If you haven’t heard by now, Mr. International Rubber 2010 was 10 xs bigger and better than anyone expected on so many levels that the smiling (and playing) never stopped the entire weekend.
Yours truly was the Vendor Market Organizer. Held in the Center on Halsted’s (GLBT Center) Billie Jean King gymnasium, I was lucky enough to get Mr. S Leather, Hot 4 Hogtie, Rubberzone, RECON, TLS Rubbergear, Taylor Buck Studios, E7 Gear and many other vendors fly in from as far away as Belgium to be a part of the madness I was controlling. When I say madness, I mean it in a FUN way as everyone was very nice to work with and they all had above expected sales for the weekend. Just goes to show, that even in this bad economy, people are still buying gear to have Kinky Sex! YEAH!!!!
That’s “Angus De Captain”, the pirate monkey… a Facebook celebrity that was recognized all over the weekend.
Don’t trust him. HE IS A WHORE!!!
The Demo area was pretty damn cool. At first, we were just going to go with a small 10×20 demo play space for KINKRUBBER. I’m glad I insisted on a bigger 40×40 space. I knew he’d fill it. At one point he had 6 or more boys in Vacuumed bondage balloons filling up the entire space. There was a hanging steel cage with another balloon boy, sleep sacks, straightjackets, hogsacks and Stun Guns (heh heh… mine!). Seriously, the playing never stopped.
It was very handy to have a Whole Foods grocery store below us to grab food. That is, when we all remembered to eat. I swear I lived off an adrenaline rush all weekend. Lunch? Dinner? “Sorry, Mr. Hungry Belly… too busy got a boy bound in a Neoprene Sleep sack over at Mr. S Leather. You’ll have to wait… until Monday”
After my Vendor Market closed, there was 2 hours for everyone to grab some dinner and rest up before heading down the hall for the Cocktail Party. Everyone really seemed to love this. MIR is totally out of the bar atmosphere into a classy lobby where people could socialize and really get to know each other before the contest started. There’s been plenty of coverage of how well done the contest was in the incredible COH Theater so I’ll leave that be. But man, what a nice venue for it. No cramped bar, just a great venue. During the contest breaks, we spent some more time… you know… socializing.
After contest on Friday Night, everyone went to the Cell Block bar which is next to the COH. After the contest finale on Saturday night, everyone that didn’t go back to their hotel rooms with somebody hopped on the shuttle bus to the Jackhammer bar. Both bars, on both nights, were packed with perverted sexy rubber men!
Sunday night has a new tradition. In the past years, many regular Chicago visitors have heard about the crazy “Show Tunes” night at the bar Sidetrack. Yeah, it doesn’t sound terribly sexy, does it? But, after a wild weekend of kinky sex… it’s time to LAUGH. Sidetrack bar was PACKED with MIR people who closed the bar that night singing and enjoying Sidetrack’s world famous slushies. At one point, a Tranny sat next to a certain friend… and was fixated on his rubbery ass. Hmmm…. which friend was that? 😉
One of the more special moments of the weekend was when my boy Taylor Buck gave me one of his drawings telling me I was the inspiration for it. It is now framed and up on my wall. Amazing. He sold quite a few prints over the weekend and was hired to do some commissions by others. Another special moment was when Richard Hunter (Mr. S Leather) and Jon Krongard (IML) told me how proud they were of me for pulling it off. They warmed my cold dark heart with their compliments. Awwww, thanks, guys!
I’ve received an overwhelming amount of love and appreciation in the past week. I share this with everyone that helped make this event happen including my partner, Ross, RubberWillie, KinkRubber, Tonio, the Chicago Rubbermen and ALL the Volunteers we had helping us out over the weekend. Thank YOU, guys.
As many of you know, the Center on Halsted (Chicago’s GLBT Center) came to US to hold MIR at their venue. That sort of thing doesn’t happen too often. Especially, when they ask you to come back the next year. Big Thanks to the Center on Halsted!! We’ll see you all next year!!!!
It was a “SUPER” Weekend!!
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Even MORE photos can be found at:
Leatherati’s MIR Coverage