You know how I say, "It's good to be the King .... sometimes?"  Well, let me tell you, today, it was GREAT to be the King! Today had to be one of the most memorable days of my life...and not just for the most obvious reason.  Granted, anytime you get asked to come to the headquarters of Playboy magazine and take photographs of one of their beautiful playmates....while she's NAKED...it makes for a memorable day.  But the tour of the famous offices turned out to be even more of a treat for me than the photo session.  By now, most of you know that WWE Diva, Torrie Wilson is on the cover and inside of the next issue of Playboy magazine that will be hitting the newsstands around March 25th.  Well, a few weeks ago I got a call from a young man named Justin who is with Playboy.com, the internet website of Playboy magazine. Justin explained to me that on their site they have been doing a feature each month using a celebrity photographer. He said the celebrity is flown into Chicago and then taken to Playboy headquarters where one or more playmates are waiting to participate in a photo session.  The celebrity takes pictures of the playmates, while the Playboy photographers take pictures of the celebrity taking pictures!  Then the pictures...of, and by, the celebrity go up on Playboy.com.  Justin told me that with the Torrie Wilson magazine coming out at the end of March, they thought it would be a natural to have the "King of Puppies" be the celebrity photographer on Playboy.com at the same time. 

     Well, as you can imagine, Justin didn't have to twist my arm. He did mention that I would be in some pretty elite company in that some of the celebrities that had already done photo shoots included, Marilyn Manson, Carmen Electra, and Dale Earnhart Jr... Playboy flew me to Chicago on Wednesday evening, March 19th where I was picked up in a limousine and taken to the ritzy "W" hotel on Lakeshore drive right next to the building that houses the Playboy headquarters. I must admit that as much as I wanted to turn in early so as to up bright and early for the photo shoot, I couldn't tear myself away from the television coverage of the starting of the Gulf War. I think I watched until around 2am before finally falling asleep. The next morning, I walked over to the Playboy building. Well, actually I don't think it's called that. As a matter of fact, from the outside it looks like any other building. If you didn't know, you'd  never suspect that the  male's "promised land" lay inside. I actually had to ask a receptionist if this was indeed the right building. That's when she directed me to the 15th floor. When I stepped off the elevator, on the 15th floor, there was no doubt where I was. The lobby wall was adorned with a huge Playboy Bunny head logo made out of gleaming metal. Plush couches dotted the room and on the tables in front of the couches....you guessed it, Playboy magazines. You know how when you go to the doctor or dentist and you have to sit out in the waiting room and read those crummy old magazines? Not here! Each table had at least 5 or 6 Playboy magazines or their "sister" publications, like the Playboy Lingerie magazine, or the Playboy College Girls magazine (the King's personal favorite). I started looking at one book that actually turned out to be a catalog for an auction of Playboy original photographs and artwork that was held by Butterfields' last June. Being an artist myself, I was fascinated to see well known pieces of art that I recognized from the past or pieces by some of my all time favorite artists in the book. Then I heard a voice say, "Would you like to have that book?" I looked up at the reception desk only to see a beautiful young lady who looked like she just stepped out of the pages of the magazine. What else would you expect, right? "You mean, I can have it?" I asked. I briefly explained to her my interest in art and why I found that particular book to be so interesting and she told me to take the book with her compliments. Already this was a good visit!

     Honestly, I don't even remember who came out and met me there in the lobby, I think it was Chad, the photo editor for Playboy.com, but the next thing I knew, I was walking past a veritable treasure trove of some of the most unbelievable paintings and artwork that I had ever seen. It seems that every piece of artwork that has ever appeared in any issue of Playboy magazine is now owned by Hugh Hefner and it is all framed and adorning the walls at the Playboy headquarters! I couldn't believe my eyes...Leroy Neiman original paintings, Jack Davis original cartoons, page after page of original "Little Annie Fanny" paintings by Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder, and Frank Frazetta, and the icing on the cake...literally scores of original pin-up paintings by the all time master of pin-ups, Alberto Vargas!  These paintings are literally priceless. I was almost hypnotized by all these original masterpieces I was seeing as I walked down the hallway. Even though I knew there was a beautiful playmate just waiting to take her clothes off for me, I wanted to stay and look at these unbelievable paintings. Finally, Chad assured me that I could spend more time looking at the paintings after the photo shoot, and he even promised me a tour of the entire offices if I would just hurry up and get in the studio.

      Once in the studio, I saw they had set up a miniature wrestling ring...well, actually just one corner of a wrestling ring. Everything was smaller than I thought it would be, even the studio itself. But they assured me that in that very studio, all of the Playboy centerfold and cover girls were photographed for every issue of Playboy magazine. I knew I was standing on hallowed ground. Then I was introduced to Justin, the guy who had put this whole thing together (I wanted to drop down and kiss the guys feet, but we settled for a handshake) He was a really nice guy and obviously a big WWE fan as well. I met Antonia, who I had spoken with several times on the phone as well and she was there to do a little interview with me that will be on the site along with the photos. Somehow, every question she asked me had something to do with sex...imagine that. I met several more people from Playboy, photographers, make-up artists and the likes, and the WWE had even sent a TV camera crew to film the entire shoot. And then it was time to meet "my" Playmate! Have you ever looked at a Playboy magazine and marveled at the beautiful women on the pages and wondered why you never saw anyone that looked like that in real life? Have you ever looked at those Playmates in the magazine and wondered why you have never run into someone who looks like them in person? Well...I finally did! There she was! Her name was Wendy Culp. One look at her and there was no doubt she was from Playboy. She was stunning. She reached out and shook my hand and I just thought how tiny and fragile her hand felt. I'm sure she wondered why I wouldn't make eye contact with her. Well, that's because breasts don't have eyes! Oh my gosh! What PUPPIES!!!! 

Tomorrow.....the Playboy Photo Shoot continued!