Monday, June 12, 2006
Email Luke Archives Photos Stars Essays Search LukeIsBack.com Advertise on Lukeisback FetishPays Me Jun 9 On Set Of Taboo 22
Don't Donate To Asia Carrera?
I feel bad for her loss but I'm really getting sick of these pornstars wasting their money while having KIDS and no insurance, in a country where having insurance is probably the most imporant aspect of adulthood, especially when you're a parent. I would live in a f---ing one bedroom appartment in the ghetto before going one day without health and life insurance. I know guys who work jobs making way less than she does who support their famillies and have insurance. They just don't have nice cars, fancy clothes, big screen TVs, expensive vacations, etc. I feel sorry for her loss and I feel terrible for two kids who have to grow up without a dad, but I don't feel sorry for her financial situation. I'm angry at her and her late husband for being such irresponisble parnets and blowing thousands of dollars on themselves before protecting their children. Don't donate money to this women. Send your money to a war widdow in some devestated African country who have never had an option of protecting their children. There are billions of people on this earth who have never had a chance at a good life, and could use your money a lot more than she could.
Nismo writes: "Am I suppose to help someone who has probably made millions in the porn industry? I think its in bad taste to immediately start asking for donations when your spouse died that same day. I know she is probably not in her right frame of mine and might be in shock, but still I will not be donating."
GatorB writes: "He was a fitness guru and 37 so I'm sure his life insurance would not have been that expensive. If you can afford fancy cars, motorcyles, boats, houses etc then you can afford life insurance and health insurance."
Asia Carrera’s Husband Dies
Carlos Martinez writes for AVN:
Lemmon was returning to his Utah home from a business trip when he rolled his Jeep across several lanes of traffic on a highway, apparently killing him instantly, his wife said on her Web site Sunday. She could not be reached for comment.
According to police, the single-car accident took place around 9:30 Saturday night near Las Vegas.
Christian Firm Sues County For Right To Refuse To Copy Gay Rights Films
ARLINGTON, VA. (CN) – A post-production film lab has sued the Arlington County Human Rights Commission, claiming it has been unconstitutionally punished for refusing to duplicate films called “Gay and Proud” and “Second Largest Minority” for a customer. Bono Film and Video, run by Tim Bono, claims it refused to copy the nonpornographic films because their content “runs counter to the Christian and ethical values held by those who operate the business.” The Commission ruled in April that Bono had discriminated against Lilli Vincenz, who requested the copies, because of her sexual orientation, or perceived orientation. After an investigation and a hearing, the Commission ordered Bono to make the copies or to help her find someone who would. Bono refuses, claiming in County Court that the Commission exceeded its authority, that the County Code is unconstitutionally vague and violates Bono’s right to speech and religion. It wants an injunction and County Code 31-3 stricken as unconstitutional.
Asia Carrera's Husband Don Lemmon Dies
She writes on AsiaCarrera.com.
Asia was into the stock market, and I was told she made more money investing than she ever did in porn. Her husband was doing quite well in the health/fitness business with his products. Then why didn't he have life insurance? Why is she accepting PayPal donations? Asia is in the top five of porn stars when it comes to brightness. She is MENSA, and she has done all the technical and design work on her websites by herself since day one. We backup our hard drives, but we don't backup protection for our families.
Peaches writes:
I suspect panic is driving her request for donations. If she has the money invested, she might not be thinking clearly due to the suddeness of the situation. Supposedly I told my RE agent hours after my son died to put my house on the market. I barely even remember her being here. Apparently I said a lot of things for the first few weeks that made no sense. But to not have life insurance when you have dependents is foolish. I hope she goes out soon and purchases one on herself.
Confucy writes:
The death of a loved one puts you into a tailspin. Plus, your hormones are going crazy during pregnancy, and try taking care of a one year-old child during a tragedy. I loved her Hawaii home, but she said on her site that she and Don didn't like the school system there, so they moved back to the mainland. So many people are saying she can go back to porn. SHE LEFT PORN TO HAVE A FAMILY. Why on earth would she want to return. It will take months to get her baby weight off. I would rather see her working in the computer industry...not the porn business. I don't like to see mothers of young children working in porn. Asia feels the same way, and she left porn. Who wants to go back to a porn past? Asia needs to go forward.
I check out Asia Carrera's FAQ:
What are you planning to do after porn?
Beats me. I've tried to answer that question in the past, but things keep changing, and so do my goals. I know that I want to learn as much as I can about everything I can until the day I die, and I like to spend all of my time being productive. I don't have a TV, and I don't party or socialize. I've been lucky enough to learn many, many things here in pornoland that I never would have had an opportunity to experience anywhere else - scriptwriting, directing, producing, acting, editing, makeup, lighting, gripwork, art direction, modelling, you name it, I'm doing it. I pester people all day long to explain things to me, and show me how things work, and they put up with me because I'm topless (haha!). So I could take any of these new skills and branch out behind the camera - perhaps I'll start Asia Carrera Pictures? Or maybe I'll do one of the things I had originally planned: being a stock analyst, a physicist, a millionaire, and king of the world. (I know a girl can't be king, but my first action as Queen would be to declare myself King!)
Mypornoreview.com writes on XPT:
She's supposedly in Mensa and invested after she was in porn. Anyone that has a family with children knows better than to buy a life insurance policy on the bread winner of the family. If you are so f---ing smart, why in the world did you not buy it?? Maybe she is smart enough and did buy life insurance and now she wants to collect donations on top of her life insurance policy, investments, and dividends. Simply greedy or stupid. Either case I empathize for her and her kids.
Threesomebody writes on ADT: "My condolences and all that, but it seems weird to me that immediately after the police leave her house notifying her of her husband's death, she has a spot set up on her web already where people can donate money to her? Did I read that wrong?"
Footjob writes: "I also find it odd that just as the Police leave her house she is on the computer typing away on her website."
Niterunner writes:
I did a google search on Asia's porn name, her real name, her husbands name, Las Vegas police reports, and local Las Vegas news, nothing came up. I know not all activity that happens in the porn world makes mainstream news. But it did, when Anna Malle died, and even though Asia is more of a recluse, she is more well known then Anna Malle was. I think this would of made some kind of press. The only press it seems to be making right now is on her website. I am not saying that this did not happen, but something sounds fishy.
BarryBrn writes: "She has always been a computer freak. I dont thinks she talks to her family. Her fans on the internet have been her family so it doesn't surprise me."
Tricia Deveraux writes on ADT:
Asia has spent the last 10 years or so of her life being very open about herself through online journals and blogs. When I started my website, her site was the one that I thought of as the 'gold standard' of how to do a star site right. As far as her selling merchandise on her site, well... she's been out of porn for awhile, and I'm sure she does sell stuff, but she's not going to be selling as much merchandise as Jesse Jane or Jenna. Whether it would even come close to supporting a mom with 2 children doesn't seem likely to me. Best of luck to her and her children. I never really knew her on a personal level, but I hope that those who do show what good friends they can be, and actually be there for her not just financially (which is of course wonderful) but also emotionally.
Ordell writes: "Asia always used to boast of her investing prowess. Was she lying there? I would think she'd have enough to last at least for a little while, plus residual income from Don..."
Niterunner writes: "I once sent her $20 for an autograph and she told me she never got it. It was a mistake sending cash, but it was very concealed. But once again, I was dumb for sending cash. I emailed and told her, she got it, and her response was "You think I am that poor" I am starting to think so. If I am wrong, I am wrong. But Anna Malle's story made coverage, and this hasn't yet, and should of by now. And why is Don's site still up, I guess people who are no longer alive, have no problem taking credit cards."
Hanna: Industry Changing Model?
Matt of Mattsmodels.com posts:
As AJ Bailey says: "She's a MUTANT." Her face and body are jaw dropping, heart skipping, supernatural events. I think she could possibly be the hottest alien to ever land at Matt's Models. She's as skinny as Nevaeh but with 32 DD NATURAL TITS.
She's gonna piss off every other model in the industry and elicit comments like "oh she's not THAT hot" yada yada yada and point out any flaw they can on her body. Yeah you girls just keep telling yourself that as every magazine, website, photographer, producer, agent and sugar daddy starts sending offers.
David writes from Mypornoreview.com: AJ Bailey had a boob job. Here she is pre-boob job.
Matt responds: "Some dude is claiming AJ Bailey had a boob job. She's sitting in my office right now and I can assure you her tits are real. Where DO these guys come up with this?"
Asia Carrera's Husband Don Lemmon Dies In Car Crash
She writes on AsiaCarrera.com:
06/11 - ...and the fairy tale comes to an end. The police just left my house. Don [Lemmon] was driving home from a business meeting in Las Vegas, and he got into an accident and rolled the Jeep. He's dead. He's never coming back to me. My husband, my soulmate, my other half, the one I was meant to grow old with. I'm almost 8 months pregnant with a son he will never get to see, and I have a one year old daughter who will never be able to remember anything about her father... and he was such a GOOD father to her, she was such a daddy's girl you wouldn't have believed it! Now she'll just have to take my word for it when I tell her how much daddy loved her, because she's too young to remember him for too much longer. Oh god, how that breaks my heart. How am I going to go on without him? How am I going to get a job at almost 8 months pregnant, with a one year old baby??? I couldn't go back to porn even if I wanted to, I'm much too huge. My ex-hubby, Bud Lee, is driving out here in the morning with another good friend of mine, and they are going to help me get through this. Somehow. If anyone wants to make a charitable donation to a pregnant widow who doesn't know how she's going to raise these two babies on her own, there's a spot on my sales page where you can donate up to $100. If anyone wants to send more than that (I'd be forever grateful!), you can use my Paypal Account, to address asiac@asiacarrera.com (that's asiaC@, not just asia@). I trust that no one out there is heartless enough to misuse that email address at a time like this. Oh god how I wish I could wake up from this nightmare. My life went from being a dream come true to hell on earth in just an instant. Please keep me in your thoughts and send me strength! I've got to get through this for my two little babies, otherwise I swear I'd have nothing to live for anymore. But I have no choice, I will do the best I can for Catty and Devin, somehow, some way, I must...
Da Burglar writes on XPT: "Her statement above is like telling a psych ward room full of people that have all attempted suicide at least twice that the bowl of punch over in the corner contains lethal amounts of cyanide and that NO ONE SHOULD go over there and drink from it."
What is Don Lemmon's real name?
I asked Bud [Lee] & friend to stop at the Clark County Coroner's office on the way here from LA as they pass through Vegas, to pick up Don's belongings and anything from the truck... they were told that the truck was strewn over 300 yards, wheels here, axle there... he rolled across so many lanes the truck was just disintegrated... there was an RN (registered nurse) in the car behind him, she tried to help Don, but there was nothing she could do. I can only hope it means he died quickly and maybe painlessly? It just breaks my heart to see Catty's smiling face now, knowing she has no daddy... I show her pictures of Daddy and say "who's that, Catty?" and she shouts "Dadn! Dadn!"... I'm going to have to do that with her every day so she never forgets her daddy. Oh please give me the strength to get through this, somehow... we had no life insurance, I have no car now, no job, no income, I'm pregnant, I have a one-year old baby... this is not how my life was supposed to go. What wouldn't I give to go two days back in time and just hold Don again and never ever let him go...
I traded a lot of friendly email with Don Lemmon in 2003 and 2004. We were going to meet but it never happened.
Don writes me Oct 29, 2003:
Asia's BF (what a great job really, hours are convenient, pay is good, plenty of overtime, the perks ROCK)
Hi Luke, What's up dude? You asked if I were a religious man, the answer is, only if my Dictator allows me to be, which isn't often, or is it? The regular evening chants include, Hail To The Dictator, Raise Your Glasses To The Euro-Asian Goddess, and on select evenings I run through a medley of The Savior Has Come, and the Don Ho favorite, Tiny Bubbles. Now tell me something, what is with this woman's obsession over having a cyber-church? I personally feel it would be a much better idea to work on a grander scale of possibly a group gathering where the mignon drink kool-aid, where kilts, bask in the Guyana sun, and of course put us in their wills... I don't know, seems like a pipe dream at this point. I haven't much direction outside of being bossed around these days anyhow. Ever tried carrying a porn star's makeup case and wardrobe bag when a hillside fire is nipping at your heels? It ain't easy work. Oh, hey, would you be willing to donate your hovel to our cause? Think about it... Anyhow, besides that, I met Asia delivering her pizza. She answered the door naked, and well, you know the rest... Love your work by the way (yes, I know it, saw you on VH-1 last week too),
I am on the fence over who or what caused the big bang or whether someone else snapped fingers to raise the dead.... I was however brought up Christian but am not Christian... If that makes sense... Yourself?
Asia loves to try and drag me into religious debates but we always end up physically wrestling rather than verbally wrestling, so that works. Thanks for the email exchanges, I get a kick out of meeting her friends...
>Do you agree that pornography is destroying the moral fabric of our society?
I think that guy who owns the 3 block plot of land above Sunset that also owns the Pizza Hut empire is to blame. We would be in a better position to blame porn if so many Americans weren't too fat to find their naughty bits.... Yourself?
>Don... Good to hear from you... It sounds like Asia has got a prince...
She's my queen without a doubt.... If you ever need anything, let me know....
David writes Don Lemmon and CCs me on Oct 30, 2004: "Hey if you're into health, why would you have a asian porno star for a girlfriend?"
Don replies: "The fact that you have 'seen' her do anything says it all... So how can you judge a person for what they do when you so willingly watch what they do... Thanks for emailing.... Does this mean I am a better man than you? No, but I also do not stick my foot in my mouth when attempting to frazzle someone either..."
Don replies to me Nov 10, 2003: "I do believe in God, I am just not sure which one to pick!"
Wankus: Rob Spallone Zone
Wankus writes: "Rob is also the master of getting to know how to handle people's he's dealing with. In otherwords, he's the kind of guy that gives you the kind of respect you deserve. If you're an adult star who has a brain, carries yourself well and you have a strong, secure personality. He'll treat you with nothing but respect. But if you're a drugged out twit who says stupid things and brags about your last triple interacial anal, he'll call you a stupid dirty whore."
Caballero Update
XXX writes:
Caballero's Tom Yoffe and Danny Mamane owe one of their employees $14,000.00 in back pay for overtime based on a labor dispute amongst employees. This worker has quit, changed his number and has hired a lawyer to sue. Caballero tried to get him to sign a contract settling the dispute along with $200 dollars.
For Some, Online Persona Undermines a Résumé
When a small consulting company in Chicago was looking to hire a summer intern this month, the company's president went online to check on a promising candidate who had just graduated from the University of Illinois.
At Facebook, a popular social networking site, the executive found the candidate's Web page with this description of his interests: "smokin' blunts" (cigars hollowed out and stuffed with marijuana), shooting people and obsessive sex, all described in vivid slang.
It did not matter that the student was clearly posturing. He was done.
"A lot of it makes me think, what kind of judgment does this person have?" said the company's president, Brad Karsh. "Why are you allowing this to be viewed publicly, effectively, or semipublicly?"
Many companies that recruit on college campuses have been using search engines like Google and Yahoo to conduct background checks on seniors looking for their first job.
T.J. Cummings Thread
Gia Jordan writes on XPT: "Usually when a male talent says "I can't believe we haven't worked together yet" he just means "Get me some work.""
Veronica Jett writes:
TJ: you have no class! you "justify" yourself to christian knowing that you have offended isabel and me, but no apology to either girl. i wouldnt want to work with you based on your manners. defending yourself to man (before the two women you creeped out) just screams that youre a FAG!
Jack writes: "I looked up this Veronica Jett to find out what it was all about. When you discover what she does it puts a rather different perspective on what she must think "class" and manners means."
Cassia Riley vs. Reality
I was prepared to think she was a decent whore until that whiney e-mail sent off to her PR manager.
Cassia on MySpace: "I got so sick of everybody saying, 'You're so hot.' I've been on the cover of many magazines. I had 17,000 people on my page. I don't know any of you. I deleted it."
Reality: What, did you think you just accumuated 17,000 lifelong soulmates? You idiot, they were called fans, they liked you. They bought your mag and stroked their poles to your picture. They don't want to seek your counsel on deep personal matters troubing them, they want to say, "Thanks for helping me moisten my cum sock."
Cassia on Passover: "When I went to went Passover at my grandma's, I hated it. It was boring. I didn't want to sit there and listen. I was texting Charlie Lain the whole time." Cassia complains to her manager: "He says i was texting Jamie at passover...i told him i was texting Charlie..."
Reality: I suppose this is self-explanatory. But what I'd like to know is: nice diss on your family to sit and play with your Sidekick, or CrackBerry or whatever you use, just to send little love messages to your girlfriend. Boo friggin hoo, you got bored. Like it or not, when your porn career has shot itself out and you've come down off your final coke binge, those are the only people who will unconditionally welcome you back to the world. Not your suitcase pimp, not Penthouse, not your porn girlfriend.
Cassia on humor: "I said 'Its like I was raised by pirates'...you know just trying to be funny..and he took it as I got RAPED by pirates..Thats real nice for everyone to read."
Reality: There are a lot of deranged people, many of us post here quite often. I'm certain that no one read your response thinking that Sir Francis Drake sodomized you with his wooden peg-leg. But since you took the time to complain about it to your publicist, now everyone thinks you're paranoid, rather than having some dry type of wit. Nice job.
Cassia on advertising: "He doesn't even put anything in there about what I'm trying to promote or my website."
Reality: Honey, L-ke doesn't even advertise on LiB. How do you think your plugs will get space? Are you the only one in porn to know that DUC will...oh never mind this is all over your head anyway.
Cassia on journalism: "Tell Luke to get is s--- together and learn how to write an interview."
Reality: I doubt you read L-ke's blog, but if you did (there's a link to it 'round here), you'd know that he adds and changes content all the time. Are you saying he misquoted you? That he libeled you?
Luke - Holly Blow-Up
I feel like Rockhound from the movie "Armageddon", when he and Max get back on the Space Shuttle and See Harry and Colonel Sharp with a Gun and Space Wrench pointed at each other's head...."Ok guys...what did I miss?"
Where was all this posted? I am bummed now...my two favorite people in Porn are fighting, it's like when Mom and Dad used to get in a fight, always a couple hours before we would be going to the amusement park or something fun.
I hate hate hate to say this, but I actually, COMPLETELY understand and agree with BOTH of their positions and points and thoughts...how is that possible? I usually can't get up on a fence to sit on it even if I want to... I need to invite both Luke and Holly up to smoke a peace pipe with me...this is not healthy or good.
Damaged writes: "Luke and Holly should cool it with this. I have close friends that disagree with much of what I think and vis versa and we just don't get into those subjects. The main problem is Luke's need to be openly critical, as if by announcing what he believes is somehow the path of the righteous."
Elaborator notes that Holly's new dog Bonnie (it's another 400 plus KB file from Holly) appears saddened by our fight.
Allover writes: "Luke is anal and calculating. That was designed like a love potion number 9. Word of love soft and tender don't win a girl's heart no more! If ya love 'er you gotta send her somewhere she ain't never been before."
JamesN writes:
Luke's vanity trumped his concern for his mental health. he discontinued taking his medication and his page is already showing it-the updates either seem to come at a trickle, if at all some days. then for several days, luke swings back into a mild hypomania despite his tennis elbow and writes more than he did in the previous four days. from tom wolfe's hooking up-luke take your lithium!
"The demise of Freudianism can be summed up in a single word: lithium. In 1949 an Australian psychiatrist, John Cade, gave five days of lithium therapy--for entirely the wrong reasons--to a fifty-one-year-old mental patient who was so manic-depressive, so hyperactive, unintelligible, and uncontrollable, he had been kept locked up in asylums for twenty years. By the sixth day, thanks to the lithium buildup in his blood, he was a normal human being. Three months later he was released and lived happily ever after in his own home. This was a man who had been locked up and subjected to two decades of Freudian logorrhea to no avail whatsoever."
luke, do you not realize this woman is ideal? i've already got my troubled blond from princeton, but think about it luke. she's adorable, easily as smart as you, and most importantly-she actually gets you despite the aurora snow sized gape betwixt you and perfection. lukeydukey, the woman's half the reason i read your site now-she's cool as s---, whatever you do to her. stop the khomeini-style bulls---. your income comes from what she does. i've got co-writing creds at the wsj, hbr, etc. and guess what? NOBODY GIVES A f--- WHAT YOU DO IF YOU CAN WRITE.
write, holly's a muse, she's not dragging you down, you spent a decade brilliantly fooling dumb girls into saying things they regretted in the same industry. you've been on set where penises touch vaginas. only mitt romney can claim moral superiority, you f---ed kendra jade, you're one of us.
Allover writes:
I think Mr. Ford is terrified to have actually developed strong feelings of love for a woman in the pornography business. His nightmares probably consist of her somewhow getting talked into performing in front of the camera. The horror, I intuitevely feel, must be twofold for him because in these horrors of sleep he is interviewing her for his site on her decision and desperately wants her not to do it for reasons we can all understand, but it also causes his casually sadistic interview style to begin to fray under the stress of his diasturbed emotional state, and thus his purchase on his carved niche height to look down his nose is in jeopardy.
I had a nightmare Sunday morning, June 11, 2006, that friends found nude
and hardcore layouts of me in various porn magazines that Holly had shot.
It took about an hour of awake time for me to assure myself I had never
done any such thing.
2cums writes:
Holly has Luke's balls in her back pocket and thats not a good position to be in. She used her good looks, charm and intelligence to manipulate Lukes will. Remember the good times Luke, put aside your petty bickering and accept porn (Holly) as your saviour!
Stan Kern: 'L-ke Ford promiting scumbag mainstream film director'
Stankern2006@hotmail.com emails:
That wanna-be Jew L-ke Ford is promoting the movie "Peacefull Warrior" by convicted child molester Victor Salva on his website. It's worse enought that Ford always plays his “hollier then thou" attitude with people in the Adult Industry, but now he's supporting petafile filmakers! I don't know why people in the Industry tolerant him at all.
He's got an infection after massive doses of chemo. Rob Spallone threw him a massive barbeque Sunday for his birthday.
JM Productions/Five Star Obscenity Bust
Ernest Greene aka Ira Levine posts June 2 on Nina.com:
I do not see anything narrowly political about the bust, as in somehow related to the Abu Ghraib thing, but it is clearly part of the larger DOJ strategy of calling out the harshest material first, hoping to secure a conviction for adult obscenity against someone somewhere that will actually hold up as far as SCOTUS.
Therefore, I'm hardly shocked that JM was next on the list after Rob Black. Like Black, Jeff Steward has a major attitude problem and that's exactly what gets you busted everytime. When I was a police beat reporter, I learned that the crime for which most people actually got dragged downtown was the general offense of "being an asshole," a description I heard used aloud more than once on that gig. Certainly and at every level Steward qualifies.
Full disclosure here. He said something truly vicious about Nina on his cheesy little forum a few months ago that led to some discussion of litigation, so if I'm not exactly grief-stricken over his troubles at a personal level, that should come as no surprise. Having some jerk post or allow to be posted on his bandwidth the suggestion that one's wife should be murdered along with other porn performers of her generation solely on grounds of said jerk's ideas about aging isn't likely to inspire sympathy.
And it doesn't help that I find many of his movies and his company's general posture repellant. Any producer with "Whores Degraded Daily" as a slogan clearly isn't too concerned about the disapproval of others, including those who can actually make something of it.
However, the fundamental things apply. The principle at stake here is still freedom of expression. Steward's company has, at times, been accused of physically and psychologically abusing performers. If any of that is true, the individuals involved should be arrested and tried for assault and battery. But that's not the charge that's been filed. The indictments concern the distribution of obscene content, and such indictments must always be opposed, however offensive the content in question. "The principle of free thought is not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought we hate," says US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in United States v. Schwimmer (1929). That's what's at stake both in this instance and in the Rob Black case.
Should the feds succeed in establishing that some speech (as opposed to physical action) is so hateful as to merit criminal prosecution, any speech might be next, and don't think it won't be. If they get their convictions against Steward and Black, expect them to try and draw the noose tighter until it includes Vivid, Andrew Blake and us. That's why we have to fight on behalf of those we don't feel the least obligation to like. It's our own rights we're defending.
If any woman feels she was actually brutalized in a Donkey Punch video, let her come forward and see the brigands hauled off to the slammer amid cheers from many of us. Until then, this is still about sending somebody to jail over some pictures, and that kind of thing has no place in any society that calls itself free.
Nina Hartley writes: "Hate him as I do (or is it pity?), we must defend JM Productions against any content-based prohibition or it's our ass next. I would hope, though, that some woman would come forward to press assault charges against him for the Donkey Punch series. Reprehsible. Simply awful stuff."
I get a call from a source at JM Productions: "Donkey Punch is a Chatsworth Pictures [owned by Grip & Cram Johnson (Tony Malice)] movie, not a JM movie. Jeff Steward had nothing to do with it."
Tony Malice emails: "Luke, here is the post about Nina Hartley that Ernest Greene is referencing. It is not by Jeff Steward or JM Productions. People insist on making the false assumption that we are the only posters on XPT, that is FALSE. There are literally hundreds and thousands of posters."
June 9, Ira Levine writes:
Hi Luke,
It's been brought to my attention that an item you quoted from a recent thread on www.nina.com regarding the legal problems of JM productions and Jeff Steward gave Mr. Steward grave offense. Rereading what I said there, I can see why. As my original intention was to defend Mr. Steward's First Amendment rights and I could easily enough have done so without personalizing the whole matter, I feel I owe him an apology and offer it wholeheartedly and without qualification. I have removed the thread in question from our site and will have no further comment regarding Mr. Steward or his company there or elsewhere.
I oppose obscenity prosecutions in all instances and feel that it is in the best interest of the rest of the industry to do so as well. Enough said.
Nate Glass writes:
With all due respect to an icon like Nina Hartley… To say that everyone needs to defend Jeff is EXACTLY right. Now when it comes to beating up Jeff for Donkey Punch…ummm…I find it hard to read the text from 2 performers who have made a good number of hardcore BONDAGE titles, lecturing Jeff on the content of his product. Is Donkey Punch much different than having clothespins all over someone’s body while they wear a leather face mask?
And before someone tries to explain to me what Bondage is all about. I already know. But do you think these feds care about the difference? Weren’t all the girls in Donkey Punch consenting adults? Aren’t all the girls in Nina’s bondage movies consenting adults that enjoy the pleasures of pain? I have the highest respect for what Nina and Ernest have done and continue to do, they put out a great product that isn’t for EVERYONE and not EVERYONE can understand. There are a lot of people who don’t understand how anyone could be into Bondage, but there’s also a LOT of people who don’t “get” JM’s product either.
When I used to get obscenity charges from the city of Dallas ½ the time it was for Max Hardcore, the other ½ the time it was for bondage and foot fetish videos. Go figure. The feds are going after the shock value first, so that they can get some sort of precedent set using Jeff, Max, and Rob. Then it’s open season.
Too Slow
The problem with Teravision and ClubJenna is that it seems like it takes forever to get the movies out.And there are to few releases. I mean, take Mckenzie Lee. When she arrived in the Us biz, everyone were talking about her. It is now over a year since she joined them( a year and a half, I think) and how many movies have been released? I can only think of one; Mckenzie Made.
Nikki Benz posts:
It was NOT a mutual decision to leave Teravision Avn.com article states that it was a mutual decision for me and Teravision to go our separate ways. That is not the case. Teravision gave me absolutely no notice.
Right before I was to attend Exxxotica Miami Beach convention they dropped me. Before my attorney received a fax from Teravision, I was trying to get a hold of Evan, Tera or someone at the office only to be ignored. I wanted to know the details, such as my flight number and departure time, hotel, etc. I did nothing to Evan (ceo of Teravision) for him to treat me like this.
My contract with them states that if one party wishes to end the contract, we are to give each other a 60 day notice. Where is my 60 day notice Evan? I also canceled two feature dancing gigs this month, just so I would be able to attend these conventions. Not only did I loose money from that, but I'm still owed a pay check from Teravision. Funny how Evan totally disregarded that. I guess since he's making a ton of money from my lates movie Test Drive, he doesn't think about other people and the fact that they have bills to pay.
Just read on avn.com that Evan's excuse it because he wants to concetrate more on Tera. Well Evan, then why would you screw me over like this?! Give me notice just like our contract says. And why were my pay checks late all the time? People, including me have rent, car payments, cell phone bills and so on. I would never treat anyone the way he's treated me. Then again, Evan is known for this.
...If you knew anything about my career, then how could you say that I am "actively avoiding f---ing black guys". Ever since I've entered the industry I've been scooped up and always under contract. First with Pleasure Productions, then Jill Kelly Productions, and most recently Teravision.
IBill Parent Moves Into ‘Payday’ Advance Loan Business
XBiz reports: "LAS VEGAS, Nev. — IBill parent Interactive Brand Development has decided to move into another sector of the credit processing business — “payday” advance loans."
For at least two years now, IBill has owed a lot of pornographers a lot of money.
Xclusive writes on JBM: "Funny how they can open a new business yet can't pay people."
Lainie Speiser writes from Penthouse:
This week was really great because I had the pleasure of working with Aria Giovanni. She’s the July cover girl for our music issue and since I wasn’t here when she became a Pet in 2000 I jumped at the chance to work with her. I was a fan for a long time because she’s a classic pin up girl – striking exquisite face and a stacked slamming bod – they don’t make ‘em like that anymore. Everywhere we went people asked if they could take a picture with her, everyone knew who she was, and Aria is very sweet and gracious with her fans. She’s a classy lady through and through. Aria also has great taste in clothes and is very knowledgeable about good food and fine wines. She’s going to be doing a signing at The Virgin Megastore in LA you should come down and interview her and take pix.
Jack writes:
If Holly's mom was a teacher or doctor or an artist, would have Holly have become a pornographer?
I don't think the kind of stuff Holly does is offensive in itself, it's that it is a trajectory to a whole heap of problems, physical and emotional.
It's a pity you two can't work together to make serious docu films about these issues. I wondering if you have ever discused it? Could Holly make serious docu films and do porn, or is that of zero interest to her? I rather suspect a possible way to persuade her would be for you to make an example and for you to make money from it.
There aren't any difficult issues here. Porn is bad for you like cigarettes and MTV and a million things are bad for you. Humans are weak. They struggle to survive. Sometimes we do bad things, often because they are less bad than the alternatives. Nobody who could be shooting or writing for Vanity Fair magazine or Hollywood is making porn or writing about porn. Porn is a refuge for the lazy, for people who don't want to push themselves to do something noble.
Oone of the definitions I've read for pornography is that it is the lowest form of artistic endeavor.
Holly wanted to be a fashion photographer but decided that would be too hard. Porn is easy, particularly for a girl like her. Holly, like any decent photographer, can shoot beaver in her sleep. There aren't any special skills to making porn. It's the easiest way she can make a great living and buy lots of expensive shoes and take exotic vacations.
Do I respect pornographers? Not for making porn. I may respect them for other qualities.
If I was a great writer or reporter, do you think I'd be writing primarily on porn? No way. I'm only here because I'm not good enough (as yet) to make it anywhere else.
H.L. Mencken said you can judge a man's character by the way he earns a living.
Holly writes: "I give up. You just love to insult me. And btw, shooting nude women isn't as easy as you think it is. In fact, it's damn difficult, especially when the model is green and/or has flaws I have to deal with. I know you hate the porn industry and will only see it as the evil one-eyed monster that lives in your closet, but I am going to continue to work in the industry, I'm going to have a family, and I'm going to be a damn good mother. So you can take your opinions on me, my job, and my family and shove it up your ass."
Cam Long reports from Shane's World 10th anniversary party
On the shuttle ride back to the hotel, I somehow ended up with Penny Flame on my lap--she was completely smashed. The lap ride wasn't intentional--she basically dove onto the three guys in our row to avoid having to wait for the next shuttle--and found her way to my lap when she realized that lying down + moving shuttle van = the spins. Penny announced in a rather loud voice to all of the passengers in the van that she was a drunk, crying porn star and we should pay her no mind. She then told me that she had broken up the night before with her boyfriend Hector, and that he was sitting in the row just behind us. Fortunately, Hector is not the sort of person who carries a big gun and sticks it to the head of the innocent reporter trying to comfort his drunk and emotional porn star ex-girlfriend. After she had calmed down a bit, Penny told me a rather hilarious story about how the principals of Shane's World owed her money, and since she didn't think she was going to get paid, she set out to drink all of their booze. Let's hope she steered clear of the Voodoo spiced rum, because I'm pretty sure that was comped, and it would have nullified her rather heroic effort at revenge.
Richard Abowitz Of A Moveable Buffet
He blogs about Las Vegas for The Los Angeles Times.
I busted his chops for writing about the sex industry in only glowing terms.
Abowitz (on staff at the Las Vegas Weekly) replies:
Dear Mr. Ford: I appreciate your note on the blog. I have put a lot of thought on how I cover adult. More probably than I should have and certainly more than most people give me credit for. And, I am going to keep doing it as long as my editors let me.When I moved to Las Vegas I discovered what a huge and very mainstream business adult is here. It is also a legal business: from the strip clubs, to the brothels over the county line, to the movies shot here, to the AVN convention held each January. I also discovered that my colleagues (despite the fact that many of them consumed the various adult entertainments in Vegas) never wrote about this side of Vegas as a business or as entertainment. The only coverage adult got was from a moral perspective. I lack that perspective. Consenting adults having sex or being entertained by it neither excites nor offends me. It is fine just like skydiving or eating liver or watching baseball---just not for me. So, I admit I am not ideal for a mainstream reporter to cover your industry. I do not watch porno (or, really any movies including mainstream Hollywood ones) and so I have always realized that there are limits to how well I can cover it. Still, as a writer what has always interested me are independent thinkers, outsiders and great stories about people and adult entertainment offers all of that. I am not pro-porn or anti-porn beyond a strong support of the first amendment. I cover entertainment. I don't pick what entertains people, the public does. Anyway, if I ruled the world condom use would be mandatory on all those films I don't watch to reduce the health risks to performers. I remember John Stagliano told me a few months ago that he was trying to think of something really extreme for Fashionistas 2 and I said, "John, use condoms and you will shock everyone that has seen your stuff." He didn't buy that plan. Anyway, thanks for your comment on the LATimes blog. Yrs., Richard
I am not at all sure that the Adult business is as legal as you say. There's been plenty in the Las Vegas sex industry that has ended up in criminal court. Any strip club chain has historically had ties to organized crime and I believe they still do. Eg, Vincent Faraci at Crazy Horse Too. Pornography is only legal if community standards accept it. That is being tested by federal obscenity busts. I believe that escorting in Las Vegas is illegal. That's one huge illegal sex industry in your backyard.
You're missing that part of the story, perhaps because you believe that consenting sex between adults should be legal, but that's not the law when particularly when such sex is turned into a commercial transaction. I'm thinking of the excellent work that John L. Smith has done about organized crime ties to the sex industry, including in Las Vegas, and particularly, of late, about strip clubs in Vegas.
I remember when various New York mobsters such as Craig Marino were hanging out at the Bizarre Video booth at the AVN show in January 2003. You also see numerous Hells Angels at the AVN show, members of a gang notorious for such criminal activity as methamphetamine manufacturing and distribution.
I recommend these links: HollywoodMafia.com, HollywoodMafia.blogspot.com, Mafia, Craig Marino, John Baudanza, Vincent Faraci.
6.06.06 Party Pics by Gia Jordan
Hillary Scott & Leah Luv, Mia Rose, Allura Eden, WantedList.com's Ahn Tran, Jessica Jaymes, Travis from Zero Tolerance, Jenna Presley , & Jasmine Byrne...
Bored With Beauty
Compared to the eternal verities, it seems so shallow.
Denise LaFrance comments: "Look at you, Luke; looking all bored and contemplative (perhaps pontificating the melting ice caps) whilst surrounded by a pointless gaggle of scantilly clad women. Does life offer no escape from these inconveniences?"
"THIS face and THAT van don't go together. You better suit a Morgan or a Bently."
Lainie Speiser emails me: "She’s on two covers right now, Girls of Penthouse and Strip Las Vegas. Cassia, Jamie, Charlie Laine and Melissa Jacobs are hosting a Strip Las Vegas party on June 19th with a Penthouse Lingerie Fashion Show."
I call Cassia Tuesday afternoon two hours late.
She has the website sexycassia.com.
Luke: "Why did you take down your MySpace page?"
Cassia: "I got so sick of everybody saying, 'You're so hot.' I've been on the cover of many magazines. I had 17,000 people on my page. I don't know any of you. I deleted it."
Luke: "Did you like our LA Weekly photo?"
Cassia: "Yes. You looked like such a pimp."
Luke: "What dramatic things have been going on in your life?"
Cassia: "I've been sitting on my ass for weeks. I'm a shopping addict. That's all I do. I play with my dog. I get some booty from my ex."
Luke: "I hear you are all talk and no action. Are you submissive in the bedroom?"
Cassia: "I'm both. I love to be dominated by my man. I like to be choked. I like to be spanked. I like to be hit. I love rough sex. My new thing is to be choked with a belt. I love to be choked to the point where I'm about to pass out. But I only let my ex do that."
She says she hasn't read any books this year.
Luke: "You're a bad Jew."
Cassia: "I am a bad Jew. I am not a practicing Jew at all. My family is so many different things, we never practiced any certain religion.
"When I went to went Passover at my grandma's, I hated it. It was boring. I didn't want to sit there and listen. I was texting Charlie Lain the whole time. I got the evil eye. I'm the worst Jew ever."
Luke: "Why do you have such a filthy mouth?"
Cassia: "I don't know. People say, 'What's wrong with you?' I don't know. It just comes out. It's like I was raised by pirates."
Luke: "If you were going to become a spokesperson for a group, what type of group?"
Cassia: "Something to do with animals."
She lives alone. "I can't be with people that much. I like to walk around naked. If I ate too much and my stomach sticks out, I wouldn't want anyone to say anything.
"Don't talk s--- about me on your website."
Cassia emails Lainie Speiser, the Penthouse publicist: "So..I just check out Lukes site and my interview...Its like the worst EVER...He totally f---ed it up and obviously didn't listen very closely. Half of it makes no sense at all and makes me look like a dumb ass...He just pulled s--- out of nowhere and put it in there...like the..."I hear your all talk no action" and supposedly I say Exactly...What the hell is he refering to? He says i was texting Jamie at passover...i told him i was texting Charlie...Then when asked about my dirty mouth...I said I"ts like I was raised by pirates"...you know just trying to be funny..and he took it as I got RAPED by pirates..Thats real nice for everyone to read..He doesn't even put anything in there about what I'm trying to promote or my website...I don't really see what the point of the interview was except to f--- up everything I said and make me look like a retard...Tell Luke to get is s--- together and learn how to write an interview...and he can put that on his site."