But at the beginning of this new blog (my first), it would probably be appropriate here to look back, and see how I became interested in all this at the outset.
Like I've said before, I am not a big porn person. I've never seen a Brent Corrigan and/or Cobra Video before, oddly enough...yet here I am today, blogging and commenting extensively on closely related matters...
Well, actually, that's not TOTALLY true I guess: I have seen snippets of Brent porn. Curiousity got the best of me, not too long ago; and I clicked on one of the You Tube clips of Brent, posted over at DeWayne's site. And, from what I saw...eh, it wasn't bad! What I saw, as I recall, was Brent C as a lonely young twinkling, pining away for nearby Brent Everett. Who I guess lived in the same house, for some reason? I dunno the full plot, this was only a clip...
Anyhoo, Brent is in his bedroom (?) bemoaning, "Oh I wish I could meet him (Brent E), he is so gorgeous and musclely...but I am so shy, woe is me!" (I am paraphasing here)
Then, BC goes out of his (?) room, and sees BE in the kitchen, pouring himself a tall, cool, refreshing tastey glass of tap water (Cobra must have been really low budget back then). "Oh, there he is, pouty lips and all...I must work up the courage to say 'hi' to him." (BC rests head and pounds fist on wall).
Well, unfortunately, BC has to travel around a blind corner to get to the kitchen, and in doing so bumps into BE walking the other way...spilling tap water ALL over BE's threadbare wifebeater tank top.
BE gets upset. He angrily rips off his wet tank top. BC's face and eye movement at this moment is almost perfect mix of fear, embarrassment, remorse, and lust (not bad...like Jody Wheeler has said, BC does have considerable innate acting talents...and based on this one scene here, I'd have to agree).
Well, BE takes it out on poor BC by pinning him against a wall, and forcibly French kissing him. Yeah, that'll teach him!
This goes on for a minute or so, then the You Tube video thankfully ends. I say thankfully, in that if it had continued for a few seconds more, I would no doubt have viewed kiddie porn, and been obligated to run to my kitchen and gouge my eyes out with a spoon!
Okay. So, OTHER THAN THAT, no, I have never seen a Brent Corrigan and/or Cobra Video. Hence I am not what you would call a "fan."
No, the first time I bacame aware of Brent's existance on this planet was happening to read the Gay Web Monkey article (written by, it turns out, Jody Wheeler).
The thing that grabbed me was the opening lines of this article...Jody mentions that just prior to the interview, HIRED PRIVATE DETECTIVES had BARGED into the bar where Brent was doing a public meet and greet or something like that, gotten some photographs, then fled, with security in pursuit....causing a no small amount of ruckus.
Well. When I read this, I thought, WTF? A porn producer send hired goons across country to intimidate an 18 y/o? Are we back in the days of Al Capone now? Naturally, I read the whole article (which I probably would have only skimmed, at best, otherwise) and it was at this point that I first learned about Brent and the whole underage Cobra thing.
Fascinating stuff, to say the least. Sleazy porn producer hires 17 y/o, 17 y/o comes out, porn producer hires goons in retaliation. DRA-MA! Quite interesting. And no doubt a public relations fiasco for Cobra Video (here's a handy tip for everyone: don't send hired thugs out to physically intimidate an opponent in public, just before they are sitting down to do a nationally distributed magazine interview).
But I was not interested enough to follow it any further. For fun, I checked out Brent's web site, and then forgot about the whole thing until January of 2007. Like I said, I am not a big follower of porn and porn stars.
Then, on Towleroad, I read about the Kocis killing. Wow! Al Capone is dead! My interest is rekindled. Thru links, I am lead to the Jason Curious site (where I had never visited before).
Those early days, Jason's news desk was seemingly the only place in town talking about this story. Jason was doing an update practically every other day. Comments were going into the HUNDREDS (as opposed to the dozens, for his other porn-related posts). And what struck me immediately back then was the obviously FIERCE partisanship I witnessed, between pro- and anti-Brent forces. The Brent bashers were CONVINCED that Brent and some guy named Grant (who? I wondered) did the killing. BROKE into the Kocis home, SLASHED his throat, STABBED his corpse, BURNED his house, then calmly walked out to their waiting sports utility vehicle, DRIPPING MURDER FROM THEIR FINGERS.
Hmmm. I was skeptical. Seemed to me, back then, that someone capable of sending hired minions cross country to skirmish with security would have raised the art of making enemies to a science. Surely, there must be more than this Brent kid and this Grant fellow (who I learned was a boyfriend/manager) who hated this Kocis mobster enough to kill him.
At one point, one the anonymous Brent bashers (that is one thing in particular I noticed about the Brent bashers, unlike the Brent supporters...the bashers where ALWAYS anonymous) made the point that Brent was supposed to have done a Donkey Punch (?) the previous weekend, but out of guilt and running from the law no doubt missed that appearance.
Hmmm. What the heck is a "Donkey Punch?" Well, I Googled it, and that led me another San Diego based blog, Alexsander, which covered the club scene down there. And sure enough, for that weekend, there was a little post about the host, Alexsander, at said Donkey Punch that weekend...with an accompanying photo...a VERY interesting photo!
LOL! Needless to say, this was the moment that jim decided to stop being a mere lurker. :-)
I posted the Alexsander link, saying "Hmmm, you seem to be mistaken, as Brent did seem to show up for that Donkey Punch, not a care on his mind..."
The Brent bashing troll (and his friends) had a minor heart attack when I posted this! "Whaaa! How...how...could this be? How DARE he go out clubbing after a murder like this, HOW DARE he!!!"
LOL...never mind how they had been going on about how Brent NOT going to Donkey Punch prooved him guilty...now, showing up, he disrespects the dead. Heads I win, tails you lose! Hmm, so thats how this game is played, I thought...
Anyhow, there you all have it...the BIRTH of JIM! To this whole online Kocis drama, anyways.
Now, besides a nostalgic look back on my mysterious origins to all this, this post actually has another purpose. That being, I wanted to draw attention to this forgotten photograph, above. Let look at it again, shall we?
Now, what is interesting about this photo is, remember when I said (in my very first comment) that it looks like Brent was at Donkey Punch, unconcerned, not a care on his mind, apparantly?
I COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG!
THINK about this photo...and WHEN is was taken! The date of this Donkey Punch would have Saturday, January 27. The Kocis murder was on the 24th. NOW...what interesting thing we now know happened between the 24th and the 27th?
I'll tell you! According the affidavit (which of course had not existed, way back when I made my very first comment) on January 25th Harlow called Brent at work. "Go to the WNEP web site" he tells Brent. Ooopsy, "I guess my guy went overboard." According to the affidavit, Brent runs home from work, um...upset!
WWWWWow. Within 48 hours of getting what must have been the SHOCK of his LIFE, this phone call from Harlow...here he is, in THIS photo...dancing on box in club in his underwear. Wow. Well, the only thing I can say here is...quel trouper!
LOL! I dunno about you guys, but if someone had called me up, and said, "Hey jim check out this news story, I just chopped your old bosses head off...BTW lets do lunch soon, I want to work with you!" um...I think I might consider cancelling my appointments for a few days.
And that's what I find amazing about this photo. What was going through Brent's mind when this picture was taken? What decided him to go on with his scheduled appearances, RIGHT after this bombshell phone call from Harlow? In hindsight, it probably WAS the right call, to just go on as normal (consider the Brent bashing troll on Jason Curious, "oh he's guilty, he obviously missed Donkey Punch"), but that's ONLY in hindsight, I think. I'll bet the actual decision must have been excruciating.
And this is kinda the sort of thing I want to do on this new blog...to explore the forgotten little tangents of this case (like this amazing photo) that have really not gotten the attention I think they deserve.
Humbly, as always, at your service...jim
