Bits, bobs and bytes

Image by Michael Grieve.

It’s been a bit since I’ve posted and a lot has, er, gone down in the blogosphere and newsland for sex related items. It’s been one of those weeks already: busy, dammit. Don’t worry, I’m over it — here are some links of note:

* Photojournalist Michael Grieve spent six years in brothels, porn shoots, sex workers’ lairs and sex clubs all over the UK, gaining access to take photos in every kind of situation you can imagine — for his upcoming book, “No Love Lost”. There’s a brief interview with Grieve and a few photos over at Vice Mag, where he discusses how he got access and didn’t always feel comfortable. But his photos are gorgeous; here’s another lengthy gallery assembled by Grieve on Lens Culture, image via. (thanks, L!)

* Speaking of pals across the pond… UK author Sebastian Horsley has been disallowed entry into the US — banned — on the grounds of “moral turpitude”. To see a writer actually banned from the US on the basis of moral judgement makes for great publicity for sure, but it also makes me… envy!

* Remember the  Second Life lawsuit, where Eros LLC said someone was stealing their scripts (for sex beds) and selling their sex wares? Well, a federal judge ruled that some 19-year-old dude was actually ripping them off, and put the case in favor of Eros. The (guilty) kid called the case “ridiculous” but it sets an interesting precedent, no?

* We likey: the Women Enjoying Cocks photo pool (via Viviane).

* The FCC has a dirtier mind than you. (How else are they going to make any money?) Of all networks, Fox is standing up to the money-for-sex bullies and telling them to go fuck themselves with a DVD copy of the Janet jackson nip-slip: Fox will not pay the agency’s proposed $91,000 fine for a pixelated strip show on Married in America, broadcast in 2003. Why? because in a 49-page petition, Fox says that the FCC spends too much time imagining what’s under the pixelation. For reals. Read Fox to FCC: your analysts’ sexual fantasies not our problem. (thanks Jonathan, also @ FB)

* Maybe the FCC should attend the 24-hour Vivid-altporn film marathon in Seattle this friday night to try and update their dated POV — for research purposes, of course!

* I mentioned last week that the call for papers is up for this year’s sex and tech festival Arse 2008 (I had a great time last year), but I just got the email: Arse Elektronika 2008 — “Do Androids Sleep with Electric Sheep?” — will take place at San Francisco’s Ft. Mason Center. September 25 thru 28, 2008. Yay!

* George Clooney watched “2 girls 1 cup” thanks to an Esquire reporter (and his own insistence). The results were as per usual.

* Are we sick of mainstream media “investigating” (read: mentally masturbating themselves and the nation) about “the world’s oldest profession” in the wake of political sex scandal number 51,356? Yes, we are. But the silver lining, in my eyes — Audacia Ray got to be the “it” girl for mainstream’s Q and A, injecting her (our) sex-positive sex worker stance — all the way to CNN (great photo, hot girl) in a week-long media frenzy. Go girlfriend!