[Billy Twee] Castro Video Store Closes & Gay Public Yawns

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For whatever reason, Superstar Satellite Video, the landmark institution of SF's Castro Village, is conducting its 'Closing - Everything Must Go' sale. This may or may not be the end of Satellite Video, as it may choose to relocate to another location, but somehow I don't think that's in the cards. It may be closing because of rising rents...all of San Francisco is on the upswing these days with a lot of commercial and residential development finally getting the cash to move forward. But somehow, I don't think a rent increase would be a big enough reason for the store to close. And though, I dropped in on a Wednesday, a day when most of the business conducted in the Castro would be local business rather than weekend or tourist trade, the place was as quiet as a tomb. The local guys weren't rushing to Superstar Satellite to snap up dvd bargains. No, it was more like nobody gave a shit. I'd have to admit that if this had happened a couple of years ago, or maybe even last year, I would have dedicated hours going through the inventory, looking for videos to add to my library..specifically a pozapalooza video of a road trip with porn pups Ethan Sexxtin and Tim Tyler getting in on with a poz daddy master, picking up white trash toxic hitchhikers and fucking away the daylight hours at the infamous old Coral Sands Motel on the shadier side of Hollywood. But do you know what? I don't give a shit either. In fact, this year I've sold more porn than I've actually bought.

This landmark video store's closing is actually the closing of an era. The porn business has been done in by streaming videos, websites like X-tube and ********, tumblr and the i-pad. A new age of amateur porn is upon us...a lot of it, most of it...is crap, but enough of it is good enough, despite the limitations of the i-pad. I think the dvd will be around for a few more years; the cheap production costs make for enormous mark-up potential, but eventually it will go the way of the VHS, prized still but by collectors and porn archivists like myself. Subscription websites will be the next to go, they'll drag on for a few more years. The future will be in the free, amateur or personal websites and blogs.

But if you're one of those into collecting, I suspect the Super Satellite - and I don't even know if that's the official name anymore, I used to be such a loyal customer I stopped paying attention - will die its lingering death through the end of the month, so you still have time to get down there and go through their impressive inventory with a lot of vintage stuff and esoteric material that will only get lost on the internet. For those of you unfamiliar with SS video, the sale could worth a trip to SF...it's in the heart of the Castro...the 400 block of Castro between Market and 18th Street.

R.I.P.

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