Will Clark World

CONFESSIONS OF AN UNDEREMPLOYED FAG

It's turning out to be 'one of those days'.. I spent the morning at the department of Labor for a mandatory meeting for those on unemployment. As regular readers know, I was laid off my day job a couple months back and while it was deadly dull at times, I do miss the woman I work for and one or two others around the office (in addition to my duties there, I did some social networking consulting for the head of internet fundraising and it's him who, for me, coined the term 'bloggety blog blog' that I often use on my Facebook account to alert my friends that I've posted a new blog) but it was mainly a job that I took to stabilize my work resume. I mean, it's difficult to be taken seriously when one is listing '48 porn movies' as a job history. It's not inconceivable but it is difficult. :)

So anyway, I've been spending the summer resisting applying for unemployment in the vague vain hope that I would find another job to replace quickly. But I didn't and so I applied. The weird thing is that there are no checks anymore, you get a debit card from Chase Manhattan Bank or rather a debit card that pretends that it's from Chase. I found out that they are only loosely affiliated when I tried in a vague vain attempt to remove money from the 'account' (this is what the state of New York calls it) and found, from the bank manager, that I'm the only one since the creation of the system who's pin number went awry. This I found out just hours before I was to go to Montreal and I was immediately worried that this would be indicative of the trip itself (it wasn't which you will find out when I get to posting about the trip, it's coming I promise).

Anyway, I eventually got it all straightened out but it is annoying to have to do a teller visit every time I need to pull money out and then walk across the street and deposit into my bank. Chase generously offered to open a real account for me but I'm not sure what I'd be putting in it other than fumes at the moment. OK I'm exaggerating but the unemployment thing is a little scary.

But, I should insert here, because I know there are a couple readers out there that are concerned, I will be OK.

Unfortunately there are many gay men who don't have a lot of money to fall back on (there is a definite urban myth that all gay men have tons of disposable income -many are living below the poverty line and some even are homeless), or who don't have family (biological or acquired) and will fall through the cracks in this economic crunch.

That the GLBT community is criticizing Obama for not repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell makes me laugh. These are obviously fags who don't realize that there are a lot of GLBTers who could give a rats ass about DADT not because they don't care about those who are serving in the armed forces, but because they're more worried about getting sick when they don't have health insurance or a job. Seems to me that Obama is doing pretty much everything he's able to do for the bigger issues and criticizing him by replacing his HOPE for NOPE is rather bratty (and then we wonder why people don't take us seriously sometimes).

In any event, so there I was this morning at a careers meeting and wondering what special skills I should list on the information sheet that they gave me to fill out. Does "cruising Manhunt" count as a special skill? I do speak 7 languages but I don't think that matters since those are 1. Soap Opera, 2. Gay Porn, 3. 70s and 80s pop music lyrics, 4. Gym, 5.Gay Politics, 6. Facebook and 7. Vodka. I'm also mostly able to speak and understand English. Mostly. Work-wise I have Hand Job experience and my Gaydar is so good that I can find a gay man in any crowded room (and sometimes both of these skills go together) and I can lift heavy things as long as they are made of iron and shaped like a dumbbell. :) Ok naturally I'm kidding around because I have lots of stuff that I can do and I listed all my work and skills on the handout and even listed that I threw big fundraising events in California featuring gay porn stars (I figure the people at the department of Labor probably need a lift too.. that should be a hot topic over a souvlaki from the street corner lunch wagon).

Now if I haven't bummed you out too much, you can click away from here to an Italian nightlife site which is running a contest of recent cover models. My new friend Cristian Torrent (who has some web cam videos on line) is running ahead and if you like what you see in the graphic here, then click here and scroll down and vote for him. The site is in Italian but it's easy to figure out where to click on the white oval to vote for him and then you can scroll down to the link: "vota e guarda i risultati!" and click it to make the vote count. I think this is one of those 'it's an honor to be nominated and an even bigger one to win' kind of things .... it's funny, I've never met Torrent but we've talked online and what can I say, he's just fucking hot which is reason enough in my book to promote someone. :) Oh, another special skill: spotting hot guys in foreign countries that I'll probably never get to visit! LOL :)

Ok that's it for now.. as usual there's always more and Bingo pics are coming as is the Montreal journal. Til then...

ASK WILL CLARK ABOUT PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN PORN

So, today, Sunday April 19th, this question appeared in the comments section of the blog entry below.. hey, thanks for that and you can always email me at the address to the right (under ‘touch me’) … anyway, here’s the question for a new edition of Ask Will Clark:

“It's about product placement. I notice a lot of stars have a dildo and I understand the value of having that likeness in their movies and on the market for fans to buy. I know COLT had it name/ logo on lube, etc. Is there product placement that is just a "NO WAY! I will sue you, if you use this produce in your movies" ?

Are there, in general, companies out there that don't want to be associated with certain studios, or models? I am not asking for gossip and specifics, but is it a common thing?
I can't really recall seeing a porn and thinking "He uses THAT brand of condoms?", but I do notice the names of various lube and toy companies in the credits.”

Well, that’s a good question. The idea of product placement in porn has always been a little sketchy. In the 90’s there was a quiet rumor going around that the folks over at Calvin Klein had a deal of some sort with Chuck Holmes who owned Falcon to feature Calvin’s underwear in all of their movies. Whether this was a monetary deal (I wouldn’t be surprised) or simply an understanding between peers (it also wouldn’t surprise me in the least) there was definitely something going on because all the men wore the same underwear (and while it’s nice to think of gay male porn stars like sorority sisters borrowing each others’ clothes, even if that were true, I would think the line would be drawn at underwear.. or am I flying my prude flag today?)

In the past few years lube placement has become more and more prevalent with the bottle (or sometimes, tub) facing towards camera not unlike Jessica’s character on ONE LIFE TO LIVE a few weeks ago when ABC had sold their soul to Campbell’s in order to keep the show going (or at any rate that’s the message they sold their audience on.. as if the entire daytime lineup was in danger of being cancelled unless the citizens of Pine Valley, Port Charles and Llanview shilled “Heart Smart” soup for an entire month, but I digress).

Naturally I think shilling lube in a gay porn makes sense because it’s the right market. I’ll draw the line when they start promoting Bounty. Hmm OK maybe “the quicker picker up” would have more than one meaning when applied to the guys in gay porn.

But self promoting is practically an artform in gay porn. There’s also been times when porn has referred to itself through movies taking place at award shows or various events like Folsom Street Fair or tied into online things like Chi Chi’s old ‘Live and Raw Hotel” but in general, so far, no mainstream publicity hound has figured out a way to get their product being displayed prominently on the shelf next to the bed where Damien Rios and Chad Manning are fucking each others’ brains out in the latest romp from Whatever Studio. But that just has to do with an ever growing out-moded ethics. With advertising dollars shrinking on network fare, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to find products from Home Depot showing up next. “Hey Hank, that’s a mighty big drill you got there” “Well, I got it on sale at Home Depot….” “No, I meant your OTHER drill….” (cue sexy music).

Which brings up the question – would companies sue to have their product in a porno? Well, American’s being as litigious as we are, I’m sure it’s been done but my guess is that most of the porn studios are considered too small potatoes for any real litigation to take place because by the time it’s been seen, it’s really too late for anyone to say anything.

On the other hand, back about ten years ago I was cast as a crazy ass nurse in Michael Zen’s SODOM and I came up with a character bit involving a Darth Vader Pez dispenser. I was all excited that I’d created this goofy little thing, but when Zen saw in in my hand, he said that we couldn’t feature it due to copyright laws. I didn’t know if he just didn’t like the bit or if there really was something to it. I could see the Lucasfilm people having a beef with it, but really, is Pez that big of a deal for them to have taken them to court (and by the way, caused more interest in the film by the general public… look at what happened to Michael Lucas’ La Dolce Vita… by being sued, the thing probably was given much more publicity than the studio alone could have ever generated even though I know the court battle – I heard at least- was rather ugly and costly (and I’m sure someone from Lucas Entertainment will correct me on this if I’m getting my facts wrong). So too with the DR. GOOD GLOVE movie I mentioned in yesterdays post.. the guys at Hot House wanted to call it DR. STRANGEGLOVE but feared the Stanley Kramer folks would speak up. And the original title of IN AND OUT EXPRESS from Studio 2000 was FEDERAL SEXPRESS. Strangely though, straight adult titles cleverly ape mainstream titles all the time and smaller gay porn studios do also on occasion with my favorite being THE TWINK WHISPERER which made my best friend Matt laugh out loud when he heard it announced at the GayVNs last month. It’s probably a fuzzy line and most people probably feel (and perhaps rightly so – if they ain’t going to pay me to promote their product, I’m not going to!)

In any event, you have to remember that porn, in and of itself, is the ultimate product placement – of the guys who star in it for their private services. Most, but definitely not all, of the guys who do porn run the ads and can (and will be) out on the market available for a low low low (ok maybe not so low if the ads on some of the sites can be believed) value. I don’t see Jessica handling gay porn stars, fondling them to push ‘heart smart’ anything in the near future. But then, soaps are doing worse than gay porn so I wouldn’t put it past ‘em!!

Did this answer your question? If not, write me back at the comments section and if you have a question for the Ask Will Clark bloggety blog thing, drop me a note at willclark1 at aol.com :)

ASK WILL CLARK ... ABOUT PIERCING!

"Hi Will ,you wrote a while back about taking the PA out after 6 years . I'm having trouble with the nip rings, one of them anyway and was wondering if you too took those out as well because of the trouble they can cause, ie..the gym , migration and such.If not can you tell me what gauge you went up to regarding the nipples? Thanks again, Ken( You said Zak was your inspiration to pierce the above so I guess it's fair to say you were mine. I've been in a monogamous relationship for 20 years but the above sure can add fun to it. Stay well and happy holidays)."

Thank Ken!

At one time or another I had four piercings and wanted a fifth one: I first had my dick and right nipple pierced and then a couple days later the left nip pierced (I figured if I was going to be hosing my piercings down twice a day, three took as much work as two did) and then a few months later (the day before 9/11 btw) I got my eyebrow pierced. Why so many? I just thought they were hot and I was inspired as Ken says by Zak Spears' Prince Albert. Funny story: about three years ago I hooked up with a guy on Manhunt. I arrived at his place, he was gorgeous. We had instant chemistry. We started making out and then the clothes came off and he saw the P.A. and gasped. "I didn't know you had one of THOSE" he cringed. I stopped for a second to think "did I neglect to mention that I have a PA in my online profile.. then I realized, no I didn't. I replied "oh but I DO mention in my profile that I have a PA" and the guy looked at me and in all seriousness said "no, that's a Prince Albert, you only say in your profile that you have a PA". I did a double take (did he just say that? I thought) and replied "that's what a PA is, a Prince Albert". The guy sat there doing the math and then it dawned on him. He immediately asked me to leave. Hmm so he can have random encounters on a sex site and all that comes with THAT but a pierced dick turns him off. Whatever.

Anyway, bit by bit the piercings came out mostly through practicality. The first piercing to come out was the left nip. It had been itching a lot and I had taken it out over night thinking I could put it back in in the morning. By morning it had closed up and I decided that the nip just didn't want it in there. Then a couple years later I temped at a very conservative company and the agency I worked for suggested it be wise if I took the eyebrow piercing out if I wanted to keep working. I would take it out in the morning and would put it back as soon as I got home in the evening. Eventually it just became too much of a hassle and even after the assignment ended I simply decided to leave it out.

Then, about 9 months ago I took the PA out because it just felt as though it was time and frankly I'd never gotten the hang of peeing standing up with it in so for the seven years it was in I have had to sit down every damn time I've gone to piss. Standing up now is like some real luxury and I love it.

That left the right nipple bar in.. I had a ring in it and it was a fairly decent sized gauge but not overly large. I had worried for some time that my nipple would grow uncommonly large and while the idea of that was a turn on when I was younger, being in my mid 40s I just started to feel as though it might be more than I really wanted. So I had switched to a lighter material some time ago even though I had kept the width. But as luck would have it my boyfriend invited me to swim at his parents house up in CT and I knew how his mother (very conservative) would feel about the nip piercing if she saw it. And you know, I was kind of over it too anyway so I took it out. Funny story: as we got out of the pool his mom came over to bring us towels and noticed my tattoo (which I've totally forgotten is there since it's such a part of me now) and had the "it's your life and your body" look of faint disapproval which vaguely amused me... I can't be the perfect sort of son in law and I guess this was my 'flaw'.

I had toyed with the idea of getting a la bret - the piercing between the lower lip and chin.. I've seen guys with it and it's a TOTAL TURN ON for me but ultimately I realized that I would probably tire of it eventually or would have to take it out for work purposes so it has always just remained a fantasy. :)

ASK WILL CLARK ABOUT BISEXUAL PORN

It’s Ask Will Clark time again and this one is long… here goes!

“Will, I love redheaded men and am a huge fan of yours. My question is about bisexual porn. Have you ever appeared in one? I am a total homo, but have enjoyed sex with a pussy. If I were in porn I could probably perform with either men or women, but would vastly prefer men. Do gay guys ever work in straight porn? I am not asking for names, just wondering. A friend of mine who worked in the casting business made inquiries for me about getting into porn and with my “look”, my friend told me I would have to either do specialty gay films-daddy or bear porn- or go into straight porn. I guess my question boils down to how does a guy cope with being one preference but performing another? I can and have had sex with women, but I would need a man around to somewhere to keep me motivated doing straight porn. Bi porn would probably be easier because it is largely mmf in most scenes. Is there much work in daddy/bear flicks or bi porn or would I have to choose the straight porn industry to get steady work? And how open is the straight business to gay performers? Would you or have you ever considered the straight porn industry? Thanks for you attention and input, Will. You are a great guy with a huge heart and you do a lot of good.”

Yikes, well so many questions … let’s try to take this one apart piece by piece.

First off, I’m a total homo too. I like the butt sex and making out with men and the cock sucking.

However, there was a time when I first got involved in porn that I was having recurring fantasies involving women especially porn star Sharon Kane. It helped that I had met Kane and her sexual energy over pretty much everyone is overpowering, you know, one of those times when you know you’re getting aroused by something that you didn’t know you liked. I didn’t know at first that Sharon is sort of one of those people on the planet that is a sexual beacon for all people no matter their gender or orientation. It’s quite fascinating to be around her actually. (Plus she's kind, funny and just a terrific person)

Anyway, so there was a time when I beat off to a straight porn gang bang tape that my roommate had and that was kinda hot for the sheer novelty of it. I didn't know if this meant that I wasn't  as much of a Kinsey Six as I thought, but in the back of my mind, I wondered if I shouldn't give it a try.

But, in 1998 I was proved not even remotely straight. I was on the set of Gino Colbert’s “Porn Fiction” and was being serviced by straight superstar Tina Tyler. I was supposed to be her husband and reading the newspaper while she’s blowing me. She’s there and gorgeous and friendly and we got along, but man, I was  focused on the videographer (a sorta paunchy middle aged man that shot several flicks that I’d been in) and was getting my stimulation that way. I mean really, it’s crazy, but that’s how I’m wired.  So I guess doing bi or straight porn would pretty much be out of the question for me. Alas.

I guess I can’t imagine being into one gender but having sex with another strictly for a video although I know that there are a few crossover stars who have done movies in gay and straight porn. It’s more common for the straight film actors to do gay porn because the pay scale is traditionally much better in gay porn than in straight porn and the level of stardom is higher in the gay industry too.

I don’t know of any bear bisexual porn but I don’t doubt that it’s out there; these days EVERYTHING is out there.

Hope that answers your question!

(and by the way, that scene for "Porn Fiction" is one of legend... it featured me and Cole Tucker going at it and was stolen out of Gino's truck just weeks after shooting.. weird, huh?)