sex! Real sex! Connected passionate loud sweaty levitating off the bed sex. The performers in San Francisco aren’t just here for the paycheck. We are here to be part of a movement that is much larger than that based on connection and eroticism. We are here because we love sexual connection and want to stand up for and be a part of something we believe in. In LA… it just isn’t that deep. Ice Cube: My jimmy runs deep. So deep. Put your butt to sleep.  GP: There is a growing tradition of sex worker/porn star/educator/activists – Why is this important and where do you fit? Are there differences in the generations in this regard?MY: I do identify as a porn star/educator/activist and feel like porn is a hugely consumed medium which has a vast audience that is continuing to grow and diversify. The female and queer demographic as well as couples are a contingent of valid consumers in the porn world. There is so much lowbrow porn out there and so much porn that consumers just can’t relate to. GP: Surely I don't know what you mean.  MY: By creating porn with honest orgasms, real sex positions, real sexual chemistry, and real bodies we are breaking stereotypes causing some major changes in the industry.I look up to sexual heroes and people I’m proud to call my friends such as Annie Sprinkle, Carol Queen, and Nina Hartley. We are all part of the same family. And although generations may separate us we are still united through our activism in sex and art. GP: Power, Sister. Not only do you work with in the LA agent system but you also produce work independently. Has there ever been a conflict there or are there rules that you follow so no conflict exists?  MY: I had been working in the adult industry as a bdsm performer and doing girl/girl performances for around five years before I signed with an agent. So I’m very used to booking my own work. I decided about a year and a half ago that I wanted to start working in LA doing boy/girl performances in order to lessen my travel and to increase my cash flow in order to move my art gallery, Femina Potens, into a bigger gallery in the Castro District. Femina Potens is a labor of my love and is an art gallery funded by my illustrious porn career. My agent - Mark Spiegler – allows me to continue booking with fetish bondage contacts outside of LA that I had before I became a Spiegler Girl and he handles all of my LA bookings.GP: I am glad that Spiegler does not rule with an iron fist. What are the advantages and disadvantages of taking the reins in your own company?  MY: With my own company I’m able to manifest my own sexual fantasies and visions. I enjoy being in control of my films, what festivals they are being screened at, what performers I’m working with or directing, and I’m able to make a clear statement around queer sex positive sexuality. I’m very involved in my productions from writing the script, casting, hiring the crew, performing, and all elements of production and post production. The only disadvantage to running the show ... is that you are running the show and that every one is depending on you to create an amazing production. It can get pretty hectic and stressful juggling our many projects. But I love it.GP: When you are not being Madison the trussed up porn star, what do you do for fun and enjoyment? MY: When I’m not performing for other people or directing my own productions I’m working at my gallery. Peanut Gallery: How many anal scenes does it take to fund a feminist art gallery? MY: I founded Femina Potens in 2003 in order to increase visibility of women and transgendered artists and we currently produce over 50 events each year. We have featured hundreds of artists and educators over the years including porn heroes Annie Sprinkle and Nina Hartley. I also am a writer and have just finished my memoir “The Tail of a Bondage Model” and I’m currently shopping it around to agents. Both me and my partner are work a holics and with running two companies I don’t have time for a lot of hobbies but I enjoy cuddling up with my love and watching movies, road trips, having dinner with friends, and shopping for vintage clothes. I also enjoy bondage, ds, and protocol with my love, James Mogul. I dream of one day planting a garden. GP: Thank you! MY: Now please loosen these handcuffs. GP: Allrighty. Previously on Porn Valley Observed: Madison Young is the perfect date; The Whore Within Me, Without You See also: Madison Young Labels: art, BDSM, fetish, interviews, madison young, nina hartley, redheads, san francisco, spiegler ¶ Tuesday, November 25, 2008 3 Comments Links to this post
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Party report: The Cropping and flogging of O
 HOLLYWOOD -- It's 90 degrees out, the hills are on fire, and I'm wearing leather pants. I'm walking west on Sunset Blvd. feeling ornery. I've spent 40 minutes looking for parking because valeting my car just to see it being parked within my field of vision strikes me as everything that's wrong with Hollywood. That and the Landmark Forum.I find parking in a yellow Loading Only spot outside the Crossroads of the World. Little Known Fact: Yellow Loading Only zones equal free parking in Hollywood after 6 p.m. I check my camera. No lens cap. The pictures are going to look as filthy as I feel. I am the Lizard King. I think: With this hard-hitting observational prose style I should start a blog detailing my two-fisted porn journalist adventures. I'm walking the two blocks to Boardner's for the launch party of O2: The Surrender of O. I get in and sign a form about the pictures I'll be taking. I don't think the form was meant to be read, as it was handed to me in a dark alcove, so I didn't read it. I just signed it. That's how I live, and how I roll. I roll how I live. It's also how I got a sweet deal on an adjustable rate mortgage. People are walking out as I'm walking in. You're thinking, "That's a bad sign." Not if you knew these people, pal. It was actually good they were leaving. Inside it is like the kitchen of a really good party where all the women are wearing assless pants. I stand still (I might have leaned on something) and people appear in my viewfinder.  The first is Ava Rose. Who is not transported with joy when he encounters Ava Rose? A cold, senseless person, that's who. With nipples Xed out with electrical tape and an ass poking out of her Syren latex ensemble (this was the uniform of many attendees), Rose makes me think once again that all I want is what's beyond Thunderdome.Rose is dancing from Los Angeles to San Francisco at gentlemen's clubs near you (if you live near either of those places). I am concerned for her psychic well-being. "Are the house girls nice to you?" I ask. Gyratrices in residence at strip clubs often resent the higher-paid touring "feature" dancers. It's just like the Bolshoi. "Yes," she says, and she says plenty of other things, too, about Alaska, and Reno, and crime, and the Spearmint Rhino, but I am gazing too deeply into her assless pants to recall any of it.  Then I see both Bobbi Starr and Aiden Starr (no relation). "Lick her armpit clean!" I demand of Aiden, who is a famous submissive. "Yes, sir," she does not say.  I talk to a man wearing an ankle-length Cenobite-meets-Matrix jacket. He has just finished reading The Odyssey in the original Greek and tells me that there is a Greek word that means "to burn something down in retaliation." It is my favorite conversation of the night, though I never learn the word.My next favorite conversation is when a woman tells me she gives the best blowjobs ever and I tell her that no, I don't believe she does. In any case, a show has started, and Mika Tan is being surprised by the icy hands of Claire Adams.  And then Ava Rose proves that she can delight females as well. Here she asks Bobbi Starr back to her place for crepes and Gram. Though she was not in O2, Satine Phoenix came dressed for the occasion. Because I posed her in front of candles, I call this photo Wax Dat Azz, in honor of my signature expression around the house. Finally, Co-Mistresses of Ceremonies Claire Adams and Nina Hartley object to my cutting an ass out of my own pants."But I'm going native," I say. "You're frightening us," they say. See the gallery here. Previously on Porn Valley Observed: O2 review See also: Adam & Eve Labels: aiden starr, Ava Rose, BDSM, bobbi starr, bree olson, claire adams, ernest greene, events, fetish, mika tan, nina hartley, satine phoenix ¶ Sunday, November 16, 2008 3 Comments Links to this post
Friday, November 14, 2008
Tonight: Nina-on-Bree action at Boardner's
 02: The Surrender of O will be feted tonight with a party the likes of which has only been hinted at in the virtual pages of Isaiah666.com.Organizers suggest attendees get to Boardner's in Hollywood as close to 9 p.m. as possible. "Or be flogged?" I suggested. "No," they said, "Or you won't get in." Among the many special events partygoers will witness is a live performance by Nina Hartley and/on Bree Olson. More details here. Previously on Porn Valley Observed: O2 review; O2 Gallery; See also: Nina Hartley Labels: "adam and eve", BDSM, bree olson, ernest greene, events, fetish, nina hartley ¶ Friday, November 14, 2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Sunday, November 02, 2008
The Pain of The Price of Pleasure or: Why you should consider an Aggie college
 So here you are reading a porn site and, even though you have intellectually accepted Porn's right to exist and you know that intelligent people like yourself use it in hundreds of positive ways, and even that its accessibility might in fact have decreased the types of crimes sexual repression tends to cause (rape, stalking, being a mall security guard), you still find yourself looking back and forth between Dirtpipe Milkshakes on your screen and your framed diploma on the wall and saying, "Sorry."Just today I thought, "The Florida Department of Corrections gives me a college education and I choose to repay them like this?" But, despite the occasional feeling bordering on guilty introspection and despite the real knowledge that many of Porn's luminaries are boneheads, I am amazed at the aggressive, studied ignorance of many of porn's detractors. I and not more than a dozen other people viewed the laughable (were it not taught as fact in schools) documentary The Price of Pleasure at Pasadena's Fuller Theological Seminary last night. The event was personally sponsored by the seminary's assistant registrar after (I heard this second-hand) the Fuller proper refused to lend its name (only a viewing area) to a porn documentary. Representing the film (but pointedly and repeatedly refusing to "speak for the filmmakers") was journalism professor Robert Jensen of the University of Texas at Austin. Although featured prominently as a talking head in the film with a credit as a senior consultant, Jensen's dilemma in dealing singlehandedly with a dozen people from the porn community (the screening was poorly advertised, perhaps deliberately) was one of distancing, distortion, dissembling, disavowal, and disclaimer. "How many men don't understand pornographic fantasies (shouldn't be) transferred to the real world?" asks Jensen in the film, which includes college students' accounts of discovering porn for the first time and feeling that their fathers weren't attracted to their mothers, therefore, and that all women were easy. Had I been interviewed for this film, I would have said that women only became easy once I got to college. But the central flaw of this intellectually sluggish film was that my comments would not have been included in the finished product. Such was the concern of Penthouse's Kelly Holland, who began the questioning following the film's conclusion last night. Holland reminded Jensen that she had been interviewed at length for the film, but "nothing of what I said about the industry I've been a part of for fourteen years was included because it wasn't part of your agenda." The movie is like a college class that looked good in the catalog but was just a ploy to get the professor's book sold at academically-inflated prices. The Price of Pleasure, like many "publish or perish" academic exercises that shine no light on anything but the thesis statement of a course proposal, is nothing but a visual reference citation, in which like-minded academics (and their cringing, addle-pated students, and I shudder that we're all voting for the same person) do nothing but validate each other in saying that porn is more racist and violent than it has ever been. And there is a very good chance, anecdotally (because the research methods Jensen championed were just a little dopey) that this might be true. Racial stereotypes are, without a doubt, central to the fantasy elements of many porn niches (Chatsworth Pictures' Oh No! There's A Negro in My Wife! was cited by the filmmakers) and violence by and against women rated high in the filmmakers' statistics (they had a team watch a lot of porn). But the film used one woman, a self-described former porn actress named Sarah Katherine Lewis whom none of the people in the room (including AVN Senior Editor Mark Kernes, a walking and suspendered porn encyclopedia) remembered, to counter the charge that every woman in porn does porn by choice. Lewis said uneducated women who were given a choice of working in either fast food or porn had no real choice but to pick porn. As I watched these opinions presented as facts (what Jensen might call "mediated"), I felt more and more comfortable with the movie as a sort of Reefer Madness of anti-porn hysteria. Poorly researched (although Jensen did counter one of Kernes' attacks by saying, in reference to Kernes' problem with using AVN stats as a measure of a movie's sales, "If that is inaccurate, then AVN is inaccurate." Touche'), the movie can only preach to the converted. Any thoughtful person would have the same problems with it as did a room full of seasoned, passionate, educated, uneducated, articulate, inarticulate porn professionals. It would be unfair to settle the debate on the shoulders of Jensen but, even if he was disingenuously distancing himself from the movie (of course, considering the crowd, who could blame him?), he was very much up to the challenge of wanting to defend it. It did seem as if he was being purposefully exclusionary. If one really wants to defend a position to a group of people (as well as a world full of consumers) who - let's face it - might not know what the word "patriarchy" means, one does not begin by talking about the last 200,000 years of hominid history or say things like "the objectified bodies of one group are bought for the pleasure of another." Because it treats what the littlest thinker knows requires a suspension of disbelief as something that a trained thinker must justify his parents' tuition costs to write a paper about. But the filmmakers are liars. Not only do they treat the porn-consuming public as less evolved (Wheelock professor/unloved attention fiend Gail Dines was unchallenged when she said of porn consumers watching "racist"/"violent" material, "D'you think they can zip up their pants and zip up their brains?"), they also provide a disturbing portrait, in their choice of young scholars featured, of the real danger in liberal arts education: big words masking a lack of personal accountability and a real race hatred of, impersonating compassion for, the undereducated. What I wanted to hear Jensen say was that, contrary to the film's marketing, The Price of Pleasure did have an agenda, was judgmental, and was biased. Director Ernest Greene pressed Jensen on this point. But Jensen did not admit it. I was left wondering if he really believed this, which makes me want to avoid UT Austin all the more (not to mention that clock tower), or if he didn't believe it and all the polysyllabic media-crit jargon he used was the same tried-and-true ass-saving measure writ large as the person who hits your car, says "look over there!", and drives away. I was impressed with the Q & A testimonies of Kelly Holland, Ernest Greene, Nina Hartley, and adult business attorney Michael Fattarosi. Each easily engaged Jensen on his own academic terms, which needed to be done. The Price of Pleasure gives no voice to the people it claims are victimized by the adult industry (and those people certainly weren't invited to the screening), so even in a 12-person audience consisting entirely of porn personnel, at least there was discussion. Like the presidential debates, nothing was really said and nothing was ever conceded. The side that should have said "Yes, porn is exploitative and does, in some cases, destroy lives" didn't, and the side that should have said "Yes, there is something in us that is afraid of overt sexuality, and we have an agenda against it" didn't. So I was most impressed with Mika Tan. Tan did not come dressed as a Geisha, she did not have her boyfriend speak for her (regrettably, this cannot be said for everyone), and she kept on topic. Very simply, she said to Jensen, "I am very disappointed in this movie. It's inaccurate. And defending it, you have begun every sentence with a disclaimer." She then briefly detailed her own 12-year journey through the adult industry, talking about it like the job for pay that it is. She neglected only to say that she could do anything else if she wanted to. Like the Psychic Friends, The Price of Pleasure has no scholarly value and should be watched for entertainment purposes only (if your educational institution wants to fork over the $250 for it). I would have stayed longer and chatted up the pornographers, but I had to head home and beat the shit out of my white wife. Previously on Porn Valley Observed: The Price of The Price of Pleasure See also: The Price of Pleasure Labels: academia, documentary, ernest greene, events, kelly holland, mika tan, nina hartley ¶ Sunday, November 02, 2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Monday, October 27, 2008
O2 party encourages drinking, strapping, lechery
 One movie I eagerly anticipate is Ernest Greene's O2: The Surrender of O. I thought the first in the series of character adaptations from Anne Desclos' 1954 Story of O was an excellent example of porn done right. The first movie starred Adam & Eve contract performer Carmen Luvana, and the sequel stars Luvana's successor at Adam & Eve, Bree Olson. "When you try to do a narrative in which sex is only an incidental part of the dramatic content," Greene said, "the result is like a high-school play with sex. Both the story and the sex seem discordant." Greene took what was, at the time of its publication, a Harlequin romance with a real edge and turned it into a porn movie with heart. "In modernizing the setting, I had to allow for the real cultural changes that have happened, particularly in the world of BDSM, since Declos' time," Greene said. "One thing we do have that she and her circle did not is a thriving, self-aware community of kinksters, who have a working understanding of the erotic technique of consensual power exchange and the elements that combine to make a D/s relationship succeed or fail."  The release of O2 will be celebrated at a 21-and-over party on Friday, November 14 at Boardner's in Hollywood. Doors open at 9:30 and there is a $10 cover charge to access the three full bars, the DJ who probably won't play any Jonas Brothers, and fetishy antics throughout. Guests will include Nina Hartley, Bree Olson, and other members of the cast.I enjoy Boardners. Last fall I went to a party there and didn't drink and still had a good time. This year I will be drinking. It's important you know this. Greene's summation of the character of O is just as applicable to the November 14 party. "Until she accepts herself as a human being who can love and be loved and still find fulfillment within the terms of her particular kind of sexuality, she has no hope for a lasting relationship of any kind," Greene said. But she can still drink. Previously on Porn Valley Observed: Nina Hartley and Ernest Greene interview; Surrender of O first look; Workingman's Gunn See also: Surrender of O Labels: adrianna nicole, BDSM, bree olson, carmen luvana, ernest greene, events, fetish, nina hartley, Tommy Gunn ¶ Monday, October 27, 2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Monday, October 13, 2008
Nailin' Paylin for America
 If Barack Obama had hot daughters of legal age and if Michelle Obama were thicker, would Hustler be speed-releasing a movie called "Baby Got Barack"? Probably not. But in a production cycle with unprecedented turnaround, Who's Nailin' Paylin: Advetures of a Hockey MILF, was written, cast, and filmed in two weeks and will be released, at first piecemeal on Hustler's website and then as a DVD by Election Day."Other projects are on hold while we do this," a Hustler spokesperson said, "and we're getting the DVDs turned around in a week instead of our usual two." Even in that period when everyone realized how effective Bill Clinton really was (this lasted from George W. Bush's inauguration though the outpouring of support following Clinton's heart surgery through his triumphant speech at John Kerry's nomination until when, in helping to manage Hillary's presidential bid, people remembered how shrewish Clinton could be) there was still a time during Lewinskygate when the nation thought of Clinton as an embarrassment and yet a porn retelling of the cigar/blue dress affair never would have happened. Why? Two reasons. 1.) Porn Valley considers itself very liberal. In the explosion of the porn industry during the Clinton administration, which did comparatively little to prosecute adult businesses next to the regimes of Ronald Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II, porn experienced its second Golden Age. Both the video and Internet realms of porn flourished, even as the seeds of the video side's destruction were sewn as moviemakers increasingly undersold their content for easy money and neglected to institute anti-piracy safeguards. And one got the opinion that Clinton had tried most of the positions. So a Lewinsky porn might be too "on the nose." 2.) During the Clinton Administration, there was less of a need for gimmicks to sell porn. A decade later, the adult world needs every gimmick it can get.  This weekend Hustler shot Paylin, a movie with a better script than most and a cast that includes veteran pornstress Lisa Ann as "Serra Paylin" ("[Hustler attorney Paul Cambria] suggested we change the names," the Hustler publicist said), Nina Hartley as "Hilly," Jada Fire as "Condi," and Mike Horner as "Bill Orally." Sindee Jennings plays young Serra. In a scene from a classroom at Idaho State, Young Serra gets extra points from her professor (Evan Stone) for agreeing that Satan placed dinosaur fossils on the earth to trick us.As Paylin, Lisa Ann, 36, has a lot of dialogue in a script written by Roger Krypton. With a 17-page script, one of Paylin's monologues has more words than the entirety of most porn movies. This is another change from the Clinton era, when Lisa Ann began performing. "There was a lot more dialogue then," she said on the Paylin set. "And I was one of just a few girls - compared to now - working." Lisa Ann thinks that Paylin will have a cultural impact. "It's obvious who I'm voting for - Obama," she said. "But I wouldn't have done this movie for anyone else but Larry Flynt. He has done so much to fight for the First Amendment - and suffered so much - that I couldn't think of doing this for any other studio." The typical porn movie is shot in a day or two, edited for a week, and its DVD replicated and its boxcover designed over the next three weeks. Then it is put on a release schedule that might see it appearing on shelves three months later. "I got a call on October 1 that they were thinking of doing this movie," Lisa Ann said. "On the third I was told we were definitely doing it, and I started ordering suits online." I asked why she ordered her own suits. "Well, I don't want to trust anyone else to alter them," she said. "I can sew, and I hem things on my own. I didn't want to drop them off somewhere and be at their mercy." The sense of urgency to get this movie out on time is shared by everyone. The man charged with editing the Paylin movie, Sterling, picked up the still-warm DV tapes when production wrapped last night and will be editing them for the next several days. According to Richard Ford, Internet Product Manager for Hustler.com and BarelyLegal.com, the first scene (between Paylin and two interloping Russian soldiers in Alaska) will be available online Friday. "DVDs are dying, and we have to adapt and really sell this one," he said. UPDATE:Part of the selling includes "leaking" the script. If this is your first opportunity to read a porn script, you are in for a treat. Much of Porn Valley's technical jargon is contained herein in a format familiar to anyone who has read a Hollywood screenplay (and no, I didn't write it). You can read it online here. Tuesdays have for years been the days that porn videos are released, or "streeted," to stores. Since Election Day is Tuesday, November 4, the Hustler publicist said that the company is streeting the movie that day, or in a third of the time it usually takes. "When we decided we could do it in terms of time," the publicist said, "we even thought we might get it out a few days before Election Day, or maybe even the week before. But that's if nothing fucks up."  Director Jerome Tanner was in an unusually sunny mood on the set Sunday. The set, constructed within an interconnected warren of three different buildings off Canoga Blvd. in the northwest Valley, contained Paylin's podium, a greenscreen studio for still photos, the Idaho State classroom, and the snowmobile dealership where Paylin would commit an infidelity with her husband's business partner (Lee Stone).Tanner is a veteran porn director whose wife and son also work with him as production manager and cameraman, respectively. He comes from a time when no press was allowed on porn sets to this weekend, when at least ten adult and mainstream "news" outlets covered the event (but none so well as me, because I am a goddamn genius).  "Just sit there, Evan," Tanner says to Evan Stone as Sindee Jennings leaves the classroom set to have her tattoo powdered. Stone and Jennings have just had an extended dialogue scene which ended, inevitably, with the future politician fellating him. But now he is left to sit on a desk, literally with his dick in his hand, as the young Republican's pubococcygeal tat is obfuscated in keeping with her character.Evan Stone has probably appeared in one out of every five major studio porn movies in the past few years. I see him everywhere. He was just at the premiere of Pirates 2, which had the largest budget for a porn film of any movie since its 2005 predecessor (no one has come forward with a figure that agreed with anyone else's figure, so I won't perjure myself. But the budget is likely more than $350,000). Paylin will probably come in for $40-$50k and its window to make that money back drops precipitously after November 4. Stone is a rascal. "Do you ever sleep?" I asked. "Why, do you want to take a nap?" he said. Later, the female publicist walked in. He was still holding himself. "Sit over here," he said. "Just kiss the tip. Please." (She declined, I think, because I had a camera.) Then a male production assistant joined us. Stone was still sitting pantsless on the desk. "Keeping hard?" the P.A. asked. "Just keep talking and I will," Stone said.  During the previous scene, Stone and Jennings repeated their dialogue three different times for different camera angles. Each time, Stone changed his lines a little. Once he said "Thunder Lizards," then he said "dinosaurs," and finally he said "Tyrannosaurus Maximus." This would be difficult for a director of a mainstream movie, but Tanner did not care. So Stone gets to indulge his muse as an artist. Jennings is 22 and has been made up to look like a younger Sarah Palin, rather than a younger Lisa Ann. After leaving her native Texas, Jennings has been in the porn business for two years and is particularly famous for "squirting," the oft-disputed female money shot, which some adherents call female ejaculation and others dismiss as really convenient urination. As Young Serra, she winks at the camera and demands Stone "drill me." Out by the hot food table and seated near a truck filled with lighting equipment, Lisa Ann smokes a cigarette and rehearses her lines. She has one more scene today, in which she avoids questions about her infidelities and engages in a three-way with Hilly and Condi."This movie is going to be part of history," she said. "I'm going to buy a bunch of copies just to keep." I asked her if she thought that this was a dangerous movie. "I'm keeping a couple of extra security people around," she said. "People are crazy. But I wouldn't not do it." Lisa Ann left porn several years ago and has returned now that MILF movies are popular. But she devotes most of her time to her new porn talent agency, Lisa Ann Talent. We talked about the possible market for this movie. I suggested that a lot of people who were vocally against porn would at least statistically have to be closet fans. "I'm from Pennsylvania," she said, "and porn fans come out of the woodwork when I go back east." As with her sewing, Lisa Ann embraces traditional values. "The lady who taught me to sew, Peggy, is 97 years old and I still writes letters to her," she said. Longhand? "Yes. I try to write all my friends a little note now and then. Getting letters in the mail instead of just bills is a great way to stay in touch." Lisa Ann said she has done more than 100 radio interviews since she took the role of Serra Paylin, and she has "been on TMZ twice."  Like the Presidential (or Vice Presidential) debates, I doubt the release of Who's Nailin' Paylin? will change anyone's mind about their choice of candidate on November 4. But most people on set agreed that the movie was, in its way, a political statement. While a fair and balanced subplot could have included Lexington Steele as Barack Obama (or, more likely, James Deen in blackface), instead the lone Democratic target of porn scorn was Hilly. Because Hillary Clinton's style of feminism seems, to the Porno-American community, dangerously close to Sarah Palin's style of idiot fundamentalism.But if you think solid American values have no place in the world of pornography, you're wrong. Corporate porn firms like Hustler are every bit as capitalist as a Fortune 500 company and, unlike them, is not in debt up to its eyeballs to failing banks. Because no porn company could ever go to a bank to finance its fisting opus, most adult companies are either poor or flush, but not in debt. Because who gives a porn company a loan? Richard de Montfort is Hustler's resident still photographer (though he occasionallly directs hardcore videos like Strollin' in the Colon). He is prepping Lisa Ann for a series of photos that may or may not go on the boxcover. In front of the greenscreen she props her foot on a box that will later be Photoshopped away and be replaced with a dead moose ("I'd field-dress her moose any day," said the enigmatic Larry Flynt).  After a cycle of photos with her business suit slowly coming off, Lisa Ann disrobes and puts on an American flag, wrapping it around herself, letting it fall seductively, etc."Can you cup your ass with it?" de Montfort asks and, pro that she is, Lisa Ann does. "Just don't let the flag touch the floor," de Montfort says, and Lisa Ann doesn't. See the Who's Nailin' Paylin? Adventures of a Hockey MILF gallery here. Previously on Porn Valley Observed: Democrats do in a pinch; Today in porn swag; Stuffed? I'm Stayin'! See also: Hustler Labels: barack obama, Evan Stone, hillary clinton, hustler, interviews, jada fire, jerome tanner, lisa ann, MILF, nina hartley, politics, richard de montfort, sarah palin, set visits, sindee jennings ¶ Monday, October 13, 2008 3 Comments Links to this post
Friday, October 10, 2008
Whether it's a titpop or a jawbreaker, these milves are on the move!
 With the worsening economy I'm experimenting with writing headlines the way I would for Good Housekeeping. Do you think it will work?My continuing quest for authenticity and MILF-transparency yesterday found me in northwest Porn Valley to watch the filming of the latest installment of Northstar's Minivan Moms. Northstar is the Orange County-based company of Peter North, and there were three milves in attendance for the purposes of the movie, directed by Oliver Ashe. Earlier this year I was outraged by the utter absence of even a mention of a minivan in Minivan Moms 7, so I felt like a UN MILF observer or Jimmy Carter yesterday, checking to see that everything was on the up and up and sinning in my heart. Director Ashe is a New Jersey transplant. Prior to moving to Northstar, in Irvine, four years ago, he worked for IVD, one of the largest distributors in the adult industry. Another IVD alum is Jules Jordan. Ashe thinks California weather is brutal and the traffic is stupid. I agree, but do you know how much a good burrito costs in Newark?  On hand in the hidden studio facility (it was located in a warehouse that also includes a tire outlet) were Vannah Sterling, Anjanette Astoria, and Nina Hartley, who would be featured on the boxcover.Both Sterling and Astoria have been in porn for less than a year, but as they were a little older, the vibe on the set seemed less ready to explode in flames, cops, and gun-toting boyfriends. It was relaxed. "I like working with the older women," Ashe said. "They're doing it less for the money than for the fun." Vannah Sterling was being fucked on a towel in the bathroom by John Espizedo. The bathroom was also part of the set, so one could fuck in the shower and then actually take a shower. It's smart when things are functional.  Espizedo was wearing shoes, Sterling wasn't. I liked that she wasn't, because the Greek-American New York native had her feet planted firmly on the floor, ready for all comers, the way her ancestors probably did in the showers of Athens."Do you still cook Greek food?" I probed, America's Beloved Porn Journalist. "Yes," Sterling said. "Moussaka." Ashe zoomed in for staged hardcore stills, the kind of photos you'd find on the back of the box that are difficult to capture when the actual sex is taking place. He placed Espizedo and Sterling in blowjob position, took a couple of pictures, and then asked her to do a jawbreaker. "What's that?" she asked. "When you can see the cock plumping out your cheek," he explained. "Got it," she said. I asked Sterling what happened in the scene prior to the jawbreaker. "[Espizedo] borrowed my husband's minivan," she said. "He's a kid from the neighborhood that I haven't seen in a long time. And then we - " she trailed off. It really is hard to explain, once you get right down to it, the things that lead to getting or giving a jawbreaker. These things just happen. I don't know how many times I have had to convince juries of this. I asked Sterling what her definition of MILF was. "A hot mom," she said. "So a MILF has to have given birth, right?" I said. "Yes," she said. Even the newest arrivals to porn seem to know this. Why, then, is there such rampant abuse of the MILF label? In another room was Nina Hartley. Her scene with Will Power would involve his returning her minivan late and Hartley extracting some pleasure for the inconvenience. "Your girlfriend's not going to know," she said. "Well, I might get fired," he said. "Your boss doesn't need to know, either," she said. "My day just got better," he said.  The dialogue was improvised but Ashe had them repeat it as he moved the camera to each of their faces. That way the movie will not look like a panning, sloppy mess."Our budgets aren't too big," he said. "I think this is the most people we've ever had on a set." In addition to the cast, Ashe, Stacie the makeup lady, me, and second cameraman Rich Zaye, Astoria had brought her husband, who watched the proceedings avidly. Not like Frank Sinatra watched Mia Farrow on the set of Rosemary's Baby, bust as a man intensely proud of his hot wife about to be banged by Dino Bravo. The production equipment included four lights - two for each scene being shot concurrently - two video cameras, one still camera, and some towels. "So it's the cast and the location we pay for," said Ashe, "and me and Rich are on salary, so we keep the overhead low." If Sterling needed a primer on the terminology, Hartley had been down this road so many times that she sounded like a porn field manual or an OSHA supplement. "If there's anything you say to me on camera," she said to Power, "I'll believe you and do it. So don't say 'That's it!' or 'Go faster!' if you don't mean it." Later Hartley discussed with Ashe where the popshot would go. "I think the other girl got in on the neck," Ashe said. "I'm just wondering if we should do a facepop, neckpop, or titpop," she said. I believe they settled on the latter. See Hartley's leveraged definition of MILF here.  Because the lights were bright and the rooms were small, Ashe took off his shirt while filming. I would have done this too had I been wearing more than socks.Astoria showed up with most of her makeup applied already. A dancer at The Embers in Sacramento, she travels several hours from her home in the Modesto area to appear in movies. She has been filming scenes for eight months.  "What is a MILF?" I asked."Well, she's gotta have children," she said, a slight Virginia accent surfacing. "Are your boobs fake or real?" asked the makeup lady, who until two years ago was the performer Alaura Eden. "They're fake," Astoria said, "but I just turned 35, and after five kids, well, you need them." "You have five kids?" I think I spat out my appendix. When she dances, Astoria can lift herself up the pole by her calves. (I left before seeing her scene with Bravo but I assume he's dead now.) While there were - again - no actual minivans in this movie, I was pleased that minivans were at least mentioned in each scene. And Astoria has so many kids that she could have easily loaned them out to anyone on the set who wasn't a mom. So things are looking up. See the Minivan Moms gallery here. Previously on Porn Valley Observed: Minivan Moms 7 review; Lexington Steele tries to be all things to all people; Sex on the nest with Nina Hartley See also: Northstar Associates Labels: anjanette astoria, business, dino bravo, john espizedo, nina hartley, northstar, oliver ashe, set visits, vannah sterling, WGL, will power ¶ Friday, October 10, 2008 3 Comments Links to this post
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Henri Pachard memorial: "He was one of the greats"
 Proud pornographer Ron Sullivan, known professionally as Henri Pachard, was remembered today at a well-attended Buddhist ceremony in the Panorama City section of Los Angeles. Sullivan, who died September 27, succumbed at 69 to a three-year struggle with cancer.Veteran performer Herschel Savage moderated the two-hour ceremony, held at the Soka Gokkai International Friendship Center. "Ron and (wife) Deloras embraced Buddhism about two years ago," Savage said, shepherding the group of about 200 attendees through a hybrid ritual of chanting, incense burning, and bell ringing combined with a traditional - and often boisterous - wake. I'd estimate that more than 90 percent of those who attended knew Sullivan from the adult industry, which he'd been a part of since the late 60s in New York. Sullivan directed, wrote, appeared in, or otherwise worked on thousands of adult movies (as well as, as director Jane Waters remembered, in-house documentaries for Colonial Williamsburg). The remaining ten percent appeared to be members of the SGI Center and the family of Deloras, who was Sullivan's fifth wife. "Ronnie was one of those people who would stand up and say, 'I'm a pornographer,'" said director Freddie Lincoln, looking cool and trim in long white hair and jeans. But Lincoln was representative of most of the guests who, unless they were the children of people who knew Sullivan, all appeared to be older than 35. Sullivan's was the most recent funeral of men who were integral to this region's fame as Porn Valley: directors Jim Holliday and Clive McLean and performer Jon Dough were all waked within the past five years. Anyone who harbored fears that the decorum of the tranquil Buddhist ceremony would be shattered by the pornography crowd was quickly proved right. "I was Ron's penis," said director Paul Thomas, who began as a performer in the 70s. "We started a line of cocaine that didn't end for twenty years. And Ron, I'm still your penis." But the crowd didn't appear scandalized. As a video montage played, a porn pantheon took the stage to pay tribute to Sullivan. Among them were Nina Hartley and Ernest Greene, Randy Spears, Sullivan's son Jason (a much sought after porn cameraman in his own right), performers TT Boy and Valentino, and former performer and founder of Adult Industry Medical - the de facto Porn Valley STD testing clinic - Sharon Mitchell ("Then I was Ron's vagina"). In the audience were veteran directors Roy Karch, Cass Paley, Jace Rocker, Bud Lee, Rob Spallone, and David Aaron Clark; performers Lynn LeMay, Don Hollywood, and Cameron Cain and Aiden Starr (two exceptions to the Over 35 demographic I saw); agents Mark Spiegler and Derek Hay; and screenwriter/costumer Raven Touchstone, who remembers a time when one could make a living writing porn scripts (hint: it was long ago). Sullivan was remembered - fondly - by many as a womanizer. Sharon Mitchell said that Sullivan was the first person she called in 1996 when she was attacked by a crazed fan and needed a ride home from the hospital. "And he didn't hit on me," Mitchell said. "He said that he wanted to but he could see I was too fragile." Another hospital story (as well as numerous video clips) revealed Sullivan's loopy sense of humor. "I was recovering from an operation and told him that my sides hurt to laugh," Sullivan's younger sister recalled. "We got in the cab and Ron told the driver to go slow and avoid all potholes 'because all ten of her toes have been amputated.'" Deloras took the racy anecdotes from Sullivan's porn friends in stride, and received glowing tributes herself. "We were all so lucky to have Ron," said Tammy Behan. "But Ron was so lucky to have you." Sullivan's final years were painful. If the primary theme of the service was what a delightful person he was, the secondary theme was the ugliness of his cancer. "It was like a fire inside him," Deloras said. "But he doesn't have that body any more." "I have to admit I'm relieved that he doesn't have to go through this anymore," Sullivan's son Jason said. For those of us who didn't know Sullivan well, this was a "good funeral." It left us wishing we'd known the departed better. Director Ernest Greene was one of many who described Sullivan as a mentor. Greene also said that Sullivan was a great source for the history of the adult business. Even though that history is brief and the business is comparatively small, there isn't really much more than an oral history, whose few remaining interpreters have been reduced by one. In my own (brief) experience, this has resulted in a reactionary culture of "Don't you know who I am?" among some long-time adult industry personnel, fearing marginalization in an already marginalized business. But Sullivan was not like that. He was just friendly and supportive. And humble. David Aaron Clark put this better. "(Sullivan) never said, 'Don't you know who I am?' He was the guy who you'd be talking to for 45 minutes and then someone else would say, 'Don't you know who he is?'" It was an uncharacteristically rainy day, so naturally it was a porn screenwriter who said "the heavens are crying." But Deloras Sullivan, who took care of her husband from hale to hollow, was relieved and hopeful, even as she cried. "He's back," she said. Update: Toronto-based artist Denise LaFrance painted the 2004 likeness of Sullivan displayed at the top of this story and on the program for Sullivan's memorial. It and several other paintings of adult industry notables appear in LaFrance's upcoming coffee table book "The Golden Heart & Soul of XXX ~ A Celebration of People." Previously on Porn Valley Observed: Cancer benefit for Henri Pachard; Hair apparent: he Violation of Claudia; Is the feature dead?; The Pornograher at 60; Nina Hartley And Ernest Greene: O (the power of submission) The Places They Go; Take me to the FIP See also: Henri Pachard on the Internet Adult Film Database Labels: "david aaron clark", "paul thomas", "roy karch", aiden starr, classic, ernest greene, events, henri pachard, jane waters, lynn lemay, nina hartley, obituaries ¶ Saturday, October 04, 2008 2 Comments Links to this post
Friday, October 03, 2008
Rodney King: "Can't we all stop asseating"?
Actually, Rodney King said no such thing, but I may have. When I was informed that Nina Hartley would be starring in Tom Byron's Asseaters Unanimous 17 (I know #16 just came out - I know), I requested a non-Nina asseating photograph from the movie and contacted Ms. Hartley herself.Gram: Nina, I know what a Rusty Trombone is. I know what a Dirty Sanchez is. I know what a Blumpkin and a Red Sock are. More than that, I understand why they are called those things. Can you tell me why one who has rimmed is one who has "tossed salad"?That Nina Hartley herself did not know the answer to this question sent me into a profound depression that lasted several weeks. I considered suicide and/or watching a Jennifer James video starring Bill Margold, or a Bill Margold video starring Jennifer James. An angel came to me. Angel: Grams, I understand that Nina Hartley not knowing the answer to a sex question might lead you to suicide, but justifying the continued careers of the people you just mentioned would hurt more than just you. Sales figures indicate they might hurt up to ten people.Finally, to save myself, I resolved to ask Hartley something she could answer. Gram: Nina, what is the square root of 616, 225? Hartley: Oh. That would be 785. Gram: Then what is the appeal of eating the ass? Hartley: I've been eating ass for years, since my first videos. Partly because it's transgressive, partly because I'm always supportive of any man who'll let his butt be pleasured on camera, and partly because I know it feels good. Gram: You're a better person than I am. Hartley didn't answer because she already knows this. Previously on Porn Valley Observed: God, give me the serenity to accept Asseaters Unanimous; Nina Hartley's Great Sex During Pregnancy See also: Tom Byron Labels: nina hartley, the ass, tom byron ¶ Friday, October 03, 2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Remembering Haley Paige, a little
 Before presenting a brief remembrance of the porn performer Haley Paige, who died a year ago today, I'll share with you an anonymous comment I just received on a post about the late Anna Malle:"hey anna is going to hell by the way..fornication is a big sin to God..she will suffer the blitz of hell fire..pray for other birls in porn also to change."I have become a heavy comment moderator recently, trashing your First Amendment freedoms, I know, but I choose to leave some hateful comments intact as a reminder of the dangerous regard some fans have for people they think they know. Maryam Irene Haley was 25 when she died on August 21, 2007 in the Central California town of King City. Three weeks earlier, on August 2, she had married her boyfriend, porn director Inkyo Volt Hwang, in Las Vegas. From my Fleshbot story last October:  People who see porn as a multi-billion-dollar cautionary tale need look no further than the sad story of husband and wife Inkyo Volt Hwang (aka Chico or Wanker Wang) and Maryam Irene Haley (aka Haley Paige). Hwang was a website owner and director of extreme porn videos, and Paige was a performer who appeared in the gamut of what porn has to offer, from gangbangs to "couples-friendly" films.I met Paige a few times, and she was indeed very sweet, but also distant. I met Chico Wang (who adopted the name of his prison) a few times, too, and didn't enjoy the experience. But he was distant, too. I have since met a number of friends of both Paige and Wang who say that the couple were very private people, despite the clinical nature of the work they did, and that Wang's public persona masked vulnerability, low self esteem, and shame. And that those things got the better of him.  So many porn performers don't want their families and hometowns to know what they do, and there is such a deep stigma to the job in such a benighted society that only a few people (Nina Hartley comes to mind) can really transcend it. But Hartley actively seeks transcendence in everything she does, and the majority of porn personnel prefer to keep large aspects of their lives under wraps for fear of what confused idiots like the person quoted at the beginning of this story might do.But by virtue of there not being a continued thread in Porn, a legitimate archive or history that competent people who are proud of their accomplishments can carry on, departures like Paige's get swallowed up in the face of 11,000 new porn titles a year that bring on anonymity far swifter than in Hollywood, and that is a shame.  People loved Maryam and people loved Haley, and I encourage those people who've talked to me privately to leave a positive message in the comments section. Most of the images above are from I Love Haley Paige, a compilation disc released this year of scenes shot between 2003 and 2005. It does not have behind the scenes footage or anything extra that reveals Haley the person, which I think is a missed opportunity for her fans. But she sure was lovely. I Love Haley PaigePreviously: The Da Vinci Load and gallery; Haley Paige video surfaces posthumously Labels: anna malle, chico wang, commentary, haley paige, history, news, nina hartley, WGL ¶ Thursday, August 21, 2008 13 Comments Links to this post
Friday, August 01, 2008
Nina Hartley: "I inserted a thumb and she perked up immediately."
 Last night's In the Flesh reading was really a good time. As always I was impressed with the hospitality of Freddy & Eddy's Venice store and the groovy group of people it attracts, and the readers were an eclectic and entertaining group, including Seth Greenland, Nina Hartley, Jeff Miller, and Colleen Wainwright.Pictured above are Hartley, me, and Freddy and Eddy themselves, Ian and Alicia Denchasy (photo credit Abraham Zapruder, Bigfoot Labs).  Greenland, the writer of the group who most looked the part, read from his book "Shining City" a passage about redemption via a singing vibrating vaginal egg. Thrillist's Jeff Miller told a story about his mother catching him masturbating to his father's porn stash (1988's Hitler Sucks starring Mike Horner and Alicia Monet), and Communicatrix.com's Colleen Wainwright sang a ditty about her website's most frequent search terms accompanied by L.A. theatre icon David Bickford, whose name is now on a porn site.Host Carly Milne began the night with her account of posing nude in Calgary. Had it been Banff, it would have been dirtier. Everything's dirtier in BanffTM. But it was Hartley for whom the most audience members traveled, to whom people listened with jaws agape, and who could have read a soup can and done just fine. Instead she told a story of how fisting a woman, after a point, becomes less about your pushing than her sucking you in. From there Hartley turned the story, as she often will, into a gentle reminder that we should all love each other. Nina Hartley: National Treasure, Goddamn Hippie. I read two stories, one of which I've reprinted (with permission from the author) below. What We Know About Cheyenne (At this point I could feel the tension in the audience. "This isn't sexy at all," they were thinking. Fools! It was about to get horrifyingly sexy.) On the other side of the street, women were drawing water from the well, turning to maneuver back up the street with sloshing buckets. The man saw an opportunity to get close to the widow Becky, so he eased beside her and took one of the water pails.The stories got a good response, I think, because a woman later gave me this drawing on a napkin. It is a self-portrait of her masturbating on a ladder.  Am I the ladder? Previously: Nina Hartley's Great Sex During Pregnancy; Carly Milne's Naked Ambition See also: Freddy & Eddy, In the Flesh LA Labels: carly milne, events, freddy and eddy, literature, nina hartley, personal appearances, writers ¶ Friday, August 01, 2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
In the Flesh for fantasy
 I will be reading two of my brief, brilliant, and poignant classics dealing with Lincoln Logs, anal sex, and the American West tomorrow night at Freddy & Eddy's Emporium as part of the "Surprises" edition of the In the Flesh reading series, hosted by Carly Milne.Q. But I hate you, Grams. I mean, I really hate you. Are there any other reasons I should go? A. Yes. Not only will there be free cupcakes and (aside from me) a witty, engaging, and attractive audience, but there will also be Nina Hartley reading from her own work, "Shining City" author Seth Greenland, Thrillist.com's Jeff Miller, and "Communicatrix" Colleen Wainwright (I don't know what this means, but it sounds dangerous). The fun begins at 7:30, way down in Mar Vista on Venice Blvd., and there is a cupcake-defrayal charge of $10. Previously: In the Flesh wants your sex See also: In the Flesh L.A.; Freddy & Eddy Labels: carly milne, events, freddy and eddy, nina hartley, personal appearances, words ¶ Wednesday, July 30, 2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Nina Hartley And Ernest Greene: O (the power of submission) The Places They Go
Nina Hartley and Ernest Greene celebrated their fifth anniversary yesterday.
One of Hartley's favorite questions is "What does your husband say about what you do?" "Action." A version of this story first appeared in The Naughty American.  If there were a porn version of "Fiddler on the Roof" (and who says there won't be – the title wouldn't even have to change), the Yenta would determine that Nina Hartley and Ernest Greene are a good – and not so unlikely – match."We recognize that our relationship is a work in progress," says Nina Hartley of her marriage to Ernest Greene. "But we love each other for our essential natures, which never change." Hartley, 49, is, of course, a major celebrity and sex educator famous to generations of fans, and Greene, 55, directs bondage-themed movies like "O: The Power of Submission." The couple met in 1989 and married in 2000. They live and work in a massive loft overlooking downtown Los Angeles. Hartley and Greene are veterans of several long-term relationships and have deduced that maintaining a successful marriage requires hard work for its rewards. "We maintain really rigorous relationship hygiene," Hartley said. "No matter how frightened or upset, nobody gets to be mean. Nobody's leaving. There's no bringing up stuff from before." One of the defining traits of couplehood is that each member can feel at ease with the other. This has been true of Hartley and Greene since the day they met, albeit with a porn twist. "It was 1989 and I was working as an assistant director to (porn performer/director/screenwriter) Sharon Kane," Greene said. "And there was Nina…" "There was a rape scene in the movie," Hartley added. "And I balked. I didn't want to do it. Ernest worked with me to recontextualize the scene for my character (those were the days in porn when you still talked about character). It was very helpful! Later that night, I was fooling around on the floor with Sharon and I asked Ernest if he wanted a blowjob." "What was I gonna do – say ‘No’?" Greene said. "I pay attention to the way a guy receives a blowjob," Hartley observed. "And he took it well." Hartley was in an unhappy triad marriage at the time. Although the couple she was married to approved of her working in porn ("and its paycheck," she added), she was forbidden to get in an extracurricular relationship. "So I was conflicted," she said. "I was attracted to [Ernest] from the beginning. He had such a big personality, and we clicked, which is something I didn't have at home in San Francisco." So Hartley would stay with Greene when she came to Los Angeles for work, but eventually felt so guilty that she called off their nascent relationship. "I went back to my marriage," she said, "until I just couldn’t take it anymore. And that took seven years." Greene, meanwhile, consoled himself by "being absolutely sure [Nina] had made a big mistake." They would continue seeing each other professionally as they collaborated on a series of educational "Nina Hartley's Guide To … " videos for adult studio Adam & Eve. To hear them tell it, Hartley suffered at their breakup but Greene soldiered on. "I had relationships with several women in the business," he said. "All of them great learning experiences. But all of them transitory from the beginning. I knew that." But then came the fateful day in 2000. "She called and asked me to lunch … " Greene said. "I actually called him and said, 'I've left my husband; are you free for lunch?'" "Now and for the rest of my life," Greene said at the time. "Now where were we?" Greene said he would do anything to keep her. He told her that she was never leaving again. "You won't get out so easy this time," he said. And there, at ages 40 and 46, Hartley and Greene started their life together, which now reflects decades of their own sexual, artistic, and political exploration, and which allows each party room to have sex with other people as part of keeping their own special relationship strong. "The more men I fuck," Hartley said, "the more I love my husband. And if you want a perfect brute in the bedroom, go see Ernest. It's like dancing with the Minotaur." "It's more fun than it looks," mused Greene. "I'm like an old Harley Davidson." But each also has a commitment to making good porn, which they think has something to do with their generation, and the age at which they started in the business. "You had a lot of sex radicals back then [in the 70s and 80s]," Greene said. "Because porn wasn't everywhere, you had to go and find it,” Hartley added. “It seemed to attract the type of person who really believed in it." "And so we try to give people the best we can give them," Greene said. "Consumers are not sheep to be fleeced. The people who are putting down their hard-earned money for a movie should get the best we can give them." The couple feels like they've hit on something, and want to get the word out. "We like spreading the Good News about sex," Greene said. "We want to let people know that 'I've seen sex and I think it's OK’"  One result of that philosophy was their well-received 2006 book, "Nina Hartley's Guide to Total Sex," with Greene writing as Ira S. Levine, his non-porn name.Greene is also happy to promote the product known as Nina Hartley: Porn Icon. "She's the star and I'm her biggest fan," he said. The longtime executive editor of Hustler's "Taboo" magazine, Greene acknowledges that even Larry Flynt seems smitten with Nina. "After all this time, the invitations to Hustler's Christmas party are still addressed to 'Nina Hartley and Guest,' even though I work there," he said. And Flynt isn't the only one. The artist Robert Williams, founder of Juxtapoz magazine and whose painting "Appetite for Destruction" was featured on the cover of the Guns 'n' Roses album of the same name, greeted his old friend Greene at a gallery opening. Greene recalled the conversation: "You're with Nina Hartley?'" Williams said. "I'm married to Nina Hartley," Greene said. "I've been jerking off to her ass for years," Williams said. Greene is not possessive of Hartley. The emotion is more like pride. "How do I feel with other guys being attracted to my wife?" Greene asked. "Well, a little smirky, actually." Greene said that this is the result of a genetic deficiency uncommon to most men. "I don't get jealous," he said. "I was born without that gene. We recognize that it is healthy for us to now and then get a dose of a different person." Hartley describes her own sexuality as "polymorphous/perverse." Greene clarified, "I call her the Universal Adapter." "I'm dominant, I'm submissive, I like women, I like men," Hartley said. "Most spots on the continuum." Hartley said that their style of open, non-possessive relationship encourages them to be better people for each other. "Ernest says, 'The stronger you get, the more secure I feel,'" she said. "How many men say that to their wives? 'Be as big as you want.' Oh, fuck, man! Now I have to own who I am!" Hartley and Greene do not offer advice for other couples, but point to successful relationship protocols that they arrived at through trial and error. "We're very complementary to each other," Hartley said, "but it was helpful to realize that the ways we are not compatible aren't some plot by the other person to be offensive." Eight years into the second act of their relationship, Greene has only one misgiving. "The regret I have is that we missed some fun by starting later," he said. "What would this have been like in our 20s?" If the relationship Greene and Hartley share seems alien to the average American couple, consider this final, universal tip. "We have a maid come in and clean," Hartley said. "You can really focus on loving your partner by outsourcing the drudgework." Previously: Sex on the nest with Nina Hartley; The Surrender of O first look See also: Nina Hartley Labels: ernest greene, fetish, interviews, naughty america, nina hartley ¶ Tuesday, July 08, 2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Monday, June 23, 2008
Noname Jane is born as Violet Blue departs
 It's strange that the Performer Formerly Known as Violet Blue should make her exit with a movie about impending birth, but that's what happened last week as Adam & Eve, producers of the excellent Nina Hartley's Guide to Great Sex During Pregnancy, was legally enjoined to remove the name "Violet Blue" from the boxcover.In October of last year, the sex columnist Violet Blue (with whom I share masthead space at Fleshbot) sued the performer Violet Blue, winner of AVN's Best New Starlet award in 2002 (as of today, "Violet Blue" is still listed as the winner) for, among other things, trademark violation. The writer believes the name of the performer diluted the brand the writer had built over the years. The performer, born Ada Mae Johnson, lost the case and had to hand over the keys to the domain violetblue.org. The new mother (it was her second child that she was carrying in the Hartley video) has returned as Noname Jane, but has the onerous task of informing companies she worked for as Violet Blue that they need to remove her name from current movies. So far, only the famously cautious Adam & Eve has complied, and only for Nina Hartley's Guide to Great Sex During Pregnancy. Existing copies on store shelves or in the warehouses of e-tailers are not affected, but the boxcover has been redesigned for reorders. I have talked with people on either side of this issue, some of whom consented to go on the record, but I am not going to start quoting people until I can present a more balanced story. One reason for this is that both women show evidence of having professionally used the name "Violet Blue" for years and, while the performer can lay claim to being famous in her corner of the sex industry for longer, the writer's footprint has expanded, and the writer has taken more steps to create a legal paper trail, such as trademarking the name in 2007. Plus, it is clear that the writer really wants it. In the porn world, the people I've talked with are not happy with the writer Blue, and in the mainstream world coverage has focused - as it will - on the story's comic elements (this Wired story almost makes it out alive but then cannot help itself from calling the performer a "thespian." The story's comments clearly favor the performer). It is unlikely the case will go any further. Noname Jane does not have the resources to fight Blue, who has won the first (and perhaps final) round, and it is only if enough adult companies are similarly hampered with injunctions that they would consider fighting back. The picture above is among the first of the brand new Noname Jane, taken by Ed Fox. Nonamejane.com is under construction and, the performer says, "no one else has that name." Previously: Nina Hartley's Great Sex During Pregnancy See also: The writer; the performer at the Internet Adult Film Database Labels: legal, nina hartley, noname jane ¶ Monday, June 23, 2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Friday, May 23, 2008
The Surrender of O first look
 The sequel to O: The Power of Submission will be released in September, just in time for submission for AVN award consideration. The new version stars Bree Olson as the title character, and I think her facial expression here says it all.  Two angles of the same picture. Either way there are some strong adhesives at work.  My O2 Gallery. Previously: O: The Power of Submission See also: Adam & Eve Labels: "adam and eve", BDSM, bree olson, ernest greene, fetish, nina hartley ¶ Friday, May 23, 2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Sex on the Nest with Nina Hartley, and some more masturbation
 I love pregnant women. That is why I am so intent on creating them. But National Treasure Nina Hartley, who trained as a midwife before embarking on a career in a different service industry, declares that the road to MILFhood can be both bumpy and delightful. In her Great Sex During Pregnancy DVD, Hartley (who has not been pregnant herself) moderates as two glowing porn stars share their favorite on-the-nest tips and positions. Hartley is joined by Violet Blue and Tiffany Mynx, both of whom happened to be pregnant and wearing lingerie at the time Hartley came knocking. Read more about Great Sex During Pregnancy here. Because it's Nina Hartley Day (except in Tennesee and Canada), Ms. Hartley elaborated on her personal masturbation philosophy that she will share live tonight between 5 and 8 PST. Gram: Three hours. You're masturbating for three hours. Hartley: I've never been motivated to masturbate for three hours, either, so we'll have to see! My orgasmic threshold is quite high, and I'm only really good for one O per session. Gram: You mean O: The Power of Submission (now available on DVD) soon to be a major sequel? Hartley: No. Orgasm. Really, two a week is fine for me, no matter how many times I fuck anyone. The benefits of sustaining pleasure is the reduction in blood pressure, etc., as well as heightened mental effects. Pleasure/orgasm are altered states of consciousness, akin to the drug experience, so the longer you stay "in" it, the more woozy from the endorphins you'll be. The longer you can hold off from coming, the stronger the eventual pop will be. Gram: I'm afraid of my own orgasms. People have died. See Nina's masturbation session here. Previously: Nina Hartley to masturbate for three hours See also: Nina Hartley, Adam & Eve Labels: interviews, MILF, nina hartley, pregnant, violet blue ¶ Wednesday, May 21, 2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Nina Hartley to masturbate for three hours
 In a display of strength and iron will, Nina Hartley will masturbate on camera for three hours tomorrow afternoon. What's more, she will be doing this in Calabasas, Spanish for "pumpkins."Hartley will launch Gamelink's Pornstar Masturbation Marathon Wednesday, May 21, from 5 to 8 PST. May is, more than any other month apparently, National Masturbation Month. A portion of the proceeds from the event will be donated to San Francisco's Center for Sex and Culture (CSC) to continue their work promoting masturbation as safe sex. "National Masturbation Month," you might say. "I don't know if I can masturbate more than I already do." Stop whining. Are you against our troops? The powerful Masturbation Lobby has a lot of competition to raise awareness. May is also Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, Mental Health Month, Allergy/Asthma Awareness Month, National Good Car Keeping Month, National Strawberry Month, National Chocolate Custard Month, Foot Health Month, National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, National High Blood Pressure Month, (and, flying in the face of the previous one) National Hamburger Month, Arthritis Month, Better Sleep Month, Correct Posture Month, National Salad Month, Older Americans Month, National Barbecue Month, National Bike Month, National Mine Month, National Egg Month, National Artisan Gelato Month, National Asparagus Month (this month's upper-level directive is "Stop Talking about Urine"), National Macaroon Day, National Salad Month, National Salsa Month, and National Share A Story month (this month's upper-level directive is "Start Talking about Urine"). Log in here for more information. Previously: Nina Hartley's Guide to Female Ejaculation; Nina and Kylie's perfect Orgy; your mileage may vary See also: Nina Hartley Masturbates Live!, (Image stolen from) John Berggruen Gallery Labels: gamelink, masturbation, nina hartley ¶ Tuesday, May 20, 2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Friday, February 08, 2008
Backstage at the XBiz Awards: A Night of Heroes
 I am not saying that the Porno-Industrial Complex does not deserve to honor itself or that pornfolk do not deserve recognition for their hard work, but I can't shake the feeling that adult awards shows, with their Lifetime Achievement honors and Man of the Year trophies, seem like kids dressing up in their parents' oversized sportcoats and ball gowns and putting on a show in the barn. "...and watching white guys mack their pimpness to doormen isn't how I want to spend my time," added Blueblood.com editor Amelia G. (seen here with the amiable Forrest Black).I enjoy adult awards shows. They are charming. But last night's XBiz Awards, last month's AVN Awards, the XRCO Awards and all the various Kucinich-level adult award events are all the same gig albeit in different venues with differing amounts of money behind them. The audience's tenuous attention to its host at the inevitably tardy start rapidly unravels by the 20-minute mark. By the end, most of the audience has drifted away, the presenters are calling for attention, and the majority of attendees remaining are just in earshot in case their award category is coming up. How often have you heard Billy Crystal tell the Oscar audience to "Shut the fuck up"? It happens all the time at adult awards shows. That said, I always have a good time, because I'm hanging around with everyone else in back. As Porn's ambassador to the outside world, however, I imagine the wry and winking, bemused and condescending takes visiting mainstream reporters might have on such events - mostly because I hate competition in the Bemused and Condescending department but also because I have tender feelings for this business. The XBiz Awards were held at the Hollywood Highlands, a popular nightclub adjacent to the Oscars' Kodak Theatre. XBiz Conference attendees needed only to walk across the street from the Roosevelt Hotel and climb the stairs. Inside were several bars and a large VIP area. I heard there were snacks there, but I left coldcut-free because I kept bumping into people I knew.  One was Veronique Vega, whose new haircut reminds me of a healthy Amy Winehouse that I want to debase and hook on drugs. She is part Puerto Rican and part Tahitian. I wonder if we're related? Here is intellectual filmmaker DCypher getting into a shot of Halcyon Styn and Ashley Steel. It was the couple's six-month anniversary."I am a Buddhist," DCypher said. People might argue that adult personnel are an army of rebels and free-thinkers who can't sit down and shut up due to their boundless energy and First Amendment patriotism. Those people might have been correct about this as few as ten years ago, but if they're still saying it they're dummies. Now it's nothing more than limited attention span coupled with nothing to pay attention to.  Tommy Gunn and Ashlyn Brooke attended the awards, squabbling over who looked better."I have full breasts," Brooke noted. "You lose."  Nina Hartley expertly handled three different gan interactions in our two-minute conversation. Each fan left with a remarkable sense of well-being. Casey Parker pinned Holly Randall to the unyielding brick. She couldn't do it to me becausae I was holding the camera. When last we saw Tori Black, she was crawling all over Sindee Jennings in pasties. It was a magical time for us. But I finally got to talk with her with clothes on."Glad you have your clothes on this time," the 5'9" Seattle native did not say. She has only been in the business for a few months, she said, but wanted to make clear that, though her scenes might be hardcore, she is still a lady. "People forget that women are elegant," she said.  Svengali in training James Bartholet proposes something distasteful to Veronica Rayne. It is very important the world sees more of Ava Rose. I hope she's off tomorrow. This unintentionally arty photo of Michael Lucas and Titan Media's Keith Webb was one of several camera accidents. I explained to Lucas that his excellent Intern was the only gay movie I have seen (other than Quadrophenia)and he quickly suggested several others. He didn't seem to think I should quit while I was ahead. I told Stoya I would put a picture of her on my website every day if I could. I think she must be some kind of witch; she doesn't take a bad picture."People saw my vagina on your site and started e-mailing me about flashing people in Las Vegas," she said. "It can't be flashing if you took the picture under the table with my camera while I was away," I said. That wasn't flashing; it was a gesture of love.  Here's shrewd businesswoman Shy Love. Shy Love fans will be happy to know she is even prettier in person. Pride of Nashua Heather Silk was set to appear in a "Pussy Party" before the shoot was rescheduled. I had never met her before but her dress sort of rides up that way, which I think is a plus. We didn't have time to talk about the Orange Julius at the Pheasant Lane Mall.  Finally, Flower Tucci let me know in no uncertain terms that she's into Satan, too."Let's get out of here; you're weird," she said, which in that context was a huge compliment. I doubt she remembers it, but I gave up drinking three days too soon. As Penthouse's Marc Bell walked to the stage amid awkward clapping and the "Rocky" theme to accept his Man of the Year award, I bumped into a little white guy dressed in a pimp suit. "Pardon me," I said. "It's all good, brah," he said. It was all good. (It would have been better with a drink, though.) Previously: AVN 2008 Wrap-up: I will never spread my commentary again See also: XBiz Labels: ashley steel, Ashlynn Brooke, Ava Rose, awards, casey parker, commentary, events, heather silk, holly randall, michael lucas, nina hartley, stoya, Tommy Gunn, veronique vega, WGL, xbiz ¶ Friday, February 08, 2008 5 Comments Links to this post
Thursday, February 07, 2008
XBiz panels tackle piracy, butt piracy, Miley Cyrus
 Visitors to the Mylie Cyrus show at the nearby Disney-run El Capitan Theatre did not know Nina Hartley was talking about post-Federalist Papers cocksucking two doors down."...a little John Jay B.J.," she was saying. Panelists at the XBiz Hollywood Conference addressed keeping track of revenues and HIV infection, the prolonged death of the DVD, and why the coming change of presidential administration might be as hostile to the adult industry as the old one. "A Clinton presidency might result in the paying off of political favors to anti-porn feminists at our expense in the same way Bush did with the religious right," said Ernest Greene, editor of Hustler's Taboo Magazine and director of O: The Power of Submission. Others acknowledged the money-making opportunities presented by harsh political climates. "(Political) backlashes help because the cowards get out of the business," said Steven Scarborough of Hot House Entertainment. Sharon Mitchell, founder of STD screener Adult Industry Medical, described battles with the L.A. County Health Department over preventing and controlling HIV outbreaks. "Sometimes I think their concern is (actually) not solving the problem but proving to someone else that they are concerned with it," she said. The air of adult conferences has always been charged with a feeling of doom, as participants fret about dwindling sales and political oppression. But the explosion of porn delivery systems in recent years, such as user-driven "-tube" sites, has people especially worried. "People told me at the AVN convention, 'I've got the greatest -tube site for you that'll save you a lot of money,'" said Hustler vice president Michael Klein. "And I said 'Yes, it'll save us money because we won't have to rent a booth here next year. We'll be out of business." But Ali Joone, president of Digital Playground, said that "traditional" media like DVDs still had a place in the market because upscale customers would still purchase high-definition DVDs. "They'll buy blockbuster movies to watch on a big screen," he said, "because you're not going to get quality like that online in a while." But when moderator and XBiz president Alec Helmy asked what the future held for a DVD-only business model, Joone responded, "I think that's like sticking with VHS." And unlike the much-vaunted porn-driving-technology axiom from the 80's, online "Netflix of Porn" company WantedList founder Anh Tran expected mainstream media's tech choices to trickle down to porn rather than the other way around. "How mainstream consumers choose eventually finds its way to porn," he said. Tran reflects an aspect of the adult industry that views DVD as another delivery system instead of the one nail to hang the business on. "We're in the media delivery business," he said, "DVD is just one aspect of that." Typical of tradeshow breakout sessions anywhere, questions tended to be softball ones, and the dialogue was often mutually congratulatory. But there were occasional spirited exchanges, where harder questions yielded real information. XBiz publisher Tom Hymes asked Penthouse CEO Marc Bell (who would later win XBiz' Man of the Year award) about what differentiated Penthouse from Playboy. "Playboy likes to avoid saying they're in the adult business," he said. "We're not afraid to." But when Bell spun Penthouse as a unique media empire, Hymes shot back with "What about Hustler?" The animated discussion that followed was one of the most interesting of the conference; it touched on the likelihood of more adult companies going public, whether or not Penthouse would take an active role in combatting anti-porn legislation ("If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem," Bell said, without actually answering the question) and the problem of getting Penthouse Pets to also do porn. "Well, we want them all to shoot porn, too..." Bell said. As panelists discussed consumer demand further splintering into niches and how to get people to pay for what they can increasingly get for free, one attendee stood to talk about the quality of studio porn. "Why is it that user-submitted content on -tube sites always outperforms stolen stuff from big companies?" he asked. He was unable to supply numbers or sites to support this claim, but I think his remarks speak to the sameness of studio porn, to the point that anything that appears "real" is more exciting. Whereas recent years' legal discussions focused on 2257 recordkeeping, this year the boogeymen were piracy and the constant threat of external controls. First Amendment attorney Jeffrey Douglas pointed out that, though injuries in martial arts films are expected, martial arts movies are not regulated any more than other genres. But the adult industry is constantly threatened with regulation. Douglas posited a possible defense against regulation on free speech grounds. "If you need to enforce battery laws in martial arts films, for example," he said, "you would dramatically alter the content." Veteran performer Nina Hartley offered a view of porn workers as a whole, suggesting that self-regulation was something to constantly strive for. "People are in porn because, traditionally, they don't want to play by the rules of others (in the mainstream), but (accurate) paperwork is a sign of growing up and working with the community," she said. But she offered a compromise. "Maybe to prove our patriotism we can recite a bit of the Declaration of Independence before we say, 'Can I suck your cock please?'" Previously: XBiz Forum and Awards: Us v. Them See also: XBiz Hollywood Labels: ernest greene, events, legal, nina hartley, trade, xbiz ¶ Thursday, February 07, 2008 0 Comments Links to this post
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Nina and Kylie's Perfect Orgy: your mileage may vary
 In the same way that the characters in "Friends" couldn't possibly have afforded the Manhattan apartments they lived in, when Nina Hartley and Kylie Ireland lay down tips for the perfect orgy in Hartley's latest Adam & Eve instructional video, the viewer should understand that Lorelei Lee, Adrianna Nicole, and Annette Schwarz aren't going to show up.For example, we had an orgy up to Gram Ponante Towers, Salmon Hatchery, Helipad, Clambake, International Space Station, and Offshore Drilling Platform the other night and these are the people who attended:
And if you replace Annette Schwarz' face with that of that game barrista from the La Canada Starbucks your orgy will be OK.  I asked the fantastic Kylie Ireland if she really throws orgies like the one in the video. The answer is No, her orgies are better. "Nina and I basically just shared our experiences from our lives while making this 'Guide'," she said. "We have both put together orgies in our personal lives and have learned what works and doesn't and we share this knowledge along with some great real-life stories." Someone like Kylie doesn't have an Armo story. Previously: Nothin' but a Gangsta Orgy; Nina Hartley's Guide to Female Ejaculation; Bryn Pryor and Kylie Ireland: Dressing for Success; O: The Power of Submission See also: Adam & Eve Labels: "adam and eve", adrianna nicole, annette schwarz, instruction, kylie ireland, lorelei lee, nina hartley, orgy ¶ Thursday, October 25, 2007 1 Comments Links to this post
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