Bettie Page Dead At 85

Earlier this week we wrote a piece about '50's pin-up icon Bettie Page which I have reposted right under this item for your reading pleasure. We are sad to announce that she died last night at 85 in a Los Angeles hospital.    She will be missed.

My right hand is holding a death vigil

I learned late last night that the iconic pinup and bondage model of the '50s' Bettie Page had suffered a massive heart attack on tuesday and is critically ill and in a coma in Los Angeles.

As much as any other single  icon of that time, Bettie stood out as the only true representation of the sexuality of that decade.   Sure there was Marilyn Monroe but she was just Hollywood hype. Bettie was the raw real stuff that you could get your fist around and rub one out.

I have to admit that when I was a kid I was drawn to some of the kinkier images and bondage held a strange fascination for my pubescent id.   I was talking just the other day to my friend and Hustler editor Bruce David about those great pulp magazines of the fifties and their sexy covers that usually had something like a woman hung up, her bodice ripped revealing just enough of a large round firm breast to make you want more and a hovering nazi officer with a whip in hand menacing her. Now that was art!

Waltzing into this verboten sexuality came Bettie Page.   When you see photos of her in the next few days they are sure to be like the one above but her really important work was with a long forgotten sexually creative hero named John Willy.

It was with Willy that Bettie did her great bondage stuff.  In later life she would say that this was the part she most regretted and that she vastly preferred the pin-up pics.   They both worked for a middle aged nebbish named Irving Klaw who with his sister Paula ran "Movie Star News"  out of a store front on 14th street in New York City.  It was here that Klaw became known as the "pinup king".   When he first started the store sold magazines  but Klaw noticed that teenage boys were coming in, looking at the pinup mags of the day and ripping out pages when no one was looking.  So he said "fuck the magazines, I'll sell the photos".

But I digress.  This is about Bettie and that more than perfect body and whose pageboy haircut started my lifelong passion for brunettes. I never liked blondes.  They were too goody-goody.   The brunette however was nasty, wanton, slightly mean and always presented an air of mystery. Most of all they always looked like they could throw a good fuck.  That impression, firmly implanted in my brain stem for life was from Bettie who while projecting all these qualities also had a slight hint of innocence and fun.

It's funny, but while growing up in the '50's I didn't even know who she was, I just kept seeing her pictures and it wasn't until the '70's that I could actually put a name to her.

She retired after a few years.   A woman who even through her career maintained a backwoods innocence about it all.    The she got religion and disappeared.    Even in professing her love of God she never recanted anything she did.  To her the naked body was God's work and there was nothing wrong with putting it on display.  

No one has seen Bettie since then although she has resurfaced in recent years but only in audio interviews.   There is one fuzzy photo shot when she was 80 and surprisingly she looked great. But Bettie was well aware that this late in life people would be disappointed by what they would see.   She wanted the Bettie image to remain intact and not to be compromised by what time does to us all.

So now the mother of my sexuality lies in a Los Angeles hospital clinging to life and brings to mind one major question.    My God am I getting that fucking old?????

Jay Squawking

The second biggest mistake NBC has made is to give Jay Leno five nights a week at 10 p.m. to do his little show. NBC's biggest mistake was to give the Tonight Show to that unfunny and talentless Conan O'brien. It is amazing that Jeff Zucker, who has really turned into the worst programmer of all time, is being allowed by GE to make such boneheaded mistakes.

Leno has been a success in late night. His ratings have remained high and the money has rolled into NBC's coffers. While Leno is no class act like David Letterman, he seems to appeal to the corn fed viewer and that is what makes him a winner.

So why lose him? It seems that if they didn't give Conan the "Tonight Show" by 2009 he would to be free to shop his act around. I'd say, let him go, but NBC saw him as too valuable. In what universe? That little upstart Craig Ferguson over on CBS is a much funnier and a better talent and is beating Conan in the ratings on a regular basis. What is so hot about Conan? Nothing comes to mind.

Even Zucker had to realize that getting rid of Leno was turning out to be one big mistake. Conan was bound to screw up the slot and diminish the late night profit center on a network that was in 4th place. Now Leno could go across town. There was no guarantee that he would be a sucess somewhere else, but he could knock Conan completely out of the game and probably push Letterman into number one. Not that Dave's numbers would go up, it's just that everyone elses would get chopped up.

So how to keep Leno? Enter this hair-brained scheme. Remember NBC is number 4 and not making the big bucks. By placing Leno across the board they don't have to pay for five much more expensive hour long dramas at about 3 million a week each. Leno's show will cost about 2 million a week, saving them at least 13 million dollars a week or over a cool 300 million a year. In the last several years a a lot of the hour long shows (ie:"My Worst Enemy") have done poorly for NBC. Some of dramas have done OK, and they are the shows they will most likely save and move to other time-slots. Five hours of programs will get cancelled. Maybe just 4 since "ER" is through at the end of this year. That's less jobs for people in Hollywood. I guess we are in fact seeing the first of the TV network layoffs.

Remember also that NBC a few years back decided to go with mostly reality shows in the 8 p.m. hour. While they have rolled some of that back you still have fat people losing weight and models opening briefcases. In short NBC is becoming a cable network.

It is said that in 2002 when David Letterman was contemplating a departure from CBS that NBC offered him a deal similar to Jay's but in the 8:00 time slot. Dave turned them down and stayed put at 31 million a year.....1 million more than Jay is getting for this deal.

The biggest part of this crap shoot is that Jay will be up against high rated programs on the other networks not just other talk shows like he is now. I like Jay. He's a great guy, but his "Tonight Show" has been embarrassing and it's amazing that he has done as well as he has with such a poorly executed show. Remember too that in late-night he is number one in a smaller universe with less audience to win over than that of prime-time. Will that be large enough to beat CSI?

Is this the death knell for NBC, the company that invented the network back in the days of radio? Will the Peacock be shot and served at the next Jeff Zucker executive dinner? Tune in to find out.

Where's Our Malcom X?

In honor of "Day a without gay" day today, our good friend and colleque Michael Billy offered up this guest blog.

Throughout December protests were organized across the nation. Gay marriage supporters marched in front of Mormon temples and city halls with signs that read “God hates bigots!” I thought this was going to be our time. Deep down I still hope it will be.

Largely, this depends on the gays. Sorry to say, but the ball is in our court. This “Day without a Gay” thing is little and late. Our community needs to take a few notes from groups like ACT UP and PETA to really create change. Weak and half assed protests like this will only show how disorganized we truly are.

The “Day without a Gay” effort encourages gays and others who oppose the same-sex marriage ban to take off work and volunteer for an advocacy group. The concept mirrors past efforts to have immigrant workers take a day off work to show their economic importance. All of which might work…IF WE WERE ALL ON BOARD!

The idea that a significant number of gays will stay home tomorrow is just ridiculous. Can we all just take a gaze at the history books so we’re all on the same page. The road to equal rights is NOT a yellow brick one Dorothy!” At the VERY least we should be bold enough to protest every catholic church in our communities.

I’m sure “no gay day” will inspire provocative conversation around the water cooler. Hell, it might even open up a few minds when stylists and dance teachers don’t show up to work today. But the effort is weak. If we are not all on board with this protest it will only show weakness. There was a time for diplomacy and a leader like Harvey Milk. That time has passed. Where is our Malcolm X?

It’s been a month since the election and we celebrate how far we have come as a society. As many of us remain shocked at our misconceptions of our neighboring states, we must keep a watchful eye on the last acceptable prejudice. Anyone who uses their own religious “beliefs” as reason to support proposition 8 has the blood of a failed civil rights movement on their hands.

I will not be polite, silent, or cordial. This is a matter of equal civil rights. So Mormons you can take your millions and invest it in some new magic god undies. And to my fellow gays…At the rate we’re going we won’t see rights for another 10 years. Get some balls, stop being polite, and for fucks sake…STOP giving gay awards to straight people because they are nice to you.

The Mormon’s who funded this, the people of California who voted yes, the Catholic church, and ALL who blindly follow silently while disagreeing…there is no question about it, you are responsible. Show some balls.

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU -- MAYBE

This is a contribution by Bruce David, Editorial Director of Hustler Magazine

FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin wants to give Internet providers the ability to put filters on what you can access on the net. It's intended, we are told, to protect children from porn on the Internet. But you already have that ability on your computer, if you buy the necessary software. Why give that power to some super authority that will tell you what you can see? And what guarantee do we have that the government wont decide at some future date to block other things it doesn't want you or me to know about? 

Martin has tied this proposal to plans he is drawing up which would supposedly provide free internet access to consumers. But that's another shell game: The free service would be slower than what you pay a monthly fee for. I suspect this would just be the beginning of a tiered system -- something net providers desperately want -- in which the speed of your net access will depend on how much you pay each month.

As for filters, I'm sure you wouldn't want me deciding what you or your children can view on the net. And I know I don't want you telling me what I can view. So why would I want Kevin J. Martin -- or any government authority -- to have that power over me? It's just a bad idea.

Squeezing OJ

They finally got him behind bars.  OJ Simpson is  going to a Nevada Prison and won't get out at least until he's 70.   We got the little bastard huh?   Are you happy now?   Hey let's face it the man got screwed big time.

Look, I don't know if he killed Nicole and her questionable pal Ron Goldman and neither do you. But in a court of law he was found not guilty and if you believe in the rule of law and our democracy, then you have to assume his innocence.   You have to do it in order to preserve your own rights.

For the 13  years to the day since the Brentwood Massacre, he has lived in a world where all eyes scowled at him because as some would say "We know he was guilty!"  Just how I might ask do you know?   Were you there?   Did you see him with the knife in his hand?   If you didn't then shut the fuck up.   Gut feeling has no place in a democracy.

Let's assume for moment that he did it.   He was found not guilty in a court of law by 12 of his peers.   Yes he had the money to skip the charge, but then there are those who don't and are innocent but haven't the funds to defend themselves against the unlimited financial resources of the state.    Call it "even Steven".   That's the way the system is and sure it needs to be changed but getting even with OJ isn't going to do it.   He played the game fair and square and America got pissed because this time the black guy got away.   You'll never hear a black person say that OJ got away with it, you only hear that from "whitey".

So OJ goes to Vegas for a wedding and comes out a felon.   I do believe those sports memorabilia people were dealing in stolen goods from OJ or at least Fred Goldman who owns most of OJ and his stuff. OK he went a bit overboard but I can sympathize with his reasoning. I think most of us can.   If it was anyone else, the dealers might not even have called the cops.   If it were anyone else they'd be cleaning out bedpans at an old folks home for a thousand hours. If it were anyone else, they would have been found not guilty.

Let's take a small detour.   How about that piece of shit Fred Goldman?   When is he just going to go away?   He's made a career out of OJ.   He even had a short lived TV show off the fame.    I understand someone being traumatized by the death of a son, but come on, this guy isn't doing this for his kid anymore, he's been so mesmerized by the harsh light of fame that he's addicted and probably doesn't even think about the Ron .

There were Fred and his daughter at the sentencing in the courtroom. How did he get in?  They say a lottery.  I say someone fixed the lottery.  Come on, both of them?  With that kind of luck they should hit the tables before leaving Vegas.  There was Fred gloating on the courthouse steps to any camera that would shoot him. Isn't there something wrong about all of this?  Now they are doing a victory lap, showing up this morning at the "Today" show where Meredeth Vierea threw softballs at them and assumed OJ's guilt in the deaths of Nicole and Ron.

Are you happy America?   Are you glad to be a vigilante?   I really don't give a shit about OJ but I do care about justice and how we conduct ourselves.   The outcome and the reaction, it's a sad day for America.