Not all that long ago, one of Toronto’s better-know themed-fetish party promoters, Sir Alex Dark, hosted an event that catered to costume fetishists. The event was a smash – probably one of the most successful in Sir Alex’s long history or hosting incredibly entertaining, single-evening fetish gatherings in Canada’s largest city. When asked why he thought this particular party – the costumed focus of which was, by the way, based upon a “Super Hero, Super Heroine and Super Villain” theme – had been so enthusiastically received, Sir Alex merely smiled and replied, “There’s a little bit of hero and villain in all of us. It’s fun to dress up once in a blue moon, and have the chance to be super-good, or super-evil, isn’t it?”

Absolutely, and positively!

One doesn’t have to research very far back in time if they’d like to learn the genesis of costume fetishes. The Eulenspiegel Society (TES) has been paying homage to the adventures of the jester Till Eulenspiegal for decades with their particular brand of costumed antics. If you’d care to debate the subject a little more, suffice to say that masked balls have been a part of our party culture for centuries. In short, it’s quite grand – and extraordinarily fun – to dress, and act, as “someone else” for a night.

Sir Alex Dark’s costume event is undoubtedly the most popular of his long-appreciated fetish party revues and revelries. What made the first costume party such a success, apart from the chance to dress up and play the title role in their own super hero versus super villain passion play, was the chance to “interplay” some traditional, somewhat-campy predicament bondage interspersed with some obvious “Hero or Damsel in Distress” spontaneous scenarios.

The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) is in full-swing during the dog days of August, and one of the highlights during this year’s Exhibition (which is sort of akin to the annual State Fairs in the United States) is the annual Canadian Fan Expo. It is the Fan Expo where comic book, science fiction and horror film fanatics can rub shoulders next to the likes of such pop culture icons as Adam West and Burt Ward (TV’s 1960’s version of Batman and Robin), William Shatner (does anybody not know who he is by now?), Lance Henriksen (Bishop from the Alien film series), Felicia Day (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the immortal Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog) and – perhaps most iconographic of all – Marvel Comics revered and truly worshipped living figurehead, Stan Lee. The legendary Mr. Lee is the genius behind some of the most popular, beloved and (for literally decades) successfully-marketed comic book character rosters in publishing history. It has been said that only Bram Stoker (Dracula)has sold more literary-based product, and even that is debatable. It isn’t a coincidence that, while there are sure to be a few Stormtroopers, a Darth Vader or two, more than a few Klingons and/or Romulans and at least half a dozen Orcs represented at various costume balls, it’s the comic book characters that always take center stage at any larger-scale event: fetish, or otherwise.

Sir Alex’s super hero costume event, and the huge Fan Expo in Toronto, certainly can’t be termed ‘unique’: by all accounts. Several of our larger fetish communities in our larger cities have played host to some variant event based upon the Super Hero versus Super Villain theme, and most major cities play host to comic book conventions on an annual basis. So, it may be fun – if not downright appropriate, as we start to head into a fresh and exciting new gear-up to the Autumn revelry that is the Hallowe’en season – to give a definitive list of the Top Ten Fetish Super Costumes, and a somewhat detailed explanation of just why we love to emulate them so:

 Snikt! Snikt! It’s Number 10!

The Uncanny X-Men

Origin: Marvel Comics, 1963 by the immortal Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Re-launched in 1975, and again (“re-imagined”, in one of the greatest comic book series ever) in 1978.

Main Costumed Characters Emulated: Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey (Phoenix), Rogue and, of course, Wolverine

Legacy:It can, and has, been said that the X-Men saved Stan Lee – and Marvel Comics – on three separate occasions. The original comic book issue run, from 1963 to 1970, are some of the most fiercely sought-after and coveted items within the comic-book collecting world. The series also has the distinction of being “re-made” with extremely convoluted and confusing story lines, character intros and exits (based on popularity of the time) and countless costume changes more than any other during its lifespan. The introduction of the “Jean Grey Dark Phoenix” storyline in the late 1970’s (largely credited to Canadian artist/writer John Byrne) truly revitalized the entire comic book industry – and X-Men hasn’t seriously struggled as a franchise since.

Why We Love Them So: The costumes have made significant, and frequent, changes over the years – but the general look and feel of the persistent main characters (especially Jean Grey and Wolverine) have remained virtually seamless from one era to the next. With Cyclops, it’s the visor (very “Steampunk”, really) and the hooded body suit. Storm, the (usually) black and/or white leather neo-stripper suit, combined seductively with the super-hot thigh high boots and long, long locks of pure white hair. Rogue looks like – well, a rogue – and is the most open to interpretation, costume wise, of any X-Men character. But it’s Jean Grey and Wolverine clones you’ll generally see at fetish costume parties. It isn’t unusual to see a latex-version Dark Phoenix swapping catty and curious looks with a leather-clad or Zentai-suited ‘counterpart’ from across a crowded room. Oh, and by the way, ‘snikt’ is the quiet-but-deadly sound of Wolverine’s claws extending from within his arms – just in case you were wondering.

Great Caesar’s Ghost! It’s Number 9!

Superman/Supergirl

Origin:Detective Comics (DC) Superman created in 1932 by the creative genius of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Supergirl created in 1959 by Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino.

Alter-Ego:Superman: “Mild-mannered” Clark Kent, newspaper reported for The Daily Planet. Entered life on the planet Krypton as Kal-El (No, Nicholas Cage is not Superman’s father!). Supergirl: Originally known as super-orphan Linda Lee, she changed her name to Linda Lee Danvers upon entering college. Also born on the planet Krypton and named Kara Zor-El.

Super Powers:Anyone with the prefix of “super” as a part of their title better have pretty spectacular powers for a hero. Owing to the heavy gravity of their planet of birth, both Superman and Supergirl can easily fly, exhibit near-invulnerable feats of strength, and possess several different variations of “super sight” (including x-ray and laser beam eyes), super hearing, and super “breath”. In short, they’re just all-around super!

Weakness:Seeing as their home planet exploded, even the tiniest chunk of dust originating from their home world could potentially be lethal to them. You’ve heard of it: it’s referred to as “Kryptonite”.

Why We Love Them So:What’s not to love? Skin-tight electric blue body suits and/or tights? Bright red cape with a matching, super-revealing equally tight pair of external briefs (Superman) and an incredibly short, flared school-girl type skirt (Supergirl – although we’re pretty sure Superman has cross-dressed on occasion)? Those red boots that look so naturally sexy on Supergirl – but only Superman can truly make look ‘manly’? And what about that logo? Are you kidding me? If Your Humble Narrator had that kind of muscular body, well, dress me up and call me Kal-El, I’m going to a party! There’s a reason Superman has been so incredibly popular for over seven decades, and not just in the pages of a color comic book: he’s iconic, timeless, and whether you want to admit it or not, he’s just damn hot in that outfit. The only thing hotter? Supergirl, of course! When you add the allure of an all-latex Superman or Supergirl suit – and there are sure to be at least two or three at every Costume Fetish party – it just doesn’t get any finer!

Here, Kitty Kitty! It’s Number 8!

Tigra, the (Former) Avenger

Origin:Also known as “The Cat”, co-created by Marvel Comics writers Roy Thomas, Linda Fite and artist Marie Severin, in November 1972.

No, This Isn’t Catwoman – But Why We Love Her So:We know what you’re thinking: “Who?” Unless you’re a die-hard comic book collector, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of her – but she is representative of many of those clawed kitties at fetish parties who don’t profess to be a version of Catwoman. The various comic-book universes have had a number of feline-related Super heroes and heroines, with none more popular than Batman’s one-time arch nemesis and sometime love interest, Selina Kyle (more on her later – if you want to read about Catwoman, proceed immediately to Number Two on our list). With the rise in popularity over the past few years in cat-marked Zentai suits, Tigra seems as sound a bet as any to represent an entire legion of seductive and oh-so-deadly-sexy clawed cuties that would just as soon lick your face as scratch your eyes out, given the chance. The thing is, though, she also has one of the best developed and most consistent lexicons in the so-called Marvel Universe: she’s often been portrayed teaming through the years, in comic book pages and popular animation television shows, with the likes of Captain America, Iron Man and the Fantastic Four. Whatever the storyline, her trappings have remained virtually consistent: skimpy, tight bikini and, usually, little else except her own tiger-stripes and tail. She is typically portrayed with flaming red hair and in the pages of the comic books, is generally posed in suggestive and sensually-seductive postures (even when doing battle) in a way that would make Eric Stanton blush. All in all, whether the bevy of kittenish beauties is acutely aware of it or not, if they’re not attending a fetish event that is unmistakably a version of Catwoman, then they’re best described as a version of Tigra. Admit it: everyone thinks those nasty kitty-catsuits, Zentai suits and body suits are just plain sexy – and over-the-top in the “HOT” department! Some bold and enterprising young ladies have even allowed themselves to be body-painted, head to toe, during certain fetish events. There can be no better homage to Tigra than to suggest that she is representative of an entire legion of these near-nude, mysterious and alluringly artistic creature creations.

God in Heaven! It’s Number 7!

The Punisher

Origin:Created as an anti-hero and a foil for squeaky-clean Spider-Man by Gerry Conway, John Romita and Ross Andru in February, 1974. In all the kingdom of comic books, The Punisher’s rise to popularity has been the most meteoric – and his fall from popularity in the mid 1990’s the most precipitous. Of all main stream comic book characters, his portrayal in film and television projects has had to have been the most “toned down” due to the extremely graphic nature in which the violence he is capable of is often portrayed within the pages of his books.

Why We Love Him So:Frank Castle (The Punisher’s actual name) was “Goth” before Gene Simmons laced up his first pair of Kiss Destroyer boots. His iconography is simple, and yet one of the most recognizable (and easiest to reproduce as a fetish costume). A tight black T-Shirt, emblazoned with a gigantic, menacing Death’s Head skull (sans mandible), black pants and any variation of metal-encrusted combat boots, cropped spiked hair and leather gloves will immediately give other party-goers the distinct knowledge that a “Punisher” is indeed within their midst. It’s a virtually unspoken and unpopular thing to mention, but: many within the fetish world have an attraction, and are drawn to, immense firepower. In other words, many of us seem to really love our guns. The bigger and badder, the better – and with The Punisher the “big gun” is a costume necessity. The Punisher without his assault rifle or machine pistol is kind of like Superman without a cape, or Wonder Woman without her golden lasso: in other words, “quite lame”. Speaking of Wonder Woman …

Ka-Swish! It’s Number 6!

Wonder Woman

Origin:The first featured female heroine and everyone’s favorite Amazon, she was created for All-Star Comics (one of the early DC brands) by William Moulton Marston in 1941. She is the fifth longest-running continuous major comic-book character (after Superman, Namor the Sub-mariner, Batman and arguably, Captain America), and is without peer, longevity wise at least, amongst women heroines. She is unique in that she was created distinctly as a feminist role model, designed to empower young women and encourage them to enlist or otherwise join the American war effort, within days of the attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941.

Why We Love Her So:It’s definitely the boots (see Superman/Supergirl, above). Knee high bright red boots, sometimes with a coquettish white stripe running right down the shank to the toe just exude representative power within the form of the female leg. Let’s be honest with each other, shall we? Everyone – and I mean everyone – has a foot fetish of some kind. If we didn’t, well, Mahnolo Blahnik and Christian Louboutin wouldn’t exist. We just cannot ever get enough of a voluptuous, powerful and yet alluring feminine creature whose legs are accentuated by a great pair of red boots. Okay, maybe the bullet-proof gold and red corset with matching star-spangled girdle has something to do with her overall admiring form. Now that I think about it: that golden lasso – rope! – in which she expertly ties up her captives and extracts the truth is pretty sweet, too. While there are almost sure to be more “Cat People” in attendance at fetish parties, an expertly-attired Wonder Woman or two never fails to draw admiring eyes through the crowds – and sometimes tongues to the boots too, depending on the party. The look can go from ultra-sexy to ultra-cheesy (depending on the quality of the costume; some store-bought versions are downright ridiculous), but even media personalities have been known to try and pull off the look.

Back in Black! It’s Number 5!

Black Widow and Black Canary

Origin:The original Black Widow was conceived in 1940, and didn’t last very long – although she had the very cool alter-ego moniker of “Claire Voyant”. The more modern version first appeared in 1964, and was a creation of none other than Marvel Comics head-wizard himself, Stan Lee (working in concert with artist Don Heck and writer Don Rico). Black Canary is a far older character: she first appeared as a DC “sidekick character” in 1947, and was the brainchild of writer Robert Kanigher and legendary artist Carmine Infantino.

Major Difference:Other than Black Canary being a DC property and Black Widow a Marvel creation, the former is an All-American heroine while the latter is an anti-hero Russian super-spy. Black Canary typically wears a black body suit with black fishnet stockings, while Black Widow prefers the sleekness of her full-coverage catsuit. Black Canary is always depicted as a blonde: Black Widow, while on rare occasion (especially in the 1940’s) has been shown with jet-black hair, is usually seen with striking red hair. Black Canary also is blessed with a sonic superpower, while Black Widow compliments her deadly assassin skills with some serious firepower (she’s a trained weapons expert).

Major Similarities: Black leather, Martial Arts, statuesque body.

Why We Love Them So:Black leather, Martial Arts, statuesque body – again, what’s not to love? Of the female heroines and anti-heroines, these two are the easiest to emulate at a costume event. Even those not fortunate to have a full, representative catsuit can obtain the desired Black Widow look with a good pair of tight black pants and a thin jacket to match. Not a blonde or a redhead? Not a problem! There are more than enough good blonde wigs out there that can put the definitive “top” on the desired look. In fact, in the early days, Black Canary actually wore a blonde wig as a part of her (rather thin) disguise, as her original hair color was indeed far darker. The really cool thing about either costume is that they’re also flexible insofar as “accessories” are concerned. Black Canary usually has some kind of choker or collar, is sometimes depicted wearing black gloves and is almost always expected to wear a pair of folded-over slouch style knee-high boots. Black Widow is a little less flexible: those large, bullet-bearing (and sometimes deflecting) bracelets can be difficult to find, let alone make, if you’re not resourceful. The gun holsters and thigh-straps, though, shouldn’t be too tough for an enterprising costumer to manage. Of any feminine heroes, Black Widow and Black Canary are also the easiest to achieve if you happen to be a man who likes dressing in women’s attire for these kinds of fetish parties (although having the obligatory figure can prove to be a challenge for many cross dressers. Thank goodness for corsets!).

Schwing! It’s Number 4!

Spider-Man

Origin:Third in mass popularity only to Superman and Batman – but achieved his legendary status in roughly half the time – Spider-Man is the sole creation of Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. The webslinger first graced the color pages of Marvel comic books back in August 1962. While DC Comics have consistently relied on the “license to print money” that is both the Superman and Batman franchises, Marvel has evolved through the decades. Marvel’s bread used to be buttered, in succession, by Captain America, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, the X-Men and, most recently, Spider-Man. Even the corporation’s splendid Roster Poster features the teen-aged hero right up in front – of hundreds of characters.

Why We Love Him So:Spider-Man is unique to super hero lexicon for a variety of reasons: not the least of which is that he’s a typical, emotionally vulnerable young man, and he’s fallible. Some of his “mistakes” have resulted in cherished and revered storylines involving the deaths of those closest to him that have, since their first publication, gone on to become a part of graphic novel history. While Spider-Man is unquestionably “super”, he isn’t all that different from any one of us from a human perspective: he is portrayed as nervous, shy, bumbling, temperamental and even prone to extreme episodes of anxiety. All of this makes him easy for readers to relate to. From a costume fetish perspective, it can be said that Spider-Man’s spider-suit – which has remained unchanged for nearly fifty years, except for the alien symbiant Venom storyline of the late 1980’s – arguably is the very inspiration for the silk and nylon Zentai suit craze of our modern day. In recent years, full Spider-Man inspired suits have been showing up in a rainbow of colors at parties across Canada and the United States – there is a fuchsia pink version seen out and about sometimes at Toronto events, for instance. Anyone who has attended a sporting event recently (you should remember the Red Zentai Brigade during the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games this past February?) will probably remember seeing a few Zentai suits, at the very least inspired by the Spider-Man costume, enjoying themselves, anonymously, amongst the crowd. It’s fairly easy to have a Spider-Man suite purchased, or custom made, for the super hero enthusiast: it’s quite another to be able to pull it off and not look awkward during a party. While there is almost always a Spider-Man or six at larger costume and fetish balls, there haven’t been reports of one actually being able to fire strong, tensile “webs” from his wrists or climb the walls … yet.

Hee Hee Hee! It’s Number 3!

The Joker and Harley Quinn

Origin:The undisputed “Clown Prince and Princess of High Crime”. They are what pass for a twisted, fetishistic version of Bonnie and Clyde. Bob Kane’s pasty-faced, green-haired and purple-suited homicidal maniac has been called “the greatest villain in popular media history”. The Joker predates most of the most cherished heroes within the comic book universe, having made his appearance in the spring of 1940. His female foil, the equally-murderous and diabolical Harley Quinn, is an anomaly: she began her “life” as an animated character on a Batman television series on September 11, 1992, and quickly became so popular as a “super villainess” that she was shortly thereafter given top-billing of her own within the pages of several DC comic books and graphic novels.

Why We Love Them So: Let’s face it: it’s fun to pretend to be bad. It’s even more fun when you can dress the part and pretend to be, simply, the baddest. The Joker is, without question, the most admired and emulated, sophisticated and refined bad-ass of all time. Let’s face it: this guy makes Darth Vader look like “just another great dad!” The Joker appeals to that base, predatory instinct that resides in all of us (especially males): he’s an unrepentant, sociopathic hunter whose sole existence is not only a result of, but an absolute continued reliance to, the dogged near-destruction of a single man.

“Near”, because while The Joker is undeniably insane, he is completely aware of the fact that in order to justify his own continued existence, and to give a reason for his very life, he must perpetually be a criminally-minded mirror to the one and only man he truly admires and respects: his arch nemesis, the Batman. In the comic book universe, there is no Batman without his Joker to continually challenge him. The deep hatred, and yet deep mutual respect both damaged men have for one another has never been written, or portrayed, to greater effect than what was done with staggering impact by Alan Moore, Brian Bolland and John Higgins in their landmark 1988 publication, The Killing Joke. That publication changed comic books forever – it introduced the concept of the ‘graphic novel’ – and has been acclaimed as the inspiration for several films, television series and subsequent book projects. Costume-wise, the look of both The Joker and Harley Quinn are not easy to achieve. Body-type is indeed a limitation, and it isn’t easy to find purple pinstripe suits, orange dress shirts, green bow-ties and spat-shoes these days. In fact, the easiest part of The Joker ensemble would probably be the makeup: green hair dye, white paste and bright red face paint are relatively simple to obtain these days. It’s easier for a girl to try and pull off the Harley Quinn look: although typical representations at fetish parties tend to be, by admission, custom-designed and produced pieces (sometimes complete with one red, and one black, matching and identical pairs of gloves and boots, one for each hand and leg). Many desire to be The Joker and Harley Quinn at fetish balls – very few can actually pull it off. Those that do typically come out on the winning side of any “Best Costume” contest judging, though. See, there’s a reason why The Joker is the only comic book character, to date, whose actor-portrayers have earned nominations for Oscars, Golden Globes and Emmy Awards. The Joker is the only main stream comic book character to have been awarded an Academy Award: the late Heath Ledger turning in a performance for the ages in 2008’s The Dark Knight.

Whir-CRACK! Its Number 2!

Catwoman

Origin: Selina Kyle first entered the pop culture lexicon in the same publication that introduced The Joker: DC Comics Batman #1in the spring of 1940 (considered one of the four “Holy Grails” of comic book collecting). The old girl, better known as the ultra-sexy, sensual and emotionally-scarred Catwoman, remains the single most popular female character in the comic book collector’s universe. She was inspired by, the story goes, Jean Harlow and a cousin (by marriage) of Batman creator Bob Kane. Her costuming has changed over the years: her popularity has only increased. She is not quite a villain – but could never be a hero. She is often depicted as an impossible interest of affection to her greatest rival – and greatest love – the Batman. The very word “catsuit” is a direct result of how this character was drawn and portrayed during the zenith of her comic book popularity; in other words, from the 1950’s up to the modern day.

Why We Love Her So:Few literary characters have had more consistent “variations on a theme” throughout the decades as Catwoman. None have achieved her popularity. She is universal: she appeals to most women in general, and especially to all women of power. She made the cat o’nine tails and the bullwhip not just sexy, but downright lustful and even desirable. She exudes what men fear, and desire, the most: a sensual potential lover who reeks of constant danger, and excitement. The genius of the presence of the Catwoman lies in simplicity: her outfits, for over sixty years, may have changed colors (she’s gone from green, to grey, to purple, to black) but the clawed gloves, the boots (short or high), the form-fitting body suit and, especially, the cat-eared mask have all been a necessary part of her fashion accoutrement’s. She has the distinction of having created, by far, the most media adaptations related to comic books, including having a jaw-dropping number of beautiful Hollywood actresses play her through the years in movies and television projects. Many different versions of Catwoman could be represented at a fetish party: some women (and a few select men, even) may choose to wear an Avengers-type black leather, latex or PVC catsuit with either lace-up or pull-on high-heeled, thigh high boots; long black gloves (with or without metal claw “accessories”); a whip of some fashion (usually a single-tail or cat o’nine tails) and the ever-present cat-mask, of course. Some have chosen to include the more modern goggle-wearing masked style the current iteration of the comic book character favors, while others prefer to don just the cat-cowl itself. Regardless of which version a dedicated fan may choose to wear to an event, it is doubtless she would ever be mistaken for any other character other than Batman’s delicate but oh-so-seductively-deadly feline foil.

Biff! Bam! Pow! Its Number 1!

Batman

Origin:You know him. You truly love him. Everyone wants to be like him. He’s Bob Kane’s square-jawed, obsessive and perpetually tortured crime fighter deluxe who first entered the public consciousness in 1939 – and never left. Before his death in 1998, Bob Kane said that his inspiration for the Batman character came from Douglas Fairbanks: or, more specifically, his portrayal of Zorro. Kane also mentioned that Leonardo Da Vinci’s design for an “ornithopter flying machine” was the main inspiration for batman’s wing-like cape.

Why We Love Him So: Most heroes within the pages of comic books are “super”. That means, naturally, that most of them have some kind of power that is generally beyond the normal, physiological limitations of human beings. Some heroes can fly, almost all possess some level of super strength and almost all have some kind of physical weakness which could, when utilized by a super villain or two, prove to lead directly to their personal Waterloos. Batman, however, has never been portrayed as anything other than one-hundred-percent human – with very human frailties and weaknesses. In essence, Batman represents the potential and possibility that any one of us could rise to that level of heroism – with the right training, intelligence and expertise. Of course, it’s convenient that Batman’s alter-ego, Multi-billionaire Bruce Wayne, happens to be described as one of the “wealthiest men in the world”. It helps to be able to have the disposable income to build and accomplish virtually anything that you may wish to.

Regardless of Batman’s fantastic wealth, he is forever flawed: he’s a haunted, moody, violent and vindictive man who doesn’t hide too many of his character flaws from the people who know him best (which are admittedly few). The normal human failings a rich, handsome playboy is expected to have – a weakness for booze and babes, for instance – Bruce Wayne “fakes” in order to portray himself as an alcoholic party machine. More admirably, Batman doesn’t kill – and he has a deep aversion to traditional firearms. All told, he is a character that we can easily relate to, and even more easily identify with and desire to emulate. Dressing the part is about as close to being able to “be” Batman as almost all of us will ever get, and we do it with great enthusiasm. At conventions, costume balls and fetish parties, Batman is usually the best-represented character, and some fans take great pains (not to mention spend an inordinate amount of money) to achieve the desired effect. A Batman costume isn’t something to be attempted lightly – a bad Batman costume could end up looking utterly ridiculous (and let’s be honest: The Adam West 1960’s version almost universally looks ridiculous), especially when compared side to side with someone who took years, and even thousands of dollars, to perfect their own caped crusader look. It isn’t just the armored suit, the gloves, the cape and the cowl, and the boots a dedicated Bat-Fan needs to obtain: part of Batman’s attraction is the wearing and utilization of his “Belt” that is integral to an accurate, and respected, portrayal of the character. Of any comic book character, Batman is the one that is most adaptable to an evolving time. The armored suit has, with little variance, remained recognizable for generations of fans. It is unquestioned the Batman will remain a favorite of costume enthusiasts for generations to come. His appeal is universal, his methods breathtakingly timeless. There is a little piece of Batman that resides in all of us, and it’s probably the biggest reason why his image is so incredibly popular (yes, even at costumed fetish events).

“… If the cut of the costume indicates intellect and talent, then the color indicates temper and heart.”

~ Thomas Carlyle, Victorian-Era Historian and Essayist

Honorable Mentions: The Watchmen (particularly Silk Spectre, Comedian and Rorshach); Green Arrow, Green Lantern (although to most of us, he looks like a totally ambiguously gay hero in that outfit); Green Hornet (what the hell is it with the color ‘green’?); Captain America; Iron Man (if you have the resources to pull it off); Daredevil and Elektra; Scarlet Witch; Vampirella.

(Notes on the usage of photos: All photographs have been reproduced through acquisition via General Domain on the World Wide Web. Photos of Supergirl and Catwoman in latex are used as a promotional courtesy, all rights retained by Bianca Beauchamp. Photo of Dark Phoenix courtesy of the costume design studio of Meredith Placko. Photo of Kim Kardashian as Wonder Woman, and all other images obtained through the graces of the General Domain on the World Wide Web. Images remain under the auspices of their original creators.)

It used to be, not all that long ago, that trying to purchase good resource books directly related to bondage, discipline and all things sadomasochistic was very nearly impossible. Unless you “knew a guy”, had some other kind of “connection”, or were fortunate enough to live in a large enough city where so-called underground publications were considered somewhat plentiful, in the days prior to Amazon trying to find reference materials relating to our lovely lifestyle could prove to be immensely problematic – and even potentially embarrassing. “Those kind” of books were usually only available at Adult shops (colloquially still referred to in some circles as “Adult Book Stores”) – and depending on what US state or Canadian province you lived in, tended to be made at hand to those who desired them only through an awkward and stammering specific under-the-counter request for product.

Thankfully, for those of us who revere our chosen alternative life expressions, the advent of the Internet has made it very easy to get our hands on virtually anything (within legality) we want. That has proven to be both an absolute blessing, by and large, and an abject curse in certain circles. For instance, in relation to the “curse”, some so-called expert materials have been published in the past whose content was either too dry and clinical, or nauseatingly ego centric (and we’ve all read those books, I’m quite sure) to be really only of value as a visible potential conversation piece on a bookshelf in someone’s dungeon or playroom.

For every Screw the Roses, Send me the Thorns (which in the opinion of several fetishists and SM practitioners, Your Humble Narrator included, is one of the worst books related to BDSM ever foisted on us), there seemed to be at least a dozen more similar volumes that were considered only marginally better. In the past, folks used to purchase SM-related books, I suspect, mostly to make a very visible pseudo-credibility statement to their peers. Many of these really, really bad books were purchased by really good people – and I know for certain most of them were never even read, let alone had their spines cracked. As time has gone on, we’ve been far more fortunate: the demand for good, solid, experienced reference material hasn’t died at all – it has, it seems, only escalated – and the quality of materials available to us has also thankfully increased. Part of that may very well be a simple matter of numbers, as more and more books over the past decade have found their way onto more mainstream bookstore shelves.

One of those exceptional books – in my opinion an absolute “must have” for every serious BDSM enthusiast – is How to Be Kinky: A Beginner’s Guide to BDSM by noted Canadian lifestyle educator Lord Morpheous. Do yourselves a favour and buy this book. It won’t just sit and look impressive sitting on your bookshelf: you’ll actually learn a thing or two, and you won’t be able to simply put it down.

What separates this book from similar works? To start with, it’s damned fun to read. I don’t want to give anything away, really – but as an example, early on in the book there is a very well-written narrative, relating an early experience, of Lord Morpheous and his efforts to try and explain to his parents why his dishwasher was filled with sex toys after he’d had a gathering while they were away. Drawing on the anecdotes and vast experiences of his friends and colleagues throughout the book, Lord Morpheous has ingeniously managed to capture the true essence of sadomasochism (it’s grand fun, damnit!) all the while providing witty and expert advice along the way. It’s a clever format: the reader expects or assumes the book to be, perhaps, another somewhat vapid and plodding “connect the dots of BDSM” instruction manual, but in fact its structured very much like a collection of topical (and extremely entertaining) short stories about people and their gut-wrenchingly and often gut-bustingly honest experiences. Naturally, if you happen to learn a thing or two along the way – and you will – that’s an appreciated bonus. Lord Morpheous is regarded as one of the very best rope bondage artists and educators within our realm today, but How to Be Kinky is so very much more than a mere ‘bondage manual’. There is a taste of fetishes from “A” to “Z” within its pages: there’s is sure to be something that everyone can relate to. Other “how to” books have tended to generally disregard entire legions of particular kinks (Screw the Roses, Send me the Thorns for instance contains virtually nothing but a somewhat contemptuous and dismissive reference to cross-dressing), but Lord Morpheous has adeptly managed to give respect and creedence to (almost) every fashion of popular fetishy sensual expression – and he’s managed to do it in a concise but wildly amusing manner.

It’s a brilliant, effective and natural way to introduce anyone (with even so much as a passing interest in kink) to all the positive aspects of what it is we love to do. That makes this book unique – and truly a “must have” for excited newcomer and experienced hard player alike. The novice will learn, in their own vernacular and at their own “level” because the anecdotes are all written in a way to be so appealling and interesting, and the experienced will just love the collection of stories. In short, Lord Morpheous has managed to author the much-desired and nearly impossible-to-reproduce “win-win” scenario; the happy balance in which his efforts truly will appeal to anyone and everyone, from the rookie to the seasoned veteran.

It’s a formula that has found much success in other genres: more specifically, in sports books and even more specifically, in baseball books. I do not know if Lord Morpheous is much of a sports fan: but the man knows how to write, edit and convey tales so well, that I am confident in saying if he wanted to write the definitive work on playing water polo, it would be the world’s best and more informative seller on that topic in history.

Personally, I’d much prefer to wait for his sure-to-follow “Volume Two” efforts on How to Be Kinky. I’m sure Lord Morpheous could explain it perfectly – but I’d rather read about his experiences and lessons in BDSM than just how the hell those water polo guys manage to get snorkels and masks on their damned horses.

In the True North strong and free, Canada Day has triumphantly passed and given way to Our American Cousin’s spectacular Fourth of July preparations and (eventual) celebrations. The honoring of the birthdays of our two great nations always signals the beginnings of the most important events on our collective social calendars. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Gulf Coast to the Arctic Circle, we proud North Americans look forward to commencing festivities that pay reverent homage to our most beloved of pastimes.

No, I do not speak of the start of the Canadian or American football seasons. Neither do I deign to mention that baseball, that grand old “uniquely American” game (yes, my British cohorts, I am well aware that you used to call the game ‘Rounders’, you know), truly hits its stride after the grand Nationalistic drunk-fest and massive, impressive fireworks displays of July 1^st and 4^th, respectively.

The numbers of all those who have, to this point, hanged those cheap little nationalistic flags from their automobiles and rooftops, and fervently bellowed at the top of their lungs their patriotic devotions to their “homelands” (most of which have never even set foot in said “homeland”, I might add) have even been drastically reduced. This is due, naturally, to the sobering fact that “their country” being represented in soccer’s World Cup, currently being contested in South Africa, have been eliminated from the world’s greatest tournament. July 11^th, 2010, the World Cup Final, is sure to be a spectacle not to be missed, to be sure: but unless your heritage originates from one of the two nations playing in that Final match, your interest level is sure to be marginal at best. So we’re not eagerly anticipating that quadrennial happenstance necessarily, either.

In point of fact, we’re not even enthusiastically discussing any sporting events at all. The onset of summer also ushers in the new round of most-desired Fetish Events. This year, in the appropriately named Year of the Tiger, features some July and August events that simply must be billed as “can’t miss”. For your information and edification, Your Humble Narrator has compiled (in his considered professional opinion) the “Cream of the Crop” of events that you, gentle reader, may wish to think about spending some time at. There is a lot happening this summer – and in a tremendous amount of places. I’ve therefore divided this Event Guide into distinct parts. This week, you’ll be reading about Fetish Bets for July 2010, with dates, pricing and locales noted as necessary:

1). TESFest 

 Piscataway, New Jersey            July 2^nd – July 5^th

Anyone who has been around the “scene” long enough knows exactly what “TES” stands for. The Eulenspiegal Society seems like they’ve been around forever and a day – and in a certain sense (at least in regards to the collective Fetish Community), they have. TES was started in 1971 by an individual named (appropriately enough) Pat Bond and a number of others in the greater New York City area who were appreciative of “outlandish costumes and strange behaviors” and felt it was high time to create a ‘society’ where everyone could express themselves in comfort and without fear of compromise. TES certainly wasn’t the first Fetish group to organize and start encouraging kinksters to come out and participate: but they most certainly were, by far, the most publicized. The Society, named in somewhat of a tongue-in-cheek reverence and in recognition of an old German folklore character known as Till Eulenspiegal (the fellow in which we are indebted for supplying us with the prototypical “Jester”; or for card playing devotees “Joker” imagery, and also for inspiring the phrase “he marches to the beat of his own drum”), has been conducting large-scale events off and on over the past nearly four decades. Their annual offering is known as TESFest and is held, generally, during the Fourth of July celebrations within the New York/New Jersey area. This year the event is being held at the Radisson Hotel in Piscataway, New Jersey and features a number of pursuits sure to satisfy the tastes of every fetish purist. Whether a visitor would prefer to take part in one of their excellent classes being offered for instruction, or indulge a bit in some nearly scandalous behavior during the Cloud 9 and Cloud 10, Kinky Ladies Afternoon Tea Party or the Latex Pool Party events, there is certain to be the heights of hedonism enjoyed by all who have decided to participate.

Unique Feature:  There is a “Tops and Bottoms” Auction, a Wrestling Club Workshop as well as a Charity Kinky Casino taking place during the weekend-long festivities. Often copied but seldom equaled, TES usually and simply just “does it better” when it comes to unique, quirky and downright fun special events.

Website: TESFest

2). PRIDE Toronto

Toronto, Ontario             July 1^st – July 4^th

The City of Toronto has been chosen as the host burg for the World Pride Event in 2014 – and rightfully so. With the notable and definite exception of San Francisco, it’s arguable that no other major world city has such visible support – from the Federal, Provincial and Municipal Governments to the “common” event visitor, no less. This year’s Pride events actually swung into full gear with an official opening on June 25th – but the weekend of July 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^this really when the party really gets rocking. In addition to the usual Street Festivals and parades within Toronto’s legendary Rainbow District, there are a quite a few family and adult-only activities planned that are sure to please the discerning party palettes of everyone who ventures into Toronto’s downtown core. The ridiculousness and utter nonsensical violence of the whole G20 fiasco has been left behind: there’s a party in Toronto, and everyone’s invited! This (and the next two years, for that matter) is sure to be an exceptional “dress rehearsal” to the city hosting the LGBT world when 2014 finally rolls around.

Unique Feature:  While there is always a selection of new performances to sample during Pride Week, this year Toronto’s Buddies in Bad Times Theatre Company is hosting an interesting ensemble entitled No Apologies. Many of Canada’s best young and rising musicians, actors, poets, dancers – hell, artists from all disciplines – will be performing non-stop from 2:00 pm to 10:00 pm on July 3^rd, 2010, within the Theatre space itself and the Alexander St. Parkette located right outside. There is no question some of these performances should be worth a look. Northbound Leather, as is their custom, is hosting a Meet and Greet at their store location on Yonge St. Friday, July 2^nd and is also facilitating a Kinky Boat Cruise on the evening of July 3^rd (admirably and strategically coinciding with the beginning of a Tall Ships Festival along Toronto’s gloriously beautiful waterfront).

Website: PRIDE Toronto

3). Bondage Ball

 Hollywood, California                July 3^rd – July 4^th

For whatever reason, Southern California doesn’t get a whole lot of enthusiastic attention within the confines of the Fetish world event scene. Perhaps the organizers of Hollywood’s Bondage Ball during the Fourth of July weekend can rectify that. Greater Los Angeles has always been somewhat of a “well kept secret” amongst Fetish and SM practitioners. Quietly – very quietly – some of the best performance acts, educators and facilitators have made their way out of the City of Angels and are gaining popular notoriety in more traditional Fetish event locales. Internationally-known latex model Masuimi Max is your Hostess for the evening – but there are a number of jaw-dropping acts scheduled to perform. Some of these acts include well-known artists Julie Simoneand RubberNecro, aerial performances by up-and comer Bound Lotus and a veritable pantheon of extremely popular Los Angeles-based DJ’s. By all accounts, it’s taken some time for Bondage Ball in Hollywood to gain some traction, but with the quality of people represented that are responsible in part of its continued success, here’s hoping it will not only continue to entrench in Southern California: it will evolve into one of the truly “Can’t Miss” events on the international social Fetish calendar.

Unique Feature:  It’s Southern California! It’s Hollywood! Sure, their overall formula may appear to be derivative – but it’s Hollywood, for cryin’ out loud! No-one throws a bad party in Hollywood! If that wasn’t enough, take a look at their website and try and grasp the true sense of just how many “name” folk within our realm will be in attendance. The best part of it is … it’s only going to cost those who go $25.00!

Website: Bondage Ball

4). Vancouver Dungeon

Vancouver, B.C.                        July 3^rd – July 4^th

Okay: all of you who happened to see that incredibly reprehensible first season of Showcase’s Canadian-based ‘reality series’ KINK can relax. Vancouver really isn’t all that freakishly dysfunctional. A much better representation of what Vancouver’s scene is truly like might be found in Metro Vancouver Kink’s simplistically, straightforwardly named Dungeon Party. In a town where the Fetish and SM scene is about as respected as those who “ply their trade” along Vancouver’s embarrassing East Side, it certainly seems like someone got their stuff together. The Vancouver Dungeon Party is somewhat secretive, to be sure – but all the necessary information needed to become a participant is available: as long as you don’t mind directness, and “to the point” information. According to those I have spoken to in Vancouver, the MVK and their Dungeon Party has given rise to some real hope in a town where, beforehand, very little existed when it came to “Community Fetish Events”.

Unique Feature:  There really isn’t anything overtly remarkable about the Vancouver Dungeon Party that is readily available online that would distinguish it from any number of other “run of the mill” nightclub gatherings. What does distinguish it, however, is the simple fact that there’s long-term hope for a solid, re-occurring SM/Fetish night amongst good, solid people in Vancouver for the first time in what seems like an eternity – and that in itself just has to be “good news” for kinky inhabitants of the West Coast’s truly most beautiful city.

Website: Vancouver Dungeon Party

5). Vendetta

Long Island, N.Y.                      July 11^th – July 12^th

Billed as Long Island’s “Premiere Fetish Party”, Vendetta generally is scheduled to take place every second Saturday in Bethpage, Long Island. This iteration, however, is a little bit different: there is going to be an attempt made to break a “World Record” by a gentleman who calls himself The Human Floor and has been featured as a performer on a number of US-based talk shows. What’s the record being broken, you ask? You should certainly be able to figure it out based on the man’s name – but suffice to say there will probably be at least 20 women in high-heeled shoes and boots just … “standing around” … The play areas have all received a “first class thumbs up” from certain close friends who have attended Vendetta in the past, and their DJ of choice (Xris Smack) is regarded as simply one of the best in the business. For July 2010’s itinerary, they are also featuring a unique latex Fashion Show as a part of the evening’s festivities – and there is always “Gourmet Food” included with the price of your entrance ticket. All in all, Vendetta not only covers all the bases desired and demanded by their guests: it covers those bases extremely well and provides just that little “extra” that keeps everyone coming back for more.

Unique Feature:  One of the things that separate Vendetta from other major New York City area Fetish nights is their in-event promotions. For instance, in the past there has been a “competition” designed to award the wearer of “the sexiest shoes” for the evening: this alone was certain to bring every shoe and boot fetishist for miles around through their doors (and let’s face it, who amongst us isn’treally a slathering, salivating shoe or boot fetishist, anyway?). A somewhat interesting twist: Vendetta offers a substantial reduction in ticket prices to those who can prove they traveled from New York City to Bethpage via commuter train. What makes this feature really of value to party attendees, however, is the fact that the proprietor of Vendetta (by all accounts an engaging individual known as Mister Anthony) takes it upon himself to arrange transportation from the Bethpage train station to the event venue (The Long Island Manor). That’s unique – and one of the reasons why Vendetta is a clearly a step above some of the more stolid, stereotypical Fetish nights in the New York City area.

Website: Vendetta

Next Week: We take a look at Kinky Camping in Southern Ontario and Northern Alberta; large-scale Fetish Flea Markets in Massachusetts); one of the best-known large-scale events in Colorado; and “The Fifth Element” and what that means to folks in Texas. 

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” ~ Seneca

Great undertakings are often brought to completion in one of only two ways: They are either enormously successful, or they result in dismal collapse and failure. More often than not, especially due to outside influence, unforeseen situations and destructive occurrences beyond one’s control, grand visions and ideas can soon become nothing more than ill-fated, poorly-advised, badly executed, and dismally-failed shattered dreams.

What was a triumphant, exciting new entrant into the major fetish event scene in North America a scant nine months ago had all the potential to follow along the train-wreck rails of so many promising, preceding ventures. To wit, this particular event could very well have been of the “one and done” variety, were it not for the solid efforts of its main motivating force, and organizational master.

It is with great pleasure and a huge, satisfactory sigh that Your Humble Narrator and Only True Friend can confidently and righteously say that the second (and most ambitious) iteration of Toronto’s eagerly-anticipated Torture Garden Fetish Event was very much the former, and very little of the latter. It is safe to say, right here and right now, that as of May 2010, the longer-established “lifestyle” conventions, events and weekends have some serious competition for Fetish Festival attendee dollars in North America.

It is doubtful that anyone could have predicted that a single evening’s debauchery a little under a year ago (Torture Garden was initially welcomed to Toronto in August 2009) would have a meteoric evolution into an unbelievable five-night celebration of sinful excess. Anyone, that is, with the notable exception of the event’s organizational workhorse, Craig Galbreath. Even the two founders of the Torture Garden “franchise movement”, David Wood and Allen Pelling, were initially skeptical two full evenings of Toronto back-to-back fetish nights bearing the iconic Torture Garden masthead would be well-attended and wildly popular – let alone stretching the festivities into a five-day affair. “What Craig has done here is unmatched. It’s astounding, really,” a somewhat visibly subdued DJ David Wood remarked during a break between his sets on the Opera House stage. “When he told us he wanted to do a whole holiday weekend of Torture Garden (in Toronto), we weren’t really thinking he was serious at first. We had counted on another, successful one-night show: Craig gave us more. Hat’s are off to him. He’s worked very hard. He’s gained our confidence, for certain.”

Since Torture Garden Toronto said farewell to honoured guests, featured performers and satisfied delegates during a wonderful (if somewhat unseasonably warm) outdoor Wine and Cheese party on Victoria Day (May 24th, a national holiday in Canada), Your Humble Narrator has been inundated with queries – and demands – regarding when a full assessment and commentary regarding the near week-long festival would be produced, and made available for discerning eyes and ears. After taking some time to speak with several involved participants and excited attendees alike, a top to bottom review of the diabolically delicious pageantry that was Torture Garden Toronto 2010 is what follows.

Torture Garden, the Good:

The Music: Where does one start? There were truly so many superlatives about Torture Garden Toronto that it’s truly impossible to pick out a single, exceptional and definitive moment to call “The Best of Show”. What can be said as an appropriate beginning, however, is the quality exhibited by the event’s founders and chief musicologists, David TG and Allen TG (yes, the very same twosome mentioned above). During the two main event nights at Toronto’s old and oddly appropriate venue known as The Opera House, the rave reviews for the selection and expert transitioning of music by the disc jockeys inhabiting the stage were virtually universal.

In fact, “quality of music” has always been somewhat of a complaint regarding Toronto’s nightclub scene: more often than not, revelers are disappointed that Toronto DJ’s tend to exhaustively spin the recordings that they (the DJ’s) think their public should enjoy dancing to – whether their public likes what they are spinning, or not. Dance junkies don’t usually care if they’re force-fed repeated volumes of the same aural fare, of course. However, the consistent and exceptional quality of music that was offered to the writing masses at Torture Garden Toronto is worth noting. David and Allen know their business, of that there is no question, and it is I believe a significant reason as to why the Torture Garden franchise has been so successful for the past twenty-odd years.

Give the people great music, and professionally presented, and the “eye candy” aspect becomes somewhat incidental. All through Saturday and Sunday evening’s main events at The Opera House, the dance floors – hell, the upper level dungeon/play spaces and media balcony even – were a happy, roiling mass of fervently delirious feet and expressively ecstatic, feverish bodies. People had wondered (last year and this year both) why David and Allen would come all the way to Toronto and “work” their own franchise party. The answer, now, we definitely know. It’s because they’re the best at what they do. They keep the people excited, happy, and most importantly, moving. It is here, without question, that the winning formula has been forged by the founding fathers of TG: Combine great music with exceptional atmosphere and top it all off with the most delicious aforementioned eye candy assembled, and you have the recipe for the perfect party.

The Performances: Almost all of the performances during Saturday and Sunday evening’s main events were quite spectacular. More will be said about RubberDoll a little further on, but her two performances definitely thrilled those who hadn’t been exposed to her act before. Those that had seen her previously, well … suffice to say it would appear from comments in the crowd that her act really hasn’t changed much in the past year (or more). That being said, RubberDoll is a seasoned, professional fetish performer and she certainly didn’t disappoint. She wasn’t appearing to be “simply going through the motions”, as she gave a high-octane, savagely energetic showpiece that titillated and teased the assembled crowd gasping at the contortions and machinations taking place on the stage above.

In addition to the excellent standard set by RubberDoll, the Fire Dance set and the Aerial Performanceswere both awe-inspiring and mind-altering. There is a genuine sense of great enjoyment when one is able to bear witness to the circus-like precision exhibited by those that dance with fire, and those that twist, turn and (sometimes) twirl high above the ground floor with nothing between them and oblivion but a simple, sturdy hoop or a seemingly thin and suspiciously fragile-looking long length of cloth. No-one who saw these performances went away feeling like they’d been somehow denied their money’s worth.

Highly effective and somewhat discomfort-level causing flesh hook suspension artists I Was Cured returned to the Torture Garden stage after a shockingly triumphant “debut” at last year’s event, and once again judging by the amount of gasps, groans and excited whispers in the crowd they were once more enthusiastically embraced and cheered by an adoring, entranced and spellbound viewing public. Sunday evening featured a fun and definitely “Beach Blanket Kinko” campy demonstration performance from Toronto’s own Kink Engineering, who managed to convey to an (at first) somewhat puzzled crowd exactly what it is about “Vac Beds” that is so damned appealing and ultimately desirable. Mad Scientist and Archean, the undeniably brilliant brains and frenetically enthusiastic minds behind Kink Engineering, unveiled their (sure to be) revolutionary Vac Cube and Vac Tower designs to the very enthusiastic onlookers. In essence, the Vac Cube and the Vac Tower are “three-dimensional” Vac Beds: instead of a dual top and bottom only, decidedly flat-surface bondage effect (what those in the ‘know’ have come to regard as ‘traditional vacuum table technology’), these brand-new product offerings actually encase the imbedded subject within six separate, converging latex pieces. While the crowd enthusiastically whooted and whooped as Archean herself became immobilized by her own latex creation (which was beautifully adorned with a blue and white Japanese wave motif – more on that later), Mad Scientist was joined onstage by a gas-masked unidentified female, who promptly climbed inside the Vac Tower and for all intents and purposes, “disappeared”. The reason for the gas mask soon became absolutely apparent: as the Vac Tower was raised above the stage, and the air was removed by a small canister vacuum cleaner on the floor below, the six-sided latex cube quickly revealed the young lady literally suspended in mid-air (or, in this case, mid-rope) within. The gas mask was revealed to be attached to a breathing hose that was connected to the outside world – ensuring that the bound beauty within wasn’t about be locked in a life and death struggle for precious oxygen. When the Vac Tower was finally lowered to the stage, and the masked female was “released” from her rubber bindings, it was (of course) the incomparable rope and suspension artist Lotuslily who was revealed to have been the masked “victim” of the imposing Vac Tower. Sure, it was ‘camp couture’ at its best: but it was also an extremely effective (and fun!) demonstration of the capabilities of the units designed and manufactured by Kink Engineering. In that regard, the performance was a resounding, and much appreciated, success.

Some other established performers were given prime spots in the performance line-up, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. Satomi, The Tokyo Love Doll and Vivid Angel in particular both stunned and thrilled the crowd with displays that certainly broke many of the bonds of convention. There was even a playful bit of intentional controversy (which won’t be discussed here) that was surely designed to send the crowd into whispered frenzies of shock and amazement. Suffice to say that if you do have an opportunity to see Satomi and Vivid Angel in particular, don’t miss it: those two ladies put on one hell of a performance.

The Fashion Shows:  With the addition of Northbound Leather, the fetish fashion ensembles were extremely fresh and generated a huge amount of over-the-top excitement. Northbound Leather’s designs, when the models took to the stage, were described immediately by one American visitor (from Michigan) as “completely sick” and definitely in the “I must have that” categories. Northbound was joined onstage in short order by exceptional, delicious ensembles from design houses Futurstate, Plastik Wrap and Artifice – each one with their own unique signature and style, and each one enthusiastically endorsed by an adoring public in the gathered audience below.

However, as good as Northbound Leather, Futurstate, Plastik Wrap and Artifice was, it was Toronto’s Ego Assassin that literally brought the house down. In what was the best choreographed and well-performed set of the entire Torture Garden experience, James and Slinka of Ego Assassin managed to combine an aquatic theme with an industrial edge, and gave their viewers truly a visually explosive treat. The audience was treated to another instance of the blue and white Japanese wave – this time as a smaller scale artistic treatment featured on the front of a corset adorning the bodice of a slender, lithe latex-blue female “shark”. The motifs are a trademark of Ego Assassin’s work: and there simply isn’t anything in the known fetish world that compares. Their process is unique and revolutionary (and no, I won’t give it away here, although even James and Slinka say it’s surprisingly straight-forward), and the final product is truly amazing. It is one thing to see these intricate latex designs and motifs static and unmoving on a production table, or within staged photographs. It is quite another to see those designs literally come to life, on stage, when worn by exotically-moving models and dancers. By the end of their fashion segment, the crowd below the stage was screaming in unrequited approval and amazement when two black latex “sea insectoids,” each with misshapen glowing eyes, entered and accosted one of the aquatically finned lithe females. The entire segment, truly, had to be seen to be believed. As Ego Assassin continues to develop and evolve their product lines, their designs are sure to be regarded as highly in demand by latex enthusiasts world-wide.

The Seminars: In somewhat of a risky move, Torture Garden Toronto sponsored a series of seminars that were simply expertly organized and executed by Toronto’s own Lord Morpheous. I venture to say, with extreme confidence, that there are few (if any) more engaging, knowledgeable and exceptional rope work educators within our realm. Three of the seminars were held at the host hotel (Sheraton Centre) on the Saturday afternoon, and two others were held at another, less central location on the Sunday.

One of those seminars – one which Your Humble Narrator had witnessed before, in Montreal during the Fetish Weekend – was conducted by a man named Dunter and focused on the finer aspects of controlling someone using Pressure Points on the human body. Due to a scheduling conflict, our little entourage (which included the lovely Mistress Lyn, her devoted, talented husband and “personal photographer” SJoe from New York, and a fresh young female acolyte new to our Community known as Severne) arrived at the very end of Dunter’s allotted time – but judging by the rave reviews expressed by all present, there was no question that, once again, this impressive and extremely talented educator from Montreal had held his audience (you’ll pardon the phrase, of course) “captive”. He made a new cabal of devotees in Toronto with his effectual and effusive, genial and extremely effective teaching style.

A rising star on the “Kinky Lecture Circuit” appeared in the form of a young gentleman who goes by the simple moniker of Cub Dan, and his engaging and delightful seminar on how to use regular household items (and some eyebrow raising “irregular” household items) as sensation implements for SM play was both incredibly insightful – and extremely entertaining at the same time. Watch for this man: he’s truly something special as an educator. Just don’t let him anywhere near you with a ring of steel wool, electrode attachments, a vibrating wood sander or a bottle of Hot Sauce if you can help it. He’s impressively adept at perverting (pretty much) anything – and safely – he can get his hands on.

Lord Morpheous himself ended a near-perfect and enjoyable afternoon with a fantastic talk, demonstration and audience participation lecture on Sex Bondage. He was joined, with perfect fluidity, by a beautiful and completely engaging young lady by the name of elle who served as the subject for the various ties Lord Morpheous was teaching. She wasn’t just a model: during the seminar she gave some extremely valuable and much-appreciated insight, from a bottom’s perspective, about what she was experiencing as she was being restrained. There is a reason why Lord Morpheous, in my opinion, is one of the most sought-after facilitators in North America: not only is he an experienced and truly fantastic rope artist, but he’s enjoyable and engaging to watch and listen to.

What was most impressive, about all three of these presenters, was how well their audience retained the knowledge they had just obtained. Being able to walk out of a room and be able to perform, safely and with complete confidence, a pressure point takedown; a ‘shocking’ Karaoke performance (sorry, you’ll just have to take one of Cub Dan’s classes to truly want to know what I’m talking about – but it involves electrodes, a microphone and steel wool if you must know); or a chicken-wing tie, is assuredly the mark of a true professional. All three men could be thusly, and accurately, described. Unfortunately, time and distance did not allow our little group to review the other two seminars scheduled that weekend – but if the three we were exposed to are any indication, I’m sure they were every bit as informative, fun and superb.

The Atmosphere: Choose an adjective, and chances are it applies to the over-all mood, feel and attitude of Torture Garden party-goers. Electric? Mysterious? Adrenaline-laced? Frenetic? Vibrant? All of the above? If there was one single word to be used as a definitive summary of the Torture Garden Toronto experience, it would without question have to be: “Alive” There can be little doubt; those who bid adieu to the ceremonies in 2010 have already started making plans to be in attendance at the 2011 event.

Torture Garden, the Bad:

Torture Garden Toronto officially got underway with a welcoming event on Friday evening. There isn’t much to say about the venue, unfortunately: our entourage spent almost the entirety of the evening outdoors, on the sidewalk near the front door. So did many, many others who ventured out that night. At one point, it truly was a toss-up as to which had the greater numbers: the party going on inside the venue, or the party happening outside.

Not that it mattered. This must be stressed: there were very, very few complaints regarding the unfortunate lack of space this particular venue provided indoors. People who showed up, dressed in all their fabulousness in respective latex, leather, satin, PVC and even canvas, to a person had a most enjoyable time meeting with old friends, and perhaps making new ones. However, there were certainly issues with this particular venue (regarding the understanding of rules at the outset of the evening) that did put quite a damper on the hopes of those whom had hoped to spend Opening Night comfortably dancing and cavorting indoors.

In simple terms, the venue was just too small – and the House Rules of this particular club simply too incompatible – to completely, comfortably accommodate the mass of Torture Garden attendees that did manage to make it down for the night. Undoubtedly, there had to be certain numbers of patrons who had purchased a VIP or a weekend pass that may have felt disappointment regarding Friday night and the fact that they (most likely) spent most of the evening outdoors instead of within the venue. But here’s the caveat, and the wondrous thing: the majority of people (including our own entourage) really didn’t seem to mind. It wasn’t the venue that made the party on Friday night: it was the people. Everyone was ecstatic to be there, amongst their peers – and it showed.

Torture Garden, the Ugly:

Last year, it was somewhat jokingly suggested that the only glaring thing wrong with Torture Garden’s main event … was the condition of the stairs on the upper levels. The owners of The Opera House should have heeded those somewhat tongue in cheek comments, because this year, those stairs actually continued to be a problem. Thankfully, the extent of the issue with the upper level stairs at The Opera House (and the grumbles were constrained, it must be said, to the upper levels only) really could only be considered minor in scope. Every organizer, though, that is contemplating mounting a major fetish event should consider that their guests will be adorned in very high-priced fetish haute couture that includes very expensive outerwear and footwear. It would be in their best interests if the interiors of the venue they were providing (for said finery) actually didn’t contribute in any way to the destruction of these delicious ensembles. In complete fairness to Craig Galbraith, the main mover and shaker of Torture Garden Toronto, there simply wasn’t anything he could have done better to guarantee the safety and security of his guests – the entire event, from the three nights of parties, to the seminars and to the farewell dinner afterwards, were meticulously organized and exceptionally managed. This writer can attest to the fact that Mr. Galbraith did absolutely everything within his limited power to try and address the (relatively simply) issue of those damned stairs – but obviously was ultimately thwarted. Maybe next year, Craig?

Speaking of next year: Torture Garden 2011 should be very interesting. It will certainly be hard for Craig (and David and Allen, for that matter) to top the five days of twisted and feverish consensual torment that was this year’s fantastic fetish festival. Torture Garden continues to evolve and evoke wondrous new beginnings. People will come – because Torture Garden simply gives the masses want they want: a fabulous time, a memorable experience, and a chance to express themselves without repercussion amongst their peers.

Really, to quote the immortal George and Ira Gershwin: ‘Who could ask for anything more?’

(All Photographs by SJoe, Lady Morganna and Kardynyl SynysTyr – Courtesy of Torture Garden Toronto 2010) (Images may not be reproduced without express written permission)

(Note: Photographs do not necessarily correspond with accompanying text)

One of the most eagerly-anticipated, large-scale Fetish gatherings in Canada’s largest city has officially “kicked off”. From now until Monday, May 24th, Your Humble Narrator and Only True Friend will be reporting some of the happenings and happy things surrounding the Torture Garden Toronto fetish weekend.

Thursday Night:

Festivities got under way with an Industry Night Martini Party at Toronto’s Club Nocturne (which occupies the club space formerly held by Toronto’s legendary gothic mainstay, Savage Garden on Queen Street), where photographers, models and performers exchanged greetings, pleasantries and business cards while enjoying the extravagant and exquisite tastes from a specifically-designed and executed Martini menu. The night was exceptionally pleasant and the crowd twittered excitedly about what was sure to come in the days ahead. It was a perfect start, in a welcoming and warm environment, to Torture Garden 2010.

Friday Night:

More will be written, and more in-depth, about Friday evening in Monday’s over-all general review of Torture Garden Toronto. The spring Canadian air couldn’t have been more perfect – which was extremely good fortune, considering the party at the venue was happening both inside and outside. It didn’t matter whether the crowds chose to congregate inside or out, everyone seemed to have an amazingly good time. Even the gawkers driving by on Queen Street, and the on-foot passersby, at times couldn’t help but stop and attempt to engage many of the outstandingly attired festival attendees gathered on the street corner in front of the venue. Great atmosphere, fantastic, happy people with equally fantastic outfits, and an overall, general “good feeling” emanated from the gathered revellers. In short, Friday evening was an excellent way to celebrate the ‘official’ start of the weekend’s festivities.

Saturday:

The line-up includes a series of seminars at the Sheraton Centre Hotel in central Toronto, beginning at noon and continuing to early evening. Later, the first of the two “Main Events” – the Torture Garden “Ball” itself – will get underway at The Opera House on Queen Street.

(… Updates will be coming … stayed tuned …)

One of the most eagerly awaited events in North America is very nearly set to begin festivities. Lovers of all things sensual, erotic and truly hedonistic have been looking forward to the ‘commencement of consensual hostilities’ in Toronto, beginning with a Martini “Industry Night” evening on Thursday Night, and ending with a “Wind Down” wine and cheese function late Monday afternoon (Victoria Day in Canada).

It’s everything else in-between (Friday through Sunday), however, that is sure to become the stuff in which legends are born.

Torture Garden Toronto is an ambitious fetish weekend that is the brainchild of Ontario promoter Craig Galbreath. Other cities in North America have their own weekend-long fetish events, to be sure – but Torture Garden Toronto is truly set to become a very unique (dare I say ‘revolutionary’) experience. What started as a single evening of pandemonium a little under one year ago has blossomed into a full-scale, weekend-long fetish festival. All of the meticulous planning and patient organization is about to culminate in a whirling frenzy of personal expression and celebration. It’s somewhat of a risky venture – evolving a tried-and-true international franchise consisting of a single evening’s salutations and gyrations into an entire five day, continuous party – but it’s a risk Craig felt was one worth taking, and long, long overdue.

In order to help reduce, if not eliminate, any potential for unforeseen disasters (and by his own admission, in order to “get a look at how the real founding experts do it, up close and personal”) Craig recently traveled to the lair of the original Torture Garden duo, David Wood and Allen Pelling, in London, England. For a few intense days, Craig found himself immersed within the frenzied hotbed of organizational activity that goes into planning the flagship Torture Garden event in London. He came away “humbled and with a much greater appreciation” of the immense amount of work needed to keep the franchise going in Europe. When he returned to Toronto, he felt absolutely and completely prepared, and confident, that his landmark idea to turn Torture Garden into a weekend-long celebration of all things fetish would not only be well received, but had a realistic chance to become an annual, revered part of the North American fetish party-circuit ‘landscape’. “The amazing thing is,”  Craig said, “David and Allen are just like me: a regular couple of guys, with regular routines, who just happen to really love throwing a good party for people.”

According to Craig, the feedback he got from Londoners was extremely positive and encouraging. “I came back knowing that (expanding) Torture Garden as a weekend-long party was a very good idea.”

It would be impossible to adequately do justice to, and provide exhaustive details, for each and every aspect that will make up the massive undertaking that is being called “Toronto’s Fetish Weekend.” The main events on Saturday and Sunday evenings – the eagerly anticipated, landmark Torture Garden Ball itself and the Medical Mayhem Night – are sure to attract feverish attention from attendees. But there is a lot more happening during Torture Garden Toronto, and what follows is a brief outline of some of the other exceptional things one can expect to experience during the entire weekend.

There is also a “general transportation assistance” segment that (hopefully) should help those not familiar with Canada’s largest city get around to the various venues timely – and comfortably.

1). Torture Garden Seminars

On Saturday and Sunday afternoons, Toronto’s Lord Morpheoushas put together an amazing and simply “can’t be missed” series of seminars designed to give attendees a little more depth, and direction, in some of the more extreme aspects of intense SM play. While at first glance some of these seminars may appear intimidating to the casual observer, the reality is that Lord Morpheous (best-selling author of How to Be Kinkyand a well-known and respected bondage artist and photographer whose stellar work has been featured at numerous events across North America) has assembled an incredibly talented collection of facilitators and instructors that are quite capable of offering expert instruction in their disciplines to both the “casual” and the “hardcore” practitioner. “There are always classes, at every large event, that offer instruction on the basics,” Lord Morpheous said. “Our aim was to appeal to those that wanted a little more. People that come (to Torture Garden Toronto) are absolutely certain to meet more than enough people during the weekend that will be perfectly happy to show them some of those basics. Our seminar roster is designed for those who want to experience something a bit more extreme, and edgy”.

To that end, that roster of educators is simply formidable: Lord Morpheous is proud to have secured the services of a gentleman who goes by the name of Dunter who will be giving instruction on Pressure Point Control. Speaking from personal experience, my beautiful life partner Lady J (who happens to be quite expert and qualified in the same discipline thanks to years to military police interrogation training) took this exact same class during the Montreal Fetish Weekend in 2009 – and we both came away extremely impressed with both his teaching skills and his knowledge. TG attendees who may not have considered going to any, let alone one, of the seminars at the Sheraton Centre Hotel in Toronto may want to think twice and at the very least consider going to the Pressure Point Control seminar. Dunter is an excellent teacher, an engaging man – and you are guaranteed to come out of that class with an enthusiastic new knowledge about how to effectively administer “control” over your submissive partner (and without leaving any kind of mark).

Lord Morpheous himself will be conducting, with the assistance of a striking beauty by the name of elle, an excellent class on Saturday afternoon that focuses on Sex Bondage Safety for pleasure and and pain. This in-depth seminar is a much needed lesson in how to avoid, but also treat, injuries that could occur during a sexually-charged bondage scene. It is unmistakable truth that many people who practice bondage in the bedroom may encounter some unfortunate ‘accidents’ during their encounters: this seminar aims to teach those with a love of bondage how, first, to prevent those accidents from occurring in the first place, and second, how to treat some of those mishaps properly should they actually occur.

Some of the other seminars include lessons in edge play (Beyond the Toy Bag, given by an up and coming educator named Cub Dan, who is getting a stellar reputation for his extremely personable, funny and expert hands-on instruction technique), a single-tail whip class, and a (not for the squeamish) advanced class on advanced suturing. Full details of each of these exceptional seminars can be found at the Torture Garden Toronto Seminars page on the website.

2). Torture Garden Performances

While some of the performers scheduled to appear during Saturday and Sunday’s “main events” are well known to fetish party attendees across North America and Europe (I Was Cured flesh hook suspension artists, Rubber Doll, Vivid Angel, Satomi, the Tokyo Love Doll), there is an equally impressive array of local lights that simply shouldn’t be missed. The amazing artist, whose canvas consists of the human body (i.e., she’s a body painter extraordinaire) known as Ark Angel will be actively displaying her incredibly talents during the main Ball on Saturday night. While some of the other Main Stage performances are certain to garner much enthusiasm from the adoring masses, those that take the time to view the sheer, jaw-dropping sensuality and raw beauty that is Ark Angel’s “Performance Art” are in for a real, up close and intensely personal, treat.

Kink Engineering, that affable and lovable slightly-crazed professional engineering duo from Toronto will be showcasing their newest creations (specifically: Vacuum Beds and other assorted kinked-up engineering marvels that must be seen to be completely appreciated). Mad Scientist and Archean have been working nearly non-stop around the clock for weeks preparing to debut their newest, mechanically gorgeous, unequivocally perverted and diabolically delicious new “complete restraint systems”. Look for them both Saturday and Sunday nights – you’re certain to be tantalized and tempted to try one of their creations out for yourself.

Saturday and Sunday evening will also feature a fantastic Aerial Performance by some of Canada’s best up-and-coming death-defying young talents. Anyone who has ever seen a Cirque du Soleil show (in person or on video) will recognize the artistry, strength and concentration it takes to perform, several feet above a stage (and a crowd, for that matter), with nothing preventing a serious fall but a giant length of fabric wrapped tightly and expertly about various body parts. The Aerial Performers have been a staple of fetish and sexuality-related trade shows for a few seasons now, but as truly pleasing and astounding a visual feat it is to watch them perform their various aerial ballets, they never seem to get a lot of “respect” in the press. Trust me on this: you don’t want to miss the Aerial Performance this year at Torture Garden.

There are a number of excellent side events scheduled throughout the weekend at Torture Garden, including and not limited to acts including a Fire Dance performance; fetish photographer displays, rope bondage displays and, of course (for those who wish to express themselves through the beauty of sadomasochistic pursuit), a good array of equipment available in the Dungeon play areas.

3). Torture Garden Fashion Shows

Sunday evening’s celebrations include what promises to be an amazing retinue of sartorial splendor from a number of Toronto’s best alternative and fetish fashion designers. New collections from Northbound Leather (always a crowd favorite!), Ego Assassin (sheer artistry in latex), Plastik Wrap (heaven for PVC enthusiasts), FUTURSTATE (highly stylized, futuristic compilations in a variety of materials) and Artiface (self-described “odd assortment of over the top, shiny and well-fitted classics”). This is the first time within recent memory that a fetish event fashion show has combined and featured the very best of design in the three main, coveted fetish trappings: Leather, Latex and PVC.

4). Travel Guide – Main Venues

The main venues are within a relatively confined, central core:

The Opera House: Site of the main Torture Garden Ball and the Medical Mayhem party.

Location: 735 Queen St. East in Toronto. Accessibility:Queen Street Route 501 Streetcars (which run 24 hours) from the host hotel, the Sheraton Centre, and all points along Queen St. Transit fairs in Toronto are $3.00 (one way ride only). The main intersection is Queen St. and Broadview Ave., just East of Toronto’s downtown core. Taxi from Sheraton Centre will run about $10.00 – $13.00 (depending on traffic).

Sheraton Centre Hotel: Host hotel and host Seminar location

Location: 123 Queen St. West in Toronto. Accessibility: You could not ask for a more central location for your host hotel. The Sheraton Centre is located right in the very heart of downtown Toronto, across the street from the futuristic and iconic Toronto City Hall complex. The hotel is approximately one and a half blocks from Toronto’s main downtown drag (Yonge Street). The nearest main intersection is Bay St. The Queen Street Route 501 Streetcars run 24 hours, and there is a stop directly in front of the hotel on either side of the street.

If you’re planning on attending some of the smaller event offerings, the addresses for Club Wicked and Café Taste (Thursday night and Monday afternoon) are posted on the Torture Garden Toronto website. Taxi fares will be slightly higher to travel to the other venues – but the Queen Street Streetcar will take you right there for the same $3.00. Don’t worry about appearing too “out of place” on the Toronto Transit System: This is Queen Street, after all: the locals are quite used to outlandish fashion combinations and fetish wear …

Those that wish to have a complete itinerary of scheduled events can visit the Torture Garden Toronto website. The event details are perfectly laid out and expertly given a brief yet concise description. The website also includes companion website links, event times and venue addresses as well as a general overview of the weekend’s performances and seminars.

If you thinking of skipping Torture Garden Toronto, for whatever reason – don’t. If you were “sitting on the fence” about attending – let yourself fall into the Garden side of the yard. Other weekend-long festivals charge more, and offer less. You are certain to be satisfied, sensitized, and absolutely satiated.

Torture Garden Toronto begins in earnest on May 20th and runs until May 24th in a number of locations in central Toronto. VIP passes, weekend passes and tickets for individual events and seminars are available online, or for pickup in person at Northbound Leather(586 Yonge St., Toronto, Ontario).

(All photos previously published and courtesy of Toronto Garden Toronto and Toronto Garden UK.)

“Always be yourself… unless you suck.” ~ Joss Whedon

Great ideas – along with great people – are born of strong personal beliefs and convictions. The quote above isn’t exactly the kind of “corporate rallying cry” one might expect to see printed in 10-foot tall letters on billboards, let alone trumpeted loudly via mass-media marketing vehicles such as radio, television and even the Internet. Yet, there is simplicity in the statement; one that must surely resonate with most of us who have any kind of self-importance.

Be honest: we all have an ego to satisfy. Some of us (quite obviously) need to be vetted and fussed over more than others. For instance, Your Humble Narrator and Only True Friend is quite comfortable and secure in the knowledge that you all love me.

Perhaps it is appropriate, then, that our focus for this episode of “Kardynyl SynysTyr’s Fabulous Fetish Fancies” features an up-and-coming design studio whose very name just so happens to literally refer to the cold, hard death of one’s smug self-assuredness.

You may have heard of them. You may already love them. There is no question, if you’re even the slightest admirer of all things ‘latex’ you’ll be wanting a piece from them at some point. They’re known in latex enthusiast circles as Ego Assassin, and all tongue-in-cheek references to anyone’s sense of “self-importance” aside, what they do is nothing short of astounding.

Their friends know them as James and Slinka. Both of them are the brains, the passion and indeed the very industriousness behind what (I believe) is sure to be a revolution within the latex fashion world. Sure, there are certainly other designers out there who are (for now) far more known, publicized and patronized. Your Humble Narrator says this in all solemnity: I have been around latex fashions and latex wear for a very, very long time. These eyes have never beheld the artistry and the workmanship that is so expertly exhibited in the work of the Ego Assassin duo.

So, what’s in a name, anyway?

“Our name and our concept come out a personal belief that our personalities are not fixed,” James told me during a visit to their studio recently. “We all have the ability to adjust and change, if we want to. Anyone can set their ‘ego’ aside and go completely into a different head space.”

“Basically, when you wear one of our pieces, we want you to feel like you’re literally slipping into another skin. You can be anything you want to be; an entirely different character,” James said. “If you believe you’re a goddess or an alien creature (wearing one of our creations), then you’re a goddess or an alien. The medium and the philosophy can fit together really nicely.”

In essence, then, the combined words “ego assassin” are meant to emulate a personal attitude: to wit, a positive, sensual transformation as opposed to any negative, assumed verbal evisceration usually associated with the haughty and self-indulgent club crowd.

In point of fact, James and Slinka are somewhat “obsessive”, if we’re telling the whole truth. They’re both absolute perfectionists when it comes to their work. Simply put, the hand-crafted, painstaking detail that is put into each one of their creations ensures that each and every customer is going to get a truly, unique and exceptional piece – regardless of whether that particular piece is part of their design inventory or not. It is this industrious dedication to quality (very much like their good friends and symbiotic partners, Elastica Engineering, who supply Ego Assassin with a superior quality of high-tensile sheet latex) that somewhat sets Ego Assassin apart from any other latex garment design studio.

I say “somewhat” for good reason, here. There is another aspect of James and Slinka’s work that puts their craftsmanship on a whole other plateau when compared to their peers in the industry.

While James is very clear in stating that “they really don’t have any trade secrets” that he feels needs protecting, it would be a serious disservice to describe in detail the one area of perfection in which Ego Assassin has definitely developed a loyal and dedicated clientele. Friends and customers who have been fortunate enough to have been offered a “sneak peek” at the line-up being currently constructed for Toronto’s Torture Garden Weekend (May 21 – 24) have been amazed at the quality of the images printed onto the rubber material as a signature feature of their collection for the Fashion Show. One such piece, which has been photographed and posted on a few fetish-related websites already, features a near-flawless, ‘color-favorable’ copy of The Great Wave by legendary Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760 – 1849) across the front bodice of a latex corset. It is but a small and yet staggering taste of the artistry that is so integral to the reputation of James and Slinka as truly formidable garment designers.

Naturally, there are dozens of other printed patterns and designs that have been produced by Ego Assassin over the past several months (“Through a hell of a lot of trial, error, anger and heartache,” James recounts with a half-smile). Once the process and procedure for creating the designs, images and patterns on the latex had been perfected, naturally the rapid interest in their product lines began to grow. The one thing James and Slinka refuse to compromise on is the commitment to quality through patient design, printing and construction processes. “We don’t hide our process, and while it’s really pretty simple it’s also very labor intensive,” Slinka said. “We have no interest in mass production. We’re in an industry where customers are extremely passionate about their clothes. We want them to know that we’re equally as passionate about making them as they are about wearing them. ”

There are certainly other successful latex garment designers throughout North America – and Europe, for that matter. Some entities (specifically in the New York and Montreal areas) have been in business for years, if not decades. However, the universal truth here is that many of those companies tend to produce product that has become somewhat “standardized”. In short, the variance in artistic style, and even quality, has varied little from company to company. Many of those “more established” design houses rely on repeat business from loyal customers merely due to the simple, convenient fact that competition for “name brand” product isn’t exactly fierce. Very few latex garment enthusiasts are 100% completely loyal to one particular brand, for instance.

It is exactly the very uniqueness of the Ego Assassin product that sets distinguishes them from the competition. While they too will build garments for “everyone from hardcore fetishists to soccer moms”, it is their momentous decision to commit to the superior formula being produced exclusively by Elastica Engineering combined with their own without-peer design and artistic skills that truly will make them (if they aren’t regarded as already) the absolute best in the business. That’s quite an accomplishment in such a relatively short period of time.

Their personal story, about how they came to be as a couple, couldn’t be exactly billed as “typical”. As it happened, they met while doing some modeling work. “My first thought of him was, ‘that boy spends way too much time on his hair.” Slinka said of James with a smile. “I mean, boys don’t wear make-up, right? I wasn’t sure I wanted to date a boy who might spend more time in front of a mirror than I did.” A chance meeting at a fetish event a short time later, some shared beverages and a mutually enjoyable conversation led to the discovery of a mutual interest in fetish wear – and specifically, latex. James, who had for years been employed as a professional artist in some capacity, was given the task of making his new lady-love a “one of a kind rubber dress” in the way of a somewhat playful challenge from Slinka herself. Little at that time did either of them realize that a white latex one-piece dress that featured a large “handcuffs” motif across the chest area would quickly lead them both toward the design adventure of their young lives. “It was really quite crude compared to what we’re doing now,” Slinka laughed. “But I wore that dress until it was eventually no longer recognizable as ‘white’, and it was falling apart.”

The white “Handcuff Dress”, as they called it, garnered a tremendous amount of attention at the huge annual Northbound Leather fetish extravaganza that year. “So many people were asking us ‘wherever did we find that dress,” James said. When fellow revelers were informed that James had, in fact, crafted the dress himself, the requests for product started coming immediately. “We even took a couple of orders while out on the dance floor,” he said. That fateful Northbound Leather event (titled, somewhat appropriately ‘Climax’) was five years ago. Ego Assassin, for all intents and purposes, has therefore been “in business” for a little less than five years.

Both James and Slinka credit the immensely popular and respected “Fetish Diva” Midori and Toronto promoter extraordinaire Craig Galbraith of Subspace and Torture Garden fame with being amongst their first true champions of their work. “In the first few years, there wasn’t a real lot of interest in us, especially in our own back yard,” James said. “But thanks to word of mouth from Midori and Craig especially, we really started to develop a loyal following and customer base.”

The quality of their product line has obviously and dramatically improved. Some of their more popular pieces – printed tops, their in-demand “Reverend” Bondage Skirts and a variety of mind-boggling dresses – have garnered attention in some very high profile camps. Their designs have been featured prominently in the Japanese edition of Vogue (Vogue Homme) magazine, and thanks to the enthusiastic endorsements of an admired and in-demand fashion stylist named Nicola Formichetti and the highly-respected fashion photographer Stephen Klein, orders have been placed for no less a talent than Lady Gaga for product that was to be seen in one of her over-the-top popular music videos (Bad Romance). Some of the Ego Assassin pieces were even targeted for use in some of Lady Gaga’s live stage performances.

Good stories about good, talented people usually end with a typically cliché commentary about the past. It cannot be said, though, that “the rest is history” in this particular instance: Ego Assassin is still revolutionizing the latex fashion industry and have started making history. You’ll be hearing about them for a long, long time to come.

Kardynyl SynysTyr

(All Photographs courtesy of Ego Assassin)

Ah, can there be a more sensual and gentle envelopment of sheer intoxication … and ecstasy …than that which comes exotically wrapped within an alluring kiss of latex?

Within the past few weeks, there has been a curious growth in the selection of new on-line forums devoted to all things latex, and across numerous related websites. One very popular website in particular, the wildly-successful and enthusiastically supported Fet Life (as the prime example), saw the formulation of a straight-forward “Where to Buy Latex?” discussion group. Within mere minutes, the group was populated with latex lovers from every metaphorical corner of our globe; each one with a timely and topical suggestion where (within their respective areas), an enthusiast may actually purchase their finest and favored rubber trappings. It should not come as a surprise to any that many of the “known” names in the fetish supply and demand business – Polymorph, Libidex, House of Harlot, Vex, etc. – were undoubtedly mentioned and appropriately vetted. Invariably, a great many of the postings tended to direct adamant potential customers to online aggregators (such as eBay, as the best example) rather than to the individual designer/manufacturer and their respective websites. In short, it wasn’t the brand per se that the enthusiastic forum writers were championing, as much as it was the individual styles and pieces themselves.

In other words, it didn’t seem to matter which manufacturer a particular latex catsuit may come from: it mattered more what selection of colors were available, and particularly, what the cost was.

There is a strange relationship between latex enthusiasts and rubber garment designers and manufacturers. Some die-hard rubberists will forever swear that one particular designer or design house is “without question” the best bang for their hard-earned buck and simply won’t spend their money anywhere else; while another clear across the continent (or ocean, for that matter) another equally anxious purchaser is far more concerned about availability.

Enter, if you will, and with apologies to Jerry Seinfeld and Jason Alexander, a self-described “latex salesman.”

He is perhaps best-known in latex circles as the Mad Scientist. Working in close conjunction with his long-term partner in life, and in enterprise (an absolutely brilliant-minded and drop-dead-fetish-model-gorgeous beauty by the name of Archean), he has managed to create not one, but three successful enterprises which feature and utilize the sensual sap of everyone’s favorite fetish tree (that’s ‘rubber’, in case you’re not quite keeping up with our tour).  Within the time frame of only the past twenty months or so, they have managed to not only have founded the corporate entities known as Elastica Engineering, Sheet Latex.Com and Kink Engineering – but have managed to gain a solid, loyal and extremely enthusiastic customer base. They’ve managed to garner and win the respect of these rubber enthusiasts (and we all know latex fetishists can be a potentially finicky lot) without having to design a single garment.

You see, Mad Scientist and Archean work on the industrial side of things. They’re suppliers – of some of the most innovative, durable, colorful, versatile and coveted natural rubber materials that the wide world of all things “fetish” has ever seen. Their business model is simple enough to understand: Elastica Engineering is the development and production (and major) component of their business and Sheet Latex.Com is the order fulfillment component. What about Kink Engineering, you ask? Patience: we’ll get to that very soon. You won’t be disappointed.

It would do them a serious injustice to give away even a single one of their trade secrets: but suffice to say both Mad Scientist and Archean come from actual engineering backgrounds, and both are directly responsible for the “recipe” which makes their sheet latex product unique, and dare it be argued superior, to all other similar products currently available. An example: during an in-person demonstration of the resiliency of their product line, a single 6” swatch of astonishingly translucent sheet latex (“If you can’t read a newspaper through it, we don’t want it”, Archean told us with a confident smile) was stretched, before our eyes, to a length of at least four feet – and could have been stretched farther still before encountering a catastrophic ripping point.

Over the years, these eyes have seen a lot – an awful lot– of latex. Not once have I encountered latex with quite the sheer strength, and mind-boggling flexibility, of the Elastica Engineering product. My beloved partner in this life and I happen to own quite a few pieces of latex wear that are easily thirty years old – and strong enough to have been stitched and sewn together rather than traditionally glued. It is my opinion that the product we saw demonstrated for us this past week is far, far stronger.

“We really try to give (our manufacturing partner) a continuous challenge,” Mad Scientist said, “so that we can equally continue to introduce, and evolve, new products.”

In truth, Mad Scientist is being far too modest when he describes himself as a simple “latex salesman”. In essence, what he and Archean have managed to do is enter into an enviable partnership with an Asian resource and manufacturer in which the formula which makes the material so strong was co-developed through a (sometimes painful and relatively agreeable) communication process. One of their biggest supporters, and best customers, is the Toronto, Ontario design house Ego Assassin, a rapidly up-and-coming serious and heavy “player” to the latex garment game in North America. According to Mad Scientist, “it isn’t a coincidence” that admiration for Ego Assassin designs, and subsequent orders, have increased significantly since supplier-and-designer entered into agreement with each other. “It’s a symbiotic relationship, like any good marriage,” Mad Scientist said. “We’re both trying to help each other out when we can. That leads to increased orders (for both) at the same time.”

“Ego Assassin was the ‘missing link’ for us in our construction process. We took their excellent introductory course on latex construction – and they worked closely with us to provide us the education and skills necessary to perfect our own process.” (Author’s Note: You’ll be hearing much more about Ego Assassin in the weeks leading up to the spring and summer Fetish wear ‘Season’!) One of the new products being offered by Elastica Engineering, developed with the aid of Ego Assassin, is a “Do It Yourself” latex craft kit, in which the buyer receives all the tools necessary in order to craft their own small latex garments or “toys”. “It’s not enough to give you the expertise to make a latex dress,” Mad Scientist said. “But it’s more than enough to give you a taste.”

However, there are and never will be plans to go head-to-head with their appreciated and revered clientele. “It’s our interest to do more of the bondage-crafting and supply side (of the latex business). Ego Assassin is the master of the runway and we will keep a strict ‘no-compete’ policy with them,” Mad Scientist said.

If it was the garment supply-side alone that was so enormously ground-breaking and successful, that unto itself could end the story here on a satisfactory and appropriate note. But wait … there’s more!

Both Mad Scientist and Archean are self-described “obsessive innovators” (really, can anyone think of a better definition of the professionals known as ‘Engineers?’). This brings us, of course, to the Kink Engineering side of their enterprise. One might make a persuasive argument that Kink Engineering was created out of need: Both Mad Scientist and Archean had more than just a casual appreciation and interest in somewhat more ‘extreme’ methods of restraint, and both are simply observant and intelligent enough to recognize a potentially lucrative supply-and-demand trend.

One of the most recently popular and in-demand prototypical bondage apparatus devices introduced within the past decade or so has been the full-latex enclosure simply called the “Vacuum Bed”, or “Vac Bed” in short. For the uninitiated, a “Vac Bed” could best be described as one of those vacuum “food saver” or “space saver” devices you see featured on popular cooking shows, or during late-night infomercials on television. Naturally, “Vac Beds” are built on a much larger scale and are designed to keep humans (rather than carrots and cabbage or unused blankets and linens) in a stringent state of bondage. The premise of the apparatus is simple enough: Entice a willing man or woman (or even both) to “slip between the sheets” of latex that are attached to a specially-constructed vacuum frame; affix your basic, hardware-store variety home vacuum cleaners’ suction hose to a valve attached to the specialized frame of the vacuum bed, flick the “on” switch – and watch complete immobilization ensue.

One of the standard problems with most Vac Beds has been in trying to discover a fool-proof way in which to keep the seal absolutely tight, all around the frame, to prevent inevitable air leaks – and therefore sometimes a disappointing and early end to a fascinating yet somewhat scary complete bondage experience. Naturally, with the strength of the sheet latex being developed by Elastica Engineering combined with a deep appreciation (can we possibly even declare a ‘fetish’ for?) Vacuum Bed restraint systems, it was a natural progression for Mad Scientist to move towards designing his own. Like most trained engineering professionals, he and Archean weren’t content just to follow a basic, standard pattern pioneered by others. He wanted to create a superior product with superior materials – and Elastica Engineering’s sheet latex products, naturally, were to be the focal point. While they admit their first efforts weren’t entirely and exactly what they’d “hoped for” in the way of perfection, it didn’t take them very long to work out the kinks (you’ll pardon the play on words, of course). They demonstrated their first fully-functional Vac Bed not too long after, and waited someone nervously for their first orders. “Our first sales model for the Vac Beds saw us selling five (units) in the first year,” Archean said with a very satisfied sigh and a smile. “We actually sold twenty-five.”

“That first Vac Bed we built – we can admit it – it was a mess, the ugliest thing you’ve ever seen,” Archean said, noting it still occupies somewhat of a hallowed place within their work space. “But we worked at it, almost non-stop – and we got better.”

Since then, Kink Engineering has expanded their Vac Bed product line to include tongue-wagging, incredibly sensual 3-D versions of their Vac Bed system. “Really, we initially just wanted to tweak the old, standard initial design,” Mad Scientist said. “Our main focus was to solve the air leakage problem, and we managed to do that early on in the process. Like our sheet latex product line, our Vac Beds have evolved: Ours are more bondage intensive, they provide a better play experience.” Kink Engineering Vac Beds now come in a variety of style, colors and degrees of translucence.

We could end our tour right here, with a full and bittersweet telling of how Mad Scientist and Archean met, fell in love and eventually strode into a brave new business world together, hand in hand and heads held high with eternal optimism. But wait! That’s not all! There’s still more!

The engineering twosome have introduced a custom-crafted line of hand-decorated, “Fashion Gas Masks” (Your Humble Narrator calls them ‘Fash Masks’ for brevity). The mask itself is based on two different styles of somewhat popular, but older, European industrial gas mask designs – but it’s what they do to them artistically that sets them apart from similar “custom offerings”. Each “Fash Mask” is a one of a kind creation: whether a customer has a deep interest in a spiked, old-school punk or Goth style, or leans more towards more of the Steampunk aesthetic, Mad Scientist and Archean can assure each customer a one-of-a-kind, wearable piece of industrial-age art that is sure to provide the buyer years of deep satisfaction, and admirable peer recognition, at any fetish event they may attend while wearing one.

Any of the products outlined in this tome are available for order directly from Sheet Latex.Com and Kink Engineering. Other projects currently in development include an interesting (and needed) online blog and “how to” guide being created by Archean. “There are lots of people who would love to buy a latex catsuit,” she said. “But you might be surprised at how many people actually don’t know how to get one fitted, let alone get one on, properly. We’d like to be able to help with that, get more people interested in latex. Rubber really shouldn’t, and doesn’t need to be, so intimidating to people.” Part of her online education plans also include advice (“A distinct advantage when coming from a woman,” Archean said) on how partners can “cross that communication bridge” and appropriately inform their partners of a developing interest in latex wear.

“You just can’t look bad in a latex catsuit,” she said. “It’s all about fit: Everyone can ‘rock’ a properly-fitted rubber catsuit. They’re absolutely beautiful!”

(Photos courtesy of Kink Engineering and Lord Morpheus)

Madness!  This love was a part of me, like my own flesh; it had taken the place of my blood and marrow; it possessed me entirely; it was I! ~ Octave Mirbeau, The Torture Garden, 1899

Brace yourselves, rabid and feverish fetish party enthusiasts. The seeds that were planted last summer have taken root, and they are growing. Those roots are strong; as strong as the finest Japanese bondage rope, and they run about as deep as any exploration of individual desire would dare to descend.

The mind-exploding fetish party experience, known universally since 1990 as the exotically-named Torture Garden, makes its return to Toronto – and just in time to help devotees celebrate the May long weekend. In a somewhat appropriate yet potentially risky move, the venerable old franchise started over a decade ago by the British DJ “pair extraordinaire” David Wood and Allen Pelling has been expanded. This year, Torture Garden Toronto has evolved from a single evening’s festivities into an entire, exhilarating long-weekend of flesh, fantasy, revelry, indulgence and ecstasy.

The main motivating force behind bringing the legendary DJ pair and their franchise festival to Toronto, Craig Galbraith, is no stranger himself to organizing a large-scale “good time” for the over-all benefit of North American fetish party enthusiasts. For several years, he has been one of the prime (and most popular) event organizers in Canada’s largest city, and he is the tireless, brilliant mind behind the wildly-popular monthly Subspace Fetish Nights in Toronto. His efforts have become so admired (and so adamantly supported) by a good percentage of the gargantuan Toronto-area fetish scene that he’s generally and simply known as either just “Craig” or, more playfully familiar if not somewhat colloquially as “Craiger”.

“I’m just a regular guy who really just loves to throw parties”, Craig has been quoted as saying on more than one occasion. “I’ve only ever wanted everyone who wanted to come out to simply have a great, great time.”

Craig’s evolution as a major event organizer certainly mirrors that of his Torture Garden “mentors” David and Allen. His events started simply enough, with small gatherings in intimate settings either in private abodes or in much, much smaller nightclubs. It wasn’t long before demand, however, made him realize that he was soon going to have to look for ever-larger digs in which to satiate the rapacious appetites of his patrons. “Each time we held a party, they got more and more popular and even more in demand,” Craig said. “We needed to get larger venues just to accommodate everyone who wanted to come.”

The need for larger space eventually evolved into his well-patronized, exceedingly popular Subspace nights, held once a month at one of Toronto’s largest tri-level nightclubs (the legendary Toronto landmark nightclub, The Big Bop, which sadly closed its doors, forever, earlier this year). And yet, the demand for even greater bacchanalian and hedonistic pursuits still continued to clamor ever louder. Craig wasn’t entirely sure exactly what, let alone where, his ever-burgeoning party plans would allow for the accommodation of all who demanded entrance through his doors. It was sometime during the early months of 2009 that Craig realized the solution: he would organize another gathering, in a different location, and give the alternative crowds exactly the mystical, frenzied and adrenaline-fueled atmosphere they were collectively demanding.

Enter Dave TG and Allen TG – the aforementioned Messieurs Wood and Pelling, of course. Without going into a dissertation on the negotiation process involved that would eventually land the Torture Garden franchise in Toronto, suffice to say the first TG event (held at a venue known as The Opera House) in the summer of 2009 was, by all reviews and reports, nothing short of a runaway, smashing success.

Naturally, Craig’s crowds still demanded more. While other event organizers, in any community in any town in any number of countries, are undoubtedly envious and would give their metaphorical left arm to have the kind of “problem” that Craig has, it truly is a testament to the work ethic, dedication and drive that Craig has to simply give the “people exactly what they want.” What he decided to do wasn’t revolutionary by any means. Other event organizers were putting their names to more than one event on a regular basis: why couldn’t he do the same? The biggest difference, of course, being that for all intents and purposes, other events produced by other organizers tended to be rather viewed as virtually the same party, but slapped with a different name, or “theme”. There were exceptions to that, of course: Northbound Leather’s fetish nights (the longest continuously running fetish event in the world) and Sir Alex Dark’s monthly gatherings have always pushed the envelope in Toronto when it comes to keeping large-scale parties exciting and fresh. But Craig knew he had to do something a little bigger, with a little bit more of a “bang”, in order to once again raise the bar on his own uncompromising level of quality.

Striking a deal with the Torture Garden franchise, one which hadn’t quite been embraced by North American audiences in some large American cities with same degree of enthusiasm as their European counterparts, certainly managed to turn more than a few skeptical heads. Craig himself wasn’t quite sure what to expect as the initial 2009 Torture Garden Toronto event marched inexorably towards its debut date. He needn’t have been too worried: The Opera House was full of locals from every part of the Greater Toronto Area, and had attracted a sizeable crowd of attendees from not only all over North America, but from Europe and other parts of the globe as well. By all accounts, Torture Garden Toronto in 2009 was an unmitigated, unquestionable success. No sooner had Torture Garden Toronto 2009 ended, that the demand (of course!) for more started from the masses.

Thus, Craig being the man he is, he felt compelled to have to raise the bar one more time in 2010 and immediately began laying the groundwork for what very well may prove to become his magnum opus: an entire Torture Garden Toronto weekend. Instead of staging the event during the summer as he and his TG compatriots did a year ago, Craig moved the entire show to May in order to take advantage of a statutory long weekend. The festivities will commence with an Industry Night Martini Party at Toronto’s Club Nocturne on Thursday, May 20^th, and wind up an almost-unbelievable four days later on Monday, May 24^th with a late-afternoon “wine and cheese wind-down” at a venue known as Café Taste in Toronto’s trendy Queen Street West neighborhood.

It is the Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening scheduled events, however, which are sure to cause the most reverent discussions long after the weekend has come to pass. On Friday, May 21^st, in a private location, the official Launch Party will take place as an enticing “warm up” to the rest of the weekend’s festivities. Saturday evening, May 22^nd, features the main event at The Opera House (735 Queen Street East). Three of Canada’s most respected and beloved spin doctors – DJ’s Lazarus, Pale and Prospero – will be joined by the aforementioned founding musicologists, David TG and Allen TG, in serving up an enticing and inciting wall of sound: an appropriate enough and perfect companion for the visual, intoxicating “torturous” displays that are sure to assault the eyes, and senses, of every attendee.

In addition to up-and-coming local Japanese bondage artist Lotuslily performing her jaw-dropping solo Kinbaku sets, the stage will be graced by the likes of world-popular fetish performers Satomi, the Tokyo Love Doll and Florida’s popular latex performance artist Rubber Doll. The much-sought after rubber garment designs of Kaori’s Latex Dreams will command people’s attentions during the fashion show segment of the evening’s performances, and Vivid Angel (described as “Freak Show Royalty” by some publications) brings her 10 years of experience as an exceptional vaudeville-style performer to the Torture Garden stage, and the mind-blowing hooks-and-suspension troupe I Was Cured will be doing their best to make audience members cringe in awed respect (and delight) with their high-flying flesh and metal aerial displays. Back as well for a second year is the amazing body painting artist ARK Angel, who has single-handedly raised the fetishistic practice of tribal and animal-like body art to atmospheric levels of appreciation amongst die-hard party-goers. There certainly should be more than enough eye and ear candy to gorge one’s self on, Saturday night alone.

As if a high-octane Saturday evening wasn’t enough, The Opera House will once more swing open its doors on Sunday, May 23, for an evening of “Medical Mayhem”. The expected dress code and the (scheduled performances) should be fairly self-explanatory. Whether Torture Garden guests are contentedly trying to recover from Saturday night’s debauchery, or merely getting wound up to a fever pitch for more, both Saturday and Sunday feature a series of seminars (to be held at two different locations on respective days) that can offer interested parties a little of the usual kind of instruction one would expect from such educational presentations – and a little of the unusual, as well. One of Sunday’s seminars in particular appears to be geared more towards the “Medical” theme that encompasses the evening’s “mayhem” to come.

It is true that Craig certainly has an enormous amount of planned delights for his guests during Torture Garden Weekend. What might be surprising to those contemplating purchasing tickets to any one night will undoubtedly be somewhat shocked to realize that prices are far from prohibitive. Even three-night passes and all-inclusive VIP entrance badges are exceptionally reasonable, price-wise. “We have never-before seen in Canada performers, over 20 acts, and several excellent locations that will make Torture Garden Toronto a ‘can’t miss’ event”, Craig said. “Toronto’s Fetish Weekend is going to be what it was intended to be: a fantastic party and a hell of a good time for everyone! It was important to keep the cost of tickets and passes reasonable so that everyone who wanted to come out and experience something new could really afford to do so.” The top-level pass, the all-inclusive VIP badge, includes access to all nightclub events, all seminars and even the “after parties” – and at a considerably less price-point than other large-scale events of a similar nature. Those who are wavering as to whether they wish to attend one or more of the scheduled events may wish to spend some time on the website, and allow the excellent selection of images and videos to help weigh their decisions. Truly, only the annual Northbound Leather event every fall in Toronto ranks with Torture Garden when it comes to spectacular stage and fashion shows, outstanding performances, and especially the dizzying range in personal selection of fetish attire by the prodigious and visually-theatrical guests at large.

Out of town attendees can still find rooms available at the host hotel, Toronto’s Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel located at 123 Queen Street West (directly across the street from Toronto’s space-age, landmark City hall complex). A full schedule of events, performers, seminars and information about “after parties” and any other assorted, necessary information can be found by visiting the Torture Garden Toronto website. Tickets for any, or all, of Torture Garden Toronto Fetish Weekend are available for purchase directly through the website or for pick-up in person at Northbound Leather at 586 Yonge Street in Toronto’s downtown central core.

After reaffirming that the entire enterprise truly has been a venture “for the people by one of their own”, Craig was asked just how he expected to be able to metaphorically “raise the bar” for next year’s event (and there is sure to be one). “Oh, I’m more concerned with making sure everyone has a fantastic time this year”, he said.

“But, I’m sure I’ll think of something!”

(All photos courtesy of Torture Garden and Torture Garden Toronto.)

Quick: Who amongst you can tell me which is the longest-running continuous Fetish Night in North America?

Hint: The operative term here is “continuous”. Other organizations (Society of Janus, The Eulenspiegal Society, Black Rose, Leather Rose, etc.) certainly could lay claim to being “long-running” in the planning and execution of various events and fetish parties. Here’s another hint: The answer … isn’t located within the United States. Unless you aren’t the type to take notice of headlines, the answer should be fairly obvious. There has been no other regularly scheduled and (regularly and punctually-produced) fetish event in North America other than those scheduled by Toronto’s Northbound Leather. Over the past twenty years, host locations certainly have changed, but one thing has remained constant: a great time has generally been had by all, without fail and without interruption. In the event that you’re a “numbers person”, that’s 240 straight months without interruption.

Surprised? You shouldn’t be. The iconographic and legendary emporium of leather fashion and fetish finery has long been one of the most visible suppliers to any number of fetish and SM enthusiasts, worldwide. The tireless “First Family of Leather”, George and Anna Giaouris, have spent a near-lifetime not only outfitting tens of thousands of satisfied customers (including some very “big names” in the entertainment industry, as an example), but have been enthusiastic supporters and sponsors of dozens of fetish-related events across the continent.

 The very first Northbound Leather Fetish Night, twenty-some years ago, attracted approximately 60 total admirers and enthusiasts. The 20th Anniversary Party that was held at Toronto’s newly-renovated Club Revival on February 20th had advance ticket sales in the high-hundreds alone. My beloved – the extraordinary and alluring beauty known across the continent as the incomparable Lady J - and I were amongst the first ten or so people to have arrived. We were greeted immediately by a gaggle of close friends, and we secured our spots close to the performance stage along a far wall.

It wasn’t long before the crowd started pouring in – dressed in some of the most amazing, colorful and extraordinary fetish wear this town hadn’t seen since the triumphant debut of Torture Garden in Toronto last summer. There is something about a “special event” (be it a debut or a celebratory anniversary) that brings out the absolute passion that lovers of all things “fetish” so feverishly love to exhibit. The atmosphere was hectic, eclectic and definitely electric: the growing, pulsating crowd was further whipped into the heights of fetishistic frenzy with some unbelievable performances by self-bondage artist (and sure to be, if not already, the next great sensation within our collective SM-related realm) Lotuslily and a stirring musical treat from Baron Marcus of the popular genre group The Vampire Beach Babes. Baron Marcus was “accompanied” by a bevy of leather and latex beauties, each wearing modified miner’s masks outfitted with stark white lights, whose gyrations and salutations were an absolute delight to the assembled throng. George Giaouris, the rightly-designated “Godfather” of the Toronto Fetish and SM Community, has long been an advocate of showcasing and helping to develop new talent.

The 20th Anniversary Night was certainly no different. While Baron Marcus has been somewhat of a staple and known presence within the Goth community for several years, it was refreshing to have his hypnotic, exceptional and mesmerizing vocal talents showcased before an appreciative “new” audience. It goes without saying that Lotuslily’s performance resulted in the usual jaw-dropping appreciation for her speed and her skills – but several folk in the crowd (who beforehand had no idea who she was) were heard to be whispering their respect for her, amongst their peers, long after her performance had ended. In an original “twist” to her performance, one of her suspended moments was captured for all time: not on film, but on paper. Northbound Leather had hired the services of a pencil artist to produce an exceptional and original piece of art, live on stage, while Lotuslily continued to weave her suspended webs. It was an exquisite, elegant and thoroughly classy touch.

Northbound Leather’s fetish nights have long succeeded where other events have either failed, or have never dared to venture. The invisible line that seems to divide the Gay and Lesbian leather events (from coast to coast, for that matter) has never been a metaphorical ‘line in the sand’ at a Northbound Leather event. In a word, the Northbound Leather Fetish Nights have (for years, if not for over a decade) could best be described as pansexual: different sexualities, different preferences and expressions and indeed, entirely different identifiable communities have been able to come together and meet on Northbound’s common ground, and feel truly united (and comfortable) under a common umbrella. The Northbound Leather Fetish Nights, over the years, have not been dominated by one identifiable social group: fetish folk from all walks of life (gay, lesbian, transsexual, heterosexual, queer, etc.) have been able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder, and openly express themselves without derision, contempt or hostility.

That’s rare: and it’s the one single reason as to why the Northbound Leather Fetish Nights have been so successful, and have exhibited such uninterrupted longevity, for the past two-plus decades. It simply doesn’t matter if you’re gay or Goth, there is always a welcome spot for everyone at a Northbound Leather Fetish event. While there has been some grumblings heard within (predominantly) Toronto’s large gay leather community regarding the “melting pot” atmosphere of the parties, the vast majority of Northbound loyalists seem genuinely thrilled to participate in such an open, and accommodating, environment.

The other factor that separated this particular Northbound Leather Fetish Night from any other is the patronage of some of the more prominent Community leaders, and seasoned SM professionals, that came to enjoy the carnival-like transpirings on a cold Saturday evening. Many of Toronto’s best-known and most respected SM professionals were in attendance, and all seemed to have an incredible time. One memorable moment (captured in the photo at left) showcased four of Canada’s best-known and respected Dominas: Lady J, Mistress Katina, Ms. Marina Black, and Baroness V. While this photo was being taken, an adoring and appreciative crowd of acolytes – male, female and transgendered alike – gathered around and gaped open-mouth in appreciation of the moment. “Oh, what I wouldn’t give to be on the floor and in front of those eight beautiful legs”, one reveller was heard to whisper. Just off to the right, while this photo was being taken, the brilliant organizer behind Torture Garden Toronto, the extremely affable, approachable and popular Subspace Craig, could be seen on the dance floor with more than just a few ”fans” vying for his attentions. Just across from him, and on the other side of the four Dominas linked arm-in-arm, another popular event organizer, Sir Alex Dark, was seen smiling appreciatively while holding his girl (a thoroughly engaging and beautiful woman simply known as Dollface) tightly to his side. All of this was happening on the main floor of the nightclub, while on stage yet another well-known event organizer (Lady Viktoria) was just finishing up a scheduled performance of her own. Without question, it is rare that such a collection of influential and admired SM Community figures are seen enjoying each other’s company within the same sphere and space.

The point simply is this: For the past twenty years, Northbound Leather has provided a sanctuary for everyone who professes either a deep love or an idle curiosity for our lovely, self-expressive lifestyle. It’s the “secret formula”, the very ”glue” that binds us all together. Northbound Leather, the store, is the common link and their 20th Anniversary Fetish Night (especially) was certainly the common ground in which all fetish people, from all walks of life, could joyously express themselves in a truly unique setting and atmosphere. The night, celebrating the past twenty years, was perfect: here’s hoping the 20th Anniversary Fetish Night was also a fitting way to usher in Northbound Leather’s next twenty years.

(All photos courtesy of Northbound Leather)

She came, like so many have before her, literally unannounced and figuratively, out of the blue. A somewhat strangely timed and happenstance encounter during a large Fetish convention (ShibariCon in Chicago) was the catalyst that propelled this diminutive, gregarious and energetic flower to indeed (and you’ll excuse the gardenistic superlatives), bloom. A scant ten months ago, no-one had ever heard of her. Now, she is on the verge of becoming the next great, “in demand” rope bondage artist of our time.

There is little doubt that the majority of you have definitely seen her work – if you are an admirer of all things bondage. Her photos have been copied, traded and pasted on Fetish-related websites, and social media websites, for months now. What she does certainly isn’t unusual itself by any means: other, more notable names have published books and self-promoted themselves ad nauseum regarding the artistry inherent to any form of rope bondage. Other notable, high profile fetish personalities have specialized in publishing works that brought the seductive, nearly-meditative and specialized qualities associated with Japanese rope bondage to the forefront of our attentions. But what this particular fresh and aforementioned new sensation does within the realm of rope bondage enthusiasts is, truly, very unique: she does it to herself. While she is an accomplished and self-described “rope top” in her own right, she usually isn’t known for having a willing subject to secure and “have fly” for an appreciative audience. Other self-bondage artists have come before her, to be sure – but few (if any) have displayed the technical expertise; the intense, artistic raw beauty of both her performance itself and the finished “package” (when she has completed suspending herself); and the jaw-dropping speed in which she manages to safely display her sleek, bound feminine form.

We are discussing a beautiful young lady who is known in artistic bondage circles as none other than Lotuslily. She has already developed a massive following across the United States and Canada, and is starting to gain significant attention from our “stodgier than thou” cousins in Europe and Asia. While it is certainly true that Lotuslily has (inadvertantly and without intention) ruffled certain members of the “bondage establishment’s” feathers, it is equally true that noted Masters in the artform, including no less an authority than “M” from the revered Demonsix Group (himself a student of the incomparable Master “K”), has described her efforts as “very promising work here, (with) great aesthetic and design.” “M” has encouraged Lotuslily to ”continue working with Kinbaku” and that her “work is looking like some of the most promising work I have seen in North America in a long time.”

(Author’s Note: There is a common and wrong perception that the word Shibari is the term for Japanese rope bondage. It’s not: The actual term is Kinbaku, which in Japanese literally means “erotic bondage”. The word Shibari, like almost all misappropriated terminologies in our lifestyle, caught on in the 1990′s due to an error in translation on some rope enthusiast early websites and such, and has been propogated as accepted fact – even amongst gigantic trade show organizers. Shibari, in Japanese and in current context, literally means “to tie” – but it refers to a certain tie that is used when using twine or string to artfully tie up packages. While technically Shibari could be  loosely interpreted as being associated with tying up people, to the purist it isn’t correct. Just because it’s become part of the modern lexicon still doesn’t make it “accurate”. The correct and appropriate term for Japanese Erotic Bondage is, and forever shall be, Kinbaku.)

Her meteroric rise to prominence began innocently enough. As a child, she professes to have had a somewhat obsessive  fascination with puzzles. It became a tradition during gift-giving seasons to always ensure that she had a puzzle or two to ponder – and she would sit endlessly, hours upon hours (“except for eating and sleeping”, she said) until she managed to solve and complete the puzzle. Naturally, as she grew to maturity, so did the complexity of the puzzles she loved to tackle. Smaller, hand-held puzzles gave way to larger, table-top monstrosities – the completed 3-D statue and landmark versions began to fill every shelf in the family home – and she was fascinated at the intricacies by which each precision piece was cut in and placed in order to form a seamless work of art. She also appreciated the fact that viewing the Cathedral of Notre Dame, for instance, even in puzzle form, from different angles and perspectives held a breathtaking beauty all of its own.

Her exploration with Japanese bondage, in her own words, began as a somewhat natural extension of both the beauty of the puzzle itself, and the beauty of the completed product. “I’ve moved from static pieces and models to beautiful, living, pieces of art,” she said. “Flesh and rope have replaced cardboard and foam. I can ‘see’ the final vision in the piece I am working towards.” Self-bondage was not where Lotuslily (and you’ll pardon the obvious), “learned the ropes”. She found a simple and “great joy” in being initially bound by expert partners. In her own words, the experience of being bound for pleasure was “incredibly powerful.”

She soon found, however, that in order to grow and be true to the aesthetic that she had quickly come to embrace, if she wanted to give her art to the en mass fetish world, she would need to do one (or both) of two things: she would need to show her skill and talent by tying and suspending willing subjects, or she would need to tie and suspend herself. She chose to do both – and while her skills as a bondage “top” are formidable and are more than enough to satiate the desires of a crowd of curious onlookers, it is in her self-bondage performances where Lotuslily really produces mesmorizing performances. In essence, her body is a blank canvas, her jute rope her brushes, and the entire performance space her stark canvas.

There is no way to adequately provide a justifiable description of just how … beautiful … it is to watch Lotuslily craft one of her self-suspension Kinbaku performances. When she quietly entered the public performance scene just a few short months ago, she immediately began to turn heads. Small, impromptu “demonstrations” at Fetish Nights evolved into more organized, full-scale “happenings” (she was undeniably the “hit” of the Everything To Do With Sex Show, a huge three-day, fun-filled convention surrounding our “favorite physical pastime”, in both Toronto, Ontario and Halifax, Nova Scotia) where turned heads gave way to dropped jaws, popping eyes and ultimately stunned, appreciative, silent and absolute respectful awe for what the massive audiences had just viewed unfolding before them.

To try to put into mere words the beauty, power and magic that is on display when Lotuslily performs one of her self-bondage routines would not be enough to do the lady, and her artform, justice. Sometimes, no matter how talented the wordsmith, there just aren’t enough combinations of vowels and consonants stringed together that could adequately describe just how incredibly mind-blowing it is to watch her perform. It isn’t just the procedure of wrapping the rope and tying the various knots that she uses to “fly” for her spellbound crowd: it’s the speed in which she does so. Watching Lotuslily perform is part aerial ballet (think Cirque du Soleil); part meticulous engineering (there is an absolute beauty in suspension bridges, is there not? Same thing here.); and part pure athletic expression (she might put some Olympic gymnasts to shame, in how effortless and seamless her movements are). In short, in order to get a full appreciation of what sets Lotuslily apart from all the bondage artists who have come and gone before her, you simply have to see her art.

“I cannot find words that truly capture what I feel when I tie myself,” Lotuslily said. “I’m told that it’s peaceful to watch. I suppose in some senses, I find myself in a meditative state. I rarely think of much else other than the technical parts of the ties. But increasing practice brings muscle memory to my fingers, and technicality is of less importance. I often recall precious moments, partners, loves, and smile softly at the moments. Occasionally, I’m so overwhelmed with emotion that it brings tears to my eyes.”

Kardynyl SynysTyr

(Those in the Southern Ontario region can see Lotuslily perform at the Northbound Leather 20th Anniversary Event, at Club Revival, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Saturday, February 20th, 2010. Tickets are available through Northbound Leather and at the door.)

There are some moments that are destined to be forever frozen in time – and enshrined in a special place of remembrance within our own minds. How apropos then, that a few of those frozen moments came courtesy of the Opening Ceremonies for the Games of the XXI-st Winter Olympiad, currently (and finally some would say) underway in the glimmering, emerald city that is, without question, the jewel in the Canadian crown.

There were the usual protests that dogged both a torch relay, coast to coast and throughout a vast country. The protestors continued their demonstrations, outside B.C. Place Stadium and relatively peacefully, during the opening of the Games themselves. The death in October of the man who spearheaded the city of Vancouver’s bid to host these Winter Games and was destined to never see his dream come to fruition with his own eyes (Jack Poole) was a crisis that, perhaps, lesser Organizing Committees may not have fully recovered from. The already somewhat subdued atmosphere surrounding these games was further driven into a very nearly funereal state when word came of the sudden death (training accident) of a Georgian slider named Nodar Kumaritashvili literally hours before he was to march with his team in the Parade of Nations during the Opening Ceremonies. The omens for Vancouver looked exceedingly grim, indeed.

If you will perhaps allow Your Humble Narrator, namely me, a momentary indulgence or two, Dear Reader, before we continue on to the main point of this missive … There are moments when one cannot help but feel a surge of nationalistic pride. In my own past, I’ve had two moments that stand out as signature memories that I associate with immediate and undeniable emotion that relates directly to how I feel about our people – Canadians – as a Nation. The first involved the groundswell of support, from coast to coast, for the Toronto Blue Jays baseball club when they won the World Series, back to back, in 1992 and 1993. Every city and town in the Great White North turned shades of blue for two straight Octobers – and the unifying aspect the Blue Jays brought to our nation cannot be understated. The second involved a single, seemingly unimportant ice hockey game in Calgary (I was there), between the New York Rangers and the Calgary Flames. It was known that the Rangers, featuring Number 99 himself, the immortal Wayne Gretzky, were not scheduled to play in Calgary the following year (1999), and the speculation was running rampant that The Great One was going to call it a career following this current season (1998) or the next. This is important to note: it was not lost on a single soul that what the Calgary crowd was witnessing could (and did, in fact turn out to be) Wayne Gretzky’s last hockey game in Calgary.

I will never, ever forget this … In a building that for nearly two decades was by far the most brutal and unpleasant place, fan-wise, for Mr. Gretzky to have to play in (he was a member of the hated rival Edmonton Oilers, remember, for years), when he made his final appearance on the ice with less than a minute to go in the game … nearly 20,000 people stood up, en mass, and roared their thanks. For ten straight minutes the man the city of Calgary loved to hate … was at last, a true hero, a national hero, and they saluted and cheered him loudly and endlessly. They cheered him mainly for what he had accomplished as a Canadian - not as just an ice hockey player. I have never felt more pride at being born Canadian than in those moments.

That was, until last night. We’ll talk a tiny bit more about Mr. Gretzky a little later.

Last night, however, topped both of those cherished memories. What unfolded before our eyes was a story of what it is to be Canadian. The myriad of exceptional performers somehow, miraculously, managed to make those in attendance (and the massive television viewing audience) overcome the moroseness that permeated the start of this special night. By the end of the performances, it didn’t even really matter that a major mechanical malfunction during the ceremony’s final moments brought proceedings to an awkward and somewhat uncomfortable standstill for about five minutes. The tragedy of the immediate past had given way to a euphoric feeling … of accomplishment. We believe these Winter Games are going to be the most memorable – the best – in history.

Yes, even the ”wilder” side of Canadians got into the mix a little. During a coast-to-coast tribute to Canada’s various and culturally varied regions, a contingent of mohawked, kilted, leather corseted and combat booted and high  energy fiddlers invaded the stage for an unbelievably uplifting, raucous musical tribute to Canada’s Maritime provinces. Most of the women who joined the “wildmen” were adorned in some fashion of extremely well detailed leather gauntlets that marched their rakish leather corset-tops. This, following an amazing performance by a single artist suspended above the Stadium floor in a glowing blue canoe; covered in furs, head to toe and with a hairstyle that would put the best Viking horns to shame. The “Viking” in the blue canoe proceeded to have a fiddling contest – with his shadow being cast against an enormous Harvest Moon. At first, the audience is led to believe the shadow on the moon is indeed just that – until the shadow starts going off and playing, dancing in it’s own direction (but all in perfect syncopation and harmony with his “live” counterpart in the blue canoe).

But shadow play contests and Maritime punk-rock fiddlers (some that would put the infamous Ashley MacIsaac to shame) aside, there is something even more remarkable about these Opening Ceremonies; something that could be considered quite kinky and twisted, in its own way.

The people chosen to light the Olympic flame within the Stadium couldn’t have been chosen any better. Rick Hanson (the Man in Motion), Canadian skating legend Catriona Le May Doan, Canadian skiing legend Nancy Greene, Vancouver-born and raised NBA basketball superstar Steve Nash and, (in the supreme choice of all who believe what is “right” within the Canadian world) Wayne Gretzkycollectively did the honor of lighting the flame – despite the fact that a serious hydraulic malfunction prevented one of the four gigantic “ice crystals” from rising beneath, and tower above, the Stadium floor. It was left to Mr. Gretzky to venture out – completely unannounced – into the streets of Vancouver and carry the Olympic torch some 20 blocks from the stadium to the waterfront, where the “permanent” Olympic Cauldron had mysteriously appeared. Mr. Gretzky was taken to the outdoor Cauldron on the back of a Police Ford Tahoe pickup truck, and as word spread of the voyage, throngs of jubilant people ran alongside, each completely unaware they had just made a small entry for themselves into the history books with the “escorting” of the flame. There is no bigger symbol of our country than that embodied in the voice and stern countenance that belongs to Wayne Gretzky. The man has never failed to answer his country’s calling. He answered, in spades, this time as well. His lighting of the outdoor Cauldron was the perfect ending to a near-perfect – and Canadian – evening.

Bob Costas, the absolute best sportscaster in the world, in his NBC Broadcast last evening, seemed at first bemused – and then in awe – of a not-so-subtle change in attitude emanating from the Canadian hosts. He carefully and patiently, perfectly, informed the American viewing audience that the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games were designed to be Canada’s “debutante” party as a world power in the world of winter sports competition. Mr. Costas at times seemed to marvel at the “Hollywood feel” of the pageantry taking place before him: he certainly made a point of mentioning this kind of overt, “in your face” presentation was very unexpected from his cousins to the North. In the way that only the vocally perfect Mr. Costas could do, as the Cultural Pageant was winding down, he quipped: “”Some say the Canadian initiative of Own the Podium and winning the overall medal count represents a shift in Canadian attitude, to be so openly assertive and ambitious. Canadians as a group are among the most friendliest and most welcoming people on the earth. But I don’t see anything incompatible with saying hello, welcome, we’re very friendly, we’re glad that you’re here, we want you to enjoy yourselves …  and now we would also like to kick your butt!” 

That is the kinkiest, most twisted thing about the start of these Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver: We might be Canadian and we might still be the friendliest people on earth, but this time we have a swagger in our step and we have a true sense of National Identity that heretofore had only been recognized amongst the Americans. The Opening Ceremonies went from being a potential tragedy-filled “Grief-Fest” to the best “coming out party” our Nation could have asked for. It’s up to the athletes, now, to carry that new-found sense of national accomplishment forward, and make their countrymen and countrywomen proud.

Canadians? Calm, assertive, brash and expectant? Impossible, you say! That, my friends, is truly the kinkiest twist imaginable to the start of what appears to be a most amazing Olympiad. No more sadness, just let the real Games being!

For some reason, this time of year (St. Valentine’s Day), for one reason or another, almost always seems to be less of a love-fest and more of a “massacre.” Misfortune does seem to happen – and with a vengeance – to couples, and right around this time of year. Personally speaking and also speaking from personal past experience, February 14^th is usually the day pinpointed as the exact date in which couples realize they are never going to be able to  “grow old” with the person sitting right across from them. Men and woman seem to go through a staged piece of “performance art” in an empty show of affections towards their partners – because it’s the “expected” thing to do. The truth is, this vacuous and near-meaningless day, except to those who believe the day is simply for an exchange of bright red cards and candies (namely children), unfortunately for a lot of couples is more a realization that “this isn’t going to work” than an affirmation of “forever in love.” 

Think about it: how many couples have you known whose relationships have fallen apart either on, or shortly before, St. Valentine’s Day? Isn’t it somewhat of a sick, twisted bit of irony that the patron saint (and his patron calendar day) devoted entirely to the notion of “love everlasting” is, statistically at least, merely a stale and staged, obligatory and nearly-catatonic, expressionless and passionless reciting of poetry, flowery speech and near-robotic like handing over of the aforementioned cards and chocolate hearts? Isn’t it true this is how we’ve collectively all been “programmed” since we first exchanged crude, paper hearts in our Grade School classes with the cute little red-haired boy or girl that sat right next to you?

Where’s the truth behind this “Love Business”? And indeed, it is a “business” – a booming one. Valentine’s Day festivities are the second highest average of disposable income expenditures, per person, of any secular Holiday (Christmas is the first, naturally). That’s a lot of diamond rings, pendants, necklaces and bracelets. Is that what “love” is all about? Is this what St. Valentine had in mind? Who the hell was St. Valentine in the first place?

Oh, wait: “Valentine” was the name of several martyrs who died vicious, horrific deaths; none of which are associated with “love” in any fashion. While that unto itself might be somewhat considered “Cosmic Righteous Karma” (when taking into account our earlier discussion), what’s the real deal with this whole “love” thing then, huh? What’s the real story behind the red hearts and those that are so essential to February 14^th?

You’d best be prepared for a bit of a shock, gentle readers: St. Valentine’s Day actually has its genesis in the one thing that is very near and dear to our little candy-red hearts: Fetishes. Specifically leathers, feathers, furs, whips and yes – even blood.

See, there is one thing that evolving religions (most notably Christianity) always have done very well: they “borrow”, adapt or outright just steal festivals that are popular to the mass population of the particular time period, give it a “wash” in the waters of acceptable recent doctrine, and mold and shape it (sometimes with force) into what amounts to the exact same festival but with a new spiritual focus. It’s a really good way to keep control of your population, after all: give the people their gods and goddesses, keep their flagons filled at the festivals with wine and ale and encourage a little “letting loose” every so often, and they’ll be quite content and happy. In Roman times, that usually meant if you were a Senator, Governor or Consul and responsible for any segment of the population’s collective happiness, the best way to keep your head on your shoulders, and not have it severed by any number of opportunistic political assassins, was to give the populace what they wanted.

The populace wanted Festivals. Specifically, they wanted festivals that involved wine, food, open-air spectacles, games, – and, of course, sex. The February Festival of Lupercalia was regarded as “beginning of the fertility period” of both the Earth, and (of course) women. The Lupercal (“Wolf’s Den”) is the cave within the Second of Rome’s legendary Seven Hills in which the babies Romulus and Remus (the mythical founders of Rome) were suckled by a “Capitoline She Wolf” – and therefore the inference is that the Romans are celebrating not only the very reproductive re-birth and nurturing of the Earth (the beginning of another harvest season cycle), but they were celebrating the very genesis of Rome itself.

Without going into long, long detail about the carnage and carnality that this particular Festival ultimately became infamous for (no less an exceptional ancient chronicler than Pliny the Elder has graphically described many Lupercalia rites and rituals), it must be said that Lupercalia was all about excess. Some of the festivities included the sacrificing of livestock (usually goats) and engaging in head-to-toe “body painting” in the blood; extreme indulgence in wine and strawberries (more about them a little later); and an insatiable appetite for sexual release and pleasure. Lupercalia was, after all, the start of the fertility cycle in Roman eyes, and stimulation was absolutely essential to the long-term success of the crops in the field and the (leather) crops in the hands of noble farmers seeking approval from the gods and goddesses for good health, good fortune and especially great “fertility.”

What seems to be the most revered Ritual of Lupercalia, (certainly the most written about) featured scores of women lining the streets of Rome, backsides turned street side, in the hopes that one of the Luperci (the acting “High Priests”, a mostly ceremonial but much-desired role amongst the noble farmers), dressed in ritual goatskin leather garments and covered in blood, would bless them with a hard strike from one of these leather “crops” (which actually are long whips with double-tailed extensions, but sporting a very long, riding crop-like handle). These leather “crops” were called februa – and each woman who was selected by the passing throng of noble farmer-priests, all day long and throughout the Seven Hills of that ancient capital, to receive whip strokes felt that they had been purified by the pain, and their future ability to reproduce was assured (if not immediately realized) for another year at least. In case you’re wondering, the month of February actually does derive its name from these ritualistic leather crops/whips. The Romans had a deep, deep seeded belief that being whipped was purifying (kind of like pushing a yearly “Sexual Reset button”), and the women who lined the streets and offered their bodies up to be whipped would, at times, injure themselves in the fight for the Luperci’s attentions. The februa, the idea that pain is purifying and the idea of atonement for past behavior (“sins”) are some of the more popular “borrowings” from Lupercalia that found their way into aspects of the Christian church. The februa has been replaced by the scourge; purifying and painful atonement has evolved into “confession”, etc. You get the picture, I am quite certain.

The Feast of Valentine was (and still is) a direct adaptation from the Roman Lupercalia. In other words, a far more sanitized and Christian-friendly version of the wine, whips and love fest – you get the idea – that the Roman mass populace (Christian or not) still so loved. How did we get from a Roman Pagan Wine, Whips and Sex Fest to shy lovers exchanging simple cards, flowers and if they’re lucky, something sweet and chocolate to suckle on?

During the early Christian Rome era, the first so-called “Christian Emperor” – Constantine, who actually was a devotee of the god Apollo his entire life and was only converted to Christianity on his deathbed – knew that this strange, secular new faith was sweeping through Roman streets and towns with no sign of waning in influence, or popularity. Constantine was a smart enough man to know that in order to consolidate Rome’s power, the entire Empire needed to be united under a single faith. Contrary to what many modern Christians believe, a previous Emperor named Galerius was the first to actually decriminalize and issue an Edict of Tolerance in regards to Christianity. The edict allowed the public the right to practice the Christian faith openly if they so chose to. What it did not allow was Christians to own land – let alone have churches built.

What Constantine did, in regards to the Edict of Tolerance, was extraordinary: He simply issued an edict of his own (The Edict of Milan) that afforded the early Christians the exact same rights and privileges as every other citizen of the Empire. He also actively encouraged the early church to build – and is solely responsible for donating the land in which Vatican City now occupies. Simply put, Constantine was a very smart man: he saw that the followers of Christ were dramatically on the rise, and the followers of the old gods and goddesses were dramatically in decline. His decision to unite the Empire under the Christian banner was not fashioned from any shard of faith in the “new religion” in the slightest. It was a political necessity in order to satiate and mollify the growing masses of Romans being converted, and therefore avert any future Civil Wars. To quote author Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code): “He simply backed the winning horse.”

More to the point of our story, Constantine brilliantly managed to solve a major, dividing dilemma: How to merge the old Pagan gods and goddess traditions with the newly sanctioned, official “state” religion of Christianity? His plan was surprisingly simple: He “created” a heroic and martyred figure and named him Valentinius (no doubt, the Romans being meticulous record keepers, pulled from the pages of at least one Roman Annual), and acclaimed this new figure a true, devout follower of Jesus Christ who had perished in the act of spreading the testaments. Conveniently, Valentinius (the name means “Valiant Man”) was given the title “Sanctus Situ” – “Elected of Saints”, the very first Christian Saint thus recognized (St. Peter’s sainthood came much, much later), and was made the patron saint of “the acts needed to insure the successful harvest.”

It was a bold and absolutely brilliant – but transparent – move. The Romans of the day, it is quite certain, were bemused by this decreed new “sacred figure” who wasn’t quite a god, but was still more miraculous (in death, at least) than the common man. “Valentinius” was tolerated as the central figure of the new Lupercalia for a generation or two, simply because the people had been allowed to carry on their beloved “sex festival; and all legally and with the very approval of the new Christian lawmakers. As what was expected to happen, Valentinius “himself” eventually started to drew “admirers”, and within a few short decades this convenient, invented and expedient new champion of Christianity went from being an amalgamation of several martyred figures (who carried the Valentinius name) into being proclaimed the only “Saint Valentine” at the Council of Nicaea (the very Council that, in essence, “elected” Jesus Christ as “The Divine Manifestation of God in Human Form”). St. Valentine was “awarded” a Feast in his honor (February 14^thin our modern Gregorian calendars), and it wasn’t until the start of the Dark Ages that “The Feast of St. Valentine” had its sensuality and excess turned down, just a tad. Naturally, everything related to sex and pleasure at the start of the Dark Ages more or less ceased to exist – insofar as mass public displays were concerned. Upon penalty of imprisonment, or worse, the goatskins, wine and whips were all quietly phased out of the celebration … But not the strawberries. The bright red fruit, the clergy allowed the masses to have.

It was believed that strawberries were a powerful aphrodisiac (aren’t they still?), and strawberries were consumed in mass quantities during Lupercalia (remember that whole “fertility” schpiel?). The strawberry was considered so potent and divine a magic, Romans cut the strawberries in half and shared it with their partners. Take a look at a sliced piece of strawberry one day: what do you notice? It kind of looks like a Valentine’s Day “heart”, doesn’t it? There are other stories, no doubt somewhat based in fact, that “red hearts” were actually a simple graphic representation of a woman’s bottom, as seen from the back and if she happens to be bending over at nearly a 90 degree angle. Both explanations have an air of truth about them, and now you know where that particular piece of beloved graphic Valentines imagery stems from.

Why am I sputtering all this nonsense about Valentines, Pagan lust festivals and mutli-seeded red fruit, I can hear you asking?

Easy! My beloved Lady J has been away and is coming home from the East Coast this week. For me, the Feast of St. Valentine, the Lupercalia, St. Valentine’s Day, whatever you choose to call it, is an opportunity to express my deepest affections, highest respects, worshipful esteem and … True Love … to the woman who has given me her hand. In my eyes, the whole world may know just how honored and grateful I am to even be allowed to hold said hand – and in the spirit of those who “Love”, it seemed appropriate to give a brief rundown of Fetish and Kink’s rightful mention as the true genesis of this “Day of Love”.

I do need to go, now though. I need to run down to the local grocery store and pick up about seventeen pounds of strawberries.

In 1988, noted playwright Billy Aronson had an absurd idea. What if someone took the basic plot of the celebrated Giacomo Puccini opera, La Bohème, and updated it to a modern, hip new audience? About a year later, Aronson started putting out calls for collaborators. It wasn’t long before a good friend, new project developer extraordinaire Ira Weitzman, introduced him to an ambitious, relatively obscure young composer with somewhat wild eyes and an even wilder hairdo. That young composer’s name was Jonathan Larson. Incredibly, the young Mr. Larson had lived a “Bohemian life” himself in the legendary hipster area of New York City called SoHo – and he at first suggested, and eventually ended up pleading, with Billy Aronson to allow him to use the original La Bohème concept and truly make it his semi-autobiographical Magnum Opus. Billy Aronson agreed to step aside from the collaboration – but with the agreement that if the project ever actually did make it to the “Big Stage”, in any of the gargantuan New York Theatre wing’s legendary venues, they would equally share in the spoils of their success.

Nothing is guaranteed in the world of live theatre, and especially so when any discussion of Musicals begin in earnest. Four years later, the work originated at the New York Theatre Workshop as a piece of Reader’s Theatre. From the initial read-through, the quirky, kinky little project had a limited three week run within the Workshop’s Studio Theatre system. For the next three years, Jonathan Larson and his production team cajoled, nurtured, beat, kicked and hammered out a modern take on Puccini’s masterpiece. Their efforts were finally rewarded with an agreement to produce “the new Bohemian musical” through the renowned Nederlander Group.

Little did anyone know that the twisted little musical – rife with open references to latex, cross-dressing, sadomasochism and (sadly) the scourge of the late last millennium: AIDS – would run for over twelve years and become the seventh longest-running show in Broadway history.

Speaking of tragedy, the show’s wonder kid composer, Jonathan Larson, was destined to never see a single Broadway performance of his magnificent show. Just before what would have surely been the most exciting time of his short life, Mr. Larson was making a tea in his modest kitchen at 3:00 am in the morning when he suddenly collapsed. He never regained consciousness, and died, early in the morning on a cold kitchen floor, on January 26th, 1996 – the very evening of the first preview performance of his musical. Jonathan Larson had succumbed to an aortic aneurysm, and he was just 36 years of age.

His show, however, continues to live on. What at first many thought would be a dated and era-constrained modern musical has become a rallying cry for an entire new generation of “new Bohemians”. In every major city in North America and in a good percentage of the ancient old cultural capitals of Europe, you are assured to see more than a few solid black or red T-Shirts proudly expounding the new Bohemian mantras: “No Day But Today” and “Forget Regret or Life is Yours to Miss.” Unless you’ve been living under a bridge somewhere for the past fourteen years, the name of Mr. Larson’s odd little ode to Puccini should, by now, be obvious. We are discussing the triumph that is Jonathan Larson’s RENT.

RENT ended its historic run at the Nederlander Theatre in New York City on September 7, 2008. The central “villain” of the piece – the AIDS pandemic of the early and mid 1990′s – isn’t quite viewed today with the same sense of panic, desperation and despair. The treatment for the disease has developed to the point where those infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS could theoretically live fairly lengthy, longer lives. Make no mistake however: while treatment has advanced leaps and bounds since Jonathan Larson’s late days,  AIDS is still very much a death sentence.

In an off and ironic kind of way, the continued existence of RENT continues to breathe, thrive and induce appreciative hysteria in theatre-goers in several cities across the continent despite the sombre overtones of the show’s central malady. The Broadway Touring production – featuring original and revered cast members Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp and Gwen Stewart - has been performing in front of sold-out, rabid and excessively vocal ”Rent-Heads” since the final performance at the original New York venue. Mr. Pascal, Mr. Rapp and Miss Stewart have all gone on to steady, enjoyable careers (within the show and apart from it), but there can be no denying the magic that begins the very moment the character of Mark (Anthony Rapp) walks across the stage, starting the proceedings to the strains of a guitar being tuned, is infectious and encompassing. For three-plus hours, audiences are able to turn back the clock to 1996 (none of the original cast appear to have aged a day) and join in the celebration that is a single year in the life of a small collective of down-on-their-luck friends, trying to eek out a living through illness, rampant drug abuse, urban development and shattered relationships in New York’s grungy Alphabet City.

A film version of the show, featuring nearly all of the original Broadway cast, was premiered to luke-warm reviews in 2005 while the Broadway version was still rockin’ and rollin’ enthusiasts in any number of theatres in any number of cities. RENT made a star of the incomparable Idina Menzel (who originated the role of the rubber-catsuit clad Maureen before moving on to much greater acclaim as the misunderstood witch Elphaba in the musical Wicked). The show also spawned the successful careers of Jesse L. Martin (Law and Order) and the powerfully talented Taye Diggs (Chicago). The show’s most recognizable song – Seasons of Love - has been recorded by no less an empresario than Stevie Wonder and still remains the veritable anthem for the downtrodden whose sole asset during those individual darkest times appears to be “hope”.

RENT does, despite the opinions of some of the critics fourteen years ago, remain topical, and timeless. There is no question that a central part of the show’s appeal (beside the music, of course) has to be the underlying raw sensual tension created in the sets and, especially, in the costumery. Sure, there have been other stage productions before that utilized an element of fetish and/or SM as a by-product of the story. As far back as the mid-1960′s, an original production of  Oh! Calcutta! featured an entire scene that revolved around a bound and gagged servent girl about to tied to a whipping post and summarily flogged for an imaginary transgression; and simply because it suited the “curiosity” of the narrator of that particular show. A fantastic little piece written by the late Paul Bartel called Eating Raoul (based on his cult film of the same name) ran successfully “off Broadway” for a number of months. That show, starring the talented but sadly nearly forgotten Adrian Zmed (of television’s TJ Hooker fame), even featured a Dominatrix named Donna as a pivotal character in the show’s plot. A few years back, a show called Urinetown had a musical number that involved a trussed-up and securely gagged damsel in distress struggling against her restraints to the strains of an uncomfortable little tune simply called Snuff That Girl.

But, none of those efforts compare in any way to RENT. The tragic moments of Jonathan Larson’s masterpiece feature a high-stepping and plucky little transvestite named Angel, who gamely struts, leaps, sings and incessanty thumps on a ten-gallon plastic pickle tub (her “drum”) at every opportunity. Those familiar with the show are well aware of Angel’s fate – but the moment her tragic destiny is revealed to the audience never fails to illicit torrents of tears from the appreciative crowds gathered to take in the ritual and fetish pageantry that is the pure embodiment of the entire piece itself. Fetishism – 1996 style to be sure but certainly more than relevant in 2010 – is the timeless glue that will forever be the lock-and-stock appeal of RENT as it heads into its fifteenth year of existence. It is worth the price of a ticket alone to see all of the costume designs: from Maureen’s (now) infamous latex catsuit, complete with latex kitty-kat ears, to Angel’s interpretation of “Pussy Galore”, complete with knee-high pink PVC platform Go-Go boots that are a perfect match for her PVC mini-dress. The show’s main female character, Mimi Marquez, early on in the show implores the tortured Roger (Adam Pascal) to “take her out” by stripping off a cumbersome housecoat to reveal what appears to be a painted-on, light-blue “latex” pair of pants accented with a lycra leopard print short tank top and matching high-heeled boots. Her dangerous-girl look is completed with a form-fitting black latex shrug that surely looks as if it will rip itself to pieces the moment she starts to dance, gyrate and “howl at the moon like a cat in heat” as she tries to entice and seduce the love-lorn Roger. The costumes are more than just provocative and sexy: they’re an integral representation of the very attitude that those living a Bohemian existence need to flaunt in order to give their fragile lives a sense of “belonging”, and indeed, a sense of “family”. Similar shows that tried to rely heavily on suggestive costumes, such as the prostitution musical The Life, have come and quickly gone. RENT  is, and forever shall be, regarded as simply timeless – and revolutionary.

RENT  is scheduled to end its current Broadway Tour run in Sacramento, California, in February, 2010. It is doubtful, however, that the show – by far the best marriage of modern musical theatre, fetishism and simple, pure human frailty ever written – will go quietly into the night, let alone the musical theatre history books. RENT  is, now and forever, timeless. The message will continue to resonant to audiences and fans years from now: Forget regret, or Life is yours to miss.

(Photos courtesy of Joan Marcus and the Broadway Touring Production of RENT.) 

“Deep, unspeakable suffering may well be called a baptism, a regeneration, the initiation into a new state.” ~ Ira Gershwin

The more things change in twenty years, the more they also (sometimes) remain the same. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Bear with me for a bit, Gentle Reader: this “diatribe” (pun intended, as you’ll see) does indeed have a point.

Let’s take a little stroll down memory lane to twenty years ago. The year was 1989. It was a landmark year, full of world-shattering events that brought both tears or anguish and tears of sheer joy to several million across this globe.

The last remaining major world leader from the Second World War era, Japan’s Emperor Hirohito, died in January that year. Solidarity, as a movement and a political entity, became legal in Poland as a result of the tireless efforts of a relatively unknown dock worker named Lech Walesa – a legal move that would have an unbelievable global impact before the end of the year.

1989 was the year that author Salmon Rushdie had a price put on his head for “deeply offending” one of the world’s largest religions. The man who angrily posted that bounty was dead himself within the year, the much-lionized Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. During a particularly warm Asian spring, a man (who may or may not have been known by the name of Wang Wei-Lin) defied the largest armed force on the planet by defiantly standing in front of an imposing row of oncoming tanks in one of the world’s largest public gathering places. The fate of that man is, twenty years on, unknown – but the image of him refusing to give up his ground in front of five very, very large Chinese tanks at Tiananmen Square has been called the single most famous photograph of the entire 20^th Century.

Later that year, of course, the long-despised symbol of world-wide Communist dictatorship – the very concrete tumor that for nearly thirty years had separated and plagued one of Europe’s great ancient capitals into “Western” and “Eastern” Zones – came crashing down. A common, great but twice-vanquished people, separated by artificially-created ideological borders, collectively stood up, and in a singular voice cried, “No more!” Those of us who grew up in the 1970’s never thought we would see West and East Germany reunite in our lifetime – let alone the entire final rotting and disintegration of Eastern Europe’s totalitarian regimes.

If you’ve managed to read this far in our little trip down a two-decade old Memory Lane, you are probably wondering: “What the hell does any of this have to do with the Fetish world, anyhow?” Other than opening up shiploads of delicious German latex to the rest of the world (a given), what’s the message here?

It’s simple, really. The year Nineteen-Hundred-and-Eighty-Nine was a year of great turmoil to be sure – but it was also a year of great hope and unrequited optimism. There was a spirit of change in the air, and people were eager to embrace the coming end-of-millennium decade of the 1990’s with a renewed spirit of ambition and promise. From 1989 to 2009, countless fetish events have come and almost all of them have gone. Even some famous institutions of alternative lifestyle “expressions” that promised to “stand the test of time” in the 1970’s and 1980’s – ultimately disappeared from the fetish map. All, that is, except one.

In the past two weeks, Your Humble Narrator and Only True Friend had been attempting to locate and confirm the existence of a regular monthly fetish event that has been running, continuously or virtually continuously, for at least twenty years. I found one – right in my own backyard and right on the heels of what simply had to be this particular corporation’s best large-scale event, ever. I’m talking about Northbound Leather, of course. Twenty years ago, a young and enthusiastic entrepreneur took the heart of a small family business, started a small-scale series of Fetish Nights in order to partially promote his products but mostly just to have fun, and ran with it. He’s been doing it ever since.

Your Humble Narrator has focused a lot of attention in the past few weeks on Northbound Leather and their various efforts – and quite deservedly so. In February 2010, right around the same time Canada is getting set to host the Winter World during the Vancouver 2010 Olympiad, George Giaouris and his staff at Northbound Leather will be celebrating the “official” 20^th Anniversary of their monthly fetish event, all this time simply referred to as the “Northbound Fetish Night”, in downtown Toronto. There is no other event (that I could find, at least) that has been routinely scheduled and executed meticulously and faithfully, once a month, for 20 straight years. Sure, the venues for Northbound’s monthly gyrating shindig have changed – but the party remains the same and continues to roll ever stronger as it enters its third decade of existence. This is quite an accomplishment for a company that began as a small little leather shop, in Greece no less, over 40 years ago.

Much has already been written and said about Northbound Leather’s events over the years, some of it good, some of it … well, not quite so good. It’s all a matter of perspective and personal taste, after all – but by and large the words “Northbound Leather” have been synonymous with “quality”, if you’ll pardon a terribly over-used marketing euphemism – and that doesn’t just apply to their wide array of merchandise. You just can’t please everybody one-hundred percent of the time: but George and his staff have managed to come “oh-so-close.”

Thirteen years ago, Northbound Leather made a decision to organize and host a Fetish party on a grand and unprecedented scale (at least for North America). Deciding from the outset to give each annual event a unique and somewhat unusual theme and name (“Thrust”, “Decadence”, Bento”, “X-Pose”, etc.), the annual event has become by far, and as previously reported, the single largest gathering of fetish folk under a single roof anywhere in the world. This year’s massive event, given the moniker and theme of TRIBE, simply had to be the ultimate, spectacular culmination of twenty years of unprecedented excellence provided to North America’s fetish populace in the way of both actual “product”, and “atmosphere”.

Allow me to describe the latter first: The atmosphere was, from start to finish, nothing short of scintillating and euphoric. Hosted in a two-level, gargantuan entertainment complex known as The Sound Academy (but previously and more well-known as “The Docks”), the large crowd had plenty of room to walk, talk, prance and dance to their twisted little heart’s content well into the dawn-breaking early hours of morning. My beloved Lady J, her devoted Handmaiden Angelically Depraved, and Your Humble Narrator were, in fact, three of the last half-dozen non-staff members to exit the premises around 5:30 am. The fashion show/stage performance was something this writer had never expected, let alone ever witnessed before (and in over 30 years as an ardent SM practitioner in several American and Canadian cities over the years, I’ve seen a lot), and there are simply no words to describe it. The only negative thing that can be said about the fashion show is that there were whisperings that the choreographer was being somewhat of a “slave-driver” and over-the-top “diva” – how apropos can you get though? – towards the performers, models and especially with the usually cool and accommodating DJ for the event, Toronto’s popular Jimi LaMort. This resulted in a few unpleasant grumbles from some patrons who apparently were curtly denied when trying to approach the DJ booth and attempt to request a tune or two. Jimi and all the performers obviously had had a very long day – but when it came time for the TRIBE stage show, everyone’s professionalism and showmanship clearly shone through. Our dear beloved friend Ms. Marina Black did an jaw-dropping “catwalk” down the stage in an eye-popping custom designed leather-and-chain ensemble that simply has to be seen in person to be believed. If that wasn’t enough, she topped off her moment under the stage lamps by doing a piercing demonstration – completely in character – with an array of bright, large feathers.

I say “in character”, because although the choreographer (whom I’ll spare naming) may have acted a little too much like a diva from some reports, this particular stage show had simply … everything. Astounding, one of a kind leather costumes and pieces, all made from Northbound Leather’s industrious facility (located onsite, by the way, in case you’re curious) and all from the minds of head designer Marty Rotman and the enthusiastic staff at Northbound, paraded in a mind-bending array of music, sight and sound; intricately woven into a storyline that followed a young man’s “Initiation Ritual” into the “Chosen TRIBE”. Lady Victoria Windsor, another one of the exceptional Dominas who calls Toronto home, held court as only she could do – and the overall effect was intoxicating. Videos from the stage show at TRIBE that are sure to pop up on various video server websites are sure to be destined as “classics” for, perhaps, another twenty years to come. There’s more than enough “product” examples from the videos and photos – if you take the time to look, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

There was a huge Dungeon playspace set up on the second floor of the establishment, and another directly below it on the main floor. Lady Viktoria (not to be confused with the aforementioned Lady Victoria Windsor), another well-known Toronto Domina, and her staff – especially Master Jack and Sir Thomas from Toronto – are to be commended, admired and appreciated for keeping a huge amount of eager SM participants enthralled, satiated and indeed, respectful for several hours.

There simply wasn’t a single thing to grouse about during the entire evening’s myriad of activities. Perhaps other event organizers in other cities may wish to learn a thing or two about how to effectively run a large-scale event that features an amazing stage show, a scintillating dance party, and not one but two large, exceptionally equipped and managed play spaces.

Thus marks the “end” of Northbound Leather’s twenty-year odyssey in staging and hosting what truly is the biggest, the baddest, and without a doubt the best massive fetish lifestyle event on the planet. TRIBE was a triumph and an emotionally crippling, satisfying and truly magical experience. It was the perfect epilogue to the story of Northbound Leather’s first twenty years of excellence in event hosting – and a titillating prologue to the next twenty years.

Entire political systems came and went within the last twenty years. Gigantic walls came down, the world stumbled and shook a bit, lost a little of collective ‘smugness’ and conceit, and in short, we live in a very different environment today than we did twenty years ago.

It’s a comfort to know that we can rely on some things remaining the same, though. Lady J and I are really looking forward to Northbound Leather’s next twenty years. They did the first two decades just fine – and TRIBE was the best stop on that journey. Thanks, and our love and best wishes for Decade Three to George, Anna, Enza, Marty  and all of the people that make Northbound Leather … undeniably … the absolute epitome of the word “perfection”.

(All Photos courtesy of Kevin LeClair and Northbound Leather. May not use without permission.)

What a whirlwind few weeks for Your Humble Narrator and only True Friend it has been, my delightful comrades!

The ever-beautiful, always devious and completely depraved Lady J and I took some time off to recharge the metaphorical batteries after a very event-filled summer (and early Autumn). With apologies to Old Bill Shakespeare, I did manage to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune – some rather well aimed arrows, at that – from some of the more vocal populace who chose to disagree with some of the views expressed regarding some of those said events. On the whole, it really was a grand summer and an extremely enjoyable one. There were some high points and a few no-so-high points – and naturally when one reviews large-scale fetish events, it is a given that you’re only going to satisfy 50% of your audience 50% of the time. Not everyone, perhaps, is going to agree with your sentiments. Onwards, then, shall we? What could possibly be next to turn our attentions to after such a wickedly eventful summer? What event could possibly usher in the coming boot-wearing winter season and deliver us a high note on which to look forward to the new year?

That’s easy. There is one – and only one – world-wide event that could possibly be considered the biggest, and the best, of any large-scale fetish related gathering of minds and behinds. I have written this before and I steadfastly stand by these words: the annual evolving wonder (that never follows the same single-word naming convention from year to year) that is Toronto’s Northbound Leather Annual Fetish Event continues to be the standard by which all other large-scale events are compared to, and judged. This year’s iteration, given the name TRIBE, has been whispered excitedly about in every darkened hallway of every fetish club since Northbound Leather President George Giaouris unveiled the starkly beautiful theme (and accompanying amazing marketing imagery) many months ago. If there is one universal truth in this big, wide fetish world we choose to inhabit, it’s that Mr. Giaouris and his wife, the incredibly beautiful and tirelessly-dedicated bundle of raw energy that is Anna, sure as hell know how to throw a party.

Year after year, and ongoing for nearly two full decades, Northbound Leather has done it bigger, bolder and simply better than anybody else. As an example of the kind of patronage the iconic Yonge Street leather emporium has enjoyed (and from participants from across the globe): Estimates for total attendance at the largest fetish gatherings from California to Quebec this past year may – may – have topped 1000 people for an entire weekend’s festivities. Last year alone, the Northbound Leather annual event at Toronto’s huge Docks Entertainment Complex (renamed The Sound Academy) actually was two-thirds larger for a single night alone. Here’s the staggering part of that statement: you’d be hard pressed to find any dissenters among attendees. Ever.

That, my friends, is one very large and happy gathering of the fetishly attired. It’s the Wonka Factory of “Eye Candy”.

George and his staff, lead by the unbelievably creative mind of his head designer Marty Rotman, somehow manage to make each and every subsequent annual event truly unique and a delightfully feverish, brain-popping explosion of visual excellence. Every year, the Northbound Leather team manage to create a stage show and a fashion show that is imitated by many, and inferior to none. This year, TRIBE promises to be categorized as the “best ever”, and is already being touted by the local media as one of the ”can’t miss” events in Canada’s largest city.

I cannot reveal in great detail much of the spectacle and pageantry planned for TRIBE - if you cannot attend the event in person this year you will be able to view a good portion of it on YouTube shortly after the event has transpired – but you will have to merely believe me: listening to George explain in detail to me what his guests will be treated to during the stage and fashion show segments is, quite simply, going to blow the boots off the most cynical and jaded of observers. If you’re even close to the Toronto area on the evening of October 24th, 2009, you really should plan on going. For a first-class large scale fetish event, the Northbound Leather events are always and unquestionably the softest on your pocketbook – a very welcome fact during a very harsh economic year.

Some of this region’s most promising young promoters – some of which have been enthusiastically featured within the electronic pages of Marquis America in recent months – have without question learned a great lesson or two from the masters (well, and mistresses) themselves. Lady J and I personally were witness to George, Anna and their staff’s astonishing, seemingly tireless attentions to each and every one of their guests at a well-attended Pride Week event in Toronto’s historic Distillery District this past summer. That passion, that dedication and that appreciation displayed to their customer base is evident in every single event that they organize and host. It’s one of the reasons why their annual event is so well patronized – and why each and every year there are glowing smiles and starry-eyed fetishists raving about how glorious an experience they just had. It’s staggering to even imagine they can deliver than kind of service and just plain fun to an even larger contingent of fetish party goers.

TRIBE, as the name undoubtedly suggests, is about Rite and Ritual. Marty Rotman has designed and assembled 36 one-of-a-kind, never before produced leather ensembles meant to produce an undeniable shine to each one of the fetish models and “cast members” involved in the spectacle. In addition to the vast amount of gleaming silver studs and immaculately-polished leather wear, there is an assortment of body art (tattoos, makeup and body painting) scheduled to be on display. While this is unquestionably the most ambitious undertaking for George and Northbound Leather, he’s well prepared for and very much up to the challenge. George took over the business from his father and astutely changed the name of the family empire from Leathercraft to Northbound Leather in the mid 1980′s. “People have been coming to us since the 1960′s, telling us what they want and we’ve made it for them,” George said. “People who shop with us want to stand out and be unique.” What started out as a small custom-wear shop catering to the Flower Power beatnik of the Vietnam War era grew first into an exciting new venture dedicated to outfitting the heavy glam-and-punk rocker enthusiasts, and eventually matured into the sleek, sensual all-encompassing leather and fetish powerhouse of fashion that Northbound Leather is today. Every one of their meticulously planned and perfectly executed events reflects this dedication to quality – and the care given to their customers. It isn’t an exaggeration to make the claim that an event like TRIBE is simply a way for George and Anna to “repay” their customers patronage and loyalty by providing them an exceptional venue in which to showcase their latest custom-designed fetish creations – and all without a premium price-tag.

Marquis America  simply and highly recommends anybody who has the opportunity to attend TRIBE plan to do so on October 24th, 2009. TRIBE is being held at The Sound Academy (formerly known as The Docks Entertainment Complex), in Toronto’s amazing downtown waterfront area. Tickets are available from a number of online and brick and mortar store outlets – and you certainly will not be disappointed. No assemblage of fetish finery simply exists anywhere on the planet on any one given night (and all under a single roof).

Be prepared to be initiated: Prepare to join the unending numbers of your TRIBE – and be prepared to have the most amazing experience of your fetish life.

(Sneak-Peak TRIBE design by Marty Rotman courtesy of FAB Magazine.)

The incomparable Lady J and I are taking the rest of September to recharge the batteries. We are heading out this evening to Toronto’s long-running Fetish Masquerade in celebration, however: It is our dear friend Mistress Katina’s birthday, and we simply could not say “no” to our closest friend Ms. Marina Black for insisting that we help the lovely Katina usher in a new chapter into the wonderful tapestry that is her life. They are both amazing women and we would encourage everyone to pay them proper respects and admirations should you happen to cross their paths.

Tonight also marks the Grand Opening of Fetish Masquerade’s new location in Toronto, and by all “sneak peeks” provided to Your Humble Narrator and Only True Friend, the venue, atmosphere and ambience is truly just that: “Grand”. Lady J and I, while exhausted beyond any measure of quantifiable belief, are really looking forward to just spending a relaxing evening with those that we truly love, admire, respect and cherish this evening. We are both hoping that we’ll have the chance to see Mistress Patricia Marsh this evening as well – we both miss her company and her sage guidance, and short of a fleeting moment spent in joyous watchfulness in Montréal a couple of weekends ago, we’ve not had much of a chance to share time with her, either. Mistress Patricia, you’ve been an inspiration and a good friend to us both: we’d really love to see you tonight if you happen to be venturing out …

This Fall, Lady J and I are both looking forward to a new slate of exceptional events. First and foremost on that list is, of course, Northbound Leather’s Tribe - the latest iteration of the largest Fetish/SM single-evening venue event in the world. George and Anna, the owners of Northbound Leather, have yet to fail to deliver a first class and top-tier event to the fetish affectionistas across this lovely globe – and we expect October 24th, 2009, to be no exception. There are several events in Canada and the United States to choose from, naturally, when considering traveling to and spending hard-earned cash at any number of fair-to-great events: but Northbound Leather’s annual shindig continues to be the standard by which every other large-scale gathering of fetish folk is duly judged.

Here is a Report Card of the major events that Lady J and I attended in person, Marquis America was instrumental in bringing you or at least had sponsorship concerns in, or even just ones where we got more than just a “tad” bit of feedback about:

Marquis America Fetish Ball – San Francisco, California – July

Grade: A-

By all accounts, the inaugural Fetish Ball was a huge success. Our own Erik Von Gutenberg and the lovely Lady Suzanne Forbes did an amazing job organizing and pulling together an amazing event. This is quite hard to do in a town that has been literally saturated in years past with exceptional Fetish and SM-related events, but the Home Office Marquis American twosome pulled it off. The only reason this is an “A-” rather than an “A” is there were some folks that pointed out that the venue (The Supper Club) in San Francisco turned out to be a smidgen too small to accommodate the amount of people that wished to attend. This, as they say, is a “good problem” to have and bodes well for the future of the Fetish Ball going into a promising future. Well done, Erik and Suzanne: Lady J and I promise to try as hard as we can to join you both next year for Fetish Ball 2010 in the city that I love so very, very much!

Fetish Con – Tampa Bay, Florida – August

Grade: A-

We have heard nothing but good things about the annual “Sizzlin’ Hot” Fetish gathering in central Florida this year. A few of our friends managed to make the trek to Tampa Bay in August (despite the heat), and came back with glowing reports. Everything from the parties to the iconic model participation was, from all accounts, first class and exceptional. The ever-present threat of dangerous weather in Florida did not manage to interrupt the party atmosphere of those in attendance – and Erik Von Gutenberg himself seemed to report back that it was an “incredible time” (if you haven’t had a chance to see his interview with Fetish Supermodel Jean Bardot on YouTube yet, it’s worth a look!). The only downside reported back to Yours Truly was the inordinate amount of “street clothed” participants wandering around and snapping unauthorized photos of some of the revelry – a common problem that faces each and every large-scale Fetish event. Apart from the lack of provided transportation (another common “problem theme”) and the gawkiness of hotel staff at the host hotel, though, everyone I spoke with that attended Fetish Con 2009 all had the same enthusiastic response: “We can’t wait for next year!”

Church Street Fetish Fair – Toronto, Ontario – August

Grade: B+

The day was long and the day was super-hot – even for August in Canada’s largest city. It made for an uncomfortable time for some of the street performers, vendors and volunteers. Apart from the heat, however, the Fetish Fair on Church Street this year was a very good event and, considering it was one of (if not the only) large scale event that didn’t charge an admission price, it was certainly well worth the visit to Toronto’s Rainbow Village. It was somewhat disappointing that the organizers somehow didn’t have the foresight to provide printed literature in the way of performance and show schedules, and some of the vendors did complain that the decibel level around where they were stationed (in an attempt to market their wares) sometimes reached eardrum breaking proportions. But the crowds were enthusiastic and the participants, from volunteers on down the line to performers and vendors alike all reported that they had an enjoyable day. What started as a small “craft fair” idea held in a small park-like setting has grown into one of the summer’s most eagerly anticipated events in Canada – and this year’s edition certainly didn’t disappoint. Perhaps for the 2010 event, the organizers may wish to pay a little more attention to having proper schedules for the myriad of events happening all day long. On the whole, however, the Church Street Fetish Fair is a fantastic and fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon in Toronto – and you certainly should have no complaints about the price.

Torture Garden - Toronto, Ontario – August

Grade: A

Simply superb! There was no better event in Toronto – and I daresay on the East Coast – than Torture Garden Toronto. The event organizer, Random Craig, is an up-and coming-star promoter – and not only in Toronto. More established, large-scale Fetish event promoters (outside of Northbound Leather, who make an art of event organizing, in my opinion) should pay heed and perhaps learn a thing or two about catering to the desires and demands of their audience: and simply no-one does it better than Random Craig. Torture Garden was an ambitious gamble: the Montréal Fetish Weekend was to take place the following week, and Craig certainly had valid concerns about whether or not the event would be well attended. He needn’t have worried: scores of people showed up in some of the classiest, clever and exceptional Fetish wardrobes this writer has ever laid eyes on – and not a single soul Lady J and I spoke to had a negative thing to say about the event. Yes, it was really that good. The thing that separates Random Craig’s events – and especially Torture Garden – is that he actually listens to the wants and needs of those that attend his parties rather than plan everything around the glorification of his own ego. Simply put, people love attending his events because he works so very hard to try and make an enjoyable atmosphere for everyone that will be attending.

Case in point: One of the few complaints that Craig had heard about his massively-popular Subspace events in Toronto was that the “play area” was hard to access and far too small to be of any real use for the amount of people that wished to utilize it. He listened: the Dungeon area for Torture Garden Toronto was out of the way from the rest of the revellers, easily accessible – and just fun. In order to accommodate those that wished to use the large pieces of equipment, Craig and his staff took on the laborious task of hauling crosses, benches and posts up not one, but two sets of ridiculously old stairs and into an appropriately large enough room to house each and every piece. It goes without saying that not every event organizer would be caught dead struggling with large Dungeon equipment pieces (and working for hours on end getting his own hands dirty) – just in an effort to make sure his paying audience was happy. His efforts paid off, and clearly showed: Torture Garden Toronto is assuredly going to be a “can’t miss” event on every one’s calenders on the East Coast for years to come. It truly was just that good.

Montréal Fetish Weekend - Montréal, Quebec - September

Grade: D-

I hate to end this missive on a somewhat down note – but it really can’t be avoided. I have few very nice things to say about the Montréal Fetish Weekend. Drawing from the chorus of complaints I have heard since our return from the event in early September, it actually sounds like Lady J and I had a better time than a good portion of those who also made the journey to that beautiful, amazing French Canadian bastion that is the fantastic city of  Montréal. That is about where the superlatives end, however.

After five years of “maturing”, the event organizers, all two of them, should be ashamed of themselves.

One of the biggest complaints about the Montréal Fetish Weekend in years past has been that it’s really been a very expensive sojourn to a very wonderful city – for the abject benefit of a very select few people with egos that continuously need to be assuaged and massaged. While the posturing that has been reported in years past was somewhat less in evidence this year, overall the event was really nothing more than three packed-to-the rafters nightclub events that had but one purpose: turning a profit. Some of the usual Fetish icons were there, of course (we saw Jean Bardot in attendance on Friday evening, for instance). The first evening was held at a club location that was so inept and inadequately prepared to host such a large contingent of people – and the “event staff” seemed to have no issues with allowing a large throng of “street clothed” folk in without much of a second glance. This was to become a major source of contention for “veteran” Fetish Weekend party goers throughout the weekend. The lack of proper and adequately provided transportation (or available information about transportation) was also seen to be a major failing, and some of the “stage shows” presented were laughable at best and purely and simply obnoxious and objectionable at worst.

Yes, the Fetish Weekend – as expected – had a huge number of amazing costumes, fetish assemblages and uniforms to feast your eyes upon. This, however, simply isn’t enough of a reason to make the investment in attending all of the weekend’s events. There was very little that was “new” and “exciting” about this year’s efforts and a tremendous number of things that just seemed to be a poor rehash of previously-attempted activities. The amount of politics and hostility that seems to surround the event itself from the local professional community (!) was alarming, and certainly would tend to indicate why there is a competing “Fetish Weekend” event in Montréal being held in October that features almost all of the businesses and personalities within Le Belle Ville that noticeably stayed away from September’s annual, more “established” event. Of any event this summer, the Montréal Fetish Weekend was the one gathering I was personally looking so very forward to attending the most – and it was the one gathering that clearly disappointed. I wouldn’t accept another press junket to attend this event – nor would I certainly pay for an over-priced VIP Pass to attend this event  – anytime in the near future. If there is a next time, we’ll pay for the nights and events we want to see – and undoubtedly save a lot of money in the process.

As good as the previous events listed above honestly and truly were, the Montréal Fetish Weekend was clearly and just as truly that bad. I duly hope the organizing committee, both of them, learn from this year’s shortcomings – or at least take a lesson or two in “good event management” and “catering to your public rather than your own ego” from both Random Craig and Northbound Leather.

May the falling leaves bring us an amazing Autumn season of good friends, good times and greater prosperity!

Kardynyl SynysTyr

“Me stand and have to wait in a lineup? Moi? In all my fabulousness, and with this amazing smile? Fuck that!” ~ Fetish Model TheRichard, vocalizing his displeasure with having to wait in a line at an undisclosed event.

So another Montréal Fetish Weekend has come and gone. In a nutshell, there are two very distinct and strikingly different points of view to consider when attempting to author a summation of the long weekend’s festivities:

• If you identify, agree with or endorse the above quotation uttered from the lips of the “fabulous” TheRichard, then there’s a good chance that you had a fantastic time and were completely oblivious to some of the more disconcerting aspects of the Weekend that transpired, or;
• If you completely find the statement self-serving, arrogant, pretentious, and more than just a little assumptive and obnoxious, there’s a great chance that you’re all too aware of some of the disconcerting aspects of the Weekend that transpired – but you still probably had at least a pretty decent time during at least one of the weekend’s “main events”.

The truth, very simply put, is that there were some wonderful things about the Montréal Fetish Weekend. There were some memorable moments and some eye-boggling displays of Fetish Finery that would put any large-scale fetish event, anywhere in the world, to complete shame. The main functions for the weekend (two at Le Medley, a large and extremely accommodating and appropriate venue for such a large festival event; and one at Le Club Cleopatra, a smaller and purely inadequate space entirely too cramped and decrepit to host large crowds of finely attired Fetish folk) could all be described as “above average club nights”, for certain. The elaborate costumes and the extensive rubber, leather and PVC ensembles alone virtually guaranteed at least some memorable moments in each event attendee’s long-term memory.

Equally true, though, and in total objectivity and fairness, there were some aspects of the Montréal Fetish Weekend – after having five years of experience to rely upon – should have been better planned and executed. There were also several questionable incidents and “performances” that (to both an experienced purist and a relative newcomer alike) could best be described as “avoidable” and “inappropriate” at best – and downright offensive at worst.

What I noticed above all, however, was a clear division in opinions regarding the overall quality of the Montréal weekend. I spoke with several people during several different points in time and over all three main days of the event, and gathered a number of valuable opinions. Lady J, as ever always, was an extremely popular personality at the Weekend’s events and respects were given and paid to her by a large contingent of adoring acolytes. When casually asking any of these fine folks their thoughts about the weekend, there just didn’t seem to be lot of room for vague interpretation, or any “middle ground”. Some of the lovely event goers we spoke to were clearly having a fantastic time and raved that they couldn’t believe how much damned fun they were having. To a person, the opinions expressed by that group of people were all first-time event attendees: meaning none of them had ever attended a Montréal Fetish Weekend before. Conversely, those who had been celebrating the grandeur of the Fetish Weekend at least once before during the event’s five-year existence all had loud complaints.

In essence, those that had never experienced the event before understandably were having a grand time and were probably more than just a little over-excited and overwhelmed by the sheer delightful explosion of fetish livery on display in the downtown streets of Montréal (and especially Rue de Saint Catherine). At the same time, those who could be considered event “veterans”, when asked, were quite vociferous in their opinions – and some even red-faced outraged – over what appeared to nothing more than a recycled version of the exact same event that began five years ago with very little true change.

While there is definitely something to be said for the old adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, it is also true that at least an infusion of some fresh new (but appropriate) ideas would undoubtedly been more than welcomed by some of these fetish folks who have made the trek to downtown Montréal every Labour Day Weekend for the past five years.

What follows is a detailed account of what was good, bad and just downright ugly about the 2009 Montréal Fetish Weekend:

The Good:

The air at the host hotel, the Hotel Gouverneur, was electric from the moment Lady J and I first pulled up to the front door. Coincidentally, we were greeted by the fabulous and alluring Mistress Katina (one of Toronto’s best-known professional Dominas and a truly enticing and engaging spirit) before we even exited the car (affectionately named “Betty”, as in “Good Old Reliable Betty Boop”). In her usual effusive, engaging and completely affectionate way, Mistress Katina gave us both a warm reception – greatly appreciated after the five-hour drive to Montréal – and positively informed us that she “expected, as usual, to have a great time.” While Lady J excused herself and went inside to attend to the matters of checking in, I was introduced to some other members of Mistress Katina’s immediate circle of friends – some incredible people who would play an enormous role in helping me laugh and relax with their amazing humour, wit and charm well into the wee hours of the Saturday night to come. After saying our “a bientots” to Mistress Katina and her gaggle of gorgeous friends, I joined Lady J in a fairly lengthy line-up of fetish folks checking into the hotel – and all in good spirits and excitedly looking forward to the weekend ahead. As mentioned, it was an electric start to the event and we were both looking forward to seeing more at Friday Night’s opening party at Le Club Cleopatra. The evening got even better as Lady J’s incredible Handmaiden, the incomparable Angelically Depraved and her adoring husband, the over-the-top handsome Skull Bill (both making an exhausting 13 hour drive from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to be with us for the weekend) arrived to share the room (and the next several days) in anticipated revelry. After a quick bite to eat, our foursome got dressed: Lady J chose to wear a collection of leather goodness consisting of a long, butter-soft leather skirt, an absolutely perfect over-the-bust leather corset procured earlier in the year from Northbound Leather, shoulder length leather gloves paired with very tall platform gothic buckle boots, and topped off with a custom-made chain and leather neck piece. Angelically Depraved was adorned in a custom-designed chain and leather halter and skirt that to describe as “just a little revealing” would be one of the classic understatements of the entire weekend. Skull Bill and I … well, we’re men. Our choice of attire was considerably more toned down and far less interesting, but I must say of the two of us, Skull Bill truly looked far, far better than I in his trappings throughout the weekend. Friday evening was truly no exception. After taking a few photos, we headed down the street and into the night … and unfortunately, that’s all I can report that was “good” about Friday night.

Saturday Night, though … was exceptional. The Latextacy Ball was, in absolute fairness, worth the drive to Montréal and the price of the ticket, alone, for all those who dove deep into their pockets. The fashion show – a continuous display of latex excellence from some incredibly talented designers. The performers were rock solid. One performance in particular stands tall in my collective memory: a man dressed in one of the most amazing “circus like” costumes I’ve ever had the pleasure to see picked up a seven foot tall metal pyramid – and promptly started spinning it about his body. When the pyramid lit up in a neon buffet of delicious color, the crowd exploded. It was one of the highlights of the entire weekend for me, that performance. Directly after the pyramid spinning came a trio of spinners who held their own for the appreciative crowd, spinning batons, umbrellas and “Neon Poi” to the delight of the gathered throng. The outfits, of course, were mostly exemplary. Our entourage had an amazing time on Saturday Night, and the host, Eric Paradis, is to be commended and lauded to the highest degree for putting on one of the best Fetish displays and parties I believe this hemisphere has seen in a long, long time.

The Victorian Ball on Sunday evening was billed as a “play party”: but sadly there was just too much going on in Le Medley for anyone to really take advantage of the outstanding stations assembled by Porte Rouge (a dungeon equipment manufacturer from Toronto). I will discuss the travesty that was the “stage show” at the “Ugly” phase of this review and exactly why I felt this particular party simply destroyed all the good feeling built up from such an exceptional Saturday night. What I can say about the Sunday event, though, is that if it was possible to out-do the fetish wear in assemblage that night, Sunday certainly was second in quality to the overall weekend’s events. We had a good time, essentially - despite what you are going to read later on in this review under the “Ugly” section - and it was a fitting send-off for the long drive home the following day.

The Bad:

We were told Le Club Cleopatra, on Friday night, was only “two blocks” and “a five minute walk, tops” away from the hotel. Wrong! It was actually at least five blocks away and a good 20 minute hike away from the corner of St. Hubert and St. Catherine Streets where the hotel is located (and with the ladies in skyscraper heels, this was no mean feat). I had a moment of trepidation when the event staff at first couldn’t locate the pass that had been left for me at the front door – and one of the girls twittered excitedly in French about how terrible I personally looked in Lycra pants (yes honey, I do speak and understand French to a fairly comprehensive degree). The girls managed to find my pass, however, and we entered the venue and prepared for a night’s worth of extreme fetish fun. It wasn’t. The venue was ridiculously over-crowded to the point where our foursome ended up near the washrooms against a far back wall just in order to get a place to stand with a bit of breathing room – but in fairness we did get to see the remains of what appeared to be a pretty decent stage performance (described in an earlier “Live Blog from Montréal”). I must admit, gentle reader, I was not comfortable in that crushing crowd of people – a good portion of which did not show up in any kind of “fetish” attire at all. There was a dismaying number of blue jeans and T-Shirts in the assemblage – a fact we were further loudly informed about (back at the hotel later in the evening) by a very upset attendee from Pennsylvania who questioned the reasoning and validity for shelling out (up to) $175.00 for an event VIP pass to attend a fetish event that advertised itself with a “strict dress code enforcement policy” when that quite obviously wasn’t the case. In fact, all through the weekend, I was astonished (and more than just a little perturbed myself) at the amount of people walking into the events dressed in obvious “street clothes” – yes, even at a Victorian Ball a modern business suit is still a modern business suit even though you might be wearing a cheap dime store plastic mask, people – who had Montréal Fetish Weekend VIP passes draped around their necks. To my way of thinking, if you purchase a VIP ticket for a large fetish event that would tend to indicate you are expected to participate accordingly: the very least some of these people could have done was purchased a pair of leather pants and a fishnet or sheer top. Regardless of whether they had purchased a pass or not, the people who came to this event and made absolutely no effort to “dress appropriately” should have been refused entrance by the event staff at the front door.

There are event attendees who spend thousands of dollars – not to mention those who pour hundreds of work hours into custom-hand crafted creations of their own – into looking their best for an event of this nature and to allow the “jeans and T-Shirt” contingent as much access within the sanctuary of the party itself is, pure and simple, an infuriating insult. This should be a lesson to all event organizers: if you charge premium prices for VIP passes to a fetish event, you should stick hard and fast to the “enforced dress code policy”. It’s the masses that do take the time to dress and look amazing that have their photos taken and promote your events, time after time, on websites and in printed magazines. It’s they that you need to cater to and listen when they express concerns of this nature. If you need to refund the full price for five or six people that were refused entrance to your party even though they didn’t obey the very conditions outlined (i.e., strict fetish wear enforcement) when purchasing the VIP pass, then so be it. It doesn’t make sense to alienate 100 people who paid full price and followed the “dress code” enthusiastically for the sake of pocketing a few hundred extra bucks from those who have no intention of dressing appropriately – let alone who have any clue about what the word “community” happens to mean.

We attended a number of the seminars given on Saturday afternoon. The first one, as described in an earlier “live blog” post, was outstanding. I would take any number of classes from Dunter, the presenter, anytime. He was an excellent teacher and the class he gave was first class. The beautiful, articulate and truly amazing Contessa Alura followed and gamely tried to present a breath play workshop – but she admittedly had some troubles with a “no show” from her intended demonstration partner (kudos to the girl known as Cat for stepping in to help at the absolute last minute), the constant interference from two of the gallery members who thought they knew more than she did (they didn’t), and the simple fact she didn’t have enough time to present a topic of such gravity in the window of opportunity afforded her. I thought she was an excellent presenter, though – and has great potential to be one of the top educators and facilitators in Canada. I hope this experience doesn’t deter her from wanting to do more instructional workshops: the Lady handled the adversity with amazing class, elegance and true professionalism. The last seminar I (somewhat) attended was given by a man whom I thought was a little too into himself to pay appropriate attention to the safety of his volunteer subject – and his “scene” ended up going somewhat horribly wrong at the start. By all accounts, he spoke about himself too much; didn’t really care to show the entire room what exactly it was he was doing; and delivered in the end a somewhat “satisfactory” demonstration on rope bondage. Lady J, in fairness however, did say that she learned a couple of new things from him – which is saying something – so perhaps with some practise and a little more attention to proper teaching techniques and the safety of his volunteer, this man could be, as well, an exceptional presenter.

The only eye-rolling event of Saturday night was a “rock star show” on stage, while an extremely intriguing suspended hoop aerial performer was giving the performance of her life twenty feet above the crowd. I wonder if the guitar players were even aware that hardly anyone in  that crowd was paying any attention to them – and devoting all their attentions on the aerial display? There was barely a ripple when they finished their performance and quietly left the stage – but there was thunderous applause a few moments later when the performer was finished her acrobatics. The guitar players were, of course, known to the crowd – and I will spare them any embarrasment from mentioning who they were. I heard a number of people mumbling something to the effect that “it’s the same schlock and schtick every single year – when are they going to realize no-one wants it?”

These were the only “bad” things I can say about Saturday, though. All in all it was really a good day – and night.

The Ugly:

I had scheduled an interview with Eric Paradis, one of the two (!) event organizers of the Montréal Fetish Weekend (Note: there is a mountain of politics involved in the Montréal community and our foursome got earful after earful about it as we ventured from store to store on buying missions across the downtown core of the city. It is too lengthy to get into a dissertation about here: but suffice to say the notable absence of several past professional models and related businesses could hardly have come as a surprise considering the amount of contempt I personally bore witness to, at several retail locations, for the event itself) for Friday evening. Unfortunately, he choose not to have that discussion with me at that time – and he was far too busy the rest of the weekend to speak with me. I do not fault him for this – but there are some questions that I would dearly love to have answered in regards to the events that transpired at the Victorian Ball on Sunday evening.

Without pulling any punches, there was one “performance” that bordered on the obscene – and one that was outright disgusting, inappropriate, questionable and sent completely the wrong message to newcomers and established fetish and SM folk alike.

There was some kind of weird SM-related demonstration going on-stage, in which I believe was supposed to entice the crowd to start engaging in various bondage and SM-related play at the stations – but the crowd was far too interested in continuing to dance than they were in actually utilizing the equipment. Most of it went unused, by my observations, until quite, quite late into the evening when the crowds had thinned considerably. I will refrain from commenting on the “demonstrations” themselves – except to say they were absolutely pathetic. The central demonstration, given by someone whom should have known better, was just simply laughable in its presentation.

The “obscene” scene, in my opinion (and I am sure there are several who actually thought the performance was inventive and outstanding) involved one of the male models, an over-sized phallus, and about seventy-two gallons of spurting liquid. You can use your imagination, I am sure. The best part of that performance, to be sure, was the end of it – when the event organizer himself somehow had the responsibility of having to clean and mop that stage of that mess. I felt badly for him: it had to be somewhat humiliating having to be seen with a mop cleaning up the remains of a “gargantuan simulated body fluid bath”. The start of that particular performance showed great promise: the same male model used a modified electric violin to give his two female model counterparts a hot shower of glowing sparks (obviously some kind of hidden grinder in the violin interacting with the metal bow he was using). Aside from my wonderment at whether the latex clothing they were all wearing survived the flying spark show intact, it was a fantastic start to the performance set. If they had of ended the performance right there, it would have been viewed as a triumph. Unfortunately, the giant dong and “fluids” came next and … well … it just cheapened and destroyed the overall effect of their entire efforts.

The “performance” that I personally felt was offensive and completely unnecessary involved two male models (I will not mention their names, it isn’t fair to them as they were only doing as probably instructed) wandering into the crowd to “abduct” two girls in school girl uniforms, and carry them back, kicking and thrashing, over their shoulders and back onto the stage – where a simulated “rape scene” took place. Of course, the “school girls” somehow got the upper hand and their “revenge” by “overpowering” the male models, pseudo-taping them back to back - and proceeding to kick, stomp, punch, face-slap, bite and generally heap utter abuse on their former “tormentors”. Now I am not a prude by any means and we all have “dark places” in the recesses of our minds in which such deviant thoughts do inhabit – but a fetish event is not the place to be showcasing a message that “rape” and “retribution”, no matter how staged, is remotely appropriate. A man in Toronto was recently crucified and completely ostracized from the general community in a very, very public way for compromising someone in a seemingly non-consensual way: does such a scene, then, displayed in front of hundreds of people, qualify as “okay” and “appropriate” simply because it was done under the auspices of a large sanctioned event? Not only, in my opinion, does this kind of performance send exactly the wrong message about what sadomasochism is supposed to be all about (safe, sane and consensual), but it only serves to further reinforce the stereotype that SM … is violence. It isn’t: it’s another way to love amongst those that practice the art with those they respect, adore and cherish. The performance was in extreme poor taste and, quite frankly, showed exactly just how little regard and understanding there still exists towards SM – the very root of those that love their varied and valued fetishes and SM-related adornments. The event organizer really should be ashamed for allowing such garbage to infest and putrefy what otherwise would have been described as a “pretty decent affair.” After five years of party planning experience, he should have known better.

I had my own issues and challenges to deal with during my stay in Montréal: I freely admit Lady J, Angelically Depraved and Skull Bill deserve a gold medal each for having to put up with my building frustration and indignation about what I felt was a substandard over-all event. The highlight was so very high – Saturday night’s party was exceptional and worth the price of the ticket alone. But the low points, as described above, certainly made me feel quite glad to be home. I also completely realize I am not going to win a lot of new friends with this review – but I also cannot in good conscience give a glowing and false opinion about an event I felt was completely inferior to any of the events that preceeded it this summer. Northbound Leather’s Pride event was enormous fun … Subspace and Torture Garden were both absolutely perfect and far, far superior to the Montréal Fetish Weekend each on its own … and the Church Street Fetish Fair was a great day with fantastic people under very trying, hot conditions.

I just wish the Montréal Fetish Weekend had of lived up to its advance promise and not been only a single evening of exceptional fun. I truly hope the organizers learn from the mistakes of the past years, collectively (and I am told there have been several), and present a far more “Community minded effort” for the global fetish community as a whole, rather than massage the egos of a select few who seem to believe anything and everything they touch will instantly turn into fetish gold.

Yes, dozens of people had a great time, to be sure. It must be said that my three companions, I believe, certainly have their own opinions about what was fabulous and what wasn’t in Montréal this past weekend. Dozens more – and I spoke personally with several of them and on the record - did not and probably won’t be coming back, mainly commenting on all of the issues I have touched on above. I think that alone is a shame – and I can only hope the organizers learn not to rest on past laurels, and learn that “pushing the envelope” does not always equate into “instant acceptance and success”. Au revoir, Montréal, et écoutez-bien.

(Photos: The images displayed are in no way related to the accompanying text – they are presented in somewhat chronological order only. No attempt has been made to associate any of the models or attendees with any inference related to the express opinions of the author. Any assumption of such association would be incorrect.)

We awoke early this morning with an excitement about what Saturday at the Montreal Fetish Weekend would have in store for us. Our foursome ventured out into the sunny Montreal day and spent some time taking in appreciation of the incredible Metro Subway System. I’d heard that the Montreal Metro was the only major subterranean public transportation system that actually ran on rubber tires rather than on rails – but it was still an astonishment (and a mechanical delight) to actually see the system in action.

We took the subway to Atwater Station – and proceeded into the confines of what was once one of the true cathedrals of ice hockey, the old Montreal Forum. The edifice has been converted into a movie theatre, shops and restaurants: but unlike the equally iconic Maple Leaf Gardens in my adopted hometown of Toronto, it still retains some of the grandeur and the history in its walls and even on its floor. The old ice surface that saw so many Stanley Cup victories has been “preserved” as a painted representation of where the playing surface once was, and the first upper level is filled with photos of championship ice hockey teams and other smaller memorabilia collections in a terrific homage to a nearly-forgotten sporting era. This reported couldn’t hold back a few tears when, upon exiting the building’s south side, coming to stand directly overtop of a giant “Hollywood Star” type memorial in the sidewalk directly in front of the South Entrance. The name on the star should be instantly recognized amongst sporting fans world-wide: Maurice Richard.

From the old Forum, it was off to the large Sex City store where we needed to purchase some latex attire for this coming evening’s Latextacy party. I must tell you, dear reader: you simply must make a side trip to that store should you happen to find yourself in Montreal. The collection of Polymorphe latex alone is worth the trip: you’ll just have to take my word on that. I’ve not seen a finer collection (except, of course, at Northbound Leather in Toronto) which showcases such an assortment of fine latex adornments.

After taking the time to do a bit more shopping, our entourage headed back to the host hotel to partake in the afternoon’s seminar and workshop offerings. Again, and in the spirit of fairness and objectiveness, I shall not get into a deep dissection or dissertation of the relative merits and/or failings of these seminars at this stage. But it must be said that the seminar given on Pressure Points and Control by an exceptional gentleman known as  Dunter was truly a pleasure and an absolute joy to be a participant in. It was one of the best “how to” seminars I’ve ever witnessed – and I wouldn’t hesitate to take in another class from this amazing man again.

Contessa Alura followed with an enthusiastic discussion about Breath Control. She really is an excellent speaker and I believe she is (or could be) an exceptional facilitator: but it must be said that given the scope and gravity of such a topic and only a single hour to attempt to cover every aspect of safety, technique and emergency response safeguards, she simply wasn’t able to present quite the seminar/workshop that I believe she would have wished to present to such a large contingent (the room was over-flowing with interested workshoppers). She simply wasn’t given enough time to be able to present everything she needed to: and it clearly showed. Not once did this amazing woman lose her composure, and she gamely tried to present as much material in so limited a time as she could – and she did an amazing job (especially considering the constant interference of at least two gallery members who verily insisted that their own voices be heard throughout her presentation). She handled the adversity with the class, dignity and professionalism that a true Lady and woman of Power would be expected to – and I’m looking forward to seeing more of her teachings in the future.

The final presentation I (sort of) attended was given by a rope bondage “expert” who goes by the name of Dov. I cannot give an objective review of this workshop: An incident happened which I felt was completely avoidable and resulted in an embarrassing pratfall for the young lady who volunteered to be his subject for his seminar (she had been bound with her hands behind her back and somewhat brusquely jerked off her feet – where her head met an ill-placed metal chair – after being told by the instructor that she could “trust him”). I didn’t feel comfortable staying for the remainder of the seminar and decided to withdraw at that point. In fairness, Lady J did stay for the remainder of the workshop and did have some positive feedback about the remainder – she felt that she learned a little bit more, at least, than she knew before coming into the workshop.

As mentioned, tonight is the Latextacy party – the main event of the Montreal Fetish Weekend. A report of the event will be forthcoming …

Kardynyl SynysTyr

The Montreal Fetish Weekend, an annual Labour Day weekend tradition in Canada’s second most populous city, kicked off Thursday evening with a Glam Lingerie Party in one of downtown Montreal’s popular clubs. By all accounts, it was a wonderful evening and a perfect start to a much-anticipated kink and fetish filled weekend.

Lady J and I missed last night’s event, and spent the majority of Friday first preparing to, and then finally traveling to, Montreal. We checked into the host hotel, the fabulous Gouveneur in the heart of Montreal’s vibrant downtown (right at the corner of infamous Rue Saint-Catherine and Rue St. Hubert. Right away, we were joined in the lobby by a bevy of excited Fetish Weekend guests who simply couldn’t wait for their weekends to commence. We exchanged pleasantries with good friends (it was a real lovely welcome to Montreal that the absolutely gorgeous Mistress Katina of Toronto gave us the moment we walked in the door – thank you for that, you spectacular woman and magnificent Domina!) and managed to join in a few lively conversations with some fine folks who made the trek from as far away as Dallas, Texas and Los Angeles, California.

Friday night’s events were a Fetish Film Festival and a Circus of Sin Meet and Greet Party at the fantastic Club Cleopatra a few short blocks from the host hotel. Due to the lateness of our arrival, Lady J and I could only attend the latter – and while a full review of the entire weekend’s revelry will be available later in the weekend, it must be said that the Circus of Sin certainly lived up to its advanced billing. The event hall was full of happy, excited fetish folk who eagerly engaged in “eating up” everything the host, Master Sin, offered up for the evening’s entertainment. From the eye-popping opening dance sequences to a well-choreographed and staged “liquid smoke cage scene” (you had to see it to believe it – a metal cage with a lovely gas-masked girl inside; the cage wrapped in plastic wrap; and summarily filled with a thick, hazy “smoke” as she breathed through her gas mask tube connected to an airway made in the plastic wrap – all in all, an amazing piece of performance art), everyone in attendance was having a great time and openly commenting at the marvelous collection of fetish wear ensembles put together by the various guests.

The party was still going in full swing – both inside the venue and outside it – by the time our little group departed. Lady J and I are joined this weekend by her adoring, lovely and committed Handmaiden – the incomparable Angelically Depraved - and her equally incomparable, handsome to a fault husband Skull Bill. Our foursome will be conferring on the rest of the weekend’s various events, from some of the seminars to the scheduled parties, all the way leading up the Grand Finale Sunday night, so that Your Humble Narrator can give you a somewhat up-to-date “live blog” of the Montreal Fetish Weekend should you not have been fortunate enough to attend it this year.

Thus far there are tremendous upsides and a few downsides (aren’t there always?), and our little dedicated group of Canadians will try to bring you as objective and complete a review of the weekend’s events, and in as “real time” as is permitted and possible.

Saturday, we’re scheduled to attend a few of the seminars at the host hotel, and then it’s off to the Main Ball, Latextacy, early in the evening. It promises to be an exceptional day …

Kardynyl SynysTyr

A few short years ago, a young fellow living in Toronto started hosting small-scale get-togethers (with a fetish theme, of course) at his modest home. It didn’t take very long – one event, actually – for that man to realize he was going to need a bigger space if he wanted to continue to try and host an event that would bring friends and other like-minded people together. So, this young man – who has never used a “scene” moniker and is known simply as “Craig” (or “Craiger”, to his friends) – on the advice of some close compatriots decided to take his house gatherings and make them a little larger in order to accomodate the demand he was getting from people wishing to attend one of his off-the-scale fun gatherings.

Thus was the first Subspace event created in Toronto – and that event has continued to be a major draw for both young and impressionable, and old and experienced, SM practitioners for quite some time.

But Craig soon found he was running into the same old problem: The demand and desire for attendance at the Subspace event was just getting too overwhelming. When asked what the solution was, Craig responded to his closest confidants in the only way he really could: “We need a bigger house.”

Without going into a major history of Subspace, suffice to say that the eventual result from the demand for more and more space – and larger attendance – led Craig to cross paths with Alan Pelling and David Wood, the original founders and facilitators who created London’s revolutionary Torture Garden club concept. While the “franchise” had been featured in several European cities from Paris to Moscow and has even made appearances in Tokyo and New York City over the years, Toronto had never really received any serious consideration as a possible host city for the iconic weekend-long event. That is until Craig managed to convince them that Toronto was indeed a perfect choice, and more than a suitable worldly cousin, as the location for the first Canadian iteration of the globe-trekking party machine that has become Torture Garden “International”.

So where do we start? Certainly there were superlatives – it goes without saying the costumes, the make-up, the accessories were beyond exemplary, of course and as one would expect at such a gathering – and as with every first-time large scale event, Torture Garden Toronto did indeed have its share of problems. So it would probably be best to speak a little about the downsides to the weekend, and in the spirit of keeping an eye on improvement for next year. So let’s see … the downsides … hmmm … give Your Humble Narrator a few moments to think and I’m sure I’ll come up with at least something of a downside to the weekend …

Truth be told, there really were very few negative things to be “picked on” about Torture Garden Toronto. In the spirit of objectivity, however, it should be said that perhaps the venue chosen (a rather old and somewhat decrepitly adorned relic known as The Opera House) for Saturday night’s main event wasn’t the absolute best possible location for such a staggering event. My life mate and loving partner in this life, the incomparable Lady J, didn’t find the venue quite as unwelcoming as I did: and I do have to stress my criticisms here are quite, quite miniscule. Apart from having completely inadequate bathroom facilities; two sets of stairs that would make most amusement park ”Wacky Shack” designers envious (there were more than just a few complaints from the high-heeled and booted party goers about those desperately-in-need-of-repair stairs, believe me); and perhaps maybe a tad too many people crammed into the confines of the old Opera House at the height of the festivities, there really wasn’t anything alarming or glowing wrong that could be pointed out – let alone harped upon. There was an enthusiastic, well-behaved, excited and delectable throng in attendance Saturday night – probably more than even the original Torture Garden founders could anticipate. And I’d heard whispers that Craig was a bit concerned about attendance? He really shouldn’t have worried. Toronto’s fetish community did very well in welcoming not only the event to Canada itself – but also being cordial and helpful to visiting internationals who made the jaunt into our lovely city to partake in the weekend’s festivities.

A point could be made about the abruptness and outright rude comportment of some of the Opera House staff: Craig’s Subspace parties are reknown for excellent staffers providing excellent service, and in the case of Torture Garden Toronto the “usual staff of suspects” were indeed present and were as amazingly friendly and helpful as they ever are. However, in fairness I don’t believe Craig had any control over the Opera House front of house staff or the beverage servers – and they were sometimes brutal. It doesn’t behoove venue staff well when they spend some time showing open contempt and whispering ridiculing remarks about certain guests (and their attire) as they walked through the doors or make snide remarks while pouring guest’s drinks. These incidents were not widespread, though: These were isolated incidents and, frankly, I’m quite sure similar “incidents” happen at nightclubs everywhere on each and every night and occasion. But I have to have something from a “downside” perspective to report on, don’t I?

Conversely, I could go on and on with enthusiastic endorsements of what went right at Torture Garden Toronto. I’ll limit my comments to a few brief highlights, though, for brevity’s sake.

For starters, allow me to say this: Lady J and I were absolutely destroyed and simply not really wanting to venture out into the night for Saturday’s main event. We had spent the better part of the week – and especially the previous two days – trying desperately to finish a move from my beloved little loft apartment into a much larger, more comfortable house-sized dwelling. Without divulging too much information, suffice to say that the move went horrifically wrong at some points – and while we managed to get everything actually done (I’m still trying to figure out how we did it, really), we certainly were in absolutely no shape (let alone positive mind frame) to attend a fetish party, no matter how unique and ground-breaking for Toronto it may have been (and eventually was). Regardless, I had a job to do, and having gotten somewhat closer to Craig in the previous month leading up to Torture Garden Toronto I felt I couldn’t let him down by not giving the event my fullest, professional attention and doing an objective reporting about his selfless and tireless efforts to unleash this somewhat uncertain new venture upon a hungry and fetish-famished, clamouring crowd of Southern Ontario kinky types.

So with heavy eyes and even heavier boot-clad feet, Lady J and I trudged down Queen Street and sidled as non-conspicuously as we could inside the doors of The Opera House and entered the mystifying confines of the Torture Garden. There is only a single thing I can say about that very moment, my friends: We knew the moment the we walked through the front doors that we were in the presence of something very special. There was an undeniable electricity in the air – very different from anything we’d ever experienced before in Toronto – and both Lady J and I were immediately re-energized. We spent the next several hours delighting in the fashion shows  and having our ears drink in voraciously the excellent selection of music (the stage was at a perfect height and visible to all, of course, being an old theatre). We marvelled at the well-designed (and even better maintained and monitored) playspace areas (coyly and brilliantly staged in what would have been the old balcony of the theatre and the old projection/lighting booth behind it) and we gaped in wonder and with excited whispers at the various exhibitions that enveloped the perimeter of the main party and dance floor (we both agreed that we simply must have one of those vacuum benches manufactured for our own lovely new Dungeon!). I wanted to spend some time in discussion with a talented body painter/artist who goes by the name Ark Angel, but she was so incredibly busy she barely had a chance to look up once and take her focus away from the frenzied pace of her amazing work. Her living masterpieces livened up the halls, doorways and vestibules of every corner of The Opera House throughout the evening and certainly provided a certain dramatic flair (and counterpoint to all the leather, latex and PVC for that matter).

While the somewhat expected presence of extreme body piercers, suspension artists and body modification aficiandos (which have become the trademark of any number of Torture Garden photo spreads in any number of fetish-related magazines throughout the years) was indeed sorely lacking, the sheer level of artistry displayed in the costumes and ensembles was certainly shades above the norm usually enjoyed and referred to as “eye candy” by the adoring Toronto fetish crowd. You simply couldn’t turn your head without your eyes being deliciously assaulted by the visage of some ethereal creature that you just couldn’t tear your gaze away from. In that respect, and despite the absence of the “over the top and extreme” practitioners, Torture Garden Toronto certainly compared favourably with, and holds up well when compared to, its European, Asian and American counterparts.

Yes, it is true that there were indeed other events other than the main event on Saturday night. There was a “Meet and Greet” on the Friday evening at the Reverb location (where the Subspace events are generally held every month) that featured an eye-popping performance by a rather risque human circus known as I Was Cured, who contributed an astonishing piercing and suspension display (by all accounts); and there was a closing event on Sunday evening in a much smaller, off the normally-beaten-track nightclub known as Club Neutral. Both of these events, while adequately attended and appreciated by those who came, simply paled in comparison to the grandeur that was the main gathering at The Opera House on Saturday night. Torture Garden Toronto was, quite emphatically, the best gathering of fetish folk – and the best outright party – this regional area has seen since last year’s Northbound Leather annual event (and we are quite certain this year’s Tribe by Northbound in October is going to be one amazing and unforgettable adventure as well). The North East region, and especially Southern Ontario, is becoming quite the in-demand hotbed of activity for fetish-minded folk looking to attend larger and more “upscale” events – and our area is quite fortunate to have mainstays such as Northbound Leather and their excellent array of events appropriately complimented by new, exciting ventures such as Torture Garden.

This coming weekend, the journey continues, as Lady J and I are off to report on the various happenings and events scheduled for the Montreal Fetish Weekend. If any of you dedicated fetish folk will be in Montreal September 4th to 6th, please do stop and say hello – and let us know your thoughts and feedback. It will be a perfect way to close out a truly tremendous summer of undeniable fetish fun. We’ll be celebrating the arrival of Autumn with a fantastic time in Canada’s own version of “The Eternal City”, the beautiful Ville de Montreal – why don’t the lot of you come and celebrate with us?

While you’re at it, why not plan ahead and reserve your spots for Torture Garden Toronto next year? If this initial effort is any kind of indication of the quality of good times to be had by all at future iterations, then next year’s event is certainly best described as a “can’t miss weekend” on your 2010 Summer calendars. I’m certainly more than impressed with this year’s offering …

Kardynyl SynysTyr

(Photos from Torture Garden Toronto will be available for view shortly and upon approval by the event organizers. Photos of Torture Garden courtesy of Torture Garden Toronto website.)

First and foremost, let’s get one thing quite clear: The LGBT Community in Toronto has no greater friend than I when it comes to efforts in promoting community love, respect, tolerance and just out-and-out “togetherness”. Toronto’s Church Street (The “Rainbow Village”) has been the central gathering place for Toronto’s large LGBT communities for what seems like eons – so naturally, the decision to take the annual Fetish Fair from a park-like setting to the multi-colored, multicultural and tripping-the-light-fantastically iconographic city-center street was a natural decision. Taking the Fair street-side meant that larger crowds could be accommodated in a more safe and secure atmosphere – and more vendors, artisans, craftspeople, patrons and revelers alike could meet and interact on a more personable level with like-minded new friends. The Church Street Fetish Fair has indeed matured since its very humble beginnings in a Toronto city park only six short years ago: it now ranks as one of the best-attended and largest gatherings of fetish folk, in one single location, anywhere in this wonderfully vibrant, brave new world. Church Street truly is the perfect setting, given its long history, in which to stage such a fine collection and amalgamation of fetish finery. Visitors and vendors alike from all over North America (and some from Europe) were treated to some amazing “eye candy” all through the long, over-the-top “hot” day. From that perspective, the Church Street Fetish Fair has indeed matured into one of the most eagerly-anticipated events of the summer for fetish-minded folk – especially in Toronto.

“Maturing” does not always equate to “improvement”, however. The Church Street Fetish Fair was indeed a visual delight – as it was expected to be – but it pains me greatly to have to be the voice of objectivity and deliver some stark realities about the Fair. Events that stagnate and start to just automatically assume that the built-in consumer base will undoubtedly continue to support them (without trying diligently to improve year after year in some capacity) may soon find themselves faced with dwindling numbers and diminished support. The trick in planning any large-scale event is always trying to find new ways in which to improve – and introduce something new and exciting to the populace that will give them that “novelty” attitude towards the event (that is to say, rekindle that initial excitement first felt on a first attendance) in order to keep each annual event fresh, and memorable, with each passing iteration.

Sadly, the Church Street Fetish Fair for August 2009 just didn’t measure up to previous annual efforts. Rather than go into a scathing critique of what may have gone horrifically wrong (man, it was hot out there!), it would serve a better purpose to perhaps touch on some points of improvement that would be most welcomed at next year’s event.

First and foremost, allow me to give “props” where they are indeed due.  Lady J and I volunteered our services for several hours to assist with street control at one of the several entrance points to the Fair. The beautiful boys who manned the water brigade were exceptional: they were friendly, engaging and didn’t fail once to deliver much-needed bottles of cold liquid refreshment at least every 30 minutes in the effort to keep all the volunteers adequately hydrated. It must have been a very long day for them and they performed their duties perfectly and always with good humour and even better comportment. If anyone deserves commendation for their efforts throughout the day, it’s these selfless folk. They were a welcome relief from the monotony of crowd control and the ever-present stifling heat. One of the other extremely beautiful and incredibly impressive performances throughout the day was given by a rainbow-flag bearing troupe, ROTC Toronto(Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corps), who did not appear to fall out of dance step or out of sync a single time in the many performances they gave on Church Street throughout the day. If any of the Corps made an error, it certainly wasn’t noticed: they are an excellent and well-precisioned dance and flag-waving machine. Of any of the performances given during the long, hot day, it is the opinion of Your Humble Narrator that ROTC Toronto gave the crowd the absolute best in a pretty decent set of performance offerings. Lady J and I can’t wait to see them perform again – yes, they were really that impressive.

The dance and flag-bearing corps was the very first performance we saw at the Fair – and after a stellar offering such as that, we certainly were looking forward to the rest of the day’s entertainment. Unfortunately, this brings me to the start of our short list of improvements we’d perhaps like to see implemented for future Fairs.

Our world seems to have become so dependent on digital information that I believe we tend to forget more traditional methods of message delivery. While it is true that the list of events and performances throughout the Fair was certainly available in any number of online varieties, there was virtually nothing in the way of tradition placards, event time boards or immediate visual reminders of what performances and events were being offered and at what times. Surely not everyone in the entire fetish world has yet to purchase a hand-held device (such as a Blackberry or an iPhone) in which they could browse through an electronic event schedule: it would have been nice to have been given an instant reminder on-site of what performances and events (and outside of the several staging areas for that matter) were scheduled and at what time and location. We even asked at the Volunteer Tent where a list of the myriad of special events were and at what times, and the response from one of the Volunteer Coordinators (an extremely nice person, don’t get me wrong) was a somewhat vacant response of, “well, you can go and look it up online.” This proved to be a major failing for the Fair as the day wore on. An example: There was a lovely, discreet demonstration stage set up at about the halfway point of the Fair along Church Street. I say discreet because the stage was not facing the street itself: this was a very smart idea, as some of the SM-type related demonstrations would have been sure to make more than a few more straight-minded Fair attendees perhaps a wee bit squeamish.

However, there was no obvious signage telling visitors exactly what that particular stage was being utilized for. It was a pleasant surprise to see a waxing demonstration being carried out on a lovely bound and blindfolded boy at that time – but there were less than 20 people gathered around to witness it. I asked a lady standing beside us how she happened to come across this particular demonstration and she replied, “Oh, I just wandered by and wanted to see why this stage wasn’t facing the crowd like the other stages were.” I am quite convinced some of the SM-related demonstration on that stage during the Fair may have drawn larger gatherings: but I am equally convinced having some kind of proper visual notification of exactly what was going to be going on in that secluded space would certainly have done nothing but help contribute to viewership. This is a small example – but in reality, every one of the performance areas was sadly lacking in appropriate and proper notification signage.

Most of the vendors were spoke to were extremely engaging and beyond polite and enthusiastic. One vendor did grumble a tad to me that they wished their placement had of been a little bit more reasonable: they were placed right alongside a stage where music performances were being given throughout the afternoon and into the early evening – and they therefore simply couldn’t engage potential clients in any worthwhile discussions. Towards the middle of the afternoon, apparently, they actually packed up their materials and simply moved their entire apparatus towards the end of the Fairgrounds: where they had far less exposure to their potential client base. These folks were extremely understanding about it, though: their attitude was that at least they were getting their name out there in front of thousands of people, and they said they were collectively having a “fantastic time” all the same. Very classy – and I secretly hoped they would get at least a little patronage for their efforts. The only negative thing we heard from this particular contingent was that “it was impossible to stay on their feet in high heeled boots all day long – especially in the heat!”

The end of the day featured a long series of fire-related performances. This is always entertaining and appropriate, considering displays of fire are always best seen when the sun goes down. This has become a staple of the Church Street Fetish Fair: but perhaps as a suggestion for next year, the organizers may want to “mix it up a bit” with the inclusion of some other elements that involve taking advantage of the dark? Perhaps some violent wand or “Tesla Coil” performances of some kind? We did hear a lady in the crowd, when the fire performances started, click her tongue and say, “Fire again? Isn’t there something else they can do that they don’t do every single year?“

The area reserved for the closing fire performance was severely limiting as well. Several people who wanted to witness the spectacle simply couldn’t see anything (it was at ground level) – and they ended up exiting the fair. This is obviously a “can’t be helped” situation: the recipe for disaster on an enclosed stage is simply far too great to risk staging such a performance on higher ground. But surely there are several innovative and inventive minds amongst the organizers who must be able to envision a solution that will make the entire fantastic show visible to everyone who wishes to stay and view it?

All told, though, these are really minor issues. The Church Street Fetish Fair is indeed one of the landmark events of the summer. My personal observations are to caution the organizers simply to not rest on their laurels and continuously “count on” the multitudes coming out. There are always going to be Fair goers who are enthusiastic and excited about participating – the “die hards” – but the real aim in such a gathering is to entice and forever ensnare fresh, “new” acolytes who simply can’t wait for the event’s annual return. It would do the event organizers well to take the lessons from this year and make a concerted effort to improve on some of those areas of opportunity.

Then, perhaps, Toronto’s annual Fetish Fair may even well surpass San Francisco’s Folsom Street Fair as the “kinky fairground of choice” for the world’s leather, latex and PVC aficionados. The organizers have a good product on the streets of Toronto in August as it is: with a little tweaking next year, they can make it absolutely grand.

Kardynyl SynysTyr

August 16, 2009, marks the return of the second-largest Fetish Fair in the world: The Church Street Fetish Fair in the incredible city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Your Humble Narrator and the incomparable Lady J will be in attendance and volunteering their time at the Fair. A full report, including photos, will be provided for the week beginning on August 17, 2009. If you happen to be in attendance and see us out and about this afternoon and evening, please do stop and say hello!

Some of the features of the day long fair include:

• Extended patio areas for Church Street bars and restaurants
• Three stages (North, South, Fetish) of performances
• Street performers
• CSFF Bootblack Contest
• Marketplace of vendors featuring all things naughty and nice
• Community information booths

The fair is held to encourage people to exhibit that fun side of their personalities that might not be shown during other types of celebrations. Not everyone visits leather-oriented bars or events, or can have an outlet to display their inner fantasies, so the fair will provide a fun, secure atmosphere for people to mingle and party, as well as advance the visibility of the leather-fetish-fantasy community at large.

Kardynyl SynysTyr

With the success of the Marquis America Fetish Ball in San Francisco on July 18th, 2009, it only seems right and proper that (as a Community facilitator) some attention should be paid to some of the other world-class events coming our way in August of 2009. Consider this an “Event Guide” in which to pick and choose which, if certainly not all, fabulously fetishy functions you funky freaky types may desire to attend. Naturally, you very well may see Your Humble Narrator and Only True Friend (that being Swann, the ever-beloved Defender of the Faith known as Kardynyl SynysTyr) out and about with his incredibly beautiful and oh-so-wicked Leather Life partner (the incomparable Lady J) at most of these gatherings – and if you do happen to come across our path, we would very much welcome the chance to pay our respects and express our regards. Don’t be too surprised when you encounter other dedicated facilitators and educators out amongst the throngs at some of the events listed below: I do not think it’s too much of a stretch to suggest you may meet some very gifted and lovely folk (such as our own Eric Von Gutenberg, the immortal Midori, the extremely talented, friendly and personable Lord Morpheus and even the legendary Rubber Queen, The Baroness herself) out enjoying themselves amongst the populace. This is truly going to be an August to Remember – and Marquis America is looking forward to bringing you all the highlights in the coming weeks from each of these these fine “lifestyle” offerings!

Fetish Con 2009

August 13 – August 16, 2009 ~ Tampa Bay, Florida ~ The Hyatt Regency: 211, North Tampa Street, Tampa Bay, FL

Host Description:

“Located in sunny Tampa Florida, Fetish Con is the place to be if you want to meet like minded kinky people. The show has vendors, many many of the models and producers you have grown to love over the years as well as work shops and demos.”

Weird Fact That May Interest Only Me:

Tony Moran, the actor who first portrayed Michael Meyers in the original Halloween film series, is a “featured guest”. Other invited guests include fetish models Stacy Burke, Kendra James,Jean Bardot and Jewell Marceau. Maybe it’s just me, but … Michael Meyers turned loose amongst a bevy of ultra-beautiful bound and gagged fetish vixens? Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

Will You See Kardynyl SynysTyr and Lady J There?

Not this year. Anyone who is attending is encouraged to write their thoughts and opinions and forward them to me, though. There was just too many fairly “local” events to attend this year and we had to eliminate some from our calendars. Local Toronto fetish icons Maxine X and Siren Thorn will be there, though. I hope they’re able to survive the “carnage” – meaning I am quite sure they’ll have an amazing time. We wish we could be there!

Caning Connoisseur Back to School Party

August 15 2009 ~ Toronto, Ontario ~ The Patricia Marsh House of Domination and Fantasy, Toronto

Host Description:

“Please join us for our “Back To School” English Style Spanking/Corporal Punishment Party to bring in the start of a new school year. This event will take place once again at the fabulous venue of Patricia Marsh’s Dungeon.”

Weird Fact That May Interest Only Me:

Lord Cane, the event organizer and amazing host, is originally from Manchester, England. He is therefore a dyed red-in-the-wool Manchester United football (soccer) fanatic (as is Your Humble Narrator). There’s something about the English and their love for the cane that appeals to the baser instincts in all of us – and no-one in Toronto hosts a better party.

Will You See Kardynyl SynysTyr and Lady J There?

Absolutely. I think those in attendance are going to have severe apoplexy when they get to see Lady J in her English Headmistress finery – school strap at the ready.  This is the one “small scale” event (hosted in a world reknown and legendary venue, the unbelievable Patricia Marsh House of Domination and Fantasy) that we’re most excited about this summer. It’s a great atmosphere – and an awful lot of fun. It’s a unique modern spin to a very “old school” style of discipline – and Lord Cane truly is one amazing and completely engaging event host.

Church Street Fetish Fair

August 16 2009 ~ Toronto, Ontario ~ Church Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Host Description:

“The street fair will take place on Sunday, August 16, 2009 from 11am to 11pm. Enjoy the day and get into the spirit of the event by dressing in your fetish and/or fantasy wear.

The three-block closure of Church Street will run from Gloucester Street south to Alexander Street. The fair is held to encourage people to exhibit that fun side of their personalities that might not be shown during other types of celebrations. Not everyone visits leather-oriented bars or events, or can have an outlet to display their inner fantasies, so the fair will provide a fun, secure atmosphere for people to mingle and party, as well as advance the visibility of the leather-fetish-fantasy community at large.”

Weird Fact That May Interest Only Me:

Second in size to the infamous Folsom Street Fetish Fair in San Francisco, the Church Street Fetish Fair drew over 30,000 people to the “Rainbow” in 2008. Considering the amount of rain there has been in Toronto this year (not to mention the recently settled garbage worker’s strike), it will be tough to top those numbers from a year ago: but the event is well promoted and well organized – here’s hoping the crowds continue to gather for the 2009 event.

Will You See Kardynyl SynysTyr and Lady J There?

Yes. We will be volunteering our services in several capacities for the event organizers. We’re looking forward to this year’s event, very much – and the opportunity to meet new like-minded folk!

Torture Garden Toronto

August 29 2009 ~ The Opera House ~ 735 Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Host Description:

“Toronto will join London, Moscow, Athens, Rome, Paris and Tokyo where Torture Garden has hosted major events. Described as “legendary” by Time Out magazine – Marilyn Manson, Dita von Teese and Jean-Paul Gaultier, have all been to Torture Garden nights!

Torture Garden, from the U.K. is the Cirque Du Soleil of the Body Mod, Fetish and flesh hook suspension world – performing for the first time ever in Canada! Opera House Aug 29th. Full performances and fashion show, Medieval Devices Exhibits and many special guests.

*HUGE DANCE FLOOR with DJ’s Allen, David, DJ Pale, DJ Prospero

*SECOND FLOOR DUNGEON / PLAY AREAS

Weird Fact That May Interest Only Me:

This is the first time a Torture Garden event has been hosted in Canada. The name comes (I believe) a novel written in France at the height of the Dreyfuss Affair and was first published in 1899. A young woman delights in witnessing floggings, crucifixions and other various tortures in a beautiful Cantonese garden – within a maximum security prison. A very appropriate name, n’est-ce pas?

Will You See Kardynyl SynysTyr and Lady J There?

Not only will we be in attendance, but we’ll be very busy helping to make this exciting new event a tremendous success and turn it into a cherished yearly event. Please do stop and say a “hello” if you happen to cross our path during the weekend! This is the one event this summer we’re most looking forward to.

Montreal Fetish Weekend

September 4 - September 6 2009 ~ Club Sin, L’Espace, Loft du Chateau, Phillips Lounge. Le Medley ~ 1170 St-Denis, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Host Description:

“The Montreal Fetish Weekend (September 4-5-6) is right around the corner and to celebrate our 5th anniversary we’re welcoming over 50 artists, designers, models, photographers and performers from all around the world.

We’ve also expanded the weekend schedule to 5 incredible parties in 5 nights with workshops, activities and the incredible Montreal after-parties to top it all off!

With over 150 VIP passes already sold to international attendees you can be certain that this event is the place where you will meet the sexiest fetish people in the world. A great place to make new, long lasting friendships!

Don’t miss this once-a-year event!

It is a spectacular weekend that attracts a diverse group of dedicated local enthusiasts and international fetish jet-setters.

Creating an interactive environment where everyone can safely explore their utmost fantasies is one of our main goals!

The Montreal Fetish Weekend is a quintessential opportunity to let loose, meet and mingle with some of the world’s most renowned models, designers, artists, performers, film-makers and Mistresses!

 

Weird Fact That May Interest Only Me:

This event has attracted some of the most well-known names associated with the Latex World from dozens of countries. Montreal is one of the world’s truly great cities: but be prepared to bring along a translator or at least a French to English translation guide. Montreal is one of the top English-speaking megacities in the world, but at least attempting to speak French is appreciated by the locals. Oh, one more thing: Quebecois French isn’t the language you leaned in High School, either: be prepared to “talk a lot with your hands”.

Will You See Kardynyl SynysTyr and Lady J There?

This is one event that Lady J has participated in on several occasions. It will be a first time venture for Your Humble Narrator. We’re proud to be included amongst the throngs this year for the first time as a “couple”. This would be second on our “must attend” list, and the perfect way to say good-bye to the summer!

What, exactly, is happening in the Great Melting Pot that is “Internet SM” these days, anyway?

There is a great line at the very beginning of the landmark and worshipped Rob Reiner film from 1987, The Princess Bride, in which a grandfather (the immortal Peter Falk) remarks to his flu-ridden grandson (a very young Fred Savage), “In my day, movies were called books!”. While The Princess Bride has certainly become a favorite amongst any number of worshipping SM-types (go on, I dare you: who is not familiar with either the phrase, My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die or, Life is pain, Highness! Anyone who says differently is selling something!), and will go down in history as probably one of the best fantasy book adaptations in cinematic history, I don’t believe that author William Goldman could have possibly imagined just how popular his little “adult fairy tale” was going to become. Or indeed, perhaps how prophetic. I am quite certain he had no idea his book and subsequent film (in which he wrote the screenplay) would be considered a staple on the “must haves” of DVD collections of fetishists everywhere. Life is Pain. Indeed …

Thus to paraphrase Grandfather and applying wise words to a stricken populace: “In my day, the Internet was called ‘magazines’.” At least, insofar as attempting to disseminate appropriate direction about just who, what, where, why and when SM folks are to meet and exchange information (see: “proclivities”) is concerned. Since the very early dawn of the Internet age, unheard of amounts of folk have feverishly searched through various web pages, web announcements and contact boards (or dating sites, for that matter) in an effort to instantly reach out to like-minded practitioners who may be able to invest a bit of personal time in their own immersion into sadomasochistic pursuits. The Internet, sadly, is littered with the remains of far too many over-eager men and women who made life-altering decisions based on truly nothing more than a singular interest in a sensually-based personal vehicle of expression. It is a sad thing, really, when you take the time to reflect: I am quite certain there is not a single person amongst our common lovely Community (and in that I mean SM as a whole, world-wide) who has not known the heartbreak of utter disappointment and the shattering of a prayed-for dream when, after spending “quality time” with the Master or Mistress or Slave of their dreams, comes to see their true “identity” when all the masks finally crumble from their respective faces – and the “Dream” is exposed as the “Flesh and Blood Person” that they really are. That is to say, of course, fallible … and all too human. William Goldman’s original book, The Princess Bride,  is a very “human” tale set in fantastical settings about damaged people intent on fulfilling obsessions and destinies. It is a book about the search for True Love and High Adventure – can we not claim the vast, borderless landscape known as “Cyber Land” a very appropriate parallel, then?

Over the years, more websites and contact boards have sprung up, almost daily it seems, with the noble intention of providing like-minded seekers with an appropriate and comfortable atmosphere in which to engage other interested parties in discussions involving a wide range of SM-related topics. Entire websites have been devoted to even the most peripheral of paraphilias have been established, and are well patronized by any number of searchers. Anyone with a diaper fetish who loves to be dressed as a rubber dolly, while being summarily punished with a spatula by a sadistic leather-draped Domina in a demented clown costume, is sure to find what they’re looking for if they just let their “fingers do the searching”, after all. But the larger question has always been: How do you watch over that which is unwatchable? Just how do you police the “unpoliceable” – and appropriately?

Sadly, human nature being what it is, if people were simply willing to “live and let live”, then “Cyber Land” just might be the happiest virtual kingdom on the planet. But there’s the Shakespearean rub: Even the most idyllic and seemingly blissful of phantom Kingdoms have their rats scurrying about, nibbling away at solid foundations until eventually, those blissful walls crumble – and more than one Life is left in utter ruins. There are even well-documented cases of outright murder being blamed on the influence of SM (remember the ‘Slavemaster’ episode in Kansas not all that long ago, for instance?) While we can talk about going from one extreme to the other, perhaps just taking a small step forward and reigning in the rogues influences ourselves, would be a great place to start.

To begin, as an example assuredly, it does appear that there are many out there who feel they have some kind of “Divine Right” to be recognized as a Prince or Princess (or God or Goddess, even) that it is almost impossible to instantly gauge who is reputable and respected - and who isn’t – by reading short snippets of personal descriptions (and embellishments) on any number of profiles on a myriad of endless (and some mindless) SM-related websites. The one thing that cannot be in dispute: Marquis as an entity was around before the mass advent of the Internet as the world’s largest “throbbing” mass-dating mechanism – and has grown now to foster and nurture Marquis America under the watchful eye of its original brain-trust. The transition from glossy, slick, classy and truly elegant Fetish-related store-bought periodical to an equally admirable web presence has been virtually seamless. Marquis always has been positioned as the Voice of Fetish in an increasingly demanding world, thirsting for more and more imagery and knowledge, in an even more increasingly impatient Fetish world. We all want “it”, and we want “it” instantaneously. Entire fortunes have been made – and squandered, in some cases – from other publications who didn’t take the time to foster and properly grow their own web presence in such a meticulous, calculated – and truly beneficial – process.

Some publications, long-since consigned to the dustbins of used bookstores and seedy adult “second hand” bookshops, even took to “manufacturing” phony contact ads (and in some cases even completely phantom companies) in an effort to pad their pages and try to give their publications some sense of street credibility. Those publications are long, and thankfully, gone from our collective view. Others, such as the revolutionary (and long covetted by collectors) old issues of John Willie’s Bizarre were forced out of publication by intense, artificially indignent outrage by a handful of powerful people. But the recent phenomenon remains: over the past few years, using the Internet as a largely unpoliced delivery machine, there has been an alarming number of individuals (some of whom even at one time had an enormous following of their own and were regarded as ‘respected’ and ‘authorities’) have lobbed destructive accusatory bombs in the general directions of their one-time associates and peers, in some mystifying and disconcerting effort to somehow tarnish entire reputations of some very good people. Certainly once an individual, or a corporation, opens up their publication and their very name to such an unending pool of opinionated humanity they shouldn’t be too surprised that pettiness, professional jealousy and outright mischief can often result in an equally unending parade of trials and tribulations. Some individuals in SM communities across various cities across the globe have even somehow managed to delude themselves that the fake profiles they manufacture on some of these contact websites (even though such things as spelling, grammar and punctuation are a dead giveaway as to who is the actual creator of said profile) are accepted as verbatim truth. It isn’t a coincidence that these fake profiles appear to glorify a particular individual, and are very obviously intended to give some sort of ethereal credibility to someone else rather than truly paint a realistic, individual portrait of the “original subject”. We all know them: the kind of people who make claims of having “years of experience” and are “integral parts of our communities” whom no-one had ever really heard of before suddenly showing up (usually self-trumpeting with great pomp and circumstance) across our collective electronic communal assemblies. Some of these “experts” make rather eyebrow raising claims about “being trained” in, or “heavily immersed” in, all-too-phantom “European Organizations”. I am quite sure every community can point to at least one individual who has made such claims (or worse).

There have been several open-pitched electronic battles waged between long-established entities in the SM world (who seem to believe that the world should conform and change to them rather than – Goddess forbid! – they actually learn to change with the world around them) and newer, more technically-savvy dedicated providers. “Old School” advertisements used to take a far more “mystical and mysterious” approach – and give little to nothing to hint of the “attitude” that may lay quietly (or disquietly, in some cases of course) beneath the veneer exhibited by a meer black and white advertisement in the tattered pages of a newsprint periodical. One long-time self-acclaimed “expert” (who has been at the forefront of SM video production and SM magazine publication for decades) has managed to become a very sad example of exactly what not to be in this modern world by launching a one-person, extremely vindictive (and potentially extremely dangerous) open attack on one particular and extremely popular SM-oriented website and that website’s founders. The accusations being published by this individual for all to see on the Internet are extremely inflammatory, and could be considered outright libel and slander. It is very obvious this one individual is waging too personal a war in too controversial a way over an over-exposed and emphasized perception of an intended slight (how many of us out there already know similar stories, hmm?) – and the truth is, this person’s “efforts” to denigrate an entire website and every one of its members by association with a baseless and (what appears to be) entirely false accusation does appear to be having a modicum of effect. This person’s rantings and ravings across various “free” web portals and services are being read everyday – and there isn’t anyone, or anything, able to issue a “cease and desist order” to prevent her from doing so. (Note: The photo is for reference purposes only and is not in anyway reflective of the individual being referred to in this article.)

Not even the threat of legal repercussions for slander and libel appears to be much of a threat to these kinds of people: At present, the moment a website accepts advertising content on its pages, they are regarded as a publisher, and as a publisher they are liable for the content allowed to be viewed and digested on their systems. Ironically, some of these web portals are such gargantuan entities unto themselves that the very notion of taking them to court for allowing the publication of slanderous and libellous comments is ludicrous unto itself: these giants have far more legal resources at their disposal than nearly anyone else and there simply isn’t a hope that such actions will bear satisfactory fruit. That, in itself, is truly a conundrum, and a problem. It means that those who wish to wage war and do “ill will”, regardless of what “the truth” is, are perfectly free – and able – to do so with little fear of repercussion and little “policing” unless its under the auspices of their own peers. That itself rarely, if ever, truly silences a maverick voice intent on wanton verbal destruction and desecration. Usually, those large web portals give users the right to create their own “groups” and “webpages” that are difficult and usually impossible to monitor and (in extreme cases) outright censor. The rule of thumb appears to be: unless the “group” or “web page” is an open advocate of outright illegal activity, the providers will tend to leave them alone and let them spew their venom for all to unfortunately digest – and human nature being what it is, while the vast majority of readers will dismiss some of these missives as the rantings of an angry, dispossessed and/or jaded individual, the “message” will hit intended targets and stick in some minds. Opinions will therefore be formed – right or wrong – and wrongful, dangerous information thus gets perpetrated, ad nauseum, until the lines of reality are truly too blurred to even attempt to try and disengage the “truth” … from “fantasy’. At least the “old school” publications had a sense of decorum to live up to – as “dated” as they appear to us “modern agers” now, those old newsprint periodicals at least served a valuable purpose in what appears to be a more respectful (and less “knee-jerk reactionary”) time that what we’re collectively exposed to today.

In the one instance (as noted above), the person waging their “War” against one particular website has resorted to such dangerous tactics under the troubling “grey area” of matters of legality: and this is a “War” in which no one in our lovely little peculiar institution could possible be declared as a ”victor”. We  all stand to lose … and eventually, we all may if the Internet continues to become more and more censored, and closed to all “alternative minded folk” – and all because someone got their knickers in a knot when another dared to disagree with them. Or worse: take the steps necessary to remove the original offender from everyone’s sphere of influence, and justifiably. How, then, can we possibly “police” ourselves? Are we therefore consigned to a simple waiting process? It seems like it’s only a matter of time before “government” raises its huge hand and lowers the “Censorship Boom” on all of us …

… unless this particular phantom “Vernacular Holocaust” can somehow be avoided in the future by all of us being a little more vigilant: we can’t stop these people from unleashing their indignity and hatred upon their peers and colleagues. But, we can certainly and collectively ignore them. I, for one, know that that works: Some people stopped reading my own rantings and ravings years ago, until I “wised up” and realized I could do far more “good” for the world-wide SM Community by being objective and fair than by being petty and personally vindictive.

I do hope everyone with a war to wage, eventually, comes to that realization. We’ll all be the better for it.

In Toronto – and I am quite sure in other major cities across North America – there has been a constant criticism about large-scale SM-related events “being more associated with a stand-and-model crowd” than with a “hard-core leather lifestyle crowd.” Some of the older denizens of the Kinkdom – Your Humble Narrator included – has in the past pontificated and railed at will against some of these “antiseptic” kinds of events not quite going far enough to appease absolutely everyone who plunks down their hard-earned dollars to attend any number of Fetish events: no matter how well organized, or attended.

To quote a famous 1960′s folk song, “The times – they are a-changin’”.

By all reports, the Marquis Fetish Ball was a tremendous success – and seems to have been well-received universally by those who attended. It isn’t self-serving in the slightest to congratulate our own Erik Von Gutenberg and the lovely Miss Suzanne Forbes, et al, for tirelessly working to ensure that a great time was had by all who attended: and my lovely partner in leather crime, Lady J, and I were quite sorrowed that we had to miss it (due to personal time constraints and unexpected life issues).

Just how does an organizer keep everyone who wishes to come to such events … happy?

This past weekend, Lady J and I ventured out to a long-running event in Toronto called SUBSPACE, held at one of the city’s largest venues, the iconic, old-school Goth emporium known as the Reverb.

We came to hear Angel Trumpets and Devil Trombones … we were, in essence, invited (with apologies to Alex DeLarge of A Clockwork Orange fame)  – and I freely admit to my own reluctance to attend said event, simply because as someone who is regarded as somewhat of a “Defender of the Faith” for “old-school SM types”, I have (in the past) been admittedly somewhat contemptuous and skeptical about the validity of large gatherings of Fetish folk in oh-so-public a venue. However, based on the glowing reports of “good times being had by all” at the Fetish Ball  in the Bay Area weekend last, Lady J and I put on our best leather finery – and ventured out amongst the people to the popular SUBSPACE event. Lady J had a prior commitment, a woman’s only function at the Patricia Marsh House of Domination and Fantasy, and she was admittedly a little tired by the time we actually walked through the main doors to the Reverb.

Well, my Brothers and Sisters and Only True Friends … We had a tremendous time. If there was a ‘downside’ to anything last night, it was only the fact that in the main room (the dance hall), we couldn’t quite hear anything with the enjoyable, but incessant thump, of the lovely music – but that isn’t a complaint. The “eye candy” dancing deliriously on the parquet floor was certainly worth the trade-off of not being able to hear yourself think for a short time. Very much unlike events in Toronto in the past, the percentage of men and women who participated in the festivities took great pains to dress completely en fetische - and it was amazing being able to view the array of assembled revelry and costumery.

The SUBSPACE organizers do a pretty damn good job at hosting a first-rate event, if last night was any indication. Good people … great location … fantastic atmosphere … Really, for a more “social setting” with an SM theme, I daresay there are few (if any) gatherings in Toronto that are so well planned and put together that take the time to cater to everyone – and don’t seem to exist simply for the glorification, nauseating self-aggrandizement of some event’s original organizers (as has been the case especially in “the past”). The atmosphere wasn’t “seedy” or “overtly sexual” at all – and the staff, to a person, we felt were exceptional.

An event “for the people by the people” – which is exactly how the Marquis Fetish Ball should be described. SUBSPACE doesn’t pretend to be any kind of “hard core play party” and has never been billed as such: It’s a chance simply for good people to gather in a great space and a great environment – and in that regard, I personally felt the organizers filled that objective with pure and absolute success. The same organizers are bringing the UK’s landmark Torture Garden “franchise” to Toronto at the end of August – and if SUBSPACE is any indication, that event should prove to be a complete Tour de Force and a triumph for the Southern Ontario community in its own right.

SUBSPACEwas a perfect blend of “older and experienced” folk and “excited new explorers”, in our opinion. The dancers had a place to dance; the socializers had a quiet place to talk with old friends and make new ones; and the players had a place to play. That’s rare – especially for Toronto – where the focus in the past has been to cram as many people as possible into a confined, single space seemingly in an effort to simply line an organizer’s pockets with as much “green” as possible.

As mentioned previously, Lady J had been to a private event earlier in the evening and her feet were starting to feel the oppression of stiletto heeled boots and her ribs the unforgiving confinement of a heavy leather, superbly crafted Northbound Leather corset after all: so to the young Lady who graciously gave up her chair for Lady J to be able to rest for a while in the upstairs “socializing room”, I send my personal thanks and extreme, humbled gratitude. Even the best Dominas in the world, and Lady J is certainly in that class, can’t be on her feet in extreme high-heeled boots for eight or more straight hours and not have them start to “tingle” a wee bit, after all – let alone face the nightmare (and every well-corsetted Domina knows this pain) of having to even make the attempt to use the washroom facilities.

Just a microcosmic example of the kind of “class” people exhibited at SUBSPACE last night – and we had an amazing, truly fantastic time. I was personally extremely impressed – and truly believe more event organizers should take the time to make sure that all of their guests feel as warmly welcomed, and comfortable.

Event organizers – especially in Toronto – should pay heed and take a few notes from the excellent organizers that bring SUBSPACE to the anxious fetish crowds who gather in the effort to share like minds. I believe everyone had a fantastic time (I know Lady J and I certainly did) – and we’re looking very forward to renewing acquaintances with new friends at the Torture Garden event at the end of August.

It’s a tough juggling act, trying to keep everyone “happy” - and SUBSPACE at least, performs that particular act very, very well.

SUBSPACE is held at the Reverb in Toronto the last Saturday of every month. More information about SUBSPACE can be accessed through their website.

Sit back, grab a coffee and a cookie. Your Humble Narrator and True Friend has a bone to pick. And I intend to pick it. With apologies to the immortal, late Peter Finch, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”

Ever since the advent of the Internet as a mass communication device – your personal computers are truly nothing more than just another piece of talking furniture, really – the delicate art of introduction and the refined dance that is courtship seems to have been completely ignored. If not, dare I say it – completely destroyed.

In essence, what I am suggesting here … is just what the hell is wrong with some of you people?

Tell me true, because I would really like to know: Do any of you (man and woman alike) truly believe that you’re going to find the “person of your dreams and wet nightmares” by merely sending a letter (email) to someone you admire (on any number of SM-related contact sites) that contains the awe-inspiring phrase, “Hi. How are you?” and nothing more?

Please, before the abject tension slays me beyond redemption, relate to me exactly how the phrase “Nice boots, I want to lick them for you!” or something equally pithy and condensed could possibly describe anything remotely interesting about you – other than the fact that you happen to like depositing your drool upon booted feet?

I implore you: Kindly dictate for me exactly why the phrase “U R so hotttt lets do it” should ever deign to inspire the intended object of your lust and desire to slam the palm of his or her hand into their respective foreheads and shout to the heavens for all the choir of horny angels to rejoice together in a moment of crystal, unholy clarity: “Finally! Someone who understands me! I’ve waited my whole adult life for just such a staggeringly intelligent petition!”

With all due respect to all those who value brevity as some sort of badge of communicative honor, I must scratch my head and truly wonder aloud: Does any of these kinds of condensed approaches truly work for you? Sure, I get it – if there are accompanying photographs with any number of well-written profiles (across a plethora of websites designed to bring people of a like-mind together), you’d be inclined to want to write … something … in an effort to pay your respects and show your intended devotions. But do you really think you’re going to properly and thoroughly engage a Dominant or submissive in the reciprocation of interest with such banal nonsense?

More and more, I have been agitated by “letters of introduction” that consist of nothing more than a single line, and more often than not written in the “New Condensed English” where single vowels movements and consonants take the place of entirely written words. Is it truly that difficult to spell out entire words for some of you? Is the word you that difficult to type? Are you collectively in such a hurry to make first contact that you can’t find the y and o to accompany the vowel u on your keyboards?

Granted – as a sadistic, Dominant male in this Life I certainly do not receive anywhere near the amount of these kinds of “introductory petitions” in the way that I am quite certain Dominant (or submissive, for that matter) females certainly have to contend with. Perhaps the “shotgun” approach may work: perhaps by sending out hundreds of these kinds of emails to a seemingly unending supply of appropriately-minded folk may actually work once in a metaphorical blue moon. Perhaps … but I’m willing to wager big money the enthusiastic response rate is nothing in comparison to the sheer volumes of these kinds of insipid attempts at engagement that most assuredly clutter the various webpages across the Internet. Perhaps the inclusion of sensual, suggestive and appropriately themed photographs may lead to a positive response in such instances: but I’m entirely convinced the vast amount of these kinds of severely curtailed and edited attempts end up consigned exactly where they belong. That is to say, given a cursory glance, and deleted into millions of Recycle bins without ever having a hope of a reply.

Speaking of photographs: Could someone, anyone, please explain to me why including nothing more than a stark camera shot of your “nether bits” (either displayed on a profile or included within the maddeningly short initial correspondence) could possibly hope to illicit any kind of enthusiastic reply? Please explain further to me exactly why a fuzzy camera shot of your private parts could possibly be more interesting to a potential mate, or play mate, than a well-taken representative face or full-body photo? As my beloved Lady J once said, after receiving yet another in a long long line of “rooster shots” from an aspiring admirer and supplicant, ‘That’s nice. I wonder how I’m supposed to recognize him in a coffee shop?”

I strongly suggest that the multitudes of you out there who are either too busy … too uneducated … or, as I suspect, simply too lazy … to have the desire to craft proper letters of introduction to those women and men that truly inspire you to want to communicate with them in the first place: Take the time to write at least something somewhat revealing and interesting about yourselves. I firmly believe that will go a long, long way into opening the desired doors of two-way communication with those whom you’d like to spend some appropriate time with. Quality time in making an initial effort can – and does – usually result in quality time exploring the mutual interests you may wish to share with a new, potential partner.

I mean, could you imagine how uninteresting our world would be if Ludwig Van Beethoven, one of the great love-letter writers in all of recorded history, had sent simple notes to his long-pined for intended that merely said, “Hey baby, love the corsets! Let’s bang ‘trebles and clefs’ until I can’t hear anything, anymore!”

In the meantime, Enjoy your coffee and your cookie.

Have a Great Time and at the MARQUIS FETISH BALL Everyone!

There are times we, as a community, tend to forget our established proprietors (who supply us with our trappings and equipment) are also integral parts of our respective Communities. In Toronto, Northbound Leather has been in, around and an integral part of the fetish and SM communities in Southern Ontario for what seems like eons. Other companies hoping to gain a foothold and a following will forever be benchmarked beside the iconic Yonge Street landmark leather emporium.

Your Humble Narrator and True Friend would like to take but a moment to thank the event organizers, George and Anna, for a really lovely evening in the Distillery last Friday night at the Kinky Pride gathering. The night was truly perfect, weather wise – one could not have asked for better cooperation from Mistress Nature. The skies did open up for a period of time during the day – this is summer in Southern Ontario, after all – but by the time things got into full swing, the evening had turned perfect for a mostly-outdoor affair amongst the pyramidal flame pots and ancient cobblestones of the historic District. The ambience and the atmosphere created by the impeccably-kept old Gooderham and Worts whiskey factory (you can still catch a whiff of long-ago brewed spirits in the rain-tinted air) was truly … Magic.

I do believe that the absolute most fun for everyone in attendance … had to be the astonishment at some of the passers-by, each in turn suffering some severe form of whiplash, from taking in all the delicious, classy and elegant eye candy having a grand time with their peers on the cobbestone patio. Lady J, my beloved partner in this life, and I both were quite pleased and honoured to renew acquaintances with some old friends (some rather surprised she had moved to Toronto) and start new friendships with great people.

Our most special of “Thank Yous” to Ms. Marina Black in particular. The Lady was amazing last Friday night and Lady J and I both very grateful and honoured beyond compare for her hospitality, and her friendship. Legends are born from the minds and actions of great people: and this Lady is already well on her way to that elusive “legendary” status. From the bottom of our hearts, we send our love and our appreciations.

These days, I think that most of the general, world-wide SM Community take Northbound Leather completely for granted: They’ve been such an integral part of the Community for so long, that we just tend to assume that they’ll always “be there” to organize events, build our coveted apparel ensembles, and supply us some of our accoutrement’s. With the myriad of other options available for kinksters to prance about and ply their proclivities, I think it is sometimes easy to forget the contribution Northbound Leather has made to the success of our collective in the Gay and Lesbian and Heterosexual communities both. I think it’s easy to feel intimidated and therefore discount Northbound as a viable option: not just for attire and some equipment but as a venue host and event organizer as well. I know that last night, watching George and Anna (owners of Northbound Leather) tirelessly working to make sure each guest was having a good time (along with Ms. Black), I gained a new-found respect and admiration for all of them. Each year in the crisp autumn air, Northbound Leather hosts the largest annual gathering of fetish folk in the world at the immense Docks facility along Toronto’s storied waterfront. The quality of their smaller events does not suffer in comparison: George and Anna work very hard to try and provide a fantastic experience to each attendee who ventures out to any of their events – and the Kinky Pride Event was certainly no exception.

The previous evening, Northbound hosted a much smaller “Meet and Greet” at the Yonge Street store location, which was well attended by some of the more recognizable names that practice our lovely little pastime. It was wonderful to talk to some well known authors of important SM-related literature – and it was nice to see Midori, the Fetish Diva from the West Coast, out and enjoying the festivities amongst Toronto friends and admirers. The Lady is always so cordial, friendly – and the very personification of the word class - it is impossible not to instantly fall prey completely to her charms. On a personal note, the Friday Meet and Greet at the retail location was somewhat of a “Coming Out Party” for Lady J and most everyone in attendance made sure she was warmly welcomed. It is this kind of mutual respect and admiration for some of our iconographic figures that gives me great hope for the continued future of SM folk as a true, if not gigantic, extended family.

While the focus of Pride Week events on the Northbound calender have, in the past, tended to focus nearly exclusively on the Gay and Lesbian contingent, this year George and Anna decided to invite and include the general SM populace to join in the celebrations. While it is true that this decision may have ruffled some hard-core feathers amongst the Gay and Lesbian crowd, in general the gesture was received enthusiastically and was most welcomed by the majority of the party-goers in attendance. Lady J and I renewed acquaintances with new friends (pictured to the left) – who treated us with the utmost respect and welcomed us with open arms as one of their “own”. We loved their playfulness – and were deeply touched by the affections they both displayed for not only each other, but for all of their leather and latex comrades in arms that braved the early rain to take in the evening’s fun.

SM types are going to be hard pressed to match the enthusiasm and the boundless energy that is wrapped up in a little latex package known to all in the Toronto community as simply Anna. Amazingly, the lady took great care (as one of the hosts, naturally) to make sure all of their guests were taken care of. She did all of this, mind you, from the early morning until well into the wee hours of the next day, without complaint and an ever-present smile and enthusiasm that was unmatched – and all the while in skyscraper heels. Lady J and I were astonished at just how much energy and sheer joy she exhibited that evening. George, the other half of the Northbound team, was equally unmatched in energy and enthusiasm – and together they provided all party-goers a stark reminder of how grateful we as a Community should truly be for the efforts they both continually make to bring a little taste of leather and latex into the large and varied Toronto scene.

We are certainly looking forward to the rest of the summer’s events! Wherever you may call home in this world, we urge you to go out during your own Pride Week festivities (if they haven’t already passed, of course – but there’s always next year!) and support all aspects of our alternative communities. We also urge you to support the vendors and organizers, like Northbound Leather, who take the time to plan and organize such fabulous events that give all of us a chance to gather in the spirit of friendship … and be a part of a true family.

Marquis America is pleased to bring you this personal insight into one of North America’s premiere Dominas, Ms. Marina Black of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

She is, amongst her peers, regarded as the consummate professional. She is also a true SM lifestyle practitioner – and those fortunate enough to be invited into her presence are quick to note that in her world – there is simply “no nonsense”. She is discerning … articulate to a fault … experienced beyond measure … and thorough in all aspects (from initial introduction to eventual encounter) in all things fetish and sadomasochistic. When she walks into a room, whether adorned in the finest, custom-designed latex couture or comfortably ensconced in a pair of “sensible” leather boots, black jeans and classic silken blouse, there can be no doubt that she is forever and always in complete … control.

The lady has been an integral and visible part of Canada’s SM scene for a number of years, as a facilitator, educator, occasional film subject and, of course, as one of the most respected practising Dominas in the country. She is Ms. Marina Black, fetishist, visual artist and epitome of female power – and empowerment. This Montreal-born one-of-a-kind beauty has made Toronto, Ontario, her chosen home since an early age: but she is known as one of the premier latex enthusiasts throughout North America.

She grew up in Toronto, and describes her formative years as “living in a typically strict Portuguese household” (she speaks the language fluently), where expectations to excel were placed on her from both family and school teachers alike. “I never really fit in, though, with any identifiable group. Excelling at school was frowned upon by my peers”, she said. “I would have to say that High School was my ‘coming out’ party. Up until that point, my best friends were books.” She poured over text after text, for all intents and purposes teaching herself how to read, write and speak perfect English. She had a special interest and passion for Greek mythology and Egyptian history, and many a night was spent in fascination and appreciation of the ancient tales and lessons.  By the age of seven, she was deeply attracted to the aesthetic of the woman of power (Hatshepsut, the only female Pharaoh, for instance) she was learning about, and equally realized her proficiency and ability to absorb and maintain knowledge was far beyond those of an equal age. By the time she reached her teenage years, she knew she had to embark on a path set of her own choosing. Her parents chastised her for her chosen attire while attending school (she was drawn to the “punk” and Goth” alternative fashion culture), and she did extremely well in school despite what others may have thought of her “trappings”.

The attraction to being empowered as a woman began to manifest itself during this “teenage rebellious” time. After experimenting with both submissive and dominant roles with boyfriends, she quickly realized that “bottoming was not (my) thing”. She was fortunate enough to have a long-term boyfriend whon was quite fine always taking the submissive role – and her education and experience as a Domina started to increase exponentially. She started to educate herself in everything to do with SM with the same passion and drive in which she lovingly worshipped the Greek goddesses of her literary childhood. She recalls with a smile the first time someone ever approached her, asking her ”if she was a Dominatrix.” She knew then exactly what path she wanted to take in this life.

“By the time I reached my 20′s, I was beyond experimenting,” she said. “I learned very early on that being an ‘evil bitch’ and a ‘girly-girl’ were not mutually exclusive. To this day I can proudly say I remain extremely wicked but exquisitely soft and feminine.”

She had already started boldly into the professional SM world by the time she entered University - during that era, a most uncertain but incredibly courageous step for most to take at such a formative age – but not for her. She has, therefore, been a recognizable force within the Toronto and Eastern Canadian SM communities for well over two decades.

Her chosen style of Dominance is not for everyone and certainly not for the faint of heart: she offers a complete and totally immersive experience in all forms of the art of female domination – but she does not open her doors (or even a dialogue) with just anyone or everyone that approaches her. She has an extensive and intensive screening process for potential supplicants and makes no apologies for being so selective. “I’m not the most ‘popular’ professional by choice,” she said. “I am quite specific in what I do.” She points out with crystal clarity that she is “not a menu item Domina” and the clientele that is fortunate enough to pass through the initial screening process can be assured of a very heavy, exacting and completely enveloping scene.

“I was a leather girl when I started, growing up in a leather town,” she said. “At one time, Northbound Leather was the only supplier in town and, naturally, everyone involved in the scene relied on them for their clothes and toys – me included.” Latex was not on her radar – and was extremely limited in supply, and even then what was available was not quite of the standard one would find in large European centers. By the early 1990′s, though, she started noticing and taking a great interest in “some really beautiful latex pieces” she would see in various magazines and online. She describes herself as a “very physical Domina” and realized very quickly that latex wear allowed her to move more freely and expertly when involved in a session. Latex didn’t curb her range of motion: “Latex loves your body when you’re engaged in a physical and heavy scene. What’s more, my own collared pet further exposed me to a fresh perspective on latex used in tandem with heavy and sensual play. He has most definitely been my muse.”

She has been a featured participant in several of the largest latex-focused fetish events (the annual Northbound Leather event in Toronto, for instance, and most recently turned heads and gained a new following from the younger fetish crowd for her performance at the famous New York-based Rubber Ball as an invited participant). There are few in North America with the dedication and knowledge of the latex aesthetic – and few can wear it with such a combination of femininity and sensuality combined with absolute power and control.

In addition to being recognized as one of the latex world’s primary champions (especially in Toronto), Ms. Black is passionate about her art. “I’m totally addicted to bondage,” she said. “Everything to do with it, from rope work to fully inflatable body bags and sleep sacks, I’m in love with it!” She admits metal restraints are employed as a part of her repertoire – but she prefers the ambiance, anticipation and even delicious apprehension that occurs when engaging in wrapping a submissive up completely in ropes. “By the time they’re completely immobilized, I’ve taken the time to make sure they are comfortable with what is about to happen to them, building up the suspense and the sensuality of it all. They know they’re safe in my hands – even though they’re not going anywhere until I decide to release them and let them know they’re allowed to leave.” She loves being able to create what she describes as a “sensation overload” in her play – each client that comes for an SM experience in her chambers (Note: she is one of the very few professionals to boast both access to one of the most infamous establishments in the world, the Patricia Marsh House of Domination, as well as her own extremely well-equipped private studios) is guaranteed to appreciate her efforts, her time, and attention to detail. She is truly a “throwback”: she has a good base of dedicated clients and followers whom she considers to be “good friends” as well as exceptional devotees. This is rare: she isn’t seduced necessarily by the power of the almighty dollar, but by ensuring that each person that spends quality time with her will wish to be welcome back because of her insistence on a high degree of realism – and dedication to providing that authentic atmosphere and experience.

To that end, she describes herself as “much more of a physical Domina than a psychological one”. The implication is obvious: the bondage and discipline experience is far more tenable; far less fantasy; and easily more memorable. Her clients never leave her presence with the notion (or confusion) that she is “simply a professional doing her job.” This attention to detail and the care that she takes to treat each client with a high degree of genuine respect and authenticity, indeed, separates her from most of her peers. “It doesn’t matter what vocation you decide to practice,” she said. “To be exceptional at what you do, you have to love what you do – and I only do what I love.“

Ms. Marina Black also has a vocation outside of her professional domination practice. Since the year 1992, she has been trained in and is a much sought-after practitioner as a professional piercing artist. She also is proficient and popular as an Aromatherapist, and has even developed some of her own mixtures and cremes that have helped a myriad of people with a myriad of maladies. Both of these talents and skills blend well and help to compliment her as a Domina – and she is quite capable of combining all of her worlds, when needed, for those individuals who can appreciate her attentions.

Whether she is delivering an expert whipping or caning, planning and executing an extended bondage situation or delivering an abject lesson using one of her beloved electro-stimulation devices, there are none whom are permitted within her inner circle who would disagree that she definitely ranks among the world’s best as a direct, stern and dedicated Domina. “Just because someone chooses to spend quality time with a professional, it doesn’t make the experience any less real,” she said. “That is simply the way it has to be: Real!“

Those interested in knowing more about Ms. Marina Black are invited to peruse her website: Serve Marina Black.

(All photos of Ms. Marina Black  are supplied courtesy of NTB Creative)

SM used to be considered the crème de la crème of sensual expression. When, and why, did SM turn into just another internet peepshow?

Are there really women out there who just can’t get enough of men sending them a shot of their genitals? Are there really men out there who can’t get enough of women sending them a shot of their breasts? Are these people so incredibly facially deformed that they feel they need to make up for it by sending total strangers (in most cases) incredibly detailed photographs of their gonads and bust lines? How utterly pedantic, and how diametrically opposed to everything SM was supposed to be about. Nudity is a privilege earned by both the Dominant and the submissive. It appears, judging by the amount of mostly-naked “professional SM” adverts out there on the world wide web, that blatant exposing of one’s self is considered somehow “normal” and “appropriate”. Whatever happened to the old adage that it’s more sensual, and sexy, to “leave something to the imagination?

In the years prior to the advent of mass communication via desktop computers, truly trained and experienced Dominas would be dressed from neck to toe in something that made them feel powerful: showing any bare flesh was a right their boy or girl had to earn. It isn’t the nudity of the male or female body that instantly appeals to us, per se, and it is absolutely true that there are some dedicated naturists in our world who prefer to be clad in nothing but the very air they breathe, even when engaging in a sadomasochistic activity.

But for the vast majority of people involved in our peculiar little institution, and as has always been the case, fetishism is an integral part of the illusion of consensual slavery. It is an absolute truth that unless both the dominant and submissive invest and believe in the illusion of ownership they are mutually creating, the reality can and will quickly crumble. Fetish wear, gloves, shoes, boots, lingerie, etc. are all a standard part of the illusion that is a consensual power exchange to be sure – but it’s the actions and attitudes of both the Dominant and submissive partners who sustain the reality.

It is said, and with some factual basis, that it must have been a man who invented the high heeled shoes and boots that even the most basic businesswoman will don as a part of her day to day uniform. Leather attire has always been viewed as a symbol of sensual confidence, for men and women both. There are man-made materials today, some resembling even the shiniest latex or the supplest of leathers that are affordable for even the most casual of SM practitioners.

Through observation and through experience, I can confidently declare that the Domina who advertises herself through an online profile or in a contact magazine and who dresses the part (and thereby creates the aura of initial illusion) will win the majority of responses from men and women who seek them out, whether they’re “professional” or not. At least, that was certainly true in the days before instant accessibility. The era of the internet has succeeded in destroying forever the art of approach, and has reduced the usual rules of courtship into something rapid, vapid and vulgar.

Today, anyone with a fairly reliable camera, a computer, a nice pair of boots and a cheap dime-store whip, dressed only in a bra and panties or (in some men’s cases), tight fitting briefs and bare-chested for all the world to see, somehow assumes it is “acceptable” and “tasteful” to demand to be referred to as ‘Mistress’ or ‘Master’ and taken seriously as some kind of experienced SM practitioner.

The advertisements that do catch the eye of the most dedicated submissive though still tend to be those which show a well dressed, elegant and sensual Dominant. Leather, latex and PVC garments can be elegant as well as sensual. At the very least, being fully dressed on a contact advertisement shows infinitely more class than one that leaves little to the imagination – or nothing to imagine at all.

Publications such as Marquis America, at least, are dedicated to (and bringing back) the esteemed “look” and feel of the dedicated Domina and SM practitioner of old. There is an elegance, for instance, in seeing the visage of someone such as Marquis Adult Toy Reviewer and writer Mistress Darkniis finely attired in her chosen latex wear – and covered completely from head to toe. Mistress Darkniis is a Domina who truly understands the allure – and power – of the completely-clad female form. She uses that powerful imagery to maximum effect: She is developing quite a following ”Down East” amongst latex fetishists especially. Lady J (formerly of Halifax, Nova Scotia, but is as of this writing en route to a new life in Toronto, Ontario), pictured in a gorgeous full-length latex catsuit, full mask, red latex belt and red boots to the right, can be at times somewhat more liberal with the amount of skin she will show to a play partner – but it’s usually reliant on how much that particular partner has earned that privilege. It isn’t a “right” to see her bare shoulders if they haven’t earned the honor of such a reward during a Dominance encounter. Other contributors to this site, and to Marquis America itself, assuredly have similar, “old school” attitudes and sophistocated tastes in what they wear and how they choose to wear it. All of them have one thing in common, however:

It’s all about the “class”. It’s all about the “elegance”. It’s all about bringing back the illusion of absolute power in feminine form by dressing the part in a haunting, sensual and yet suggestive, realistic fashion. There’s a reason why such things are referred to as a Fetish, after all.

(Photos courtesy of Lady J and Big D of Halifax, Nova Scotia)