Archive for 2008

Pumpkin Madness

by Amelia G : October 29th, 2008

I’m going to admit that this year, like many Americans, I’ve been too caught up, either following election coverage or avoiding it, to properly celebrate Halloween. Sure, Blue Blood is sponsoring a few Halloween parties, most notably the Release the Bats decade anniversary. And I remembered to freshen up my hair color and play with squash a little. Some years, I get all freaked out about wanting to do too much for Halloween, but this year I haven’t even had my favorite holiday at the front of my brain most of the time. But I’ve been enjoying a bit of vicarious Halloween joy today, checking out the work of people like Dana Dark and Ray Villafane.

More on Dana Dark’s Halloween secrets later, but I want to tell you all about Ray Villafane now. He is an artist who primarily appears to work on sculpture for folks like Sideshow Collectibles and McFarlane Toys. In the unlikely event you are not familiar with those companies, they make collectibles for the horror, science fiction, fantasy, and general monsters and comic books realm.

But, wow . . .

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Jon Hamm Awesome on SNL

by Amelia G : October 26th, 2008

Jon Hamm, who plays leading man Don Draper on AMC’s Mad Men, hosted NBC’s Saturday Night Live last night. It’s kind of peculiar because, although he is a completely plausible womanizer on the show, I’ve never personally found his character on Mad Men particularly sexy. He is extremely compelling and I can relate to some of what he appears to be going through, but he just never struck me as a flavor I’d like. Appearing on SNL really showcased what an incredibly good actor he is. And, curiously, seeing more range made Jon Hamm the actor seem that much hotter.

This was seriously the funniest and best episode of SNL in ages. Even the monologue was laugh-out-loud funny, although probably mostly only if you have been watching Mad Men. Some of the highlights of the show included a mash-up of Mad Men and SNL’s recurring 2 A-Holes characters played by Kristen Wiig and Jason Sudeikis. Elisabeth Moss, who plays copywriter Peggy Olsen on Mad Men, and John Slattery, who plays partner Roger Sterling, also guested for this sketch. Will Forte also played a hilarious adult trick-or-treater knocking on neighbor Jon Hamm’s door for candy and a bit of legal certification on Halloween.

And then there was Don Draper’s Guide to picking up women. This is really funny and really good advice.

Gambling Sites Get Bent Over But Could Do Without the KY

by Amelia G : October 28th, 2008

So apparently the great state of Kentucky wants to get into the gambling biz. Times are tough all over and I totally understand being open to new opportunities in these difficult economic times. Adult trade journal XBiz reported yesteray that Kentucky “Gov. Beshear was elected on a platform that included bringing gambling to the state.” Okay, so far, no problem, right.

Well, Kentucky filed suit to seize 141 gambling domains, including, according to The Washington Post, some very active huge money-making concerns such as UltimateBet.com and FullTiltPoker.com. Kentucky Judge Thomas Wingate is presiding over this legal fiasco. Registrars eNom and GoDaddy have apparently complied with Kentucky’s request and handed over those gambling casino domains registered with them. Most other US-based registrars are bizarrely expected to follow, although, as a domain-consumer, I’m certainly noting which registrars roll over first and easiest on this.

Now I understand that some people feel gambling is immoral and they believe in legislating morality. If Kentucky totally outlawed gambling and had technology initiatives to block gambling sites from being viewed in Kentucky, I would think that was their right. I would also think it was the right of their residents to pick up and move to some place more pleasant like California. It is, however, legal for residents of Kentucky to gamble online with real money. In fact, although U.S. banks have been legally barred from processing online gambling payments for a couple years now, Washington state is the only one which made it illegal for residents to place online bets for actual cash money. Basically, the law would be akin to making it 100% legal to buy drugs and 100% illegal to sell them. The results, naturally, are that a lot . . .

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• 10:24 Sasha Grey is a Star and not a Crossover Star tinyurl.com/6obhe5 #

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I know that having posting code beneath every gallery photo on BlueBlood.net means people will sometimes use the posting code to, ya know, post pics. We’ve got code for posting to LJ and other HTML spaces and we’ve got BBCode for posting to forums and related structures.

I guess it is kind of viral where one person sees a posted pic and they post to two friends and they post to two friends and so on. I expect people to have discussions about the images. I expect some people to like some images more than others.

But sometimes people get really bananas with the posting and sometimes people seem to just really flip the fuck out over pictures.

Whether you love or hate a photograph, you should only love or hate it soooooo much before it becomes pathology.

Sasha Grey is a Star and not a Crossover Star

by Amelia G : October 23rd, 2008

Both the Hollywood movie industry press and the porn industry press have been falling all over themselves trying to explain why it is somehow a different piece of crossover news that award-winning writer/director Steven Soderbergh cast award-winning pornstar Sasha Grey in his upcoming Marc Cuban-financed film The Girlfriend Experience. She plays the role of, in case the title was no tip-off, a high-end callgirl of the variety who provides what enthusiasts refer to as the total girlfriend experience.

Pundits trying to explain how Steven Soderbergh casting Sasha Grey is more ground-breaking than Jenna Jameson’s career explain that lots of pornstars have been able to crossover to horror, but The Girlfriend Experience is legit. They are wrong on a few fronts. First of all, why exactly do horror movies not count? Have they not looked at box office receipts for the past few years? Secondly, Jenna Jameson and Sasha Grey are both successful and it is not a contest of some sort, just because they are both famous, both beautiful, and have both had sex on camera. Acting like the two should face off somehow reminds me of playground debates over who would win in a fight between Superman and Batman. (Obviously Superman, unless Batman got the jump on him with kryptonite, which is admittedly likely with Batman’s penchant for science gadgets.) Jenna Jameson loudly proclaimed that she would “never spread [her] legs” for the adult industry again, before going on to mainstream crossover fare like, uhm, Zombie Strippers where she strutted her acting chops in the role of, uhm, a zombie stripper. When Kobé Tai played a stripper/escort in Very Bad Things, the role was not on the face of it particularly different, and the world did not appear to tilt on . . .

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• 13:52 @funkatron You like dark chocolate bear, milk chocolate bear, or white chocolate bear? I like dark best ’cause I’m so gothic. #
• 13:53 Zack and Miri Make a Porno movie gallery tinyurl.com/5gtmt8 #
• 06:41 HAPPY INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY tinyurl.com/5zlv9p #

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HAPPY INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY

by Amelia G : October 22nd, 2008

Are you mad as hell and not going to take it any more a la Network? Don’t vlog blowing your head off. Just celebrate INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY today and digitally yell your head off. According to founder Derek Arnold, “CAPS LOCK DAY IS A CELEBRATION OF LIFE AND FOREVER SCREAMING TEXT FOR ALL ETERNITY AND LOVE” and I guess he ought to know.

So don’t be shy. Start your engines, keyboard warriors, and say it LOUD.

In case y’all were wondering, the illustrative photo here is actually a snapshot I just took of my real life Caps Lock key, along with a special, limited-edition, 10 year anniversary Release the Bats, Blue Blood commemorative pin . . . and the piece of dental plastic I have been sleeping with, in order to avoid breaking all of my teeth via the combined power of stress and my mighty jaw.

>HAPPY INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY!

PS In case anyone reading this is entirely new to teh intarwebs or has been wondering why people get peeved when they type in ALL CAPS, the reason is that ALL CAPS is a simple way of communicating screaming blue murder via keyboard and web connection. You can try opening your window and yelling too. Fewer people will hear. You may get in more trouble. But it might be more satisfying and you can always explain to the arresting officer . . .

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• 17:42 Drive thru Beverly Hills to go to the doctor means I get dark chocolate bears. Don’t even normally like chocolate this much, but these rule! #

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• 13:26 Kevin Smith apparently unaware porno is sometimes limited in distro www.blueblood.net/2008/10/zack-and-miri-make-a-porno/ #
• 13:26 Heroes is Canceled tinyurl.com/559s6x #

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Heroes is Canceled

by Amelia G : October 19th, 2008

I am fascinated by the idea of exploring how comic book style superpowers would impact real world human beings. In literature, last year’s Soon I Will be Invincible from Austin Grossman is the reigning champion of this sub-genre. I kind of felt sorry for David J. Schwartz having his novel Superpowers come out around the same time as Soon I Will be Invincible. He probably sold some extra copies via Amazon “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” recommendations, but comparing a pleasant enough light read with the brilliance of Austin Grossman’s book seemed almost cruel.

So it was in the television world with Tim Kring’s Heroes and The 4400 from René Echevarria and Scott Peters, but that is about to change. I found The 4400 because of the Netflix “Enjoyed By Members Who Enjoyed” feature. The first season of Heroes featured a set of interlocking stories about people from different walks of life who suddenly discovered they were special in a superpowered kind of way. Season One of Heroes was elegantly written. A politician discovers he can fly. A cheerleader discovers she can regenerate almost any injury. A uniform beat cop discovers he can read minds. A low level cube employee working at his father’s company discovers he can bend space and time. An artist discovers he can paint the future while shooting smack. A homecare provider discovers his empathy allows him to pick up abilities from other superpowered indivduals. A watch repairman discovers a method for killing people and absorbing their abilities into his own roster of skills. There is a shadowy Company trying to keep it all contained. There is a morally ambiguous and conflicted Company employee who also has a superpowered adoptive daughter. Season 1 of Heroes has a . . .

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Emerging Illusions Fashion Show

by John Ashton Keller : October 14th, 2008

The end of Spring was approaching in San Francisco and that meant that the annual Emerging Illusions Alternative Fashion Show was soon to happen. For those unaware, Emerging Illusions is meant to showcase up and coming fashion/costume designers from the Goth, punk and industrial scenes.

Again, I was honored to be asked to set up a mini studio backstage and shoot the models and designers, make-up artists and hair stylists and anyone else who wanted to pose.

The smell of make-up and hair spray filled to backstage area. Nearly every square inch of floor was covered by people, clothes and props. Activity was everywhere. Make-up being applied, hair being styled, models dressing and undressing, dancers stretching out. It was more difficult to negotiate than the dance floor when the DJ plays everybody’s favorite song.

And it was no wonder that it was packed. Each designer is limited to only five or six models and provides their own hair and make-up people. This year, saw 14 designers: Somnabulance, Wisp-her Wear, Gibbous, Severd, Eirik Aswang, Lisa Goblin, The Window Lady, Dragoness, Chelsea Aragon, saKAna Desgins, Larvae, Shawk Designs, Shadow Bound and Clotho Constrictor. Plus there were stage crew running the show, photographers & videographers and the occasional friend of someone.

As I set up my equipment, I looked over the outfits being worn by those already dressed. With fourteen designers, their designs were as diversified as you would imagine with outfits ranging from everyday wear to clubwear to costumes to things you’d probably only wear at Burning Man if you wear anything at Burning Man.

Though I really enjoy the energy backstage, my only regret in being backstage is I don’t get to see the show . . .

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Zack and Miri Make a Censored

by Amelia G : October 19th, 2008

Years ago, when Kevin Smith and I were both guests at DragonCon, he and I had a brief conversation about porn. Now that his Zack and Miri Make a Porno movie hits theaters this Halloween, I wish I remembered any of the details of it. As I recall, Senior Blue Blood writer Will Judy was there, but I don’t think it wise to interrupt his regularly scheduled obsessive Sunday puttering to check if anything important was said.

When DragonCon gave Blue Blood a ballroom for a panel, I had to have a team of people check ID at the door to make sure our standing room only crowd was all of age. It kind of sucked, but it was necessary. I’ve spoken on many panels where we did not discuss adult topics and I’ve spoken on many panels which did not include visual aids and I’ve spoken on many panels which were not in Georgia. But this particular DragonCon panel did have those stats and it just made sense to be sure the entire audience was of age. Would more than two thousand people have come to hear what Forrest Black, Sarah McKinley Oakes, and I had to say, if there had been no naughty aspect planned for this particular presentation? Probably not.

In some respect the adage about sex selling is true, but the part no one mentions with this is that distribution is a bitch. It would be nice if there were better distribution channels for actual quality products, with serious budgets, which tackle sexually-oriented topics. Even IFC will put a giant black box covering up John Leguziamo’s sock-clad cock when they run the movie Spun. The best thing about the internet is that I can sell . . .

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• 19:15 @lamaupin SystemRestore might save your comp, ether the OS one or the Symantec one. #
• 19:15 Still feeling like death in a blender, but got some writing done today. Now to watch True Blood. #
• 20:15 TiVo picked up QVC instead of HBO. How does it aim for True Blood on 503 and end up with Wine By Mail on 6? #

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