CHICAGO (November 11, 2010) – The south shall rise again-perhaps that’s the best way to introduce the new Mr. International Rubber 2011. After three consecutive years of Canadian titleholders, Mister Southeast Rubber, G-Man from Atlanta, Ga., was chosen Saturday night from among nine contestants who came from locations around the globe to vie for the premier mens rubber fetish title.

Roger from the Netherlands was named first runner up. Johnny Switch, a Chicago native, was named second runner up. All told, nine men representing France, Germany, Italy and regions of the United States and Canada competed for the title.

The two-night Mr. International Rubber (MIR) competition takes place among a weekend of events that bring hundreds of rubber fetish enthusiasts together for fun and revelry in the windy city. Now in its second year at the Center on Halsted, Chicago’s LGBT community center in the Lakeview “Boystown” neighborhood, the contest and the associated vendor market events attracted close to 1,000 attendees.

“MIR shows you how great it is to come together and share an interest that, otherwise, can often make you feel like a little bit of an outsider,” G-Man said. “In my time as Mister International Rubber, I want to focus on helping communities develop their own local events, both here and internationally.”

The contestants not only competed for the title of Mr. International Rubber 2011, but also for a prize package worth over $10,000, which was donated by companies in support of the event. While the top three finishers walked away with the majority of the prize package, each of the competing contestants received a portion as well.

Contestants were not the only ones to walk away with prizes. One lucky individual who purchased his weekend tickets in early registration received a custom latex cat suit valued at $1,000 from Rubbellion.

Additionally, over the two nights of the contest, audience members were invited to participate in four brief “game show” segments where they could win prizes donated by weekend sponsors: RECON, Mr. S Leather and Miller Lite.

“I think the most striking thing about MIR is just the element of fun,” said International Mister Leather, Tyler McCormick, who was in attendance. “There’s a sense of humor and friendliness in pretty much everything that goes on here.” Indeed, fun is a key component of the Mr. International Rubber weekend.

This year’s events marked the second year of new ownership and the 14th annual competition for the title of Mr. International Rubber. Planning is already underway for the 15th anniversary edition of the event to be held November 4-6, 2011.

To arrange for an interview with Mr. International Rubber 2011, press quality photos, or to inquire about an appearance at your upcoming fetish event anywhere in the world, please visit the MIR website http://www.mirubber.com for further details.

Post content courtesy © MIR Contest, LLC. Image courtesy Rubberzone.com(TM)

The rubber and gear pervs were out and seriously kinked up for the 6th annual West Coast Rubber weekend held over Labor Day in Los Angeles.

Kicking things off was the new VIP Meat and Greet and Gear Show. The event took over the industrial space next to Syren/Stockroom, who were Platinum sponsors for the rubber weekend. The weekend VIPs nibbled on noshies, enjoyed an open bar and perused kinky artwork from Antebellum Gallery and graphic artist Axel.

The centerpiece of the evening was the Gear Show, presented by Syren/Stockroom. Over 10 sexy models were engaged to present the gear. The theme for round 1 was all about play and included wrestlers, bunnies, straightjackets and pony with handler.

Round 2 dove deep in to uniforms with all of the models clad in various types of rubber uniforms. They stormed the stage and event space with a trooper mentality and moments later surrounded a mysterious neoprene-encased object that they hoisted to the main stage. When the reveal came, the new Mr West Coast Rubber for 2010 performed his own titleholder chrysalis and emerged to the cheering throng.

Mr WCR 2010 is RJ Dalgleish from Vancouver BC who will represent WCR throughout his year and will go on to compete at Mr International Rubber in Chicago in November 2010. First runner up was Chris McFaul, Eagle LA Mr Rubber 2009.

The gear fun continued the next day with a Slime Pit at the Eagle LA. A slime pit, for the uninitiated, is a giant rubber tarp laid over foam pads. Apply a judicial amount of Gun Oil silicone lube plus some water and you have instant slipperiness perfect for some sexy wrestling. One warning though….it will wear your butt out!

After a clean up and some dinner it was time to head off to the Gear Up dungeon party sponsored by M-S-Leathers and Square Peg Dildos. The event, held in a private dungeon space, is the kinky play heart of the weekend. The main room of the dungeon is converted to a dark and sexy bar space with videos and demos featuring Mr-S-Leather and Square Peg products. Hot! The back area was all about dark room action and the boyz kept the place rocking all night.

Sunday was spent chilling under a hot sun at the Rubber Perv Pool Party at a private estate high in the hills overlooking LA. Things got pretty frisky and everyone left happy and full of BBQ burgers and dogs…or some kind of dogs anyway. Later that night the crew met up for the Full Rubber dinner at Casita del Campo restaurant in Silver Lake.

Monday was wrap up day with a nice low key beer bust at the Bullet Bar in North Hollywood and a few goodbyes to the unlucky ones who had to travel for work on Monday.

2010 was another successful West Coast Rubber! Next up is the Winter Warm Up in February 2011 in Palm Springs. Keep checking www.westcoastrubber.com for updates to the event schedule plus some exciting changes to the WCR event format in 2011!

(excerpts of this entry attributed to L8xdad, co-owner of West Coast Rubber as written on www.leatherati.com site)

Vancouver was the place to be on the April 9-11, 2010 weekend as rubbermen from North America and Europe joined us to celebrate the 19th installment of Rubbout, North America’s longest running rubber event! Visitors attended from Sweden, Toronto, Chicago, Portland, Seattle, Calgary and many points in between. It was the biggest Rubbout to date and gives us some fantastic momentum as we start thinking about Rubbout 20 in 2011.

Friday afternoon was initial registration at Pumpjack Pub. Earlier in the week volunteers had worked hard to hang lubed-up balloons and inner tubes from the ceiling, drop the banners on the walls and prep the backroom for the Friday night party. The volunteers donned their Invincible shirts and Rubbout briefs for lots of photos and to accept arrivals for the weekend to pick up their packages and have a couple of pints.

After a brief break for food(!) we all ended up at Numbers for the Vancouver Men in Leather Rubbout Social. It was one of the best-attended VML parties on record and everyone had a good time. There were a couple of vac-rack demos, rubbershine boys, and a Best Rubber contest. Afterwards everyone headed back to Pumpjack for a Blackout Party and Brendan’s Fireplay Demo which was enjoyed by all!

Saturday morning came early and we headed back to Pumpjack for the Rubbout Gear Swap and Demos. The amount of gear that showed up was overwhelming and approximately $8000 in gear exchanged kinky hands, raising proceeds to cover expenses for the Rubbout committee. Both Inrubber.com and Wares and Wears had new gear and clothing to sell, and the turnout of buyers was impressive. The vac-cube and straightjacket demos were a highlight of the event.

The focus of the evening was the Private Mens Condo Party at Mitch’s. A sexy doorman greeted us as we arrived at the complex, there was a photo studio set up on the first floor for rubbermen to get pictures taken with Fenn, Mr. International Rubber 2010 and Brendan, International Mr. Leather 2009 runner-up. The second floor had a bar and social area and the rooftop patio had a bar and enclosed area complete with stockade and disco ball! I heard that there were some interesting shaving scenes done up there while I was working the bar on the main floor….

Afterwards most of the group headed to M2M for the Rubbout sex party although some attendees went to the Thickset Bear Dance at ANZA Club which I was also told was a great time. The sex party was exactly that…a sexy party! Everyone enjoyed the goings-on in the slime pit – dildo wrestling and such…and the Rubbout hospitality room was a very popular spot for most of the guys over the course of the evening.

Sunday morning we all reassembled at Pumpjack for the Rubbout Brunch and prize giveaways. After a good meal and shower of prizes from the raffle ticket sales (up 60% from last year), some of us headed back to Mitch’s to help with the tear down from the previous evenings event and then headed back to Pumpjack for the weekly Sunday Beer Bust.

It was deemed by all a great time and one of the best Rubbout parties in the event’s history. I am so glad to have been a part of it, and we’re all already thinking forward to next year’s event which will be a big one since the 20th anniversary is such a milestone. Once again, thanks to all the attendees for coming, all the sponsors for assisting us to pull off such a great weekend, Xtra West, Pumpjack, Numbers and Priape for their shameless promotion and the volunteers and organizing committee for your tireless enthusiasm. I’m looking forward to 2011 already!

The Mister International Rubber 2010 weekend in Chicago took place on November 6-8, 2009.

The 2010 event was bigger and better than ever. The contest had a change of ownership and location this year, and it was obvious from the start that this was going to allow the weekend event to grow in the future into something even bigger and better. There were some initial hesitations about moving the event from the local Chicago bars to the GLBT Center on Halsted, but all that was quickly forgotten once it was obvious the venue would provide more space to compete, socialize, and perv out in gear for everyone.

Even though we were late arriving at the Center for the Friday night Meet and Greet due to our late landing in Chicago, we did make it in time to watch the end of the portion of the competition called Rubber Image which was an introduction of all seven contestants to the judges and the rubbermen in the audience.

After the competition everyone headed to the CellBlock across the street for some post-event drinks. We hung out there until the wee hours of the morning. After that, many guys headed to Steamworks for the first of several unofficial MIR parties.

Saturday afternoon we checked out the MIR Vendors Market. The Market was held in the Center’s gymnasium all weekend. I’m sure the vendors were appreciative that this year they didn’t have to build up and tear down their displays on a daily basis since there was dedicated space for all of them. The market was a great place to visit with a lot of friends, check out a lot of new gear and rubber clothing, buy a few things from some of the vendors and check out all the great deals in the gear swap sponsored by the Chicago Rubbermen. Kudos go out to all the guys that organized such a great market and the vendors that travelled from all over North America to Chicago!

The highlight of the vendor market was definitely the demo space in the center of the room being managed by Kinkrubber. The setup was quite complex with piping all around the perimeter of the space allowing for multiple vacuum and bondage items to be blown up or sucked out simultaneously. There were up to six sexy demos taking place on at any one time….marvellous scenes of rubber bondage with lots of hot guys!

Saturday evening was the contest finale, with the contestant questions and the infamous Grab Bag round. We actually made it to the Center in time to watch the entire contest, partake in the hospitality room during the intermissions and check out the hijinks going on in the Center bathrooms on the third floor…

The judges selected Chicago’s own Junya, Mr. Midwest Rubber 2009 as the 2nd Runner Up, and Skin Rubber Boy from Puerto Rico as the 1st Runner Up. It was finally revealed that Fenn, Mr. Toronto Rubber 2009 is the new Mr International Rubber for 2010. Triple play for the Canucks – 2008, 2009, and 2010! Whoot!

Immediately after the contest, everyone headed to the Victory Party at Jackhammer/The Hole and Touche. The fantastic shuttle bus basically ran all weekend nights, moving the rubbermen from location to location and to and from the host hotel. This was a definite plus to getting around on the weekend.

Sunday brought another beautiful day to take in some of the sights of the Windy City. Our crew went downtown, took in some of the architectural marvels of Chicago in addition to Millennium Park and other downtown attractions. We never made it to the Vendor Market on Sunday although Smashbox was lamenting we never got to check out any of the Carrera chastity equipment that he had his eyes on!

After a bit of a rest and dinner, we headed to the unofficial Official MIR weekend wrapup night at Sidetrack. This year’s event was more muted than last year, mostly due to the fact official events finished the night before and many people had already left for the weekend, however we still had a lot of fun and got to visit with a lot of people (particularly the Chicago Rubbermen guys who were so busy on the weekend who now had some time to unwind and relax).

Overall, an excellent weekend, a superbly organized event, and a positive experience that can only get better now that management of the MIR event has given it a push to incubate into something bigger and more exciting in the years to come. Congratulations Rubberwilli and Kinkrubber on an event well rubberized!

In a First, Metal Queen Lita Ford Breaks Song from New Album on Leading Fetish Site Stockroom.com

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In an innovative music marketing move, heavy metal queen Lita Ford will release a single from “Wicked Wonderland,” her first album in 15 years, on Stockroom.com, the world’s leading fetish site, starting Monday, September 28th. The album will be released and available for purchase at Amazon and at stores across the North America on October 6th.

It is believed to be the first time an important music release has been launched through a website catering to the alternative fetish lifestyle.

Wicked Wonderland’s erotic song “Bed,” which explores themes of bondage, kink and power exchange in a strong and highly artistic style, will be available exclusively on Stockroom.com prior to the album’s release.

“My husband Jim Gillette and I have carved out our own path to develop a wonderful and close family life,” said Lita. “Though we’re a long-married couple, we both have very active imaginations, including being kinky with each other, and that’s what this album is about. It’s sort of a sexual autobiography. We’ve partnered up with Stockroom.com because it’s our favorite outfitter for kink products.”

While previewing “Bed,” fans of Lita and Stockroom will also be able to view and order from “Lita’s Collection” (stockroom.com/litaford/) special selection of some of the fetish gear that Lita and Jim have enjoyed, along with her personal choice of Syren Latex fashion styles.