Monday, April 30, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Shared Air Sex
It's been so long since I did anything like this....gotta change that, these guys are having way too much fun! All that lube squishing, rubber snapping, and gas mask moaning, mmmm....
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Mr. New England Rubber press release
BOSTON (April 12, 2012) – The world of rubbermen contests began in Boston with the Mr. Vulcan competition two decades ago. Now, New England is reclaiming its place as a hub of the rubber-kink community. More than 100 kinksters turned out as 37-year-old Jason Lynch, (aka, RubberJason) donned the sash of the 2nd annual Mr. New England Rubber.
In the eyes of many, the event marked a sea change for the region’s rubber fetish community. Rubber and latex fetish have long been a minor component of kink culture, especially in the leather-dominated Northeast. However, the last year has witnessed a growing number of rubber enthusiasts at organized fetish events—and has spawned the new organization, the New England Rubber Men, which has more than 50 members despite having formed a mere five months ago.
“I can’t say how proud I am of the enormous response we’ve seen in such a short amount of time,” said Lynch, who is one of the founding members of the New England Rubber Men. “I think there are a lot of guys in this area who have been a little intimidated to show their rubber-kink side. Now, they’re finding out that this area’s fetish community is a big and welcoming place…and they’re more than happy to show up.”
And, they’ll have plenty of new opportunities to do just that. Along with first-runner-up GloveBoy, second-runner-up Clark Longhammer, and last year’s winner Nochmal, Lynch and the New England Rubber Men will host several rubber events around New England including various demos and social get-togethers.
“I think we’re at the start of something big in New England—something that will open the kink community to a much bigger group, “ said Justin Eddy (SirJustin), owner of the MNER contest and International Mr. Deaf Leather 2011.
Lynch will now have an opportunity to represent the New England rubber community on an international stage by donning the MNER sash (which was designed by latex fashion icon, The Baroness) at the 16th annual Mister International Rubber Contest in November in Chicago. He has big waders to fill, however. Mr. New England Rubber 2011, Nochmal, took first-runner-up at the competition.
Supports have little doubt that the self-proclaimed “cub” will be a favorite at the competition. He was selected by a panel of judges comprised of well-known personalities within the rubber community: G-man, Mr. International Rubber 2011; Richard Nordin (Nochmal), Mr. New England Rubber 2011; Bob Roberts, Mr. American Rubber 2012; Miss Corvette, Ms. FLAG 2011; along with Brian Conway and Patrick Pierson (Pleep), two popular contestants from the Mister International Rubber 2011 contest.
www.MRNER.com
Monday, April 23, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Settled?
There has been lots of communication between Rubber Trooper and myself over the past week or so based on our perceptions of each others perspectives of the Rubbout 21 weekend. I felt really bad that I was particularly focusing on RT's account as a base for defending our organizational decisions but he did make a lot of points where we fell short or underestimated outcomes, but as I've said, there was more going on behind the scenes than what a lot of the attendees may or may not have been able to appreciate. First and foremost, we wanted to plan a weekend with lots of options. There had been criticism that there was TOO much going on for Rubbout 20, so we wanted to simplify the schedule for Rubbout 21, which we did, but because it was on a long weekend, there ended up being several other events going on that we ended up cross-promoting with and added to the schedule. In the end, it ended up being a weekend with as many options as Rubbout 20! I look at this as a good thing; it's better to have too many events than not enough, right? That is my thinking, I think some people will disagree with me, and this is food for thought for Rubbout 22 too.
Secondly, there seemed to be displeasure with the fact that maybe too many of the events this year were dance parties. I defended this by saying we needed to have events that would pull in numbers of guys that may not necessarily be weekend passholders or rubbermen, but would pay entry and drink, therefore giving us money. In some ways this worked, in other ways it didn't. At any rate, the discussion that has started about this will certainly be considered in the decision making about venues and events for next year.
Some of the things we thought would be a win for Rubbout 21 didn't work out as intended, and some things that we didn't put a lot of work into actually worked out far beyond our expectations! It's things like that that make a complex event like Rubbout and interesting event to plan and execute.
As I had stated before, the biggest success in my opinion of Rubbout 21 was the fact that all the events executed pretty much according to plan which made me very happy, and some of the feedback about the events has been very positive. It's unfortunate that most of the feedback has been critical and there hasn't been enough positivity to stroke my fragile ego, but I guess that's the evil nature of the event planning business; you simply don't hear about the good things, unfortunately it seems that people are just prone to point out the negative things, but that's just human nature. It just disappoints me that there isn't more positivity particularly about Rubbout - it's a party after all, it's not a political movement or anything in the least bit serious - though from the perspective of the organizer, there is a aura of seriousness even about Rubbout.
That's basically all I wanted to say on the issue, now it's basically closed for me. There is still a lot of follow-up to do for Rubbout 21 but I am already thinking ahead towards Rubbout 22.
Secondly, there seemed to be displeasure with the fact that maybe too many of the events this year were dance parties. I defended this by saying we needed to have events that would pull in numbers of guys that may not necessarily be weekend passholders or rubbermen, but would pay entry and drink, therefore giving us money. In some ways this worked, in other ways it didn't. At any rate, the discussion that has started about this will certainly be considered in the decision making about venues and events for next year.
Some of the things we thought would be a win for Rubbout 21 didn't work out as intended, and some things that we didn't put a lot of work into actually worked out far beyond our expectations! It's things like that that make a complex event like Rubbout and interesting event to plan and execute.
As I had stated before, the biggest success in my opinion of Rubbout 21 was the fact that all the events executed pretty much according to plan which made me very happy, and some of the feedback about the events has been very positive. It's unfortunate that most of the feedback has been critical and there hasn't been enough positivity to stroke my fragile ego, but I guess that's the evil nature of the event planning business; you simply don't hear about the good things, unfortunately it seems that people are just prone to point out the negative things, but that's just human nature. It just disappoints me that there isn't more positivity particularly about Rubbout - it's a party after all, it's not a political movement or anything in the least bit serious - though from the perspective of the organizer, there is a aura of seriousness even about Rubbout.
That's basically all I wanted to say on the issue, now it's basically closed for me. There is still a lot of follow-up to do for Rubbout 21 but I am already thinking ahead towards Rubbout 22.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Rubber Soldier: the Next Generation
I got my metallic peacock Libidex catsuit back a few weeks ago so I felt compelled to accessorize it with the new mask the newly cut open-face hood and other accessories on Tuesday to see how it all looked (and felt, of course). I completed the look with the CB3000 chastity device and an inflatable butt plug vibrator to the happy results below:
Needless to say, the afternoon ended in a pile of sweaty, cum covered, ass-juiced rubber! Success!
Rubbout Reviews and Rant
There have been a few reviews coming in from various sources talking about Rubbout 21. I am just getting around to reading some of them; the past week I've been laying low and avoiding any Rubbout-related conversations. I have been just so drained and exhausted (and relieved), and a bit low. In addition, I have been dealing with my injured achilles tendon flaring up again, and had a dose of flu staring on Sunday until yesterday.
The reviews are generally pretty favorable; one has to keep in perspective where the reviews are coming from. Raziel Reid's review in this week's Xtra! was very good and he covered it a lot more than last year, though last years' review by him was generally favorable too.
I was a bit put off that he said that because Rubbout was "under new management" this year that it was to be expected there were going to be disappointments and room for improvement. I don't think he knows that Doug and Rob have been pivotal volunteers of Rubbout for many years and I was Mitch's right hand man last year and have lots of previous event planning experience. I wouldn't consider us seasoned organizers of this large-scope event but we certainly aren't unfamiliar with Rubbout and the expectations people now have of it. Everything we did went off almost exactly to plan and this is what I consider the big success of Rubbout 21. There was a huge variety of parties and events to choose from spread over two weeks that should've appealed to most; just because some of the events we put on or cross-promoted didn't have full rubber as their focus doesn't mean that they shouldn't have been checked out. The parties on Thursday night, the play party at Steamworks and the Sunday parties were ALL fun, it's too bad some people missed them. Once again, the reality that we are trying to make money in addition to putting on a high-quality event seems to be lost on some.
To me, it is a no-win situation for the organizers of an event as big as Rubbout. We had eight events over two weekends plus six monthly events before that; we wanted to try a few different things this year to see what worked and what didn't. We had the parties in an attempt to encourage younger guys to come and check it out, giving something to the party boys, while also appeasing to the returning rubberguys with some raunchy play parties and more rubber-only events, but it seems that nothing was up to the expectations of some of the people that attended. Something that is too loud or smoky upset a certain cohort of the rubber community while exciting another group. Some of this stuff was out of our control. The target demographic of some of these events weren't the ones that complained about it, obviously, so even though I am receptive to their input, not every event we put on is going to appeal to everyone. We tried this year to have a variety of things going on that would appeal to the largest number of guys possible while trying to further engage the local Vancouver gays and Davie Village businesses and community groups. The events that I overlooked from a distance were successful, though the specific organizers sometimes seemed to take a position of not having to make an effort to promote Rubbout in general and only concerned themselves with promoting their events, and Rubbout in general seemed a good target for criticism from many different vested interests yet none of these interests made any effort to assist in addressing the issues of which they were critical. It was very very frustrating from my perspective. I've personally come to the conclusion that most of the guys coming to Rubbout don't want to party but want to play, but I don't think they should expect for a $45 weekend pass that EVERY event on the weekend is going to be tailored for them; that we might hope that they will throw us some cash in other ways. I'm sorry, it's just the truth. Maybe most frustratingly, I'm now convinced the local community isn't sophisticated enough to realize a great unique local event if it was literally thrown in their faces. It was killing me that so many people picked apart the event and found lots of things to fault us on, yet these same people would not and will not lift a finger to help us in the planning or execution of it.
Realizing that Rob, Doug and I, after the cleanup week and the reviews coming up in the next few months, have probably devoted 400 hours and $20K to this year's Rubbout might make a few people take pause in their criticisms if they realized how much time and effort was required to pull off what they witnessed at Rubbout 21. I know we are going to have quite a few reviews and discoveries in the coming weeks about how this years turnouts, promotion, and finances are going to shape what Rubbout 22 is going to look like. One thing for sure is that I am not putting this same effort and personal finances into next year; this means either more people are coming onto the organizing committee or the event is going to be radically scaled down. Simple as that. I have not had fun at Rubbout the past several years and I don't think that's right or fair. In a way, I am hoping that the collective vision is to scale it down and make it a rubber-only event again; it seems to be what most of the rubbermen that attend want. I think focusing on making it a party that rubbermen from all over the continent want to come to is what the future holds for Rubbout; I am disappointed by the Vancouver gay kink community in general that they cannot come out and support events that are unique to Vancouver, that they will continue to go for the same repetitive events over and over again, that they will not make an event which has lots of out-of-towners a priority to attend, that they will not even do the simplest of promotion for Rubbout - spreading the word about Rubbout through word of mouth and social media, though none of this really surprises me. I no longer want to depend on them for the viability of Rubbout in the future. Even though the Slick Party is only two years old, the numbers who attended were only half of last year's and despite incessant promotion of the truth, there is still lots of belief out there that it was rubber-only therefore accessible only to a few. I've been receiving comment from some people that this will only change by continuing to bang the drum...that eventually the Vancouver crowd will get it, but I want to cut our losses and scale back to what Rubbout originally was; for rubbermen by rubbermen. It pains me to say that I don't think Vancouver deserves an event like Rubbout, and it's only the tight, proud, group of the same organizers and volunteers year-in and year-out that make this event feasible year after year. All the locals have to do is show up for the party, and they didn't even do that this year. Like I said, I don't have faith that Vancouver is sophisticated enough to 'get it', and there are too many others out there who seem hell-bent to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs before it even gets a chance to build a nest.
That being said, there were other factors, like the Rubbout date this year and the location of the Slick Party that hindered the numbers and positive financial outcome. I have vowed never to have Rubbout on Easter Weekend ever again; the parties at the beginning of the weekend took numbers away from us as did events in Europe that took away some of the guys around the continent that would've been here otherwise. The guys in Vancouver's gay village are so fickle and flaky that anything that takes place 'over the bridge' from downtown is too far to go for many. This disappointing and lame and one of my major pet peeves about Vancouver's gay community.
A week ago, I was so despondent about the whole thing I was seriously thinking about throwing in the towel. That would show them! No more Rubbout! They will appreciate it too late now that it wouldn't take place! But this week I've come back to reality. I will plan Rubbout again next year, but it's going to be simpler, scaled down and more intimate. I already have a few potential 150-200 capacity locations in mind for Saturday night next year; places that can be developed into multi-room parties that will hopefully make everyone at least a bit more satisfied. I need help with sponsorship and promotions next year. Though I abhor the idea of going to corporate sponsors for money, I don't see many other ways to go since the event sponsors are about sponsoring gear prizes over cashn and always will be, but cash is what we need more than prizes. I dunno, food for thought. A decision like that will piss off a bunch of rubber queens as well. Our decision to have Labatt as a sponsor this year drew criticism as well. They gave us cash, what do you want me to do? We are so close to being in the red right now (and probably will be once all the bills are paid), I don't see any other way to do this that won't require even more effort from a collective of volunteers that all have full-time jobs and real lives to contend with in addition to putting this event on. I don't think it's fair that the organizers have to personally absorb financial losses for putting on this party.
Anyways, rant over for now. I have lots of positive and negative points to mull over in the coming weeks as we start having our review meetings for Rubbout 21 and discovery meetings for Rubbout 22. And hey, if YOU want to help us out planning for Rubbout 22, then by all means get in touch with me.
By the way, the photos from Rubbout 21 are now available at Rubbout and Rubberzone :)
The reviews are generally pretty favorable; one has to keep in perspective where the reviews are coming from. Raziel Reid's review in this week's Xtra! was very good and he covered it a lot more than last year, though last years' review by him was generally favorable too.
A WELCOME INVASIONThe review by Rubber Trooper wasn't so rosy, but I encourage you to read it. The event recap is pretty complete, and I always enjoy reading what people have to say about events I was at, but especially the events that I missed out on. Even though I was upset when I initially read it, I think that Rubber Trooper is trying to be helpful from the perspective of one of the guys that comes to Rubbout for the play and not for the parties...there were a group of the out-of-towners staying at the hotel that I'm sure would've been just as happy staying in the hotel and playing and not leaving for off-site events at all. I think Rubber Trooper just wants to see it become better, though it bugs me that people that do not contribute to the execution of the event feel compelled to criticize at all. The reference to Icarus, really? We have to make money somehow; putting on an all-access party with control of the bar is what makes us money, not selling ultra-cheap weekend passes to the out-of-towners, I'm sorry to say.
Rubbout XXI invaded on Easter weekend - fittingly, since Jesus nailed to the cross is the original poster boy for BDSM.
The annual kink fest held events ranging from gear swaps to dance parties - and even diving expeditions off Porteau Cove for those into a different kind of watersport.
The first event I ever covered for Xtra! was Rubbout's 20th anniversary last year. I'm a year old, bitches, and walking on my own! If you'd like to buy me a birthday gift, cabernet sauvignon and dildos (big ones - you know it!) are always graciously accepted.
I remember being nervous going to Rubbout because I'm not exceptionally rubbery; my biggest fetish is vintage clothes.
But one thing I quickly learned is that our leather/rubber/fetish community is one of the warmest and most welcoming in the city. They're not like the Eastside hipster cunts with Petrine Cross tattoos, dressed head to foot in F as in Frank, who give you a dirty look if you're not wearing the right '90s denim (Oh shit, I just described myself, didn't I?)
They're also not a bunch of creepy old men wearing harnesses and cracking whips. Sure, there are plenty of harnesses and whips, but there's nothing creepy about it. The fetish folk are jolly, open-minded and in it for the fun as much as the depravity.I learned some rubber etiquette at The Junction's Puppy Play Party. First, never tweak someone's rubber. I thought they said never treak in rubber and started to run for the closest exit, but as it turns out, when they're geared up, you can look but not touch. The second rule is definitely the most important. Never pull on a pup's tail. Ever. Why, you ask? Because it's stuck up their asshole! Now I'm not sure how one douches when one has four legs, so I wouldn't risk it.
I was surpirsed when I asked a partier dresss in a full sci-fi outfit if he'd care to pose in a photo with me for my column. He declined, saying, "I'd rather keep my gay and straight worlds separate, you know?" I nodded and smiled, but the truth is, I don't get it. Maybe I'm just such a camera whore that it's inconceivable to imagine that anyone would not want to pose for a picture (if photos steal your soul, I couldn't care less - I don't have one!) But mostly I was taken aback because the Rubbout:Invasion weekend was entirely without judgment, shame, or insecurity. This "gay world" is a Vancouver tradition to be proud of.
I was a bit put off that he said that because Rubbout was "under new management" this year that it was to be expected there were going to be disappointments and room for improvement. I don't think he knows that Doug and Rob have been pivotal volunteers of Rubbout for many years and I was Mitch's right hand man last year and have lots of previous event planning experience. I wouldn't consider us seasoned organizers of this large-scope event but we certainly aren't unfamiliar with Rubbout and the expectations people now have of it. Everything we did went off almost exactly to plan and this is what I consider the big success of Rubbout 21. There was a huge variety of parties and events to choose from spread over two weeks that should've appealed to most; just because some of the events we put on or cross-promoted didn't have full rubber as their focus doesn't mean that they shouldn't have been checked out. The parties on Thursday night, the play party at Steamworks and the Sunday parties were ALL fun, it's too bad some people missed them. Once again, the reality that we are trying to make money in addition to putting on a high-quality event seems to be lost on some.
To me, it is a no-win situation for the organizers of an event as big as Rubbout. We had eight events over two weekends plus six monthly events before that; we wanted to try a few different things this year to see what worked and what didn't. We had the parties in an attempt to encourage younger guys to come and check it out, giving something to the party boys, while also appeasing to the returning rubberguys with some raunchy play parties and more rubber-only events, but it seems that nothing was up to the expectations of some of the people that attended. Something that is too loud or smoky upset a certain cohort of the rubber community while exciting another group. Some of this stuff was out of our control. The target demographic of some of these events weren't the ones that complained about it, obviously, so even though I am receptive to their input, not every event we put on is going to appeal to everyone. We tried this year to have a variety of things going on that would appeal to the largest number of guys possible while trying to further engage the local Vancouver gays and Davie Village businesses and community groups. The events that I overlooked from a distance were successful, though the specific organizers sometimes seemed to take a position of not having to make an effort to promote Rubbout in general and only concerned themselves with promoting their events, and Rubbout in general seemed a good target for criticism from many different vested interests yet none of these interests made any effort to assist in addressing the issues of which they were critical. It was very very frustrating from my perspective. I've personally come to the conclusion that most of the guys coming to Rubbout don't want to party but want to play, but I don't think they should expect for a $45 weekend pass that EVERY event on the weekend is going to be tailored for them; that we might hope that they will throw us some cash in other ways. I'm sorry, it's just the truth. Maybe most frustratingly, I'm now convinced the local community isn't sophisticated enough to realize a great unique local event if it was literally thrown in their faces. It was killing me that so many people picked apart the event and found lots of things to fault us on, yet these same people would not and will not lift a finger to help us in the planning or execution of it.
Realizing that Rob, Doug and I, after the cleanup week and the reviews coming up in the next few months, have probably devoted 400 hours and $20K to this year's Rubbout might make a few people take pause in their criticisms if they realized how much time and effort was required to pull off what they witnessed at Rubbout 21. I know we are going to have quite a few reviews and discoveries in the coming weeks about how this years turnouts, promotion, and finances are going to shape what Rubbout 22 is going to look like. One thing for sure is that I am not putting this same effort and personal finances into next year; this means either more people are coming onto the organizing committee or the event is going to be radically scaled down. Simple as that. I have not had fun at Rubbout the past several years and I don't think that's right or fair. In a way, I am hoping that the collective vision is to scale it down and make it a rubber-only event again; it seems to be what most of the rubbermen that attend want. I think focusing on making it a party that rubbermen from all over the continent want to come to is what the future holds for Rubbout; I am disappointed by the Vancouver gay kink community in general that they cannot come out and support events that are unique to Vancouver, that they will continue to go for the same repetitive events over and over again, that they will not make an event which has lots of out-of-towners a priority to attend, that they will not even do the simplest of promotion for Rubbout - spreading the word about Rubbout through word of mouth and social media, though none of this really surprises me. I no longer want to depend on them for the viability of Rubbout in the future. Even though the Slick Party is only two years old, the numbers who attended were only half of last year's and despite incessant promotion of the truth, there is still lots of belief out there that it was rubber-only therefore accessible only to a few. I've been receiving comment from some people that this will only change by continuing to bang the drum...that eventually the Vancouver crowd will get it, but I want to cut our losses and scale back to what Rubbout originally was; for rubbermen by rubbermen. It pains me to say that I don't think Vancouver deserves an event like Rubbout, and it's only the tight, proud, group of the same organizers and volunteers year-in and year-out that make this event feasible year after year. All the locals have to do is show up for the party, and they didn't even do that this year. Like I said, I don't have faith that Vancouver is sophisticated enough to 'get it', and there are too many others out there who seem hell-bent to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs before it even gets a chance to build a nest.
That being said, there were other factors, like the Rubbout date this year and the location of the Slick Party that hindered the numbers and positive financial outcome. I have vowed never to have Rubbout on Easter Weekend ever again; the parties at the beginning of the weekend took numbers away from us as did events in Europe that took away some of the guys around the continent that would've been here otherwise. The guys in Vancouver's gay village are so fickle and flaky that anything that takes place 'over the bridge' from downtown is too far to go for many. This disappointing and lame and one of my major pet peeves about Vancouver's gay community.
A week ago, I was so despondent about the whole thing I was seriously thinking about throwing in the towel. That would show them! No more Rubbout! They will appreciate it too late now that it wouldn't take place! But this week I've come back to reality. I will plan Rubbout again next year, but it's going to be simpler, scaled down and more intimate. I already have a few potential 150-200 capacity locations in mind for Saturday night next year; places that can be developed into multi-room parties that will hopefully make everyone at least a bit more satisfied. I need help with sponsorship and promotions next year. Though I abhor the idea of going to corporate sponsors for money, I don't see many other ways to go since the event sponsors are about sponsoring gear prizes over cashn and always will be, but cash is what we need more than prizes. I dunno, food for thought. A decision like that will piss off a bunch of rubber queens as well. Our decision to have Labatt as a sponsor this year drew criticism as well. They gave us cash, what do you want me to do? We are so close to being in the red right now (and probably will be once all the bills are paid), I don't see any other way to do this that won't require even more effort from a collective of volunteers that all have full-time jobs and real lives to contend with in addition to putting this event on. I don't think it's fair that the organizers have to personally absorb financial losses for putting on this party.
Anyways, rant over for now. I have lots of positive and negative points to mull over in the coming weeks as we start having our review meetings for Rubbout 21 and discovery meetings for Rubbout 22. And hey, if YOU want to help us out planning for Rubbout 22, then by all means get in touch with me.
By the way, the photos from Rubbout 21 are now available at Rubbout and Rubberzone :)
Monday, April 16, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Rubbout Aftermath
I am still trying to recover....still a lot of cleanup to do. I'm trying to get some of the sponsor shipments sent back today; I'm fearful of the costs, but that's a part of doing business. Financial review tonight.
We got lots of accolades about the weekend, some even saying it was the best time they've had in Vancouver in years, however we were trampled attendance-wise at the Slick Dance on Saturday night due to the barrage of events going on earlier in the weekend, plus several other factors we will need to review at our discovery meetings in the coming weeks. There are still areas where we fell short, and as a organizing committee we didn't meet some of our main objectives. We'll be lucky to break even; despite being happy that the party made everyone else happy, I'm personally debating whether the 150+ hours I put towards the weekend are worth it considering Rob and I might be looking at personal financial loss over the whole thing. At any rate, I'm just glad to be having a few weeks after this one to just relax and start gearing towards looking for a new job and getting back in shape. Maybe my attitude on the whole thing will wane in the coming weeks. I think I'm crabby because, once again, I didn't get much play in during the weekend. I did make it over to Rouki's room at the hotel on Sunday for a couple hours of vacuum bliss and abuse in the vac-bed.
Anyways, lots of pics to come on Rubberzone, Rubbout.com, Leatherati.com and here too.
We got lots of accolades about the weekend, some even saying it was the best time they've had in Vancouver in years, however we were trampled attendance-wise at the Slick Dance on Saturday night due to the barrage of events going on earlier in the weekend, plus several other factors we will need to review at our discovery meetings in the coming weeks. There are still areas where we fell short, and as a organizing committee we didn't meet some of our main objectives. We'll be lucky to break even; despite being happy that the party made everyone else happy, I'm personally debating whether the 150+ hours I put towards the weekend are worth it considering Rob and I might be looking at personal financial loss over the whole thing. At any rate, I'm just glad to be having a few weeks after this one to just relax and start gearing towards looking for a new job and getting back in shape. Maybe my attitude on the whole thing will wane in the coming weeks. I think I'm crabby because, once again, I didn't get much play in during the weekend. I did make it over to Rouki's room at the hotel on Sunday for a couple hours of vacuum bliss and abuse in the vac-bed.
Anyways, lots of pics to come on Rubberzone, Rubbout.com, Leatherati.com and here too.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
48 Hours
Lots of stuff going on, of course. People are starting to arrive, lots of tasks to do before Friday afternoon. It's hard to believe, but Rubbout is here. I think we're destined to have a great weekend; the weather is improving immensely and there's a full moon on Friday! My apartment looks like a rubber flophouse right now; there's rubber hanging from every possible place to hang! I got my Honour of London skinny jeans on Monday; they look good, though in these pics I see how big of a task it's going to be to get myself back down to my target weight. Oh well, I wanted to be in better shape for Rubbout but shit happens. Once this madness is out of the way, I can focus on self-improvement for a change.
Weekend package bags to stuff today, running around picking up equipment and sponsor stuff in the morning, printer pickup, then getting ready for Rubber invasion tomorrow night. I think I'm going to go with this look :)
Maybe the green polo shirt would go better?
Weekend package bags to stuff today, running around picking up equipment and sponsor stuff in the morning, printer pickup, then getting ready for Rubber invasion tomorrow night. I think I'm going to go with this look :)
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Countdown
The first Rubbout under my command is now only three days away. Last week was a lot of hours dedicated to the cause. I am feeling a little lucid today. I'm not completely sure why, I think part of it is fatigue but part of it is also knowing that we have things under control. I have the feeling that I won't get excited until Thursday but between now and then there is still a lot to do. I did do the approval and order for the sponsor banner and the weekend program printing and I must say the weekend program looks AMAZING. I updated the financial forecasts today and everything looks okay as long as we can push Slick Dance ticket sales this week. This is my only concern. We have the challenge of being heard in a cacophany of events screaming for attention on the Easter long weekend, but our winning hand is that we are the only big party on Saturday night in Vancouver gay world. I know tickets weren't even close to being sold out until the day of the event last year, I would like to think that sales might be a bit more indicative of success earlier on this year, but I won't hold my breath. A lot of people still think of Rubbout being a rubber-only party, which it is, except for the Slick Dance which we want to make a big, sexy celebration for all gay kinksters out there, local or not.
At any rate, I am very happy with how the events this past weekend went. The Gear Swap at Pumpjack in the afternoon went very well. Everything was put up and out quickly, taken down and packed quickly and a lot of items were sold. In total, Rubbout made almost $1100 in proceeds from the sale. This gave us some enthusiasm going into the Recon Gear Party in the evening. It was another evening of other competing big events going on, but the bar event pulled in a healthy consistent crowd throughout the evening and it appeared everyone was having a lot of fun. Doug and I were able to ham it up onstage for a few minutes which was fun. The Recon Signature Rubber clothing was worn by four sexy guys at the bar that night who helped us pass out bar cards and Recon lanyards to the crowd.
I feel very fortunate that Saturday evening, I was able to don my latex catsuit and jacket at Mr. P's and walk the three blocks to the bar event without putting on any coverage. I got hysterics from a group on Burrard on the way there and another from a group on Drake on the way back, but it is quite the rush for me to be able to walk through downtown Vancouver in full rubber and get away with it! Maybe I am stupid for doing that, but time will tell. I got home that night and intended to go out again once my rubber was doffed but I got into the shower with the catsuit on, the KE microbreathe hood and some gloves and poppered out for a bit in the shower.
I will be emboldened to do that and more next weekend when there are lots of guys in rubber walking up and down Davie from the Village to the host hotel. Mr. P's is right in the middle of the action.
My Honour of London latex skinny jeans with suspenders showed up today. I tried them on quickly in between meetings today. The fitting is okay but not excellent but they will do. The big issue was that I was hit with $107 in duty and taxes to pick them up. They ended up being a rather expensive pair of latex jeans in the end, here's hoping they get lots of action in the future. I am already trying to figure when I'm going to get the chance to wear them. I still have to pick out a wardrobe for next weekend! Yipe! My apartment is a complete disaster area right now, with sponsor packages piled high in the living room, hangers all over my bathroom drying various rubber outfits - not all of them mine, and the bedroom still has a pile of Macabail's donations that haven't been put away yet still laying in various states around the room. I'm supposed to be hosting the bag stuffing on Wednesday so I had best get stuff organized around there....a task for tomorrow, no doubt.
So, it's possible that the next entry might be from Rubbout ground zero. The Invasion is about to begin! Follow Rubbout @Rubbout on Twitter and I will be updating throughout the weekend. I will also try updates to the blog as I get pictures from each day. If you're coming, get here soon but safely, if you're not, we wish you were here and hope you'll plan for a Rubbout in the future! :)
I am blown away by the way people will rise up to pull an event like this off. The volunteers for Rubbout deserve so much appreciation, I wish we could show them our gratitude better than we can this year, given the mandate to maximize profits to propel Rubbout 22 to new places. I was in awe watching them work this weekend. I am excited to have the team working with us this year!
At any rate, I am very happy with how the events this past weekend went. The Gear Swap at Pumpjack in the afternoon went very well. Everything was put up and out quickly, taken down and packed quickly and a lot of items were sold. In total, Rubbout made almost $1100 in proceeds from the sale. This gave us some enthusiasm going into the Recon Gear Party in the evening. It was another evening of other competing big events going on, but the bar event pulled in a healthy consistent crowd throughout the evening and it appeared everyone was having a lot of fun. Doug and I were able to ham it up onstage for a few minutes which was fun. The Recon Signature Rubber clothing was worn by four sexy guys at the bar that night who helped us pass out bar cards and Recon lanyards to the crowd.
I feel very fortunate that Saturday evening, I was able to don my latex catsuit and jacket at Mr. P's and walk the three blocks to the bar event without putting on any coverage. I got hysterics from a group on Burrard on the way there and another from a group on Drake on the way back, but it is quite the rush for me to be able to walk through downtown Vancouver in full rubber and get away with it! Maybe I am stupid for doing that, but time will tell. I got home that night and intended to go out again once my rubber was doffed but I got into the shower with the catsuit on, the KE microbreathe hood and some gloves and poppered out for a bit in the shower.
I will be emboldened to do that and more next weekend when there are lots of guys in rubber walking up and down Davie from the Village to the host hotel. Mr. P's is right in the middle of the action.
My Honour of London latex skinny jeans with suspenders showed up today. I tried them on quickly in between meetings today. The fitting is okay but not excellent but they will do. The big issue was that I was hit with $107 in duty and taxes to pick them up. They ended up being a rather expensive pair of latex jeans in the end, here's hoping they get lots of action in the future. I am already trying to figure when I'm going to get the chance to wear them. I still have to pick out a wardrobe for next weekend! Yipe! My apartment is a complete disaster area right now, with sponsor packages piled high in the living room, hangers all over my bathroom drying various rubber outfits - not all of them mine, and the bedroom still has a pile of Macabail's donations that haven't been put away yet still laying in various states around the room. I'm supposed to be hosting the bag stuffing on Wednesday so I had best get stuff organized around there....a task for tomorrow, no doubt.
So, it's possible that the next entry might be from Rubbout ground zero. The Invasion is about to begin! Follow Rubbout @Rubbout on Twitter and I will be updating throughout the weekend. I will also try updates to the blog as I get pictures from each day. If you're coming, get here soon but safely, if you're not, we wish you were here and hope you'll plan for a Rubbout in the future! :)
I am blown away by the way people will rise up to pull an event like this off. The volunteers for Rubbout deserve so much appreciation, I wish we could show them our gratitude better than we can this year, given the mandate to maximize profits to propel Rubbout 22 to new places. I was in awe watching them work this weekend. I am excited to have the team working with us this year!
Monday, April 2, 2012
Rubbout Feature in April V-Rag Fetish Edition
V-rag, one of the local Vancouver gay arts and entertainment magazines brought out their April issue with a 1 page feature for Rubbout. We appreciate the publicity!
Scenes from Vancouver Recon Party
There was a lot of party competition on Saturday night, but a great crowd turned out for the Rubbout Kickoff at the Recon Gear Party hosted by Rubbout and Vancouver Men in Leather. It was a better turnout with more energy than I had anticipated, so how fun is that?
Here are a couple of pics of the models in the Recon Signature Rubber line from Saturday night
More to come!
Here are a couple of pics of the models in the Recon Signature Rubber line from Saturday night
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)