Porn production moves to Vegas after condom law

Porn Goes to Vegas

Porn star Ron Jeremy poses for a photo with a fan while signing autographs during the Adult Entertainment Expo, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014, in Las Vegas. Potential opportunities for X-rated film production in Nevada were the talk of the Expo at the Hard Rock hotel and casino this week, sparked by a Los Angeles law requiring male actors to wear condoms. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

By HANNA DREIER

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Lee Roy Myers has everything you'd expect to find in the nation's porn capital in Southern California: sets of a classroom, hospital room, locker room and a bedroom, as well as a list of porn stars waiting to perform. But his plywood universe is not in the San Fernando Valley. It's a few paces away from the glittery casinos of the Las Vegas Strip.
"Las Vegas is a fresh town, and it's where people need the business," said Myers, whose new studio is part of a boom in X-rated production in Sin City sparked by a Los Angeles law requiring male actors to wear condoms.
The rule and potential opportunities in Nevada were the talk of the Adult Entertainment Expo this week. The annual sex industry trade show culminates Saturday with an awards ceremony for adult films.
"It's not really an option to change the way we make our movies, and moving production isn't that hard," said porn purveyor Jules Jordan, who hid out behind nearly naked models at his booth.
Jordan warned reporters not to ask him about condoms.
The voter-approved Los Angeles regulation survived a constitutional challenge, but other lawsuits are ongoing, and the industry is still waiting for the first big prophylactic bust.
The number of permits requested to make porn films in Los Angeles County has declined by an estimated 95 percent since the law took effect, according to Film LA, a private nonprofit that issues the licenses. The number of applications fell from about 480 in 2012 to just 24 through the first nine months of 2013.
For Myers, who co-owns Mission Control studios and also directs web films, the condom police are just the start of his troubles with Los Angeles. The region had also gotten too expensive for him.
With DVD sales continuing to plummet, the bounce provided by the mommy-porn series "Fifty Shades of Grey" wearing off, and no solid business model in sight, producers in this notoriously low-budget industry are looking for new ways to cut costs.
While Los Angeles charges hundreds of dollars for location permits and requires health checks as well, Clark County, where Las Vegas is located, gives out location permits for a nominal fee and does not require health permits.
The warehouses are cheaper, and it's also more affordable to rent out mansions and put actors up in hotels. The hardest part, Myers said, is making sure the stars leave at the end of the shoot.
Myers has also found that Las Vegas, a town already suffused with commercialized sex, is less squeamish about his line of work.
"They're used to it here because they already kind of have it," he said, sitting among rows of desks in his studio's classroom set. "Figuring out how to make these things more cheaply won't include shooting in Los Angeles."
The studio sits in what was once another empty building on blighted Industrial Road behind the town's tourist corridor. Local officials appear content with the arrangement and have no plans to pass additional rules.
"It's a legalized industry and properly regulated, so I don't see it as a problem," said Clark County commissioner Chris Giunchigliani. "I think the city and the county will benefit from any expansion of the film industry. It's economic diversification."
Las Vegas is home to some major porn players, including Brazzers, Bait & Tackle, Corbin Fisher, VCX Ltd. and newcomer Bluebird Film.
Several producers with top porn purveyor Evil Angel are talking about moving to Las Vegas, according to owner John Stagliano, and enough porn stars have settled down in the area to supply all the extras a film could need, if not all the stars.
Derek Hay, owner of adult talent agency LA Direct Models, opened an office here last fall. He estimates that 20 percent of the industry will have moved to Las Vegas by the end of the year.
Some contrarians believe the boom will eventually lead Clark County to adopt the same regulations that are scaring the industry in Los Angeles. This September, the same group that championed the 2012 condom law started a similar campaign in Florida.
For now, concerns about an eventual condom showdown in the desert are not stopping producers from making investments. Myers has several producers coming through his studio this week.
After that, he will turn his attention to repurposing the cave set featured in the high fantasy spoof "Game of Bones" for another pornographic parody, based on The Hobbit.
The star of both films, James Deen, a millennial porn icon who acted alongside Lindsay Lohan in "The Canyons," said moving the industry to Las Vegas is just a band aid.
"The issue with running to Vegas is it doesn't actually fix anything," he said, taking refuge near a stairwell at the convention hall to avoid interruption by a constant stream of fans. "We should explain to the people who put that law in place why it's unnecessary, and appeal it the same way any community would appeal any asinine law."

Super Bowl, New York style, promises A-list sizzle

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Super Bowl practically comes with a guarantee of A-list star wattage: No matter where it's held, celebrities flock to the big game and the blowout extravaganzas connected to it.

But its location this year at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. - just outside of New York City - has raised the bar for over-the-top parties and events that one would only expect from the self-professed capital of the world.

"New York is hot and has always been hot, so the pressure is on. Energy will be pumping, wherever you may be," said Shape magazine Editor-in-Chief Tara Kraft, who is helping plan a $2,500-a-ticket event at New York's swanky Cipriani's, co-sponsored by Men's Fitness. It will feature Mary J. Blige, Marc Anthony and John Legend.

So far, it seems like the city has delivered on that promise. Jay Z will perform at DirecTV's Super Bowl Eve party; Drake is due to perform at another; the Foo Fighters are performing across from Bud Light's floating party on a cruise ship; the Kings of Leon and the Black Keys are set to rock out at two different events; GQ is planning an exclusive, invite-only party that's still under wraps but likely to attract plenty of boldface names; and Super Bowl staple parties sponsored by the likes of Playboy and Maxim are expected to be even more wild given this year's location.

"I think the expectations are a lot higher for New York," said Jon Gieselman of DirecTV, which invented the Celebrity Beach Bowl. "What's so unique about it is you're competing with other Super Bowl events but you're really competing, also, with all of the other incredible things that New York has to offer. There's so much to do in New York."

Gieselman and his team began planning two years ago, rather than the usual one, due to tight competition for suitably large venues and navigation of complicated permitting procedures. Though there's a chance for blistering cold weather or even snow on Feb. 2, DirecTV is more than prepared for inclement weather: Its eighth annual beach bowl will be inside an 88,000-square-foot structure that he boasted can withstand hurricane-force wind. It will be filled with more than 1 million pounds of sand and is set to feature stars including Shay Mitchell of "Pretty Little Liars," model Chrissy Teigen and food TV star Guy Fieri, as well as retired football greats like Joe Montana. Rockers Paramore will perform.

Like the Beach Bowl, some of the biggest events will have some access for the non-boldfaced. Time Warner Cable will stage four nights of VIP parties and concerts from a pop-up; a small number of customers can win free tickets via Twitter to see P. Diddy and Drake on Super Bowl Eve and Kings of Leon that Thursday night. Janelle Monae, Fall Out Boy, TLC, J.Cole, the Goo Goo Dolls and Gavin DeGraw are among those booked by VH1 for a concert slate dubbed the "Super Bowl Blitz," six nights of entertainment in all boroughs, plus New Jersey.

The Foo Fighters and Zac Brown Band will perform as part of Bud Light Hotel festivities near the cruise ship docked on the Hudson, along with Imagine Dragons, Run DMC and Fall Out Boy. That Friday, Nelly was booked there, on the pier next to the Intrepid for an after-party hosted by Playboy. In Brooklyn, more than 3,000 people are expected to stroll, eat and socialize their way through Taste of the NFL, a chef-heavy party that will raise money for hunger relief. Invited guests include chefs Bobby Flay, Tom Colicchio and Mario Batali, along with NFL greats Kellen Winslow Sr. and Anthony Munoz.

"I think it's really special the Super Bowl is going to be there," Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz said. "New York is already sort of pre-ready for this kind of event."

Some of the hottest parties will be unattainable to most. GQ is throwing a bash for 300 guests at the Boom Boom Room atop The Standard hotel in the meatpacking district. Superhot Grammy nominee Kendrick Lamar was tapped for two events, hosting Maxim's bash and performing at ESPN the Party, where he'll also be joined by Robin Thicke and Jermaine Dupri. And Howard Stern is having his birthday bash beforehand at an all-star event hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.

Gieselman said some previous Super Bowls didn't attract the same level of celebrity to ancillary events that New York is due to bring.

"One reality of some of those other markets is you just don't have quite as many people coming in. There were no direct flights from Los Angeles to Indianapolis, for instance. That really depressed, in my mind, the number of sort of A-level celebrities," he said.

Model-turned-actress Brooklyn Decker, co-host of the two-day Leather & Laces pre-Super Bowl bash at Liberty Theater in Times Square, said the Indianapolis Super Bowl two years ago was one of her favorites.

"You got a hand-knit scarf when you landed and there definitely was a homey touch," she said.

Decker expects more action in the Big Apple.

"I feel like New York will be completely bustling, completely nonstop," said Decker, before adding with a laugh: "I'm terrified about the cold weather, but I saw some lovely hand-warmers they're going to be giving out, so hopefully that will help."

Spectacular Neon Blue Lava Pours From Indonesia's Kawah Ijen Volcano At Night

You've heard of "red hot" and "white hot" to describe searing temperatures. But what about "blue hot"?
That's the surreal hue of Indonesia's Kawah Ijen Volcano, which glows with an otherworldly "blue lava" at night. The mountain contains large amounts of pure sulfur, which emits an icy violet color as it burns, turning the rocky slopes into a hot (at least 239 degrees Fahrenheit), highly toxic environment.
Despite the dangers, photographer Olivier Grunewald captured the scene, along with a group of men who toil on the volcano at night, battling noxious gases to mine sulfur from the crater and carry it out by hand.
Miners carry between 176 and 220 pounds of sulfur chunks per trip and sell the pieces for around 2.5 cents per pound. Yahoo reports they average two loads every 24 hours, thereby doubling their salaries amid sulfurous flames that can reach 16 feet high.
The volcano is the subject of a new documentary -- produced by Grunewald and Régis Etienne, the president of Geneva's Society of Volcanology -- released earlier this month. (See the trailer, in French, below)
PHOTOS of Kawah Ijen's blue lava:

The 36th Kennedy Center Honors Gala

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 08: First Lady Michelle Obama attends the 2013 Kennedy Center Honors on December 8, 2013 in Washington, DC. The honorees this year include: opera singer Martina Arroyo, jazz musician Herbie Hancock, musician Billy Joel, actress Shirley MacLaine and musician Carlos Santana. (Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar-Pool/Getty Images)

The first lady of the United States turns 50 today and in her own words she says she feels '50 and fabulous.' There's a big party planned at the White House on Saturday, and guests have been told to come ready to dance and to eat before they come! Happy Birthday, Michelle!

Amou Haji, 80-Year-Old Iranian Man, Smokes Animal Poop, Says He Hasn't Bathed In 60 Years

He claims cleanliness brings him sickness.
By that logic, you'd probably smoke animal turds, too.
Amou Haji, an 80-year-old Iranian, is being called the world's dirtiest man. In an article published Jan. 6, he told the Tehran Times that he hasn't bathed in 60 years.
Haji reportedly lives in isolation in Dejgah village, in the Southern Iranian province of Fars, subsists on rotten porcupine meat, and says the thought of a bath after all this time makes him very angry.
He said he adopted his extreme, isolated lifestyle after suffering emotional setbacks in his youth.





In addition to animal feces, Haji apparently likes regular smokes as well -- five at a time.

Michelle Obama Has a New Workout for 50: More Yoga, Less Cardio

We all know about the bicep curls behind her famous Michelle Obama Arms.

Now, as the First Lady turns 50 this week, throw in a downward dog for good measure.

In her only interview on the occasion of her milestone birthday Jan. 17, Mrs. Obama tells PEOPLE she's tweaked her workout routine with an eye toward her 70s and 80s.

"I'm seeing myself shift from weight-bearing stuff – even though that continues to be important – and the heavy cardio and running, to things like yoga that will keep me flexible," says Mrs. Obama, who will be feted Saturday at a dance party hosted by President Obama at the White House.

3 dead after shooting at Indiana grocery store

 
ELKHART, Ind. (AP) - A gunman walked into a northern Indiana grocery store and fatally shot two people Wednesday night before he was killed by police, authorities said.
Elkhart police received a call about an active shooter at Martin's Super Market about 10 p.m. Wednesday, Indiana State Police Sgt. Trent Smith said at a news conference early Thursday.
The gunman used a semi-automatic handgun to shoot and kill a woman, then walked to another aisle and shot and killed another woman, Smith said. One victim was an employee and appeared to be in her late teens or early 20s, and the other was a shopper who appeared to be in her 40s, he said. They were found about 12 aisles apart.
Two police officers, who were on a routine call nearby, were able to quickly respond to the scene, Smith said.
The shooter was pointing his gun at a third person when the officers found him in an aisle at the store, Smith said. Elkhart police then shot and killed the gunman, who Smith said lived in the area and was in his early 20s. A large knife was also found near the man's body.
The identities of the women and gunman were not released but Smith said there was no indication that the shooter knew the victims.
"At this time, it appears that it's just random," he said.
Smith also said that there is "no doubt" the officers' quick response saved lives.
The Indiana State Police will investigate because the Elkhart Police Department was involved in the shooting, Smith said.
"We do have a lot of things to look at as far as video surveillance," Smith said, noting that state and city police also are interviewing witnesses.
Martin's Super Market posted a statement on its Facebook page, saying "Thank you to our community for your thoughts and prayers tonight. We will comment further when we can do so responsibly and appropriately."
Elkhart is in far northern Indiana, just south of the Indiana-Michigan border, and about 15 miles east of South Bend.