I don’t have a lot of time to write this at the moment, as I’m in Orlando, Florida for a Porn and Pancakes event that starts in a little over an hour. I’ll then be on an airplane home. But I wanted to write a quick note and give links to more of the debate.

To edit a two hour event down to less than 20 minutes of actual airtime is quite a challenge for anyone, I’m sure. I think ABC did okay at that. I do think some great arguments were left out. But overall, I’m okay with the final result. Just okay. I’m glad I wasn’t the one who had to decide how to edit for such a short time period.

Should you want to watch more, here is the debate ALMOST uncensored. The same commercial plays for 15 seconds before the beginning of each part, and there were still a few things cut here, but you get much more of the event by watching these:

Part 1:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4365288

Part 2:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4365373

Part 3:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4367518

Part 4:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4367795

Part 5:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4367956

Part 6:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4367990

Part 7:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4368158

Part 8:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4368160

Part 9:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4368248

Part 10:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4368272

All in all, it was a great experience and I’m glad I was able to be part of it. I hope a few lives were touched and hope some of the issues raised caused people to do some soul searching. One Yale student wrote this:

The Great Porn Debate with Ron Jeremy and Monique Alexander arguing the pros and Craig Gross of XXXChurch.com and Donnie Pauling arguing the con side may have been the most eye opening. Craig and Donnie were able to illuminate many of the dark sides of the porn industry that really challenged a lot of students’ common conception of the “glamorous” business of adult entertainment. Ron and Monique were able to make some interesting points about a woman’s choice to work in porn, and porn’s ability to provide an element of fantasy for healthy couples.

But working first hand this past week with porn stars has swayed me towards the anti-porn side of XXX-Church.com. Steven Hirsch, co-founder of Vivid entertainment, is one of the most impressive businessmen I’ve had a chance to meet; it just sucks his business involves the degradation of young women. Most of us on the team are pretty disillusioned with the adult entertainment industry. They come off as normal people but the more you work with them the more you get an eerie sense of turpitude. Besides, who needs porn when Craig Gross is your pastor and is that hot?

Now… off to get ready for P&P.

Added 3/8/2008:

You can watch the the program that aired on Nightline here.
Or you can watch the entire debate in one file here.

If you have time, I suggest watching the part that aired (for all the exciting editing and commentary) and then watching the full debate.

Face Off Now On Friday!

Sorry about this…but Friday is a good night for it. This date is set in stone.

Best,

Ethan

That’s the word I received two hours ago from the producer of Nightline ABC. So, if “Set In Stone” means Set in Stone you’ll be able to see the debate this Friday night, February 29th, on ABC. Check your local listings for times, but for most of you that will be 11:35pm. I say “most” of you because I thought Nightline came on at 11:35pm everywhere until visiting Minneapolis last week. The show came on on an hour earlier there.

Click to enlarge either photo…

I just received this email from the producer of Nightline:

Due to breaking news. It’s tentatively scheduled to air next Thursday 2/28/08. I hope you guys understand and thanks.

What the breaking news is, I don’t know. A “behind the scenes” preview of the show is online here and here (see videos on the right side of that second link).

Disappointing.

I’m sitting in Starbucks in downtown Chico listening to a live version of Damien Rice singing The Blower’s Daughter. I love that song. I wanted to purchase Damien’s version of it several months ago, but iTunes didn’t have it available at the time. A few days ago I checked again, and the live version was for sale. YES! It’s actually quite good live. A video of Damien singing the song is available on YouTube here, free of charge.

I mention that song because it has a subduing power over me. When I listen to it, I’m taken to a place of sadness. I am pretty sure that’s because I first heard the song on the movie Closer, which was one of the most heart wrenching human drama stories I’ve ever seen… a story of love and loss, and humans being hurtful to each other. I watched that movie once, in 2004 when it came out, yet it still sticks with me.

Why would I want to take myself to that state of mind, you ask? I don’t know if I can really explain the answer to that question, but I will tell you this: yesterday morning, the morning after the debate, I woke up in a mood very similar to the one The Blower’s Daughter takes me to: sadness… a sense of loss… a feeling of love that almost seems useless to have.

Don’t get me wrong, the debate was a blast. The experience was one I will remember for the rest of my life. But I was also reminded of the slave I used to be as I spoke with two people still in that same bondage: Ron Jeremy and Monique Alexander.

Ron… I can’t help but love that guy to pieces. There is just something about him in person that just makes you want to squeeze him like a Teddy Bear. He can be a bit vulgar at times, and still I can’t help wanting to put my arm around his shoulder. Monique Alexander is a beautiful 25 year old porn star that has been in the business for 7 years. She, too, is very likable. My heart breaks for both of them because I know what it feels like to be in their shoes when the lights go off and the crowds go away.

I don’t want to go too deep, because I think you’ll do better to wait until the debate airs and experience for yourself what I’m talking about. But I do want to warn you: DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT watch it with children. I’m sure Nightline will bleep out certain words, but very frank porn terms will no doubt make their way into the finished product. Porn realities were discussed with no holds barred. Some adults may even want to consider whether or not they REALLY want to know what they’ll hear from that debate. Personally, I think the story needs to be heard, but if I tell you all this you can’t come to me later and say I didn’t warn you.

I prayed before the debate that God would guide what I said and let His words be heard. I prayed the same for Craig Gross as well. I sure hope that’s what happened.

The debate airs this coming Thursday night (February 21st) at 11:35 pm on Nightline ABC. The time should be the same no matter where you live. An hour and a half of discussion will be edited to about 20 minutes, but I’m told the Nightline ABC website will have the full debate beginning on Wednesday and concluding Thursday.

It will be a… learning experience… should you choose to watch.

Click here for photos of the Yale University Campus

Last night’s debate went great! I’ll tell you all more about it later. Last night I didn’t get back to my room until after 1am and was too tired to write. This morning I’ve gotta back and head back to New York City to catch my flight home. Here are the 4 “Great Debators” along with Martin Bashir from Nightline ABC, who was our moderator. That’ll have to hold ya over until I can tell ya more about it.

I’ve got a lot of photos to share, both of the debate and of Yale University. The campus is breathtakingly beautiful!

Caught with my eyes closed and a good dose of “double chin”, here we are on stage during the debate itself. The camera crew was changing tapes, and we had to pause discussion for a moment.

Until later,

Donny

Added 12 Feb, 2008: ABCNews Coverage of this event has begun. Click here.

On February 15th, the day after Valentine’s Day, Craig Gross and I will be debating Ron Jeremy and Monique Alexander at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut (click here and scroll down to Feb 15th). This debate caps off “Sex Week at Yale” (if you’re wondering exactly what “Sex Week” is, click that link).

Martin Bashir from ABC’s Nightline will be the host of this debate. This debate was originally scheduled to have been filmed back in November at Ohio State University (click here and here for blog entries I made about it previously), but Nightline was called off at the last minute on another story. The debate went on, just without ABC’s camera crew or Martin Bashir as the moderator.

To be honest, I’m more excited about speaking at an Ivy League University than I am about being on Nightline debating Ron Jeremy.

Since Nightline pulled out last time I wanted to be sure this event is indeed moving forward before telling you about it. My contact at ABC called today to finalize travel and hotel arrangements.

It’s on!

Written yesterday while on a jet flying to Ohio. Gotta love Journler.

I’m on an airplane bound for Columbus, Ohio. Tomorrow morning Jason Harper and I will be speaking at a Porn and Pancakes event in Dayton. Jason will then fly home to celebrate his son’s birthday. I’ll stay in Ohio for an event I’ve been looking forward to for several weeks. It’s been tough to keep quiet about it, but now that the airing of the event on Nightline has been postponed I guess I’ll tell you about it before it happens:

Live in front of 3,500 students at Ohio State University, porn stars Ron Jeremy and Nina Hartley will be debating Craig Gross and yours truly on the topic of Pornography. Craig and Ron normally debate each other. This time it’s two on two at the request of the crew from Nightline. Martin Bashir from Nightline was supposed to have been the moderator. Unfortunately, filming has been postponed, as Martin was called off just yesterday to a story he’s been following for quite awhile. I’ve been assured the planned filming will happen in the near future, but for now we’ll debate in front of those in attendance. I’m very excited about it. When he first found out the tv crew wasn’t going to be there, Ron’s agent wasn’t sure if he’d be okay with Nina and I appearing at the debate… and at first he wasn’t. But this morning I received word from Craig that Ron had changed his mind and is welcoming us.

To be honest, I’m not all that disappointed at the lack of TV cameras. When the new date is scheduled I’ll have had one “practice” debate, so to speak. Wait, that kinda sounds bad. Please don’t take it that way. This debate is just as important without the cameras as it will be with them. It’s just that I’ve been feeling a bit nervous, not knowing what to expect. After this weekend I’ll have a better idea of the keypoints Ron and Nina use for their “pro porn” arguments. I like that idea.

I’m flattered Craig invited me to be at his side (thanks, Craig). The debate begins Sunday night at 8pm eastern time/5pm Pacific Time. If you’re of the praying persuasion, please talk to God for us.

Amusing (to me anyway) side note: I have my iTunes playing songs at random. Guess what just started playing? Yep. Turn The Page by Metallica. That song was sent to me through iTunes several months ago by a friend who was giving me a hard time as I told her I was on my way to a speaking engagement. She was warning me against getting a “big head”. I really find it funny that it started playing as I wrote about yet another speaking engagement. The lyrics go something like this:

Here I am,
On the road again.
There I am,
Up on the stage.
Here I go,
Playin’ star again.
There I go…
Turn the page.

That may be amusing, but God, I never want to feel like I’m a “star”. I never want that to happen. There have been a handful of people in my life who have asked me if I ever start feeling that way, and I want you to keep putting them in my life to keep me accountable. But I do thank you for giving me a battle to fight. Every man needs one because it makes us feel like our life means something. Thank you for using me in this one.