The Feng Shui of Leather

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #217, September 19, 2003)

SUGGESTED GRAPHIC: Yin/Yang symbol with some kind of leather studs. Or maybe a leather motorcycle hat with a yin/yang emblem in place of the usual eagle or Harley emblem.

Sometimes it can be interesting to look with different eyes at something with which we’re familiar. It can be startling to see what’s different, and even more startling to see what’s the same. For instance, what happens when we apply the ancient Chinese metaphysical wisdom of feng shui to leather? No, I’m not going to suggest hanging crystals from your nipple rings and putting a wind chime on your Harley. Suspend your disbelief and let’s explore.

Classic feng shui has been practiced for millenia. It deals with understanding chi, the “life-force energy” that results from the interaction of yin and yang, the two universal forces which are seen as equal but opposite components of one unified whole. The metaphysical principles underlying feng shui are also the underpinnings of other disciplines including macrobiotics (which has been called “feng shui for food”) and the I Ching or “Book of Changes”, the world’s oldest oracle (the “changes” referred to are the constantly-changing interaction of yin and yang). Acupuncture and acupressure are attempts to understand and control the flow of chi in the body, while feng shui attempts to understand and control the flow of chi in the environment.

The yin/yang symbol depicts a relationship that is always changing, shifting back and forth between the two energies. Note that in the symbol yin is represented by black and yang is represented by white. But also note that the largest part of each half of the symbol, where the black or white color is at its fullest, has in it a spot of the opposite color. This symbolizes the fact that the moment each force is at its fullest is also the start of that force’s decay (and the corresponding upswing of the opposite force). Comfortable chi is achieved when yin and yang are balanced and the swings between them are not too extreme.

Besides black, other yin attributes include low, soft, dark, wet, resting and female. Other yang attributes in addition to white include high, hard, bright, dry, active and male. You get the idea.

Now let’s introduce another level of feng shui: the five elements of Chinese metaphysics. The constantly-changing interaction of yin and yang gives rise to five phases, or elements, of chi, composed of different proportions of yin and yang: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood. Again, comfortable chi is achieved when the five elements are in balance; discomfort arises when one or more of the elements are either too strong or too weak.

So how does this all relate to leather? Start by taking almost any article of leather apparel: vest, chaps, boots, whatever. First consider the material of which the article is made: leather. Animals (including humans) belong to the fire element, as does leather, being an animal product. Fire is the most yang, or male, of the five elements. So the classic leatherman, seen through the lens of feng shui, is a male clothed in an extremely male garment.

But now consider the color of that garment. Typically it’s black, the most yin (or female) of all colors. This at first might seem like a contradiction, but remember that feng shui is all about balance—we balance the strong yang of the leather with the equally strong yin of the color black. (This might say something about gay leathermen’s reputation for being comfortable with both our masculine and feminine sides.)

Imagine, on the other hand, if our leather was white. Remember Elvis Presley—he famously wore a white leather outfit onstage in Las Vegas. If our leathers were white, the typical leather bar would look like a convention of Elvis impersonators. The extreme yang of white added to the extreme yang of leather would be overwhelming.

Now let us consider another classic piece of a leatherman’s apparel: dark-blue Levis. Plants and plant products, including the cotton from which Levis are made, fall under the Wood element. Wood is also yang, and therefore masculine, although not as strongly masculine as Fire. The counterbalancing color is dark blue, which is not as strongly yin as black. Again, we have balance.

Consider the hankie code, where left means top and right means bottom. Whoever formulated that code in the early days of leather may or may not have been aware that in feng shui left is yang (male, traditionally top) and right is yin (female, traditionally bottom).

Feng shui also has interesting things to tell us about dungeon design. Dungeons are generally intimate spaces (yin); feng shui tells us that high ceilings would be counterproductive, as would white walls (both are too yang). But the yin of the dark and intimate dungeon must be balanced by at least some yang in the form of the fire element (proper illumination)—otherwise the dungeon’s occupants might trip and get hurt (and not in a good way).

Also, since dungeons are places where people need to feel safe in order to be able to relax and let their inhibitions down, exposed beams or rafters are not good—feng shui maintains that exposed ceiling beams or other heavy objects hanging overhead cause people to feel uneasy. So if your dungeon is in the basement with exposed floor joists overhead, feng shui says you might improve the dungeon’s chi by putting in some kind of ceiling—or at least painting the exposed joists and floorboards black so they’re less noticeable.

Certainly leatherfolk should be able to appreciate the wisdom of feng shui and its concepts of balancing ever-shifting energies—because that is, after all, a major part of what good sex or a good BDSM scene is all about.

Upcoming Leather Events (for Calendar section)

Saturday, September 20,

Black Guard Fundraiser. Benefit for Clinic 42’s Top Shelf program. Bring donations of bath, bed, kitchen and cleaning supplies (must be new). 6-10 PM. The 19 Bar.

An Evening at The Minneapolis Eagle

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #216, September 5, 2003)

Lavender Magazine’s OutStanding Bar to Meet Men

Since The Minneapolis Eagle opened five years ago, I’ve heard many men say something like this: “Well, I’ve tiptoed up to the Eagle and stuck my nose in, but I could never actually go in there!” Evidently, quite a few Lavender Magazine readers have actually “gone in there,” and they liked it so much they chose The Minneapolis Eagle as “OutStanding Bar to Meet Men.”

If you’re in a major city and want to find the place where leathermen, bears, and other masculine gay men congregate, you go to The (insert city here) Eagle. The various Eagles are not members of a chain; each is independently owned and run and each has its own unique flavor. Here’s a description of the flavor of The Minneapolis Eagle on one recent Friday night.

9:45 PM: Things are just getting going. The music is lively but not overwhelming. Sean the bartender greets me with a friendly nod (he’s the man for May in the 2003 “Men of the Eagle” calendar). Leather Cellar manager Bruce Gohr is setting up the leather vending area by the front door. Two guys sitting on one barstool are sucking face, oblivious to the rest of the world around them. And two other guys leave—they must have hooked up early.

The lighting, both from the art-deco fixtures behind the bar and the utility lamps hanging overhead, is almost all red. Two TVs are showing a tape of the 1996 International Mr. Leather contest, while a third shows a continuing series of what appear to be photos harvested from the internet.

The Atons leather/levi club of Minneapolis are having their monthly fetish night, this month’s theme being rubber and latex. Bruce Chambers, president of the Atons, is sitting at a table with a pair of waders on which he is brushing layer after layer of liquid latex. He was supposed to be having the liquid latex brushed on him, but he had an unfortunate depilatory accident which left his skin unfit for the exercise.

10:45 PM: Next door to The Minneapolis Eagle is another bar, The Bolt. Ed Hopkins is the proprietor of both bars and they’re connected by a roll-up door that’s open most of the time. But the roll-up door is closed now, and the bootshine area is set up in front of it. Fridays and Saturdays after 9 PM, when The Eagle’s dress code is enforced, the only way to get from The Eagle to The Bolt is either from the street or through the outdoor patio in back that is shared by both bars. (For details of the dress code visit The Minneapolis Eagle’s website at <www.minneapoliseagle.com>.)

I go back to the patio to check out what’s happening there, but it’s a sultry evening and the crowd on the patio is small. I return to The Eagle, and suddenly I’m struck by the fact that there is very little traditional cruising going on here. The crowd is not lining the walls, quietly staring at every man who passes by. Everyone is engaged in conversation in groups of two, three or more, scattered gloriously helter-skelter around the bar. I also notice that the music is kept low enough that conversation is possible.

11 PM: It’s hard to move. It’s crowded—there are men everywhere. An intense game of pool is going on; several people are leaning against the back wall, watching and commenting. One of them is Mark Cady, Mr. Minnesota Leather 1990 (the very first), who is watching his husband Hubert Trimble (“Yes,” says Cady, “we’re both husbands”) shooting pool. The line of quarters on the edge of the pool table indicates that it will be busy all night. Another gentleman leans against the back wall, watches the pool game, and smokes a cigar—“a Butera, with a B,” he says when I ask him what kind of cigar it is.

I notice the club colors of the Atons and Black Guard decorating the back wall, along with posters from other leather bars, some of them long-gone. It’s comforting to see our history on display. On a shelf toward the ceiling are many trophies and plaques for various Minneapolis Eagle softball teams.

11:30 PM: I make my way to the front of the bar to see what’s going on there. There are now two guys manning the leather shop area, helping a customer try on a leather vest. The on-site ATM is busy—a bearish guy in a sleeveless flannel shirt, cutoff jeans, a Van Dyke and a hardhat gets money while another guy stands in line watching him.

Midnight: It’s even harder to move in the bar now than it was earlier. A buff gentleman with a shaved head and no shirt bumps into me. In the butchest of voices and without a trace of campiness, he very politely apologizes by saying, “Excuse me, dear.” Chivalry is not dead.

I notice many non-white faces. It’s about time. I also notice that everyone is interacting with everyone else rather than maintaining skin-color cliques. It’s about time for that, too.

1:30 PM: One gentleman has stripped down to bare-ass chaps. The patio is jammed. The sound system is playing “Believe” by Cher (she’s in town tonight).

This evening I’ve seen camo fatigues and I’ve seen a very impressive chain harness. Some guys have been wearing leather, some have been bearish, some have straddled both categories and some haven’t fit into either. But regardless of what they’re wearing, for the most part each man here has at least one thing in common—as one man puts it, “There’s a little more maturity here than you find at some other places.”

The Eagle stays active until 2:30 AM, but I don’t. On the way to the door I see a gentleman wearing a t-shirt that says, in large type, “This place isn’t for everyone.” In smaller type it says “(Thank God.)” He tells me the shirt is from a bar called The Temple in Detroit, but I think the sentiment fits The Minneapolis Eagle as well. It isn’t for everyone, but if you’re looking for an OutStanding Bar to Meet Men, The Minneapolis Eagle might be for you.

Minneapolis Eagle Plans 5th-Anniversary Celebration

Has it really been five years since The Minneapolis Eagle opened? It has, and during those five years the bar has featured many recurring weekly, monthly and annual events. Currently, the bar hosts a Bear night the second Thursday of each month, an Atons of Minneapolis club/fetish night the third Friday of each month, and a Minnesota Storm Patrol beer bust the second Saturday of each month. Annual events include leather-pride festival events in June, the Mr. Minneapolis Eagle contest, a uniform contest as part of the bar’s Halloween festivities, the “Men of the Eagle” Calendar contests, and a variety of sports fundraisers throughout the softball season.

And mark your calendar now: The Minneapolis Eagle’s 5th-Anniversary Celebration will be happening the weekend of September 26-28. More details to come.

Upcoming Leather Events (for Calendar section)

Saturday, September 13

10 AM-2PM: Dante’s Inferno. Interested in learning bullwhip technique? Come to a demonstration/workshop with whipmaster Robert Dante, presented by MSDB and Whipsters. To purchase tickets or for event info: e-mail events@mdsb-mn.org For more info on Dante: <www.bullwhip.net>.

Saturday, September 20,

Black Guard Fundraiser. Benefit for Clinic 42’s Top Shelf program. Bring donations of bath, bed, kitchen and cleaning supplies (must be new). 6-10 PM. The 19 Bar.

A Conversation With IML2003 John Pendal

(Full-length Leather Life column published on Lavender Magazine website, Issue #215, August 22, 2003; a shorter version appeared in print)

PHOTO: John Pendal, International Mr. Leather 2003

John Pendal, this year’s International Mr. Leather contestant from The Hoist Bar in London, England, started his contestant speech by saying, “Before I realised I was gay I spent seven years in a fundamentalist religion. Do you think I should send them a video of this contest?” Pendal, who went on to win the IML 2003 title, has a continually-updated website (<www.iml2003.com>) where you can read that IML speech as well as other things he’s written—including the story of how he got involved with Christian fundamentalism and what got him out of it, and a guide to London’s leather scene. He recently traveled all the way from London to Omaha, Neb. for the International Ms. Leather 2003 contest, which is where I caught up with him.

Is being IML what you expected? Or didn’t you really know what to expect?

No, I knew what to expect, in that for the last years I’ve had a very political job where I work, so I knew there would be politics involved. I’ve been in a theater company for eight years, traveling, so I know what it’s like living out of a suitcase. And I’ve been writing since age eight. So, writing and delivering speeches, traveling to events, being political—I was expecting a lot of that. I haven’t had any surprises yet.

How is it working trans-ocean? You know, being one of these European IMLs that we get every once in awhile, of whom some people say, “Well, we’ll never see him again until it’s time to give up the sash next year”?

Well, to anybody that says that about me, I would say: “If you won IML and you’re an American, how often would we see you in Europe?” I’m coming out to America every month for the next year. Would I see you in Europe every month for the next year?

That’s the proper rejoinder.

I’m going to Rome, Brussels, Amsterdam, Reykjavik—in Iceland, for anyone who doesn’t know—Canada, I’m trying to get to Ireland, and yes, I will be going to America at least once a month for the next year.

I try to go to as many countries as I can, and there’s only two caveats on that. One is that the travel fund won’t burn out completely, because I inherited a healthy fund from my predecessor. I’d like there to be something left for the next IML. And the second thing is I have to be careful on jet lag.

You said at the IML press conference that you wanted to turn some attention to the European leather community—

I’d like to cross-fertilize. I think there are things that Europe can learn from America. I think there’s a great deal that America can learn from Europe. My plan is to try to take things back and forth.

But there are things that Europeans don’t have to worry about that Americans do, and vice versa.

There are, but then some things are very much the same. The syphilis outbreak is huge in America, it’s huge in London, it’s huge in Amsterdam. And I think we need education everywhere. People are coming on the scene all the time and they’re joining in great numbers, and that’s fabulous. But boy, do we need to teach them quickly! Stuff about safewords, about HIV transmission routes—not just about HIV but gonorrhea, herpes, syphilis, chlamydia.

And people need to know the history of our community—otherwise you just put on a pair of leather chaps that you bought, go to a bar, buy a drink and think that’s the leather community? No, that’s not—that’s wearing a costume and buying a drink in a bar. The leather community is something very different, and we need to educate people on that. It’s not they don’t want to know—they just don’t have the opportunities. When you go to a bar and buy a pint, is there anything to tell you, in most places, “This is where we’ve come from”?

One thing I’m really curious about—and I know you’ve written about it on your website—is your time as a fundamentalist.

I wrote an essay about that a few years ago, and it was a very cathartic experience. I didn’t think I needed to do it until my partner said, “I think this could be closure for you.” I wrote it in an evening, but it then took awhile to strip out a lot of it—because I was writing it from pure emotion, and what I wanted to do was attack fundamentalism, not attack faith.

When I got into the fundamentalist group the ability to write was a gift they realized I had. That’s one of the reasons I was promoted within the group so quickly—I could write what was essentially propaganda for them in the form of comic sketches. After I got kicked out because I was gay, I created a more gay-friendly touring theatre company that did stuff all over England and Wales. Also, I was selling scripts to local radio and to theatre companies in Canada and Paris, and I wrote stuff for Metropolitan Community Church.

Professionally, what are you doing now?

Up until recently I was working at (Britain’s) Channel 4, the TV station that made the original series of “Queer As Folk.” It’s a very gay-friendly TV station. They’ve now given me a sabbatical—unpaid leave for a year—but I stay as an employee on the books, and I keep some of my benefits, and I have a job to go back to if I want it. But my life needed a kick up the ass and hopefully at the end of this year I’ll have a different direction to go in.

I think a lot of creativity comes from dissatisfaction in your life, or being angry at something, or having something to say. And the more content I’ve gotten over the last ten years, the less creative I’ve gotten. My outlet now is writing things like the story on my website of my journey into and out of fundamentalism, or keeping a guide to London’s leather scene on the web updated every week, and writing speeches for IML.

As for the comic sketches and the script-writing, that’s really on the back burner, probably until I have a lot more life experience. I could create characters, I could create plots, I could do the scene breakout very well—I had honed all those techniques. But when you write something there should always be something underneath that is your voice—that’s coming out as a subtext. And I didn’t really have the life experience to be saying anything of value. Everything I was saying was on the surface—be a fundamentalist, be gay, be this, be that. It was too obvious, and what I needed to do was go away and live a little. So, that’s what I’m currently doing. But you can bet after my year as IML I’ll have a lot of material.

Many people have been asking Pendal what his plans are for the Harley Davidson 100th-anniversary XLH Sportster 883 motorcycle that was part of his IML prize package. The answer is at <www.iml2003.com> (click on “Being IML”). There you’ll find details about two of Pendal’s favorite causes, The Leather Archives & Museum (<www.leatherarchives.org>) and The Spanner Trust (<www.spannertrust.org>). Make a $20 donation to both of these organizations ($10 each) and Pendal will thank you by entering your name in a drawing, to be held at next year’s IML, to award that motorcycle to a lucky winner.

Leather By Boots Minnesota Merges With Leather Cellar

Leather Cellar and Leather By Boots Minnesota have merged (Leather By Boots Minnesota is now a division of Cellar Leather LLC). They’ve also moved, so they’re not in a cellar anymore. Inviting you to come check out their new store at the corner of 37th and Cedar in south Minneapolis are owners Jennifer Langland and Lars and Mark McCrary, general manager Bruce Gohr, and clerks Ron Daher and Philip Lowe Jr.

In addition to a wide variety of leather/fetish-related merchandise, custom work is available. Hours at the new store are Wed.-Sat. noon-8PM, Sunday noon-6PM. You’ll also find them out and about at a bar or event near you in the Twin Cities and throughout Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and the Dakotas. For more information shop their website at <www.leatherbyboots.com>.

2003 International Ms Leather/Bootblack Chosen in Omaha

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #214, August 8, 2003)

Leatherwomen and leathermen from everywhere recently converged on Omaha, Neb. for the combined 2003 International Ms Leather/International Ms Bootblack weekend. Producers Amy Marie and Megan Meek-DeJarlais, assisted by their very talented Bare Images Productions staff, crammed a lot into the weekend. Besides the two contests there were nine workshops, a weekend-long vendor fair, a video premiere on Sunday evening (featuring our own Miss Richfield 1981), and parties, receptions and gatherings galore. Host hotel was the Redick Plaza in downtown Omaha.

Each contestant for both International Ms Leather (IMsL) and International Ms Bootblack (IMsBB) brought a basket of leather-related merchandise that was donated by, and reflective of, their local leather community. On Friday evening, July 18, these baskets were auctioned off in an orgy of fun and fundraising. $1900 was raised for the IMsL travel fund and $2200 for the IMsBB travel fund.

On Saturday, July 19, the bootblack contestants set up shop at the vendor fair and did as many bootshines as they could, knowing that the bootblack who shined the greatest number of boots would be declared the winner. Saturday evening the IMsL contest and show was held at Club Joy in downtown Omaha. In addition to the IMsL contest’s speech and leather fantasy judging segments, the audience also heard from representatives of many other leather organizations such as the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, the Leather Archives and Museum, and the LA boys of Leather.

After moving step-aside speeches from IMsL 2002 Russ Cosgrove and IMsBB 2002 Kari LaVecchia, the new titleholders were announced: IMsBB 2003 is slaveboi eddie, with runner-up honors going to Katie Whelp. IMsL 2003 is Tammie Nelson, with Ruby as first runner-up and Jennifer Morgan as second runner-up.

New IMsL Tammie Nelson is from a Greenwood, Ind. and is a technical sales representative for an automotive-finishes company; new IMsBB slaveboi eddie is a school teacher and mathematician who, in her own words, “specializes in hyperbolic and non-Euclidian geometry.” eddie is from Culver City, Calif.

For more information visit the IMsL website at <www.imsl.org>.

PHOTO: P7181002 or P7181003 (choose one)

IMsL contestant introduction, Friday night: Left to right: Ruby, from Cincinnati, Ohio, sponsored by Tri-State Leather Contest; Jennifer Morgan, from Philadelphia, Pa., sponsored by The Bike Stop; Jae Januze, from Lakewood, Colo., sponsored by Thunder in the Mountains; Tammie Nelson, from Greenwood (Indianapolis), Ind., sponsored by Kendra McClain/Great Lakes Leather Alliance; and Flower, Ms Leather Nebraska 2002.

PHOTO: P7181007

IMsBB contestant introduction, Friday night: Left to right: Katie Whelp, from Philadelphia, Pa., sponsored by The Bike Stop; slaveboi eddie, from Culver City, Calif., sponsored by LA boys of Leather and Bill Mitchell, American Leatherman 2003; ember, from Plano, Tex., sponsored by NLA Dallas; and boi joe (aka Kathryn Hunter), from Toronto, Ont., Canada, sponsored by Mr. Leatherman Toronto Competition, Inc.

PHOTO: P7181043

Basket auction, Friday night: Some very talented “Vannas” helped display the merchandise in the baskets as they were being auctioned off. Here Steve LaViolette, Mr. Atlantic Canada Leather 2002, displays some of the merchandise from one of the baskets: leather wrist restraints, a beer stein and some wicked-looking knives.

PHOTO: P7194023 The new titleholders, Saturday night: Left, IMsL 2003 Tammie Nelson; right, IMsBB 2003 slaveboi eddie.

GLBT Bikers: Twin City Riders Is Looking For You!

The Twin City Riders, the GLBT motorcycle club that started up at the end of last season, is still in the process of formation and reminds you that they are still looking for members. All interested bikers, whether sport or cruiser bike owners, can visit the group’s website at <groups.yahoo.com/group/TwinCityRiders> and join the group there. The club suggests that when you join you choose to “receive all group e-mails,” which will facilitate group communication. Interested bikers without internet access can call for more information. Once the group has a significant number of interested members, a meeting will be planned to discuss a formal group name, goals, and plans for future rides.

A similar group, the Minnesota Gay Sportbike Riders, already exists specifically for sport bike (crotch rocket) owners. That group’s web site is <groups.yahoo.com/group/MNGSR>.

Andrew Violette: Composer, Pianist, Monk, Leather Top

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #213, July 25, 2003)

Put three CDs in the changer. Dim the lights. Sit back, relax and, as you listen to his Piano Sonata 7, let composer/pianist Andrew Violette musically top you in an amazing three-hour scene.

Violette’s Piano Sonatas 1 & 7 have been recently released as a 3-CD set by St. Paul-based innova Recordings (innova #587, available at www.innova.mu).

Violette was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and attended New York’s High School of Music and Art. He studied at The Juilliard School under such composers as Roger Sessions, Elliott Carter, and Pierre Boulez. He became a freelance musician and then a contemplative Benedictine monk. And somewhere along the way, he became a leather top, as the CD’s photography and graphics clearly show.

Today he is “an unsung maverick among New York composers,” according to The New Yorker. He’s also a virtuoso pianist with stunning technical prowess, amazing endurance and a daring performance style which fellow composer Louise Talma described as “brutalizing the piano.”

When a leather top who has also been a monk writes music, what does it sound like? Philip Blackburn, Senior Program Director at the American Composers’ Forum in St. Paul, describes Violette’s music as “part of a ‘New Mysticism’ school of composition. The music is a spiritual experience to play or to hear. Especially considering the scope and length of Sonata 7, one could say it’s almost more like a ritual than a concert piece.” Blackburn also noted that “If you go to hear Andrew perform Piano Sonata 7 in person, you’re basically submitting to his will for 3 hours”—and, like any good BDSM scene, “it’s ultimately a very rewarding experience.”

At the other end of the spectrum, a friend who overheard part of Piano Sonata 7 as I was listening to it asked the question: “Is that supposed to be music or is he tuning the piano?”

I had the chance to get Violette’s response to that criticism (“Yes, it’s supposed to be music. But I don’t understand why tuning the piano can’t be music too”) and to ask him some other questions as well. When I asked how his background as a monk and as a leather top affects the music he composes and performs, he answered that the monastic life, the SM life, and the life of a composer are all grounded in tradition, discipline, and the paradox of both obedience and seduction. Violette also noted that all three aspects of his life “are countercultural. BDSM is definitely a fringe lifestyle. Being an artist in the United States, particularly a composer who is not an academic, is about as fringe as one can get. Being a monk in this secular society is definitely off the wall.”

One criticism of much of the “serious” (as opposed to “popular”) music composed today is that many people don’t find it “accessible” or “approachable” enough. I asked Violette how “mere mortals,” meaning people who don’t have degrees in music composition, can approach his music. He answered, “Mere mortals must approach this music. We either live or die, we either approach new things or we die of despair. Three hours is not too much to listen to. It’s shorter than Die Gotterdammerung. It’s really about the length of The Godfather or the length of a baseball game. On the other hand, everyone is free to not approach the music or any other piece of art.”

I asked Violette if he thought his music required the listener to really pay attention in order to appreciate it. He didn’t seem to think so—in fact, he seemed not to mind the idea of his music being “background” at all: “I see no reason why Piano Sonata 7 can’t accompany a sumptuous dinner. I see no reason why Piano Sonata 7 can’t be the background meditation for a flogging. But of course any art, from popular art to Etruscan vases, merits an extended look.”

When I asked Violette how one responds constructively to unfavorable comments like the “piano tuning” question—or was it better to ignore them?—Violette’s response was, “I think the question is: Are artistic criteria possible? My answer is that they are not possible in one’s time because one is too close to the process. One cannot separate oneself and one’s prejudicial thinking, hidden agendas—whatever—from one’s times.” He continued by saying that he, his friends, critics, musicians and listeners approach the music in different ways, and each finds their own meaning in it.

But, in the end, Violette feels that “All this counts for nothing. No matter how many grants and awards and commissions an artist gets, it counts for nothing. Even the judgment of the artist himself counts for nothing. That’s the danger of not being a maverick. That’s the danger of being in an artistic system—everyone tells you what a good boy you are, but how do they know? I say nobody can know what a piece means—whether a piece has any value. For all I know I could be writing garbage.

“The only reason to write is to serve God. Whether one’s work is of any value after one is dead has no meaning to the true artist. The true artist writes to exist. The true artist writes because he must. If he didn’t write he would go crazy. He must write even if he’s writing garbage or a masterpiece.”

(For more information or to hear excerpts from Piano Sonata 7 visit <www.andrewviolette.com>.)

PHOTO: Andrew Violette

PHOTO CREDIT: Barbara Nitke

Calling All Making Porn Cast Members

Cast members of The Making of Making Porn are requested to contact Chris Zaglifa for an invitation to a private screening on Sunday, July 27 at 6 PM.

“Making Porn,” says Zaglifa, director and producer, “was a local affair showing Minneapolis’ uninhibited men enjoying themselves in BDSM and kink play.” The world premiere of The Making of Making Porn is scheduled late this summer, at which time the whole leather and kink community will be able to view and enjoy it.

New Social Outlets: MN Storm and MAsT

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #212, July 11, 2003)

Say hello to two additions to Twin Cities leather life: a new pansexual leather club, Minnesota Storm Patrol (MN Storm for short) and a new local chapter of a national organization, Masters And slaves Together (MAsT).

Minnesota Storm Patrol

According to MN Storm spokesman Jim Randall, the Twin Cities now has “a leather club for the 21st century.” The club had its first meeting on April 5 of this year and became a Minnesota non-profit organization on June 12. The club plans to pursue affiliation with MACC (Midwest Area Council of Clubs) at the Fall MACC meeting in St. Louis.

MN Storm started life with twelve founding troopers (full members) and has already added their first guard (associate member). The club is pansexual, with no gender or sexual-orientation requirements for membership.

Club spokesman Randall describes MN Storm as “New Guard, but still respecting Old Guard principles and ideals.” The club’s values statement is expressed in the acronym LDRSHIP, which stands for Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless-Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage.

Minnesota Storm has already established connections with other regional leather groups including The KC Pioneers of Kansas City and The Corn Haulers, a leather/levi club based in Des Moines, Iowa. The Corn Haulers recently hosted members of Minnesota Storm at an event held at the Blazing Saddles bar in downtown Des Moines. (That event went so well that The Corn Haulers are planning to invite all midwestern leather clubs to the first-ever Midwest Leather Pride celebration, to be held in Des Moines August 2; you’ll find more details at www.cornhaulers.com.)

The club has also established ties with the Minneapolis Eagle and plans to hold fundraising beer busts at the Eagle the second Saturday of each month, from 5 to 8 PM, starting in August. The club plans to raise funds for AIDS-related charities.

The club’s full name, Minnesota Storm Patrol, has already raised some eyebrows, as has the fact that the club’s membership nomenclature describes full members as “troopers.” Randall is quick to point out that “There is no German connection to the club’s name. We go toward the image of law enforcement—like a SWAT team—as opposed to Nazi. We’re definitely not a hate organization.”

For more information, especially if you might be interested in being a recruit (MN Storm’s name for a pledge), e-mail minnstorm@yahoo.com or write to Minnesota Storm Patrol, Minneapolis MN. (A website is under construction at www.mnstorm.com.)

MAsT (Masters And slaves Together)

Founded in 1988, Masters And slaves Together (MAsT) is a national organization that exists as a support group for individuals involved in, or interested in, the Master/slave or Dominant/submissive lifestyle. According to their website, “It is an opportunity and forum for like-minded individuals to come together for discussion of issues that concern Masters and slaves, to share ideas and gain/share knowledge of the Master/slave lifestyle.”

MAsT currently has 15 local chapters across the country—and if Bud Peehl has anything to say about it, Minneapolis/St. Paul will be one of the next chapters added to the list. Peehl is heading up the drive to get a MAsT chapter established in the Twin Cities. A first organizational meeting of the Twin Cities local chapter has already been held, and seven prospective members are already involved. (According to Peehl, “None of the local chapters are real large—Chicago’s local chapter has about 25 members.”) A second organizational meeting will be held July 22 at 7pm (e-mail budpeehl@mninter.net for meeting location or more information). After the organizational meetings, the plan is to apply to the national organization and become a local chapter.

The national MAsT organization is pansexual, but local chapters vary; to cite some examples, the chapters in Phoenix and Philadelphia define themselves as pansexual, while Chicago and Boston are open to gay males and San Francisco’s chapter is “mostly Gay & Lesbian.” The Twin Cities chapter is being organized as a chapter for gay and bi men—not to be exclusionary, but because the Twin Cities already has pansexual resources (through local BDSM group TIES) for those into the Master/slave or Dominant/submissive scenes. The Twin Cities chapter of MAsT is therefore not competing with the TIES subgroups, but is rather filling a niche that up to now has not been filled.

Meetings provide opportunities for topics of interest to be presented and discussed, and also provide time for making introductions and announcements, conducting business and socializing. During meetings all members are equal—the Dominant/submissive protocol is suspended so slaves can speak their mind freely. Meeting participants agree to hold confidential anything discussed during general or group sessions, and Dominants are not allowed to order any submissive, including their own, to discuss or divulge information or content of a submissive group session.

These meeting rules are reflective of one of the group’s philosophies: in Peehl’s words, “Dominance with caring. It’s not about the Master taking and the slave only giving. It’s a 50/50 relationship where each person, Master and slave, is satisfied and fulfilled. Same coin, opposite sides.”

For more information about the national Masters And slaves Together organization and the current local chapters, visit www.mast.net.

Recipe for a Run

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #211, June 27, 2003)

Most people who attend leather runs arrive at the beginning of the run, have a weekend’s worth of fun, and leave when the run is over—probably without giving much thought to how much effort is involved in pre-run planning and preparation, actual operation of the run, and clean-up afterward. According to one long-time club member, “It’s like planning and hosting a wedding—every year!” I beg to differ—it’s actually more work than a wedding, unless your wedding plans include four dungeons.

Here’s a recipe that shows what’s involved in putting on a leather run. The Knights of Leather recently used this particular recipe to make this year’s Tournament XV; the result served 75 people. But with a little tinkering and a few ingredient modifications the same basic recipe could be used to prepare a Black Frost (Black Guard), Gopher (Atons), or any one of the many runs that leather clubs everywhere present each year.

First, procure a place to hold the run by calling the State of Minnesota and reserving a group campsite in a state park. This must be done months in advance, and the call must be perfectly timed or you’ll find that some Boy Scout troop or church youth group has already booked the site for the weekend you wanted.

Next, come up with a theme for the run (this year’s Tournament theme was “Little Dungeon on the Prairie”). You will be applying this theme to almost every aspect of the run.

With your theme in mind, make food and beverage plans—a Saturday-evening banquet plus four other meals, plus two early-riser breakfasts, plus round-the-clock snacks and beer, sodas and water, for (in the instance of this year’s Tournament) 75 people. Plan your menus and make your shopping list. Be sure to make arrangements for run participants who have special dietary restrictions.

Oh, and if your campsite doesn’t have kitchen facilities, figure out how you’re going to cook and serve all this food—and who’s going to do it. (Tournament is blessed with two things: a campsite with a full food-service kitchen, and two caterers named Joy and Michelle d/b/a Rainbow Creations to handle the food-preparation duties.)

Again keeping your run theme in mind, design, produce and distribute advertisements, posters, flyers, press releases, registration forms, etc. Also get something about the run on the club’s website. Arrange to accept registrations by mail or e-mail and payments via credit card or an online payment service like Paypal. Process registrations as they come in by mail or online.

Entertainment and education are important parts of a run, so find people to present run-themed workshops, seminars, demonstrations and other events. To give just one example from this year’s Tournament: plan a workshop on ponyplay, then design and build (from scratch) a covered wagon and arrange to have it pulled around the campsite by four (human) ponies.

Line up other leather clubs to host evening cocktail parties (at Tournament XV the Chicago Leather Club hosted one on Friday evening and the Atons of Minneapolis hosted one before Saturday’s banquet).

Plan your dungeon layout and logistics (the Knights plan called for four different dungeons filled with varying equipment). Also plan placement of tiki torches for nighttime illumination of the paths between the main lodge, bathrooms, cabins and dungeons.

Prepare run packets, one for each participant, filled with a run booklet, run pin and/or run t-shirt (all of which you have previously designed and produced), safe-sex supplies and other sundry items. Also prepare table decorations for the banquet and award plaques for the closing ceremonies.

Several days before the run, go shopping. The caterers will buy the food, but you must buy beer, sodas, water, snacks, safe-sex supplies, insect repellent (!), tiki torches and fuel, and other supplies.

Once all the preparations are made and the supplies are procured, it’s time to actually make the run happen. Here’s how the Knights did it this year:

Thursday evening: Disassemble dungeon equipment in various members’ dungeons. Rent a 26-foot truck and load it with disassembled dungeon equipment (and tools for reassembly), beer, pop, water, tiki torches and fuel, safe-sex supplies, insect repellent (!!!), run packets, table decorations, covered wagon, etc. (Do you know how much stuff a 26-foot truck will hold? A lot.)

Friday: Drive to run site. Unlock all cabins and other buildings and start settling in. Unload truck. Set up dungeons, reassembling all dungeon furniture (including three steel cages). Stock dungeons with firewood, candles, and safe-sex supplies. Fill tiki torches and install throughout campground. Get beverages iced. Check in guests as they arrive. Light tiki torches at sundown. Have dinner, welcome guests, present workshops and cocktail party, build campfire, open dungeons. Play if you have any energy left.

Saturday: Present more workshops and seminars during the day. Replenish firewood, candles and supplies in dungeons. Refill tiki torches. Decorate main lodge for banquet. Light tiki torches at sundown. Present cocktail party and banquet, build campfire. No matter how tired you are, if you’re going to get any use out of all that dungeon equipment, this is your last chance.

Sunday: Have breakfast. Present awards and bid farewell to run participants.

Take dungeons apart, disassembling all dungeon furniture. Load truck with all dungeon equipment and all the other leftover supplies. Sweep out dungeons and clean fireplaces. Collect tiki torches. Pick up trash from all cabins. Clean all bathrooms. Sweep all cabins and close up. Clean main lodge and kitchen. Drive back to city, unload everything from truck and return it to truck rental office. Reassemble members’ dungeons.

Monday: Start planning next year’s run.

PHOTO: Some of the people who made this year’s Knights of Leather Tournament XV happen. They’re smiling because they just finished loading the 26-foot truck.