The Good Old Days...
It's nice to see The Portland Tribune take such an interest in our little adult business scene here in town. Tribune columnist Phil Stanford has always had a preternatural interest in the seamier side of things. His outstanding book Portland Confidential, is all about crime and vice in Puddletown in the 1950's.
In between his admirable Michael Francke murder case columns and other more glib local gossip, Stanford has been writing even more than usual about the latest rumblings in P-town's so-called “Skin Magazine Wars.”
In all fairness, the recent sale of SFX Monthly from founding publisher (and former Exotic ad sales rep) Christopher Lloyd-Baron to escort service owner Christopher Nardin is a juicy bit of gossip, especially when you throw in the fact that Nardin spent seven years in jail for murdering his own father.
My question: The old stories Stanford covers in his book all sound so cool and gritty and glamorous, but the current ones just sound so... not. Why is that?
I suppose time and nostalgia, by definition, have a way of turning things that way, and the old stories were probably dumb and embarrassing back when they actually happened.
For those of you who missed them, here’s a sample of the last month or so from Stanford’s column in the Tribune:
The Portland Tribune - Fri, May 20, 2005
Let’s keep the drama to a bare minimum 
Never a dull moment in the world of Portland’s adult entertainment magazines, as they like to call themselves...
...Another strip club magazine in town, SFX, has a new editor, too, by the name of Christopher Nardin...
...Anyway, now that Nardin has taken over SFX, he’s started offering free advertising space to some of Exotic’s longtime customers...
...the new publisher of SFX is not only the owner of an escort service, but a convicted murderer as well.
Nardin, for his part, remains nonplused by all the attention.
Yes, he says, in 1990, when he was 17, he shot his father, “who was beating me and my brother around.” He served seven years of a 10-year sentence, and now that he’s out, he’s trying to make an honest living.
Can’t wait to see what’s next.
The Portland Tribune - Fri, May 27, 2005
   Skin magazine wars (continued): According to Mariah, who handles the escort service ads at Exotic magazine, escort service owner (and now rival magazine publisher) Christopher Nardin frequently answers calls to the numbers listed in the ads himself. … In a woman’s voice, no less … “Hello, my name is Jessica. I’m blond, and I have big breasts.” Mariah says she’s seen him do it.
The Portland Tribune - Tue, Jun 14, 2005 
Skin magazine wars (continued): SFX publisher and escort service entrepreneur Christopher Nardin wants to say, first of all, that he was picked up on the night of May 31 on 43 counts of promoting prostitution — all of which were dropped the next morning before he even had to go to court. … But the real reason he’s calling is that on the very same night, while he was in the pokey, representatives of rival Exotic magazine were going from club to club, telling everyone in detail about his arrest. … “Now how could they know that?” he asks, hinting darkly at some sort of collusion. … “Easy,” says Bryan Bybee, general manager at Exotic. “I got it from one of the dancers.”
The Portland Tribune - Tue, Jun 21, 2005
Vice cop Greg Duvic, the guy who arrested escort service entrepreneur Christopher Nardin a couple of weeks ago on 43 counts of promoting prostitution — only to see them all dropped the next morning before Nardin appeared in court — says he was “disappointed but not surprised.” … The DA’s office, he says, is so overwhelmed these days, it won’t prosecute prostitution cases unless they involve children or violence. ... Actually, says Chief Deputy DA Norm Frink, the charges are “still under consideration.” Guess we’ll just have to wait.