Porn Valley- The Grand Vizier and I bonded Friday afternoon.

We shared Turkish cigarettes and went to the new Rambo movie. Commenting on a scene in the film where a missionary’s hung from a cross bar and fed live to a wild pig, The Grand Vizier laughed.

He said, “You call that torture? In my country we yank the ass hairs from men one by one. The noise fills a soccer stadium.”

The Vizier, who was at the AEE, had more news than the Sunday New York Times.

“You are aware that Extreme Associates closed their building on Canoga?” he says.

Frankly I hadn’t been I tell him, having been in the building a couple of times last year, noting that it appeared like they were ready to open a video store on the first floor with the company headquarters on the second. The Vizier tells me Rob Black’s now running the company out of his house with a deal from Hot Movies.

“What happened to Zupko?” I ask.

“He was supposed to go to either Florida or back to Pennsylvania to live with his mother,” the Vizier tells me. “But I’m not sure. They reconciled. At one point Zupko gave up his apartment and was sleeping on Brian Surewood’s couch. With Surewood in protective custody Zupko had to leave there. Nobody knows what happened after that.”

“And AEE?” said the Vizier. “They were giving away booths at the last minute to fill up the floor. A lot of big buyers didn’t show up. The downturn really hit this business starting last March.”