Big Ed's Place

When I first reviewed Joymii.com back in March, I wrote “I found it enjoyable and classy, but still not as arousing as I perhaps would have liked.”

Well, things have changed. Wow.

The technical quality of the photography and videos remains high. The models are of course gorgeous. But now it’s not just solo scenes and girl-girl that seems more posed than hot. Now they’ve got boy-girl about every other week, along with hotter girl-girl scenes. I’ve included some samples below (one is a sample video). Some of the solo scenes are interviews, where the models talk about sex before masturbating for the camera (way way hotter than just doing it, in my opinion). Finally updates are now every other day.

I have to move the site from three to four stars out of four. I’m impressed and I definitely recommend it. They addressed everything I said they needed to in order for it to be arousing as well as artistic. Check it out yourself by clicking on any of the images below.

It doesn’t take much reading of my stories to realize I have a small lingerie fetish. Ever since I hit puberty, a woman in sexy underwear, particularly those styles that are clearly non-functional for anything other than sex, has been a pleasurable sight. A girlfriend once asked me to explain my appreciation of garter belts and stockings to her and I said it was two things. First, there was no reason for a woman to wear them unless she wanted to be seen in them (or more than seen in them). Second, garters to stockings provide a frame around her feminine parts. I happen to like Art with frames.

So I was pleasantly surprised to discover the site Art-Lingerie. It’s a soft core nude site, much like Met-Art or FEMJOY. In fact, many of the models appear on those sites as well. The photographic quality is similarly high. Samples are below. They have a new photo set daily and videos on Mondays and Thursdays. These are soft-core shots, so they’re largely single girls posing, though there are a few two-girl photo shoots. I haven’t found any more suggestive than simple posing, but then the archive is large and goes back to May 2009.

The site has a couple of features that I particularly like. One is its search function allows you to search by lingerie type. So “Red Hair, opaque black stockings and suspenders” is a legitimate category. The other thing is that it lets members identify other sites that carry that model. As a result, I quickly learned that my favorite redhead Ariel appears on over thirty sites. Alas, some of my other favorite models don’t have such a handy directory, so maybe I’ll have to hope that Art-Lingerie gets sets of those models (Nella, please). They also have some options to let you customize how the photos and videos appear on your screen and a ton of links to other sites.

So, what are the downsides? Well, first and foremost, it’s a niche. If you’re not into lingerie, particularly softcore nudes, there’s not much else here for you. Second, the selection rather heavily focuses on stockings and garter belts with the models otherwise nude. While that does happen to be my favorite form of lingerie, it’s by far not the only way sexy lingerie can be shown, as Playboy demonstrated with their special edition lingerie magazines and videos back in the 1980′s and 1990′s. It’d be nice to see more sets with models in teddies, cammies, bustiers, and other lingerie. It’d also be nice if these were selected more often as the cover image for the photo sets, as they otherwise tend to look all the same.

So I recommend it. You can check it out via the banner below.

Back in the day when I first became able to buy porn legally in the 80′s, Penthouse was the gold standard. Playboy still had cachet, but the girls were so obviously airbrushed they weren’t particularly sexy. The ‘girl next door without her clothes’ had lost the allure it must have had earlier and so much of the style seemed completely out of touch. Meanwhile, on the other end of the scale, Hustler was just crude. There’s only so much ‘pink’ one can see before it becomes a gynecology exam instead of a sexy allure. Penthouse admitted it was about sex, but remained classier than the usual porn. I bought, and even subscribed for a while.

Penthouse ran couples pictorials then, and by the nineties, they were explicit. I remember being shocked the first time I saw one that had explicit penetration. Of course, I immediately bought it too. But as my youth-addled hormonal impulses died down, I started noticing that my favorite pictorials all had one thing in common. They were photographed by Earl Miller. Furthermore, the pictorials I’d liked before they became hardcore were also by Earl Miller.

So I decided to check out EarlMiller.com. Here’s my review.

First, the site is huge. There’s an update of one form or another every day. That’s good value. There are multiple sections, including amateurs, centerfolds, threesomes, girl-girl, hardcore, and some small behind the scenes sections and a spot for guest photographers. Within each section are pages and pages of shoots. In addition to still photo galleries, there are plenty of videos, a blog (which is not updated very often–hasn’t been since February), and outgoing links.

Next, the photography is of course high quality. The angles, the lighting the makeup all are truly ‘centerfold’ material. This is indeed what I used to drool over in the 80′s and 90′s. Examples are provided below.

But that of course is when it hit me–the models are overwhelmingly in the Southern California Porn Star genre. They’re very big breasted. They’re heavily made up. The acting is what I’d expect from a Southern California porn film. It was far far too easy to become saturated and remember why I’m no longer a fan of the porn Southern California produces. It’s far too artificial to turn me on the way it used to when I was younger.

The other minor complaint is that the layout makes it easy to hide things. The search by model feature is not complete and won’t pull up all pictorials by that model. The toolbar across the top doesn’t list all the options that are on the main page. This meant that on my first visit, I didn’t find any of the old pictorials from Penthouse that I’d fallen in love with, but did on a subsequent visit. That made all the difference, since it was what attracted me in the first place.

So, check it out. I recommend it if you like traditional porn actresses and centerfolds, simply for the volume of quality pictures and videos. Those viewers who don’t care for Southern California styles won’t be as impressed. You can see it for yourself here or by clicking on the pictures below.

For some time, the site FEMJOY has published high quality nude photos and videos of very attractive models. However, other than the nudity, their site is fairly chaste. None of the poses or activities of the models cross the line from modeling into sex. No licking, sucking, masturbation, or penetration.

I happen to appreciate that. It’s far too easy to let the quality degrade, or for the photos and film to become crude, once the line between nude modeling and actual sex has been crossed. We certainly see that in a great deal of the sex industry. “Class” seems to be hard to maintain, when the lowest common denominator will still sell. You’ll never go broke appealing to man’s more basic and coarser urges. Similarly, you’ll never go broke selling something that can be addictive for a fraction of the population, but that’s a different post some day.

So recently, the FEMJOY folks launched a new site, Joymii.com, that attempts to capture the quality of FEMJOY’s main site, while loosening up the limits on what happens. I figured it was worth a look.

Well, I’m pleased to say that the photography and video production quality remains top notch. I’ve included two examples below (click on the images to get the full associated promo gallery). Two new galleries and two new videos show up each week, usually in pairs (two photoshoots with a gallery and video for each).

The content is a little harder. The galleries to date are all girl-girl or solo girl masturbation. Many of them involve dildos and other toys. Some of the girl-girl scenes (like Karlie and Riley below) are particularly hot because it’s clear the girls are really getting into it. Others don’t rise to that level and feel more like friends putting on a show. There’s no male-female content so far.

As a result, I found it enjoyable and classy, but still not as arousing as I perhaps would have liked. I think it’s definitely a nice addition to the FEMJOY catalog, and also a nice addition to what’s out on the web. More class is good. And of course, seeing one of my favorite models, Ariel, in action is also good. So I recommend it, but at the 3 out of 4 star level. More frequent updates or more chemistry in the girl-girl scenes would push that higher.

UPDATE
Joymii has released their first boy-girl video and photo set, Miela and Tom. There’s an example below. Video and production quality are high. The enthusiasm and interaction between the two is good. It doesn’t come across as acting. Hopefully we’ll see more like it in the future.

You can see more of Joymii by clicking on the images below.

It’s not too hard to figure out, from my writings, that I’m a fan of exhibitionistic women. I love it when women engage in public flashing (discreetly, of course–there’s a consent issue for the observers at play). I also love seeing photos of nude women outside. It seems rather refreshing and certainly more ‘natural’ than many of the porn shots that you know are in someone’s house or rented motel room.

So I was pleasantly surprised to find FTV Girls. Pretty much every model has a gallery taken outdoors or in a public place. Some are more public than others, but I’ve been pretty happy going through them and admiring the views, so to speak. Each model has galleries of still photos and two or three video galleries, which can make the public flashing scenes even more fun.

The site’s high quality. The photography is well shot and well posed. The models are pretty but with a natural look and feel. I’ve included some examples below (click on them for full sized pictures). Most of the models are indeed “new”–going with their title that this is “First Time Video Girls.” That gives a more playful and friendly vibe to the photos as well. In several cases, I could see the model’s nervousness as she first started getting into posing.

FTV Girls is more than flashing, though. Most models also strip and masturbate on camera–some with toys, some with their fingers. They have some fetish shots–mostly girls using vegetables and other implements to masturbate with. They also have some hardcore girl-girl videos and some hardcore boy-girl videos. The latter, in most cases, appear to be the model having sex with her boyfriend.

New galleries are released a few times a week. The site also give sneak peeks of upcoming models. They also have a review section of other adult sites, which is a bit strange because the sites they’re reviewing are pretty much the low quality pure porn/stroke sites that FTV Girls is trying to rise above.

The one thing I don’t like is sorting through the galleries for individual models. The descriptions of the galleries are in the cover photo, and the white print is often illegible on bright photos. Also, it would be very nice to be able to search on content tags–they list them for the galleries (“Public nudity”, “fingering,” etc.) but the terms aren’t consistent and aren’t searchable. As a result, I found myself spending a lot of time scanning down listings and opening galleries, hoping that ‘public’ meant something like a mall instead of a field where it was clear no one would be around.

Still, I recommend the site. Check it out here.

Wow.

That could pretty much be my review, except that I really need to provide details. Suffice it to say, I’m impressed.

The Upper Floor is a site dedicated to putting, on camera, an attempt to have a bdsm community that can live the 24/7 dream I posited was just an ideal. It’s the brainchild of Peter Acworth, the owner of Kink.com and other websites under the kink.com umbrella. Mr. Acworth (sorry, I just can’t bring myself to refer to him by his first name. It feels wrong) made a ton of money with kink.com, bought The Armory in San Francisco, and decided to see if he could create a community where bdsm principles really were in place 24/7. The results are… mind-blowing.

The site mostly consists of videos of bdsm scenes and parties that have taken place on The Upper Floor. These videos include edited movies, raw footage, stills, and live feeds. The scenes include slave training and other exercises. A couple of examples are below (click on them to expand). There are also discussion forums and extensive posts on the bdsm community.

First, I should say that I’m impressed with the professionalism of the site. I’d heard through the grapevine that kink.com paid its performers far better than the mainstream porn industry. They also treat them well, to the point of putting the explicit rights for models and rules for directors on the site. That means that every viewer becomes a de facto enforcer–”was this submissive treated right?”, “Did the director stick to the rules?”, etc.. Yes, stuff could have happened off camera–except for the live feeds. I really like this level of accountability.

I also think the video quality is delightfully high. No complaints at all there. Additionally, The Upper Floor has been decorated with an Edwardian theme and it really brings a sense of the mood to the events and parties. I can very easily imagine enjoying a drink or a conversation while casually watching a whipping occurring nearby. The videos are beautiful.

As for the scenes depicted–they struck me as truly representative of the bdsm community. Not everyone is a gorgeous model, but that doesn’t prevent them from being a great player. I included a photo of a guy below who won’t exactly be appearing in any Playgirls anytime soon, but he fits right into the scene here. The energy crackles as I remember it in the dungeons–far more casual and constant than the overacting one often sees in vanilla community depictions of bdsm. The sex is also real. Oral, anal, and vaginal sex are all out in the open and depicted in their glory as they happen, with very little of the artifice of much of today’s porn.

It feels authentic. More importanty, it feels honest.

So like I said–wow. I’m impressed with The Upper Floor and am enjoying poking around and learning more.

You can check out The Upper Floor yourself by following the link here.

Occasionally in my random wanderings through cyberspace, I stumble across a website that makes me go, “hmmm, that’s different. And nice.”

The Art of Blowjob is such a site. It’s essentially a one woman operation (though another woman does make an appearance for a double blowjob video) that contains nothing more than videos and photo sets of her giving blowjobs.

Can you say “niche”?

The trick is, the woman (Camille) is a very attractive redhead who definitely enjoys her ‘work.’ Camille looks at the camera as she very lovingly sucks and licks her cock until she’s finally rewarded with her partner’s orgasm. The video quality is excellent and the blowjobs are truly sensual. She appears to release a new video or photo set once a week, and there’s a decent backlog on the site. I found the videos quite enjoyable.

My one complaint is…well, it’s a niche. I’d love to have had more sets with her friend Annie, either alone or in another double blowjob. I also think I would have enjoyed a little more set-up before some of the videos–they all pretty much start with her partner already nude and hard and her face inches away. Simply watching her pull his pants down would have added a touch of variety so that the videos didn’t start to feel so similar, time after time. Or perhaps something to hint at a backstory or fantasy scene before the blowjob commences.

That said, it’s worth checking out.

UPDATE (9/10/10): The Art of Blowjob is now allowing me to provide a video preview (below). The link to the full site is below it.

I first discovered Craig Morey’s work in the early 90′s, when some of his black and white photos were published in Penthouse Letters. I bought his book, Studio Nudes, which I found to be gorgeous. Shortly thereafter, I bought a print of one of his photos to hang on my bedroom wall. A year later, I traveled to San Francisco, met with Craig, and purchased both a second print for my wall and several smaller ones for my own budding private collection. Those photos are below.

Well, now Craig is online, with his own site, MoreyStudio.com. His site’s a bit of a surprise and a revelation to me.

For starters, most of Craig’s current work is in color. This makes sense, given the current market for online nudes. However, while still beautiful, I don’t find his color photos nearly as striking as his black and whites. The color seems to downplay the striking expressions and poses he’s able to achieve. I also think he gets more out of amateur models (which are many of the b/w models) than some of the pros that all the European photographers use.

I’m also amused at how Craig is not shy about his other offerings–private commissions, workshops, and other items not normally available from one of the top photographers around. Now Craig has always offered these, back to the early ’90′s, so I can’t comment on his motives. I do know that I regret that I never had a girlfriend willing to pose for him, because that would have been an incredibly fun experience.

So… what can you find on his site? Plenty of free galleries, with a broader range of styles than many other photography sites. But at the same time, fewer photos to go through, because it’s a one man enterprise. What you won’t find is some of the more explicit couples shots that Craig has done, which is too bad. Nonethless, it’s worth checking out. I give it four out of five stars.

To see more of Craig Morey’s work, go to MoreyStudio.com.

Up front, I must state that my work is entwined with Nick. He hosts this site on his server. He lets me play in his Universe, writing Summer Camp stories. I return the favor by serving on his reality team and reviewing his rough drafts before he releases them. Does that bias this review? Probably, but I’ll let you the reader judge how much.

read more »

The web is filled with free dirty stories. If you’re willing to wade through a swamp of crap, you can occasionally find decent freebies. But some sites make it easier than others and storiesonline (www.storiesonline.net) is one of the best. read more »