Yes, Megan's spread was too sexy for, um, Megan's (photo) spread—and the family friendly Times opted not to run the shot. Lucky for you, then, that the decidedly not family friendly Fleshbot is more than happy to give these outtakes the publicity and attention that they deserve.

· Megan Fox NY Times Outtakes (more @ megan-fox.net)

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 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!)

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)

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)

In a story pubished after our Wet Spots deadline last Friday, the porn-obsessed savvy New York Times examined the business end of the adult industry—which oddly enough, is discussed in the same bloodless prose you might find in a story about airline bankruptcies or the real estate market. As you know, adult entertainment is the largest industry in the universe and it's in deep trouble these days ... and the internet, which has been the biggest boon for porn since the VCR, is soon going to destroy it completely. The Times took a crack at solving that riddle, and while the piece is filled with a lot of the same tidbits we've been hearing for the last several months—DVD sales are down, too many titles being released, amateurs taking over, "low barriers to entry," etc.—they at least take problem seriously and actually reached out to some of the players in the game to get their perspective. (Plus, they added this pretty graph.) Maybe we shouldn't be surprised anymore that the country's most influential paper can talk about porn like it's any other business, but since a lot of outfits still panic at the mere suggestion of boobies, we still do a double take when it's happens. That liberal media bias is finally doing something right.

· For Pornographers, Internet's Virtues Turn to Vices (nytimes.com)

Previously: Leonard Nimoy's Nude Mission, Deep Inside Kink Dot Com: Smut With A Smile, The New York Times' New "Zoo" Review, NY Times: True.com's False Advertising?, The Not-So-Pretty Side of Hi-Def Porn, Gray Ladies: The New York Times Does De'Bella

Like the classic "Betty or Veronica" and "Ginger or Mary Ann" debates, how you answer the question "Kirk or Spock?" says a lot about you as a person. (Either way you're a geek, but bear with us.) Even in retirement their alter-egos carry on the battle of "passion vs. logic," only now they do it in the final frontier of nude photography. While William Shatner chooses to get up close (and maybe a little too personal) with Playboy models, Leonard Nimoy has created a nice second career for himself shooting artistic portraits of women you generally won't find in one of his movies.

We've mentioned his "Full Body Project" before, but (two years later) The New York Times has gotten on board with a thoughtful look at this ongoing work, which is currently featured in galleries across the country and will culminate in a book to be released later this year. Naturally, the discussion focuses on his fascination with large women and the paper discovers that for the most part, people don't seem to mind that much. His message of body acceptance hasn't exactly reached the pages of Vogue, but maybe the fact that people might actually want to see pictures of full-sized naked women isn't so shocking these days, even if some of the kids can't seem to wrap their heads around the idea. Enduring all the fat jokes with a Vulcan-like patience is no problem for Nimoy, who clearly sees his work as more than just a hobby (or a one-time lark, like the old captain.) He's out to change minds, one planet at a time.

· "Girth and Nudity, a Pictorial Mission" (nytimes.com)
· Leonard Nimoy Photography (leonardnimoyphotography.com)

Previously: Nudes by Leonard Nimoy, Leonard Nimoy: Full Body Project, William Shatner Does Playboy

In an almost relentlessly upbeat article in yesterday's Sunday Magazine, the New York Times profiles San Francisco's Kink.com in a piece that's as notable for its positive attitude towards its subject matter as it is for the number of juicy (and relatively explicit) tidbits it reveals about the company, like the fact that it "actually requires that each model be shown smiling during the segments" and its ban on "filming anyone who is drunk or high and electroshocks above the waist — except in certain cases, like when using 'nipple clamps where the nipple completes the circuit.'" And as if reading about things like flogging, crotch slapping, and nipple clamps over our Sunday brunch wasn't eye-opening enough, the article also provides an insight into founder Peter Acworth's earliest motivations for founding the company: "Even as child, Acworth told me, he liked seeing people bound. 'I would get an erection while watching a cowboy-and-Indian movie where somebody was getting tied up,' he said, 'which I didn't really understand.'" From such humble beginnings are empires created.

· "A Disciplined Business" (NY Times)
· Kink.com: Delivering Genuine, Raw Fetish Since 1997! (kink.com)

Previously: Behind Kink Launch Party, Porn Vegas Dispatch: All Tied Up, Happy Anti-Porn Hysteria Month!, On The Set at Fuckingmachines, The New York Times' New "Zoo" Review

If you've spent any time at all on the interweb over the past several months (especially on MySpace, or if you're all caught up on our Wet Spots posts on the topic), it's probably been hard to miss the provocative ads for online dating site True.com—and you've probably wondered along with the the author of an article in today's New York Times what all those hot babes are doing in them since "(they) almost certainly do not need to look online for a date." According to site founder Herb Vest, though, all that exposed cleavage and dodgy webcam come-ons are just a matter of proving that sex sells in the online dating industry as much as it does anywhere else. But please don't call their tactics pornographic: "We are very conscious of our reputation ... Pornography brings perverts, and we do not want perverts on our site. On the other hand, you can state from me in bold letters that True is in favor of sex." Considering the fact that True.com bought ad space here on Fleshbot a few years ago, we guess that means that either some kinds of porn are OK as far as they're concerned or that Fleshbot readers are a special brand of perverts. Still, we prefer to stick with the old-fashioned way of getting a date: by getting really drunk and foisting our cell phone numbers as many objects of our affection as we can before we throw up and/or pass out. It may not be the most effective way of finding romance, but at least we can put that $49.95 a month to a better use than dealing with the crushing disappointment that all those winks we're getting aren't the real deals after all.

· "Hot but Virtuous Is an Unlikely Match for an Online Dating Service" (NY Times)
· See also: "So feel free to wear your tightest short shorts, Ladies" and "The continuing chestification of True.com" (copyranter.blogspot.com)

"A date that begins with 'Exterminating Angels,' Jean-Claude Brisseau's suave and salacious new movie, is likely to end up either in bed or in court." So begins A.O. Scott's review of the controversial film which opens today in Manhattan after stirring up its due share of brouhaha during its premiere in Cannes last year and which is shaping up to be this year's "9 Songs" or "Shortbus" in terms of depicting explicit sex in the context of an arthouse film release—though you'd never know it from the trailer, which is all subtitles and shadowy glimpses of whispery, heaving flesh. Stll, as Scott points out in his review, it's the rare instance of mainstream cinema that was presented with a 2257 compliance certificate at the critics' screening. Just don't expect anything along the lines of, say, "Dirt Pipe Milkshakes". This is a French arthouse film, after all.

· "A Cerebral Skin Flick, Subtitles Included" (NY Times)
· "Exterminating Angels" Trailer (YouTube)
· More "Exterminating Angels" reviews @ CHUD, Film Fest Journal, Slant Magazine, and Variety
· IFC Films (ifcfilms.com)

Previously: IMDb Gets Childish With "Adult" Movies, Francesco Vezzoli's "Caligula" on YouTube, "Shortbus" Review & Premiere, "9 Songs" in NYC

· Whatever happened to some of your favorite pornstars from the '70s and '80s? As if you didn't already know. Hint: Ron Jeremy? Still not dead yet. (yesbutnobutyes.com)

· Someone, somewhere at this very moment is getting off to these photos of Nicole Kidman's dirty ass. Be glad it's not you. (drunkenstepfather.com)

· A Spanish producer gets a grant from the government to make porn movies that promote the little-used language of Catalan. Unfortunately, the only Catalan words anyone has learned so far are "harder" and "fuckpig." (telegraph.co.uk)

· Dove tries to promote real women's beauty in its ads, but gets banned for "promoting" a little too much beauty. How can you sell skin care products without showing a little skin? (commercial-archive.com, more on Dove @ slate.com)

· A Wisconsin man gets cited after a snow storm compels him to go outside and run around naked. That's not usually our reaction to winter weather, but whatever warms your mittens ... (herald-dispatch.com)

· Who is Kerry Katona, and why is she fingering herself? We don't know either, but ... look, she's fingering herself! (totallynsfw.com)

· A college journalist wants to write for Playboy when he grows up, because he believes that magazine is "more than just nudity." Apparently, he's never actually seen Playboy magazine before. (statepress.com)

· Our neighbor stole our Sunday New York Times Magazine, so we missed their heartwarming discovery of college porn magazines that also name drops a certain website some of you may be familiar with. (By the way, we're "educated elites" now, which doesn't say much for our nation's educational system ... or elitism, for that matter.) (nytimes.com)

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Previously: Morning Wood Archives/Wet Spots Archives

· How would you describe the taste of vagina? Do they make a chocolate chip cookie dough flavor? (metafilter.com, via Gawker)

· Meanwhile, the New York Times' Frank Bruni discovers that the Penthouse Executive Club (yes, that Penthouse) serves up some of the best steaks in NYC ... along with Buttery Nipples and a nice big helping of cheesecake on the side. (nytimes.com)

· Maybe this blogger is right and all British babe Nikkala Stott needs is a good sex scandal to grab some attention. Or she can just continue being this hot. (latenightpictures.com)

· Do you think Nikkala qualifies as a celebrity? Because she and any other mildly famous people could make a cool $5,000 just by selling their own sex tapes. It's easier than hawking used furniture on eBay! (avn.com)

· Did you know there was such a thing as pornigami? (You would have if you'd been paying attention.) It sounds like a lot of fun, but that's a nasty way to get a paper cut. (villagevoice.com)

· Speaking of sex scandals, you'd think a book called "Secrets of a Hollywood Super Madam", would bring down bigger names than Tommy Lasorda. As baseball fans we love the guy, but no one wants to think about him having sex. (latimes.com + sportsbybrooks.com)

· The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Party was a smashing success ... except for the whole hepatitis A thing. That kinda takes away from all the hot models. (abcnews.go.com)

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Previously: Morning Wood Archives/Wet Spots Archives