Armchair Shopping for Man Who Blushes in Lingerie Department

Middle of the morning and I’m watching a 30-minute video made in San Diego of young women wearing lingerie: “Some Like It Lacey.”

I’m on company time. Is this a great country or what?

But I digress: The video is the creation of San Diego photographer-videomaker Barbara Steinberg.

She’s decided there is a large untapped market of men (mostly married) who would buy come-hither lingerie for their night women but are too embarrassed.

“Men feel uncomfortable going into stores buying this kind of clothing,” Steinberg says. “They don’t know what they want, they don’t know names.”

She also figures there’s a large reservoir of unsatisfied wives, gift-wise: “Women want personal gifts. They’re tired of irons and vacuum cleaners.”

Repressed men and unhappy women. There must be a way to help both, reasons Steinberg.

So she’s decided to sell a lingerie video, both as entertainment (I was quite entertained) and a catalogue.

She gathered up a dozen full-bodied models and arranged a shoot at the Horton Grand Hotel. With soft music and breathy soft-sell: “ . . . dance on the delicate edge of mutual pleasure.”

This way an inhibited husband can pick out the lingerie accouterment of his fancy, jot down the number (i.e. garter belt No. 2341) and call a phone number.

Steinberg has been a photographer in San Diego for a decade. One of her specialties is boudoir photography of wives and/or lovers, a favorite at Valentine Day’s.

She also works for developers and public relations firms. Those businesses are kaput of late, so Steinberg is looking for something else.

She formed Midnight Edition to sell slinky stuff from several manufacturers. She’s advertising the video ($19.95) in military publications and the Odyssey International catalogue.

And selling it at X-rated bookstores (Adult World on University Avenue, to start). More methods may follow.

On Tuesday she goes to Los Angeles to appear on a new television show with Christina Ferrare. She figures the lingerie market remains hot, even during a recession:

“If you’re going to stay home because you can’t afford to go out, you might as well . . . “

Get the Picture?

Here we go.

* Timing and politics.

The San Diego City Council on Monday will hold a hearing about cable TV service and picture clarity.

It’s a great chance for Councilman Bruce Henderson to repeat one of his favorite themes: that consumers deserve better treatment from cable TV.

Oh yes, the hearing just happens to come a week before voters will decide between Henderson and challenger Valerie Stallings.

I could tell which council member asked that the hearing be scheduled, but you probably already have guessed.

* Panhandlers are begging/demanding spare change from people waiting in the drive-through lanes of fast-food restaurants in downtown San Diego.

* Ads I have trouble believing. From the Possibilities column in the San Diego Union:

“C.E.O. seeks wife 50+ to relocate to tropical Florida Gold Coast to live in ecstasy and the everlasting pursuit of happiness.”

* Why does Thomas E. Miller of San Diego have a vanity license plate that says: DEFECTS?

Because he’s an attorney specializing in suing developers over construction faults. Business must be good.

The plate is on a 1990 Porsche Carrera convertible.

* More light.

Laura Rodriguez, 81, has been named the 595th Daily Point of Light for the Nation by President Bush. For her two decades of activism in Barrio Logan.

* Press releases I released immediately: “Nov. 12 is National Sandwich Day!”

* San Diego bumper sticker: “Uninvolved and Proud of It.”

How About Amen?

This being Sunday, I leave you with a quiz from Hudson & Bauer on KFMB radio:

Question: What do the Pope, Billy Graham and the San Diego Chargers have in common?

Answer: They all can draw 50,000 people to a football stadium and make them say, “Oh, Jesus.”