Hello everyone, just wanted to check in to talk about some of the changes that AgreeableAgony.com has been going through.
A couple weeks ago, we updated to include Harry Potter themed rope, and have been hearing loud and clear how excited everyone has been about it. We're always thrilled to be able to bring new and interesting products to our customers, and we hope, with your input, that we'll be able to continue bringing you products you ask for. A quick note about the Ravenclaw House colors, we opted to offer the Ravenclaw colors as they were portrayed in the movie (Blue/Silver). If you're interested in getting a Ravenclaw School Kit to match the colors from the book series (Blue/Bronze), contact us, and we can work it out for you.
We've also added descriptions to all of our items, which can be seen by mousing over any of the product images. There is currently a known bug that causes the picture to fade back in if your mouse turns into a text cursor (if you put your mouse over the actual words in the description). This is being worked on, and we're hoping to have a fix for it soon. In the meantime, we wanted to get the new features up and running on the main website.
We've also recently added a Wholesale page for any companies who are interested in carrying Agreeable Agony products in their own stores. It can be found at the bottom of every page, between our Contact Us page, and this blog's link (so you have no excuse for not seeing it! :-p). We do require our Wholesale customers to have a Federal Tax ID, but similar bulk discounts may be available for groups or associations who lack one. Please use our Contact Us form if you're interested in getting more information on bulk discounts for your group.
We will continue doing our best to keep up with your questions and suggestions. Our current average response time on posts to our Contact Us form is less than 6 hours, though this will vary based on time of day. Please, let us know how you think we're doing, and what you'd like to see done differently. We're always looking to improve the services we offer.
Again, we're super excited to be sending out these updates; we're looking forward to continuing to serve you, our community, to the very best of our abilities. To do that, we need to know how you think we're doing. So let us know, we're always listening!
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
My Problem With Porn | Communicating Doors
Hello World! Welcome to the Agreeable Agony blog. We're looking forward to bringing you lots of great content, both from our own authors, as well as cross posts from friends of the company. The first article we'd like to share with you is a post from Communicating Doors, an eclectic blog which, while focusing as a Tech blog, occasionally posts regarding relationships and human sexuality. Many thanks to Desmond for sharing his post with us. Let us know in the comments what your relationship with porn is.
My Problem With Porn
by Desmond Duval
No, I am not coming out as an addict. Though, neither am I one who abstains. I have an appreciation of the value of porn, and I think it is, in many cases, an extremely positive outlet. I would even go so far as to say that I am a porn enthusiast. Big fan.
That's why it hurts me so much that the quality of most porn is so outrageously bad. I don't mean to say that porn lacks value. The skill and professionalism that these actors put forward is commendable. The skillset employed goes beyond the skills most of us learn from the internet, to keeping tabs on things like giving the camera a good shot. I don't know how much is scripted and how much is ad-lib'd, but it seems like an impressive job to keep track of, bravo. I'm not sure I could do all that and perform at the same time.
Their skills once their clothes come off notwithstanding, most of them can't act with their clothes on. The ones who can can are hampered by terrible writing. If I'm going to watch a porn with a plot (without skipping to the good parts) I need to want one of the characters. I don't just want to lust after the body of the actor, I need to be able to understand the character, be attracted to them. I need to want that character. If the dialog and acting doesn't make me want them, or worse, feels awkward and forced, I can't sit through it.
The video that set me off today though, is even worse. While reading Fleshbot (link to article, NSFW) I found a video of a porn themed like an FPS. I like first person shooters, I used to play Counter Strike 1.6 back when that was a thing at LAN parties, so this seemed like it was a neat idea. From the HUD flashing between seemingly random numbers, to the apparent disregard for how guns work, the entire theme showed itself to consist of half-assed pandering.
The lack of attention compounds the problem inherent in the porn industry's interest in producing low quality films that focus on sex, at the expense of what could be a sensual and erotic narrative. The simple idea of a video game themed porn is a good one. The 'virtual reality' allows the viewer to suspend disbelief to an extent, making the exciting or unbelievable more acceptable. Even the use of toy guns is acceptable, when it's done right.
If you clicked the link to the Fleshbot article, you may recognize:
My Problem With Porn
by Desmond Duval
No, I am not coming out as an addict. Though, neither am I one who abstains. I have an appreciation of the value of porn, and I think it is, in many cases, an extremely positive outlet. I would even go so far as to say that I am a porn enthusiast. Big fan.
That's why it hurts me so much that the quality of most porn is so outrageously bad. I don't mean to say that porn lacks value. The skill and professionalism that these actors put forward is commendable. The skillset employed goes beyond the skills most of us learn from the internet, to keeping tabs on things like giving the camera a good shot. I don't know how much is scripted and how much is ad-lib'd, but it seems like an impressive job to keep track of, bravo. I'm not sure I could do all that and perform at the same time.
Their skills once their clothes come off notwithstanding, most of them can't act with their clothes on. The ones who can can are hampered by terrible writing. If I'm going to watch a porn with a plot (without skipping to the good parts) I need to want one of the characters. I don't just want to lust after the body of the actor, I need to be able to understand the character, be attracted to them. I need to want that character. If the dialog and acting doesn't make me want them, or worse, feels awkward and forced, I can't sit through it.
The video that set me off today though, is even worse. While reading Fleshbot (link to article, NSFW) I found a video of a porn themed like an FPS. I like first person shooters, I used to play Counter Strike 1.6 back when that was a thing at LAN parties, so this seemed like it was a neat idea. From the HUD flashing between seemingly random numbers, to the apparent disregard for how guns work, the entire theme showed itself to consist of half-assed pandering.
The lack of attention compounds the problem inherent in the porn industry's interest in producing low quality films that focus on sex, at the expense of what could be a sensual and erotic narrative. The simple idea of a video game themed porn is a good one. The 'virtual reality' allows the viewer to suspend disbelief to an extent, making the exciting or unbelievable more acceptable. Even the use of toy guns is acceptable, when it's done right.
If you clicked the link to the Fleshbot article, you may recognize:
Granted, it's not actually a video game so much as it is a nine minute video (starring the delightful Kayla-Jane Danger) that's mocked up to look like a video game; but if you play with your joystick (or double click your mouse) enough, we're pretty sure you won't know the difference.
I suppose the writer wanted to sound playful, but I think it comes off a little glib. The euphemism aside, the author gives the video too much credit. I've read too many articles around the web praising porn which would never meet the quality standards for any other movie genre. If that paragraph is the Fleshbot review of this clip, here's mine:
Kayla-Jane Danger nearly saved this performance, being a wonderful tease with great sex appeal, conveniently paired with an utter lack of dialog. But in the end, shoddy camerawork, a failure to direct, and lack of attention to detail in post left yet another good idea abused in a ditch.
What upsets me is not that this video exists. Artists need to practice to refine their art. So too, must those who make porn. They'll make a lot of crap before they're any good, like any filmmaker. The problem is that we let them get away with calling this crap a final product. I love porn, I've even got a favourite porn star (alright, a couple), but my affection for the genre means that I want to hold it to a higher standard.
Let the bargain basement groups push their 32 DVD series of cheap smut, but for those of us with taste, give me a character driven drama with a plot that allows for hardcore sex. People fuck, it happens in real life, and it's exciting. Give me a movie that's exciting, with character development and charismatic, likable characters, and it's not hard to find realistic, enticing reasons for them to drop what they're doing to play.
But maybe I'm just old fashioned.
Let the bargain basement groups push their 32 DVD series of cheap smut, but for those of us with taste, give me a character driven drama with a plot that allows for hardcore sex. People fuck, it happens in real life, and it's exciting. Give me a movie that's exciting, with character development and charismatic, likable characters, and it's not hard to find realistic, enticing reasons for them to drop what they're doing to play.
But maybe I'm just old fashioned.
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