I want lots of pictures and a full detailed report please.

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Dick Fittswell

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SQUID

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The limo driver somehow didn't realize he needed to get me, besides the Lyons (who wondered where I was), so I sat around baggage claim for 30 minutes, before finally getting in touch with Chrissy with Elegant Angel, who arranged for a ride for me. Then there were the cretins at the hotel (Elegant Angel has arranged for really nice suites for us), who moved me into another room after I settled into my first one. Now the Lyons and I are waiting to be picked up by Mason, who is taking us out to dinner.

Chrissy hasn't said anything to me yet about interviewing Austin O'Reilley, but I'm keeping my hopes up...

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Damn, you get to see Mason in action!!!!!!!!!

Den

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Just wanted to update everyone. After a lengthy, and very welcome conversation with Speelie this afternoon--where much porn and personal tidbits were discussed, we went out to dinner with several members of Elegant Angel's crew. Those in attendance included Patrick Collins, Mason, Axel Braun, Parker Schoeman, several other Elegant members who's names escape me right now, and even a beautiful and all around nice girl named Anne Marie (who will be signing at the Elegant Angel booth in Vegas). Mmmmmm, Anne Marie. One of my favorites. Gosh she's pretty.

Anyway, for those of you who don't know, I arranged for my wife to come along on the trip to Elegant if we paid for her plane ticket. We did, and she's accompanied me and Speelie on the adventure.

The dinner this evening was wonderful. Several conversations happened throughout the evening, many of them at the same time. I was not privy to everything, but Speelie talked alot with Axel Braun, and I talked alot with Parker Schoeman (as he is apparantly in charge of DVD quality control as well as being a director), Mason, and Patrick Collins.

Among the topics we discussed were:

--Elegant Angel DVD quality, the old vs. the new
--Production and lighting quality in front of the camera.
--What we like to see in porn (from all three perspectives)
--Who's shooting the best whole package (content, transfer, extras, etc.) now, and why?
--Some personal histories and stories.
--Porn from the woman's perspective.
--The agenda for day two -- they want to hear what they're doing wrong.

It wasn't an organized meeting--it was merely an informal (and delicious) dinner where everyone got to meet and get acquainted. Because of lack of sleep, Speelie developed a headache and wasn't at 100%, but he's every bit the smart and articulate porn fan that he has proven to be in writing. I hope he feels better tomorrow. We will all reconvene at the Elegant Angel offices tomorrow at 1pm (west coast time) and watch some stuff, talk porn, and hopefully give them some worthwhile feedback.

Saturday we will watch Mason shoot a scene, which at the very least, should be fascinating experience. I'm hoping to get some one on one time with Mason so I can talk with her, but with her shooting schedule and our visit schedule, I'm not sure it will happen.

That's all for now. She'll probably be embarrased that I'm saying this, but for those of you who are wondering, Mason is indeed not sore on the eyes. :) But don't expect to be actually seeing her undisguised picture any time soon. She doesn't seem too keen on that. Meeting Anne Marie in person was pretty cool--and my desire to sneak the occasional stare at her provided welcome periods of distraction during the course of the dinner.

More tomorrow.

Mike L.

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Can't wait to hear what else you have learnt whilst you are there!!

Good stuff!

SQUID

With Harry Pothead playing SQUIDDITCH!!!

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Mike hit the high points, but I can verify that Mason is indeed quite lovely in person, almost looking like she could have been a cheerleader in high school, and not too long ago. Her brother William H. is also very nice, and apparently is truly as demented (in a benign way) as his onscreen persona. I hope I am right that his craziness will translate better when applied to a whole movie than the the DVD extras.

Our dinner was at a very nice Italian restaurant, and it is true, I couldn't fully enjoy it because of a nasty headache brought on by sleep deprivation and a LONG day. BTw, Steph, I did pass along your hug to Mitzi, thoughwe were separared by some distance, so it was more in spirit than anything else.

Axel Braun told some good stories, which I shouldn't repeat, but an interesting one involved his rescue of Sylvia Lancome from a life of near prostitution, after her boyfriend brought her to Italy and took away her passport. This was a couple of years ago, and when he met her again, he was surprised at her transformation into Sex Goddess Miss Afghanisan.

Axel's date was the lovely andtalented Anne Marie, after whom I've lusted ever since seeing Up N Cummers 99. I also enjoyed her in Service Animals 10, and one of Tyce Beach Bunnies with Big Brown Eyes titles (#11?). I somehow expected her to be taller, but she's just 5'4" of loveliness. It was a great pleasure speaking with her, and especially to discover that she doesn't smoke (my kind of girl!).

I wonder what the waitstaff thought, as all of the many conversations at our table involved discussions of getting naked and fucking. I'm afraid that I can't repeat most of what I learned, as not just Axel was off the record, but my foggy head became crystal clear for a moment at the end, when Anne Marie was nice enough to pose with me for some photos that Mr. Braun shot with my camera. I hope they turn out well enough to post (and i mean on ADT, not just on my bedroom ceiling ;-)) I was asleep early after a busy day, and I think I had some naughty dreams involving Mason, who could have a future in front of the camera if only she wanted it...

Mason is picking us up again in a couple of hours for more fun and adventures at the Elegant Angel headquarters, I'm sure Mike and I will have more to add later.

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And just to throw in my two cents: They gots to get rid of the photo galleries on their dvds, and they gots to add the extras we all want to see, extra scenes(maybe not full scenes, but the cumshot has to be in there), bloopers, interviews, and trailers. We don't want to see a guy with fucking shaving cream all over his face singing a song about porn and interviewing a dog. And we don't want to see "twisted pics" of the sex that have been digitally altered.

I do really like the Red and the white dvd cases that Elegant Angel uses, they're good.

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I really hope that Elegant does, these are two knowledgable porn fans, (oops, three) who could give some good insight.

MLyons or Speelie, could you see about my copy of Big Bottom Sadie that I exchanged, lol.

Anywho sounds great, be sure to bring the pictures that you're taking to Vegas, I'd love to see 'em.

---BIGmike, going and going and going since MCMLXXX---

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Then Tony gave us a tour of the Elegant Angel offices, and we got to see some editing in progress, the stacks of VHS and DVD in the warehouse, and Patrick Collins' office. There we studied the picture quality of the latest DVDs, and worked with Patrick and Mason on a detailed breakdown of the details going on in a couple of her scenes. It was my first exposure to her work, and it impressed me with the visison that went into it, even if the particular scenes were not precisely to my taste.

Later, Axel Braun showed us raw footage of Sylvia Lancome, Lenka, Vanessa (cover girl Just Over 18 #4) and Tarzan from his upcoming release Seduction. We actually discussed most of the points that rutigar brought up (about extras) with Patrick and the rest of his crew (Mason,Tony, Parker, Axel, William H. & Britton), and now that Elegant Angel has moved up to DVD-9 format, they intend to add commentaries, more behind the scenes, perhaps some cumshot recaps, and similar things.

During all this came a personal highlight. Steve Holmes and Manuel Ferrara stopped by to check on shooting schedules, and so we got to talk with them. I've known Steve online for a few months, and it was good for both of us to meet face to face. Manuel was just like his onscreen personality, friendly, charming and a little shy. Steve was also just as he seemed in behind the scenes moments. They are in Los Angeles for a while, and have a lot of work lined up, so we'll be seeing them frequently in upcoming USA produced movies.

Patrick signed the new Big Bottom Sadie DVD9 for us, and then Mason dropped us off at our hotel. Hopefully she is to be shooting a scene on Saturday, and if so, we'll be on the set. The Elegant Angel folks are very nice, and they are aware of the concerns we (everyone on ADT) raise, even if it isn't always easy to address these things. I pointed out to Patrick that much of their recent product if far more interesting that what the company was releasing a few years ago, so they have already made strides, and if this sounds like butt-kissing, well, I still need them to bring me to the airport on Sunday!

More tomorrow...

Edited by - speelie on 12/7/2002 12:38:17 AM

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Plus, I've been hearing so many good things by so many people about Mason, that I'm going to begin checking out her work immediately, starting with the above title.

And one other thing, Patrick. Some people have questioned your sincerity about wanting to genuinely get in touch with what porn fans want in order to make your products the best that they can be. For many reasons, such as your inviting one of the toughest porn journalists (Jimmy D) around to visit Elegant Angel and critique it, as well as your inviting two very knowledgeable ADT representatives to evaluate your company and recommend improvements, there is no doubt in my mind that you are sincere in what you're doing.

Pontus

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On the other hand, if we read about the orgy the Elegant Angel sets up, and in which the three of them participate before heading home...then all bets are off.

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After Speelie came over to our room in the morning, we visited for a couple hours before Chrissy picked us up. The In 'n' Out Burger was indeed a welcome site for us who haven't had the pleasure in several years. Like Speelie said, it really scratched an itch all of us had.

During our tour of the warehouse, offices, and editing rooms given by Tony, we saw some raw footage of one of Mason's new scenes for either Dirty Trixxx #2 or Necessary Roughness in the editing room. It was of the sort that I would expect of Mason, and both peaked my interest, and stirred my apprehension just as much of her work does.

There was a lot of informal, yet very valid discussion about various topics that happened between me Speelie and Patrick at various times throughout the day. Of the topics discussed in these more organic conversations were the Elegant Angel Box covers. He showed us a new box cover that was being developed that day for one of the Hardcore Innocence Titles (don't remember the number), and to me it was very interesting, and like Pontus said in a previous post, a definite step in the right direction in comparison to what we have been seeing from Elegant Angel lately. We also saw the box covers for Internally Yours #3 (posted above by Pontus) and Heavy Handfuls #2, both of which were apparently done by William H. and both of which are a vast improvement in my mind--bringing back focus and interest to boxcovers that previously had lost both.

One of my main crusades when coming out here was to discuss their new use of the DVD9 format. I had seen Sodomania 38 Special before I came out, which is one of the first titles they released on DVD9. Aside from the fact that it didn't play on my stand alone DVD player at all, (I had to play it in my DVDROM), the picture quality still suffered the same pixelation and compression problems that I'd seen on previous Elegant Angel titles. The Elegant Angel crew were very interested in trying to understand why I felt this way, and what I was seeing. They got the disc out and put it in a player, and we watched some of it. I pointed out my concerns, and expressed my deep frustration with how bad the picture was--that the clarity and detail that can be afforded with a higher bitrate transfer and better compression ratios to a higher capacity DVD9 disc was not present on this disc. It looked to me like they were simply authoring the movie for DVD in the EXACT same way they were before with the DVD5 discs--not taking advantage of the extra space afforded by a DVD9 disc except with some extras. My guess is that although they are using the higher capacity dual layer discs, they are not filling that disc to capacity by changing their authoring techniques--and therefore still seeing the same artifacting and bluriness that have plagued their discs ever since they came out. By the end of the afternoon, I think they started to grasp the problem, and I think they at least acknowledged that they saw what I was talking about. I admit, I might be being picky, but I've always maintained that I believe Elegant Angel shoots good sex, but their presentation of that sex leaves a great amount to be desired. Speelie didn't seem to be with me on this though, and aside from some concerns detailed in the next paragraph, he thought the picture was fine--does anyone else feel the way I do? Does anyone else see the things I'm talking about here--or am I just being a geeky picture snob? Direct comparison in terms of transfer and pixelation between the best looking Evil Angel titles and the latest Elegant Angel titles is like night and day in my eyes, and I told them as much. Anyone agree with me?

In keeping with that, Speelie and I also mentioned that in general, we didn't think that the girls were made to look their best in Elegant Angel's work. Not to make comparisons, but this is why Evil Angel is so damn good--outstanding tease footage, with outstanding girls where it is clear that a fair amount of time went into their wardrobe, makeup, and hair. This attention to bringing out the best in the girls is seriously lackiing at Elegant Angel. Not only the girls suffer, but often times, so does the lighting and the locations they choose. These things along with the clarity of the video itself make a huge difference in terms or the average porn fan's enjoyment of the work--whether conscious or subconscious.

To be fair, though, when Speelie, my wife and I were given the chance to see bits and pieces of Axel Braun's Seductions in the editing room on digital video tape, what I saw were great looking girls, really nice lighting, a fucking beautiful picture and some very interesting and erotic sex. This means to me that for this movie at least, the raw materials ARE there--if they can get a good transfer onto DVD they're going to release something that's very good. If Patrick, Mason and the other new EA directors are likewise able to find a better balance between their vision and some more aesthetically pleasing production elements, this could be a good sign.

Before I ramble on too long, I'll wind down and mention a couple smaller things. A number of people have asked me to mention to Patrick that there is great interest in a re-release of Gangbang Angels #1 in its original uncut state. When I mentioned it to him, he said that he had been contacted a number of times about that himself. He mentioned that he would try calling Stephanie Swift and get her feelings on the subject, and go from there. No promises were made, but he at least paid some lip service to the idea, and he may actually make it happen. I have no interest in the original uncut Gangbang Angels, but since a number of people asked, I made a point of mentioning it.

To answer BIGmike's question, EA JUST received the new Big Bottom Sadie this week. So, although I didn't ask specifically about you BIGmike, I expect they will be making the exchanges soon. Speelie, Mrs. Lyons and I saw a bit of the behind the scenes footage on the title and loved what we saw--real glimpses into the personalities of the performers. I'm excited to watch the rest, but I'm afraid that the DVD quality improvement that I was hoping for may not be there this time. I'll make a direct comparison between the old release and the new one later, but hopefully given some time they'll be able to work out those problems and give us a nice clear picture in their future titles.

That's more than enough for now.

Mike L.

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It's interesting read about it. And brilliant that Elegant Angel are so keen to respond to fans and to make a better product. I think some other companies could learn from this. Great to hear you met all those interesting people too. As I've said before, make sure you get Steve Holmes to pick your lottery numbers, the lucky bugger that he is.

More info eagerly anticipated! Any pix?

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Ron

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Druber

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Sadly, there was no shoot today, as the various possible talent were not able to come together (so to speak), so we did the next best thing to watching porn being made, we simply cut out the middle persons and watched some porn. Mason showed us a killer Judy Star scene from her new Internally Yours 3 (codirected by William H.), and then we saw a scene from the test pressing of Heavy Handfuls 2 (William H.'s solo debut, but Mason worked second camera). This was a fine moment involving Filipina Loni, and as with the Judy scene, it involved an interesting twist to set it apart from the normal.

We also watched some Evil Angel stuff, so that they could compare the DVD transfer of Service Animals 11 with Elegant Angel's stuff, and we also watched part of Rocco's Initiations 5 on VHS. Mike and I had hyped this movie to everyone at Elegant Angel as an example of what really turned us on, an example of the dynamics that get us off.

I'm happy to report that all through this weekend, everyone at Elegant Angel was constantly emphasizing the importance to them of seeing female pleasure portrayed on the screen. This may not have mattered to some of their past directors, other than Patrick Collins, but it is of prime interest to the current crop of shooters. Parker Schurman showed us some raw footage of Ashley Blue and Roxanne Hall with Manuel Ferrara, from his upcoming release Slave Dolls, and it was amazing. I'm convinced Patrick Collins must have waited to hold this promotional visit at a time when his company had prime material available either in the new releases or in the production pipeline. His company has come a long way quickly, now that they have a roster of directors who focus more on the interaction between performers than on simply presenting the routine positions and acts. Honestly, I'm much more impressed with what I've been shown than I ever expected to be, and the employees we spoke with assured us that this vibe of sexual energy wasn't found with most of their past employers. It is noteworthy that a pretty lady like Mason is just one of the guys, not a caricature like Lizzy Borden at Extreme (or has she been kicked out too?).

I think this trip has been a great success in every way intended. I learned a lot, they learned a lot, and I'm here spreading good will for Elegant Angel. I'm very excited about their recent releases and upcoming titles, and I fully expect to see independent reviews in the coming months to confirm my enthusiasm.

In concluding, let me officially offer my thanks to Patrick Collins, Tony, Parker, Axel, Britton, and Chrissy. Extra special thanks go out to Mason, who was our shepherd and guide these past few days, and I also thank the Lyons for being such good company (and for the use of this computer). Happy viewing to all!

Edited by - MLyons on 12/7/2002 10:23:58 PM

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It's such a great title but ruined as DVD release!

Hope we see a new version in the future.

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Great reports so far! I look forward to reading the rest of them.

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Wally, I forgot to mention yesterday that I asked Parker about the plans for Hardcore Innocence 3 & 4 (which is what you must have meant). HI3 will be out on DVD later this month, and HI4 will be out on DVD by next spring, along with HI7, which looks promising from the rough versions of the boxcover that we saw.

And Ramsey, check out Internally Yours 3 and see if that isn't an improvement on some of their past product.

The Lyons and I were of course given a few parting gifts in the form of some of the DVDs we watched and discussed with the Elegant Angel crew, and now I can hardly wait to get home to my DVD player to watch some more! Thanks again to Elegant Angel, and thanks to everyone on ADT for reading and commenting!

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Does anyone have any additional questions/comments?

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Did you get some pictures?

---BIGmike, going and going and going since MCMLXXX---

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My wife and I just got home. We stayed an extra day to take in Disneyland, and had a great time. Our flight home was canceled due to weather problems though, and we ended up getting home about 4 or 5 hours later than we were supposed to thanks to an alternate route on a bigger plane through San Francisco. What's more, they've lost some of our baggage. I'm sitting here waiting for them to deliver it now (should be here before midnight they said), but it's 11:50pm now, and I'm not holding my breath.

My wife has given up and gone to bed, but I'll stick it out for a little while longer.

I will post (or write) a more detailed report of the happenings at Elegant when I'm more awake and alive, and I did get a few pictures, but I'm not sure how many will actually come out.

My under-informed answer to bjs' question about Mason is that although you may not think it when you see her movies, she is quite shy. Besides that, I think she's consciously wanting to maintain an aire of mystery about herself for the purpose of intrigue and interest. If there are those out there who believe Mason doesn't exist or is somehow manufactured, I can tell you definitively that she does, and she's the genuine artical. She's a very intelligent woman, and is doing what she believes in. She just doesn't want to get her face involved in her image.

More later, but I'll close for now by echoing what Speelie said. This trip was a wonderful and eye opening experience both for me and my wife. The folks at Elegant Angel put their best foot forward and really seemed to listen to our suggestions and ideas. Time will tell if anything comes of this visit in terms of their implimentation of our criticisms, but they certainly seemed to listen and that's a good start. My wife and I would like to send a public thanks to Patrick for putting up a large amount of money to get us out there and let us rant. Additional thanks go to Parker, Toby Dammit, Michael Cates, Axel Braun, and William H. for listening to us, and putting up with our presence at the facilities and in the editing rooms. Speelie was a perfect companion--very knowledagable, very friendly, and just all around great company. I was glad to finally meet him and look forward to seeing him in Vegas. Finally a personal thanks from my wife and I go to Mason, who, based on our previous email correspondence, is every bit the intelligent and passionate person I hoped I'd find--and much more besides.

My reviews of Elegant Angel titles from now on will be prefaced with a disclaimer that warns of my possible bias because of this trip. Although I hope that whatever bias I may have doesn't come into play (either negatively or positively), in the interest of reviewer integrity, I must do this. Hopefully Elegant will maintain a stronger and more regular presence on this forum. I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say that I think we'd all enjoy that.

Mike L.

Edited by - MLyons on 12/10/2002 2:27:30 AM

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As for myself, I can only say that I've never felt more driven to put all of my energies towards creating the best possible products.
It's a work in progress...but that's just the beauty of it.

Thank you.

Axel Braun
www.axelbraun.com

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It was nice to read your response. When this whole thing was being set up, I never viewed it as a 'free vacation', but as a 'working/constructive response' work trip. From what the Lyons and Speelie have said, it sounds like it turned out to be pretty much that.

Great! And I hope it helped out.

As far as reviews go, if there are some negative reviews - but they contain some constructive comments and suggestions rather than just blasting, then they can be useful and helpful. Sounds like that is what you guys were after.

Hope to see the results in the next few months.

DenverDon

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This trip was an eye opener for me. I went into it with a little worry. I tend to be very open sexually, and speak pretty much anything that comes into my head. With this I wasn't sure how the porn world would view me. Let me just say I have never met more respectful, open, intelligent, big-hearted people. It makes me very happy that I took the opportunity to butt in and invite myself along.

In my life I have never gone out and rented myself porn, I have simply watched what my significant others have asked me to watch with them. I have always been happy to watch, but what I saw very rarely turned me on (with the exception of Big Bottom Sadie, The Ass Collector, and Fashanistas), I thought the girls were faking it, and it was all VERY predictable. Well let me say that that has all changed. Give me Mason and William H.'s work and leave me alone for a few hours. WOW!!! This porn seems to be made specifically for me. Recently my husband has been showing me more aggressive porn and was always surprised by my very happy reaction to it. He was again shocked at my reaction to Mason, and then William H.'s work.

Aside from the work I found it interesting to watch the interaction between Patrick and the Directors. Also to listen to all of them explain why the direct the way they do. I am looking forward to Axel and Parker's new works. There is some really good sex in those scenes. It was great seeing the rough footage as well. If the DVD's come out looking as good as the raw footage, then my husband won't have any reason to geek out, and will just sit and enjoy the movies with me.

All of the directors were a joy to talk to, and were really interested in what we had to say. I was however surprised at hoe shy Mason and William H. are. It was very refreshing to see.

Thank you Patrick, Toby, Axel, Britton, Parker, Chrissy, William H., Mason, and everyone else that I so callously forgot for the moment. This was a truly wonderful experience that I will not forget. Who knew I could be even more open sexually, and you all helped me learn more about myself. I hope that the communication continues between us, and that was sparked between us was a friendship as well.

Thank you all,
Mrs MLyons

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Very nice, thoughtful & interesting post.

Please continue to share your thoughts with all of us.

Den

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I'll post the pictures Speelie sent me shortly.

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Congrats to all, from both sides.

DenverDon

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the Elegant Crew in Patrick's office (from the left, Patrick, Axel Braun, Parker Schurman, Paolo Banana, MLyons, and Mrs MLyons.)

Patrick Collins displaying the letter of a "fan" begging for free product

Speelie and MLyons

Manuel Ferrara, MLyons and Steve Holmes

Manuel Ferrara, Speelie and Steve Holmes

The Lyons

Edited by - steph on 12/16/2002 2:15:08 PM

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(CONGRATS TO YOU ALL!)

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Max Booty
"If something's hard to do, then its not worth doing."

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An excellent question... and one that should have been discussed, but we never got as far as talking too much about the website. Patrick did say that they were in the process of completely revamping it, but what they have in store, I don't know.

I'd sure like to see that though--I'm not interested in paying for it, but I would really like to see up to date release schedules, boxcover art, and even the latest news and press releases in a free section of their website.

I'm sorry it wasn't discussed... I guess we just never got past discussing their content and DVDs...

Mike L.

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