Getting Kinky at Kinko's

Here's something that I was surprised to see enlarged in a public place: several days ago, while scanning some documents at Kinko's, I noticed a man bouncing back and forth between two Sony photo printing machines. When I went to make some copies a few feet away, I saw him proudly holding up and inspecting his prints -- 8 by 10 inch color glossies of him posing with nearly naked hookers at the Bunny Ranch, as well as Bunny Ranch owner Dennis Hof. Or perhaps he met them at the giant Erotic Expo that took place a couple of days earlier at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

How do I know about the subjects of these pictures? Because the distinctive- looking Hof (think Mr. Clean meets Tony Soprano) and the Bunny Ranch are prominently featured on a television program, HBO's The Cathouse: the Series.

The fact that this man was so openly brandishing his photos is, I think, a commentary on how mainstream and acceptable all this has become.