Publicity for the Mr. Los Angeles Leather 2004 Contest

Marc Watrel Wins Mr. Los Angeles Leather '04

Marc Watrel, Faultline Mr. Leather, wins the coveted Mr. LA Leather 2004 title to represent LA at IML 2004. Marc looks forward to meeting many of you at American Brotherhood Weekend on April 14-16, 2004.

The LAL 2004 judging panel included Riley Black (President, Satyrs MC; Regiment of the Black & Tans), Stephen Blackwell (Mr. LA Leather '03), Dr. Lawrence Burden (President, Avatar Club LA), Master Skip Chasey (Avatar and PLAY), Daddy Nick (Avatar), Mama, Bill Mitchell (American Leatherman '03), and Mark Thompson (author of Leather Folk). Brian Dawson of Avatar Club LA, past Program Director of OCLA and Intl. Drummer 1989, emceed the contest show to an energized audience of 1,200 attendees at the El Rey Theatre on Saturday night, March 27th. Duo Design's Jarek and Darek kept the audience in awe with their dynamic hand-balancing, body sculpture act.

The LALC (Los Angeles Leather Coalition) successfully took a major leap from a one night contest to a four day event, which included: a host hotel, Hyatt Regency; the Southland Honors, a traditional formal leather awards ceremony and reception; a seminar series; various dungeon dance parties; fetish vendor mart; and a StreetFest emceed by Jim J. Bullock and Will Clarke, with rock bands, dance pavilion, beer gardens and over 20 leather & fetish oriented vendors.

The newly added Leather Lifestyle Seminar Series drew crowds to listen to Race Bannon, Guy Baldwin, Annie Romano-Blas and Justin Tanis. Presentation topics left one to think outside of the box, connecting with others outside of the bars, switching Top and bottom roles, and incorporating spirituality in leathersex.

The Southland Honors, modeled after Pantheon Awards, recognized several individuals and organizations for their contributions and work in the So. California leather community. The award recipients include: Mentor of the Year - Kent Arnwolt; Business of the Year - The Leather Journal; Club of the Year - LA boys of Leather; Event of the Year - Avatar Club LA; Fundraiser of the year - Gannon Gray; Supportive Individual of the Year- pug; Chairman's Award - Riley Black and Palm Springs Leather Order of the Desert; and Person of the Year - George Wong.

Thousands of people from the different segments of the leather community filled LAL StreetFest Silver Lake on Sunday afternoon. The weather was extremely hot, allowing men to cruise the StreetFest in very little clothing and water was not the only liquid to quench one's thirst - SWEAT! The narrow walkway and covered fencing gave off the vibe of a dark, seedy alley way once cruised by leathermen.

Dungeon dance parties produced by Tattoo Chris, Instigator Magazine and CastroBear had the crowds grooving and grinding. Fetish performance artists had sculpted bodies bound, trussed, and suspended in various positions to accentuate the erotic male body.

LALC Chairman, Kevin Casey, projects doubling the 200+ weekend package sales next year "by meeting the needs of the different segments of our leather community." A heart felt THANK YOU to all who enjoyed LAL 2004. The LALC members are proud of their successful LAL weekend and invite you to LAL 2005, March 17-20.

Well, friends and family, that was quite a series of events! Friday night's Southland Honors was more beautiful than I had imagined it could be. It was held at The One Institute, an establishment which is a step in the right direction for the preservation of our history, and I invite anyone visiting LA to make arrangements to see it. I know I'm going to go over when I have the chance to really explore the museum.

The weather was perfect, and the Los Angeles Leather Coalition did such an excellent job at coordinating everything that I didn't even know where the front of the hotel was: I didn't have to. The Mr. Los Angeles Leather contest was a blast and I think the crowd really got its money's worth. If we could have bottled the air in the changing room at the end of the competition and sold it we could have all retired. One of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence had to brace herself against the door frame and didn't even enter for fear of fainting. In a good way. The entertainment provided by Cirque de Soleil was spellbinding! The Sisters' version of Julius Caesar in a couple of minutes was hilarious. Complete with rubber chickens.

I came in as second runner-up, and even though that means I won't be going to Chicago as a contestant, I'm definitely going as a proud member of the Leather Community. My 8 other co-contestants will be there as well. Looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible again, a bit more relaxed this time and with a lot less luggage. (Please no jokes about less baggage or the bags under my eyes by the end of the weekend! LOL)
I hope you'll all join me in congratulating Marc Watrell as Mr. Los Angeles Leather 2004! I think the judges made an excellent choice and he will represent our city and community quite well. He was, by the way, also chosen by the other outstanding Leathermen in the contest as Mr. Brotherhood. The First Runner-Up, Rev. Ricky Hoyt, will be heading to the California Leatherman contest at the Dore Alley Fair at the end of July and I know he'll knock 'em dead there!

I'd like to thank everyone for their kind words and good wishes and again, looking forward to seeing you all again in Chicago if not earlier!

The end of this month is a BIG, BIG DEAL. The guys in LA have gone bonkers with huge plans for Los Angeles Leather Pride, since the major clubs are celebrating all sorts of multi-decade anniversaries. I've been going to this annual event for years, and LA Leather Pride has always been the biggest, fanciest and cruisiest leathermen's titleholder event in the entire southwestern portion of the USA.

This year, they went over the top by a factor of ten. They're bringing in a lot of big names, and attracting a LOT of men from all over the world.

After years of watching San Francisco get the glory with Folsom Street Fair, now LA is providing us with the first annual LA Leather Street Fair that's within easy driving distance (in Silverlake).

The LA team has also obtained a host hotel, but the rooms are going fast. In fact, if you call 'em now, you are now limited to only Friday and Saturday night because the entire hotel is reserved for us leatherfolk, and over 300 rooms have been nailed down already.

The jungle-drums are pounding out the story, people - You need to be there this year. Based on what I've seen and heard, this is a kick-ass breakthrough event that they'll be talking about for years. I have already spent MY money for weekend passes and hotel room, and I urge you to do the same.

Howdy!
I have to apologize for not getting an event list out the last couple of weeks. I’ve just been so darn busy with all the prep work we are doing for LA Leather Weekend the end of next month. Unless you’ve worked on something like this before, you probably have no idea the amount of hours that go into it. It will all be worth it though, as it is going to be on KICK ASS LEATHER WEEKEND. Make sure you get your weekend package as soon as possible – we need your money to make this all work!!! It’s only $99 and will get you into all of the events and save you $41 vs. individual tickets.

We are headed into our final 3 Mr. LA Leather Feeder Contests. This weekend, the incredible Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence host the 4th annual Mr. Sister Leather Contest at the Gauntlet II on Saturday night. Always outrageous and very different from your everyday leather contest, Mr. Sister is one NOT to be missed.

Next week (March 6) it’s the 3rd annual Mr. Ashram West contest @ the Faultline, and the following week (March 13) is Mr. Regiment, sponsored by The Regiment of the Black & Tans uniform club.

The winners of these 3 events will join the 6 contestants already chosen to compete for Mr. LA Leather 2004 and the chance to represent the Los Angeles region at International Mr. Leather in Chicago. The 1st runner-up to Mr. LA Leather 2004 will get a chance to compete for California Leatherman this July in San Francisco.

March 9th is the deadline to get the incredible $79/night rate at the Hyatt Regency – the LAL Host Hotel for 2004. Rates are valid from Thursday 3/25 through Monday 3/29, and a 2-night minimum is required for that special rate. Hundreds of rooms have already been booked for this event – with folks coming from as far away as Honolulu, Chicago, Washington DC, Paris, and Berlin. This will truly be a World-Class leather event never before seen in the Los Angeles area. Get a room now before it is too late. Unlike IML & MAL, you DO NOT have to put down a 1-night deposit when you reserve your room.