Christian--don't call him a star!Recently, Morganobrien.com had the opportunity to pick the brain of Christian XXX--himself the brains behind the wonderful blog Christian Sings The Blues (Not safe for work) and male adult film actor (don't you dare call him a 'star' Note 1)--what follows is the first of the three-part story spawned by Christian's candid (would you expect anything less?)answers.Sadly, December 31 may mark the end to one of the most ambitious, honest, unique and fascinating blogs currently populating cyberspace.
By touching on issues ranging from the English Premier League to the care and feeding of hedgehogs to online gaming with World of Warcraft to the daily trials and tribulations of life in the porn industry—
Christiansingstheblues.com (WARNING! about as not safe for work as things get
Note 2 ) started as a passion project for male adult film actor Christian XXX on January 1, and has grown into an Internet phenomenon over the ensuing months, netting more than 2.5 million hits along the way.
“I didn’t have any set goals in mind except to put down on paper every day of my life for a year,” said Christian, whose blog was catapulted into the mainstream consciousness thanks to his omnipresent
Sony Cybershot DSC-T300 camera and a chance encounter with
ESPN personality Michael Wilbon and Playboy’s Girls Next Door, which Christian turned into a post that lead to his single highest daily hits total.
While most of us spend each day trying to balance our public and private personas—what we reveal to the public and what we keep behind closed doors—Christian has invited millions of visitors into some of his innermost thoughts—or as he bluntly describes it, “unvarnished bullshit.” His candor and self awareness make him the ideal candidate to serve as the adult industry’s blogger of record, while also reveal Christian as a thoughtful, thought-provoking writer in an imposing, bald 6’5", 235-pound package.
As a five-year veteran of the industry, Christian began in 2003 under the name Maxx Diesel, first performing in homosexual movies. After fulfilling his initial five-film contract, he moved to the heterosexual side of the industry where he has enjoyed remarkable success, often in the face of the industry’s ugly realities—female stars unwilling to perform with him—a topic he often faces head-on, through unfiltered (though well written) blog posts.
“I am 34, everything I do and have done in this business is because I want to do it,” he said. “I have never done anything that I have regretted. I have always been an open book; I don’t have many skeletons in my closet.”
I learned of Christian’s blog via Bill Simmons, a columnist on ESPN.com who unsuccessfully tried to enlist Christian into his ESPN-sponsored fantasy football league, an idea
ultimately squashed by Bristol’s powers that be (Christian describes ESPN execs as “good people who obviously don’t like controversy”). I was quickly hooked.
While the title of the site is intended to be ironic
Note 3, the genius of the blog is the blend of industry inside baseball (with no shortage of pictures, especially of the slightly older, blonde, enhanced starlets he very much enjoys sharing the screen with) and the fact that Christian’s posts reveal him to be a regular guy, living an intriguing lifestyle.
While his work in the adult industry catches your attention, almost equally entertaining are his various interests (Adult Film Actors: They're Just Like US!). He loves working out, putting in hours at a time on the various disciplines of the triathlon. He goes to dinner almost every night and photographs both the dishes he eats and those he dines with
Note 4. He is a good father to his two pet hedgehogs, Ron Jeremy and Linda Lovelace (of course). He’s in a relationship, albeit deviating from the ‘typical guy’ motif in that he's dating the lovely porn vixen
Phoenix Marie(NSFW). And he’s an unapologetic apologist of the Lone Star State, hailing female performers from Texas and lamenting the BCS (“absolute horseshit,” is how he describes it) for keeping his beloved Longhorns on the outside of the National Championship picture.
Tomorrow, Part 2: Find out what the 'AF' on his hat stands for!
PART IIRecently, Morganobrien.com had the opportunity to pick the brain of Christian XXX--himself the brains behind the wonderful blog Christian Sings The Blues (Not safe for work) what follows is the second of the three-part story spawned by Christian's candid answers. Part 1 here
Christian eats out virtually every day (and has pics to prove it!)I was most fascinated to learn that Christian grew up in the military, the son of an accomplished Air Force colonel, and had lived all over the US, moving from New Jersey to Massachusetts to Texas.
“The commissary let me work there as a bagboy for tips at 14,” said the former military brat, referring his time working at the military supermarket on Lackland Air Force Base (
Note 5). “I loved that summer because I actually made money and then spent it on books to read. Good Lord, I am a nerd.”
Pride: An Air Force brat with San Antonio rootsThis nerdiness served Christian well, as he graduated from the University of Texas-San Antonio with a degree in history. While at UTSA, the athletic actor walked on to the basketball squad, eventually turning this on-court experience into coaching gigs at University of the Incarnate Word, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, and Brazoswood High School, where he was also a teacher (how freaking cool is that?
Note 6).
The product of a Catholic upbringing in a conservative household, Christian has written about the concern he caused his parents with his life decision, most recently in a touching commemoration of his father’s 61st birthday in early December.
“I told my parents quickly, I wasn’t going to lie to them,” he said of his decision to join the industry. “I am an adult and I make my own decisions. I can’t control their reactions to me, so I wouldn’t attempt it.”
Regardless of people’s opinions (he calls us outsiders “civilians”) of the adult industry, it is readily apparent that Christian’s parents instilled within their son the core value of
Excellence in All We Do. Christian has increased the number of annual scenes he’s performed for five years running. According to his Web site, in 2007 Christian performed 281 scenes, and was on pace to smash that for 2008, already surpassing last year's mark earlier this week. With an average of about $500 per scene, that’s a nifty six-figure annual salary (
Note 7).
“If …anyone thinks that I was going to be miserable and have an honorable career while sinking into oppressive debt, as opposed to the ease of lifestyle I currently have and make four times the money, all of you are crazy,” he said. And with those numbers, it’s hard to argue with that kind of logic, especially in the current economic climate.
As for the future, Christian is focused on continuing to build upon his successful career. He currently has no plans to end up on the other side of the camera as a director, “unless it’s for a [point of view] series,” he joked, adding, “There is no retirement plan (
Note 8). I don’t have a long-term plan except to save money and keep doing this for as long as I can. If for some reason I can no longer do this profession, I have enough of a nest egg to make the transition to another occupation without living on the street.”
This strong performance is a combination of Christian’s growing reputation in the industry (he has written that he considers himself among the top dozen or so male performers), the mainstreaming of adult entertainment (
Note 9) and being comfortable in his own skin (and out of his clothes). And considering the massive popularity of his blog, what started earlier this year as “an experiment” certainly didn’t hurt Christian’s profile.
“It is going to be tough stopping on December 31,” said Christian. “I still am having second thoughts. I guess we will wait and see.”
In the interest of keeping Christian’s fingers typing, perhaps we can appeal to his weakness. Christian is a stat head: “What I am addicted to most of all is the affiliate program statistics. I love, love, love stats.”
So when you’re in the comfort of your own home (DEFINITELY NOT AT YOUR WORK COMPUTER), be sure to check out
his site and contribute to his hits. Who knows—those hits might change his mind and inspire him to keep typing well into the New Year.
Be sure to check back tomorrow for Part 3: Christian on the Hot SeatPart IIIRecently, Morganobrien.com had the opportunity to pick the brain of Christian XXX--himself the brains behind the wonderful blog Christian Sings The Blues (Not safe for work). What follows is the third and final part of my piece spawned by Christian's candid answers to my goofy questions.
The triathlete in actionPart 1 here
Part 2 here What follows are some of the interesting and quirky things I asked Christian that I wasn't able to fit into the rest of the piece. Most of them focus on his fitness regimen, a facet of his life he adheres to religiously.
On a personal note, Christian agreed to answer my questions site unseen and got back to me quickly in his typical, well-thought-out manner. He provided me honest responses; and while this is a very positive review, he never asked me to change anything, which I appreciate.
It’s hard to know whether a guy is good or not without ever meeting him, but at a minimum, Christian is as real to his readers behind the scenes as he is with his posts.
Christian at a Glance How much can you bench press?It’s been years but probably 350 or so. I do 6 sets—12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 reps and go up in weight from 225, 235, 245, 255, 265, AND 275
Favorite workout: Chest
Favorite discipline in the triathlon: The Bike
Advice would you give an aspiring triathlete? Don’t worry about being terrible at first; it makes the resulting workouts much more satisfying.
How do you improve upon triathlon transitions? T1 and T2 times are easy to improve on: run through all parts of the area and practice changing from swim to bike and bike to run.
Who are the five people—alive or dead—that you’d like to have dinner with?Ivan the Terrible, George Washington, Thomas Edison, Larry Bird and Anna Nicole Smith.
(
Ed. Note-I bet Ivan and George would flip when Christian pulled out his camera and started taking photos although Edison would find it enthralling. I bet these shots would drive up his hits immensely.)
Favorite Book: Too general, I have hundreds of books.
Favorite movie: Let’s go with a classic, Casablanca.
Who did you vote for: I don’t discuss my politics.
Note 1 According to Christian, there are no male ‘stars’ in the female-driven porn industry. “Any dude who tells you he is a "porn star" has an out of control ego and is to be considered a super douche,” says Christian.
Note 2 About the only thing I don’t like about the site are the sidebar ads feature adult performers engaged in their craft. This makes it a tough site to check in the airport or on the Long Island Railroad.
Note 3 The name of the site is a little joke: 'Christian sings the blues,'” he told AVN.com, “I complain about my life where I get laid every day and make good money and only work about four hours."
Note 4 When pressed to estimate how much he spent dining out this year, Christian passed, “I don’t even want to attempt to guess for fear of getting depressed,” he said. Note 5: I am now afraid to think of why Mrs. Morganobrien.com was always so eager to shop at the commissary.
Note 6: There will be no post-porn classroom redux for Christian who reports that adult entertainers would not be welcome working with high school students, to say nothing of the five-year hole in his resume.
Note 7: And this does not include the more than $1,000 Christian has earned from affiliates that advertise on his site.
Note 8: According to Christian, the average life span of a male performer is about 10 years.
Note 9: Interestingly, the mainstreaming of the industry has had the counterintuitive effect of drawing more female talent in front of the camera, a trend not lost on Christian. “As a male, it hasn’t affected me much, but if I were a girl, I would be pissed,” he said. “There is now a huge explosion of new porn girls.”
Labels: Christian, Guilty Pleasure, Interviews
