Sundance Channel

The pocket rocket… literally

Em and Lo — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:00:45 +0000

Pocket rocket vibrators have been around forever -- since before sex toys got all fancy and high tech and, you know, effective. But there's a reason the pocket rocket-style vibe has stood the test of time -- it's small and unassuming, but not so small that you wonder why you bothered. It fits easily in your nightstand or, yes, your pocketbook, and it's not likely to give any guy a complex.

Naked news: prosthetic testes that actually work are in the works

Em and Lo — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:00:58 +0000

In sci-fi news, scientists are working on a prosthetic testicle that creates and ejects human sperm for men missing one or both testicles who want to procreate. Yale Sex Week, once banned, is in full swing right now. Ron Paul says abortion is okay only when it’s an “honest rape,” you know, as opposed to all [...]

A comedian that will melt your liberal bleeding heart

Em and Lo — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:00:49 +0000

We both enjoy playing Texas Hold 'Em, but of the two of us, I (Lo) enjoy it a little too much. So much so that when I just need a night away from it all, I go to Foxwoods to play the low limit table with a bunch of 65 year old men, half of whom have a drinking problem, the other half of whom have a gambling problem. It's not as sinful or sexy as Vegas, naturally, but it does the trick.

5 better ways to express your intimacy

Em and Lo — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:00:36 +0000

A recent survey by Pew Internet and the American Life Project found that one in three teens had shared a password (email, Facebook, etc.) with a friend or boyfriend or girlfriend. Apparently sharing your password is the new way to express intimacy, to prove to your partner that you have nothing to hide. Um, hello Facebook hacking! (Aside: Did you know that if you work at Facebook HQ and accidentally leave your FB account logged in when you leave your desk, some jokester colleague will update your status to say that you are pooping? Apparently it's a company tradition.) Anyway. Maybe teens don't have any credit card digits to lose just yet, but identify theft (or even just unauthorized identity borrowing) can suck in junior high too. We hope we don't need to explain what a terrible idea this is.

It’s you, perfected!

Em and Lo — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:00:44 +0000

There are many reasons not to read women's magazines. One of the biggies? All the retouched photos. The genetic mutants we call models and celebrities can beat the shit out your average Jane's self image, but Photoshop can chop it up with chainsaw. This before and after cover of Red Book from a few years ago thanks to Jezebel.com says it all. In fact, Jezebel has made one of their crusades exposing the evils of Photoshop (here's their most recent "unveiling"). One of the funniest commentaries on how fucked up Photoshop is when it comes to setting impossible beauty standards is this recent parody of a beauty product commercial by Jesse Rosten on Vimeo: "Just one application of Fotoshop can give you results so dramatic, they're almost unreal...istic."

Naked News: Cynthia Nixon says being gay is a choice… if you’re bisexual

Em and Lo — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:00:29 +0000

Cynthia Nixon clarifies her controversial quote, explaining that she is gay "by choice" only because she is bisexual by nature.
Heart patients get the go-ahead for sex... so long as it's with their spouse.

High heels are the devil

Em and Lo — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:00:50 +0000

High heels are an essential part of our fashion-glam culture. Finding a pair of flats at last night's SAG Awards was like trying to find a vegan quinoa recipe in a Paula Deen cookbook. More common was the doughnut burger of the shoe world: the 29-inch stiletto like Emma Stone wore. What women will suffer for fashion! Personally, the two of us fall into the more utilitarian camp: while Em has been known to rock a sparkly pump at a party, you'll find her more often than not in the day-to-day dressing up a flow-y, flowery dress with a pair of Converse. And Lo? Nothing comes between her and her Danskos. It may not be pretty, but nothing's more ugly than her mood after 20 minutes in a pair of uncomfortable pumps (are they even called that anymore?). Which is why we always feel high and mighty in our low flats when a new study about the horrors of high heels comes out.

The classy way to give a dirty gift on Valentine’s Day

Em and Lo — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:00:48 +0000

What's a recession-friendly Valentine's Day gift that will always be received gladly? Unilateral oral sex is a pretty good bet. Or perhaps a half-hour massage with no pressure to reciprocate. Or maybe dressing up as a cowboy and doing your best BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN impression. But how do you make such generous sexual offers feel like an actual gift that you planned in advance -- as opposed to a last-minute, oh-shit-I-didn't-make-it-to-the-mall-in-time present? A hand-written promise to talk dirty, unabated, for 20 minutes is kind of sweet (at least, it is if that's your partner's bag), but it can come across as a little half-hearted. A little unofficial, if you will. No witnesses, no signatures in blood, etc.

Want to go to Palm Springs?

Em and Lo — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:00:35 +0000

One of our favorite toy creators, Jimmyjane, has just teamed up with Ace Hotels (in their NYC and Palm Springs locations) to offer guests a room upgrade that includes a Jimmyjane-curated selection of sexy goods, which can be purchased online, at check-in or from Ace’s late-night room service menu. No travel plans to NYC or Palm Springs? Jimmyjane.com is offering several packages that allow you to bring the Ace experience home with you (for example, the $89 "Voyeur" package includes TCHO Drinking Chocolate, a blindfold and cuffs, the French softcore Emmanuelle Collection, a bullet vibe, a feather tickler, Sir Richards condoms, and Good Clean Love lubricant -- kind of an awesome Valentine's Gift, hotel stay or not).

Top 10 dirtier books

Em and Lo — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:00:44 +0000

A few weeks back we jumped on the Twitter hashtag #lessambitiousbooks bandwagon, with a list of our Top 10 Less Ambitious Sex Books (The Joy of Dry Humping, Slight Hangup About Flying, etc.). This time around we figured we'd create our own damn hashtag -- #dirtierbooks -- so that nobody could accuse us of being late to the game. The trick with #dirtierbooks is to be clever without sounding like a cheesy porno (The Da Vinci Load, A Tale of Two Titties, et al). Below are our top 10 best attempts. So, er, anyone want to jump on our bandwagon? (That came out dirtier than we meant it.)

Naked news: Sex and the City, high school cougars, and gaydar

Em and Lo — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:00:59 +0000

High school team can't call themselves the Cougars because of its association with sexually-active, single, middle-aged women.
Speaking of cougars and high school: Sex and the City pre-quel pilot on the CW is a go.

And you thought Mississippi was conservative? Meet Mitt, Ron, Newt, & Rick

Em and Lo — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Women's reproductive rights haven't been this threatened by a group of Republican presidential hopefuls in decades. As Rachel Maddow summarized brilliantly the other night, Rick Santorum, "libertarian" Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Perry have all signed pledges backing the Personhood movement that aims to make all abortions illegal (even in the case of rape and incest) by defining fertilized eggs as people, which would in turn ban most forms of birth control. Mitt Romney hasn't signed anything yet, nor did he attend the Presidential Prolife Forum in South Caroline this past Wednesday like all the others, but he did tell Mike Huckabee last October that he "absolutely" would have supported a personhood amendment to his state's constitution when he was Governor of Massachusetts. Rick Santorum is the only one -- so far -- who's actually said out loud that birth control is "not okay" and is a dangerous problem in this country, but that kind of thinking is basically built into the personhood movement (whether these candidates, who will say anything to appease their religious base, realize it or not). So you know where these guys stand.

Valentine’s Day cards that don’t suck

Em and Lo — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:00:06 +0000

Instead of waiting til the last minute like usual, why not get a jump start on some Valentine's Day card ideas, you know, before Monday, February 13th sneaks up and cupid-arrows you in the ass?

From Someecards, the king of irreverent greetings: e.g. "Sorry the only ring you're wearing this Valentine's Day is a contraceptive in your vagina" (that's just one of 99 hilarious ones)
Five DIY Valentine's Day cards to make with the kids, collated by LilSugar.

Naked News: Girl Scouts stand by their transgender members

Em and Lo — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:00:29 +0000

The Girl Scouts are standing by their transgender-inclusive policy despite a threatened boycott of Girl Scout cookies. Which sounds as good an excuse as any we've heard to over-indulge in Thin Mints this winter.
Pee in Peace iPhone app helps transgender people find the nearest single stall or gender neutral bathroom (in Ithaca, NY, only so far... but they have hopes to expand!).

THE IDES OF MARCH: awesome except for that unnecessary retro plot twist

Em and Lo — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:00:26 +0000

Before we get going, you need to know that this post contains monstrously huge plot spoilers for THE IDES OF MARCH. We're not joking -- scroll down at your peril. * * * The trouble is, it's kind of hard to talk about THE IDES OF MARCH (out today on DVD, it was nominated but totally -- unfairly -- shut out at the Golden Globes on Sunday night) without spoiling the plot, because one of the major story lines -- which is nowhere in any of the trailers, for once -- is meant to be a huge crazy surprise.

The slow but (hopefully) steady erosion of our gender stereotypes

Em and Lo — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:00:22 +0000

For our book club, we're reading the 2003 novel "We Need to Talk About Kevin" by Lionel Shriver.* I, Lo, knowing nothing about the book or its author, began reading and was amazed that a male author could create a female narrator that sounded so authentic and convincing, especially regarding childbirth and motherhood. That is, until halfway through the book when I happened to catch a glimpse of the author photo on the inside back flap: turns out Lionel is a woman.

The obvious player vs. the faux-sensitive guy

Em and Lo — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:00:50 +0000

Sexuality educator Charlie Glickman, who runs the education programs at Good Vibrations (in other words, he's got serious Sensitive Guy chops), recently published an article on his blog called "Confessions of a Former Sensitive New Age Guy." He consciously chose to become a S.N.A.G. back in college, and his motives were initially quite pure: he was a waif of a guy who couldn't figure out how to be a manly dude and so he went for the opposite extreme. Also, after a female friend of his made him follow ten feet behind her while she walked down a sidewalk (to witness the catcalling, etc.), he "decided that if men were causing so much pain to so many people, the ethical response would be for me to become the opposite of that." But a funny thing happened once he became a fully-fledged S.N.A.G.: he started getting laid more. A lot more. And once that happened, he began to lose sight of why he was being such a decent dude in the first place.

Naked news: the frothy mixture edition

Em and Lo — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:00:38 +0000

With Santorum's recent surge in the polls, it's important to take time out to remind ourselves what a crazy sex-police zealot he is:

Writing about Santorum's "Google problem," a New York Times writer says Dan Savage's prank was in response merely to the senator's opposition to gay marriage, so Dan Savage sets him straight (try Santorum's comparison of homosexuality to bestiality and child rape); the writer corrects his mistake.
On Funny or Die, Dan Savage comedically threatens to change the definition of the name "Rick" if Santorum doesn't agree to stop attacking gay people during his campaign.

Stuff you should know about orgasms

Em and Lo — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:00:11 +0000

We're always on the look-out for free podcasts to fill the interminable gaps between new episodes of This American Life and RadioLab, and one of our new favorites is the Stuff You Should Know podcast from HowStuffWorks.com. The hosts, Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant, are funny and smart and just the right amount of nerdy, and their meandering conversations cover everything from how Alcatraz works to how silly putty works. If you're used to the tightly edited style of, say, This American Life, their loosey-goosey style will take a bit of getting used to. But unlike those high-budget shows, this one is updated every few days. So anyway, we were thrilled to hear the recent episode, "What happens in the brain during an orgasm."

“The first dating site for humans”

Em and Lo — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:00:41 +0000

It seems like just yesterday the two of us were out on the fire escape of the Nerve.com office, smoking (smoking!) and coming up with the profile questions for the original Nerve Personals (you may remember "______ is sexy; ______ is sexier"). The Nerve Personals had a meteoric rise, signing up affiliate partners like Salon and The Onion left and right. It was so successful, it spun itself off into a purely personals company called Spring Street Networks. But what goes up must come down: the personals network was eventually sold to Friend Finder long after we'd gone and the whole thing just seemed to fizzle out, at least on Nerve's end.

Top 10 less ambitious sex books

Em and Lo — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:00:28 +0000

We're suckers for a good Twitter hashtag -- they can make everyone feel like a stand-up comedian for a few minutes (not to mention giving us all a break from reading what our colleagues ate for breakfast). We particularly loved the #lessambitiousbooks hashtag that was trending this week, and of course we jumped on the bandwagon, finding ourselves hilarious @EMandLO. We were planning on publishing a round-up of our favorite sex- and love-related entries found on Twitter, but as it turned out, we had more fun coming up with our own. So here are our top 10 less ambitious sex (or sexy) books:

Naked News: sci-fi sex, tantric sex, hobbit sex, no-pre-nup sex…

Em and Lo — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:00:30 +0000

A sci-fi themed brothel will open in Nevada soon. Apparently somebody there got the crazy idea that sci-fi nerds need a little help getting laid.
2012 ushers in same-sex civil unions in Hawaii and Delaware.
But here's one reason not to tie the knot: Gay and lesbian couples pay thousands more in taxes, study finds.

Puritan mating rituals & a free monologue for a new year

Em and Lo — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:00:45 +0000

This morning our inbox had an email from Mike Daisey titled "A free monologue for a new year." Daisey is the writer, director, ex-Amazon employee best known for his extemporaneous monologues. He just performed a sold-out show at Boston University's Huntington Theatre on New Year's Eve as part of Boston's First Night festivities. What caught our eye in the description of the monologue was the "elaborate mating rituals" of New England Puritans (of course), but what kept our attention was the mention of advice for having a New Year's Eve that doesn't suck -- humanity's eternal dilemma. Admittedly we haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but anything that makes fun of Boston in the first two minutes can't be half bad. Here's the set up from Daisey:

“Bounce That Dick,” feminist or not?

Em and Lo — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:00:22 +0000

When we were sent a link to the new YouTube video "Bounce That Dick" on the Jenna Marbles channel, we didn't know what to expect: some kind of safe-for-work sexual technique advice video by a porn star turned educator? Then, during the first 30 seconds, our hopes were raised, as the young "blogger and entertainer" began a rap parody, stating with much braggadocio, "I've been told since the day I started growing pubes to shake my ass. Well, guess what, my ass is fucking tired as shit. This time it's your turn to wiggle your man junk for me. I wanna see you shake your muthafuckin penis, bitch."

A rewrite-the-ending-contest to affect social change

Em and Lo — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:03:24 +0000

Through our friend, Lynn Harris, writer, co-creator of Breakup Girl, and now communications strategist for something called Breakthrough, we heard about a "Rewrite the Ending" contest (which ended last month):

Show of hands- How many of you wish that: - Andy (Pretty in Pink) had ended up with Ducky? - After Willy dies (Death of a Salesman), his wife gets a great sales job without having to play the "poor widow" card? - When Simran's father finally releases her hand (Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge), she runs for the train to Goa and finds happiness on her own? - Ariel (Little Mermaid) had kept her voice and won American Idol. In other words: How often have you been enjoying a book, movie, play, or TV episode...when all of a sudden things take a turn for the sexist, misogynist, needlessly violent, or worse? Have you ever wished you could jump into a story, shout at the characters, grab the pen (or keyboard) of the writer, and make it turn out the way you think it should?

Of course we have! So I (Lo) entered the contest (you could do it via Twitter, Facebook or email, from 140 characters up to a couple hundred words). Here was my entry:

The (Bisexual) Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Em and Lo — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:00:54 +0000

In a review of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (the new U.S. version starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara), the US Weekly critic Mara Reinstein writes of Lisbeth Salander, "The brazenly bisexual, leather-clad, withdrawn title heroine..." Wait -- brazenly what? What does it even mean to be brazenly bisexual?

Toward a 2012 peace treaty in the battle of the sexes

Em and Lo — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 18:00:03 +0000

As you may have noticed (we're not exactly subtle on this point), we don't buy the idea that men are from Mars, women are from Venus, and shuttles between the two are infrequent at best. We tend to think that women and men are a lot more alike than rumor (or headline) has it -- especially when it comes to sex and love. But this is not to say that men and women are alike in all matters of love and lust. We'll even go so far as to admit that some of the cliches about the gulf between men and women turn out to be true.

The top 10 sex scandals of 2011

Em and Lo — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:00:59 +0000

It's the most top-10-list time of year! And we're not even going to try to resist its allure. 2011 was no stranger to sex scandals (is any year?). Most were political and/or not really all that surprising. And so, without further ado: photo of DSK graffiti via Flickr 1. DSK
2. Shirtless congressman on Craigslist
3. Arnold's love child

Did Mariah Carey invent the sexy Santa look?

Em and Lo — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:00:59 +0000

Earlier this week on our site, we asked our Wise Guys what was up with the sexy Santa lingerie thing. Which naturally led us to thinking about Mariah Carey, and how she basically owns the entire sexy Santa category, not to mention the sub-category of soft-core porn Santa. We know she didn't exactly invent the look -- scantily clad Santa's helpers have been around for decades, and someone saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus years ago -- but she's made it her own again... and again... and again (Google-image-search "Sexy Mariah Santa" if you can handle even more).

Naked News: Rogue sperm donation, teen group sex, and the end of marriage

Em and Lo — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:00:58 +0000

A man who donates his sperm to women and couples he meets online faces federal charges (a $100,000 fine or up to a year in prison) for not doing blood tests every time.
CDC study shows that the HPV vaccine doesn't make teens promiscuous. Yeah, we know: shocking.
Fewer than half of U.S. adults are currently married, which is a record low. Cue a thousand "End Of Marriage?" headlines.

Gift guides for that special someone, whoever they may be

Em and Lo — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:00:18 +0000

After your dad, your significant other is the most difficult person in the world to buy presents for. After all there’s so much pressure — you want it to strike the right note, convey your love, perhaps your desire, show just how well you know them, and at the same time be a surprise. So [...]

Why all articles about sex use a photo of feet sticking out from the covers

Em and Lo — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:00:59 +0000

While doing a little internet research, our intern Alyssa came across this article from the Telegraph UK entitled "Average Man Has 9 Sexual Partners in Lifetime, Women Have 4" accompanied by a photo like one of those above. Next to the link she sent, Alyssa wrote: "Random Side Note: Why do they always use photos of feet sticking out of a bed for these sex stories? Who has sex with cold feet like that? Doesn’t it make anyone else feel comfortable staring at these random people’s feet? Seriously!" It's a legitimate (and funny) question.

On feminism, high school and sex — and what Occupy can teach us about all three

Em and Lo — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:00:38 +0000

Illustration via ROOKIE MAG "It’s not easy, in this world, to learn how to navigate our anger and attraction, to learn how to be strong, sexual women and kind, gentle men." This is a quote from our friend Michelle Chihara's essay, "Pieces of the Past," published this week on her blog This Blue Angel. On the surface this essay is a response, a clarification of sorts, to an essay the filmmaker Miranda July -- Michelle's former high school classmate -- published on the teen website Rookie, about what she calls her feminist action, twenty years ago. But at its heart Michelle's essay is about feminism, activism, sympathy, motherhood, adulthood, sex, sexuality... you know, the little things. Let's rewind a little: Miranda July's essay describes how a boy at their high school made an announcement in assembly: “Someone spilled their Coke on my BMW. If this happens again I’m going to be forced to sue for damages. Keep your hands off my car.” In other words, he was a rich asshole -- either that or he did a pretty good impression of one.

Naked news: Islamic cleric bans women from touching bananas, et al

Em and Lo — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:00:30 +0000

In "I Can't Believe It's Not a Joke" news, an Islamic cleric bans women from touching bananas and cucumbers to avoid them having sexual thoughts.
Mint.com's "page not available" page has a kinda funny personal ad.

And you thought your last date was bad

Em and Lo — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:00:22 +0000

Sometimes you have to date someone for months before the crazy comes out. And then other times, you receive a 1,600 word email after a disastrous first date that accuses you of leading the person on because you played with your hair, you made a lot of eye contact, and you said "Nice to meet you" at the end of the evening. We're going to have to rethink our first-date advice now, because we've always told people that if you're not planning on calling someone, then don't say "I'll call you" and never call -- instead just say, at the end of the date, "It was nice to meet you," and leave it at that. We figured that was the international standard for, "Have a nice life." Apparently one investment banker didn't get the memo. Of course, this 1,600 word email could be a fake. (Backstory: "Lauren" went to the Philharmonic alone, met "Mike" there, and they went on one date, after which she didn't return his calls, so he Googled her email address and sent her the below letter.) But we've received thousand of emails over the years from people who are sad/mad/heartbroken/crazy about love -- and this one reads like real-life crazy to us. Here's the letter in full -- we'll let you decide:

And now for something truly mortifying: overwrought teenage anti-choice poetry

Em and Lo — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:00:33 +0000

Embarrassing diary entries, old yearbook photos, junior high love letters -- it's all fun and games until someone breaks out their unhinged teenage anti-choice poetry.

Nice holiday-themed toys for the naughty adult in your life

Em and Lo — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:00:48 +0000

When it comes to giving your significant O a holiday gift, slippers are great, but sex toys are better. As long as you make quality, beauty and safety your main priorities, you can’t go wrong with a pleasure object (unless you’re in a relationship with a religious neo-con, i.e. one of the few ones who don’t have a secret gimp suit hidden under their bed). Here are some suggestions that are particularly festive:

Car crash sex on TV

Em and Lo — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:00:52 +0000

We recently ran a post on EMandLO.com about television shows with hot sex scenes, but if we're being honest, the stuff that really floats our boats is the hilarious, cringe-worthy stuff that just seems a lot more realistic -- after all, sex is often awkward, full of miscommunication, with some head bonking and disappointment, maybe tears. Which is why we loved, loved, LOVED last night's episode of New Girl on Fox. We'll admit, we were pretty eh about the pilot -- it was close, but no cigar. So we never scheduled a second date with the show. But a friend encouraged us to give it another chance last night and we are so glad we did -- because we can't remember the last time we laughed so hard, especially not from of a television show (we're talking tears and stomach pain). Not to get your hopes up, but it's one of the best sex scenes we've ever seen on TV* -- it should win an Emmy. We liked it so much, we went online so we could watch the earlier "penis" episode (officially titled "Naked"), which also did not disappoint. Oh, if only the same could be said for sex.

Naked News: Teen sexting “epidemic”? Turns out we should all chillax

Em and Lo — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:30:19 +0000

Here's something to LOL about: A new study shows that the whole teen sexting thing was -- shocker -- largely media hype, and that only 1% of kids age 10-17 have texted an explicit picture of themselves. And a million teens roll their eyes and say "We told you so."
Speaking of overreacting: Turns out that the trope that "men think about sex every 7 seconds" is total bull (Again: shocking, we know.) Actual research shows that men think about sex, on average, 18.6 times a day -- and for women the average is 9.9 times a day. Not exactly the distance from Mars the Venus, right? For comparison: men think about food almost 18 times a day (and women almost 15 times a day).

When sex and merchandise don’t mix

Em and Lo — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:00:07 +0000

The only thing worse than sex being used to sell products that have nothing to do with sex is when sex is actually put into a product in some way when it shouldn't be. Below are four sex product fails - don't even think about them as potential holiday gifts, not even stocking stuffers. You've been warned:

Bacon Lube: J&D's wants the world to taste like bacon, so they made bacon salt, and baconnaise, bacon ranch and even bacon lip balm. So we guess it was only a matter of time before they made bacon lube. They say it started out as an April Fool's prank but then got so many requests that they had to follow through with bacon-flavored personal lubricant and massage oil. Fortunately, it's only available for a limited time.
Erotic Energy Drinks: As if Red Bull weren't bad enough - Big Cock cola and Little Pussy passion fruit drink are now available in Las Vegas. Of course they are.

Super sketchy but awesome condom campaign of the week

Em and Lo — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:00:22 +0000

We've all had our share of dubious Facebook friend requests - that regrettable one night stand you'd almost succeeding in forgetting, your former therapist, your ex, your mom. But what about a Facebook request from your unborn child? A bunch of guys in Brazil were recently friend-requested by babies with their own name, plus the "Jr." suffix. It turns out that these friend requests were actually from a condom company.

Today is World AIDS Day

Em and Lo — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:00:26 +0000

Today marks "the beginning of the end of AIDS":

"Getting to Zero" is the theme of the UNAIDS efforts (the joint United Nations program on AIDS/HIV).
Bono was on The Daily Show last night promoting his activist organization, One, and his fundraising one, Red.
Add a patch to the One and Red campaigns' 2015 Quilt, pledging to buy at least one Red gift this holiday season, and you'll get to choose one of The Killers six consecutive Christmas songs benefiting Red for free.

Naked news: why normal looking porn stars are a threat

Em and Lo — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:00:01 +0000

Why porn that women actually like (i.e. with normal looking guys like James Dean, above) makes men so uncomfortable.
Does success as an artist bring you more sexual conquests? Yes and no, say researchers.

Raleigh Baptist church holds out for gay marriage in North Carolina

Em and Lo — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:00:03 +0000

A few years back we went on a cross country road trip to promote our first book, The Big Bang. We knew that we'd find dirty minds (i.e. eager book buyers) in places like San Francisco and Portland, but we couldn't believe how kinky things got in Raleigh, NC! One guy asked us to spank him with his copy of our book after signing it, and someone else asked us to inscribe a book to their partner who was "tied up" at home (quite literally, it turned out). Later, at the bar (and this was a chic cheese and wine spot, mind you) someone grabbed his partner's boob right in front of us, and a long time reader gifted us with one of his company's gorgeous glass dildoes. All of us which is to say, we were thrilled but not entirely shocked to read recently that a Baptist church in Raleigh just announced that they will not perform any legal wedding ceremonies until North Carolina accepts same-sex marriage...

What if your sex ed teacher actually wanted you to enjoy sex?

Em and Lo — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:00:52 +0000

We were big fans of Laurie Abraham even before she stopped by our book club and drank red wine with us while we interrogated her about her book, The Husbands and Wives Club: A Year in the Life of a Couples' Therapy Group. She's a smart and thoughtful (and funny) writer about some of our favorite topics: sex, relationships, therapy, communication between the sexes, monogamy and its discontents. So we were thrilled to see her cover story in last week's New York Times Magazine, on another of our favorite topics: sex ed (and not the abstinence-only kind, thank you very much)...

Fucking James Franco

Em and Lo — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:00:59 +0000

For those who don't follow our Monday Kickstarter best-of's, Kickstarter.com is a funding platform for music, film, art, technology, design, food, publishing and other creative projects. If a project doesn't reach its stated funding goal before time runs out, no money changes hands. One art project that just met its $2,000 goal before its closing date this coming Saturday, thanks to over 100 backers, is "Fucking James Franco," a collection of erotic fantasies about the art world's golden boy (read: annoying dude) "that the world desperately needs," produced by Portland-based Social Malpractice Publishing and Container Corps Art Press.

Naked News: Female gamers have more sex

Em and Lo — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:00:31 +0000

Study shows that female online gamers have - gasp! - more sex than women who don't play games. Also, more than half of online gamers are women. (We're assuming the researchers checked to make sure the respondents weren't teen boys pretending to be sexed up women!)
Stephen King nominated for this year's Bad Sex Award in the U.K.
Study shows regular sex may be the key to seniors' happiness. Also, food makes them not feel hungry and water helps quench their thirst.

How different are girls’ and boys’ brains?

Em and Lo — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:00:54 +0000

It's a favorite question of ours...okay, of mine (i.e. Lo's), and my personal answer is that yes, there are differences, but not as many or as great as our culture presumes. The bias we have as a society actually influences the development of boys' and girls' brains (which are elastic) so significantly as they grow that by the time they're adults there's much more difference than there would be if we lived in a more egalitarian, less Men-Are-From-Mars world. In other words, it's a self-fullfilling prophecy. So while there are differences, we would do better to celebrate our similarities, or at least our potential for overlapping skills and desires and tendencies, so that both sexes don't feel limited by narrow gender roles...

Write a haiku, win a sex toy

Em and Lo — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 18:00:03 +0000

Over on our home base blog we're running a contest to give away the Oden, a brand new, luxury, wireless remote-controlled, vibrating couples' ring from Lelo. But we figured, hey, the holidays are upon us, why not spread the (potential for) love and open it up to all you fabulous SUNfiltered readers? The Oden is part of Lelo's new Insignia line of pleasure objects that allows you or your partner to control the sensations wirelessly with just the tilt of a hand. Yes, iPhone and Wii technology has finally made it into your bedroom. It goes for $179 - so here's your chance to score big with little effort and zero cash!

What the Dutch can teach us about sex

Em and Lo — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:00:43 +0000

No, we're not talking about the relative appeal of sex in clogs. We've long sung the praises of Holland's approach to sex, and, in particular, its approach to sex education. Holland has results that we can all agree are worth aspiring to (even bat shit crazy Michele Bachmann).