Posts Tagged ‘international mr. leather’

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Get Ready! Vespertine, Women-Only Play Party This Memorial Day Weekend

April 28, 2010

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You know how easily gay men talk about going to a bar with a back room? Or basement? (If you don’t know gay guys that easily talk about back rooms or basements, you need to get some more gay friends, just sayin’). I’ve always thought it was a shame that my queer lady pals don’t have the ability to joke about that awkard underwear hug or funny run-in at the urinal that is also a bath tub. Culturally, it’s a unique space for male homosexualists, and as long as you play safe, I think it can be a healthy experience and “fresh” perspective.

SO glad my mother doesn’t use the internet BTW.

Enter Verspertine, a private club that only comes around once in a blue moon. Women get to learn and explore their kinks and desires in an environment free from potential creeps and gropers, and I can only IMAGINE how liberating that must feel. Just last month Chicago comic and perrenial cutie Cameron Esposito was showing off her Steamworks membership card that she got when she was featured in a taping of Feast of Fun. She can’t go to the Boystown bath house to play, but she was surely excited about being a member and the first woman to hold that distinction. Congrats, Cameron! If you are serious about being in that kind of environment, Vespertine is the place to start. The next one falls on International Mr. Leather Weekend, or Memorial Day Weekend.

Vespertine is being held on May 30TH 2010. Tickets will be available at Leather 6410/Paul C Leather 6410 N. Clark in Chicago starting May 1st. You may also order by phone, 773-508-0900.

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Leather Folks Has Talent

January 7, 2010

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*Leather Tiara available at Pitbull Mansion

Can’t help but snicker at the thought of leather-clad fire juggling, but you gotta invigorate your daddy-show somehow, right? The International Mr. Leather contest will now incorporate a “Leather Folks Has Talent” competition, with a cash prize of $1,000. This brings the number of areas you can win a leather tiara* to three, adding to the main Mr. Leather pageant and the Bootblack shine off. However, I’m thinking that winning the talent portion won’t get you a year’s worth of ass the way winning the other two does. I could be wrong. Depends on your “talent,” I guess. Press release below. Note IML weekend is now returning to its four day format, from Friday, May 28th to Monday, May 31st.

We are looking for 5 acts around the country to compete in the first “Leatherfolks Has Talent” contest at IML. If you would like to compete we need a dvd of your act sent to: International Mr. Leather, 5015 N. Clark, Chicago, IL 60640. The deadline for this material is April 15, 2010. Five people will be selected to perform at Opening Ceremonies on Friday night, where the audience will vote for their favorite act. The top three will be announced on Saturday night at the Pecs and Personality Show. The top three will then perform on Sunday at the contest with the winner winning a cash prize of $1000.00 and be invited back to perform at IML 2011. For more information please call R J Chaffin at 773-907-9700.

*leather tiaras have not been spotted at IML yet, if you want to be the first, PLEASE let me know, I’ll take photos.

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IML Day Three – Texas Wins!

May 25, 2009

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*Mr. Texas and International Mr. Leather 2009

Sunday would be my last day at IML this year, and it was the best. The market was in full tilt, the people feeling the end and needing to show off:

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The Alien Egg seemed to be retired for most of the day, with the space being used for heavy bondage. I saw this dominant top having his way with a poor sub. The dom had his right arm in his pocket the whole time, and I realized that he didn’t have use of it, making his disability fierceness all the more deserving of an obedient boy:

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Boris, alas! You are the one that got away. I had been trying to get this cute, tattooed, dancing bootblack to shine my shoes but I showed up too late every fucking day and I was so disappointed. He won 2nd runner up in the Mr. Bootblack competition, so I’m sure he’ll be back. I got his card and if you need your boots shined, he’d love to hear from you: bootblackboris((@))gmail.com

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The International Mr. Leather Contest got off to a great start. Chuck Renslow, the founder of IML, presented the opening words and he delivered quite the plea. With HIV infections on the rise, and this being the 31st year of contests, he was shocked that our community had not contained this disease. He asked everyone who knew someone who had passed away from AIDS to stand up and shout out their name. Fortunately I did not have to stand, but looking around the room, most everyone was standing and shouting. VERKLEMPT, to put it lightly and that energy was turned around to start the show. The contestants came out and Mr. Marcus announced the top 20. Besides having 6 of TPR’s 8 faves in the top 20, Mr. Marcus was the snappiest, funniest, sweetest highlight of the whole weekend. Loose teeth, a sharp tongue and grandpa jeans made me swoon:

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Each of the top 20 had a speech prepared, and their words were a sincere attempt to communicate what message they would bring to the world in 2009. I wasn’t expecting much, as Pecs and Personality really had ZERO personality, but these guys delivered. A couple of running themes: repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, eliminating HIV stigma, and expanding the boundaries of what it means to be a leather man. All in all, this thing ran 5+ hours with two intermissions and it was quite the party. Singing performances by Linda Clifford and (outdated and WAY TOO LONG) filth-cabaret puppet Madame with an E were there to keep us going while the judges deliberated. After Mr. Texas Leather 2009, Jeffrey Payne got sashed, there was celebrating and shenanigans all over the place:

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What a great year! Closing thoughts: Every woman that I knew who went to the hosting hotel this year got asked by security why they were there, one of which got asked to leave. Considering the Market is open to anyone 21 and over, that’s sexist BULLSHIT. The entertainment for the events are all standard fare for mainstream gays and I wonder why a community that prides itself on being edgy plays it vanilla when it comes to the music and performances. However in the end, this is a contest for Mr.’s, and any amount of intellectualizing intent and execution probably just says more about me than anything else. The organizational element of IML is pretty impeccable, and this is a gay holiday that is HUGE for the city if Chicago. Looking forward to next year!

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IML Day Two

May 25, 2009

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Saturday kicked it up a notch. The market was a lot busier: open minded arm chair fetishists come by and have a looksie, and the tension between the nubes and the full-on flogging pups is hot and thick in the air. Obviously, I finally talked to David Mason and you know how sometimes you meet someone that you admire and then afterwords you don’t admire them as much? Well, not the case here, David is as sweet as pie. Besides his high fashion take on fetish wear in Slick It Up, his blog House of Vader is one I read every day. It’s a porny, progressive place where David rants about muscles, video queens, steroids, and fashion, all the while backing it up with personal anecdotes. His point of view really plays around with ideas about masculinity and political correctness, and girl can tell a story. You remember Ongina’s hat that she wore to the reunion episode of Rupaul’s Drag race? David made that hat. I knew I was going to try and meet him, but when I finally saw how tall he was, (dude’s a gentle giant, SO HOT) I got a little pee shy and waited. Finally, it was nice to chitty chat about blogging and IML, I hope it’s not till next year that we get to hang out again. I bought some slicky gauntlets and made the BF try on some (holy crap I’m lucky) pants:

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I was too late to get my boot shined by Boris, but put my name down for tomorrow. My cutie bootblack was totally cool about an interview and was not at all annoyed that I didn’t have a ballot. Soon, it would be time for “Pecs and Personality” and we needed to get our seats. I wasn’t until I walked into the theatre that I realized how big of a production this was:

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Big Ms. Opening Number performed a song and got every one pumped. 54 leather men entered the stage and had a nice walk around, and with each you got something like this from the MC’s: “Contestant number 24, is Joe Bigguns, Mr. Leather Springfield 2008. He’s 5’11″ tall, weighs 178 pounds, has salt and pepper hair and blue eyes. Joe is a Medical case worker for people living with HIV. Hobbies include, hiking, going to the gym, BDSM, CBT, mentoring and positive thinking.” Serious! After that, they were each asked a pretty silly question designed to illicit cheap sexual innuendo, and overall there was not that much personality in the “Pecs and Personality” part of this contest. But really, no one want to sit through too much talking, and with 54 guys, they needed to keep things moving. Mr. Texas was an early TPR fave, and in the end our top picks were Texas, Bavaria, London, NYC, Mid States, Belgium, New Zealand, Michigan, and LA. Surprisingly, there was only one black contestant and two latinos, but about 10 from other countries, truly claiming the international status. Crazy, bouncy, Mr. Bavaria:

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A good, good day, plenty to look at and take in, can’t wait for tomorrow. Spent, we went to get some sushi before late night activities commenced:

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IML Day One

May 22, 2009

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* Gary Iriza, Mr. Palm Springs Leather 2008, 1st Runner-up: Bob Firth-Tessier, M. Cuir Montreal 2008, 2nd Runner-up: Scott Melton, Mr. Ramrod 2007, and International Mr. Bootblack 2008: Bootdog, of the Alameda County Leather Corps. Photo by BULLmanX.

Honestly, there is no better gay holiday weekend than International Mr. Leather. So open and welcoming to all stripes, leather and not. Yes, it is male-centered, but the few women that are there are having a great time, not at all needing to worry about nasty trolls following them around. I go every year to the market, BUT this year I am official media, and will be live blogging the actual International Mr. Leather contest, as well as any and all happenings while I am there. I’m def gonna get my boots shined and try and interview my shiner, continue to stalk David Mason, and try and take more photos with gay celebs. Be sure to follow me @thinkpinkradio. Here are my tweets from Day 1:

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So Friday afternoon is always a little snoozy at the market. People are still arriving from out of town and the vendors have no “schpiel – fatigue” and are giving the hard sell. Luckily, I was with Mistress Crimson, and as you can see above, she’s lots of fun. We had good conversations about hanky codes and the appeal of jock straps, I def got a good look at a hot Anderson Cooper-type with a blue hanky tucked on the right, and WOW is all we could say. First photo was this bizzaro table that I still don’t know what was going on. It was like an all-you-can-kink-garage sale:

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After Crimson tried on a satin corset, we turned the corner and both of our jaws dropped:

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WTF is that? It’s The Alien Egg. You can be born from it:

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Yeah. Never, ever seen that before. I think at this point, we ran into TPR pal S.I.R , who works at the Leather Archives & Museum, he was on his way to perform:

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I did make sure to pass by the Slick It Up table about 7 times, but I was determined to not say anything to David Mason. Not Yet. I couldn’t believe it when my friend Joey had tried on one if Slick It Up’s better suits and I wasn’t even there, UGH:

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Crimson needed to meet up with her fellow dom Troy, and Troy needed to buy a flogging device. She needed someone to “help” “try” “it out” and while there is no photo (ha, no, sorry) I was flogged for the first time today. It was nice. Thanks for the freebie, Troy! It was then that my girls had to leave and so I showed Joey around the market (he ain’t from ’round these parts). That’s when this happened and I freaked the fuck out:

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So, I know Dan Savage’s feminism is lacking, and he is a flawed man. BUT I have been reading Savage Love since I was 14 or 15 and I have never missed a week. NOT ONE, and honestly Dan Savage guided me through my gayness and with his help I am the proud and open gay-rod I am today. ANYWAY, I totally bumbled my way through telling him how much I loved him and he was gracious and kind and wanted to remember the letter I wrote him (which he sent me a personal response to). UGH FUCKING UGH. I was sweaty and giddy after that.

I gotta be Stinky Pinky, playing the best indie, electro and disco you’ve ever heard, tonight at Wang’s, so no more IML tonight. But I’ll be at the official events all weekend with a recap each day. Look here for the entire schedule. I’m going to be a swine flu-sie!

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Stay tuned!

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Win Tickets To BLOWOFF This Saturday!

May 18, 2009

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Was it coincidence? Hell no. Bob Mould (of Hüsker Du and Sugar) and Richard Morel are bringing their electro-rock-dance project to Chicago this weekend, just in time for IML! Mould started BLOWOFF in Washington D.C. as a monthly queer dance party and performance project over 5 years ago and has been a hugely successful collaboration for the two musicians. Mould brings the rock element and Morel brings the electronic beats, and BLOWOFF has had jam packed nights at Homo-A-Go-Go, The Folsom Street Fair, and now Chicago for Internaional Mr. Leather. The show is this Saturday at Metro Chicago, and if you’d like to win a free pair of tickets to the show, email me at thinkpinkradio((@))gmail.com and tell me why you love leather (or P-leather, if you are vegan). Emails must be received no later than Thursday, May 21st.

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S & Mart

April 9, 2009

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IML. Say it with me, folks. Nothing does Spring in Chicago like International Mr. Leather, and every year I get more and more excited. Memorial Day weekend in Chicago is the another gay holiday to me, the far superior Pride for so many reasons. What is better than tens of thousands of Leather Daddies descending upon us for a raunchy weekend, taking over the Loop and an unsuspecting public? Nothing. At all. You just can’t beat a Walgreens filled with fetishists, and when the guy in the full blue leather sailor suit asks for some wintermint gum and lip balm in a super nelly voice, I know why I live in the best city on earth…it’s home!

Anyhow, this year the Leather Archives & Museum is hoping to expand the horizons of the event by staging performance and displaying art at the Leather Market (if you don’t know what the market is, picture a craft fair but all the “crafts” will make you blush). From the LA&M press release:

S&Mart consists of two parts, an Opening Night Art Show/Auction and a Demo Stage Market Show. The Art show will be held at the Hilton – Chicago and is open to the event’s local and international audience. Works will be on display and available for sale as part of a silent auction with a percentage of the proceeds returning to the artist. The Demo Market Show will consist of a group of 5 to 7 performers or performance groups and will be scheduled as acts between scheduled Fetish Demonstrations.

If you are interested in showing or performing fetish/leather related art at this year’s IML, contact Scott Ian Ray at gagallery((@))leatherarchives.org

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IML Is This Weekend!!

May 22, 2008

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*A photo I took with my phone last year, this pup was being a very good boy.

Oh man, this is my favorite weekend of the year. International Mr. Leather is every Memorial Day weekend and the Leather Market is SO FUN! Here is an excerpt from the article I wrote for edgechicago.com:

Among the infinite amount of vendor tables and porn stars, you’ll probably see a shy corporate suit, a man in a dog mask on all fours, a woman trying on a corset, and that little Asian slave in the fishnet miniskirt and shackles that goes every year. All in the same corner.

One of my best stories from the market involves a hooded sub, who had been chained to a vendor display. He was shirtless, and aside from his impressive nipples, he wasn’t standing out too much. People would walk by and give a friendly wink or wave, and he just stood there, his master somewhere out of site. Finally, with unnerving confidence, a man comes up to him, a sharp twist and tap later, the man starts punching the sub’s chest with full force. As people stopped to watch, the hooded man’s crotch bulge got bigger and bigger. Just as suddenly as that brazen display of sexuality started, it was over, and everyone went back to their shopping.

The Leather Market is open to the public from Friday to Monday for a suggested donation of $4.00, all benefitting the Leather Archives and Museum. It is located at this year’s sponsoring hotel, the Hyatt Regency at 151 East Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60601. 312-565-1234.

–Stinky Pinky

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