I just went and looked up the WSJ article on the PEW Study; that is quite interesting. Though raised with a quite lax Roman-Catholic upbringing (though I did go as far as Confirmation, mainly because then I didn't have to go to church.) - these days I've settled into a happily agnostic existence. Yet I'm always somewhat fascinated at how many people are religious and to what degree they are.
For some people it seems to be a great relief, a lifting of their life's burdens by being able to apply a specific greater plan to their personal trials and tribulations. Others use it as a sense of purpose, a compass for their life and a hand-book for their behavior. Then there are the sociopaths that use it to get money and power - but that's a different crowd.
While I don't see any particular reason to believe in religion (though by its own definitions there is no reason not to either) I would never take away religion from people who gain comfort from it. That study stated that a whopping 60% of Americans consider it a very important part of their life - with the French turning in at on 12%. I guess it goes to show that our country's heritage of religious belief runs deeper than I would have imagined.
When I think about it: sure, all of our country's important documents talk about God. All of our politicians must profess an affiliation with a major religion - and of course the earliest settlers were so loyal to their religion that rather than convert they crossed an ocean. I guess I assumed interest would have wained more by now.
And back to the acceptance of differences topic line - you are quite correct, a lot of effort was put into it - the national opinion didn't drift that way on its own. There are a lot of dedicated and brave people fighting for human rights of all kinds in the US - and while much progress is left to be done, much progress has been made - and done so without the US abandoning its religions - which I think is rather interesting.
Ah, how I do love how these topics shoot off on wild tangents, lol
Haha, yeah fortunately things have been slowly marching toward a more liberal stance over the years. In the US there has been a number of Christian-Right moralistic backlashes and a definite recent rise in jingoism and fearmongering that has given birth to a number of attacks on basic civil liberties. Yet looking at a broader scope of time, even the US has become more accepting of differences and more liberal in its overall policy.
I wish the US Media would trade violence for sex - it is a much healthier form of entertainment and I don't see any reason I can't appreciate a nifty sun-shaped nipple shield during the super bowl half-time. While 200,000 people did complain - the other 144.2 million didn't seem to mind too much. Anyway, all the media's publicity of shootings and whatnot creates copycats - studies have shown over and over that the mentally unstable will follow trends just like the rest of us, so we really should stop giving them these ideas! More boobs, less blood - 'tis me motto.
Well if you are talking about the Old Testament (Which is what Pinche Kankun is referencing - specifically Leviticus 19:28) - freedom had nothing to do with properly worshiping God. You follow His "judgments" and His "ordinances" or face the consequences. Now granted the consequences varied - it wasn't always a death sentence (though that was indeed popular) - sometimes some flogging was sufficient.
So does it have laws? Oh yes - many, many. They sort of address porn as well - pretty much it is OK to look at a naked person as long as they are of no relation (by marriage or blood) or acquaintance to you and as long as they aren't naked with anyone they are related to (by marriage or blood) - but masturbation is right out. No touching either, just looking.
The more popular New Testament however is much kinder and many people simply ignore the existence of the Old Testament. Because, frankly, much of it is rather loopy and very violent. The Bible is such a complex work though - that nearly anything can be read into it in some form or another. It has many loop-holes and many inconsistencies - plus there are a number of neat tricks. Want to kill people? Plan on doing it in the name of God and got to a priest, they can waive you of all your killing sins before you even do them. It is quite efficient - the Crusades were fought using this method because they couldn't always bring a priest on their various quests.
The Old Testament is really worth a read, it explains so much of the violence in the Catholic Church's History - and frankly, is much more fun than the New Testament. It can get confusing though...
If you would like to see some really freaky laws in the Bible (King James Edition), check out Deuteronomy 13. It gives people a ton of loop-holes to get out of the "Do Not Kill" commandment - basically if evidence is shown that anyone - ANYONE - isn't willing to follow the Bible's one true God - you should kill them with a sword. And kill their cattle... with a sword.
If you don't have a sword, Deuteronomy 17 states that you can instead stone that person to death, but only if you have at least 2 (preferably 3) witnesses. If you've only got 1 witness - you gotta hold off.
They had the bases covered at least - who can't find a stone? (or 40...) Ah yes, good stuff. How I love the Old Testament.
Oh and if you are stuck in a Motel without any TV porn - no worries! Just grab your trusty Bible and look up the "Song of Solomon", sure it is a bit tame by today's standards, but it's a start. "Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins" - awww yeah. (Apparently the Biblical writers had a thing for deer... I don't know why.)
Despite the overwhelming popularity tattoos (Yes, it is spelled with three T's - sorry, that's just a pet-peeve of mine.) of late - I still find them attractive when done well. Like body piercings - tattoos only help make attractive people stand-out, if you haven't done the traditional steps of improving your look (working out, dressing well, good grooming, et cetera) - they simply won't work - and worse, may draw attention to things that should be hidden away. Specifically the so wonderful vernacular "Tramp Stamp" can draw attention love-handles poking out of too-tight jeans - or the belly-button piercing can highlight a bulging pot-belly.
If the model is fit and pretty and well put together - a good tattoo or piercing can provide that exotic touch that really makes the model standout. Typically this doesn't include barb-wire around the arm or ankle - but India's Henna style is still rather rare and can be quite astonishing on a beautiful model. Am I tired of them? No - I'll always crave the right combination of model and tattoo (or piercing). Would I say it is overused these days? Definitely, but that will pass with time.
Interestingly, 30 years ago the number of tattoos a person had was directly proportional to how Sociopathic they were (like all mental states everything is a gray area with almost no black or white categories). The recent uprise in popularity of tattoos has negated the effectiveness of this indicator unfortunately.
Simply put: Why would anyone in this predominantly male community dislike women sharing their interest? I have noticed that thankfully we do have a few women members. I honestly think that it is a shame that culturally porn is so stigmatized for women and very little of it is aimed at women. Because, frankly - women are interested in sex and so by association should have a similar interest in porn. As the porn industry has been maturing and expanding - many a niche market has been found and tapped - and while there are videos that profess to be made for women, I think it isn't even remotely close being fully explored. In the years ahead I think we'll see more porn directed at women and more women upfront about their interest in porn. I don't understand why there should be any shame in watching porn and hopefully it will become less stigmatized for everyone in the future.
Meh - this one really depends on the people involved - some producers have been blessed with quick wit and make very some very amusing commentary - I actually enjoyed the ridiculous discussions that took place on Freaks of Cock - rarely did they have a point and they'd often go off on wild tangents, but it was entertaining. I'm not a purist that requires porn to be entirely separate from the rest of the entertainment industry - if people want to do some comedy skits and are good at it - I'll gladly watch!
As for interviews: Most of the time it is dull drivel, but there are occasions you get an intelligent model and an interviewer that is actually interested in holding a conversation rather than throwing in some dialogue to build some suspense for viewers waiting for the model to open her legs.
When I do really enjoy the interviews, it is always with the people speaking in their native languages - this is especially cool when it is a foreign language that has been subtitled because I love seeing the cultural differences.
One thing I generally don't like is all that much cameramen just talking to themselves while the porn happens. If they want to interview the model while the action is going down - fine, but I can do without useless commentary like "That's hot.".
I think the male models are very important. Sure, some videos treat them like dicks with feat, but the really good stars actually have a brain and an entertaining personality. For main stream porn, I generally download the videos with male stars I find funny or I consider excellent performers because, frankly, most of the girls are a dime a dozen - but the male stars endure. You know what you'll get from them, what positions you'll probably see the girls in, how hardcore the scene will be, the general atmosphere of the scene is often governed by the male star because in mainstream porn the girls are always the submissive.
Granted there are some female models I search for, but look at the stats - most girls just aren't in that many videos - so unless you are set on building up an encyclopedic knowledge of all female models, you are much better off remembering the limited quantity of male models and what the scenes with them are like. Much easier to decide if the scene is download worthy or not.
Also - I prefer the male stars to not be unattractive because I'm going to be looking at them have sex with this girl, I'd rather watch a fit guy go at it than some hairy, old guy with bits jiggling everywhere. I'm not saying I'm an advocate of the old 70's zoom on the guys face while makes orgasm expressions, but I definitely think the men need to have at least a modicum of attractiveness - I still cannot fathom how Ron Jeremy became the star he is today... I guess he is just damn good a business.
Hmm - that is hardly a comprehensive selection of choices. The poll excludes Euro on one option, but doesn't actually include it implicitly or otherwise in any of the other options. Even the final "Multiple" option. Oh well, not all polls can be perfect I suppose.
Anyway, in porn movies, I'm rather liberal in my tastes for models - there are models I like in pretty much every conceivable category (excluding amputee so far... that still creeps me out). However if I had to make a generalization and choose one specific category, I'd probably say that I find Eastern European models the most reliably attractive models.
The only downside to that regional demographic is that dentistry isn't as good as it is in US or Western Europe and it seems like damn near every model has had an appendicectomy.
Take a look: You'll find a huge number of models have a 2 inch (50 mm) scar that is slightly diagonal from the horizontal just above the right hip. It isn't like it is horribly disfiguring or anything, but I'm one of those silly people that notice and obsess on the little things... like when models forget to touch up their nail paint before a scene and it is all chipped - drives me bloody nuts, I'll often end up skipping over a scene due to that. The scar actually bothers me far less than that, but it's odd that it is so prevalent on models from any of the Soviet occupied blocks.
So there you have it, while I don't confine my searches in general to specific demographics or characteristics - I do have a certain fondness for Eastern Europe.
Well, it won't be porn-inspired, but porn-related yes. Now that the High Definition format wars have been decided - I'm saving up for an HD capable projector and a Blu-Ray drive. I'm glad that Blu-Ray won, it was the superior format, despite its high entry cost.
Now that I don't have to worry about supporting two disparate formats, I can finally upgrade my projection system to HD. Of course, I don't usually use the projection system I have now for porn viewing - but the point is I could, if the need ever arouse.
I also plan on getting a wide-screen HD capable monitor in the near future as well. Enough sites are switching to HD that it seems silly to still be using a 19" monitor. So I suppose that would be a porn-inspired purchase. Of course a hard drive is always a possibility, but right now I've got about 60GB free - so I'm not hugely worried. Maybe in a month or two. Ah, money money - how I need a money factory...
While yes, there can be debates raging on indefinitely about the video / audio quality present and future for live cam sites - but I think the question is more aimed toward preference of the style of content these sites offer. I have dabbled in the genre of live cams with mixed results. One of my first porn expenses was on a live cam site, I dropped 20 bucks or so for 5 minutes or whatever it was - and it was just really stressful. A number of the girls on the site just seemed really depressed and rather desperate to get paying viewers. I felt really bad about "directing" the girl to do whatever - so I ended up just telling her to do whatever she felt like, sort of donating the money to her. The pay-per-minute scene is sort of like hanging out with a group of car salesmen each trying to sell you their body. And because they are mostly a bunch of pretty girls, I found the whole experience depressing.
On the other hand, I enjoyed the sites that offered free live cam services. Since the girls were getting paid no matter what, they were more relaxed and friendly. I was a member of MET-Art when the started BETA testing their live cam service - it was a bunch of fun - the girls liked chatting, would always be in something skimpy and would occasionally show off quite a bit if they felt like. They'd simply ignore the asses that would shout "show us your tits!" and spent time chatting with anyone interested in actually talking. I spent probably half an hour chatting with one girl in Prague about Woodchucks - apparently she had never heard of them and was quite fascinated by the little creatures. That got some strange responses from the other users but the atmosphere was relaxed enough that people just went along with it. When I join up with MET-Art again, I'm sure I'll be back chatting with the models, but I'll never do pay-per-view again.
It largely depends on the "look" the model or the site is going for. If they want a gothy or glamour look - they best not have tan lines. But a swim-suit model or biker babe type thing it can work well on. The 80's really had the tan line look down pat - open up almost any penthouse from the mid 80's and you'll see what I mean. So, my answer, is it can look great on some, lame and amateurish on others. Helpful, I know. Oh well.
Meh - it all depends on who is applying the label. A "Pervert" being someone whose behavior or interests are perverted or corrupted from the norm - so by definition I can't consider myself a pervert as I am my template for determining normalcy. As for others labeling me as pervert - some may, some may not.
I'm shaved head fanatic of sorts but I must say the pickings are very slim. My favorite model had always been Katja Love, she can be found in some Rocco Sifredi productions and a number of other European films. I've recently run across Claudia Demoro, though I've only acquired one scene with her so far, I may have to do what I did with Katja Love and just buy her DVDs...
Oh you can find Veronika Vanoza through 21 Sextury's sites (Euro Sluts specifically) - she has one scene in her shaved-ish head mode. And I found Claudia Demoro on Anal Addicts #7 on Peter North DVD. Katja Love (like the others) hasn't performed with a shaved head the whole time, I haven't seen a scene with her head shaved on any online sites.
I would love to see a site dedicated to it, but have yet to find any.
I gotta give respect for including the Midget category. Because, the truth is, no porn collection is truly complete without some Midget Porn. Gotta remember the little people. And of course Bridgette the Midget is creepily hot - she has such a beautiful face! Actually, this gives me a nice little segue to mention my favorite Porn DVD of all time - Cap'n Mongo's Porno Playhouse. An instant classic.
I would love to direct porn, but as for being a part of it, not so much. As pointed out by others, the fantasy of the porn star is always attractive, but the reality of it is usually less glamorous.
Well - I take it back, I was at first thinking traditional "Silicone Valley" porn - but some of the sites on Kink.com wouldn't require me to be in the nude in front of a crowd - Fucking Machines for instance - of course that would be damn similar to directing porn like I mentioned above. But still, I suppose I would be interested in taking part of that sort of thing - it would be an interesting experience, no doubt about that.
The real question is: What would be your breaking point with Ms. Knowles? Pissing? Feces? Sacrificing a goat? ...while pleasuring it? (hmmm, this reminds me of the "I never" skit with Quagmire on Family Guy)
Haha - honestly, you can pick pretty much any random action and there will be some people (men or otherwise) out there that are aroused by it. I think the infamous "2 Girls 1 Cup" video is evidence to that effect.
As for me personally, if the performers are into the aforementioned spitting act, yeah, I like to watch it. As I said before, there are times when people obviously don't like it but still take part in it - and that just isn't fun for me.
And as for aggressive replies to your comments - I don't see why people would get that upset. Anyway - one thing I can definitely say for you Pinche, you're opinions are always very consistent! I've never seen any one of the other users focus on specific topics as much as you, lol Anyway - you've obviously got a specific vision in your mind as to what you want to see in porn - you are out in California, start a porn website! I'd subscribe for at least a month or two to check it out :-)
I find the responses this poll has generated interesting. Of the 21 votes at the time of writing, not one was cast unequivocally for spitting, yet 17 votes were against it with 1 indifferent and 3 for it in certain conditions. 17 votes - 81%. Reading through the replies, all who bothered to write talked about how much they hate it. I found it fitting that not 4 days ago the online comic PVP found spit an interesting topic: http://www.pvponline.com/2008/02/02/spit-take/
But I digress. What interests me more, is how prevalent in porn people feel spitting is. If you've read my reviews and posts in the past I'm sure you've guessed correctly how I've voted - but I'm fascinated by how much people are focusing on this. I wouldn't have thought spitting would attract so much attention. Especially with the popularity of blow jobs - a hell of a lot of saliva is involved in that folks, even if the model is careful to swallow frequently.
I'll admit, I don't like spitting on the camera lens - but a large reason for that is that it obscures the image and it is also jarring - sort of like if they threw a book at the lens as well (like in the old 3D movies). Thinking about it, I suppose there is a lot of saliva being added to porn these days, but I don't really notice it too much. Graphic, excessive spitting (like the models spitting into each others' mouths) entirely depends on the reactions it garners from the models - some are into it, some are pretty obviously not. I enjoy watching people have a good time and enjoying the activity - however if they are disgusted by what is happening - then the entertainment value is lost for me. Specifically the emotion of disgust, though.
Another thing people may forget, despite the popularization of various sexual lubricants, Saliva is a wonderful lubricant. It is 98% water, but more importantly, it contains Mucus. Mucus doesn't dry out or get absorbed too quickly and from a healthy human it is relatively colorless and odorless. You can actually hear an industry professional laud the qualities of saliva in a fisting class for Kink.com: http://news.behindkink.com/blog/default/2008/01/15/
Looking at the universal distaste for spitting, but not necessarily saliva directly (as in the blowjobs) it appears to be a cultural taboo that is more far reaching than I would have guessed. I'm certain a grad student could have a great time writing up a paper about the origins of the offensive nature of spitting. I know many people would rather be punched in the face than be spit in the face. Unless the person had Hepatitis or some other infectious disease, I'd take the spit. And if performers in the heat of the moment spit on each other, I'll happily watch it - because it is just a bit of fun, nothing to be taken too seriously.
Generally if 10 minutes have gone by, other people have responded to the topic or reply and if I need to add anything I'll also be making some remark relating to the new replies as well, so a new reply of my own is reasonable. Most of the time, errors aren't an issue as I'm pretty careful about reading my reply before posting it. All in all, I think the 10 minute expiration is a good idea and keeps the posts fresh.
I definitely expect to see the model's face - granted a model can have an impressive body, but an attractive face is the number one most important thing for me.
In fact, a recent study pointed out that most humans react this way. A lovely British science magazine called "New Scientist" had a short article about a study into the factor of the face or the body in a person's overall attractiveness. About 50% of the attractiveness was based on the face. You can check out the article here: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn11833
But studies aside, I find from an artistic stand-point continually cropping out the model's head gets repetitive and boring fast. Unless the project is to focus directly on some specific body part, I quickly begin to focus only on finding a shot that shows the models face - and get annoyed when I can't. Sure, you can pull the "mysterious" card - but unless the body is outrageously hot - it isn't going to work for me. The basic fact is that most humans enjoy looking at faces - be it humans or animals - how many kitten calendars are out there with the animal climbing out of some ridiculous location but looking directly at the camera? Babies even track faces automatically (Autistics aside).
I don't recommended producers the path of hiding the face unless they are keenly aware of what they are doing.
Currently I use Windows XP to organize the files. I used to separate the content into Photo & Video folders first, but so many mixed media sites exist now that I simply organize it by the production company. Then I make a folder within that with the model's name and the folder features a screen shot of the model - usually this can easily be pulled off the site and then you just set the folder's photo in the properties. Photo sets get their own folders in the model's folder, and the videos reside in the main folder.
If you are looking for a specific model this works pretty well, unfortunately, it doesn't organize it by the content well. I'm going to see about trying out ACDSee to organize it all as you are able to assign keywords and other nifty organizational features - plus the program now supports video too.
Backing Up the data is always a pain in the ass whatever way you go about it - be it DVDs or whatever. I recently lost a drive, so I think I'm going to try a mirrored RAID array setup next. Or I'll just live with it whenever the gods of entropy claim another one of my drives... which is more likely.
I agree that DVDs have many difficulties, but if you want to go the DVD route - Taiyo Yuden is the brand to go with. Sometimes hard to find, but worth the extra price - they even make archival DVDs & CDs designed to last 100 years.
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