New areas of the sex spectrum

Mike Sholars
Features & Opinions Editor
Excalibur lets me get away with far too much.
If you need proof, look no further than the two supplements they let me put out this year: Food and Drink, & Love and Sex. A professional newspaper somehow gave me a non-trivial amount of space to essentially talk about booze and banging.

My initial plans for this issue were decidedly edgier than what you’re currently holding in your hands: every page would be a full-colour photo of breasts, and the centrespread was simply a life-sized photo of my penis. Those two ideas were deemed “too shallow” and “too impressive” respectively, and the concept was tabled.
I honestly believe it was for the best, because the final product contains more breadth and quality material than my original centrespread ever could have. It’s easy for this supplement to become a Penthouse forum of shared sex stories, or a collection of off-the-cuff rants marginally related to sex. In the past, things have become too heteronormative or juvenile. I’m really proud of the balance my writers have struck for me here.
Love isn’t just about the good times, so we have articles about heartbreak that manage to strike a chord without becoming melodramatic. Sex isn’t just vaginal penetration in the missionary position, so we have pieces on cuddling and tantra. This issue even tackles clichés, such as the allure of the “bad boy,” and the reality of porn.
With this supplement, I did my best to get paid to watch porn show many angles of the spectrum of human sexuality. If there’s any unifying theme to this supplement besides the title, it would be that sex is what you make of it. Love is too, for that matter. If you learn one new thing because of this issue, I have succeeded. If you examine your own views on sexuality in a new light, I will die a happy editor. If you find my writing to be both witty and sensual, my email address is available on the Excalibur website.
I hope you enjoy our 2011 Love and Sex Supplement, and keep these handy tips in mind:
1. All of the pages in this issue are completely waterproof*, so go nuts!
2. The Excalibur Love and Sex Supplement is NOT a suggested form of personal lubricant.
3. My photo has been designed to be portable; simply cut it out and insert it directly into your underwear for the full Excalibur experience.^†
* Pages may not be waterproof
† Our legal team urges us to remind readers that as of Feb. 9, this is no
longer an accurate representation of the Excalibur experience