CES summary / wrap-up
VideoSan
I've been back in from Vegas since Sunday night, but with various
obligations taking precedence, I haven't had time to write up
my summary until now. (And Netcom hasn't been cooperating; it's
been VERY hard to get a line in).
I hope to summarize my activities at the 1995 Winter CES in this
message to the newsgroup.
I was in attendance at the Adult section for the entire day on
Friday, as mentioned in an earlier message. That's when I did
my "trolling", where I met many of the stars that were present,
getting autographs and having photos taken. I've already listed
in a previous posting the stars that I saw that day. Also during
that day I was able to ask many of the stars about their knowledge
of computers and the Internet. As mentioned, Patrick Collins has
indeed begun being active on the Internet and has been posting
to a.s.m. Bruce Seven says the poster masquerading as him is
definitely not him, although his group will probably become active
on the Internet in a few months.
On Saturday, I spent most of the day in the "regular" exhibits,
dealing with all aspects of Consumer Electronics. I won't go into
any discussion of what I saw there, since I think it is outside
the purview of the newsgroup.
It was a good choice to stay away from the Adult section on
Saturday, since the place was mobbed and the line to get in was
very very long.
Saturday evening was the AVN 1995 Awards Show. This was quite an
event. The doors opened at the Bally's ballroom at 7:45 and there
was hobnobbing until showtime which was 9:00. Interestingly,
looping appears to be in all aspects of the industry, since the
canned music being played beforehand got repeated about three
times. :-) At my table at different times (since people changed
tables a lot even though there were reserved seats) were Rick Savage,
Sally Layd, and Beatrice Valle. Some of the folks I met (or met
again from previous CES's) include Porsche Lynn, Mike Horner,
Sean Michaels (and his mom!), Crystal Gold (what a TALL woman!),
Annette Haven and her husband (he's such a nice guy, and she is
a very nice person, too, in addition to being stunning), Veronica
Hart, Ron Jeremy, and Rocco Siffreddi.
I will have to say, however, that the most memorable encounter was
with Debi Diamond. Folks, I have to say that she was in rare form
on a par with performances in her movies. She was being told that
it was time to clear the room. She had her four trophies on the
table. She proceeded to climb up on the table, pull down her
top and start gyrating. When her friends again said that they
needed to leave, she went for the ice sculpture and said that
she wanted to .... it. And she started to hump it. She got up
from that and was proceeding to the door, with her top still down.
I suggested to her that she might want to pull her top back up.
She asked, "why?" Well, apart from being arrested, there was the
problem of the phalanx of people we knew who were waiting outside
that would have probably stampeded. Better judgment finally prevailed
and he pulled it back up, and I was then able to get my photo
taken with her. I can say as an eyewitness that she has definitely
NOT had implants. This whole scene reaffirms my feelings that she
is the HOTTEST performer in the business, possible EVER. I understand
that she has been married (and may still be, for that matter). I
don't see how it could last, because the poor man would be dead
within a week, with the biggest grin imaginable.
On a different note, a short distance outside the ballroom, leaning
against a column, was none other than Teller of Penn & Teller fame.
He'd done a show earlier in the evening and was just admiring the
goings-on. Yes, he does talk offstage! This was an unexpected
treat to chat with one of the best magicians I've ever seen!
Also on the way out, Jean ValJean, whom I'd spent time chatting
with the night before about his directing/producing/editing experiences,
was kind enough to take my photo with the lovely Lana Sands, one of
my latest favorites. BTW, Jean says that he doesn't like looping and
doesn't do it when he edits. I mentioned to him that looping is one
of the biggest gripes on a.s.m. He concurred that he thinks it's a
bad practice.
On Sunday morning, I stopped by the adult section one more time for
a look around. I met Tiffany Mynx, whom I hadn't had the chance to
see before. She posed with me for what I think will turn out to be
a VERY HOT picture. I asked her to choose whatever pose suited
her, and when we posed, there must've been 15 different people to
start flashing pictures. I'll probably end up in some tabloid in
the next week or so, or Hard Copy, or something. :-) OK with me,
it was a GREAT experience! (Another favorite of mine, even before
Sunday). Also vamping for the camera was Kerri Downes, Umma, and
Jessie James in another booth.
I had a 2:25 flight out of Vegas, so I couldn't really stay in the
exhibits any later than about noon. I left after a final chat with
some various contacts and look forward to communicating with lots
of the folks there regarding computers and the Internet.
(Postscript: Speaking with a colleague who stayed through Monday,
he tells me that Sunday and Monday were nowhere near as busy as
they were Friday and Saturday in the adult section).
More details on the awards show:
The main hosts were Steven St. Croix, Dyanna Lauren, and Tera Heart.
Those three all did a great job, especially Steven. The trophy
girls throughout the evening were Lisa Ann and Lexus Locklear,
two newcomers. (Note for anyone who actually has a program from
the show, it says Anna Malle was the other trophy girl; nope -
it was Lexus instead).
OK, well there were these magicians beforehand; I'd call them
Siegfried & Roy wannabes. I like magicians, but I guess I just
wasn't in the mood for them. The best thing were the ladies they
kept using. They were beautiful! But one "lady" that they make
"appear" was Chi Chi LaRue!
Chi Chi LaRue in his Divine-like drag schtick did the opening
number, "The Show Must Come Off", with the Deja Vu Dreamgirls,
some very nice bikini girls who went topless by the end of the
number. Chi Chi was his usual kinda crude but amusing self. His
number set the tone for the show.
First batch of presenters: Mark Wallice, Colt Steel, Asia Carrera,
and Ashlyn Gere. (I'll omit the awards presented and the winners,
since you already have them from the previous message). Next we
saw Alex Sanders, Mark Davis, Kristi Lynn, and Kylie Ireland.
Next set included Ian Daniels, Kaitlyn Ashley, Rebecca Wild, and
Alicia Rio. (During their presentation, the video went out; I
don't know if this will affect the AVN video that will eventually
be released).
Part Two of the show was hosted by T. T. Boy, who read out the
winners in several categories. I was relieved to see this happen,
since the previous nomination/winner readings took a long time,
and we would have been there till 3 AM at that rate! Part of the
reason is that so many of the categories had so many entrants.
Part Three was a "Great Moments" montage video shown on the big
screens. Well, due to the sound system, it was pretty hard to
hear, and the whole piece ended up being a bit confusing as to
what they were getting across. Perhaps when the video is released
someone can figure this out. Some of the clips seemed to be
pointing out funny stuff, but I just don't know for sure.
Part Four started with the presentation of the Best Renting
and Best Selling Tape of the Year. Not surprisingly, the winner
in both categories was the Bobbit video. And Bobbitt was there
to pick up the awards. I would tell him to keep his day job
because his stage presence was pretty weak, but I don't think
he has a day job..... But certainly I'm glad he was able to make
something positive out of a bad situation. Then, Ron Jeremy
accepts the Special Achievement Award on behalf of Mark Carriere
who couldn't be present. (Hmmmm.... if it's true was printed in
Rolling Stone, Carriere is one of the guys responsible for all
those inflated chests; more on that later in this message).
More presenters: Kelly O'Dell, Lana Sands, and Persia gave out
some awards. Then came Gender (he's a transvestite) and Chris
Green (a gay star; I hope I heard his name correctly over the
sound system). They presented the Gay Awards that hadn't been
announced by T. T. Chi Chi accepted on behalf of the late Joey
Stefano who won Gay Performer of the Year.
Part Five was the AVN Hall of Fame. Present for their induction
were Karen Dior, Chi Chi LaRue, Scotty Fox, Sean Michaels, Ryan
Idol (a popular gay star), Jim South, and Samantha Strong. Not
present were Robert Bullock, Kelly Nichols, Nikki Randall, and
Sheri St. Clair. Noteworthy items: Sean gave a very nice little
speech where he thanks his mom and has her stand up. Sean appears
to be very well-liked by his fellow performers (and rightfully
so). Jim South appeared with his son, who's apparently helping
him out in the business. Samantha had an acceptance speech that
went a bit too long.
Part Six had the Best European release, which is, according to
the program, "A new award, given by our friends at Hot Video
in France, for the Best European Production of the year. Only
films NOT yet released in the United States are eligible." As
mentioned in my previous message, the presenters were European
with accents that didn't carry well over the sound system, and
I hope that I heard right that Mathilde's Perfume was the
winner. Private Video Magazine won for best continuing video
series, and the accepter apologized for his English, then
proceeded to give a short gracious acceptance speech that
was easily understood. Although I'm backlogged in seeing many
of the Private series, based on the many positive statements
made about the series here on a.s.m., he appeared to deserve
the award.
More presenters: Steve Drake, Yvonne, Jeanna Fine (who says
"I'm back"), and Crystal Gold appeared to present the awards
for the Male and Female performer of the year (Jon Dough and
Asia Carrera).
Part Seven (not as in Bruce :-)) was another Special Achievement
award to John Stagliano. Then, another "Special Event" as per
the program - the magicians. I guess this was palate cleansing
time....
Part Eight was another section of read-offs of winners, done by
Tera Heart.
Part Nine started with Shayla LaVeaux being the presenter for
Best New Starlet. She goofed and read out Kylie Ireland's name
without calling out the nominees (although all the nominees
were printed in the program). It caused some confusion for the
band and for the audience, but Steven St. Croix fixed it up
later and had Kylie and Shayla come back up. Somewhere in there,
Kylie had snuck out to the bathroom at just the wrong time. :-)
David Christopher, Lilli Xene, and Ariana showed up as presenters
for Best Director: Film. (See later in this message for the big boob
comment involving Lilli). John Leslie won. He has a pony tail now,
which is an interesting statement for him.
Janine, Julia Ann, and Ed Powers came up to present for Best
Actor and Best Actress in a film.
Tiffany Mynx, Jonathan Morgan, Sunset Thomas, and Kaylan Nicole
came up to present the awards for Best Actor and Best Actress
in a film.
Sarah-Jane Hamilton, Celeste, and Seymore Butts were among the
presenters for Best All-Sex Film and Video.
Jon Dough, Lacey Rose, Juli Ashton, Shanna McCullough, and
Nina Hartley came up to present the awards for Best Video.
Then Steven St. Croix sounded like it was time to announce Best
Film, but teased us! Instead, Randy West and Dyanna Lauren
performed a duet, "Nasty". As far as singing ability is concerned,
it's like this: Randy is not really a bad singer, but all-in-all
I'd say he's mediocre (better than I'd ever be, that's for sure).
But Dyanna is INCREDIBLE. The woman could indeed pursue a musical
career with success. A powerful voice! The problem was that since
Randy was mediocre in talent beside her, it actually ended up
bringing her down a notch or two. Anyway, as part of their
performance, they persuaded most of the female performers in the
audience to join them on stage for some gyrations. There was quite
the sea of bodies up there, some starting to flash a bit.
After that number, the winner of Best Film, not surprisingly, "Sex",
was announced, and the show was quickly over, right around 12:20 am.
A good three hours plus.....
More final ramblings:
Well, I think I've written enough about the awards show. Maybe you
won't have to rent the video when it comes out, or then again maybe
I've whetted your appetite so you'll want to. :-)
I promised a comment about the silicone thing. Well, I got to see
a lot of the ladies up close (and clothed, if you can call it
that) to see what effect the silicone has had on them and what it
makes me think of them as I look them over. For the ones who
were wearing low-cut outfits, I have to say that the overdone
silicone makes them look freakish. I found nothing really erotic
about it. Naturally it drew attention, but I think it wasn't the
"hubba hubba hubba" variety as much as "look at those basketballs!"
The worst of the bunch was Lilli Xene, who seems to have tried
to win a battle against Wendy Whoppers. I really thought Lilli might
trip and fall over due to drastic change in her center of gravity.
As a refreshing change, some women didn't seem to be interested in
the inflation crap. Examples are Kirsty Waay, Jessie James,
Vanessa Chase, and Kristi Lynn. And of course, Sharon Mitchell.
(Incidentally, Biff Malibu was kind enough to take my picture
with Sharon).
It was a pleasure to see Loni Sanders, who's always at the Vivid booth
with her SO Steve Hirsch. Loni hasn't changed a bit in years. She
wasn't there signing autographs or anything, but I always like to
have my photo taken with her.
I'd either read in a.s.m. or someone indicated in email that Patrick
Collins should be told that Draghixa and Angelica Bella MUST be in
a video together. I passed that along to me and he wholeheartedly
concurred, although he said that Angelica had already left the
business. But, he said he was heading to Paris soon and hopes that
he might be able to convince her otherwise. Maybe Patrick will post
here about his success in that venture. Also, Patrick was interested
in hearing anyone's ideas about the types of CD-ROM software you'd
like to see. You may want to email him with ideas.
I've come to the end of this post. I guess I feel somewhat like
Letterman when he says, "I'm tired, but a good kind of tired."
I don't know when I'll be back to Vegas for another CES, but this
one was quite enjoyable. Now to get all those pictures developed....
Sincerely -
VideoSan <vide...@netcom.com>