Porntifications

Posted by mikezillion at March 17th, 2007

Thanks again to Guy Kawasaki for pointing out this interesting article on effort. The point that really sparked my thinking: people who believe that they are either good or bad at a task see no value in trying to be otherwise. If they are good, there is no need to improve. If they are bad, there is no point in trying. In either case–and this is where it gets interesting–investing an effort would risk invalidating that basic belief. So effort is avoided in favor of maintaining a consistent self-perception or public image. However, people who see their goodness or badness as a trainable quality are more likely to put in the effort necessary to obtain or improve abilities.

This reminds me of the General Semantics principle of E-Prime as an alternative to standard English for writing. If we eliminate the passive voice by avoiding forms of the verb “to be” in analytical writing, we may avoid a mindset in which we assume that things “are” other things. If we “are” bad, or good, that’s the end of the discussion. If we do well, or poorly, we have the opportunity to explore the root causes of our perceived ability or lack thereof.

Posted by mikezillion at March 16th, 2007

I’ve been watching with horror as the news of officially-ordered presidential loyalty lists for federal prosecutors, and the subsequent firing of seven competent attorneys at the pleasure of the president, leaked out to the media. I knew it was bad, but I had no idea it was this bad. Now it seems that my overactive senses of doom and paranoia are getting another boost from evidence that there was an anti-porn agenda in this mess as well. 2008 can’t come soon enough for me!

At least there was a little amusing news about obscenity prosecutions and other political hypocrisy to lighten my mood today.

Posted by mikezillion at March 5th, 2007

It’s nice to see the Internet Adult Film Database expanding its scope to include gay titles. As of today, some 18,000 gay adult movies have been added. It’s cool, because now I can find at least one of my own titles there. (I am such an attention pig!)

Posted by mikezillion at February 25th, 2007

We got back from the GayVN Awards after party early this morning. The show was great, and Michael Lucas took home a record-breaking 14 awards. Not bad for that guy with the persecution complex who thought nobody would ever be able to separate his persona from his company’s work. I guess his charms and talent have won over everyone else the way they won me over. It’s about time.

Posted by mikezillion at February 17th, 2007

This is a cute PR trick at best. My secret fantasy lover Michael Lucas had the good sense to recognize the ridiculousness of a lawsuit filed on Thursday, seeking to stop the sale of “La Dolce Vita Part 1″ and “La Dolce Vita Part 2″ because the names of the gay adult films allegedly infringe on the trademark of the 1961 classic “La Dolce Vita” by Federico Fellini. I agree with Lucas on this one; nobody is going to confuse one of his films for Fellini’s–although with Lucas’s reputation, I don’t doubt his versions will become timeless classics of gay porn. But the last time I checked, you couldn’t copyright a title, or claim a trademark against a commonly used phrase. Should I check again?

Posted by mikezillion at February 12th, 2007

Minstrel in the southern California home of both the mainstream and the adult entertainment industries, The Los Angeles Times is reporting that adult producers may be the tie-breakers in the high-visibility struggle between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. Apparently, executives supporting both formats have been “secretly” meeting with adult entertainment companies to lure their business to one side or the other. It’s fun to be the popular girl at the prom for once!

Posted by mikezillion at February 3rd, 2007

Well, I’ve been crazy-busy over the last couple of days putting together a mailing for some special business partners. My company, CyberBears, is launching a new print publication called BearParty Magazine in April, 2007, and we wanted to get the word out to folks. I’m totally stoked about this! It ties together some of my favorite activities and interests in a way that I think is going to be great for the community, and not bad for business either. And I get to dust off my Editor-In-Chief title to boot! Be sure to look for us in your favorite bear bars around the world! (And if you don’t see it there, ask for it.)

Posted by mikezillion at January 16th, 2007

My partner and I had dinner last night with the nice folks who run Mr. B Leather Goods out of Amsterdam. They distribute a lot of our CyberBears DVD’s to the European market, and they were in town meeting with the various studios they carry after attending the AVN show in Las Vegas last week. The owner of this 13-year-old company and his partner of 23 years (married just a year and a half ago) were there, along with our sales contact (whose partner of eight years wasn’t able to make it). It was inspiring to see such solid relationships, and to hear how old-fashioned and provincial the American attitude about gay marriage sounds to people from other countries. We really are living on the outskirts of the world.

Posted by mikezillion at January 13th, 2007

Well color me stoked. I just found out that GayVN has nominated my company’s Bear Party Three DVD as best bear title of 2006. We here at CyberBears started the Bear Party series a few years back, with the notion that we could hire performers to stage sex acts at an actual bear party, film the entertainment, and make movies out of the resulting footage. The series has been an unparalleled success for us. Looking forward to the awards ceremony!

Posted by mikezillion at January 7th, 2007

I have no plans to move to New York. However, Ben Popken’s essay on How to stay sane when moving to New York is an excellent example of the value of reading outside one’s usual topic mix. In this delightful and short piece, Mr. Popken lays out an approach to life in general which would make Polonius reconsider some of his advice to his son. Glad I read it, and looking forward to reading more!