Ex-'Screw' mag publisher hawks Booble porn search

HOLLYWOOD, Fla.--In the long ago heyday of adult magazines, Screw publisher Al Goldstein was one of the undisputed porn kings.

Now the onetime multimillionaire and foul-mouthed sex celeb has turned his talents to hawking Booble.com here at the Internext conference organized by adult trade publisher AVN Media Network.

Booble, which features some topless photos and isn't entirely safe for work, is an adult search engine and "sex search directory." It also features a "Booble Porn Minute" and the ability to search by porn star name and by sex-cam name.

During a lunch break at Internext, a cursing, cussing Goldstein presented a check for $5,000 to the naturally well-endowed porn actress Lisa Sparxxx who bested 175 other contestants to become "Booble Girl of the Year." The work seems somewhat less than arduous: a few minutes later she was spotted over at the Booble booth signing small plastic breasts.

Once a towering figure in the smut businesses, the 71-year old Goldstein practically lost it all in the last few years when, in quick succession, cheap Internet porn put his notoriously ribald magazine out of business, he filed for bankruptcy, and he got slapped with harassment charges. A 2004 article reported that Goldstein was reduced to selling salami, gefilte fish and beef brisket at a Manhattan deli.

Now Goldstein is on something of a comeback. He's got a new book out called I, Goldstein: My Screwed Life and a blog at Booble. He's also, of course, running for president at Goldstein08.com as the "dirty old candidate" with a slogan of "Removing the 'o' from country."

In case you're wondering how Booble got away with the similarity to Google under U.S. trademark law, by the way, there was a spat complete with a nastygram from Google back in 2004. But J.T. Ortiz, who works in marketing at Booble's parent company, said Friday that everything settled amicably, not least because Booble considers itself a parody of its far better known cousin.