The Porning Report

Playboy Returns to 7-Eleven

For years conservatives cried foul over the fact that a "smut" magazine like Playboy could be found in convenience stores and quickie marts across America. In 1986, the right struck a serious blow to skin fans everywhere when the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families got 7-Eleven stores to ban porn magazine like Playboy. Young men around the country shed a tear.

Well, the ban has been lifted and boobies are now back in business, as the anniversary edition of Playboy magazine is now being offered again in 7-Eleven's 5,300 stores. But, boy oh boy, is the American Family Association up in arms...

Although 7-Eleven management is standing by Hef and the bunnies, calling the magazine "tasteful," the AFA ain't buyin' it.

"From our position, Playboy is still a pornographic magazine," said Randy Sharp, director of special projects for the American Family Association in an interview found at www.family.org. "It contains pictures of nude women, and we will oppose pornography in the marketplace."

"I don't think they are really counting the cost of the lost business that's going to occur if they put this kind of magazine in their store," said Daniel Weiss, a Focus on the Family analyst who tracks the pornography industry. Weiss speculated that the retailer reversed its Playboy ban because America has become increasingly desensitized to pornography over the last 20 years.

Yeah, that about sums it up. We have become more desensitized. But what's wrong with that? In many ways, the youth of America have more responsible attitudes towards sex than they did at the time the ban was enacted, and yet pornography is more, not less, accessible in the marketplace and on the Internet. Either way, as long as I can get a Twix bar, a hot dog, beer and the latest issue of Playboy in one shoppin' experience, you can find me at the local 7-Eleven.

FYI, though a spokesman for 7-Eleven denied that any firm decision has been made as to whether Playboy will be regularly available through the Slurpee pushing chain, the AFA is already in the process of organizing another boycott of 7-Eleven... thereby drawing even more attention to the issue and assuring even more teens will flock to the chain to buy a copy and be part of the controversy.

Letting Freedom Ring in Iraq

According to MSNBC.com, before the U.S. stormed in, Iraq was one of the world's most "tightly controlled societies. Only a few specially licensed stores could sell alcohol, and in recent years drinking was banned outright in restaurants and hotels. A committee in the Ministry of Culture kept a strict watch against even mildly naughty movies, magazines and films. Convicted prostitutes could be beheaded."

Suffice to say, things are a little different now. Tailgate liquor bazaars, drunks wandering the streets, illegal pills being sold on the corner, porn theaters, satellite TV, and nudie magazines on display at the local Bab-i-Sharji market are just some of the latest developments in Iraq since we rolled in, according to MSNBC.com

"Under Saddam this would have been an automatic six months in jail," said a porn video vendor. "Now nothing will happen to us."

Some Iraqis are calling it "the bad side of freedom," and are blaming American for the corruption, and some violent vigilante actions have been struck against purveyors and pushers.

"Some people say the spread of such things is designed to weaken our society," Col. Daoud Selman, a police chief in one of Baghdad's roughest districts told MSNBC.com.

You gotta give us an A for creativity if this indeed is part of the plan. If it only took a few months after the collapse of Sadam Hussein's regime for porn, liquor and drugs to infiltrate society with such speed, then what will Iraq be like in five years? Will it be the Las Vegas of the Middle East -- or even the Gomorrah?

Stormy Shines

Glossy mainstream men's magazine Femme Fatales recently announced their "The Sexy 50 of 2003" list and porn star Stormy Daniels landed at number 42.

The Wicked Pictures contract performer was the only porn star to make this list. Stormy, who is currently nominated for "AVN" magazine's Best New Starlet, writes many of her own features, is bright, sexy, charming and funny, and... oh yeah... has sex on camera for money and looks fantastic doing so.

Plus, it's just nice to see someone other than Jenna Jameson make the crossover. Not that there's anything wrong with Jenna, but let's open up the playing field a bit, eh?

Adult Sites Against Child Pornography

Pornographers aren't bad people -- that's what a group of them is fighting to get known, and they're working to disassociate themselves from some of the nefarious doings that profession is accused of.

Adult Sites Against Child Pornography (ASACP) was established in 1996 as an organization to help the adult site industry battle against child pornography. Over 4,700 adult sites, including prominent ones such as Playboy.com, AdamEve.com and Advertising Revenue Service, have joined the cause in raising awareness about this subject.

Since inception, ASACP has investigated and assisted the FBI and U.S. Customs Service in enforcing anti-child pornography laws against thousands of child pornography sites.

"One of my pet peeves is that Hollywood still equates adult entertainment and child pornography," ASACP Executive Director Joan Irvine told me recently. "Need proof? What was the topic of the first episode of the first network show to use the adult film business as a backdrop, 'Skin'? Child pornography. How can we get to the writers and producers to stop this practice? I am certain one reason they do it is because it sells."

Correct. Sex sells. But not all sex-sellers are the same.

Vince Neil Preps for Launch

Rock star Vince Neil is the latest mainstream celebrity to officially delve into the world of pornography. Neil recently launched a Web site (www.rocktails.net) to preview his upcoming video/DVD, "Vince Neil's Rock Tails." The vid finds the former (and maybe future, as bassist Nikki Sixx says he trying to cajole him into one last reunion tour) Motley Crue frontman searching for vixens with tales of rock 'n' roll debauchery to tell, and then having their stories, as well as his own, recreated with porn stars and hardcore sex. Neil will not be having partaking personally, but will serve as host, emcee and performer of some tunes.

This is not Neil's first time in front of the pornographer's lens, but it is the first time he's appeared consensually. Like bandmate Tommy Lee, "personal performances" of Neil's were made public when his Hawaiian vacation home movies with porn star Janine Lindemulder (which included them having sex in a hotel room and on the beach with another girl) were released on the net and in stores through I.E.G., the same folks responsible for releasing the Pamela Anderson and Lee footage.

Neil has a quite penchant for, er, adult behavior. After years of raunchy antics in Motely Crue (well documented in the band's autobiography "The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band"), one would think Neil would mellow out a bit with age. Nope! Neil recently enlisted superstar attorney Robert Shapiro to defend him against assault filed by Moonlight Bunnyranch prostitute TriXXXie Blue.

Extremely High Definition Experiences

Sunset Thomas

A new phenomenon has emerged over the last half-decade or so: porn stars "guest starring" in legal Nevada brothels. The trend started back in 1999 (NSFW), when porn legend Sunset Thomas began a residency at the Moonlight Bunnyranch in Carson, Nevada, the only state where prostitution is legal. After Thomas made a ton of dough, other porn stars started clocking in time between the sheets at various whorehouses, using their adult film status to command top dollar. These days, everyone from Teri Wigel (also a Penthouse Pet and Playboy Playmate) to Nikki Lynn to Caressa Kisses to Rebecca Love can be found in places like the Bunnyranch and the Kit Kat Guest Ranch (where Thomas recently relocated), waiting for a fan with some dough to trek across the mighty desert for good time.

All of this is explored on HBO's series of "Cathouse" documentaries, the second of which is titled "Cathouse 2: Back In The Saddle." This latest HBO docu details the history of the 50-year-old Bunnyranch and its owner Dennis Hof, and raises many of the issues concerning legal prostitution. It also happens to be one hell of a sexy, sleazy affair and not to be missed.

Looking beyond the obvious argument as to whether brothels should be legal, lies this interesting twist in the fan-star relationship: How much is it worth to a fan to have sex with his or her favorite celebrity? Would they pay $1,000? $3,000? $5,000? And what about conventional stars? Singer Mya was recently caught on Punk'd believing that a fan had paid $50,000 for a date with her. Consider this "Indecent Proposal" -- sex with Demi Moore for $1,000,000?

NSFW - Not Safe For Work

As you might assume, from time to time this blog will link to sites that have content that might not be appropriate for all audiences. We strive to link only to places that offer news value, or are necessary for an understanding of the issues we're describing. But, when you read this blog about the porn industry and follow the links, you run the risk of finding something that offends you.

There are also sites that, though you personally might not mind them, your employer or co-workers might be of a different opinion. We mark those sites that are potentially explicit NSFW - Not Safe For Work. Regardless, we don't promise that all the other sites are safe, we don't know if a site has changed wince we linked to it, and we don't know where you work. So remember that while the links are our choices, clicking on them is your choice. Here's to safe surfing.

Tammy Faye, the Golden Hedgehog and Me

Tammy Faye Messner

Ron Jeremy

In what is surely among the most hilariously bizarre pairings in television history, former televangelist Tammy Faye Messner and legendary porn superstar Ron Jeremy are co-staring in a network reality show. Finally, something on TV worth watching.

The second season of the "Surreal Life" will air early next year, with WB having already ordered six half-hour episodes. The cast includes the previously mentioned dynamic duo alongside rapper Vanilla Ice, "ChiPs" star Erik Estrada, former "Baywatch" babe Traci Bingham and "Real World: Las Vegas" cast member Trishelle. The show is being filmed, among other places, in a Hollywood mansion and at Desert Shadows Inn, a Palm Springs nudist resort.

Yes, a nudist resort. And Desert Shadows co-owner Stephen Payne has said that nudist activity is planned and the celebrities' team will lose points if they don't participate in the raw.

"We wanted to get worlds colliding, and I think that's what we've achieved," WB alternative programming chief Keith Cox told the Daily Haggis.

"Tammy Faye was actually one of the first people we cast," said Cox of the "Surreal Life 2" coup.

This unlikely pairing of a conservative religious cult figure and a portly pornographer is amusing. But if the two make a new Odd Couple, the spin-off possibilities are staggering. I can just see 'em now... The sitcom, "Tammy and the Man." The detective show, "Hedgehog P.Eyes." The cooking show, "Baking with Tammy Faye and Ron." The sci-fi show, "Tam-Ron 21000, Cyber-Assassin." The after-school TV special "Tammy Faye, the Golden Hedgehog and Me." The list could on and on...

Dodge Gives Booty the Boot

Chrysler Group, which was sponsoring the 2004 Lingerie Bowl, is withdrawing due to controversy surrounding the show, according to Ad Age.
It may have been the Dodge dealers who scuttled the sponsorship, based on earlier CNN Money reports of their discomfort with the pay-per-view premise.
This marks a reversal from Chrysler's earlier defense of the girdleiron competition, where they stood up for the Bowl calling it a legitimate athletic event. (That just happened to be played by women with a lot of natural padding, I suppose.)
Horizon Productions, meanwhile, is pressing ahead by announcing the venue, the L.A. Coliseum. Though their most recent release makes no mention of any sponsor, Chrysler Group or otherwise, they are planning to go on with the event and hope to line up another sponsor, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Texas v. Sex Toys

The porning of America isn't a steady progression; there are ebbs and flows in the direction of restraint.

Last month, for example, a woman was arrested for selling dildos to two undercover officers posing as a married couple in Burleson, Texas, a town of 26,000 located outside of Fort Worth. Joanne Webb, a distributor for adult home party company Passion Parties, was arrested under a violation of obscenity laws. According to Section 43.21 of the Texas Penal Code, one of the definitions of "obscene" is "a device designed and marketed as useful for stimulations of the human genital organs." In plain words, selling dildos is illegal in Texas.

Excuse me? Prohibitions on the sale of sex toys outright, across the board, is simply ludicrous. Who cares what consenting adults buy to use in their own home? What about the principle of separation of bedroom and state! But I digress...

Webb's attorney, BeAnn Sisemore, motioned to dismiss the obscenity charges this week. Sisemore told the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram that she'll argue there is a constitutional right to fundamental privacy between adults in private, consensual sexual relationships. This right includes the right to use sexual devices, says Sisemore, and by extension, to buy them.

There is a precedent on Webb's side. A similarly sexually rigid Alabama law was struck down by a federal court in 1999, so Webb is hoping for the same in her case. She is currently out on bail of $1,500 dollars, but faces one year if convicted.