Can't wait to see how it turns out? Friend of Fleshbot Violet Blue had a front row seat for the action, and kindly snapped a few photos behind the scenes. Check out her blog for a peak at what she saw.

· on set for Courtney Trouble's "Bordello" (tinynibbles.com)
· Thumbnail star: Mistress Akira on set, shot by Violet Blue
· Courtney Trouble (courtneytrouble.com)
· Good Releasing (goodreleasing.com)

This year's edition (theme: "Of Intercourse and Intracourse") promises to be just as exciting as the past two installments; with both io9's Annalee Newitz and Fleshbot alumna Violet Blue on the roster of speakers, we're sure attendees will receive quite a bit of food for thought (and, er, fantasy). Full details are available on the Arse Elektronika website. And for those of you who can't make it out to San Francisco this weekend, never fear: we're sure we'll have more than a few highlights from the event covered right here on good ol' Fleshbot.

· Arse Elektronika (monochrom.at)

Homo A Go Go "Sex Tapes: DIY Porn Showcase" – Seeking Home Made Queer Porn Submissions!

Submission Deadline: July 15th

Requirements:
- All performers must be 18 years of age or older
- Submission must be between 2 and 12 minutes. Longer pieces may be cut by curator if chosen.
- Submissions will not be returned, so please do not send your master copy – send a DVD duplicate.
- Consent of the performers, responsible production, and queer sex-positivity must be apparent in piece.
- All genders are welcome to participate, and any kind of sexual orientation, gender role, or (legal) sexual lifestyle can be presented.

Submission info available at http://courtneytrouble.com/haggsextapes.

In tradition with Homo A Go Go film festivals of past we are happy to announce that there will be a porn program in 2009's Homo A Go Go, set in San Francisco August 13th-16th. Curated by NoFauxxx.Com creator and award-winning pornographer Courtney Trouble, this year's program would like to focus on REAL queer sex, the kind you have in your bedrooms, your bar bathrooms, et cetera -shot by participants or friends on whatever cameras you have lying around. We want your home videos, your leaked sex tapes – taken from your point of view, taken from real moment in your life.

Maybe it's a lo-fi digital file of you and your lover hooking up. Maybe it's a DIY porno project you made with your friends. Maybe it's something you've worked long and hard on, and can't wait to show off. Maybe you're a film-maker, maybe you're not. It doesn't matter! Night vision, car headlights, grainy footage, and real, raw chemistry can be just as hot, if not hotter, than a scripted, professionally-lit porn set. The documentation of our own sex lives is a vital part of the Queer revolution, and we invite you to take part in this very special program.

It's not a contest or competition, but we will be inviting the audience to vote on one thing, "Best In Show." You do not need to be present to be awarded this title, and there are no prizes except your bragging rights for having one of the steamiest, queerest sex tapes ever made.

· Homo A Go Go (homoagogo.com)
· Thumbnail: Queer porn maven Trouble

Join us as we make sense of what jealousy is, how it impacts our lives, and how we can gain the upper hand. Whether you're experiencing jealousy on a regular basis, in love with someone who does, or just afraid that jealousy might rear it's ugly head, these two calls promise to give you a wealth of information!

Since jealousy is as old as human relationships, Mihalko's "Day of Jealousy" on Tuesday, June 9, will be conducted using the historical curiosity the telephones. Yes, you will have three chances during the day (with three different panels) to call in and benefit from the sage advice of professional polyamorists, cuddlers, bottoms, tops, switches, bitches, and imps.

Mihalko notes that reservations must be made for the conference call and that donations are appreciated. The calls will also be recorded for later broadcast, just in case Tuesday finds you busy Facebook-stalking your ex.

But you should tune in if you can; to talk with Nina Hartley is to be assured that everything is going to be just fine provided one's heart (and parts) are in the right place, which is usually up where everyone can see them.

· Nina Hartley (nina.com)
· Reid's Day of Jealousy (reidaboutsex.com)

Specifically, the California Employment Training Panel, which provides subsidies for training to make in-state corporations more competitive on a national scale. For years, Kink had used the program to provide its employees with video and multimedia training—but alas, they've now been cut off from this training.

What happened? It seems that a certain writer for the San Francisco Weekly decided to investigate why the state of California was subsidizing "torture porn"—and in the process, set off a chain of events that left Kink.com out in the cold. You can read the whole story over on the SF Weekly's website—but be warned, it's peppered with lots of poor reporting, judgmental talk about alternative sexuality, and, well, more poor reporting (though antiporn sources are quoted discussing the obvious abuse of Kink.com's models, not one of the models is quoted discussing his or her experience). A few sample quotes, just to give you a taste:

Riedel denies the victimization charge. "Most of our models have been around longer than the down economy," he said. "We go through an extensive interview process to make sure they're okay with this. We don't like working with models that aren't into this. If it's not consensual, it doesn't work."

San Francisco clinical psychologist Melissa Farley doesn't buy that. In 2007, she posted on her antipornography Web site, Traffick Jamming, the famous photograph of a hooded Abu Ghraib prisoner alongside a photograph she says came from Kink.com of a shackled, blindfolded woman apparently being poked with a cattle prod. "In this economy, this is something women would rather not do, but they feel they have to," she said. "This is a form of economic coercion. But people would rather not think of it that way. People think of it as a matter of rights, rather than ask the question, 'Should people have a right not to do this?'"

The company has passed itself off in articles in The New York Times Magazine, Salon, 7x7, and other publications as a hip, if esoteric, high-tech media startup. Yet its business plan is more medieval than modern, consisting, as it does, of giving people money if they'll agree to being on camera while being stripped, bound, impaled, beaten, and shocked.

Ah, fair and balanced journalism.

· Whipped and Gagged (sfweekly.com)
· See also: SF Weekly's Matt Smith Screws Kink.com: Unfair, Unbalanced, Malfeasant Journalism (sfappeal.com)
· Thumbnail: Mika Tan on Fucking Machines (fuckingmachines.com, via Ask Jolene)

Given the little we know about the layoffs, it's difficult to say what effect this will have on Kink's production. We can only hope that the surrenders will still be ultimate, the machines will keep on fucking, the pussy will still be wired, and that the piss will keep on flowing... and, of course, if anyone knows any details about the layoffs, please keep us informed!

· Kink.com Lays Off 15% of its Staff (sfist.com)
· Thumbnail: We hope Kink.com fairs better than Annie Cruz (ultimatesurrender.com)

Nearly two dozen pierced, tattooed, scarred and modded models from the site showed up to perform and party with the crowd. A silent auction featured art from Coop and a number of photographers, models and members of the site. A $5 Polaroid booth evolved into a lesbotastic makeout corner. The grand finale was a live piercing and suspension performance by DN models, Stitch and Arin. And just think, you too could have been there for a mere $7.

· Deviant Nation (deviantnation.com)
· Photos by Curtis Walker (curtisjoewalker.com)

Outgrowing its old home in the Cow Palace, this year the annual gathering of freaks, fetishists, exhibitionists, voyeurs and weirdos in general took place on Treasure Island inside an old Naval hangar and some tents. Calling the event big is an understatement—and there was certainly something for everyone. Fully nude strippers on stages in the expo section left nothing to the imagination. An audience participation bondage stage let doms and subs show off their talents to the masses. Our personal favorite was the zombie stripper cage where blood and rigor mortis turned out to be the next best thing since Burning Angel's "Re-Penetrator." On the stage, burlseque performers did their thing, Tone Loc did his, and father of the event, Perry Mann, definitely did his.

· Exotic Erotic Ball (exoticeroticball.com)
· Photos by Curtis Walker (curtisjoewalker.com)