CES/ASSCon-LV2 Editorial
Las Vegas, Nv.
Friday, 01/10/97 thru Sunday, 01/12/97
Closure
Closure. Coming full circle. That's how I'd like to summarize my
last-minute, whirlwind visit to the 1997 Consumer Electronics Show
(CES) and ASSCon-LV2 in Las Vegas.
For many years I was a serious fan of the adult film industry
and became a total S-C regular of the Market Street Cinema (MSC) and
later the New Century (NC) Theatre to meet the weekly porn star
features. Collected videos, magazines, photos, everything. Regularly
attended the annual porn conventions (CES and VSDA) as well as other
porn-related get-togethers (FOXE, Night of the Stars, etc)... I was a
BIG fan.
In July 1995, a significant event occurred... An MSC-friend,
"eetee", emailed me a glowing review of the then-NC feature-of-the-
week, porn star Brooke Waters. "eetee" knew I had befriended her and
husband Andrew when they appeared at MSC a few months earlier so he
thought I'd be interested in reading what someone on the Internet had
to say about her. The review described her as the "WILDEST, AWESOMEST,
MOST HIGHLY CHARGED" porn star feature ever and was so intense that I
brought a copy of it with me when I visited Brooke at NC. She read it
and literally went bananas. The review was written by someone called
"ALS" and posted on a Usenet newsgroup called alt.sex.strip-clubs.
Simply put, ALS's review of Brooke at NC actually triggered my
meeting him in person a few weeks later. In September, with ALS's
help, I entered the world of ASS-C and posted my first NC review.
In late 1995 MSC and NC went thru major cost-cutting measures,
the worst (at least for me), the decision to go bargain basement for
"feature" performers. No more porn stars. I continued going to NC but
now to see the house dancers, my new Net-buddy ALS and other ASSCers.
And in the meantime, I had all but lost interest in the adult film
industry, redirecting my energies to writing NC, and later, CP, ASSC
reviews. When CES '97 rolled around, I decided not to go for lack of
interest.
Well... that is until the Tuesday prior to CES, when I received
a phone message from Andrew and Brooke asking me about CES. I returned
their call and Brooke said they were renting a limo for CES and hoped
I would hang out with them, shoot some pix, help them video. I told
her I thought I could do *that*... then an unexpected surprise came
when I mentioned ASSCon-LV2 and she got real excited and asked if she
could attend. Hell yeah! I made travel plans within the hour.
Arrived at McCarran Airport (LV) at 10pm Friday night. Rental
car. Checked into my motel room and immediately called Brooke at her
hotel. She invited me over so I grabbed my backpack and headed right
over. Andrew greeted me at the door, then Brooke. How nice it was to
see them again! They introduced me to "R" (their limo driver), and "A"
(a friend from LV). We totally kicked it that night, joking, laughing,
relaxing... Andrew treated us to a private viewing of Dirty Waters'
(Brooke and Andrew's production company) first video, "Behind The
Scenes Vol. 1". Raw, nasty footage. Cool to have the producers/stars
of the video there, giving insight to their very first production. It
was nearly 430am when I returned to my motel.
We agreed to meet at 9am(!) to prep for CES... Well, I got to
their hotel at 9am, but we didn't actually leave for CES until 1pm!!!
I now have a much greater appreciation for what it takes to wake up,
then really wake up, shower, make-up and prep, eat and get to CES when
you are a porn star ;-). The limo ride from Brooke's hotel to the
Sands Expo Center (where the Adult Video Software section was held)
was hilarious. While Andrew and I were video taping in stereo, Brooke
got nasty in the car, then flashed anyone/everyone who drove by. A
pickup full of lucky construction workers went crazy when Brooke
"spread" for them thru her open window! Even our limo driver got into
the act by coaxing a woman to belt out a little Bette Midler for our
camcorders.
Anyways, we finally hit the CES floor at 2pm... Andrew had video
cam #1, and I had cam #2 plus still camera, and we followed Brooke
wherever she went to conduct interviews (and mess around) with fellow
porn stars and fans. This CES experience was completely different from
any I'd had previously in that I learned much about what a porn star
has to go thru when dealing with crowds of fans and gawkers.
After hitting a number of booths for interviews and photo
opportunities, we left CES at 5pm and returned to her hotel for a
short breather before heading out to Cheetah's and ASSCon-LV2. We were
hungry for dinner but didn't leave the hotel until 8pm, so we decided
to find Cheetah's first, catch a quick bite somewhere nearby, do
Cheetah's, and afterwards, steak and lobster. After locating Cheetah's
we found a drive-thru In-And-Out Burger, ordered major cheeseburgers
and fries, then "R" pulled into an adjacent parking lot and we chowed
down. Brooke commented, "I dunno about you guys but this is one of the
best burgers I've ever had". Funny, but I was gonna say that too... we
were STARVED... obviously.
After eating, we rolled into the Cheetah's valet parking lot, I
strapped on the dog collar, Brooke grabbed ahold of the leash and we
four entered Cheetah's. I told the doorman we were with the ASS-C
party ("Bubba party of 4") and he simply waved us on in. I asked for
Mark. The doorman said, "Mark Green? He's in there somewhere! You'll
find him". So with Brooke still holding my leash, we wandered the full
length of the club... not a familiar face in sight. Just as we turned
around to go back, I see JustPhil (with his guests). We greet and try
to figure out where everyone else (if anyone) is there. JP says he
just arrived also. We continued wandering the club. I then literally
run into Laar and Ginger near the club's entrance! They just arrived
also and hadn't seen anyone else. "A", Brooke's friend from LV spotted
us and joined us as we tried to figure out what to do.
A few minutes later, LMR and Mark Green spotted our little
fivesome and pointed to where everyone at ASSCon-LV2 was. So we picked
up and made our way over to the party. Mark cleared a table for us and
we took our seats. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous... Nervous,
hoping Brooke, Andrew and the others would enjoy being at ASSCon-LV2,
Cheetah's, meeting ASSCers, etc... Hoping that this bringing together
of two almost separate aspects of my life would work out all right.
But after taking a few breaths, hearing the music, seeing so many
familiar faces... oh yeah, and pulling out the dog dish from my
backpack... I started feeling "it" again. Brooke smiled and said, "You
NEVER told me about this side of you... I like it!"
And that signaled my transformation into Purreena at Cheetah's.
Though there was limited floor space, I did my best to get down on all
fours as much as possible. Drank water from my dog dish. The two-plus
hours we were at Cheetah's went by like a blur. A few things I do
recall? I was treated to a nice lapdance by ASIA (THANKS, CP-One!).
The next thing I noticed, ASIA was all over Brooke (Thanks again, CP-
One, on behalf of Brooke ;-)). I was commanded by MOLLI (TWICE!) to
lick her toes, then all the way up her leg... to... her... YES!!!!!
Being a dog has it's privileges, I'm still convinced (Sorry, Trighap
;-)). Marc182, JoshMan, nice to meet ya. Dodger, of course I didn't
forget you. ZBone, you... YOU da Man. EdgeWise and Chia, thanks for
letting me share your table. Oh OGM, our times always seem SOOO
fleeting... Herr Doktor, SirK, Abbey, Sick, Speed Racer, etc... and
finally, Master ALS commanding me to sniff Jasmine Tea "like the dog
that I am". No problem. Ah ALS...
ALS and Brooke. The two people who started this ASSC "thing" for
me what seems a lifetime ago. Hell, Brooke includes ALS's review as a
part of her promo and fan club package. And here they were, at ASSCon-
LV2, ALS in Brooke's lap (where else?), laughing, talking,
reminiscing...
My whole porn/ASSC experience, er, make that "world"... suddenly
came full circle at the sight.
-Bubba