A HOT WEEKEND

The 4^th July weekend began early on the Thursday evening at 6pm with the grand opening of several leather-oriented businesses on Industrial Place, just across from The Tool Shed. Chain Gear, Twist My Links, Tuff Stuff Leatherware, Trick Industrial Gallery and Niche Gallery all had their formal opening that night. The gathering was quite small, a couple of dozen or so, but it WAS hot and sticky and some people were still at work at that time. P.S. Councilman Steve Pougnet did the honors of cutting the (very gaudy) ribbon and then it was on to explore what each place had to offer and sip champagne and enjoy the hors d’oeuvres provided by The Cove Café while viewing the fine erotic photography in Twist my Links and art in the gallery next door. With the Tool Shed and Gear being right across the street this is clearly a leather destination not to miss. You can pop into the bar between shopping visits! Be sure to check it out.

Friday night found a sweaty crowd at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force fund-raiser at the Barracks. Tickets were on sale at the door which gave the purchaser $1 off every drink, and the proceeds from the ticket sales went to the NGLTF. However, the real donors were the bar owners themselves; the ticket holders got their donation back in cheaper drinks and it was really the Barracks itself that was making the donation. You can find out more about last Friday’s beneficiary at www.theTaskForce.org.  Sunday was a big surprise, with a larger than usual crowd at the beer bust despite the stifling heat. Very little leather was visible but sometimes that’s not a bad thing – (of course, always depending on who it is who is wearing very little).

Two anniversary celebrations share this coming weekend at The Barracks July 14-15-16. The fun guys of Wet 'n' Hot are celebrating the 10th anniversary of what they describe as the biggest party of its type in the world! They'll be at the bar Friday from 2 -- 6pm for registration and will be back Saturday afternoon for a Tank Up Party. And of course they will be back again Sunday afternoon for the Bust -- a Palm Springs Sunday Tradition. Also celebrating will be Palm Springs boys of Leather as it's their third anniversary. They'll have their monthly beer and soda bust this Friday night and also plan a few fun "thank-yous" during the Saturday night cruise party. A week on Saturday, July 22, Bernard Stauffer, Mr. Palm Springs Leather 2006 (and also Mr. Barracks Leather 2006) will be hosting a fund-raiser at The Barracks to benefit The Desert's Crystal Meth Task Force. Abuse of Meth is almost certainly the biggest challenge facing our community today and the cause of much of the crime in the area. So please support this event and contribute to this excellent cause.

Coming up at the Tool Shed over the next few weeks are several events that you are sure to enjoy. In addition to the usual Friday night beer bust on the 14th,

21^st and 28th there‘ll be an "undies night" next Saturday the 15^th and a "fetish night" on Saturday the 22^nd. Don’t forget to mark your calendar for the Labor Day Weekend Back Lot Party and Vendor Fair on Saturday the 2^nd September from 7pm till 2am. That’s the same weekend as West Coast Rubber so there should be a good crowd there and some excellent eye candy. Rubber? In the desert? In the summer? Dead right! The second West Coast Rubber Weekend will indeed take place over the Labor Day Weekend. The first WCR in 2005 was a huge, kinky, slippery success with over 100 attendees from across the US and Canada who enjoyed a weekend packed with rubber fun. The event was a critical success as well. In addition to the raving comments from attendees, WCR also received a Pantheon of Leather nomination for Best Small Event and a Best Event nomination for Southland Honors during the Los Angeles Leather weekend.
Full weekend packages for this year are $95 and are available online at www.westcoastrubber.com.  More about that event in the next week or so.

The whole world goes to the Folsom Street Fair in September, and the street is crowded with the bridge and tunnel crowd, looky-loos from the East Bay come to gawk at the leather folks and mock the faggots. Not as bad as Hallowe’en but getting there. However, Dore Alley Fair is a whole different story. This serves almost entirely leather family, there are no gawkers and it occurs on a weekend when there’s lots more going on to make the trip worth while.

On Friday evening, July 28^th, it’s the venerable Leather Daddy Contest at The Eagle. Many people come from all over the country to be part of this event. Pre-judging takes place privately and the contest itself is in evening. Judges are usually previous holders of the title, of whom there have now been twenty three.

On Saturday night it’s the Northern California Sir and boy title contest, at the DNA Lounge at 375 Eleventh Street (two blocks from the Eagle), and it’s an early one, starts at 4pm and finishes at 7pm, in time for people to go out and have dinner and then hit the bars. Next day, all day, is the Dore Alley Fair, which takes place at Folsom Street and Dore Alley, which is close to 9^th street and opposite the Powerhouse Bar. Some condos have recently gone up on the parking lot which previously was the vendor area, so I don’t know what’s happening there now. Rest assured, the fair is going on and it will be much more interesting and more purely leather family than the more famous Folsom Street event. I’ll see you there.

As I reported earlier, the Leather Levi weekend is getting close. Leather Levi Weekend 5 (LLW2006), a "Twisted Summer Camp" for gay leather men and women (and other gender orientations) occurs every year and continues to increase in popularity. August 10-13 (Thursday thru Sunday), participants in LLW2006 will gather at the Saratoga Springs Resort, in the hills between San Jose and Santa Cruz., CA.  As with past LLW’s, it’s a sure sell- out and tickets are going fast. LLW is designed as a safe and fun introduction to the leather/levi scene for people curious or new to the scene.  First-timers get a break on registration fees.  For the experienced, it's a great weekend to relax, meet other players away from the traditional bar scene, and play in the outdoors!

Log on to the LLW web site for additional information www.leatherlevi.org, or:

contact: Richard Sprott sfleatherdaddy23@earthlink.net or David Morgan at david@DAMpr.com.