Animated and Underrated

With 1080p High Definition porn throwing everyone and his brother all into a tizzy, you might think all other forms of pornographic expression had suddenly become obsolete. In dozens of online communities, however, an ancient digital image format is curiously finding new use as a sexually provocative blogging aid. Graphics Interchange Format, more commonly known as GIF, used to be regarded as a format only used by game developers, bulletin board nerdlingers, and people who think brief 256-color animations of pinwheels are a remarkable display of advance technology. Nowadays the GIF is being plastered all over the ‘net and usually in NSFW environments, to boot!

It started on message boards then worked its way into the mainstream via Tumblr, but the resurgence in GIF appreciation still seems lost on many people, whether they’ve embraced Tumblr or not. Sure, the detail in an animated GIF isn’t very good and the colors look kinda blotchy and god knows there’s no audio, but there sure is something pretty exciting about watching, say, London Keyes get take the exact same eleven inches of man-meat over and over and over again, forever repeating until you move onto something else or blow an almighty load.

Clearly the best thing about GIFs, though, is that they’re so small, so short, and so deliciously hypnotic that they can be enjoyed by fans everywhere without the studios worrying that their products are simply being stolen from them and reproduced poorly and in full elsewhere. Think of GIF Porn as the ultimate content sampling tool. There’s a whole world of pornographic delights out there and the Tumblrs, blogs, and message boards that pass these illicit visual treats around could be the industry’s most underutilized marketing tool. Who do you think is going to make hotter gifs, the A/V whizzes at Zero Tolerance and Reality Kings or some 19-year-old dude with too much time (and moisturizer) on his hands? Exactly my point.

Pounding the Fleshlight

Fleshlight

What started out as a “device for discreet semen collection” patented by designer Steve Shubin in 1998 just keeps growing in popularity and influence. The Fleshlight, the revolutionary male sex toy treasured by horny guys the world over, recently announced that it intended to move beyond simple novelty manufacturing and into live content production by partnering with acclaimed streaming website Live Gonzo. This partnership, along with a few new high-profile Fleshlight Girls and the launch of a Pirates line of pocket pussies developed with Digital Playground, proves that Fleshlight is not a company willing to sit idly by and watch its customers become bored with the same old product. With limited edition plastic cases “forged in honey and gold” available for the Stoya, Riley Steele, and Jesse Jane models (all are stars of DP’s Pirates feature) and the possibility of adding your own two cents to an interactive Live Gonzo hardcore video broadcast tailored for Fleshlight-augmented viewing, these two innovations would be enough for most sex toy manufacturers; but not for Fleshlight, no sir!

Unveiling a Tori Black model at the tail end of 2010, the Fleshlight folks knew they’d have a tough year ahead. So, like any sensible adult entertainment professionals would, they called on two of porn’s most dazzling performers, each one a multiple AVN Award-winner: the Japanese-American reigning queen of hardcore, Asa Akira, and everyone’s favorite MILF (and clearly the most fuckable of all Sarah Palin impersonators) Lisa Ann. That’s right, folks, for just $79.95 you now have the option of inserting your erection into an elastomeric gel mold that, at least on the outside, looks and feels (almost) exactly like the mouths, pussies, and tight, tight assholes of the incomparable Lisa Ann and Asa Akira. Me, I still beat off the old fashioned way, but with Fleshlight continuing to smash sales records and wow customers, that might change soon enough.

Bush is Back!

Hot Bush

Ever since the shaved, waxed, or otherwise completely hairless vulva became a pornographic staple, plenty of viewers have longed for the return of that thick tuft of short, curly hair to regain its rightful place at the entry point to a world of physical sensations we can only dream about. The shaved pussy might allow the home viewer more visual access to the inner and outer workings of the female genitalia, but its breakout popularity turned the natural pubic growth into something dirty, unhygienic, undesirable; something, in short, to be overcome. But why? Pubic hair is as natural as can be and can add quite a lot to a sexual encounter.

Take a look at pornstars like Bobbi Starr, Kimberly Kane, Katie St. Ives, and Kristina Rose; all women who have, at one point or another, decided to let their furry flags fly high and proudly sport bushes that look natural, but not unkempt, adding an earth eroticism to their work. Sure, Charley Chase might use her muff to cover up a pelvis tattoo, but she too rocks her pubes in a way that should make shaved girls incredibly jealous.

Even women who’ve moved from blowbangs and anal creampies to the world of “legitimate” entertainment media proudly proclaim their vaginal hirsuteness; Sasha Grey’s unveiling of her pubes on HBO’s Entourage being the perfect example and another sign that, like it or not, the bush is back.

Tweetin’ T&A

Twitter @mrpinksdotcom

Over the past five-or-so years we’ve seen a few breakout websites that have either directly or indirectly changed the face of porn. One is clearly a boon, while the other is a more complicated bedfellow. Twitter has assisted pornstars in breaking down the barriers between them and their fans, allowing for 24/7 contact with those that made their career, and it has been embraced by almost every pornstar this porn-filled noggin can think of! Hit up a list of pornstar Tweeters and you’ll soon enough find photos of Katie St. Ives wearing nothing but a fedora and a cigarette or Bobbi Starr’s blog posts addressing the state of the adult industry; both examples of the stellar additions to the porn world made possible by Twitter.

The other site? Well, that’d be any one of those XXX YouTube clones popping up faster than you can complain about their horrible video quality and blatant copyright infringement. (More on those sites and their impact on the industry here.)