5-11 Oct 02 - SKIN TWO Rubber Ball Weekend and aftermath

Like thousands of funky fetish fans across the world, my New Year is the Rubber Ball Weekend. It's a whirlwind of work and socialising. I'm event manager of the SKIN TWO Expo, which was 5-6 Oct at the Barbican Exhibition Centre. 92 exhibitors from all over the world had stands selling everything from rubber dresses to bejewelled headwear, via bondage furniture and henna body art.
The Rubber Ball itself, over in Hammersmith, was as ever superbly sumptuous - wild wild costumes, a dazzling fashion show organised by Torture Garden, and the coolest assortment of folks from all corners of the fetish globe.
Of course the weekend would not be complete without the fabulous after party run by Club RUB. DJ Irish Pete worked his usual wonders at the decks and everyone was there including all the fabulous volunteers and staff who made the weekend happen.
But we all know the party doesn't stop there. The Rubber Ball weekend extends into a series of after-after parties, and after-after-after parties. I could gossip about the scandalous goings on but I won't: you'll just have to pin me down and ply me with drinks to get anything out of me (one dark rum and coke normally does it).
On Wednesday R and I drove D & M on a spur of the moment trip to Oxford. M's a Harry Potter fan and we gave him a very late night tour of Christ Church where some of it was filmed, including the dining hall.
On Thursday night we succombed to fatigue and spent D & M's last night in London at their hotel, watching The Matrix and drinking champagne out of teacups.
Fully into the stride of post-ball fetish detox, Friday was spent buying felt tips and paint brushes in a burst of creativity. K & K from Atlanta came by and I continued their English Education by making them sit through tapes of Fawlty Towers over hazelnut coffee and chocolates. Now I'm burning the midnight oil by pumping out some feature ideas and putting the finishing touches to my website