Darklady's Secret Stairway

EVENT: Darklady's First-Ever Mid-Party Social Night at the Legacy Lounge

Sun, 11 May 2008 03:07:11 GMT

Who the hell is Darklady and what’s with these parties she throws? Find out during the first-ever Darklady’s Mid-Party Social Night at the Mt. Tabor Theater’s Legacy Lounge.

Tuesday, May 20th
7:30pm – 10:00pm
Ages 21 and older

Mt. Tabor Theater – Legacy Lounge
4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Portland, OR 97215

Join Darklady and friends for cocktails, conversation, good company, sexy door prizes, burlesque footage on a 15-foot theater screen – and the chance to win two tickets to the 7th Annual Portland Masturbate-a-thon!

Meet Darklings, volunteers, and performers, catch up with party friends, or just have a great time in a great lounge with some great people.

Enjoy a $6.50 spaghetti buffet while you play ping pong and watch -- or compete -- in the main theater’s trike races.

-- Darklady
www.darklady.com
www.masturbate-a-thon.org

INVITE: Darklady's 7th Annual Portland Masturbate-a-Thon

Fri, 09 May 2008 02:47:30 GMT

Darklady's 7th Annual Portland Masturbate-a-Thon
Produced by Darklady Productions, Inc.

Darklady's Retro-Moderne Pansexual Burlesque Hall awaits your self-indulgent pleasures for this year's Portland Masturbate-a-thon fundraiser. Pick your favorite past, present, future or alternative reality burlesque era, dress to impress, & luxuriate in an evening of solo-sexual satisfaction & entertainment featuring kinky & erotic play spaces, a silent auction, dancing girls, comedians, jugglers, porn stars, Canada's singing sensation: The Wet Spots – & so much more -- all graciously introduced by mistress of ceremonies and transsexual porn powerhouse, Hot Wendy Williams.

Bring a pet or human care product for Esther's Pantry and get $5 off entry.

Saturday, May 31, 2008
7:00 pm – 2:00 am
Mt. Tabor Theater
Portland, OR
Fully accessible, ages 21 and older only

Bawdy Tunes by The Wet Spots
Comedy Burlesque with the VonFoxies
Sexy Shimmies by Sahara Dunes
Post-Porn Stand-Up by Jacklyn Lick
Fellatio Demo by Sara Jay
Phone Sex Schtick by Tonya Jone Miller
Multi-Media Magic by DJ Darknezzz
Readings by The Tarot Wizard
Portrait & Erotic Stills by Bryan Grimes & Chris King
Naughty Barber & Kilted Massage Man
Circle Jerk for Prizes
The ThrillHammer, Monkey Rocker, Sex Kitten, & Gear
Birthday fantasies for March, April & May

Silent Auction & Door Prizes
Two Full Bars & Food Menu
Sweet Indulgences from the Naughty Baker
S/M play space & two sensual Rubitoriums
Massage Tables & Sex Swing
Cloakroom
More, more, more!

$50 - Street clothes
$25 – Burlesque, Fetish, or Formal Attire
RSVP Absolutely Required

Portland Masturbate-a-Thon Café Press shop: Cafepress.com/Masturbate-a-thon
Limited work-scholarships available.
Cash & in-kind sponsorships, auction items & prizes of all kinds sought.

CONTRIBUTORS SO FAR:
AdamEve.com
AdventureIndustries.com
BigTeazeToys.com
Blowfish.com
ChrisKingPhoto.com
Cum Kleen & Pleasure Wipes
Filthy Cabbage in Lincoln City
GothFox.com
GrrlToys from Topco Sales
HotMovies.com
HotWendyWilliams.com
It's My Pleasure
JacklynLick.com
Jupiter Hotel
KickAssPictures.com
Low-Comedy.com
Mars Meadows
Mr. Peeps in Aloha
MtTaborLegacy.com
Naughty Baker
PinkVisual.com
SaraJay.com
SexyGeeky.net
SikWorld.com
SwollenSkateboards.com
TheThrillHammer.com
TonyaJoneMiller.com
VonFoxies.com
X-Rated Toys from Topco Sales

FUNDRAISER RECIPIENTS
Esther’s Pantry: OurHouseOfPortland.org/programs/estherspantry/
Center for Sex and Culture: centerforsexandculture.org
Woodhull Freedom Foundation: woodhullfoundation.org

Playboy Radio: "All They Wanted to Talk About Was Masturbation..."

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:56:00 GMT

It's always nice to have positive press... even if I have to assign the articles. :-)

=====================================

http://www.ynot.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=news_article&sid=46655

"All They Wanted to Talk About Was Masturbation..."
by Kathee Brewer

PORTLAND, OR -- It's hard to imagine Theresa "Darklady" Reed not wanting to talk about masturbation. She is, after all, the founder of Portland, OR's annual Masturbate-a-thon, a charity event that not only encourages people to get in touch with their sensual sides but also raises funds for a number of sex-positive benevolent organizations.

Yet there she sat, amused frustration seeping through the instant messenger window, as she recounted the lurid details of the episode of Playboy Radio's Night Calls upon which she had just appeared as a guest.

"We talked a lot about the Masturbate-a-thon," she typed. "I didn't get to hype everyone I wanted to hype, but I did my best. I didn't get to mention Hot Movies, who's a financial sponsor. I wasn't able to get a YNOT plug in there. [Presumably, something like "I'm the editor."] Christy [Canyon, co-hostess of the show with Vanessa Blue] just wanted to talk about the 'thon."

Actually, Canyon and Blue didn't "just want to talk about the 'thon," as it turned out. They also wanted to dive beneath the covers of a new erotica anthology to which Reed contributed a short story.

"Dirty Girls, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel," Reed typed. "It's supposed to be 'erotica for women,' but I actually wrote it for a gay Asian male audience."

Canyon and Blue found Reed's "creative process" interesting.

"I write a story and include sex," Reed typed. "The sex isn't usually the main point of the story, although it may be important as a setting."

She also was able to mention she's part of the development team for a new Adam & Eve project about big, beautiful women.

"I'm writing a script for Carlos Batts, and I'm going to be associate producer on the production," she typed. "I'm flying to L.A. just before Cybernet [Expo] to watch and also act in it."

Busy girl, this masturbatrix.

Actually, when it came right down to the nitty gritty, it was the radio show's audience that only wanted to talk about masturbation.

What excited listeners "was a chance to talk about masturbation on the air, I suspect," Reed typed. "I got invited to create [a Masturbate-a-thon] in New Mexico, by a caller named 'Rose.' She said she masturbates five or six times a day and wondered if I'd host a 'thon there.

"I also had a guy call in to ask if it was normal for him to like to have pressure on his throat when he came. That turned into an interesting conversation about autoerotic asphyxiation and how my first boyfriend died from it. I talked about informed and educated consent and understanding what pressure can do to the body so you can know how much is too much.

"I even talked about men using toys on their prostates and not being gay," she typed. "Men are beginning to get over their fear of that. It used to be nipples. Only gay men like having their nipples touched, apparently. I love sucking on a man's nipples while helping jack him off. When I've been with men who don't like their nipples touched, I've really felt cheated."

So there you go, guys. You heard it here first: Enjoying nipple stimulation doesn't make a man gay.

As for the show's hostesses, Reed said they're both intelligent, sophisticated women with well-developed senses of humor and timing.

"That Christy Canyon is on top of it," she typed. "She had a very definite idea about what we were going to talk about, and she didn't give me a chance to step away from that. She's amazingly high-energy.

"Vanessa was surprisingly quiet. She and I only got to talk briefly, about the choking stuff, but she's an interesting cat. She asked me what makes a girl a BBW. I didn't really have a weight or a firm definition. 'Curvy' was what I finally came up with. Actually, Renaissance is the definitive period [for BBWs], if you know your history. I have the perfect chin and shoulders for the Renaissance. Naturally, I'm a few hundred years late..."

Reed is scheduled to appear on Playboy's Night Calls again on May 23rd. No telling what subject matter will come up then, but it's almost guaranteed to be salacious and witty.

Kathee Brewer is an award-winning news, feature and opinion writer, editor and photojournalist. After five years of designing adult and mainstream websites, she spent seven years on staff at AVN Online before departing for the glamorous and financially fulfilling world of full-time freelancing. Food and shelter, she says, are overrated.

Darklady Rant: Christina Ricci is Full of Anti-Porn Woe

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 02:00:05 GMT

http://www.ynot.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=news_article&sid=46640

Christina Ricci is Full of Anti-Porn Woe
by Darklady

What the hell is up with Hollywood these days? It seems like half of the mainstream female performers dress like porn stars, another quarter of them attempt it, and a final quarter either honestly doesn’t care or are smart enough to not even try.

I’m a live and let live kinda girl, myself. I don’t much care how people dress so long as they like the way they look and nothing is dangling in the spinach dip, be it flesh or fabric. My mother sent me to school wearing the adolescent and early teen equivalent of clown clothes long enough for me to have a visceral reaction to certain patterns, colors, and fabrics when in close proximity to my own skin, but if other people want to wear Holly Hobby prints and bright yellow polyester pants, then more power to them, poor style-blind saps.

I figure everyone has a personal style, which means that some of us show off more skin while others cover up more skin. Sometimes I’m not sure that the right people are tapped into the right style, but ya know – it’s not really my decision and it’s not really my business. What I do with and how much or little I cover my own body is my business – and just as I must suffer or delight in the decisions of others, they must suffer or delight in mine.

Not everyone feels that way, of course. As I’ve grown from a curvy young woman into a curvy woman, I’ve noticed that a lot of people have a lot of opinions about a lot of things that nobody has asked them to have opinions on. Fashion and body aesthetics are two of the things that most everyone seems to feel compelled to opine loudly about, but none squawk more loudly or in front of more microphones and clicking cameras than those in the world of mainstream entertainment.

Given that the vast majority of them wouldn’t have a chance to share their magpie philosophies with the media if they weren’t so gosh darn cute or sexy in some way or other, when one of them decides to pitch a fit about the sex industry, some primitive part of me goes on alert. I believe it’s the Bullshit Detector part of me.

What I’ve always liked about the adult entertainment industry is that it’s fairly honest, as industrial honesty is measured. Most of the time it doesn’t pretend to be anything that it’s not. It may be curious or common, sweet or educational, amusing or beautiful – it can even disgusting -- but on some level, it’s sexual. Sex and the power of attraction are the raw materials that we work with. From them come a wide variety of physical and emotional responses; often visceral, although sometimes intellectual. There is nothing and there is everything simple about the sex trade, be it creative or commercial.

But the mainstream world of entertainment has developed an annoying self-righteousness over the decades. Where once only whores and the lovers of whores would tread, now would-be social reformers strut and fret; sometimes doing good, sometimes looking stupid, and sometimes actually trying to convince their fans that they have their jobs because there’s something wise and insightful about them. Suddenly it’s all respectable to be an actress so long as you don't actually fuck, suck, or finger anyone on camera. As long as it’s make-believe, though, it’s okay.

Or such would certainly appear to be the case for some performers who are perfectly willing to press their perky nipples against transparent fabric while pouting and emoting wounded youthful submission one moment – and then rant against the cult of female “objectification” the next.

Naturally, all of this ranting and raving on MY part comes from some well-intended ranting on someone else’s part. This time my inspiration is Christina Ricci, whom I used to adore as Wednesday Addams but now find myself wanting to hook up to an IV and feed a sandwich.

Ms. Ricci, a chronic smoker who once cheerfully cashed a perfectly respectable check for playing a “nymphet” in The Ice Storm and had no problem presenting the “Best Kiss” trophy during the 2001 MTV Movie Awards has issues with what Black Book Magazine calls “Stripper Culture” and which she considers to be the objectification of women.

Ricci, whose scantily clad image is surely plastered on many a horny teenager’s walls – and who certainly wasn’t wearing much in the photos accompanying her interview -- is upset because she thinks teenaged girls “actually aspire to be objectified.”

Ricci must have been asleep during her high school sporting events or assemblies, cuz any girl who knew she’d never be a cheerleader or prom queen had that shit figured out in no time at all. The boys in the chess club and computer lab had a similar experience when they watched the football players, I suspect. But in Ricci’s opinion, this kind of playing to the sexual isn’t just the way a competitive society that isn’t blind tends to function; no, this is the fault of the adult entertainment industry.

Sticking in Ricci’s considerable craw isn’t cleavage revealing corsets, short skirts, transparent tops, or high heels – no, she’s posed in all of those, so they’re all right. The bug in Ricci’s 100% organic cotton granny panties is the fact that some women have the audacity to enjoy Brazilian bikini waxes, exercising with a “stripper pole,” and indulging in a fast and sexy lifestyle.

It’s not like “in the 80s,” the girl who was born the year that decade opened insists, as though she knows what she’s talking about. In what I guess we should take as a sign that “stripper culture” is becoming more acceptable to the population at large, Ricci objects to the idea that not enough people condemn actions that once were thought to be done only by those sub-humans willing to do sex work. Apparently enjoying a smooth and sensitive pubic area or spinning happily around a metal pole while sweating to your favorite song isn’t nearly as frowned upon today as it was during the golden old days of Reaganomics, greed, cocaine, and unprotected sex.

“Who gives a fuck?” she asked Black Book Magazine rhetorically. “But it’s a huge, weird thing. I mean, you see actresses and their passion project is to play a stripper. It’s just stupid.”

Indeed, Christina – who gives a fuck. You do, apparently. And since I’m responding, I guess I do, too.

What’s stupid though, isn’t that not everyone thinks the same way that Christina Ricci does. What’s stupid is that Christina Ricci, a young woman with both impressive talent and nipples, is so worked up about the fact that someone somewhere thinks pretending to be a stripper sounds like fun. What’s stupid is that someone who’s been so willing to make her living with the help of a pretty face and a petite body thinks other women willing to do the same thing are somehow selling themselves out. What’s stupid is that someone whose latest project is portraying the cartoon girlfriend of a cartoon guy who drives his cartoon car really fast thinks she’s somehow in a position to lecture other women on making empowering career decisions.

But what’s really stupid is that this is a sensitive enough subject for me that I took time out of my increasingly finite existence in order to write this rebuttal. Surely there’s something more important for me to be writing and thinking about than how much pubic hair women should have or how they should exercise.

More to the point – isn’t there something better for Ricci and all the other big and little Ricci’s out there to be giving such a fuck about?

Darklady is Editor at YNOT, a member of the Free Speech Coalition board of directors, and has nearly two decades of experience covering the adult entertainment industry, internet technology, and alternative sexuality beats online, in print, and via traditional and web radio.

Darklady -- on Playboy Radio’s Night Calls

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:57:28 GMT

Darklady -- on Playboy Radio’s Night Calls

Hosted by Christy Canyon & Vanessa Blue
Friday, April 25, 2008
Approx. 4:30 pm PT
SIRIUS radio Channel 198

Whether it’s the 7th Annual Portland Masturbate-a-thon, BBW porn in LA, Cybernet Expo in San Francisco, the Free Speech Coalition board of directors, smart girls in the adult biz, her hair, or pretty much any other topic – Darklady is sure to have something interesting to say!

Questions, comments, book deals, film offers, proposals of marriage, deeds to large tracts of land, keys to heavy chests of gold, restraining orders, and other important messages for Darklady, Vanessa Blue, or Christy Canyon can be called in LIVE to: 1-877-205-9796.

Listen LIVE on Playboy Radio, SIRIUS radio Channel 198
Visit PlayboyRadio.com for more details
Night Calls airs LIVE Monday – Friday, 4pm – 7pm PT

Resource Site for John Stagliano Obscenity Case

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:29:13 GMT

Those of you following the John Stagliano/Evil Angel obscenity case can get fresh information about it (and ways to help with the defense) at:

http://www.defendourporn.org/

I think it's impressively cheeky that the Feds are going after John. Yes, some of his company's videos are aggressive, strange, or push the envelope -- but they clearly pass the SLAPS test as I understand it. Plus, arguing that a trailer for a video can stand on its own in an obscenity case is interesting, since it essentially assumes that a trailer qualifies as a complete work in and of itself, as opposed to part of a larger whole, which must be considered when attempting prosecution.

Curiouser and curiouser, said Alice...

More reasons to join the Free Speech Coalition, whether you're an industry professional or just a red-white-and-blue blooded all-American porn lover.

Darklady is a Dirty Girl -- In Print!

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:53:02 GMT

For those seeking the perfect tax relief reading experience, I propose the latest erotic anthology featuring my work.

I originally wrote the short story that appears in the Dirty Girls anthology for a gay Asian magazine that never went to print. I was paid an ungodly amount of money, but I never heard from them after they sent the check. Now my story, "The Garden of Sinn" is finally in print!

Someday I'd like to see it included in a gay-focused anthology...

Also listed on Amazon is Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z, which includes my short story, "Yenta of Spanking."

I love writing for Rachel Kramer Bussel and only wish I had more time to put things together for her anthologies. She's smart, talented, and super hot, IMO.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580052517/ref=cm_arms_pdp_dp

Check it out -- and buy a zillion or so. :-)

The Endometrioma Always Rings Twice

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 02:43:54 GMT

It's baaaack!

Well, I find out officially on April 18th if it's back; but if I were a betting woman, I'd lay my money on Endometriosis in the fourth race.

Life is funny, and not always in a "ha-ha" way.

I can't help but notice that as I cautiously accept that my life seems to be coming together both personally and professionally, my ever-so-experienced and traditionally wash-and-wear girlie bits have decided to be high maintenance. In my naivety, I had thought that removing the 13cm endometrioma that had infested me three years ago, and then violating my cervix in order to bathe in the protective hormone wash of the Mirena IUD would fix everything.

Apparently not.

During the past year, I've developed intermittent, chronic pelvic pain. Although I haven't had what could be called a "period" or "menstrual cycle" since the IUD came to live inside of me, I've sometimes had the kind of periodic mood swings, pelvic cramping, and food cravings generally associated with them. Those seem to have largely passed, but it's not uncommon for me to feel deep pelvic aching throughout the day, which gets tiresome after a while. The fact it can vanish for a few days only makes the whole thing weirder. Intercourse is sometimes excitingly painful in a non-consensual way, which is really annoying -- especially since it's better than it's ever been and the emotional connection is amazing.

It all stinks of irony, in my book. My life is anything except irony poor. :-)

So, armed with new insurance coverage that may end within a few short months, I went to the gynecologist today for my 365-day tune-up. Everything looked and felt fine to the doctor; but everything looked and felt fine to any number of doctors while I was gestating my alien demon child. This one says all of my symptoms are classic endometriosis, and if there's nothing we can do surgically, I pretty much need to learn to love ibuprofen; although I'll probably explore adding birth control pills to my diet to see how that plays out. The office exam guess about what's going on deep inside Darklady is that there may be small nodules forming on the back of my uterus, which are giving me fits.

This has presumably been cooking inside of me for a while, but it feels a little extra heavy just now, because one of Puppetman's aunt's passed away from pancreatic cancer very recently -- and his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer the day before the memorial. Suddenly it feels especially dangerous to be a woman.

But it feels especially good to be loved and to be surrounded by people courageous enough to explore love.

Darklady's Fear of Anger

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:17:50 GMT

Last night, not for the first time, I realized that I am terrified by the anger of those I love.

I'm fine when I confront the anger of a stranger, but when someone has touched my heart and becomes angry with me, I feel immobilized, frozen and silent inside, waiting for the emotionally killing blow.

That's not to say that enormously effective words of self-defense don't spring out of my mouth, along with the tears streaming down my face, but that's not necessarily how I want to respond. I don't want to be a victim again, but I also don't want to always have my Survivor skills kick in, because all-too-often they cause more trouble than they avoid.

Anger tends to pass through me quickly. I feel it -- boy do I feel it -- then I seek clarity, I gain clarity, and it's over; usually replaced by exhaustion and a sense of enormous relief. It's an intense ride, but more like a passing squall than an ongoing emotional weather condition.

My experience with the anger of others is different, however. My experience with the anger of others is that it lasts longer and often precedes them leaving or hurting me. Because of this, it makes it difficult for me to tell the difference between "normal" anger/arguments, and the more toxic types. Most of my encounters with the anger of others has been of the more toxic variety, which probably explains why I become such a hopeless tear fountain when confronted by the angry judgments of those I'm afraid will see me for who I "truly" am and turn away from me forever.

My parents argued almost all of the time. When their anger lost its effectiveness on one another, they turned it on me, nearly always with some sort of physical element -- and always with words that sliced deep and left me feeling emotionally eviscerated and worthless. While in some ways that's made it easier for harsh words and actions to roll over me -- especially if I can lose myself in my work -- in other ways it's made the words and actions go deeper, especially when I've allowed myself to overcome my apprehensions about letting someone become physically and emotionally close to me.

When I lose their favor, however briefly, and am bathed in their anger, I feel like the small child I once was, alone and afraid, dreading the loss of approval and sense of belonging and safety that have always been so hard fought and transient for me. That's when it's the hardest to reconcile the reality of Theresa with the ever-secure, ever-confident, ever-adventurous LARP that is Darklady.

The Violation of Darklady’s Keyboard

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:20:07 GMT

So, I come home and immediately begin wading through the sea of spam and genuine email, deleting and responding as is appropriate -- and what do I see?

While I was gone, either Puppetman or one of my friends took the liberty of using an indelible (I hope) marker and filling in all the letters that have gone missing on my keyboard because I type so much.

Suddenly I have no idea where I’m supposed to put my fingers.

Funny, that.

Oh, and I’ve got a sinus infection/head cold going on. I loved my visit, but honestly LA -- clean up your air. You can all weigh 95 pounds, drip from stylish clothing, attend all the big openings, laugh too loud at parties, drive shiny new cars, keep driving shiny new cars, drive shiny new cars a little bit more, and tell the world that you’re the beautiful people, but you’ve still got to suck that shit into your lungs.

Tired in Porno Land

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 05:56:57 GMT

Tired in Porno Land
(regarding Saturday)

What a long, strange day it's been! But for the Ides of March, there's been little to actively beware, although plenty of things to take note of and proceed mindfully on...

I like to keep myself busy when I travel on business. I mean, it's called "busy-ness" for a reason, right? In this case, I managed to rush from place to place so successfully that I went 25 hours without eating. The sat result of finally having a meal was returning to Darklady Remote Central and feeling sick for about an hour. heh. Ya can't win for losin' sometimes.

But everything else was awesome. The Wendy Williams interracial transsexual gangbang was a wonderful experience for me. I learned a lot and believe I was fairly helpful, especially in a kind of stage manager position. I took the completed 2257 forms from the models, then shot photos with them and their ID, ran interference with the venue manager, snapped stills and a wee bit of video, and provided some feedback and suggestions about where cameras should be, etc. Wendy was stressed but beautiful, IMO. There were moments when her expression was absolutely transcendent. I loved it.

When that finished... at the perfect time for me, I might add, I headed to a Vivid Video shoot in the hills near LA in order to talk with Paul Thomas about the video project in Portland we've been discussing for months. It was good for us to meet face-to-face so we could both learn a bit more about each other. He, especially, got a much better idea about where I'm coming from and what I have to offer. I was delighted to learn that not only has he NEVER collaborated on a project before, but that he's "very excited" about the prospect of doing so with me. We got a much better handle on what we're going to do... which will be a compromise on both our parts, but not necessarily for the worse, I think. It's looking like we may well be shooting during and around the Masturbate-a-thon. Like the "Fade to Black" videos he's done, this project will push the boundaries of our performers... but this time they'll be primarily "real people," if on the more traditionally "beautiful" side of things.

I'm feeling amazingly juiced. PT told me he feels I've really "put (myself) out there," which he respects, and he feels my creative voice is "strong" and "needs to be heard." Further, he said he was impressed and pleased with my insight into the psychology of sexuality and is really looking forward to seeing what the two of us can co-create.

Pretty groovy.

And then I got back to Darklady Mobile Central and learned that my favorite adorably yummy BBW performer, April Flores, loves the comic action concept I pitched to her. Now to fund that into reality.

And tomorrow it's brunch with Grand Opening's Kim Airs and an early dinner with the owner of Big Teaze Toys to talk about how I might develop a line of toys.

So, yeah, I'm feeling pretty good.

But BOY am I looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, taking a long hot soaking bath, having heat (this cute little bungalow has only space heaters), being back with Portland area friends, and snuggling with my Puppetman.

I still haven't decided if I'm going to an after-dungeon party at Tom Moore's place. Mostly I want that hot bath...

Hungry in Porno Land

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 15:39:50 GMT

I didn't mean to wake up so early, but Rosco the Porno Dog licked my face clean as Moxxie and Chris were leaving for a Ninn Worx shoot, so now I'm wide awake and still not sure what I'm wearing today.

After all, what DOES one wear to a transsexual interracial gangbang? A smile?

I'm covering Wendy William's gangbang for AVN and it sounds like I'm kinda co-directing it to some extent, as well. Wendy confessed that she's going to be kinda distracted during the shoot and that she'd told her cameraman to do what I say if I see a good shot. That's exceptionally cool, since I -- like every waiter in West Hollywood -- wanna direct. But if it had been my project, I think I'd have configured things a bit differently. I'll remember that for the future. :-)

After visiting Wendy's set for a few hours, I'll explore the area around Vivid Video, since that's where PT is shooting today and I've been asked to please be there. I've been invited to a dungeon party by Tom Moore, but I'm not sure how I'll be feeling by then. We dropped by Monica Mayhem's rather disappointing birthday soiree last night (where she clearly had SO many other things to do other than be introduced to me) and there's a part of me that wouldn't mind getting into bed (or onto couch, as the case may be) at a reasonable hour.

It's lunch with Grand Opening's Kim Airs on Sunday. Then things get fuzzy. I'm hoping to meet with Tony Levine, the wonderful brain behind the I Rub My Ducky vibrators, but other than that, I may just hang out on the Ninn Worx set and watch how it's done, Ninn Worx style.

As for now, I'm hungry, have no real idea where to go to eat and no one to eat with. I wish I had a teleporter, cuz it would be great to have Puppetman or one of my friends be able to pop over for a bite to eat. But then, if we had teleporters, I probably wouldn't need to clutter up people's couches. :-)

Darklady’s Impending FSC Adventure in LaLaland

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 02:21:05 GMT

I'd hoped to write something a little more personal and less generic, but I've been hoping to catch folks up on the last few months for... well, the last few months. Busy times. Good times. Lots going on in a lot of areas. Here's the blog I created for YNOT.com, which will at least bring people up to date a little bit. Gotta pack now. Hopefully I'll have a chance to blog while I'm on the road...

===================================
Darklady's Impending FSC Adventure in LaLaland

It’s been four long years since I last drove the endless highways of the greater Los Angeles area. As usual, I have mixed feelings about traveling from the sanctuary of my fortress of solitude into the noise and confusion of a city other than my own. But I love to reconnect with friends and business associates, although the idea of my pale and pink skin risking exposure to so much sun doesn’t appeal to me, and so I travel south toward the City of Angeles.

Fallen Angel… Evil Angel… Elegant Angel…

My justification for this trip to the land of impossibly perfect people is my attendance at this month’s Free Speech Coalition board meeting. I could join the rest of the board via speaker phone, but nothing beats sitting at the same table as one’s colleagues. Given how close the May meeting is to my Portland Masturbate-a-thon, sticking close to home will be a good idea. I’m not usually much of a telephone person, but for that one day I’ll pretend I’m a gossipy teenager glued to her phone. Or something.

In addition to conspiring to protect the adult entertainment industry from evil-doers who would unfairly bring down sorrow upon it, I’m going to spend time with a number of people I’ve only “met” online or briefly during conventions. There’s a whole new crop of editors and assistant editors at AVN and GayVN that only know that joy that is Darklady via email. Soon that will change. In my grand tradition of bringing people who live in the same city but have never met in person together, Blue Blood publisher Amelia G. and porn publicist Brian Gross will join me for nosh, cocktails, and conversation.

Other lunch/coffee/dinner dates should keep me adequately fed and nurtured, but my best and brightest moments are expected to take place on Saturday, when I first cover Wendy Williams’ transsexual interracial gangbang for AVN and then dash off to watch Vivid Video’s Paul Thomas create pornographic magic. As much as I love protecting freedom of expression, I like watching it in motion even more – and these two individuals are expressing themselves in very different, but equally important, ways.

There’s something liberating, exfoliating, intoxicating, heady with possibilities about traveling out of my comfort zone, and there’s something sweet about spending time in the company of people who “get” at least part of what I do for a living, even if they don’t quite know what to make of the rest.

Porn Valley has long been the nexus of professional erotic video productions and I think it’s good for anyone involved with the industry to visit it now and again if they want to gain a deeper understanding of its history, culture, and aesthetic – and meet some really great folks. There are a lot of adult webmasters who know next to nothing about porn performers or directors, the legal conditions under which early films were shot, what motivates a Chatsworth-centric content producer – or why they should even care about any of these things.

Likewise, there are plenty of folks tanning in the SoCal sun with nary a clue about what’s happening in the vast multi-verse of erotic words and images that is the internet – a sexual landscape that extends its erotic horizon farther than the sun-drenched swimming pools, couches, and bedroom sets of even the nicest mansion perched on the sides of a brown hillside peering down on that city of angels; fallen, elegant, evil, and otherwise.

And that’s all right, because the many commercial and personal worlds of sexuality that exist – including, but not limited to that of the still-pulsing heart of professional pornography that is the Los Angeles area – have little choice but to learn more about one another since piracy and an increasingly penny-and-quality conscious consumer base exerts pressure on the industry to get down to the business of producing and protecting content worth the time and money.

Companies that decide not to enter the 21st century digital world or learn about the history of smut will survive or not – but I’m off to Burbank, Chatsworth, Woodland Hills, and who knows where else. Then it’ll be back to my beloved sanctuary of solitude, and the strange pleasures that await me there.

Darklady Seeks Burlesque Performers

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 01:44:33 GMT

Darklady’s 7th Annual Portland Masturbate-a-thon
Seeks Burlesque Performers

Mt. Tabor Theater
Saturday, May 31st, 2008

Darklady’s Burlesque Hall seeks dancers, hoofers, comics, singers, mimes, acrobats, jugglers, strip tease artists, freak acts, and other saucy and satirical performers with a stylishly ribald edge for her 7th Annual Portland Masturbate-a-thon.

Gentlemen: Do you follow in the footsteps of Abbott & Costello, Jack Albertson, Robert Alda, Pinky Lee, Bert Lahr, Leon Errol, Red Skelton, and W.C. Fields?

Ladies: Are you a modern Fanny Brice, Lillian Russell, Fay Templeton, Gypsy Rose Lee, Sally Rand, Mae West, Lili St. Cyr, Blaze Starr, Tura Satana, or Tempest Storm?

Join Canada’s infamous musical sex comedy duo, the Wet Spots, as bawdy entertainment in front of a highly responsive audience – all while helping raise money for good causes and having one of the most amazing experiences of your life.

This year’s Portland M-a-T will benefit: Esther’s Pantry, the Free Speech Coalition, and the Woodhull Freedom Foundation.

Contact Casting@ darklady.com for more information.

Masturbate-a-thon.org website update SOON
Sponsors, Donors, and Volunteers Sought

Darklady Productions Seeks Accountant

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 02:43:37 GMT

Small S Corp in Portland, OR Seeks Accountant

I have reached a point in my professional growth where I know just enough about what I'm doing to know that I don't know enough about what I'm doing. I figure I can either invest a lot of time and energy trying to figure out how to do my own accounting -- or I can focus on growing my business and making lots of money that needs to be accounted for.

Thus, I seek a professional accountant to help me with taxes, payroll, and other baffling financial matters that I may not even be aware of yet.

I would prefer someone experienced with small corporations. The ideal experience would be with creativity-based businesses that cater to "alternative" lifestyles and/or the adult entertainment industry. I don't want to spend too much time explaining why butt plugs and thigh hi stockings are business expenses.

Thanks!

-- Theresa "Darklady" Reed
President, Darklady Productions, Inc.

www.Darklady.com
www.Masturbate-a-thon.org

Darklady Joins Free Speech Coalition Board of Directors

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:33:50 GMT

PORTLAND, OR -- Long-time sex educator, free speech activist, and professional journalist Theresa “Darklady” Reed has joined the 2008 – 2009 board of director’s for the adult entertainment industry’s trade organization, the Free Speech Coalition.

The new board, which met for the first time in Las Vegas, NV between the end of the Adult Entertainment Expo and beginning of Internext Expo, expects to continue to wrestle with the Department of Justice over the constitutionality of 18 USC 2257 regulations and the Utah Child Protection registry, while addressing piracy, industry standards and practices, and other issues.

“I’m thrilled to have been nominated to the Free Speech Coalition board of directors and have the opportunity to work with so many intelligent and sincere people,” Darklady says of her new position. “I am humbled by the confidence the industry has vested in me and am determined to prove myself worthy of that confidence.”

Other new board members joining Darklady are attorney Eric M. Bernstein, Bijou Video’s Steve Toushin, and XBIZ publisher Tom Hymes. Re-winning seats are board president Jim Everett of Everett Retail Group, treasurer Joy King of Wicked Pictures, and Nellie Symm-Gruender of Passions. Attorneys Jeffrey Douglas and Reed Lee, Evotum’s Mara Epstein, Topco Sales’ Lynn Swanson, AVN Media Network’s Mark Kernes, and NakedSword/Cubik Media’s Tim Valenti remain on the board.

Darklady, who is editor for YNOT.com, as well as a monthly contributor to AVN and GayVN magazines, and president of Darklady Productions, Inc., based in Portland, OR, believes that the FSC membership and fans of adult entertainment have a right and responsibility to get involved.

“I hope that those with good ideas about ways the FSC can improve the health and safety of the adult entertainment industry, both literally and figuratively, will feel comfortable sharing them with me,” she encourages, “and that more industry professionals and fans will join the FSC and put their money where their mouths are. No matter how hard or well the FSC board works to defend and nurture the industry, long-lasting and effective change won’t happen without involvement from those who work within it and/or enjoy its fruits.”

The FSC’s website quotes Darklady, who has run for public office twice, as opining that “We must act before the government acts for us.”

For more information about Darklady, visit www.Darklady.com.
To learn more about the Free Speech Coalition, visit www.FreeSpeechCoalition.com.

Darklady's Pre-AEE Sweeney Todd Moment

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:03:40 GMT

Yesterday something went wrong.

It was one of the wonderfully efficient girls at the nail salon who put the idea in my head, but it was my own clumsy self that put the actual blade in my hand. While I was having little white flowers with silver sparkly centers painted on my index fingernails, the young lady wielding the artistic implements cleverly suggested an upsell.

Would I like her to do something with my eyebrow. Singular. You know, wax it.

Now, I’ve had some facial waxing in the past and enjoyed it. The wax feels warm and wonderful, kind of like a thick massage oil that pulls hair out by the roots when you remove it. So, it wasn’t cowardice that caused me to decline. It was a combination of being cheap – and liking my eyebrows. Plural. Just fine the way they are. Well, maybe with an occasional tweeze just to burn some time and tidy things up a bit.

But still, she’d put this idea in my mind and, being in the middle of pre-trip stress, I succumbed.

I didn’t go for the waxing, of course. That might have avoided the blood and drama, after all. No, I purchased one of those cheap three-blades-in-one-pack of eyebrow/bikini area shapers and figured I’d take care of things on my own. How difficult could it be, anyway? A little clean-up in between, maybe some smoothing along the length, and everything would be lovely. I’d for sure want to slice off the wild hairs that inhabit my left brow, of course. Surely they violate some fashion law or other, what with their definite shift in the opposite direction of all their fellow hairs…

So I stood in front of my medicine cabinet mirror with my reading glasses on top of my head and promptly learned that it’s all in the angle of the blade. At first, I accomplished nothing other than a random waving around of the tiny blade. The hairs were unimpressed and unremoved. Realizing that it was all in the wrist, I changed how I held mine – and promptly laid my forehead open with a deft twist. Not the effect I’d been hoping for.

Common sense tried to tell me that this kind of work might not be for me, but the sight of my own blood only made me more determined. If I was going to have a dueling scar, however briefly, I’d better have neatly coiffed eyebrows to show for it; so off I went in search of the renegade eyebrow’s most determined offenders. Soon I stood in front of the mirror with blood running between my eyes, slightly more uniform looking eyebrows, and the feeling that I should have left things alone because, although things looked fine – they didn’t look quite right. And it wasn’t just the blood and narrow cut.

Things didn’t improve after my sweet Puppetman came home. After I confessed my foolishness to him and asked for suitable cut-related sympathy, he admitted that as soon as he’d seen me, he’d had the feeling that something was missing. My errant eyebrow, I was informed, is an important part of my “look.” In an attempt to look a little bit more like women’s magazines want me to think I should look, I’d managed to look a little bit less like me – and not in a good way.

As I frantically pack before heading to the airport and the Adult Entertainment Expo and AVN Award adventures that await me and Puppetman, who is serving as faithful cameraman and videographer in addition to his other, more overtly saucy, positions of responsibility, I wonder what other revelations await. Travel always brings new insights, but hopefully the ones I’ll encounter during the next week will be less bloody, if not necessarily less meaningful.

ADULT TALENT CALL: Darklady & Paul Thomas Seek Portland, OR X-Rated Hopefuls

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 05:48:03 GMT

ADULT TALENT CALL: Darklady & Paul Thomas Seek Portland, OR X-Rated Hopefuls

• Have you ever fantasized about appearing in a real adult video?
• Are you sick of the SoCal porn “look?”
• Do you think Portland’s sex scene is something special?
• Would you like to work for one of the most respected and awarded directors in the adult industry?

Portland sex writer & erotic impresario Darklady is teaming up with Vivid Video’s Paul Thomas, the most award-winning director in the history of adult video. Together they plan to create a uniquely Portland and uniquely erotic production to be shot in Portland, using Portland-area talent, during March, 2008.

Performers of all legal ages, genders, ethnicities, body types, sexual preferences, and specialties are encouraged to send a brief bio with age statement, face shot, and full body shot (nude, clothed, or both) to casting@darklady.com

Applicants must be willing to provide proof of age and meet in person for an interview and audition. DEADLINE for current project: Sunday, February 17th, 2008.

========================
Darklady is editor at YNOT.com, a long-time contributor to AVN and GayVN magazines, and past editor of Portland’s Exotic Magazine. www.darklady.com

INVITE: Darklady's Erotic Masquerade NYE Party

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 02:16:50 GMT

Darklady's Erotic Masquerade NYE Party

One year ends and another begins; much like our annual hopes, dreams, vows, promises, and resolutions. Who were we when the year was fresh and who are we now that it is fading? Explore these and other mysteries during Darklady’s Erotic Masquerade NYE. Wear a mask and/or costume to reflect or hide your true nature -- and show your charitable spirit by sharing your sensual truths with the Swingers.com camera crew – and raise money for Esther’s Pantry!

Bring a pet or human care product for Esther’s Pantry/Tod’s Corner and get $5 off your entry.

Monday, December 31, 2007
7:00 pm - 2:00 am
Club 6124
Portland, OR
Partially Wheelchair Accessible

Ages 21 and older
Potluck
Cloakroom
Rubitorium Sensual Play Space
Dungeon
Massage Tables
Sex Swings
Welcoming Ceremony

Swingers.com “Be a Masked Porn Star for Charity”
Portrait & Erotic Stills by Bryan Grimes
Close Shaves from the Naughty Barber
Capricious Costume Prizes from Darklady
Dance Tunes by DJ Darknezzz
Non-Alcoholic Bubbly at Midnight
Birthday fantasies for December, January & February
You!

$35 - Street clothes
$25 – Masquerade, Fetish, or Formal Attire
$5 OFF entry with donation
RSVP Absolutely Required

Volunteers, party & prize sponsors of all kinds sought
Limited scholarship opportunities available

UPCOMING EVENTS
May: Portland Masturbate-a-thon (Reform School Theme)

Emily Sander and the Prurience of the Mainstream Media

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 00:30:09 GMT

Emily Sander and the Prurience of the Mainstream Media
by Darklady
Originally published on YNOT.com

Emily Sander was an 18-year-old student attending Butler Community College in El Dorado, KS. The weekend after Thanksgiving, she left the Retreat bar with a 24-year-old legal immigrant and Italian restaurant waiter named Israel Mireles. Although copious amounts of blood were found in his motel room later and linens from his bed were missing, Mireles and Victoria Martens, his 16-year-old pregnant girlfriend have not been seen or heard from since. Their rental car has been found, though – abandoned. Likewise, Sander’s dead body has been found – also abandoned.

Sounds like a saucy murder case to me; perfect for late night cable viewing. A labret-pierced Mexican lothario with a penchant for barely and not-yet legal girls, at least one minor in an establishment that sells alcohol, a pregnant juvenile, a blood-soaked motel bed and carpet, a broken motel window, a possibly cut motel phone line, an abandoned rental vehicle, and a likely dash for the hoped-for safety of Mexico, friends, and family. Scandalous, salacious, full of intrigue and sleaze – perfect fodder for the sensation-loving mass media machine we have for decades so laughingly referred to as the “news.”

But wait! There’s more!

As if the story weren’t racy enough, the super sleuths that sit behind the press desks of America have uncovered the fact that murder victim Emily Sander lived what people who meddle in other people’s business like to call a “secret life.” A life that the well-financed and allegedly respectable mainstream media machine simply can not turn its prurient eyes and flapping mouths away from.

As has been affirmed by friends and family, Emily Sander was also known as sologirl Zoey Zane on a website of the same name, as well as on YourDailyGirls.com, a site that peppers its front page with hardcore pix instead of a disclaimer. With this bit of information, what passes for “news” took a sociologically fascinating turn. Instead of the blood and corpse serving as the focus of all media coverage, the dead girl’s 2.5 months as an erotic model become transformed into a career as a “porn star” and the heart and soul of every story.

Comfortably able to chatter endlessly about Sander’s supposed sex life once she was both more and less than yet another innocent victim of a yet another violent crime, the press has rolled the least important elements of her last days around on its collective tongue and used them to capture eyeballs, subscribers, and advertising dollars, all the while subtly reminding Americans that bad girls get murdered. Who says that the Hayes Code is dead?

While her body lay cooling alongside a freeway 50 miles away from El Dorado, the country couldn’t stop talking about Emily Sander – or at least her “secret life.”

Thanks to the internet, everyone knows Emily’s so-called secret now. No one, of course, has explained why it needed to be everybody’s business or why being discreet about something means one is leading “a secret life.” All that needed to be said were the words “porn star” and a nation of uniformed readers and writers filled with opinions about things they know little about, and the ability to do a prurient Google search, were able to cluck their tongues in fascinated disapproval and opine about the invariably calamitous road that Emily had surely stumbled down. After all, everybody knows what sleazy people work in the adult entertainment industry, right? Surely one of them killed the girl. After all, that’s what porn people do, right?

Ironically, it’s not church groups, feminist organizations, or responsible mainstream journalists who are crying foul about how Sander’s story is being told. No, it’s the evil doers in the porn industry, the same people who supposedly make a living dehumanizing and degrading women by turning them into sex objects and ignoring their fundamental value as human beings.

In addition to my own bit of soap boxery, the owner of YourDailyGirls.com has noticed that the media has been more than happy to indulge in a rather amazing amount of what he and I both call “irresponsible journalism” in its coverage of the tragedy. In the hopes of bringing suspected killer Mireles to justice, the ZoeyZane.com site has been re-launched, complete with photos of the man, the under-age mother of his child-to-be, and a plea to either donate to a reward fund or contact the authorities with information about the crime.

As the site text regretfully observes, “It truly saddens us to see, in this day and age, that we live in a society that ridicules a woman for doing something that is completely legal.” It then goes on to state that a David Thomas has supposedly helped whip up the media “feeding frenzy” by spreading misinformation about the extent of Sander’s supposed “’porn career.’” According to the site, “Emily was a solo nude model whose site went live September 25, 2007.” Thanks to the rush to sensationalize her short time in adult, the media has apparently sent “more traffic to Emily’s adult site in 2 hours than the site has received in 2 months…”

Back in the ancient days of my college journalism studies, things like checking facts were considered important. Word has it, and my own experience supports the contention, that mainstream journalists today don’t even bother to use tape recorders during interviews. I guess if you want the truth about some things, you really need to turn to the pornographic media. Some may consider this to be ironic, but I consider it to be natural. After all, one of the biggest reasons that sex is such a controversial subject is because it’s so relentlessly honest and real; two things that polite society traditionally eschews.

Perhaps someday the mainstream media, with its powerful and far-reaching voice, will lose interest in the supposedly “secret” sex lives of pretty girls who fall victim to wicked men. Perhaps someday the truly secret, double lives of these abusers, murderers, and statutory rapists will be more interesting than the fact an attractive young woman chose to make money in a non-traditional way.

Perhaps someday the press will find a young woman working within the adult entertainment industry as newsworthy as finding a young man working within the military industrial complex. But until that day, writers and reporters desperate to earn valuable editorial space will continue to tantalize their editors by mixing genuine news with mental images of naked breasts, firm bellies, round bottoms, and smoothly shaved pubic areas.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, the media has fallen silent about Emily Sander ever since her body was found, her autopsy results kept secret, and police chief Tom Boren concluded that “At this point, we have no reason to think her role in the adult Web site was a factor.” I guess that without suggestions of sexual impropriety to keep the story lively, she’s just another murdered teenager found in a Midwestern ditch.

Those with any information about the murder of Emily Sander are urged to call investigators at 316-321-9120 or the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-KS-CRIME.

Darklady Dreams of Finishing a Sentence

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 22:09:08 GMT

So, is it me? Is it my cologne? Am I just that boring? Is it just That Time of the Month for the rest of the world? WTF is the problem, people, huh?

This past week has just been weird for me. I can't seem to find anyone in a service field who will let me finish my frickin' sentence.

* I try to talk to the clerk at Naked City about ordering some plus size clothes and she talks right over the top of me about how it's simply not possible.

* I try to talk to the nice tech guys at Belmont Computers about my laptop and I get interrupted by a polite but clearly bored tech guy on the other end of the phone; not once but twice! When I pick up my laptop, the nice tech guy is warm at first but as soon as he's got my credit card in his hand, he's done pretending words are coming out of my mouth.

* I call around trying to find a Notary available in the evening or weekends and when I express shock at the price, I get drowned out and dismissed.

And don't even get me started about traffic today! I nearly wound up locking doorknobs with three cars this morning -- and then there were the SUVs and vans stopped in the middle of streets at the corner ... at an angle!

Honestly, some days I don't know why I bribe the guards to let me out of the house...

The Eyes Have It - In Praise of Reading Glasses

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 22:58:43 GMT

I've been thinking about this for a few weeks now and have to share it with the world: I LOVE my new reading glasses!

I discovered that I was near-sighted, with eyeballs shaped like "footballs" thanks to astigmatisms, when I was in either third or fourth grade; Since then it's been a never ending process of buying and replacing eye wear, figuring out what looks hot and what looks ghastly, blahblahblah.

A few years ago I noticed that the printed page was getting more difficult to read and this year I realized that it was getting hard as hell to even read the words on my monitor, which I found genuinely depressing, especially in combination. I decided to get an eye exam and learned that yes, I have reached the point in my life where Presbyopia is more than just a concept, it is a reality.

The question then was whether to just deal with it, get bifocals, or try reading glasses. After just replacing my distance lenses and not seeing any better close up, I decided to add reading glasses to my collection. To save money, I put new lenses into a pair of tiny frames I'd bought a few years ago in an attempt to be hipper than I really am. The small range of clear vision made them useless for much of anything other than looking straight ahead -- which is perfect for reading!

Now, I love the darn things. I'm so happy to be able to read effortlessly again and I'm rather stunned to realize that I can wear the "reading" glasses all day long without any real problem except when I need to watch porn from across the room or go up and down stairs.

Now I find myself wearing my reading glasses inside and only wear my other glasses when I have to drive or deal with the outside world. Crazy.

Darklady Seeks Free Speech Coalition Board Nomination

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:37:19 GMT

Darklady Seeks Free Speech Coalition Board Nomination

Theresa “Darklady” Reed, creative impresario for Darklady Productions, Inc., editor for YNOT.com, long-time contributor to Adult Video News magazine, web radio personality, controversial free speech and alt sex activist, and two-time Libertarian political candidate is ready, willing, and able to serve on the Free Speech Coalition board of directors.

But she needs eligible FSC members to nominate her in order to bring that a step closer to reality.

With three seats coming open as current board members move on to other ventures – and another five seats waiting to be filled – now is the perfect time for Darklady to put her money (and that of generous travel sponsors) where her ever-so-opinionated mouth is.

Those who know Darklady are well aware of her passionate and articulate defense of the adult entertainment industry, the sexual rights of mutually consenting adults, and the free exchange of ideas – but how many know about her exceptional organizational skills, support for reasonable industry Standards & Practices, and amazing diplomatic skills?

How about her three years as a board member for the GLBT Portland Area Business Alliance? Her position as liaison to the adult entertainment industry for the Woodhull Freedom Foundation? Her work as secretary for Blackout Leather Productions? Her acceptance of the 2007 BLP Community Choice award? Her 17 years online, including time as the Sysop of the Church of Unholy Love BBS?

If you would like to see Darklady work side-by-side with executive director Diane Duke, board president Jim Everett, treasurer Joy King, and members Greg “Spanky” Shearer and Nellie Symm-Gruender on the board of the adult entertainment industry’s national trade organization, please return your online ballot or call the Free Speech Coalition office at 818-348-9397 to learn how to make your nomination preference known.

As always, expect great things - and help make them happen!

Darklady is Editor at YNOT and has nearly two decades of experience covering the adult entertainment industry, internet technology, and alternative sexuality beats online, in print, and via traditional and web radio.

6th Circuit Court Declares 2257 Overbroad and Unconstitutional

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 01:25:45 GMT

6th Circuit Court Declares 2257 Overbroad and Unconstitutional
by Darklady

CINCINNATI, OH -- The adult entertainment industry has been waiting for some good news to emerge from Ohio and hoping for a decision favoring reason and justice concerning 18 U.S.C. 2257. Today it received both when the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit declared the federal record keeping statute unconstitutional unless drastically overhauled.

In a move that likely drew sighs of relief from hundreds of thousands of online, print, and DVD side professionals, the Free Speech Coalition announced that all three panel justices involved in the interim decision concerning Connection Distributing Company v. Keisler agreed that the burdens placed upon content providers attempting to remain within the law were entirely unreasonable as written.

A 27-page opinion from the three judges involved states that “We conclude that the statute is overbroad and therefore violates the 1st Amendment, and accordingly we reverse the district court’s judgment and remand with instructions to enter summary judgment for the plaintiffs.”

In a Free Speech Coalition Member Advisory, organization Legal Committee chair and board member Reed Lee explained to members that “At this early stage, it appears that the decision in this case that began 12 years ago is a solid one.” Lee went on to praise the efforts of attorney Mike Murray, as well as “the courage and tenacity of the plaintiffs Rondee Kamins” and other, unnamed plaintiffs.

Murray, upon speaking with AVNeffused that “This is huge, huge news for the entire industry. It means that the statute has been declared unconstitutional in its entirety, at least in the 6th Circuit. This is the result we’ve all been aiming for; it’s a monumental victory.”

The case in question dates back to 1995, when Connection Distributing, the publisher of a swinger publication and associated websites, challenged the legality of the record keeping requirements. Although the plaintiffs suffered many rejections, they continued to appeal the decisions until it reached today’s ruling, which concluded with Judge Cornelia G. Kennedy opining that the only way to make 2257 constitution would be for Congress to amend it.

According to the FSC, it was determined by the Court that the difficulties experienced by providers did not justify the government’s alleged interests in keeping minors from appearing in erotic imagery.

Although the FSC fully expects that the legal battle will continue to rage outside of the 6th Circuit (Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee), the decision affects those states within the jurisdiction. Lee indicated in an FSC press release that the government’s next move will likely become known within the next two weeks.

Attorney Lawrence Walters shared similar opinions with XBIZ, stating that although the decision was of considerable importance, industry professionals should view the decision with caution. “Generally, you have to be very careful to reacting too harshly to any opinion,” he observed. “This is a penal ruling, and it is not final. The government could ask for an en banc rehearing by the full circuit, and they can appeal the decision.”

Fortunately, Walters expects that attempts to overturn the decision are unlikely to succeed, observing that “The judges on this panel are renowned for being tremendously bright, and it shows through in this ruling. There’s no doubt that the 1st Amendment arguments here were strong and the court recognized that the law clearly sweeps in too much protected speech, and there are just too many problems with the law, generally.”

This view was reflected in Kennedy’s words, when she indicated that “The plain text, the purpose and the legislative history of the statute make clear that Congress was concerned with all child pornography and considered record-keeping important in battling all of it, without respect to the creator’s motivation. There is, therefore, no narrowing construction.” Although the government has insisted that 2257 does not restrict speech, only conduct, the court not only rejected this line of reasoning but stated, through Kennedy, that “This argument is unpersuasive. While the government is indeed aiming at conduct, child abuse, it is regulating protected speech, sexually explicit images of adults, to get to that conduct.”

Conduct which Kennedy pointed out, “is already illegal,” unlike adult sexuality which is “not illegal and is, in fact, constitutionally protected.”

While the government rethinks its strategy and, hopefully, pursues more effective means by which to crush child “pornography,” Walters urges adult industry professionals to take a “wait and see” attitude and “treat this as a step in the ladder toward total invalidation of 2257,” according to XBIZ.

A more detailed analysis of the decision, a possible future game plan outline, and a FAQ from the FSC’s legal team will be posted to www.FreeSpeechCoaltion.com within the next few days.

Darklady is Editor at YNOT and has more than a decade of experience covering the adult entertainment industry, internet technology, and alternative sexuality beats online, in print, and via traditional and web radio.

Fetish Fashion Thieves Unload Stock in Las Vegas

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 00:26:42 GMT

Fetish Fashion Thieves Unload Stock in Las Vegas
by Darklady

LOS ANGELES, CA -- Female sex workers, generally sexy women, and all who have an appreciation for high quality fetish garments in Las Vegas are urged to be on the lookout for an assortment of fashion items stolen from the Los Angeles, CA shop of designer and style maven Ms. Antoinette, reportedly appearing literally on the streets of Sin City as of Monday.

An email alert circulated today by adult video legend, sex educator, and photographer Annie Sprinkle and cross-dressing expert and author Veronica Vera, recounts the sad tale of Ms. Antoinette’s loss and the subsequent reported appearance of some of her items being sold “from the back of a vehicle in Las Vegas.”

Among the garments taken from the Versatile Fashions shop and factory by what is believed to be a “professional burglar” acting alone or with assistance are well-known costumes including those of Cleopatra, Gone with the Wind, the Bionic Woman, a sailor girl, the Queen of England, Marie Antoinette, a bat woman, and Antoinette’s own silver wedding gown.

Antoinette is especially interested in reclaiming a floor length queen’s outfit, which she estimates has a $2,500 value. “It can’t be missed; it’s got big red velvet, puffy sleeves and a gold collar in the back, gold lace, and a gold leather corset, and is jeweled all over the place. I’m sure that could spotted by somebody.”

Additionally, all of her Halloween collection, countless high heeled boots and shoes, dozens of leather, PVC, Chinese silk, satin, and brocade corsets, as well as other elaborate garments were stolen on the evening of September 25th, when the burglars drilled into the wall of her building, entering from the Chinese restaurant next door.

Antoinette is understandably devastated by the loss, which follows the death of her husband Dick, aka Zorro, less than two years ago. “My whole life’s work was cruelly ripped away, like a violent attack,” Sprinkle and Vera quote her as saying about the theft of her life’s work and decades of archival costumes. “I’m in shock!” Nonetheless, the esteemed designer vows that “They’ve stolen my things, but not my soul.”

Sprinkle states that at least some of the merchandise has been reported as sold from the back of a vehicle in Las Vegas by a blond haired “businessman” type in his mid 30s with no visible tattoos.

Antoinette has spoken with both the Las Vegas and Orange County police departments and asks that anyone with information about the stolen property contact her assistant, Tracy, either at versatile_fashions@yahoo.com, 714-538-0257, or via either the VersatileFashions.com or VersatileCorsets.com websites.

Darklady is Editor at YNOT and has more than a decade of experience covering the adult entertainment industry, internet technology, and alternative sexuality beats online, in print, and via traditional and web radio.