Fleshbot: avn2008

Jesse Jane Tells The Best Stories

Dashiell Bennett — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:28:58 EDT

We've been saving this clip for a rainy day, because frankly, it doesn't really have much to do with anything. It's not newsy, it's not topical, and there isn't even any actual porn in it. Yet, it's still pretty much the hottest thing you'll see (or hear) today. We simply sat pornstar supreme Jesse Jane in front of a camera and asked her to tell us a sexy story. Spoiler Alert! She delivered.

· DigitalPlayground (digitalplayground.com)
· Video by Nick McGlynn

CBS At AVN: They Silenced Our Sasha!

Gram Ponante — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:42:23 EST

Genial "CBS This Morning" host Bill Geist was one of the less bitter media types covering the (yes, we're still talking about it) AVN Awards, but even he could not see clear to airing his short interview with Sasha Grey, which went like this:

Geist: What is it like to win an "Oscar of Porn"?
Grey: It's just so fucking good to be finally fucking appreciated.

CBS' coverage of the awards was bemused rather than mocking, which is a step up from the attention porn usually receives from the mainstream world.

· On the Red Carpet at the "Oscars of Porn" (cbsnews.com)
· See also: Gram's Index (gramponante.com)

Congrats to Tera Wray, who got caught up...

Dashiell Bennett — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:39:39 EST

Congrats to Tera Wray, who got caught up in the whole Vegas spirit and got hitched to her rockstar boyfriend at the AVN Expo. (It must have been something in the air conditioning.) And we didn't even get them a gift! (xbiz.com)

Jenna Jameson seems to have created a little...

Dashiell Bennett — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:11:24 EST

Jenna Jameson seems to have created a little drama with her unfortunately timed AVN Awards speech. Oh, you didn't know she was retired? Sorry to ruin the surprise. (pornstarbabylon.wordpress.com)

Welcome Back, Lorelei Lee

Gram Ponante — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 23:19:48 EST

Because I am married to the church, it is permissible to have innocent crushes. That is why it was ensaddening when Lorelei Lee announced a hiatus from porn last year that I was certain would be permanent. I admit that I am dubious of some people who call themselves "sex positive", thinking that a more accurate term might be "fraudulent" or at the very least "intolerant", but for me Lee is the real deal, writing about her work as a porn performer with insight, vulnerability, and a sadder-but-wiser tone that still remains hopeful.

Join us after the gap to find out what she's been up to.

"I needed to write," Lee explained when I asked why she suspended her work for films such as "Interracial Hole Stretchers", "Upload", and "Submitted for Your Approval". "So I took some time off to focus on that."

The result is a gig with the Sex Workers' Art Show, a touring production that might be coming to your town in January and February. Lee joins "I Love Dick"'s Chris Kraus, Annie Oakley, Tre Vasquez, and Krylon Superstar, among others, on a 26-city tour showcasing staged readings and performances of the members' work.

The tour begins in Portland on January 17 and hits LA a few days later. Prior to this, Lee visited the AVN Expo to reconnect with a few friends.

Lee, 26, took her porn name from Marilyn Monroe's character in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes".

"You're not one of those performers who looks at the business with an especially jaundiced eye."

"No," she said. "I was never on the superstar track, but I also have a lot of people I really like, and I missed them."

Lee lives in San Francisco where I caught up with her as she was folding zines. She went to school and worked as a waitress during her break. She has said that she likes to check in and make sure that she can still do other things.

Lee reunited with fetish-friendly friends Annette Schwarz, Adrianna Nicole, and Madison Young in Vegas, and deems the reunion trip a qualified success.

"I always feel absolutely exhausted after the first day there," she said.

· Lorelei Lee on MySpace (myspace.com)
· Sex Workers Art Show (sexworkersartshow.com)

Sasha Grey, Performer Of The Year: An Appreciation

Jonnobot — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:26:44 EST

There were a few surprises at the 2008 AVN Awards last Saturday night: Bree Olson winning Nest New Starlet! Jenna getting booed by the crowd! All those empty seats! But as far as we can tell, pretty much everyone agreed that no one deserved to win the Performer of the Year award as much as Sasha Grey ... and fortunately, she did. Intelligent, poised, and downright nasty when she wants to be, Sasha is truly a new breed of porn star, one who has just as much genuine star quality while defending the adult industry on a daytime talk show as she does while choking on an outsized set of genitalia in a movie like "Babysitters", for which she also picked up a trophy this weekend. (Oh, and did we mention she's left-handed too?) Follow along as we take another look at some of Sasha's career highlights over the past year and a half, and join us in congratulating her on an award well won. (Not like we didn't see it coming or anything.)

. . .

Photoplay: Sasha Grey

Sasha Grey: "Superslut"

Deeper Inside Sasha Grey

Sasha Grey in "Control 4"

Sasha Grey in "Naughty Flipside 1"

Sasha And Terry Rip Up Penthouse

Sasha Grey: Best Dressed

Flesh Flicks: Sasha Grey Earns Her Title

Sasha Grey in Joe Gallant's "The Skin Trade"

Sasha Grey In "Broken"

Girls And Their Gadgets: Because Porn Stars Like Shiny Things Too

Jonnobot — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 14:25:54 EST

Tech geeks that we are at heart, we have to admit that it was a little frustrating being in Las Vegas last week and not being able to get into the Consumer Electronics Show with our AVN Expo passes to check out all those shiny new toys. (Yes, we know there were even more folks in the completely opposite position than we were; we believe this is what's called irony or something.) But that doesn't mean there wasn't plenty of technolust happening on the porn side of things: aside from all those buzzing devices we saw ourselves, the folks at AOL's Switched.com managed to get up close and personal with almost two dozen of the adult industry's shiniest lights to find out which gizmos turned them on the most. Predictably, sex toys like Silver Bullets and Magic Wands are the most frequently mentioned, but it's making us all tingly knowing that Jenna Haze loves her PSP as much as we do. Maybe we can challenge her to some ad hoc network play sometime?

. . .

· "Adult Film Stars Reveal Their Gadget Faves" (switched.com)

Meet Jean Laconia: A Star Is Born

Gram Ponante — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 22:50:47 EST

Jean Laconia was both of the AVN Expo and not of the AVN Expo this year, as the 18-year-old Connecticut native was visiting Las Vegas for the first time and shot what she said was her first professional porn scene ever in a cramped room at Treasure Island. Jean is a stripper in Massachusetts, but is going to be making the move to Los Anghles shortly. In fact, she's shooting for Vivid this very day.

See more of the prime of Miss Jean Laconia after the gap.

We are big fans of Scots director Gazzman. It was at last year's show, in fact, that we were first treated to another 18-year-old's very first porn scene, with Gazzman directing. This time the camera work was done by Gazzman associate Dave West, also of Harmony Films.

Though I didn't mean to, the smallest amount of muckraking turned up a swingers website in which Laconia is featured in romps with other women. Homegrown or not, there is nothing that separates pro from amateur in porn if someone is being paid, so I hope Vivid isn't using Laconia for "Brand New Faces" or someone is going to get his money back.

Laconia, as one can assume by her porn name, has a slight New England accent, and with her clothes on is just the type of woman you'd expect at a Patriots game. We don't have a symmetrical sports comment about how she looks with her clothes off, other than to say something lame like "Touchdown!"

Strippers who cross into the world of porn have a slight advantage over their hooker, reality show, or never-had-sex-before counteerparts: they know how to find their light, arch their backs, and talk porny. It's tough (and a little awkward) getting naked in front of a roomful of men with cameras in Vegas, yet Laconia boldly said, "If OI didn't give you all boners, I didn't do my job."

(For me, it was too early in the week for the inappropriate behavior that characterized most Gawker employees, and I still maintained a semblance of my America's Beloved Porn Journalist self. Like Jame Gumb, I taped myself down before entering the hotel room, just to maintain my integrity.)

Laconia's second porn scene ever - and the first with someone else - was scheduled for today with Vivid. She doesn't have a website yet, but she will.

· Gazzman (gazzman.com)
· Gram's Gallery (gramponante.com)

Postcards From Las Vegas: Last Gasps

Jonnobot — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:03:00 EST

If you're starting to get a little sick of our continued 2008 AVN Expo and Awards coverage, especially now that the event is over ... well, stop and take a moment to consider how we must feel: we've been back from Vegas for two days already and we still can't get the lingering scent of melon body spray and crowd sweat out of our nostrils, which are still encrusted with various substances from endless hours spent in all that climate-controlled recirculated desert air. (Yeah, that's it.) And just like we keep on finding business cards in our pockets from people we have no recollection of ever meeting, we still have a bunch of photos on our hard drives that we really ought to post before things get too stale around here; what they may lack in up-to-the-moment freshness they more than make up for in their value as part of the historical record And isn't being, um, historical what going to a porn expo and taking pictures is all about?

Lest we forget ... check out the last batch of photos from this year's AVN Expo by Jeff Koga after the jump.

. . .

· Photos by Jeff Koga for Fleshbot

Bree Olson Totally Earned That Trophy

Jonnobot — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:11:02 EST

The delightfully sunny Bree Olson has been a fixture of the masturbatory fantasies of so many for so long that it came as a surprise for some folks last Saturday to learn that she had been awarded the Best New Starlet trophy at this year's AVN Awards, not so much because of that "best" aspect as for the "new" part: as one commenter noted in our awards show liveblogging coverage, "Is (she) that new? It seems like I have been rubbing 'em out to her forever." Such confusion is understandable: while an exhaustive ten second search of the Fleshbot archives shows that we did indeed introduce you to her almost exactly a year ago to the week, she'd been appearing on various hardcore paysites and in films like Smash Pictures' "Whale Tale #3" for several months prior to that, and well in advance of her signing as a contract girl for Adam and Eve—which we suppose is really what qualified her for her Best New Starlet nomination, at least on the dotted line.

As for her other qualifications for winning? Well, all you have to do is take another look at some of the Bree Olson sightings we've posted about over the last twelve months to see for yourself why she deserved the honor. We have a feeling you won't question her eligibility after that.

. . .

Meet Bree Olson

Redundant Porn of the Moment: "Jam It All The Way Up My Ass 4"

Bree Olson: French Maid (hotbabespost.com, spotted in Best of Babelogs 6.4.07

Bree Olson In "Grand Theft Anal 10"

Bree Olson Finds The Dark Side Of Sex For Money

Sneak Peek: "Bree Olson's Slumber Party"

. , ,

Top thumbnail via Twistys (TGP gallery @ askjolene.com)

Getting SaSi At The 2008 AVN Expo

Dashiell Bennett — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:25:33 EST

It's pronounced like "sassy" and we know this because this gadget was one of the most talked about on the inanimate object side of the AVN Expo—the SaSi is the sex toy that learns. If you're as scared about a planetary robot takeover as we are, then the thought of a vibrator that understands your pleasure so well it can teach itself to get you off, might make you want to break out the tinfoil hats and start digging those underground dwellings. To assuage our fears, our fine friends at sex toy wonder emporium Babeland arranged a demonstration for us, courtesy of pornstar/vulva puppet instructor Daisy Lane. Keep in mind, this is only a prototype—they won't be available for purchase until spring—so you still have several good months left before SaSi become self-aware and enslaves you in orgasmic bliss.

· SaSi by JeJoue (jejoue.com)
· Pre Order SaSi (babeland.com)
· Video by Nick McGlynn

Previously: Sex Toy TechWatch: Je Joue Programmable Vibrator

Jesse Jane: And A Blonde Shall Lead Us

Dashiell Bennett — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:15:23 EST

After being told that we would receive an audience with none other than the great Miss Jesse Jane at the AVn Expo last week, we confessed that we were a little intimidated by the thought of meeting her for the first time. But others who had gone before us reassured us with tales of her welcoming Texas charm, which thankfully turned out to be true: she immediately put us at ease with a friendly smile, and then offered us plenty of advice on surviving Las Vegas. It might be too late for any other aspiring expo newbies to put her words of wisdom to good use, but you might want to bookmark this clip in case you're thinking about making the pilgrimage to the Sands Expo Center next year. For there will always be a next year.

· Digital Playground (digitalplayground.com)
· Video by Nick McGlynn

Everyone seemed to agree that the AVN Expo...

Dashiell Bennett — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 10:06:00 EST

Everyone seemed to agree that the AVN Expo felt smaller this year, but no one could really agree why. (Are the studios broke or just cheap?) When you're talking about a room full of half naked pornstars can it ever truly be big enough? (aetoday.com)

(Lots And Lots More) AVN 2008 Red Carpet Photos: Still Gagging On The Glamour

Jonnobot — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:37:48 EST

We could use this space to further expound upon the general clusterfuckiness of this year's red carpet at the 2008 AVN Awards last Saturday evening at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas; or how poorly organized and cramped the press area was if you didn't happen to be part of a large television network or glossy mainstream magazine; or how the phenomenon of some of the younger porn starlets repurposing what were evidently their prom dresses to wear to their first big adult industry event really needs to be looked at more closely. But we know you didn't come here for that ... you came here to see glamour, high fashion, not-so-high fashion, they-must-have-been-high-when-they-picked-out-that-outfit fashion, plastic surgery nightmares, and lots and lots of barely contained boobs. (Also? We're too hung over to write any more complete sentences today than we already have!)

After jump ... more photos ... boobs ... Jenna Jameson Dana DeArmond Hillary Scott Sasha Grey ... kthxbi.

. . .

· Fleshbot's AVN Red Carpet Photos 1 and AVN Red Carpet Photos 2 (Fleshbot Galleries)
· Photos by Nick McGlynn

* * * * *

Previously: 2008 AVN Awards: Dispatches From The Front, 2008 AVN Awards Red Carpet: And the Line Goes On Forever

2008 AVN Awards Red Carpet: And the Line Goes On Forever

Gram Ponante — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:53:46 EST

200 people (and one Lorax) walked the AVN Awards red carpet last Saturday night, and the line of porn stars and their co-walkers lengthened down the hallways of Mandalay Bay for more than three hours. Altogether it was an orderly group, and we can tell you from personal experience that it was the press photographers who were the least well-behaved. Here we see a load of starlets (that is their official collective term) getting ready for the carpet media gauntlet, which ran from Dave Navarro at one end to Robin Leach at the other, mercifully passing through Playboy interviewer Casey Parker in the middle. See more snaps after the gap.

While Jesse Jane rovided interview wrap-ups from a stage just outside the Awards, Casey Parker was Playboy's Girl on the Floor, and as such she probably appeared in more photographs than anyone. By the end f the evening she was just as chipper as in the beginning. Here she chats with jessica drake about oing anal. ("You don't just dive in," drake said.)

Flower Tucci can always be counted on for an outfit that seems at once accessible and impossibly out of reach. Here she confounds us with a prize that could only be won after several frustrating hours of unlacing.

Marco Banderas and partner Lisa DeMarco (get it?) cut striking figures, but what was more impressive was Banderas' skill at turning just in time toward any camera aimed at him from anywhere in the room, as if to say, "Hola, Fleshbot readers!"

I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie.

We have never been sure of Robin Leach's function at this event, but we always see him. Leach's own cameraman was beloved of porn stars for asking Jenna Jameson and Tera Patrick who they were (thugh he did recognize Jameson beau Tito Ortiz). Meanwhile, Leach kept a personal record of the Not So Rich and Famous.

At the opposite end of the carpet performers were kept in yet another holding pen.

Former performer Joe Lawrence and signees of his talent agency were the last to walk the red carpet. Much of the press had left at this time since the awards show was two hours late, but no porn star was left behind.

Previously: 2008 AVN Awards: Dispatches From The Front

Porn Vegas Dispatch: Jenna Jameson Makes It Absolutely Clear

Gram Ponante — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:15:02 EST

While her surgeries and weight loss have altered her appearance, Jenna Jameson is still porn's most recognized name, even if non-porn media on the red carpet at the AVN Awards on Saturday night were overheard gasping "That's Jenna Jameson?"

Jameson has also attracted a great deal of mainstream attention, but mostly in the form of scrutiny of her surgical choices, and she seemed bitter when she told Saturday's AVN Awards crowd that she would "never spread her legs for the porn industry again" in one of the show's many awkward moments. This was followed by Stormy Daniels who, upon winning the Jenna Jameson Crossover Star of the Year award, said she intended to be spreading her legs for the porn industry for years to come. And so it goes.

Previously: 2008 AVN Awards: Dispatches From The Front

2008 AVN Expo: Someone Else Was There Too?

Violet Blue — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:15:15 EST

Though some of us stayed home and ogled the occasionally dee-licious porn parade , many allegiant operatives were (as they say) hard at work covering AEE all for their very own blogs, pleasures, and these things we've heard of called "jobs". Peruse the indy plus porn MSM coverage and decide who got off working at it, or who were workin' it. The more interesting coverage is (ahem) cherry-picked for your perusal below... And we'll call it as we see it, kiss our pranky CES siblings from across the Strip, and even yawn at the predictable outcomes, even if we shall remain the blog whose name cannot be spoken.

· Welcome to Pornstarville: Population Everyone (xbiz.com)
· Eros Zine's Thomas Roche: Adult Entertainment Expo 2008 (pic of Adrianna Lynn via/photos @ flickr.com)
· "Jenna Jameson Confirms Retirement at AVN Awards" (xbiz.com)
· Audacia Ray: Adult Entertainment Expo, Las Vegas 2008 (photos @ Flickr.com)
· AVN Announces 2008 Adult Movie Awards Winners (xbiz.com)

. . .

Update! More, more, more ...

· Freaks & Geeks (lastnightsparty.com)
· Vivid Alt hosts the AVN afterparty @ Beauty Bar (mojorepublik.com)

Driven by Boredom Becomes Non-Sequitur At AEE

Violet Blue — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:45:09 EST

We roll up our sleeves and get our hands filthy when we need to (read:AEE), and manage to keep the home fires of babes burning while boobs are bursting like Alien pod creatures and Abby Winters honeys make Vegas actually look fun for about two minutes. But if there were anyone's shoes we'd love to step in and slip into the lubed-up, behind-the-scenes antics, it would be Sir Driven By Boredom himself, Sir Nate Smith, aka dbb. See why we'd trade Converse with him in a porny minute in his gritty, totally wacked galleries...

· Stripper Sideshow Sex Party - 1.10.08
· Circle Bar @ Venetian Casino - 1.10.08
· Vegas Trip Day #2
· Sailor Vega
· Vegas Trip Day #3

· All @ drivenbyboredom.com

2008 AVN Awards: Dispatches From The Front

Jonnobot — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 20:00:38 EST

Team Fleshbot is at the Mandalay Bay Events Center right now for the 2008 AVN Awards ... and you're not! But, like, we're totally not gloating about that: chances are that however you're spending your Saturday night is a lot more pleasant and comfortable than watching an overlong awards ceremony on giant screens from uncomfortable seats in a cavernous arena. Then again, it probably also doesn't involve watching dozens of barely legal porn starlets teetering down the red carpet in too-high heels wearing badly altered prom dresses and the thrill of seeing the occasional reality show star getting sloppy drunk a few rows away from you. So it all balances out.

Anyway, we still wish you were here ... wish is why we rigged up this sort-of-liveblogging post to keep you up to date on what's going on in Las Vegas at this very moment ... er, at least while we were writing it. So sit back, spritz on some melon body spray to get yourself in the mood, and experience the magic, glamour, and excitement of the 25th Annual AVN Awards after the jump.

. . .

7:47 PM DashBot: This is a total clusterfuck. It's awesome!

7:51 PM SlutMachine: Tera just hit the red carpet.
10:01 PM DashBot: Finally starting, only a half an hour late.

10:05 PM DashBot: Wow, this band is horrible.
10:11 PM SlutMachine: But Greg Fitzsimmons is really funny.
10:19 PM SlutMachine: Sasha Grey just won for best oral. In her speech she said "Thanks, I was sick that day. But I stayed and finished and I guess it paid off." Then she walked away. I love her.
10:19 PM SlutMachine: There are all these needless video montages for the nominees, just like on the Oscars!

10:21 PM SlutMachine: Also, one of the "Rock Of Love" girls is here, Tamra. She's wasted.
10:31 PM DashBot: "Operation Desert Stormy" won Best Sex Comedy.
10:54 PM SlutMachine: Best Anal went to "Big Wet Asses #10". Bree Olson thanked all the vegetable oil they used.
11:05 PM DashBot: And now Paul Fishbein is ranting about censorship.

11:15 PM SlutMachine: Jenna is addressing her skinny rumors. She just said "I will never ever ever spread my legs for this industry again!"
11:16 PM DashBot: This is the craziest most self-serving speech ever.
11:17 PM SlutMachine: And Stormy Daniels just said, "Guys don't worry - I'm gonna spread my legs a little longer."
11:22 PM DashBot: Evan Stone is Male Performer of the Year.
11:33 PM DashBot: And "Layout" won Best Film.

11:33 PM SlutMachine : So many people have left. The place is really empty.
11:43 PM DashBot: John Stagliano won Best Director for "Fashionistas Safado: Berlin", and Eva Angelina won Best Actress for "Upload". (Ed. note: We told you!)
11:49 PM DashBot: Bree Olson is Best New Starlet. And "Upload" is Best Video.

11:54 PM SlutMachine: This guy sums it all up right now.
12:03 AM SlutMachine : Sasha Grey is Performer Of The Year. (Ed. note: Of course she is.)
12:04 AM SlutMachine : She's crying.
12:13 AM SlutMachine : OK it's over. So where are the parties?

Postcards From Las Vegas: Saying Goodbye To All That

Dashiell Bennett — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 18:14:20 EST

As Saturday afternoon fades into Saturday night pre-Awards show madness, the AVN Expo takes on a certain lugubrious quality. Booths are starting to come down, pornstars and fans (and press) are worn down, and things are winding down for our 2008 coverage. Don't be too sad—there's still lots more to come, both from the Awards show itself and our grab bag of leftover goodies, but for now we'll leave you with these parting shots from the convention hall. We've lost some of our good health, probably a bit of our sanity, and all sense of time and space (it is still January, right?) from spending the last four days in this climate-controlled fleshy wonderland ... but we wouldn't have passed up this weekend for all the melon spray in the world. We hope the big winner was you.

Lisa Sparxxx is still going strong after four days of signing. Here's hoping her wrists are as strong as her fans'.

These are the stairs that lead from the convention floor to the dungeon-level press room. If we never climb them again, it will be too soon.

Yes, these dudes are riding Segways. Well, that's one way to navigate the avalanche of humanity.

Just hours ago, this was the world headquarters of sex toys. We'll understand if you want to cry now.

Tyler Hope's Pets: A island of cuddly in a sea full of filth.

Oh, Savanna. So close, yet so far away ... Maybe next year.