Web Log Archives: November 17, 2002 - November 23, 2002
Saturday, November 23, 2002
Hot laptop burns scientist's penis. Already #2 at Blogdex, behind only the Ellen Feiss interview.
The nominations have been announced for this year's Bad Sex in Fiction Award. This Times article mentions only one of the ten nominated novels, The Impressionist by Hari Kunzru, which was cited in part for this passage:
His head has been pushed down into the dusty bedclothes, so he cannot see the purple face of the man toiling behind him. He is aware, however, that the pounding is punctuated by buttock-slaps and regular full-throated hunting cries. As the major’s excitement mounts, ‘Tally-ho!’ gives way to ‘On! On! On!’, and the bed groans with the effort of maintaining its structural integrity.
So what's so "bad" about that, either as sex or fiction? Last year around this time, Todd at Mouth Organ expressed his annoyance at the BSiFA's "demonization of erotica just to get a few laughs." What he said. More about the BSiFA from previous years. . . . UPDATE: This BBC article mentions some (but not all) of the other writers on the 2002 short list: Will Self, John Banville, Nicholas Coleridge, Nicola Barker and Ethan Hawke.
Mark O'Keefe of Newhouse News Service argues that the Puritans have gotten a bad rap.
The colonizers of New England, credited with the first Thanksgiving, are most often portrayed as drab, glum and pleasure-hating. You have seen the depictions -- religious zealots whose idea of fun was burning a falsely accused witch, or narrow-minded prudes best described by the adjective they spawned: "puritanical." But that image is a false one, scholars say.
Citing various historians, O'Keefe insists that the Puritans enjoyed earthly pleasures like food, drink, sex and games as much as anyone in the 17th century; that their witch trials and killings were no worse than those in Europe; and that they had relatively advanced customs regarding women's rights.
AARP has launched a magazine called My Generation for aging boomers who still have the '60s in their blood. Their "Genny Awards" issue has short features on "people and things that made us who we are," including this nice little tribute to The Pill.
Friday, November 22, 2002
The 4th Circuit Court of Appeal ruled 2-1 to uphold Louisiana's 197-year-old sodomy law, which bans oral and anal sex as "crimes against nature."
Sheerly Avni at Salon agrees with me: Ben Affleck is not sexy. Plus, Oliver Willis is demanding a recount.
Police in White Oak, Texas (about 100 miles east of Dallas), have charged a woman with felony obscenity for having a box of sex toys in her car. The cops found the items in her car after stopping her for drunk driving. The woman is a local distributor for a national company which sponsors women-only Tupperware-style home parties. This article explains Texas dildo laws: "It's illegal to 'wholesale promote' obscene materials or devices. Texas statute says an obscene device is a simulated sexual organ or an item designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs. The law allows investigators to assume that anyone with six or more of the items is intending to promote them." Metafilter.
Researchers have developed an effective vaccine for genital herpes for women. "In the report, which followed two phase-three clinical trials, doctors gave both men and women the vaccine against genital herpes. The vaccine worked only for the women, and only for those who had not been exposed to the type of herpes that infects the mouth. . . . The vaccine will not be available commercially for at least five years but already some doctors believe all girls should be given the vaccine along with the other childhood vaccines." The findings were published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, which has the abstract for the paper online (full article available only to subscribers).
Can HIV be transmitted via fellatio? That's been a hotly debated question for years. A study by researchers at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at the University of California at San Francisco says: "HIV infection through receptive oral sex is a very rare event — statistically our study showed a probability of zero — and is rarer than HIV infection through receptive anal intercourse using a condom."
Thursday, November 21, 2002
Phallix produces amazing hand-crafted blown-glass sex toys. Unfortunately, they don't sell retail over their website, but you can browse their product catalog.
Bondage barbies are so five minutes ago — check out the bondage beanie babies. (Link snagged from Eros Blog.)
People magazine has named Ben Affleck its Sexiest Man Alive for 2002. Lousy choice, to my taste at least. Brad Pitt and George Clooney (past SMAs) are sexy because they're gorgeous and have a suave, playful, sexy attitude. Affleck may be gorgeous, but he comes across as bland, pouty, completely lacking in sexual charisma.
Italian glamor photographer Alberto Magliozzi has produced a 2003 calendar featuring nude women in bible scenes. "September features a heavy-bosomed Virgin Mary suckling a child, while March depicts a raven-haired nude washing a woman's toes in a pose evocative of Mary Magdalene, the penitent prostitute who anointed Christ's feet. April is a bare-breasted Virgin Mary, halo shining above her head, with her arms held out to reveal bleeding palms like the wounds of Christ on the cross, and wearing nothing but a transparent loin cloth and white high heels." Some in Italy have condemned the calendar as blasphemous, but Magliozzi insists that wasn't his intention.
Jonathan Margolis traces how the word "fuck" has become more commonplace and acceptable in recent years. Excellent piece, worth reading. (Link snagged from World Sex News.)
Taking off from the Sex Workers Art Show flap, Tuscon Weekly takes a sketchy, balanced look at competing social attitudes towards pornography (some people think it's bad, while others think it's good).
Wednesday, November 20, 2002
Regardless what you think about the Iraq question (I'm on the fence myself, not that anyone particularly cares when or if I make up my mind), this is a really cool peace rally.
The Indiana University student newspaper has an article about the Shane's World campus video shoot and aftermath. Much of the information appears to be drawn from Shane spokespornstar Calli Cox's appearance on The O'Reilly Factor Monday night, though the article doesn't actually mention the TV show. The IU administration's official investigation is "nearing completion amid concerns the filming could tarnish IU's academic reputation." The school's chancellor says, "I think people understand the fact that this group had in mind to be very harmful to our students."
The MPAA ratings board gave Solaris a PG-13 rating despite brief shots of George Clooney's bare buttocks. Or as Zap2It's headline puts it, Clooney's Butt Wins Ratings Battle. Clooney himself suspects that Fox orchestrated the ratings clash to generate some sexy advance publicity.
CBS will broadcast the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show tonight despite assorted protests. Several groups including Concerned Women for America, the National Organization for Women and the Parents Television Council sent a joint public letter to CBS slamming the show as a "soft-core porn infomercial." (Gary from Clean Sheets sent me this story along with the comment, "Lingerie...the horror! When NOW starts agreeing with CWA, I'm worried.") Some CBS affiliates are declining to air the show, though some of those will run it later in a late-night slot.
Also, last week's taping was interrupted by animal rights protesters angry at supermodel Gisele Bündchen for modeling and promoting fur (though she wasn't modeling fur that night, as far as I can tell).
As the sultry catwalker made her way down the runway in just a beaded bra, her skivies and thigh-highs, activists from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals rushed the stage toting protest signs. Before being yanked off the stage, the four female protesters yelled at the Brazilian import and waved banners reading "Gisele: Fur Scum."
The producers have reportedly edited that confrontation out of the broadcast version. Among the highlights we'll actually see:
The most extravagant ensemble of the night on the show was the $10 million "Star of Victoria" bra and panty ensemble that features a 60-carat pear shaped diamond at the center of the bra. A rose and leaf pattern of rubies, emeralds and diamonds covers the rest of the bra and embellishes the waist of the panty, for a total weight of 168 carats.
Ooooh, and Dazette's birthday is coming up.
ABC and the producer behind The Bachelor are developing a new reality TV show called Are You Hot?, a "nationwide 'American Idol'-like search for the sexiest person in America, with a group of tart-tongued judges passing Simon Cowell-esque judgments on folks who think they're all that and a bag of [chips]." At least in this Variety article, neither ABC nor the producers acknowledge that it's based on the website Am I Hot or Not? (Link snagged from Nick Denton.)
Tuesday, November 19, 2002
No doubt already linked on a hundred other blogs: Wired story about Mac fetishism with a fun gallery of erotic fan art. By the way, is DayPop ever coming back?
Albert LaFontaine, an 82-year-old Ojibwe man, has declared his Minnesota strip club a sovereign Indian nation, apparently to evade local and state regulations. LaFontaine has previously tried to build casinos on land that he's bought and declared sovereign. He also once offered to sell a third of North Dakota to the Soviet Union.
Is it sweeps week at Fox News? The O'Reilly Factor did a followup segment on the Indiana University porn video shoot last night, with Bill O'Reilly interviewing Shane's World pornstar/spokesperson Calli Cox.
O'REILLY: Okay. So after you left the dorm, you went to a private residence, and the students like a Pied Piper, followed you over there to commit more -- commit, to perform more sexual acts.
COX: We had set up appointments ahead of time with different campus organizations, and those were the students who were involved beyond that point.
O'REILLY: Oh, that's interesting. So you called, what, the B'nai B'rith and the Newman Club and said, Hey, any volunteers for sex acts with me, Calli? Now, who -- which ones? I'm being facetious. But which ones...
O'Reilly's main objection is that "the taxpayers of Indiana partially funded this movie," which strikes me as a stretch.
USA Today looks at hot trends in prostitution front businesses. "Raids by vice squads in California cities in the past two years have hit scores of strip-mall storefronts that display the state license of a healing professional [mostly chiropractors and acupuncturists] as a front for illicit sex. . . . Prostitution rackets also have infiltrated the shops of beauticians, manicurists and barbers. Tanning salons are another favored haunt."
Will there be a sex scene in The Two Towers? Oops, no.
Another NPR program, The Connection hosted by Dick Gordon, did an hour-long show about The Joy of Sex last week. Guests on the show included Nicholas Comfort, Constance Penley and Jack Murnighan.
National Public Radio's The Tavis Smiley Show did a six-minute segment on college newspaper sex columnists last week. (This link goes straight to the RealAudio file.)
Russ Meyer's masterpiece Beyond the Valley of the Dolls will get a two-week revival at the Film Forum in a newly struck 35mm print. If you live in New York, don't miss this. Critic Stuart Klawans raves about the revival and retells the film's strange production history.
From the Weekly World News: Bizarre virus turns computer into sex pervert. It secretly takes nude pics of coeds with its web-cam — & posts them on the Internet!
Monday, November 18, 2002
Marie Cocco asserts that the Bush administration is waging a stealth war on condoms.
Adult Video News has announced the nominees for the 2003 AVN Awards Show. The winners will be announced in January at the annual awards ceremony in Las Vegas.
From Xinhua News Agency: "A 25-year-old Chinese peasant woman with two wombs has become the proud mother of a pair of baby girls after 39 weeks of pregnancy in both wombs. . . . The mother has a pair of vaginas and wombs by genetic inheritance. . . . Experts say about one out of a thousand women have two wombs, most of whom are more likely to have miscarriages or premature babies and only one out of a million can have two babies delivered full term." (Link snagged from World Sex News.)
The New York Times covers the new rules imposed by Visa and MasterCard on billing services for adult websites. "In the wake of rules from credit card companies and banks that have strangled many online gambling sites, Visa and MasterCard are now looping the noose for adult sites that may have spotty credit-card records. Many of the online companies say that the new rules, which the card companies call antifraud measures, will clean up an industry rife with unethical billing practices. But some operators say that, in fact, the credit card companies have taken it upon themselves to step in as de facto regulators of their industries."
MSNBC reported recently on sleazy porn spammers placing fake personal ads in online dating services, then steering male respondents to porn paysites. In some cases, the spammers use photos snagged from real women's dating service profiles. One woman to whom this happened has been fighting back, urging the dating services to crack down more seriously and tracking down the con artist who stole her photo.
Laura provided MSNBC.com with a 3-inch thick pile of paper, documenting dozens of personals ads using her photo. In one, she was “Firecracker_heaven007” a 22 year old from Woodsville, N.H. In another, “lil_spank_spank,” a 23 year old from Denver who expected “breakfast in bed” after the first date. In still another, she was “Chocolate_Starfish_0,” who promised to “bring you the danger that firecrackers have” and invited men to “send me your e-mail and a pic of yourself. Who knows, maybe I’ll make you explode.” In fact, many of the fake ads played on the firecracker theme, Laura said, making them relatively easy to find.
This is just plain low. (Earlier MSNBC article about porn spam at dating sites.)
A French government commission on broadcasting standards has issued a report recommending stricter regulations for TV violence and pornography.
The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News did a segment on Friday night about last month's porn video shoot at Indiana University for Shane's World #32: Campus Invasion. According to Adult Video News, O'Reilly's producers called Shane's Enterprises on Friday morning for a phone interview. The studio's owner is excited about the segment: "The national publicity we've been getting has been amazing. Shane's World #29, the tape we did at ASU, went through the roof after we started getting this sort of attention. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger." I missed the program, but I'll bet O'Reilly was mad as hell about these pornographers invading campuses. The Fox News website made up a neat little graphic for the show.
Fun New York Times magazine article reveals how all those TV dating shows recruit their bachelors and bachelorettes. "As a casting coordinator for the syndicated dating show 'Shipmates', [Mia Kaminsky is] paid to prowl the bars and clubs of New York looking for contestants, and it can be thankless work."
More Straits Times coverage from the Asian Congress of Sexology conference held in Singapore over the weekend. Too tired for sex? It's your lifestyle: "Singaporeans are so stressed out, some have 'lifestyle impotency', says NUS professor who coined the new term." Many think sex during pregnancy is harmful: "Medical evidence shows it is a misconception, but majority here still worry it will endanger foetus, study finds." (Can't get no) satisfaction: "Some women suffer from a low level of desire or an inability to reach orgasm because they lack sufficient knowledge about their own bodies to know what works for them." Fine for heart patients to make love: "If you have had a heart attack, this is what the doctor wants you to know: you can have sex within two weeks, provided your condition is stable and you have sex with a regular partner."
Sunday, November 17, 2002
Rebecca Caldwell looks at the strange but booming subculture of beauty pageants. "It's estimated that there are roughly 700,000 beauty pageants held in the U.S. (staid Canada boasts only 200) and that three million people a year compete for a sparkly tiara. That's roughly one in every 47 women. The long journey to that final catwalk often begins with baby steps. For instance, last year's Miss Canada International, Tara Hall, started off in the pageant circuit at age 3 when her mother entered her in a competition at a mall in her hometown of Niagara-on-the-Lake. Then as a teen, she moved on to model searches and a few local pageants."
The Miss America pageant winner traditionally travels the country for a year making public appearances and promoting some personal cause. This year's winner, Erika Harold, made youth violence her personal cause during the pageant — a nice safe cause, since there's no pro youth violence lobby to offend — but after winning she decided to switch her cause to sexual abstinence. The Miss America organization pressured her to stick with youth violence, but Harold refused, and social conservatives have rallied to her cause. On the one hand, I sympathize with the Miss America folks for not wanting their organization hijacked by fundamentalist ideologues. On the other hand, I sympathize with Harold for wanting to talk about what really matters to her, especially after reading this part of the article: "[Harold] was a well-known abstinence advocate before she won the Miss Illinois title on her third try. Each year, she chose it as her platform and made speeches to schools on the issue. But like the other Miss Illinois contestants, she signed a contract in which she agreed to adopt a youth violence platform if she won the state pageant and advanced to Miss America."
On the third hand, the Miss America pageant is an anachronistic pox on our culture, anyone who enters the competition has willingly agreed to be treated like cattle, and who fucking cares what a beauty pageant winner thinks about anything anyway?
