Four years ago we started producing Exotic on a monthly basis as a supplement to X Magazine. This is the 48th version you’re holding in your sweaty hands. That may not seem too profound for most of you, but it is for all of us slaving on it every month. Back in the days of yore (circa 1993), I remember sitting at Key Largo with Courtney Taylor, now the lead singer of the Dandy Warhols, engaging in quasi-philosophical discussions about two of our favorite subjects, music and pornography. Courtney-- never shy about expressing his (one of many) opinions-- agreed with me on most aspects of the two inter-related yet completely different subjects. Our main concerns pertained to the conflict of artistic values vs. commercial sell-out, which invariably applies to music more than pornography, but concerned me immensely at the time since I’ve always approached everything I do from an artistic standpoint. We both felt that you didn’t necessarily need to abandon your artistic values to succeed commercially, though it can make it much more difficult. Hopefully we’ve both succeeded-- to a point-- in that respect.

If you wade through the 70% ad content of this magazine-- which pays the bills and fully supports at least 10 people these days-- you will find quality, sexy, interesting editorial content that means something. And hey, a lot of the ads are interesting as well. If you listen to the Dandy Warhol’s latest album or see them live, you will undoubtedly find the same. They’ll just make a lot more money than us...

We decided to do another zippity-doo-dah, computer-enhanced, cover for this 4th Anniversary Issue. Many thanks to the beautiful Geni who posed for the cover (hey! watch it with the sword, babe!), and to the fab staff at Cathie’s for all the help during the shoot. You can see Geni nearly any night at Mama Mia’s, Jody’s or Club Cabos.

As mentioned above, our randy friends the Dandy Warhols finally released their second album this month, and our new music contributor B. Jone threw down some thoughts on paper for all the fine music connoisseurs out there. Rex is back with a humorous piece “Just Cloning Around,” and we have a short piece of fiction called “By The Sea” which would play well at any Fetish Night. We wish a warm welcome (I love alliteration) to Brad Woodworth who will be contributing his wise legal advice every month for all adult businesses attempting to climb the treacherous ladder of excess.