Sunday, September 5th, 1999
Cop Fired After Cheri Layout
Miami Herald, Sept. 2: KEY WEST -- A Key West police officer, fired Wednesday for appearing in uniform in a pornographic magazine, told investigators he was drunk and stressed out when some of the pictures were taken. The reason: He was under investigation by the FBI for alleged drug dealing.
Stephen Nathanson, 31, was fired after an internal affairs investigation found he had violated department policies and ethics. The charges: incompetence or inefficiency in the job, unlawful or improper conduct or indecency and refusal to perform duties as assigned. Nathanson had been suspended with pay since last month, when an issue of Cheri magazine hit the stands with six photographs of him at a bar during Spring Break last year. In one, he's shown at the wheel of a police car in uniform, his head between a blond woman's breasts. Others show him taking pictures of a live sex show.
Sasha Gabor
Brett Dobin, a NY radio personality, writes to Gene Ross: I appreciate the fact that you did not just print Scotty "The Scam Artist" Schwartz's story. Ok, here is the story. Back in 1997, I became friendly with Scotty after meeting him at The East Coast Video Show. We became friends over the phone, and I began to order tapes from him while he was working for a video company. I told him that me and my family might be coming out for the VSDA, would he be able to get me the tickets. It turned out that I had engagements that I could not miss, and told him I could not attend. He told me that he had to give Steve Orenstein the money for the tickets. I find it hard to believe that he would lay out that kind of money for someone that he hardly knew. After this point he kept calling and harassing me for this money. At this point I had heard stories that he is manipulative and had a reputation of running similar scams in the industry.
As AVN reported, He even conned a Church into letting him use the place to film some low budget film he was doing. He kept calling and sending me letters, all of which are on file with my attorney. Being that there was no papers, or contract signed there is no money owed. Now, He wants to say if I am giving Sasha Gabor money, I should give him. Sasha Gabor is a dear friend that is having problems. This has nothing to do with him or anybody else. The only reason I announced that I am donating money is to alert other people in the industry to his situation. Scotty Schwartz should be ashamed of himself for even writing such a ridiculous thing. He isn't in Sasha's situation, instead of asking why I'm giving, he should help him also. He is just trying to collect on something that is not owed. The bottom line is this, legally there is no money owed, and he should not harass me any further.
Bare Bitch Project
Bates@direct.ca writes on the alt.movies.independent newsgroup: A story about three young film school grads, disgruntled by the fact that Hollywood hasn't paid them the slightest heed, set off into the seedy world of New York at night, intent on making the ultimate porno movie. They are never heard of until three years later when their tapes show up.
Asswoman - The Rebirth
Ron writes on RAME: "Just saw the latest asswoman with Jessica Darling. The theme here is to shock the religious right. Starts out with somebody taking a piss on the headstone of Tiffany Minx. There is a scene of Jess on a cross, another about a nun and holy wafer with holy water (three guesses what it is), and some scene about abortion. Thank god I am not religious or I would roll over in my grave. The scenes are not all that exciting. Jess did 5 anals, one a which was a dp. Another gorgeous blond also did an anal. Ho hum tape. Rob Black has done better, but at least, there was no major editing disaster -- none of the weird editings that I find very distracting."
Dennis Prager in latest Hustler Erotic Video Guide
Page 20 of the latest Hustler Erotic Video Guide (Nov, 99) features "One Extremely Fu--ed-Up Aussie's Opinion," where the author skips the movies and reviews the women. By Duke Cord:
Since this is the first time I've been allowed to write in a medium outside of the Internet, I thought I might spend a brief moment introducing myself to you. I am an Australian born to a Seventh Day Adventist preacher daddy and his cancer-ridden wife - my mommy - who died when I was five. I have a lot of anger inside of me because of this...to say nothing of the fact that I desperately wanted to break into the world of porn journalism and was shut out by every editor this side of the San Fernando Valley which foreced me to go on the attack on my Web Site, dukecord.com. I hate all of you, by the way.
On the positive side, I am obsessed with second-rate radio talk-show host Dennis Prager, who no one but myself recognizes as one of the great Jewish philosophers of out time. My daddy would disagree. I hate him and want to shame him for allowing my mommy to die. My lustful yearnings for Mr. Prager and my hatred for my father inspired me to convert to Judaism, a religion that allows me to wear funny little hats and hobnob with pornographers who, if they aren't Jews, are Italian mafiosi. I hate all of them too...
Unfortunately, my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is starting to act up again and I feel myself getting tired. I need to crawl into bed where I can stare at the poster of Dennis Prager that I have taped to my ceiling and leisurely stroke myself off imagining myself in his tender arms while he whispers passages from the Torah in perfect Hebrew just for me. Dennis, if you are reading this, please know that my love for you knows no limits. Make me your bitch. I need it bad.
Luke: My posting of that excerpt from HEVG had me kicked off the unofficial Dennis Prager discussion list. List master Dana Archer posted: "Luke's latest message to the list "Re: Luke: Prager Parasite" has forced me to remove him from the list.
"This likely won't stop him from subscribing or lurking using another address but I've done what I can."
Shannon responds: "Dana, as much as I treasure free, ribald and even outrageous banter, I can't say I disagree with you. Dennis is so much more easily attacked on his poorly thought through positions and his disingenuousness that adolescent smut to denigrate him is unnecessary and a very poor substitute for knee-to-the-groin argument and criticism of the man. Dennis as a sex symbol? I'll have a pint of what Luke has been drinking."
Steve Dietrich: "I'll miss Luke. We're all characters on this list, and he is certainly a character. Besides he must have chased away everyone who found him offensive years ago. Still, it's not like he hadn't been warned, several times."
Chrsdnld@aol.com writes: "Luke has been almost exclusively the target of all legal action Prager has ever felt forced to engage in, due to Luke's inability to distinguish reality from fantasy, and due to his disregard for accuracy in what he publishes publically on Prager.
"Luke ingratiated himself to Prager, then began publishing what he'd learned in the process of that. He was asked several times to stop. He even agreed here to stop. And yet he continues. The self procliamed "Matt Drudge of the porno industry". A man who included links to his (and other) porno websites on his "Prager Page". A man who has been thrown out of -and has boasted of it- more Jewish organizations than Spinoza. A man who converted orthodox only to turn his back on the community that opened their arms to him, and then used it against them.
"Behold. Our Luke. May he never become a fan of any of YOUR friends or family..."
Higher Loinin’?
“Stuffy academics are breaking out the hard stuff...hardcore porn, that is,”reports Danya Ruttenberg from prurience-friendly www.gettingit.com.
“Getting credit for your Linda Lovelace video collection has never been easier. Wesleyan's ‘Pornography’ class, for example, is famous for encouraging the students ... to create a work of porn. Who says college doesn't teach you skills for life?
‘... in our sex-saturated culture, people are frightfully ignorant,’ says UC Santa Barbara professor Constance Penley [who] pioneered the study of porn as a film genre in the early '90s... ‘For the students, it's sex ed... a chance for them to find out who they are, sexually -- what attracts them, what their boundaries are.’
For [UC Berkeley instructor] Lisa Solomon... Porn Studies is an opportunity for healing and acceptance. She says that term papers about shoe fetishes will ‘hopefully make it easier for the general population’ to deal with the full range of sexuality. ‘People might say, 'if they're studying it in college, it must be OK.'
NY PR Blue?
April 16-18, 1999: Press Release distributed at Erotica USA: “The Museum of Sex...On The Rise...Exciting plans for a new museum in New York City are in full swing! America’s first Museum of Sex is now on the cultural horizon... The Museum of Sex will be a major institution devoted to representing sex--its history, evolution and social significance. Conceived of as an exhibition and performing arts space housing permanent and temporay exhibits, concerts, lectures and workshops, MoSEX will present serious programs and unique, high-quality entertainment... ....The Museum of Sex task force of distinguished scientists, sex historians, doctors, anthropologists, psychologists, authors, artists, actors, museum and gallery curators, members of sex industries, mass-media personalities, fashion designers and others continues to grow...”
March 21, 1999, New York Times Sunday Styles: “....Alison Maddex, a director of the Museum of Sex, an institution devoted to exhibitions on sex in culture that is set to open in New York at the end of the year, said that pornography may be a subject ripe for stylish attention because it has itself become more purely a matter of style. 'Kids think it's funny, strange,’ she said. ‘It's more a pop thing. The 70's -- porn's huge party decade -- have been a major influence for 10 years, but it's weird music and clothing, porn as platform shoes.’
March 11, 1999, New York Times: ‘...This month, the Museum of Sex, or Mosex, sweeps the floor of its new home at 233 Fifth Avenue...in anticipation of renovations that will deliver a new facade, 12,000 feet of exhibition galleries and offices, a shop and a cafe by the end of the year. ...Alison Maddex, 32, who is directing the project [said] ‘It’s going to be the Smithsonian of Sex’ surveying ‘sex and culture everywhere.’ ...The museum’s initial installation is to be a timeline of ‘Sex in America’, from the Puritans to cybersex, including items like Colonial bundling chairs, which measured compatibility between couples who were roped together, and electronic kiosks with touch screens like ATMs.
"...Instead of a collection, there will be a study center and a database to catalog the whereabouts of archives of erotica. There will be revolving curatorial participation from invited guests and members of Ms. Maddox’s board of directors, or ‘sex think tank’, as she called it. It includes Camille Paglia, who is Ms Maddex’s partner [six years and counting]; [designer Todd] Oldham; Robert Francoeur, a professor of biological sciences at [New Jersey’s] Fairleigh Dickension University, and Sandra Bernhard, the [bisexual] actress.... ....a spokeswoman for the Mayor’s office [said] the city would shut the museum down if it made a wrong move...” [Significantly, Ms. Maddex has expressed no concern about the future sex museum’s location within less than 200 feet of the on-premise swing club Trapeze, at 17 East 27th Street--which, according to ironclad new zoning regulations, precludes *any* other explicit, commercial sexual offerings within 500 feet.]
June 28, 1998, New York Times Magazine: “...Sex on Display....Financiers of a new Museum of Sex have just leased space in a building....with plans for an official public opening early next year. Called Mosex for short, the museum will be devoted to the world’s oldest human urge. Better yet, this is think-big stuff--Camille Paglia is a player!
‘What America needs is an institution that is smart *and* sexy,” said Alison Maddex, who founded Mosex [sic] with Daniel Gluck, an investor [who, along with Maddex, attended University of Pennsylvania, where, according to the New York Times, 3-11-98, they both dated the same person, although the gender is not specified]. ‘I want to elevate the status of sex, not keep it at the peep-show level.’ ...the museum will include a user-friendly Study and Archive Center and lectures....More ribaldly, visitors will be able to eat ‘aphrodisiac-oriented food’ at the restaurant... ...This autumn’s opening fund-raiser [which never occurred], ‘Food, Fashion and Pherenomes’ will feature a Todd Oldham fashion show and samples of Realm...a synthesized human-pherenome perfume. There are also plans for ‘Pornotopia’ a vintage X-rated film festival.... Celebrities are lining up... The Mosex guiding lights include Paglia (Maddox’s romantic partner) [who recently groused in salon.com that Philadelphia’s University of the Arts, Paglia’s employer, does not provide health benefits to her ‘significant other’ Maddex] and Ariana Huffington...But Maddex promises not to let matters get too elevated....”
June 14, 1998, International Sex Worker Foundation for Art, Culture and Education ‘Secretary’s Report’: “.... [I.S.W.F.A.C.E. representative] Norma Jean will stop over in New York and will meet with Alison Maddex, director of The Museum of Sex, and firm up a date for our joint exhibition in Fall 1999...”
Make that Fall, 2000. Alison Maddex yesterday explained to l-keford.com operative Krash that Mosex will be up and running “by some time next fall...We’ll have something for limited capacity...We’ll probably do a big show at the space that would be up for six months... We’ll be prepping for Phase 2... We’re demolishing buildings....to make our award-winning building. We’ll leave the structural walls... There’ll be three major exhibits,’ elaborated Maddex, whose sole curatorial credential, other than servicing the author of ‘Sexual Personae’, appears to be an exhibit ‘of painted signboards from barbershops in Africa’ in a marginal Philadelphia gallery almost five years ago. ‘We want to work with the Smithsonian and the Kinsey Institute...to explore sex in the larger context of humanity.’ Ms. Maddex conceded that at present the Museum of Sex does not have a single artifact in its collection. [Nor does there appear to be any content at either of the two Mosex websites, www.museumofsex.org or www.mosex.com/ver1 ]
A visit to the future museum’s site proved equally inconclusive in attempting to penetrate MOsex’s increasingly mirage-like dimension. The five-story prewar building at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 27th Street is tenanted by a wholesale/retail perfume merchant on its street-level floor; on the second floor is a for-rent sign. Above, there are three residential floors, which appear to be at least partially tenanted. Not only is there not the slightest indication of the grand erotic enterprise yet to come--but a reasonably informed site survey by a fairly seasoned cityside reporter made it abundantly clear that, in the face of existing land-use law here, and the realpolitik processes that govern major for-profit developments such as the proposed Museum of Sex, not even Donald Trump could reduce this heavily trafficked corner to a construction site without first facing multiple lawsuits. Does this mean the quest for Mosex will end with No Sex? Stay tuned.
Porno - Women Possessing Dogs
Oc writes: Interesting to read those Nici Sterling emails, I saw the same thing myself about a year ago - I know it's not your doing. I have a contact in LA who thinks it's all her husband's doing. Thing is, I've suspected Nici, along with Anna Malle, Alicia Rio and Jill Kelly, of this kind of dog action for a while now. They just give off that kind of vibe to me. Know anything, or heard anything to suggest I might be right? You also mentioned on your feature about Linda Lovelace that other similar movies had been made in the 70's... Anyone we would have heard of?
Porno - Women Possessing Ginger Lynn
XXX writes: We hereby warn porn actress Ginger Lynn Allen that she is in our crosshairs here at l-keford.com. We are strongly offended by your return to porn and are intent on destroying your career. We see you as an object lesson in the self-destruction that accompanies the porn industry, and intend to make an example of you. We will take every opportunity to dog and harass you and terminate your future in both the sex and mainstream movie industries. We will log each riff and personal failure on this website in perpetuity. Your personal sexlife will haunt you from now on, and you will be made accountable for every act in private as well as in your public life. You are already a failure in the making, and we would like to help you along. We will enjoy destroying you, and hope to inflict great personal distress. Have a great day.... and be sure to read the latest about yourself on l-keford.com!
Colin writes: I've enjoyed the anti-Ginger Lynn stuff that has appearred on your site in the last couple of days and would like to read some more. Where in your archives can I find anti-Ginger Lynn material? Please, point me in the right direction. I would also appreciate it if you could tell me where I can find up-to-date information about washed up porn stars (male or female). I'm particularly interested in formerly high paid porn actresses who have ended up as drug addicted street hookers. I could read these hard-luck stories all day long. Thanks.
Big1 writes: While most porn stars lamely try to rationalize their XXX careers as a launch vehicle into some form of semi-legitimate show business. Teri Weigel apparently decided to ride the hard-core rocket to stardom backwards.
She started off, decently enough, as a Playboy Playmate and later parlayed that notoriety into brief appearances in Married With Children, Predator 2 and other commercial releases. At this point in her career she had already successfully eclipsed over 95% of the fresh young faces in Hollywood. Then she made the interesting leap (fall) into pornography and completely dashed all hopes of ever achieving mainstream credibility. Most recently she crassly used her porn fame to catapult herself into the glamorous field of prostitution during a three week engagement at the Moonlight Bunny Ranch in Nevada in May. Ladies and Gentleman our first Screwed Up Hall of Famer ... Ms. Teri Weigel!
You can check out actual brothel patrons' reviews of Ms. Weigel's services at www.gppays.com.
Robin Williams Joins
XXX writes: We are excited and extremely pleased to announce that actor/comedian ROBIN WILLIAMS has offered to make himself available for guest appearances on this website in our ongoing WAR ON HOWARD STERN. Robin Williams has very high personal and professional standards, and is as distressed as we are by the unchecked moral decay and unhealthy lifestyles promoted by smut promoter Stern. Stay tuned for celebrity appearances on this l-keford.com in the very near future!
Howard Stern's New Book
XXX writes: Newsflash: We are glad to be the first to report that HOWARD STERN is publishing a new revised autobiography, titled "THE ADVANTAGES OF A SMALL PENIS: MY SECRET LIFE AS A CLOSET TRANSVESTITE". For the very first time, Stern admits publicly to being a closet transvestite HIS ENTIRE LIFE. The reason his penis is so small is that repeated tucking and taping interfered with adequate circulation and CAUSED PERMANENT DAMAGE TO HIS PRIVATE PARTS.
Nonetheless, he was able to father 3 beautiful, healthy children as part of an ELABORATE COVERUP that has fooled not only his own family, but also his extended families on both sides, including his parents, sister, and in-laws. BUT THE BIGGEST CON WAS TO THE MILLIONS OF MALE LISTENERS who have been tuning into his radio shows all these years. The fallout remains to be seen when his adoring fans discover that Stern has been living out a dual secret lifestyle in private desperation, while pretending to be a faithful macho man, pushing away the hottest sex goddesses. With this latest revelation, all the pieces fall into place........and the mystery of Howard Stern IS NO MORE. We can all sit back, have a good laugh on ourselves, and realize that in fact WE WERE ALL WILLFUL IDIOTS FOR NOT REALIZING THE OBVIOUS ALL ALONG.
Porno Paranoia
XXX writes: Announcing a new game for the new millenia: Luke F-rd's PARANOIA. Today, we begin Round 2 , PORN PRODUCERS AND DIRECTORS: As with porn actors and actresses, we assume EVERYONE in the porn industry is a drug user and the point of our game is to expose their drug connections, buyers and sellers. Once again, to heighten the sense of PARANOI we will publish INITIALS ONLY: Porn Producer/Director: Buys drugs from: Sells drugs to:
E-mail drug connections to l-keford.com in complete confidentiality. List complete names of all buyers and sellers, drugs and quantities sold, dates sold, and any other pertinent information. Luke F-rd is a journalist of the highest professional standards and ethics (even though he plays it up for laughs a lot), so your confidentiality is COMPLETELY ASSURED.
We will compile a bulletin board and publish it on this website at a later date. ONLY if you request it in writing AND also specifically state that you are willing to serve as a witness, we will even introduce these individuals to state and federal law enforcement, BUT ONLY AT YOUR SPECIFIC WRITTEN REQUEST AND ONLY AFTER CONTACTING YOU! Anonymous responses are also perfectly acceptable, if you prefer. We will make no effort to determine who you are--GUARANTEED! Let's all have a great time generating PARANOIA!
Excalibur Films
JSmith writes on RAME: I am writing this account in response to the many questions on adult video companies and reliability. Is Excalibur Films a good source for tapes? Read this and decide for yourself...
I made my first order with Excalibur in March of this year. I ordered three tapes from their online catalog. They were $9.95 a piece. I mailed them a check (just so you know, I'm in Florida and they are in California). Two of the three tapes arrived two weeks later. Not bad. The third tape was back ordered and showed up a week later. All three videos were in their original boxes, so no trouble there. However, two of the tapes were heavily edited (they were Vivid tapes I might add). Once again, not Excalibur's fault.
So, I called them on the phone and asked if it would be possible to get full length copies. They said "No problem, Mr. Smith, send them back". So, I sent the tapes back with a note describing the omissions. A week goes by, and I get an email telling me that the uncut versions are no longer being produced by the manufacturer. Detecting deception, I called up Vivid Video myself. They informed me that uncut versions WERE available upon request. I confronted Excal with this information, and they promised to contact Vivid and get the full length copies. No problem.
Two weeks go by, no response. I email Excalibur and get a nasty reply. They claimed to have sent me a letter in the snail mail (which I never got) describing the reasons they could not procure the original tapes. They gave me the option of re-ordering the same titles, or selecting two others. By this time, I was aggitated, and I told them to re-order the same movies. About a month later, I get one of the tapes. Another two months go by and I get the other tape. Both were new copies, but they still had the annoying editing and compression that plagued the first copies I had received. By this time I was so fed up with the whole deal, I said "screw it" and I kept the edited tapes. Well, I ended up placing one more order from Excal and got the tape within two weeks of mailing the check. Once again, no problem.
So, last week, I decided to order another film (this will be my fifth from them). I send in the check for $12.95 ($9.95 for the tape, $3.00 shipping). No big deal right? Except for the fact that I went to the web site today and see that they have raised the price of the tape to $12.95! Great timing right? Well, that was last week, and I don't think they have gotten the check yet. I'll probably call them at the end of this week and see what they want to do about the check, which is only three dollars short of the new price. I intend to plead my case, and tell them about the web page. It would be great if they would let the three bucks slide, but I have my doubts. Anyway, that is my story. Just thought you guys should know before investing any money in Excalibur's tapes.
Porno - Men Possessing Women
Andrew Dworkin writes in her book, Pornography, Men Possessing Women:
Now imagine Cherry Tart or Bunny or Pet or Beaver saying, and meaning, that a man who expected to succeed in whipping must also succeed in killing her. She says it; she means it. It is not a pornographic scenario in which she is the dummy forced by the pimp-ventriloquist to say the ubiquitous No-That-Means-Yes. It is not the usual sexual provocation created by pornographers using a woman's body, the subtext of which is: I refuse to be whipped so whip me harder, whip me more; I refuse to be whipped, what I really want is for you to kill me; whip me, then kill me; kill me, then whip me; whatever you want, however you want it--was it good for you?
Instead, the piece on the page or in the film steps down and steps out: I'm real, she says. Like Frederick Douglass, she will be hesitant and embarrassed. She will feel ignorant. She will tell a first-person story about her own experience in prostitution, in pornography, as a victim of incest, as a victim of rape, as someone who has been beaten or tortured, as someone who has been bought and sold. She may not remind her audience that sexual servitude is a poor school for the human intellect and heart--sexually violated, often since childhood, she may not know the value of her human intellect or her human heart--and the audience cannot be counted on to know that she deserved better than she got.
Will there be someone there to implore the audience to help her escape the pornography--law or no law, constitution or no constitution; will the audience understand that as long as the pornography of her exists she is a captive of it, a fugitive from it? Will the audience be willing to fight for her freedom by fighting against the pornography of her, because, as Linda Marchiano said of Deep Throat, "every time someone watches that film, they are watching me being raped."
Will the audience understand that she is standing in for those who didn't get away; will the audience understand that those who didn't get away were someone--each one was someone? Will the audience understand what stepping down from the page or out of the film cost her--what it took for her to survive, for her to escape, for her to dare to speak now about what happened to her then?
"I'm an incest survivor, ex-pornography model, and ex-prostitute," the woman says. "My incest story begins before preschool and ends many years later--this was with my father. I was also molested by an uncle and a minister . . . my father forced me to perform sexual acts with men at a stag party when I was a teenager. . . . My father was my pimp in pornography. There were three occasions from ages nine to sixteen when he forced me to be a pornography model . . . in Nebraska, so, yes, it does happen here." 3 I was thirteen when I was forced into prostitution and pornography, the woman says. I was drugged, raped, gang-raped, imprisoned, beaten, sold from one pimp to another, photographed by pimps, photographed by tricks; I was used in pornography and they used pornography on me; "[t]hey knew a child's face when they looked into it. It was clear that I was not acting of my own free will. I was always covered with welts and bruises. . . . It was even clearer that I was sexually inexperienced. I literally didn't know what to do. So they showed me pornography to teach me about sex and then they would ignore my tears as they positioned my body like the women in the pictures and used me."
"As I speak about pornography, here, today," the woman says, "I am talking about my life." I was raped by my uncle when I was ten, by my stepbrother and stepfather by the time I was twelve. My stepbrother was making pornography of me by the time I was fourteen. "I was not even sixteen years old and my life reality consisted of sucking cocks, posing nude, performing sexual acts and actively being repeatedly raped."
These are the women in the pictures; they have stepped out, though the pictures may still exist. They have become very serious women; serious in the pursuit of freedom. There are many thousands of them in the United States, not all first put in pornography as children though most were sexually molested as children, raped or otherwise abused again later, eventually becoming homeless and poor. They are feminists in the antipornography movement, and they don't want to debate "free speech." Like Frederick Douglass, they are fugitives from the men who made a profit off of them. They live in jeopardy, always more or less in hiding. They organize to help others escape. They write--in blood, their own. They publish sometimes, including their own newsletters. The demonstrate; they resist; they disappear when the danger gets too close. The Constitution has nothing for them--no help, no protection, no dignity, no solace, no justice. The law has nothing for them--no recognition of the injuries done them by pornography, no reparations for what has been taken from them. They are real, and even though this society will do nothing for them, they are women who have resolved that the man who expects to succeed in whipping must also succeed in killing them. This changes the nature of the women's movement. It must stop slavery. The runaway slave is now part of it.
Fred the Lawyer writes: Regarding Jeremy Steele, this is an interesting insight into a really f---ed up life. If one were to believe the stuff posted by Eden Rae on RAME from time to time, one would think Eden and Jeremy had a video business going, Ms. Rae had a bunch of academic degrees, and has done all sorts of lucrative things. Steele tells us that this is a sham. (If it were true, the proceeds from this business would be community property--a nice nest egg, even if Steele had been a useless leach throughout the marriage. It appears, though, that there is no such nest egg. Further, Steele tells us that Rae never earned or kept much money, and has no degrees.)
Steele is running around trying to find a way to make money, doing JO videos for gays (although he isn't into guys), and so forth. I could see a guy doing porno to get to screw girls, but I can't see merely doing it as a means of earning a living. This leads me to believe that either a) Mr. Steele has an extremely limited skill set, and sees himself as being able to obtain nothing better than a minimum wage job flipping burgers; or b) he has an extreme aversion to 9-to-5 work.
I suppose one normally thinks of the actresses as having screwed up lives, but Steele has done an admirable job in that department. I nominate Steele for membership in the screwed up life hall of fame. (You should establish one on your web site. It would be great reading.) [Email Luke your nominations for the Screwed Up Hall of Fame]
Although males have greater longevity in the porno industry than females, it would be interesting to what happens to the male actors, and whether they are able to successfully drift back to regular work, and have a regular life. It would be interesting to see what Richard Pacheco, Richard Bolla, Eric Edwards and others have done with themselves since leaving the business. Do you have any insight into this? I speculate (based on absolutely no knowledge whatsoever) that while none of these guys got rich, none of them wound up destitute either. (I think I read somewhere that Jerry Butler got a job as a bus driver. O.K., so he's not going to make a million dollars, but he'll have a decent apartment, have food on the table, a reasonable, dignified existance, and maybe even a retirement pension.) Any insight?
Luke: Many of them have moved on to regular lives. Richard Pacheco is happily married with kids. Harry Reems is happily married and living in Park City, Utah, and selling real estate. R. Bolla seems fine. Eric Edwards appears troubled. Jamie Gillis appears troubling but hangs on to the periphery of the biz, living in San Francisco.
Fred: Regarding Ms. Dworkin, who it appears you've just latched onto, Ms. Dworkin is convinced that no sex is consensual, all sex is rape, all sex associated with pornography is rape, and we better do away with it immediately. I have two theories about Ms. Dworkin.
1) She must have had some incredibly traumatic event in her own life that scarred the hell out of her; or 2) She does not have a complete set of basic, normal, human instincts. She is apparently a lesbian, and appears to have no empathy for or understanding of normal heterosexual people. In any event, she picks perhaps a couple of anecdotal events about this or that person who was abused, and says O.K., this is all because of pornography and we better ban pornography.
I have the following thoughts. 1) These snippets from Dworkin do not appear to have anything to do with mainstream pornography.
2) Even in the so-called liberal environment, they would all be illegal today. Banning pornography would be a silly response. Coercing a 16 year old in Nebraska to have sex is clearly illegal. Banning main stream pornography will not take it from being legal to illegal. Thus, the remedy she proposes has nothing to do, logically, with the ill that she is obsessed with.
3) Ms. Dworkin's writings do not appear to make any effort to analyze a big picture. For example, when the Danes legalized pornography several decades back, it appeared that the number of sex crimes in Denmark actually dropped. Ms. Dworkin never looks at any big picture statistical data--she dwells entirely on a couple of anecdotes, with no effort to evaluate exactly what would happen if the legal system adopted her view of the world.
4) As a general rule, when someone does something, there are three things you can ask: a) Why did she say she did it? b) Why does she think she did it? c) Why did she really do it? If you ask Ms. Dworkin why she writes, you will get a ton of "look-at-all-this-evil-I'm-trying-to-save-womankind." The truth is that there is some wierd obsession at work. Something really wierd. And it has nothing to do with logic, reason or facts.
Either she had some bad traumatic experience, or she is so utterly void of heterosexual instincts, that all forms of heterosexual behavior are disgusting and evil to her. In her writings, she pretty much pans all of heterosexuality. In the section you published today, she pans activities which most people would condemn. Nonetheless, her writings are really motivated by something else--total disgust for the entirety of heterosexuality. In short, she's an obsessive nut. And I must admit, I enjoy reading rants from nuts--all kinds of nuts. Left wing nuts, right wing nuts, religous nuts. I know a nut when I see one. Dworkin is a nut.
Steal My Sunshine
NJG writes: There's a song out right now "Steal My Sunshine" by Len (a band). I love this song and someone told me that a female porn star wrote this in the 70's. The song definitely sounds like it should have been in "Boogie Nights". Luke can you find out if this is true? This is what I heard, that this ps wrote it and that this band took most of her song, the melody and everything. This song is also on the movie soundtrack for "Go". And what 70's female porn star wrote this song? And if this is true is she getting royalties from this song?
Later, NJG writes: I found this at Rollingstone.com. They are talking about Andrea True's song "More More More". Andrea True was a 70's porn star. They apparantly just sampled that song into "Steal My Sunshine". Steal My Sunshine is the best song this summer btw IMO. It makes me happy, and I love dancing to it. The lyrics (which I e'd you earlier) are quite depressing, but deep and great. >From rollingstone.com: The group got their first international exposure when their single, "Steal My Sunshine," was included on the soundtrack for the 1999 L.A. teen film Go. The song, which features a sample of the 1975 disco hit "More, More, More," quickly became a popular summer anthem when it was put into heavy rotation on MTV.
I was lying on the grass on Sunday morning of last week
Indulging in my self-defeat
My mind was thugged all laced and bugged
All twisted wrong and beat
A comfortable three feet deep
Now the fuzzy stare from not being there
On a confusing morning week
Impaired my tribal lunar-speak
And of course you can't become
If you only say what you would have done
So I missed a million miles of fun
I know it's up for me
If you steal my sunshine
Making sure I'm not in too deep
If you steal my sunshine
Keeping versed and on my feet
I was lying on the bench slide in the park across the street
L-a-t-e-r that week
My sticky paws were in to making straws out of big fat slurpy treats
An incredible eight foot heap
Now the funny glare to pay a gleaming tare in a staring under heat
Involved an under usual feet
And I'm not only among but I invite who I want to come
So I missed a million miles of fun
I know it's up for me
If you steal my sunshine
Making sure I'm not in too deep
If you steal my sunshine
Keeping versed and on my feet
I know it's done for me
If you steal my sunshine
Not as some and hard to see
If you steal my sunshine
Keeping dumb and built to beat
If you steal my sunshine
My Sunshine
If you steal my sunshine