And in this week's New Yorker (yes, The New Yorker), he's willing to dish. Apparently, there's many a nudie classic that's been revealed to, ahem, reveal even more once it's been upgraded to HD. Where once there was but a dark shadow, now we're presented with bush (or at least more boobage). Where...no, actually, that's pretty much the end of the story. We're on the fence as to whether this is more an ad for the flagging Blu-Ray industry or for Mr. Skin himself (who makes the technical upgrade so you don't have to)—but in the meantime, we're just going to stick with our SD movies, and see if we can't unlock this secret nudity by squinting really, really hard.

· Mr. Skin (mrskin.com)
· Naked Truth (newyorker.com, subscription required)
· Thumbnail: Topless Eva Amurri, just because

Really, V Magazine has been so good to us, we'd really love to thank them properly. How will we do that? We're gonna ogle Natalia Vodianova. Please, feel free to help us!

· Natalia Vodianova shows some nip in a magazine about V's. Why not? (thesuperficial.com)

Will we still be boning when we're all plugged in to computers, Matrix-style, experiencing the world in a virtual way? Will our robot avatars be bumping uglies? And what about porn? H+ Magazine has assembled some of the leading minds in the radical tech community to get their thoughts on the issue. A few selections below:

Conventional sex will likely persist in a transhumanist future, but only as a small subset of a much larger space of pleasurable activities which have been deliberately engineered. The connection between certain activities and the sensation of pleasure lies entirely in our cognitive architecture, which we
will eventually manipulate at will. It's probably less complex than we think - many drugs can directly stimulate the pleasure center, and these are much simpler than brain-to-computer interfaces. - Michael Anissimov

Anything that has persisted for hundreds of millions of years clearly has high survival value. Transhumanism seeks to enhance the positive aspects of the human condition, so love and sex are unlikely to be abandoned. Differences? Yes. Sex for procreation will be separated from sex for pleasure. Polyamorism will be the norm. After all if "I" have uploaded, duplicated myself and exist as self-similar copies in cyberspaces co-existent with realspace, where does the "self" end and the "other" begin? - Extropia DaSilva

The experience of gaining pleasure via in some sense merging with another being... that will probably survive the Singularity, but will likely be customizable into various forms, which may end up bearing little resemblance to "sex" as we know it today... - Ben Goertzel.

The primary purpose of the Singularity will be seen, after the fact, to be Awesome Sex. There will be exponentially more sex, with exponentially more interfaces, and with exponentially more measures of pleasure. - Alex Lightman

Exosex, sex outside the biological body, would be simulated in virtuality, much like Second Life or Skype and other digital formats where sex is enhanced, extended, digitized, and synthetic. It would be more real than real - a hyper-real experience.

Endosex, sex within the body or form, would exist even if the posthuman is so-called disembodied or, better, a distributed collection of selves (multiselves) co-existing on multiple platforms, including biological personas, virtual avatar personas or other types of forms in different substrates and platforms. - Natasha Vita-More

So there you have it: sex will maybe, probably, definitely still exist; and will be exactly like nothing we've ever experienced before. Also, we'll be doing it all the time, with everyone. So, uh, win?

For the full article, check out h+'s digitial edition (link below).

· h+ Magazine Fall 2009 Digital Edition (hplusmagazine.com)
· Thumbnail star: Futuristic Sasha Grey (hustlercash.com)

"It's a real shame this tape leaked the way it did," Blatt told XBIZ. "I believe it was someone who wanted to get even with Rebecca. Releasing this tape with no ability to profit from it is the sign of a junkie."

· ‘Grey's Anatomy' Star Nude in Leaked Sex Tape (xbiz.com)

The list is a tad predictable, and leans heavily towards the played-a-politician-once picks (yes, Lisa Ann heads it up), but hey, we approve of bringing more porn to Blackbook, so we're not going to argue it.

But we would like to know: if you had to pick a pornstar to govern you, who would you like to see in office? on our end, we'd love to bow down to Belladonna: we've seen what she's done with her company...imagine what she could do with the country?

· Post-Stormy Daniels: 8 Pornstars Ready to Stuff the Political Void (blackbookmag.com)

Fine, upstanding news source that it is, London's Sun has decided to wage a debate about the subject in today's paper. On the pro side is noted feminist Germaine Greer, who no doubt offers the opinion that bodies are natural and nothing to be ashamed of. On the con side is...Keeley Hazell?

Yes, unless The Sun is outright tricking us, the Page 3 princess and owner of some of the world's best boobs now thinks that girls should keep their tops on while on the beach. We...we just don't know what to say. Keeley, how could betray us like this?

This kind of news calls for drastic action. Readers, what say you: should Keeley be stripped of her coveted Crush Object status? On the one hand, we value all the good times we shared, and memories we made; on the other...how can we laud someone who's against topless sunbathing?

This is going to take a good deal of deliberation, we'll tell you that.

· Is it a boob to go topless? (thesun.co.uk)
· Thumbnail: Keeley in more topless times (dailypoa.com)

Below, a preview clip from an interview with Sasha Grey. Looks good so far (CNBC's no Tyra Banks, that's for sure).

· Porn: Business of Pleasure (cnbc.com)

As the Times sees it, plots were big in the '70s, resurged in the '90s, and have completely fallen by the wayside in the modern era, as studios focus far more on all-sex releases that can be easily chopped up into scenes for online and VOD distribution.

They're sorta right, but they're also missing a very big part of the picture.

Let's get one thing out of the way: plot-driven porn movies (or features, as they're called in the industry) aren't going anywhere. For one thing, there are enough people who like them to make them worthwhile; for another, they're incredibly important PR and marketing tools. Digital Playground can screen "Pirates 2" at UCLA, but we'd wager that the administration would be far less friendly to a screening of "Filth Cums First 4." Or, better yet: New Sensations may primarily produce all sex fare like "Girls 'n Glasses" (cited by the NY Times), but "Scrubs - A XXX Parody" is what got them on "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

There's also the fact that—for the time being, at least—features are still worth buying on DVD; and as long as studios can still make a profit off DVDs, they'll be more than happy to sell them.

At the same time, however, there are many people who are buying their porn primarily for the sex (and let's face it: even those of us who like features are still in it primarily for the sex). And for those people, the DVD model isn't the most economical way of getting what they need: why pay for four hours of sex, when all you really want is that two minutes of Gianna Michaels humping her way to heaven? And it's these people who are driving the trend towards content that is, well, primarily sex—and, more importantly, can be cut up and repackaged without losing that certain something.

What we predict is that we'll end up seeing a split system: a smaller number of high budget, easily marketable features available on DVD for one section of the porn viewing public; and a larger number of sex-focused scenes, perhaps on DVD, but primarily online, for the rest.

And frankly, we think that could be for the best. Imagine if studios took their features really seriously, casting performers who could act as well as they fuck, crafting a movie with a plot that's actually worth watching, while allowing performers whose talents lie in a more prurient direction to simply focus on their fuck craft? You may say we're dreamers...but we think it could be a beautiful thing.

· Lights, Camera, Lots of Action. Forget the Script. (nytimes.com)
· Thumbnail: Gianna Michaels and Faye Reagan ponder the future of porn (nsgalleries.com)

The first issue—which arrives on a newswtand near you July 7, 2009—will have Joanna Angel on the cover, and Jessie Lee, MistiDawn, and Draven. Will this hot, hardcore, punk rock porn mag be enough to save print media? We can only hope. (It's certainly the best strategy we've seen so far.)

· Burning Angel (burningangel.com)

Alas, you'll have to buy the magazine if you actually want to read the piece; though a gallery of exclusive photos from Rolling Stone's shoot with Sasha is available online.

· Sasha Grey: The Dirtiest Girl in the World Poses for Rolling Stone (rollingstone.com)
· Sasha Grey, The Dirtiest Girl in the World: The Story Behind the Story (rollingstone.com)

The New York Times has a fascinating profile on AQTH, its owners, and its employees—and what it means to run a company devoted to alternative sexuality in a country that's extremely repressed. Most interesting are the interviews with the employees: while some are very aware of, and even titillated by, the products' intended purposes, others remain in the dark (case in point: a man who thinks that the sex swing he's manufacturing is a hammock).

View a short clip of the video here—for the full video, click over to the Times website.

· A Pakistani Underworld (nytimes.com, thanks AS!)

As an added bonus, the piece includes a photo gallery of each model holding a few poses, both while clothed and nude. Because in order to really understand these girls, we need to see them at work, right?

· NYC art-school models (newyork.timeout.com)

As with every year, the shots are more tease than T&A—but we'd still like to thank Allure for doing their part to fill the world with nude photos of these gorgeous women. Every little bit helps, you know (and they've certainly given us more than a little bit of sideboob).

· The Naked Truth (allure.com)

If we'd known that wishing worked out this well, well, we would have started wishing for a million dollars a whole lot sooner.

· Daisy Lowe in i-D March 2009 (thefashiontime.com, via Violet Blue (tinynibbles.com)

Well, lucky for all of us pervs, Randy Cohen—aka the man behind the New York Times Magazine's "Ethicist" column—has the answer. It seems you should call up the amateur pornstar in question, and (kindly, gently) alert him or her to your discovery... just be prepared for the possibility that your friend might actually be both the star and the distributor of the clip.

We can't tell you how great to feels to have that ethical dilemma resolved... now if we could just figure out what to do about that snafu where we "accidentally" cheated on our taxes.

· The Porn Identity (nytimes.com)
· Amateur pornstar via Porn's Greatest (pornsgreatest.com, via Ask Jolene)

We're pleased to announce that our very own Supreme Commandress appears on the cover of the April 2009 issue of Club Confidential (out now), which also includes a very steamy look inside Burning Angel, and some on the scene reporting from the set of the latest "Cum on my Tattoo" release (at least, that's what we're assuming "Splat My Tats!" refers to). Congratulations, Joanna—we can't believe they waited this long to feature you!

· Joanna Angel (joannaangel.com)
· Club International (clubinternational.com)

The shoot—which accompanies an interview hyping the American debut of Topshop—seems more about showing off Kate's curves than her clothes... but really, who are we to disagree with the photographers' vision? Frankly, we're all for seeing New York's annual "Spring Fashion" issue morph into a "Naked Celebrity" issue. If they make the change gradually, we're sure no one will even notice.

. . .

· New York Magazine (nymag.com)

The one and only Stagg is on the cover of this week's Time Out New York, which just so happens to be the singles issue (yes, we are also amazed to learn that she's single.). Play your cards right, and who knows? You could wind up having breakfast with the girl who took all these photos.

And Stagg's not the only one who's up for grabs: Fleshbot friend Audacia Ray, Lucas Entertainment director mr. Pam, and gay pornstar J. are among the single sex luminaries you could be hooking up with.

So, uh, what are you waiting for?

· Date Ellen Stagg (timeout.com)

Now, of course, the Swimsuit Issue just magically appears on the internet, transporting dozens of swimsuit-clad model, NBA dancers, and tennis stars into our homes or offices at the touch of a button; a plethora of photos and video (video!) all there to sooth away our winter blues.

Kids today don't know how easy they have it.

We had heard that the beautiful Bar Refaeli had been selected to grace the cover of the print version of the issue (which, yes, still exists)—though, immersed as we are in the digital edition, that's an all but meaningless honor. The "cover" of the digital edition (we call it a splash page in internet land) features a rotating cast of beauties, a different girl greeting you depending on the time of day.

But really—at the end of the day, does any of that matter? What we're all longing for is the sweet, sweet glimpse of beautiful girls in teeny bikinis: and no matter what format the Swimsuit Issue comes in, you can guarantee that yes, they will provide.

· 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition (sportsillustrated.cnn.com)

Or would have been, had they managed to get any of the facts right. Some of our favorite fuck ups:

In a weird porn-imitating-life-imitating-porn switch, two big stars of altporn, Sasha Grey and Charlotte Stokely, currently star in campaigns for American Apparel.

Someone please transport us to the world in which Sasha Grey and Charlotte Stokely are altporn stars. No, seriously—we would have loved to have, ahem, worked with them during our own altporn days.

What's the next big thing in altporn? Hipsters.

Also, while you're at it, please transport us to the world where Terry Richardson never existed.

It seems like everything is getting hipstered out these days. From clothing to music to even the rebranding of the Pepsi logo, everything is getting a hipster makeover. Porn is no exception. If you look at the logo for Vivid Alt, you'll notice that it's tricked out to resemble an Urban Outfitters catalog. In the videos, the actresses are decked out in American Apparel. Hipster culture subsumes and dismantles the aesthetics of popular culture, appropriates its sincerity, and transforms it into a pastiche of irony. Likewise, hipster porn subsumes and dismantles the aesthetics of hipster culture, appropriates its irony, and transforms it into something utterly sincere: porn.

We refuse to offer comment on this. It can stand on its own.

And on that note, we now return you to your regularly scheduled smut.

· Isn't it ironic? (sfbg.com)
· Thumbnail mindfuck: Apathy creates hipster altporn three years before its "emergence" (suicidegirls.com)

And, in a way, it did—though probably not in the manner most would expect. Momentarily departing from topics like the war, the economy, and the environment, the Times took on the most challenging topic of them all: "What Do Women Want?"

Setting aside the admittedly cheesy title, we have to admit we were surprisingly impressed with the article. For one thing, seeing the paper of record give so much attention to the science of naughty bits was a bit of a shock—a pleasant shock, but a shock nonetheless. Additionally, we were pleased to see said paper recognize nice that the science of sex is, yes, science.

But even more than that, we were excited by the fact that—after repeatedly hearing about some scientific study proving that women are turned on by everything—someone was finally willing to explain Meredith Chivers' work to us; in greater depth than just "Women: they want it all the time."

And for that alone, we'd like to commend the Times. Well, for that and for introducing us to some really fascinating sexology studies that we're eager to learn more about.

· What Do Women Want? (nytimes.com)
· Thumbnail star Ava Rose really wants a garden hose (penthouse.com)

What kind of drama, you ask? Well, for one thing, "Throat" is actually a (very, very loose) remake of porn classic "Deep Throat," so in order to even make the film, Vivid had to secure permission from franchise owners Ray Pistol and Arrow Productions... who had their own ideas for a "Deep Throat" remake. Old school vs. new school! Pornographer vs. pornographer! Amazing!

Not surprisingly, the media-savvy Grey wasn't too thrilled with her turn on reality TV: "I wasn't really happy with the creative direction and how I will inevitably be portrayed... It felt more like very poor acting from both my fiance and me, and less like a reality show. As far as my performance in the film, they didn't affect that too much, as I stayed focused on the movie not the faux reality. I felt that they were trying to turn Sasha Grey into Linda Lovelace."

We much prefer Sasha Grey as Sasha Grey.

·
Showtime to Premiere 'Throat' Reality Series Feb. 14 (avn.com)

Say, for example, that you really want to ask some popular pornstars what their favorite videogames are. Great idea! What you should do, then, is get your press credentials set up way in advance of the show, contact the relevant studios to set up appointments for interviews, and have at those pornstars when the show rolls around. What you should not do, however, is skip out on CES, run over to AEE on the busiest day, and expect pornstars to fall all over themselves to answer your questions while they have a full line of excited fans waiting to talk to them. Employing that second strategy will more than likely lead to find that your favorite pornstars are too busy to pander to you or completely unavailable.

You wouldn't expect a mainstream star to drop everything just to talk to some random press person—so why should Lisa Ann?

· Porn Stars Love Video Games! 2009 Edition (gamedaily.com)
· Thumbnail: The lovely Dana DeArmond displays her wares (danadearmond.com)

We don't think there's an easy answer. Obviously, sexual urges will trump any financial hardship. But whether people will continue to shell out their ever dwindling dollars, especially in an environment glutted with free and easy access to pirated porn—well, that remains to be seen.

Despite our hesitation, however, there's someone who seems fairly certain that the adult industry (or at least one adult publication) is completely indestructible: Jossip has legendary big boobie rag Juggs on their list of "indestructible" magazines. What makes Juggs so rock solid?

"How do porno magazines still exist," you ask, "with such a proliferation of free pornography on the Internet?" Wake up, snob: The great majority of people in the world don't own computers, and even some people who do own computers don't have Internet access. What everyone in the world does have is a desire to reach orgasm. So while you sit in front of the computer, trying to stay aroused while battling relentless pop-ups, Joe Sixpack is going to the bodega, picking up Juggs and getting his rocks off the old-fashioned way. Also working in Juggs' favor is that, despite its tremendously cheap production, it can still fetch around eight to 10 dollars—less if you buy it in three-packs (not that we've price-checked it or anything).

And, we might add, none other than Kelly Madison is on the cover of the December 2008 issue. Indestructible, indeed.

· 5 Indestructible Magazines (jossip.com)
· Thumbnail star: Indestructible Kelly Madison (kellyfind.com)

It seems that "Momma's Boys," a, yes, Ryan Seacrest-produced "reality" show that focuses on three overbearing who must pick soulmates new flings for their precious young sons. Among the thirty-two ladies in the dating pool are at least three naked models: 2008 Penthouse Pet of the Year Erica Ellyson, Meghan Allen, and Stacy Fuson.

The first episode premieres tomorrow. We so can't wait — but hey, to keep you busy while you're counting down the hours, here are some nude galleries of all the girls.

Erica Ellyson

Stacy Fuson (centerfold.com)

Meghan Allen (lettherebeporn.com)

· Wouldn't Momma Be Proud? (perezhilton.com)
· Momma's Boys (nbc.com)

His argument? Lad mags are silly and juvenile, yes, but they're not misogynistic at all (come on, lads love ladies!). More importantly, though: lad mags exist as boob-filled rags largely because, well, everyone likes boobs! And since everyone likes boobs, they won't be going anywhere any time soon... unless, of course, they're killed off by the giant boob farm that is the internet.

Now someone find us the latest copy of Nuts, stat.

· Why lads' mags have a shelf life (telegraph.co.uk)