Playboy September 2008

features 54 YOUNG GUNS Guns N' Roses were one of the sleaziest, most reckless and greatest rock bands of the modern era. During the group's formative days, in the early 1980s, Axl Rose and his bandmates lived a skid row existence on the Sunset Strip, reveling in a life of drugs, groupies, wild street parties and music. STEPHEN DAVIS looks at the band's romantic, rebellious, self-destructive infancy, when the Gunners struggled to get signed and survive the rock-and-roll jungle. 66 FAST COMPANY Our resident automotive authority KEN GROSS races through the past quarter century in the fastest production cars in the world. The latest: the SSC Ultimate Aero, a 256 mph $630K beast. 74 PLAYBOY'S 2008 PIGSKIN PREVIEW Last year's college football season will be remembered for its wealth of upsets. Will they happen again? Peerless pigskin predictor GARY COLE picks the top 25 teams and the Playboy All America squad, spotlights Coach of the Year Mark Mangino and casts his vote for the top 10 upsets in college football history. 92 SWINGING FROM A TO Z You say you want a revolution. How about a sexual one? Whether you're a watcher or a swapper, swinging has never been bigger, thanks to the Internet. Learn the latest lingo in our A-to-Z guide to swinging in 2008. fiction 100 NOBODY MOVE, PART THREE The landscape turns darker and deadlier in this third installment of DENIS JOHNSON'S gritty modern noir written exclusively for PLAYBOY. Gambol is on the mend and hunting Jimmy Luntz while Anita sets into motion her own plan for revenge, which involves bullying a corrupt judge out of more than a million dollars. the playboy forum 37 THE REAL MCCAIN Republican presidential nominee John McCain has frequently invoked the name of Barry Goldwater'since the long-tenured Arizona senator's death, in 1998. But McCain is not a Goldwater conservative. Political commentator JOHN W. DEAN explains why McCain lacks the character traits that earned Goldwater his legacy. 20Q 70 ANNA FARIS Famous for the hilariously ditzy characters she plays in the Scary Movie flicks, Lost in Translation and now The House Bunny, the real Anna is as put together as she is sexy. Our comedic cover girl tells STEPHEN REBELLO about her experiences with Playboy, learning to date again and giving "good phone." interview DANA WHITE Seven years ago White got behind the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a sports association that has kicked, clawed and stomped its way to pop-culture dominance. But success didn't come easily to the 39-year-old former aerobics instructor. The hardheaded tough guy tells PLAYBOY about beatings in Boston, battling the deep-pocketed competition and why mixed martial arts is the safest sport around. BY KEVIN COOK pictorials 60 GEEK LOVE Beauty and the Geek champion Amanda Corey loses the geek and her clothes. 80 PLAYMATE: VALERIE MASON A snake-handling off-roader from Louisiana, Miss September provides a jolt of Southern spirit. 104 PAGE 3 GIRLS Surrender to an invasion of busty British beauties featured in the U.K.'s top(less) tabloids. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more. notes and news 13 THE WORLD OF PLAYBOY The Man receives the Alpha Male Award from Spike TV; the Playboy Jazz Festival is in full swing when Herbie Hancock takes the stage; and Playmates of every era flock to the Mansion to honor Jayde Nicole as PMOY. 131 PLAYMATE NEWS MTV's Tim Kash plays a dating game with three Playmates; Playmate Colleen Shannon clears up that TMZ "Umbaba" fiasco; having seen our girls in the family-friendly film The House Bunny, why not revisit their nudes? departments 3 PLAYBILL 15 DEAR PLAYBOY 19 AFTER HOURS 24 REVIEWS 31 MANTRACK 35 THE PLAYBOY ADVISOR 90 PARTY JOKES 133 WHERE AND HOW TO BUY 138 GRAPEVINE fashion 96 MAD MEN STYLE In the award-winning AMC TV series Mad Men, high-powered New York advertising executives from the early .1960s smoke, drink, entertain beautiful women and wear really sharp clothes. In this spread, the show's stars sell retro cool in choice vintage-inspired suits. BY JOSEPH DE ACETIS