From Dirty bob:

DEN said” “I will take your advice and not look to AVN for anything anymore.” Dirty bob says “I never gave that advise or suggested it. “

Some Random Thoughts:

As Dirty Bob pointed out, not to mention a few others…I have been a bit tough on AVN lately. I even stopped and re-examined my position. I asked myself “Do I have a grind with anyone at AVN?” …I like Paul I think he is one of the most decent, talented and honest people in this biz, I may not agree with Kernes but I like him, I like Mike Ramone, he has always been stand up with me. But the answer is yes, one person. That one person would have no doubt who he is. Is this grind reflected in my current dealings regarding AVN. The answer to that one is yes.

But I can’t help it.

I love this industry and even more I love the people in it. Everyone has been super cool to me for 12 years.

And for almost all of this time I have staunchly supported AVN. Matter of fact, to this day I believe that AVN is largely responsible for porn being where it is, and thats a good thing, until recently. I defended the AVN Awards and I still do. I think Paul Fishbein did an amazing job of bringing this industry together, keeping it together and helping it prosper. With AVNs help, porn went from being thought of as a bunch of junkies having sex for their next fix to being quite mainstream in it’s acceptance. There were lines that porners wouldn’t cross and as a herd that helped us all to prosper.

But in the past 6 months Paul has taken a backseat and is allowing a new editorial policy to take place. That policy flies in the face of everything that I wholeheartedly believe is good for this industry.

The inescapable truth is that this whole AIM fiasco is a part of the problem. I feel as do others that AVN should be taking a leadership role here and not just propping up AIM and backing up whatever Sharon Mitchell says, even when they know she is dead wrong.

Performers aren’t all idiots, they can see this and it angers them, because as long as they have been around AVN has taken the leadership role.

I do not think that AVN owes anything to the performers except loyalty and I think ultimately most people are going to say its all AVN and AIMs fault for not being the good leaders that they told everyone they were. AVN and AIM have become synonymous and therein lies AVNs biggest problem, they share the responsibility but they dont exercize any they just blindly support the mistakes that AIM is making, mistakes that are obvious to everyone.

So my irritation with AVN really isn’t with any one person, it is irritation with the lack of responsibility and lack of vision that I believe has befallen AVN recently and all of that goes back to one person, the HWMIC over there.

I know what you are going to hear in that press conference with Darren James on Thursday, believe me. And I know that it isn’t going to wash with most of you. I also know that AVN is going to prop it up and lose even more credibility with performers. How do I know this you ask? Its quite simple really…history….those who don’t learn anything from it are destined to repeat it.

Think about that for a day or so.

Skylar Banks, Annie Cruz, Persia and Jocelyn Clear at 30 Day Mark:

Both girls have tested negative as of today, the 30 day mark after shooting with Darren. I hope that continues to be the case with everyone.

Den from CAVR Writes In:

I’m Guilty!

Dirty Bob, I agree 100% with you. I’m guilty of ‘picking’ on AVN because I was under the impression that AVN was suppose to be the Industry Leader, the one that ‘we’ all turned to in trying times.

AVN has been lacking in this most stressful time.

I thought AVN would take a driver’s front seat role, but your analysis is correct. AVN just reports things and is not the leader of anything.

I will take your advice and not look to AVN for anything anymore.

I will get my information from:
Mike South.com
Adult DVD Talk
Adult FYI.

Dirty Bob, I also agree with you that Jenna Jameson is The Man! She has stepped up bigtime and is one of the good guys that has a big pair of BALLS! I join you in thanking Jenna big time.

I will not ‘pick’ on AVN anymore.

Den
www.cavr.com

DB Rings In:

Dirty Bob says ENOUGH!

I’ve been sitting back watching the industry search for a scapegoat in regards to the recent AIDS scare(s). Everyone is quick to blame, or at the very least suggest blame, on a variety of sources that range from individuals to organizations. All of a sudden everyone is an expert. And naturally, with so many “experts” tossing in their two cents worth, confusion doesn’t just reign; it is rampart.

For various reasons, AIM is getting a lot of heat. As is AVN. Both are being blamed in some manner.

Regarding AIM, I’m not going to agree or disagree as to whether they are screwing up. Their actions speak for themselves.

What I absolutely have to do is comment on the blame that AVN is receiving from many people.

Apparently people are forgetting that AVN is basically MEDIA. As in a MAGAZINE. As in a WEB SITE.

Blaming AVN for events which include (before and after the fact) someone catching AIDS, probably out of the country, is incredibly DUMB. Media REPORTS news; it does NOT make news. It reports news and occasionally makes commentary on events.

It is not MEDIA’s responsibility to do anything but report news as it is given to them (example: what AIM tells media or what is learned by media’s investigative reporting). Anything above and beyond that (like maintaining a list of performers at risk) is a public service. Look at Time and Newsweek. Both often cover the same stories, but usually they approach things from different angles.

Before AVN came around, the adult industry was discordant. Unconnected. Loose cannons. AVN provided unity in the form of a magazine, an awards ceremony, and more. AVN did more to legitimize the industry than anyone or anything. Above all, it is still a news source.

Some will argue that AVN has shaped the industry into what it is today by virtue of what they like to see and don’t like to see in adult products. To some small extent, that is true. Sure, one reviewer may rave in a review about a video which has such outrageous sex acts that they probably brought in The Flying Wallendas as consultants. If this causes any producers to continue in this direction to see who can make the biggest sexual train wreck in the proverbial Fellini tunnel, don’t fault AVN; fault the producers or at least refer to them by what that makes then: lemmings.

Consumers will always buy porn regardless of whether it is “normal” or “outrageous”. Think about it: the more “outrageous” tapes may be, the better the chance that some video stores may pass on it.

Apparently there are some out there who seem to hold personal grudges against some of the people in management at AVN. In fact, it is reported that AVN is being excluded from a “talent only” meeting scheduled for tonight. I’m certain that their (talent’s) intentions are pointing in what they appear to feel is the right direction, but without any media accurately covering something like that, you can bet that, by tomorrow morning, what was said will be washed through so many generations of ears that some things will be blown out of proportion while others may be forgotten.

Jenna Jameson has gotten good press recently by her offer to financially help out performers. That is great! I also hear that people are trying to shame AVN into spending megabucks to support the entire industry for the month(s) it may take to get things back to normal. This can also be read as saying something like “hey, since you are doing a crappy job, give us money to hang around and continue to put you down.” Geeze. That’s like asking a magazine like Car and Driver to pay money to auto workers who are laid off for a period of time. Same thing, basically.

I get calls all the time from people who gleefully revel in the fact that they posted news before AVN on their web sites. Or that, in their opinion, AVN was lax on something or missed some detail or story. AVN doesn’t boast in print when they beat you or anyone else to print. Hey, it isn’t like pre-Internet days when a magazine didn’t print things until they had plenty of time to research and, subsequently, go to press perhaps a month or more later. You can only do so much in the short-term.

AVN is being bashed by some for their support of AIM and for their coverage of information derived from AIM. Think about this: what site do people go to FIRST to get updates on the recent AIDS scare? Sorry, Mike, it isn’t always your site ’cause you spend too much damn time fishing these days! Usually, it is AVN’s site instead of the AIM site. If AIM didn’t exist, people would rely on AVN and their site for most of the information. It sure as hell wouldn’t be Luke Ford’s site.

One other point. I don’t understand why they refer to Darren James as being at the top of the AIDS food chain. It appears to me that he is actually somewhere in the middle. If, as most people apparently assume, he contracted it in Brazil, why haven’t I heard of anything about people he worked with in that country being tested? If he had it while in Brazil, and knowing that he had sex with many people there, doesn’t it stand to reason that there are as many, if not many more, people at risk down there? Or don’t we care about anyone but ourselves? Testing performers in Brazil would at least confirm the possibility or impossibility of the source of the virus. But that would cost money…

“Lets Pick on AVN Day” is over, folks. Let’s get things back to normal.

Somehow.

ALL TALENT TO BOYCOTT EROTICA LA?

A mob of very angry performers met last night, they don’t feel that they are being represented properly by AVN among other things. the following is a quote from Slain Waynes website:

“A billion dollar industry but where does all the money go?

Certainly not to the talent when in need of help! Wake up AVN we need your help, and until you jump on the band wagon and show up to our now monthly talent meetings to help make changes ALL TALENT AND THEN SOME IS GOING TO STAND TALL AND BOYCOTT EROTICA LA. “

I think AVN is underestimating the intelligence of the performers here. The indications that I am seeing are that performers are very unhappy with AIM and particularly AVN. Most feel AIM really is botching this and think that AVN should have stepped in and taken a stronger leadership role as oppossed to just marching lock step with AIM, who have been very slow to get information out to performers and much of the information they have gotten out has been wrong here are a couple of representative quotes from My mail bag:

“Why aren’t they concerned about who Laura Coxx/Roxx worked with prior to Darren James?”

“There is yet a third possibility that nobody is considering, maybe James and Roxx both got HIV from different people, it may be unlikely but you shouldn’t rule it out.”

“In the absence of true leadership people will believe almost anything that they hear from anyone who positions themselves as an authority. You know that all too well, given your critique of Connelley and AVN.”

” Why isn’t AVN taking a pro active role in this instead of just sitting back and watching it unfold, the pull the strings on Sharon Mitchell don’t they? Do they actually want her to fail?”

From Da Mailbag:

Chris Writes:

” Shit South, you are one shrewd mutha fucka, threatening to bust out Darren James real name was fucking genius and it worked. You should get some kind of a prize”