Get off to Vegas for the AVN Awards

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Don’t lie. You’ve heard of the AVN Awards … but only from your friends. Er, one friend, really.

Nobody watches porn adult movies, but everyone knows someone who does, right?. Well, now that you have an excuse for knowing about the AVN Awards (porn’s answer to the Oscars) why not check it out for yourself? Part of the broader Adult Entertainment Expo (January 9 – 11, 2009) experience in Las Vegas, it’s only two and a half weeks away, and there’s still plenty of space on the Strip.

Before we get into this, here’s a word of caution. The links in this article are safe for work until you get to the very end. If you want to learn more about the AVN Awards or Adult Entertainment Expo, I’ve supplied the links at the bottom.

January’s a busy time in Las Vegas. The enormous, famous Consumer Electronics Show draws more than 100,000 people every year and overlaps with the first few days of Adult Entertainment Expo, which adds another 30,000 or so conventioneers to the Sands. Fortunately, Las Vegas is rich in hotel rooms. Bargain-hunters can get rates of under $100 a night at the Stratosphere Hotel.

Prefer luxury (or convenience)? The Venetian is the top spot, but it will set you back a minimum of $259 a night. You can right walk from your room to the den of iniquity that is Adult Entertainment Expo convention floor without even stepping outside. Of course, there’s another advantage. If by some chance AVN Award co-hosts Belladonna and Jenna Haze want to join you for the evening (they are porn stars performers, in case you don’t know), the shorter distance allows less time for a change of heart … and you need every advantage.

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Don’t get ahead of yourself. Let’s go over the logistics first. After all, you can’t just stroll up to the Sands and expect the staff to welcome you like they’ve been awaiting your arrival. Remember: 30,000 people for Adult Entertainment Expo, with another 100,000 nerdy onlookers from the Consumer Electronics Show. When you hit the ground in Vegas, you must have your shit together.

Tickets to Adult Entertainment Expo and the AVN Awards are sold separately, and they are pricey (more on the awards show in a bit). One-day access to the expo will set you back $80. If you plan to go all three “fan” days (there are a few days up front when the show is open only to business and media), that’s a substantial amount of cash. To take the sting out a bit, order your tickets online. You’ll save $20 (per day), and you won’t have to wait in what is usually a horrendous line. I’ve seen people who buy tickets at the event spend more than four hours waiting in line.

You’ve run the ticket-and-bouncer gauntlet, now, and you’re on the floor at Adult Entertainment Expo! Music is pounding, and porn stars are grinding stripper poles and groping each other on mechanical bulls (well, they were at the last expo). All the girls and studios whose names you’d never admit you know are in attendance. Monique Alexander, Bree Olson and Sasha Grey are already on the list (these three links are SFW). Make sure your camera battery is as charged as you are, and bring a spare if necessary.

Excited? Okay, let me ruin the dream for you. If you’re going to Adult Entertainment Expo to meet a few starlets, have a blast with your friends and generally act like a jackass, book your flight. You are going for the right reasons. If you have a particular girl in mind and plan to win her over with your good looks and wit, go to the nearest roulette table and bet your life’s savings on Black 17 (much better odds).

Even without the torrid porn star sex that you crave, the convention can be a blast. You’ll get to see all the big names in the business, hobnob with rocker-turned-porn-director Dave Navarro and fondle the new sex toys adult novelty items that are coming to market. The pictures you’ll show your co-workers will trigger long, penetrating conversations.

For me, last year’s best-in-show was Natch Snatch (read about them, SFW), which manufactures environmentally-friendly sex toys. They have a cool idea and a snappy slogan: “Keep the tox out of your box!” The interview below gives a bit more color.

“Grip and grin” is a major part of Adult Entertainment Expo. The performers pose for cameras, and most will sit for a shot with you. But, there is always something interesting going on beyond the long lines to have Sunny Lane sit on your lap for a fraction of a second. Some booths have adult-themed games (dildo ring-toss), performances by strippers and product demonstrations. Last year (thanks to press access). The amateur porn stars of Abby Winters, for example, offered blitz chess at their booth last year. Look around; there’s more to porn than the girls.

Do keep in mind that business is transacted in the background at Adult Entertainment Expo. Sure, the bulk of the event is for the fans, but if you look to the backs of the displays, you’ll catch glimpses of deals being struck that will shape what you-sorry, “your friend”-will watch for the coming year.

If the convention isn’t enough to scratch the sexiest of your itches, buy a ticket to the AVN Awards at Mandalay Bay (separate event). This will set you back another $107 to $240, depending on whether you spring for closer seats. Or, if you’re traveling in a pack, just spend $2,625 for your own table.

In addition to Best Actress, Best Big Butt Series and Best Cinematography, you’ll learn first-hand which company wins Best Packaging!. Thrilling, right? Do it once … to say you’ve done it once. I’ve covered Adult Entertainment Expo twice and still haven’t been to the awards-not interested in listening to porn stars thank mom, dad and their agents for all the support it took to rise to the top.

Looking back, I regret not having gone. Last year’s guests were able to witness living legend Jenna Jameson‘s on-stage meltdown!

Okay, still want to trek out to Las Vegas for the expo and awards? For all you first-timers, here’s some important advice:

1. Bring an extra suitcase. They give out a lot of free stuff. My pen from porn industry hedge fund AdultVest (probably SFW) still works 11 months later. T-shirts, DVDs and posters are abundant.

2. Make a plan. There are a lot of displays and countless girls. Review the schedule to see when your favorites will be available, and use that to structure your day.

3. Don’t dress to impress, because it’s a lost cause anyway. Nobody cares. Instead, opt for comfortable clothing (especially shoes), as you’ll be on your feet all day.

4. Go with friends. Flying solo at a porn convention may make you feel awkward. Anyway, if you do get (incredibly) lucky, you’ll want someone who can back up your story. Would anybody believe that you ducked into a bathroom stall for a quickie with Stoya?

5. Take only the security guards seriously. Everything else is fantasy land, but these guys are paid not to put up with your BS.

When you get ready to leave Sin City and return to reality, be smart when packing your bags. Remember that your carry-on could be searched in a public setting, and the only thing that can make people happy in line at security is to see someone else having a mounting of porn extracted from his (or her) backpack. Yes, it does happen.

If Las Vegas is “adult” Disneyland, then Adult Entertainment Expo is the Magic Kingdom. Go at least once in your life, and make that once 2009.

Links related to this article are below. Content may be SFW, but the domain names could cause problems. Be smart; do this part at home.

Adult Entertainment Expo Fan Site >>

AVN Awards >>

The list of award nominees >>

Through the Gadling Lens: capturing your visit home for the holidays

by Karen Walrond on

Well, it’s the countdown to the holidays, folks — and whether or not this is your favourite time of the year, or you don’t celebrate any year-end holiday at all, chances are you’re about to get a few days off. Chances are also pretty good that you’re going to be traveling back home for the days to come; or, in the alternative, family is coming to visit you. So rather than dread the tension created by being around your family for an extended period, here’s how to capture some of the best of being back home for the holidays.
1. Snap a shot of the greeting. If you’re picking people up at the airport (or are being picked up), or are just doing the standard road-trip to the old homestead, have your camera ready to capture the hugs, the slaps on the backs, the “Wow, you’re looking great!” moments that happen as soon as you see loved ones. The greetings are often my favourite parts of trips — it’s when all the baggage tends to fall away, and the fleeting moment everyone expresses their genuine happiness to see each other. While, obviously, it would great to ensure that you’ve covered every technical aspect necessary to make a crisp perfect shot, this actually isn’t the time for posed images, or re-shots: so what if the resulting image is blurry, or slightly out-of-focus? The point is to capture the emotion of the greetings as best as you can — and even if the shots aren’t technically perfect, chances are you’ll cherish the images in years to come all the same.

2. Get portraits of the kids. If this is like most of our family gatherings, this might be the first time in a while that all the kids (i.e., all the little cousins) actually get together to play together. Let them go to it, and then, while they’re not paying attention to you, grab some shots of them enjoying each other. And grab some shots of them looking right at you as well. Not only will this capture some great holiday memories for you, but it will also mark their milestones as they grow (you’ll be able to remember when you took the picture because of the holiday associated), and likely become cherished images for them when they’re adults.

3. Capture some images of the everyday chores. Most family gatherings end up revolving around one main room in the house: the kitchen. Not only should you grab some snapshots of people hanging around the kitchen or sitting around the table, but go ahead and capture some images of Aunt Pearl making her world renowned pecan pie. Or the ingredients that are sitting on the kitchen counter, waiting to be turned into Cousin Brad’s famous blueberry pancakes. Or the flour-covered hands of the kids as they roll out the cookie dough. Or your dad lighting the fireplace on the first night. Even though these images might not be posed, they will capture the atmosphere of everyone as they relax into the daily routine of being family.

And if you are celebrating a holiday, be sure to capture some shots of some of the tasks related to the day: children’s hands hanging Christmas ornaments or lighting candles of the menorah, say. These shots will add some holiday meaning to your collection of images.

4. Rediscover your home town. If you’re returning to your childhood home, take some time to take a walk down memory lane: slip away from everyone, and go walk through your city’s streets, visit your favourite old haunts, marvel at how much things have changed (or how much they’ve stayed the same), and grab a few shots. There’s no reason to stick with your family 24/7 while you’re on your visit, and chances are you’re going to want some alone time. Take it — but take your camera along, as well.

5. Snap the iconic shots. If you and your family are celebrating a holiday, be sure to capture the iconic shots: the visit to Santa, the midnight wrapping of the Christmas gifts, the lit menorah or tree, whatever. It’s the holidays, after all! It’s important to capture the meaning behind why you are all getting together. And incidentally, if you’re the time that likes to send out greeting cards, as you take these iconic shots, think about which ones might make great greeting card images for next year’s holidays. That way, you won’t find yourself scrambling looking for holiday-themed images come November 30th, when you start panicking about what your cards should look like.

6. Grab a shot of everyone together. I know, I know — it’s cheesy, but this is one of those shots where it’s difficult to gather everyone together to do it at any time during the rest of the year, and besides — as silly as it seems now, these images are the ones you’re going to love 20 years from now. To make the whole experience less painful, here are a couple of tips:

a) If you use a tripod to take the shot, where you get everyone standing or sitting in place, and then you set the timer on your camera to give you time to run back into the shot and smile, then take two shots: one, where everyone is posed, and smiling and sweet, and then one where they’re not: where they all take a group family hug, or make a face, or turn their backs to the camera, or strike a ballerina pose, or a runway pose, or a whatever pose — something that will make you all laugh at the outcome.

b) To get some wonderfully natural shots, use a big mirror, situate everyone in front of it, and then snap away at your reflection as you all relate to each other in the mirror. This is actually how my husband, daughter and I take our holiday shots every year (this year’s shown above), and I’ve never failed to love the resulting shot.

Good luck getting all your great holiday shots! As always, if you have any questions on how to improve your travel photographs, don’t hesitate to e-mail me directly at karen.walrond@weblogsinc.com — I’m happy to address them in upcoming posts. In the meantime, happy holidays, everyone, and safe travels!

Karen is a writer and photographer in Houston, Texas. You can see more of her work at her site, Chookooloonks.
And for more Through the Gadling Lens, click here.

Four paper and pencil travel games with a holiday twist

by Jamie Rhein on

After reading the news about people being stuck in various airports and bus stations where hours have led to days because of the bad weather we’re having, I thought of travel games they might want to play in order to pass the time.

All a person needs is someone to play with, paper and a writing implement. A crayon will do–or a small nub of a pencil. If a piece of paper isn’t available, look to napkins.

These games would also work at a family or friends get together and can be adapted for any age group. You can make them as hard or as easy as you want. Each can be played by more than two people, but you’ll need at least two, except for the last one.

Each of the four games are games I’ve played at various times. To see what I envision this group playing, keep reading.

Game 1:. Hangman Santa- This is a version of regular Hangman, but you can see where I’ve added a Santa hat and sack.

  • To play this game, draw a rough sketch of a gallows as shown in the finished picture. One person thinks of a word and draws short horizontal lines, one for each letter of the word. I thought of the word “travel.”
  • The other person calls out letters.
  • If the letter is in the word, the player who thought of the word, writes the letter on the appropriate line. If the letter is not there, the player draws part of a person, starting with the head.
  • With each wrong guess, a body part is added. If the opponent guesses the word before the entire person and the Santa hat and sack are drawn, that person gets a point.
  • If the entire Santa is drawn, the person loses and the point goes to the opponent.
  • Then you switch roles, and it’s the other person’s turn.
  • I can see where hanging Santa might seem grim, so you could draw a sleigh instead, although the name of the game is Hangman. I don’t know why–it just is.

Game 2: Categories (with a holiday twist)– To play this game, give each player a piece of paper and a writing implement.

  • Players divide the paper into at least five columns.
  • Across the top of each column, write the names of categories like “names,” “cities,” “countries,” “holiday songs” and “food.” The last column is “total.”
  • Then one person starts saying the alphabet to him or herself until one of the players tells him or her to stop. Whatever letter the person stops at is the letter for that round. The person tells the players that letter and each person thinks of a word that fits the category that starts with that letter. The players write the words they come up with on their own paper.
  • For example, if the letter is “J”, my answers might be “Jerry,” “Jackson,” “Jordan,” “Joy to the World” and “jello.”
  • Whoever finishes first says “Stop.” At that point, everyone must stop writing.
  • Then you calculate points by sharing answers. Each answer no one else has equals 15 points. If one person has the answer, it’s worth 10 points. If more than one person has the answer, it’s worth 5 points.
  • Add up your points for each column and write that in total.
  • Keep playing rounds until you’re tired of the game. Whoever has the most points wins.

By the way, if the same letter is picked, pick again, or any of the repeat answers don’t count. To make harder, add categories. To make easier, remove categories, and think of easier topics.

Game 3: Dots (To make this one have a holiday theme, use green and red pens, pencils or crayons.)

  • Draw dots in rows. 10 dots across and 10 dots down as shown in the picture.
  • Each person takes turns connecting two dots with a straight line, either horizontal or vertical.
  • The object is to eventually start making boxes. If you can make a box by drawing one line, write you initial in that box.
  • Sometimes you’ll be able to draw more than one box. You can only connect two dots at a time, however, but if you end up drawing a line to connect two dots and then you only need to draw one more line to make another box, you can do that one too.

Whoever has the most boxes by the time all dots are used, wins. To make the game harder and take longer, add rows of dots. In the pictured game, the other person is winning. (O = other person)

Game 4: Word Creation

  • Write the word “Happy Holidays” on a piece of paper. See how many words you can make with the letters in Happy Holidays.
  • You can only use the number of letters that are in the word. For example, there are only two a’s so your word can only have two a’s.
  • You can use letters more than once with each new word.
  • Words have to be at least three letters, (if playing with small children, don’t use this rule.
  • Whoever has the most words by the time limit you decide on wins.

Here are three words to get you started.” happy ” “holidays” and “play.”

Cruise line trends to look out for

by Jamie Rhein on

There are some trends in the cruise industry that might make you pleased or disgruntled, depending on if the trends tip in your favor.

Non-smokers may feel more pleased to find out that one growing trend is to restrict smoking to fewer and fewer places on a ship. Smokers, of course, may not be thrilled.

Another trend is for bigger ships. Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas is the biggest of them all. It can carry 3,634 passengers. Both Celebrity and Carnival Cruises have gone for larger ship sizes as well.

While on-board, you might be paying more fees than in the past. Even the snacks might cost you. Other fees are for on-board tours and eating at an alternative restaurant. Before you book a cruise, find out what your money will pay for and what it doesn’t so you don’t end up feeling mad, cheated or disappointed.

Because more and more people are looking to find R&R while on board, more ships are offering spa classes and areas for retreats where passengers can meditate or just hang out in peace and quiet.

Along with these cruise line trends, Jay Clarke also mentioned in his article in the Columbus Dispatch that there are half-dozen new ships in southern Florida. I imagine this means that if you’re looking for a travel bargain, consider a cruise.

Honolulu Christmas Lights

by Brenda Yun on

So the weather outside may not be frightful, and we might not find the fire necessary, but there is plenty of holiday spirit on the Hawaiian islands — particularly if you’re traveling along King Street in Downtown Honolulu or down Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki.

Although you’ve already missed the 24th Annual Honolulu Christmas Lights Opening Ceremony and Parade, which was held on December 6, the colorful displays along the King Street block in front of the Honolulu Hale (530 South King Street) make for a great evening of family fun. This year’s city lights theme is “Ku’u Home” (Our Home), and highlights the cultural diversity of the islands as well as its special spirit of Aloha.
The Lights are on for all to see until January 6. The centerpiece of this year’s display is always the enormous Hawaiian themed Santa and Mrs. Claus, kicking back barefooted by the water. There’s something uniquely tropical and delightful about Christmas time in Honolulu even without the cold and snow. Honolulu’s 23rd Annual Holiday Wreath Contest winners, are also displayed in the interior halls of the Hale. Every year has a different theme, and this year’s is “Holiday Heroes,” which you will see is pretty much open to interpretation.

Finally, if you haven’t had your fill of palm trees and Christmas lights, Waikiki always serves up some authentic holiday events — particularly along Kalakaua Avenue. Sheila, over at Go Visit Hawaii, breaks down the plethora of activity going down in the touristic center of Hawaii. Most of the noteworthy offerings in Waikiki involve gorging on Hawaiian cuisine at the various hotel restaurants and cafés, but some interesting activities are available in the coming week, including a Santa appearance and photoshoot at the Outrigger Reef on the Beach on the 23rd. Be sure to practice your Hawaiian and wish your friends and family a warm “Mele Kalikimaka” (Merry Christmas)!