AEE Report: Day Four: Saturday

Missing Camera, Ninn Girls & A Plane Ride Home

I woke up on the last day of AEE knowing that I had a lot to get done. As has been the case for the last few years, I had some family stuff to attend to at home on Saturday night. That would mean that I would miss the AVN Awards, the big after parties and would have to take off on Saturday afternoon. Before heading to the floor I packed up everything and got ready to go. As I packed up my bags I noticed that I was leaving with considerably less than I came with. That has been the case for the past few years. I bring over all of the trophies for the RogReviews Awards as well as a rather big supply of T Shirts. Most of those are given out so I usually have an empty bag for the flight home. In years past that wasn’t the case. Way back when I first started going to these shows I would load up on every autographed slick, free t shirt and porn brochure I could get my hands on. I would regularly come home with an extra bag of stuff. (Easier to do since I always drove back then.) My how things have changed. This time around I got two autographs for myself. Aurora Snow on the Anabolic calendar and one from Gianna Michaels. The other autographs I got were for friends. Come to think of it, I still have those in the office and need to pass them out before I forget.

I hit the floor with no real plan. I wasn’t even sure how long I was going to stick around, but I wanted to try to get as many interviews as possible before heading off to the airport. Shortly after I hit the floor things went downhill in a hurry. After my first stop I noticed that my camera was missing. I went back and looked, but couldn’t find it. Sure I had it when I left the room I started to get a little panicked. It was a brand new camer and had all of my 2008 pictures on it. I also flashed back to 2000 or so when I left my recorder on a counter and it vanished. (With about six interviews on it.) I knew that the camera was probably gone and just tried to focus on getting a few interviews so that the day wouldn’t be a total loss. My first stop was at the Elegant Angel booth where I talked with William H. It’s been a few years since I’ve interviewed him. Things have changed a great deal for William over the years. Now he’s the primary shooter over at Elegant. He took this interview more seriously as well. I think you’ll find it pretty interesting.

I made a stop at the Ninn Worx booth to get Jana Jordan. She is a gorgeous young woman and I kept wishing that I had my camera as I was interviewing her. Between that distraction and the constant running of their trailer for “The Four” I’m not sure I got the best interview ever. I had the same problem with Brea Bennett. The former Club Jenna Girl gave me the last interview of the show. I tried to focus, but was quick to leave as soon as we were done. I wanted to hit the lost and found and see if someone may have found my camera and turned it in. On the way out the door I said good byes to a few people. I made plans to interview Jules Jordan back in LA, perhaps on the same day that I go up and give Mike John his trophies. I also had a few minutes to talk to Tod Hunter (Tod-Hunter.net) though I was in a pretty foul mood and not overly talkative by that point. All I wanted was to get out of there, check the lost and found and curse myself all the way to the airport.

I found the designated lost and found area and just about crapped myself when in fact someone had turned in my camera. I can’t even begin to tell you how floored I was. Not only that, but the guy at the L&F told me the story and it was pretty incredible. Apparently the guy who turned my camera in had seen someone pick it up, chased them down somehow got it from them. I don’t know how you did it, but thank you. If you happen to read this, thank you. And one day I hope you’ll let me buy you a beer or send you some porn or something.

Needless to say my mood improved greatly after that. There wasn’t a lot of time left though so I just took off. I had to get my stuff together and meet Jeff (www.IAFD.com) for our traditional farewell beer. We had it at the slot machines in the Royale this year. I have come to really enjoy our tradition. It is a nice break from the crazed atmosphere on the floor and it always puts things into perspective a bit. We sat and talked about the business, how things have changed over the years and those who are no longer with us. As we did, I threw a five dollar bill into the penny slot machine. By the time we were done I cashed out at forty bucks. Hey, it isn’t a big win, but it paid for the cab ride to the airport and some silly trinkets to bring home.

Twenty years. I’ve been going to these things for twenty years. Here’s to another twenty.