A night out for the toys.

When the stunning blonde brought me my dinner, I laughed to myself as I realized the contrast between my dining venues of late. Continuing on my solo, Pride 2008 quest for my city's sensual and erotic treats, just recently I found myself enjoying an awesome barbecue hosted by the Black Eagle, perhaps this city's most infamous gay leatherbar. It didn't distress me that I was in the Eagle, and yet tonight, I felt just slightly weird (in a perfectly amusing way) that I was actually dining in a Hooters. I mean, Hooters... it's just so fratboy.

Being more of an ass- than a tit-man, I was still pleasantly surprised to see a variety of bodytypes among the servers. Fully expecting to see a room full of Pamela Anderson clones, I was happy to see my expectations dashed. Some lovely bums indeed. I still feel as though there's something vaguely heterosexist about Hooters, but then again... how much more alarming was it really when compared to the average stripclub?

From there, I was off to the famous Northbound Leather fetish wear emporium for their annual Pride Meet & Greet social. A relaxed evening of wine and hors d'oeuvres among a pansexual crowd of the city's fetish elite awaited me, where I enjoyed meeting old and new friends. Also attending was Canadian fetish performer Maxine X, due to appear on the third season of Webdreams, to offer autographs and her latest DVDs when she wasn't dry-humping the stunning Northbound associate Jen.

I enjoyed the open bar as Northbound manager David and I discussed the nature of the erotica business as he helped me select some new gear for myself. To our left, a couple found themselves testing a new flogger as she delectably bent forward to a rack of latex skirts, her partner gently lashing her behind. Behind us, a cluster of guys from various regional gay leather associations were having a blast as one of them, clad in leather boxers and sporting a full-faced leather doberman hood, rough-housed with a pair of very real Jack Russell terriers. The little pups seemed horribly confused.

The evening was more of a party than a playparty, but that didn't stop one talented Top guy from an intense rope bondage scene with his bottom. Kneeling on the concrete floor, the lashed gentleman relaxed silently as his Top, and his Top's friends, took turns supervising his presence among the crowd of minglers and nibblers.

Outside, the Lady Victoria Windsor demonstrated her skill with a bullwhip, removing cigarettes from the lips of the willing and unafraid. One or two of the leatherboys decided that it would be amusing to see how her tools would feel upon themselves, and each walked away with a smarting look in the eye.

I was with The Grrl the last time I did some shopping at Northbound. That's almost a lifetime ago now, but it felt excellent to be among the local scene again. Recently, Lanie, a new friend, has expressed interest in attending a local fetish night together, and while I doubt we'd progress anywhere past being just-friends, I'm looking forward to perhaps sharing some interesting experiences in the coming weeks.




thumbs personal collection, Switch Swingers