Seriously, this event is a great party and a fun time in a great and fun city.  I have always enjoyed myself when I have gone up there for it.  The City fills with leatherfolk from the world over for this weekend and there is always something fun to watch and or do.

Some long time attendees of Folsom decry how large the event has gotten and how many tourists now crush into the streets.  Well, that may be so but it doesn't detract from the fun for me.  I like crowds.  I like there being a lot going on to see.  Also, Folsom has always been this way for me.  I notice little difference from the first Folsom I went to in '91 to the most recent one in 2002.  Each one was a crowded event and each one had a wonderful mix of leatherfolk, kinky folk, and tourists.  A great blend.  Just be sure to bring your camera and leave your attitude behind.

I love it when a plan comes together.

I was last up at Folsom in 2005.  Then, I was there with my partner, Julia.  It was her second Folsom and my eighth? ninth?  tenth?  Anyway, I’d been there a lot times more than her so I got to enjoy her enjoying it as something still very much new.  Julia and I wound things up last summer so this year I was back in SF on my own; free, white and definitely over twenty one!

In getting set for this Folsom I wanted to stay near the action so I could be part of as much of it as I could.  That meant finding a hotel pretty close to where the Festival would take place so I could hit that room up frequently for what costume changes I needed to make.

For anyone who has spent some summer days in the City, you know how it lives up to the old saw: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."  Folsom Weekend 08 lived up to that in great degree.  In the mornings the difference between being in the sun or in the shade meant needing to be in shorts or bundled up in a sweater.  By mid-day it was hot enough to roast.  By late afternoon, the marine layer started rolling in and the breeze ahead of it, combined with the roiling clouds to the west, would drop the temps down hard.  Folks who’d been hot ‘n sweaty in their next to nothing at the Festival around mid-afternoon suddenly were all chills, goose bumps and chattering teeth by Festival closing.

If you chose hide as your attire you were mostly comfortable in the morning, sweating like a pig by mid-day, and warm (if still damp) by sundown.  It all depended on your comfort level and what you wanted to achieve.  Me?  I wanted to be both comfortable and look good.  Thus, I knew I’d need to change at least a couple of times during the day.  That plus I had more than a couple of things to change into so getting a hotel nearby for those “costume changes” was mandatory.

But, due to a lot of factors out of my control (and some well within it) I only got started on my Folsom plans late in the season.  In years past if you didn’t lock in your hotel room for Folsom by late winter / early spring then you were SOL bigtime.  As I was starting this effort in late July I was just hoping to find a hotel within a half mile or so of Folsom.  I fired up Expedia and ran a search on hotels in San Francisco and then started looking on the map for ones that were in the SOMA (South of Market Area.)

One place I found was really surprising in that it’s location was more than perfect, it’s room night price was actually pretty low, and it actually still had rooms for the weekend even at this late date and even with all that other stuff going for it.  Knowing how Expedia works, I decided to light up the hotel directly.  That way I could book my room there without having to pay for it up front.

The hotel I speak of, Americas Best Value Inn & Suites – SOMA, is located on Hallam Street.  This isn’t just near Folsom it’s on Folsom.  The northern face of the hotel is on Folsom street itself and the place is literally just a stone’s throw away from where they set up the 7^th Street Stage.  Yeah it’s that close.

The place has an interesting history to it as well.  I knew that prior to it’s becoming a hotel in the Americas Best Value series it had been a youth hostel.  That gave me a bit of a pause as I really didn’t want to deal with sharing one bathroom per floor or something like that.  However, the place had been renovated enough that each room had its own facilities.

At some point prior in its history, the building had actually been used a bathhouse.  This was “back in the day” as a friend of mine, Ron of BigBlackBoots.com, told me when he learned where I was staying.  He remembers the place from when he was stationed down in the South Bay and would go off duty on Friday nights, drive up to the City, check in to that bathhouse, spend the rest of the night fucking his brains out, and then get turned out onto the street come Saturday morning.  Bathhouses were not hotels and thus could not provide overnight accommodations and thus had to close for business the next day.  A legalistic quirk that put well and truly spent guys out on the street at an early hour.

I found the hotel to be well suited to my needs.  It has few of the amenities you’d expect from a national chain but it had enough to get by.  WiFi access being both free and online was the primary one I needed.  The rooms were small but serviceable.  The place was clean enough and secure enough as well.  I was a tad worried about that last bit as I knew the Folsom crowds could mean for so much foot traffic it’d be easy for a thief to get through.  Luckily, no such thing happened.

I figure that it was a younger Indian guy who bought up the place and converted it into its present form.  He did the managing and such, while bringing on the rest of his family to staff out the rest.  As a result there were a couple of older Indian women on duty through the weekend and it was real clear they had no idea what part of town they were in nor what sort of crowd they’d see over the weekend.  Coming back from one of my rounds on Saturday I crossed paths with one of these ladies.  I was in my new leather jodhpurs, Dehner patrol boots, and black Mr. S Leathers shirt.  That lady clearly did not approve of such attire and kept her eyes upon me as I walked through the small lobby of the hotel.  For my part, I didn’t give a rat’s ass what she approved of and locked my eyes upon hers.  My facial expression made it pretty clear that her expressing any further disdain would be most unwise.  I didn’t see her again that weekend.

A few years back, when I was last up in SF for a Folsom by myself, I was lucky enough to stay in a friend’s house in the area.  Being that central to SOMA meant I really didn’t have much cause – nor much time, in fact – to get much away from the area.  The same happened this time up there.

I got up to the Castro on Friday afternoon shortly after pulling in to town, and then again on Saturday when I was up there to have lunch with a friend.  Other than that, I stayed down there in SOMA within but a few blocks of the hotel.  And I wasn’t wanting for staying so close!

Friday afternoon I took a tour of that friend’s place.  He’s recently got it finished and it is truly wonderful.  I’m happy for him in this because he’s put a lot of effort and thought into its renovation and the results truly bespeak him.

From there I went over to the Mr. S Leathers store on 8^th Street.  It was literally “just around the block” from my hotel so it was but a short walk down Folsom and then down 8^th to Richard’s store.  Damn, but that place is intoxicating.  It is a true “toy store for adults” and is filled with the finest gear for such play as you can imagine.  And on Folsom weekend it is also filled with lots and lots of sexually charged men and women looking for such gear to fulfill their fantasies.  That and perhaps meet others of like mind while shopping there to. 

Unless you’re a sexless eunuch or such a prude that you can’t tolerate anyone else having fun, just standing in that store will give you a “contact high” from all the erotic energy being generated there.  I spent a good couple of hours in the shop on Friday and on Saturday and got a buzz from that on both days.  I also did a bit more than just “stand there” (thank you, James!) and managed to part with no small amount of coin to boot.  But hey, I need all that schwag! 

I’d started Friday afternoon in my shorts but was soon in my black Utilikilt back at the Mr. S store as I needed a new belt and Sam Browne for it.  It felt really good to be able to walk around the streets in that kilt.  I only looked a little bit out of place as I strolled up 7^th to catch a cab up to the Castro and once in the Castro I looked not at all out of place.

Up in the Castro on that Friday I realized that I had forgotten to bring any jacket along for the weekend.  I had thought things through far enough the last time I was in San Diego to pack two leather jackets in anticipation of this trip.  But in my haste to get to the City, and being used to the Alabama summer’s heat, I had left both jackets hanging in their Huntsville Residence Inn closet.  Smooth move, Madoc!  So, I walked up to Worn Out West and checked out their goods.  Luckily, I found a used leather jacket that both fit and was of a reasonable price.  There at the store’s counter I also found something similar to one of these little gems and decided to give it a try as well.  Whaddayaknow, it fit!  One of the guys working there, Mike, was quite helpful in making sure of that.  Odd how so many guys in San Francisco are just so damn helpful like that, eh?

I wound up that evening by getting my Dehners shined just down the street from the hotel at Chaps II.  Bootdog was on duty for the “boot party” and while he did a good job, he wasn’t as personally into it as Paksen was back in Denver.  I miss Paksen. 

Saturday morning found me relaxing out front of the Starbucks on 18^th Street in the Castro as I waited for my friend Frank.  We had a lunch date to catch each other up on our lives.  This Starbucks used to be a Pasqual’s coffeeshop and it has always done a land office business.  It’s convenient to the rest of the Castro, it’s located within eyeshot of the 18^th and Castro intersection, it’s shaded by a few well placed trees, it has a few seats outside, and it has become one of the places for folk to hang out, cruise, people watch, and simply to be at.  I got cruised and flirted with, heavily, by some of the guys there and that was flattering.

From there I went off to the boot “brunch” held at Rocco’s, as I mentioned earlier.  Leaving there I made my way over to Mark Chester’s studio.  I’ve known of Mark’s works for a number of years now and have also known of his studio being open during Folsom Weekend as well.  I’ve dropped by a few times previously and gotten some excellent photos in the process.  Today was no different.  I was dressed in my finest fetish gear; my freshly shined Dehner patrol boots, my Marvelous Mayhem leather jodhpurs, and my longsleeve black Mr. S Leathers uniform shirt.  On this day, I looked about as regulation “Tom of Finland” / Old Guard Leather as I was ever gonna get and Mark really liked that.  We wound up taking a buncha photos and he was pretty enthusiastic about what he saw through the lens.  I’m hoping that will well translate into equally as enthusiastic images.

Yay!  They just came in today, Sunday, one week to the day after Folsom itself. I'm quite happy with these!

Looks like the photos come out even better than I'd hoped!  Yay!

If you like 'em, drop on over to Mark's site and check out his other works.  Great stuff, the whole of it!

Mark I Chester Photography

From there it was back agaMr. S (hello James!) and then off to collect Simone from the Citadel.  We had a dinner date and wound up at Rocco’s – up front this time, not out in the gravel covered lot in back.  We caught each other up on things and how our weekends were going.  I was starting to fade having had a really energetic afternoon.  I think I should’ve taken a “disco nap” in anticipation of the rest of the night.  In any event, I was pretty well done by the time I’d walked her back to the Citadel and made my way back to my hotel.  After a bit, I decided to get some rest for the next day and turned in.

Sunday, I was up early.  To early as it turned out.  For me it was well past time for me to be up, 09:00 by my Central Time acclimated body clock.  That meant it was but 07:00 Pacific Time and, worse, it was that early on a Sunday morning down there in SOMA.  Nothing was open!  Well, nothing was open for business, that is.  I got rather peeved at a couple of places nearby which had staff in them, their lights on, and their front doors propped open but were all “Oh, sorry, we’re not open yet” in response.  One place even had its “Open” lighted sign in their window all lit up and blinking that they were “open” when, in fact, they weren’t.  Not a good thing for a hungry guy like me in the AM.  I did find a place to take the edge off and then got going doing my first walkaround of the event.  I made five such runs that day.

At the end of this first lap I pulled up to the Utilikilt booth.  They were still setting up and were nowhere near being ready for business, officially.  However, I’d already been in contact with them (hey Pounder!) as to whether they were gonna carry what I was specifically after – a caramel Workman Uk.  Even at that hour, the staff was more than happy to take my money. I did have to try on the two sizes they suggested and to do that without their dressing room being set up I simply dropped trou and wrapped the kilts on right there in the middle of the street outside their booth.  It wasn’t that brisk at that hour but it weren’t balmy either and I certainly felt that standing there between trying them on!  But, at the end of that process I now had my second Utilikilt!

This was one of my main goals, purchase-wise, for the weekend.  I’ve long been after a second Uk.  I’d bought my first one at the 2001 Folsom and soon found myself wanting another one.  The first one was a black Workman Uk and it seemed more appropriate as fetishwear than otherwise.  The black is a bit severe for day to day wear and I really didn’t want to do much real work in it ‘lest I get it marked up.  So, I’ve long been in the market for another one that doesn’t shout “fetish” quite so loudly.  This new caramel Uk is just the thing.  I was real happy to have finally laid my hands on one.  I’d hoped that Utilikilts would have had a presence at Dragon*Con but no such luck.  This, despite guys wearing Uk’s being all over that event.

I was quickly back up in my room and working up my first blog entry about Folsom.  Then it was time to shower and get slung up in my first outfit of the day.

I did a full lap of the event in this one and was quite enjoying myself.  I connected again with Simone and got myself a Fosters at one of the beer booths.  The difference between that brew and the standard Bud / Miller crap is night and day.  I’d been stuck with that piss water the previous night at Chaps.  Having the option of Fosters on draft reminded me of just how much better that beer is than the rest.  It became my preferred cuppa brew for the rest of the day.

While enjoying my cup of Fosters we chanced upon this bunch.  The group consisted of the rubber suited pony / horse up front, a leather and rubber suited wolf there on the one side, a leather clad pup on the other, and a sultry femme domme riding in the carriage.  They made for quite the spectacle.  The amount of room they took up also meant theirs was a display only workable pretty early on in the Festival.  An hour or two later and enough people would’ve crowded in to the Festival that they wouldn’t have been able to move at all.  They were nice enough to look at though.

Other visuals on display at that time included this fine lad who found himself parked atop a handy fire hydrant.  His was a nice bit of rope work displayed across a fine frame to show it off.

Simone and I made our way down to Mr. S as I needed to buy a hat.  The sun was fully out and beaming by now and my freshly flattopped haircut was revealing my scalp to the sun’s frying nature.  Plus it was just plain fun hanging out again in the shop.  Not nearly as many folk in it though.  Hat on head, and one of these also being worn, it was time for another round of the Festival. I spied this red gay devil dude at one booth.  I didn’t catch the rationale behind his look and the devil red rubber duckies there but they carried well the theme.

Several other groups of folks were running their own themes.  And this lad, Bruce, was running quite the theme all by himself.  I like that.  Having such fun and being creative people there really adds to the event. Also adding to things was all the handsome beef standing around, the public spectacles taking place, and the truly handsome men doing their best to hold up the walls along the street.  After that loop it was time to get back to my room and pull the first costume change of the day.

The result was not a terribly major difference, just swapping out my caramel Uk for the black one and the T-shirt I picked up at the last Inferno I was at. By now the crowd was truly coming out to the event and it was even drawing folk forth out their windows ...onto their ledges...          ...and rooftops. And some sexy Longhairs were there to!

	The folks at Dark Garden had their booth in full swing by this time and their work is always exquisite.
	Their models are pretty damn fine as well.

Toward the 10th Street end of the street I encountered this guy: Mr. San Francisco Sweater 2008.  I about pissed myself laughing at this one.

I thought it great.  Nothing like a bit of well done parody to lampoon the overly serious leather titleholder realm.  This guy’s outfit did that perfectly and we had a great time chatting it up.

Bully for him in his creation!

Then there was this fine lad. He showed both skill at self-tying his Shibari ropework... ...no small bit of self-marketing skills...

....and also the exceptionally useful skill of being rather flexible.

Also there was this lad who clearly had his priorities straight

.

This woman’s outfit was like one great big classic seamed nylon which covered her entire body but in this incarnation it was made out of translucent latex. Sexy indeed.

That loop completed, I decided to try the leather kilt, Dehners, white pirate shirt and Glengarry.

Coming back out, I found the ledge crew had grown in number and boldness. Along with a decidedly flirty nature.

I saw some truly gorgeous rope work being done... ...on a truly gorgeous subject

There was more spectacle, of course, , at least one lad who knows a good piece of headgear when he sees it.

and yet more gorgeous men holding up the walls.

At this point, I’d run out of cards so I had to duck back in and while there I shucked the kilt and went for the jodhpurs. By this time the event was in its end phase and the weather was pushing that along.  The temps had dropped and the wind had risen.  So, going over to full hide was a warm sensible choice as well as being a stylin’ one.

Stepping out there was more spectacle going on as well as more shopping.  I thought this rather clueless vanilla couple coming out of the Leather Etc. store there at 8th and Folsom.  They were probably so jazzed at buying their first crop that they didn’t even notice the bubble butted lad coming in ahead of them.

I’ve no clue what this guy’s creation was all about.  However, it’s clear he was having a blast with it and that made it work for everyone. 08/10/14: Well, now I know what this was all about!  Thanks to his finally finding my card, the illustrious gentleman here in these photos dropped me an email and identified himself. I don't know how I could've missed this!  What we have here is King Key!

I eventually made my way back to about where my hotel was and took in the ledge crew having more fun.  By now they’d taken to giving away leather ballstretchers to anyone who’d put one on in front of them.  They lowered it by rope and cheered passerbys on to the challenge.

They also took to trying a ring toss and this lad with his penis squirt gun came out the winner.

One of the things I like about Folsom is getting to see some fine examples of beautiful ink work sported by folk who attend the Festival.  This year was no exception to that. 

In my morning’s first round there was this Egyptian themed piece gracing the skin of a handsome man.  Later in the day I spied this leonine beauty.

Near the Festival’s end I chanced by John here.  The work on his back is gorgeous.  The piece on his front is a Kerouac quote.  John has promised me that he’ll soon send along the story behind the art on his skin and when he does I’ll update things here to include it.

One other bit of living art caught my eye that day and it was sported by this fine lass: “Rebel Girlscout.”  This beautiful piece was peaking itself out from this beauty’s back and she graciously held still for a passing as I recorded her images.  Very, very nice and very, very sexy.  She also was very much up to the challenge.  Her guy is a lucky man indeed.

There were other folks there that presented sights worth seeing that day.  This fine gentleman looked absolutely radiant as he stood there “stylin’” so fiercely.  He graciously paused his meal to allow me to record that fearsome style and I think it well worth it.

There was also this gent who was obviously very much into torture.  If you think not then just try standing around for the hours he did in heels on that street pavement.  But then, the guy’s T-shirt said it all.

By day’s end I was pretty well done myself.  That’s a lot that gets crammed into Folsom’s seven hours.  The evening’s approach, with its quick drop in temps and blustery winds, made it clear things were done for another year.  I wound down that evening with Simone over dinner at Basil Thai’s and still had some fun with the crowd there doing the same.

Lemme know what thoughts you have of this.  Also, if you know the names of the folks in these images please send that on or put them in touch with me.  I tried to give out my cards as best I could but between running out and between folks losing them I’ve not been able to be in touch with everyone I recorded.

All in all, this was another good Folsom.  I think I found a good place to stay at for next year and I’m already thinking about what I could do differently and what I could simply repeat to keep on having a good time at the event.  So, that wraps this up. 

Now it's time to plan for the next Folsom!

The weather this year was just about perfect.  Not quite as hot as Folsom '01 but still warm enough that it made sense to show an awful lot of flesh.  That suited me just fine!  Once the late afternoon rolled around then SF's infamous chill rolled in too.  Then it made sense to wear an awful lot of hide - which also suited me just fine!  Life can be good!

Because of my location this year, my perspective changed.  I still took a whole bunch of photos but they were of different things.  I also realized that I had enough photos of the standard eye candy which abounds at Folsom and I didn't want to put up more such images when they really wouldn't be distinct from other years.  Nor did I want to take pictures of the more unique images this year's event lest I give the impression that freakishness is what Folsom is all - and only - about.  I say this even though there was this one couple in drag at the Fair who really stood out.
 

Don't get me there were some truly handsome men there, as shown by these two here on the right.  I'm not sure, but these may be the same guys I saw swapping spit at a Folsom a couple of years back.  In any event, such "private" public moments are part of the fun of Folsom be they intentionally exhibitionistic or not. Aside from men kissing, there were also men who deserved to be kissed, such as this gent over here on the left.  I'm not stretching things by saying he was rather impressive.  He is also a friend of mine and a nice guy to boot.  So drop Jeff a line and say hello!
	Folsom was also packed as it always is.  The crowd got more intense as the day went on and seemed to start earlier too.
There was also the usual amount of street theater at this year's event.  I've no idea what these guys were up to here on the right but they certainly pulled off an elaborate bit of theater as they pulled it around the Fair. They were fine enough to look at that no explanation was needed.  Aside from these fine lads there was also the usual assortment of wanker bait and other such exhibitionists.  I usually only noted them due to the traffic obstructions they caused as the tourists and wankers clotted around them.

	Because I was staying at a place right on Folsom, I was exposed to how things changed on a daily basis.  This allowed me to catch some of the little things.  Things like the trash.

When I pulled into town on Friday I happened to look down at the base of one of the street trees planted along Folsom.  In the midst of the rest of the clutter I picked out several ads for leather bars, dances, events, hotlines, and websites.  I think SF must be the only place where even its trash is hot!

I also noticed just how thorough the Folsom crew can be.  These two shots are not a "before and after" bit for they are both "before" the event happened.   In this case the cleanup crew came through and made sure the streets were ready for the day's onslaught.  They also came through once the party was over and cleaned things up again.

Sunday morning came along and I found myself up early.  I also found myself with a bird's eye view of the Fair as it too came to life.  I looked down from my perch to see that the Folsom crew had already marked out the booth layouts with spray paint, numbering each spot as they went.  Pretty smart and efficient.   I then got to watch as the booths themselves were laid out and assembled.  The contrast between the relative calm and isolation of the Fair before it started and what it became within but a few minutes of the gate's opening was a striking thing to see.

Another thing which struck me was the level of detail which the Fair folk went to.  I noticed this when I first saw this traffic signal box here on the right.  I thought it looked a wee bit odd and then I realized that it had been "mummified" in Saran wrap.  I thought that strange until I realized why they'd done this.  My guess is that the City has gotten testy with the Folsom folks due to the huge volume of flyers and posters and stickers which the Folsom attendees post.  Even dispensing a whole bunch of "Post No Bills" signs around would do little good during the Fair.  So, the organizers decided to use some "pro" - as in protection - for their event and made sure to wrap things up beforehand.  That way, it was but a simple thing to remove the whole mess in one fell swoop at the event's end.  This was a wise move.

While I was sitting outside one of the coffeeshops, the Pick Me Up, and I got to see this man here on the left do his stuff.  In the span of less than a minute he had placed three or four flyers up on that once corner alone.  He was truly a fast worker.  He had a system to his work and he worked that system well.  He was using bits of masking tape to hold the flyers to the post.  He had pre-torn those bits of tape and temporarily stuck them to the side of the masking tape roll he held with him.  He walked up to the post, slapped a flyer onto it with one hand and then picked off the needed bits of tape with the other as the roll hung from his bag.  Very efficient and very fast.  With guys like this one working the streets, I could well see how the City would get P.O.'d at the coverage.

OK, so, what did I do at Folsom this year? Seeing as how I was staying at a place right on Folsom itself and one that was also right in the middle of things at Folsom, I had a pretty unique experience as a result.  This was the first Folsom I've been to in which I spent almost my entire weekend South of Market (or SOMA as it's known among the cool set!)  I only ventured up the hill but once and that was only to attend at party on Friday night.  On the way back  I walked down the Vulcan Steps to get back to the Castro.  In case you've never found these steps in your travels to the City, you should.  They are a wonderful architechtural feature which really ads to the charm and beauty of San Francisco. Once back down on the Castro I checked that out for a bit and caught up with a friend of mine from San Diego.  Typical that we would mostly cross paths outside the city we both live in.  While we were standing there at 18th & Castro, taking it all in, we got to witness a real dozy of a car crash.  A woman driving her SUV north on Castro ran the light there and was T-boned by a man driving his F-150 west on 18th.  The SUV lost that one.  Amazingly enough though, no one was injured.  This, despite the SUV being spun completely around and into the crosswalk.  We were all amazed that there were no pedestrians mowed down by this as that intersection is usually quite crowded with them.  Especially on a Friday night and especially on the Friday night before Folsom.  But none were.  The F-150 driver seemed more dazed than anyone as it really sunk in that he could have easily been killed in the collision.  A nice thought to wind down the work week.  That concluded my Castro adventures for this year! I spent the next day entirely South of Market.  In fact, I didn't venture more than five or six blocks away from where I bedded down.  That was something new for me in my SF travels.  I liked it.  That morning, I got up early - too early it turned out.  I decided to do something with my time and I walked over a block or so to  the Mr. S store only to find it wasn't yet open.  No big loss, because when I turned around I spied a friend of mine, Frank, standing at the corner with his lover and some friends from England.  They invited me along to breakfast at Rocco's, just down the street.  We caught up with each other's goings on and had a fine meal.  By the time we were done, Mr. S was open so I checked it out.  Then I went back to the house and got ready for the day.  Aside from showering and stuff, this also entailed getting ready for the Hotboots.com "Hotboots.com Boot Brunch," also at Rocco's.  A short walk and there I was with the bootmen.  The waitress gave me a quizzical look as I had just been in the joint eating there not but an hour or two ago.  The Boot Brunch was fine and the company excellent.  It also got me in a boot mood. Once we were done eating, some of us went back to Mr. S to do some more shopping.  I've been in need of a new pair of combat boots for some time now so I decided to see what Mr. S had to offer.  They carried but one type of combat boot and before I put my hard earned cash down for it (actually, more like my hard earned plastic but hey, you get the point!) I decided it made sense to check out my options.  As Stompers Boots was also close by I decided to go check them out at well. Stompers has quite the reputation among bootmen so I thought I'd be well served here in my interests.  Perhaps had I been looking for a pair of Dehners or 30 inch high Big Boss Wescos or something similar then maybe I would have.  However, I wasn't.  I was looking for a good solid pair of lace-up combat boots.  They are not as high fetish as those others but they were what I wanted.  Yet, Stompers really didn't have much in the way of true combat boots.  What they did have really didn't cut it.  They didn't look right, the didn't feel right.  Most of the ones they had in stock were also zip up the side boots and those, to me, just aren't combat boots.  I was pretty disappointed in this.  I thought that Stompers, of all places, would be _the_ place for this type of boot.  I also thought it would be pretty cool to buy myself a pair of boots at that particular store if for no other reason than the cache of the place.  It was not to be.  So, it was back to Mr. S. The boots they had there were perfect for what I wanted.  They were real combat boots and even bore the namesake of the ultimate and original modern combat boot; Corcoran.  The difference was amazing.  The faux combat boots over at Stompers felt awkward on my feet.  They were too stiff, and weren't bending in any of the right places.  The stitching holding the sole to the uppers was also a pale white in color - what sort of real combat boot would have that? When I slid my foot into the Corcoran though, it was like putting it into a glove that was almost tailor-made for me.  The fit was wonderful and was very comfortable from the outset.  I was sold on these almost before I even had them laced up.  Adding a cushion insole insert only increased the pleasure in wearing them.  These were the right boots for me. Yeah, in hindsight I probably could have done just as well walking up to the big army/ navy surplus store on Market and getting a pair there.  That might have cost me less and they might have had the same brand of boot there.  Maybe, maybe not.  I was in a boot buying mood though and those were the ones on my feet at the time.  I walked out of the store wearing them. Keeping with the theme of staying within those few blocks of where I was staying, I didn't have far to walk in those new boots before I found myself at the Loading Dock for the Hotboots.com "Boot Party."  Yes, the afternoon's theme was also boots.  I did manage to get back to the house and crashed for a bit (can we say "disco nap!") but was then out to the party in short order.  As this _was_ a boot party, and as my boots _were_ brand new, I decided to get them shined.  The only downside to this was that there was but one bootblack.  The upside though was that he was very, very good at his job, and standing in line also afforded me the opportunity to enjoy the eye candy squeezing by upstairs at the Loading Dock.  So I simply waited my turn in Bootdog's chair. Helping make the time pass by more entertainingly was a guy in town from Seattle.  The entertainment here was entirely at his expense, not mine.  I'd been standing in line for but a few minutes when he came up to me and struck up a conversation.  This was fine as that was one of the reasons we were out in the bar to begin with.  The way this lad chose to do so however, was priceless.  His opening line was something on the order of; "I don't usually find long haired guys attractive but it looks good on you."  Gee, how flattering.  I felt deeply touched at his generous words.  When he followed it up with "I just did a hit of Ecstasy a few minutes ago so don't worry if I start getting even friendlier" he managed to make the case right there.  Luckily a friend of mine from San Diego, Tom, also had the same idea to get his boots shined and he joined me in line.  The guy from Seattle wasn't in line to get his boots done, just to hit on all the stationary targets the line afforded him.  Sure enough he was hitting on Tom as well ("Oooh, a topman!  What do I have to say to get you to fuck me!" - I kid you not, those were this guy's exact words!)  This poor guy was so far gone at this point he completely missed all the looks and smirks Tom and I were sharing as he kept making an ever bigger ass of himself as the time wore on.  It was entertaining to watch, in a morbid sort of way, and that helped to pass the time. Finally though, it was my term on the chair.  Actually, just a bunch of beer crates piled up high enough for Bootdog to do his stuff.  That was fine though, for he did well.  In short order I'd told him that the boots were new, that this was their first time out, and that he was the first bootblack to ever have at them.  His face, lips and tongue were soon all over my boots.  I have some idea where he was at with this.  I also really appreciated how this man had given himself over to his fetish.  It was a pleasure to watch him at work and even more of one when he was working on my boots.  We shared that and enjoyed the moments for what they were.  I had thought ahead to bring along my camera to record this first bootshine.  One of the guys from the Boot Brunch, Iain, happened to be walking by at that moment and he graciously snapped this shot of those boots getting done.

Those are my boots in the picture.  That _is_ me in those boots, and that is Bootdog shining them.  Honest!  ;)

Once I got the boots properly shined I hung out for a bit longer and then decided to crash home.  Folsom was beckoning and I knew how much of an endurance thing it would be for me the next day.  I went back to my bed and was quickly wrapped up in sleep.

I was up early the next morning though and got to take it all in from a very preliminary moment.  That was fun, as I've mentioned above.  Once the day got going though, I decided that I just had to get my brand new boots shined at their first Folsom as well.  Not that Bootdog didn't do an excellent job, it was just that Folsom was Folsom and it was only right and fitting that my new boots get shined there too. 

So, I quickly found the Driller's Pit Stop bootblack booth at the Fair.  Bootdog happened to also be working there but I didn't get lucky enough to get him two times in a row. 
 

Instead I simply had to sit back, take in the crowd and enjoy the afternoon - while another dedicated bootblack did his stuff on my new boots. And it just so happened that Iain was there too!  He's the guy who took these three shots of me at Driller's.  Yes, I AM a white boy - and a pale one at that.  You better believe I lathered on the sun screen before I stepped out that morning!  You might also be able to make out that I am also a shaved white boy.  I've Hugh at Inferno to thank for that!   As you can see, these are very new boots.  They really didn't need a shine even when I took them out of the box at Mr. S.  They certainly didn't need one after Bootdog had done his stuff.  I'm hoping that the uppers will lose their lighter color the more I work the polish into them.  Having such attention as this paid to them though can only help. There was something very appealing about getting my boots done in this way at the Fair.  To make things do-able for all the bootblacks you have to be seated pretty high up.  This really places you well above the crowd.  That makes it very easy to see the whole goings on go on.  It also makes it easy for the crowd to see you.

Just Ride, She Said... As usual, the Fair ended far too soon - even as long as it seemed to stretch.  My hosts, Richard & Marie, and their band of merry men & merry women, all decided to go out to eat at a local Thai joint just down at the end of the Fair's stretch.  This was a nice way to cap off the event as the food was tasty, the eye candy was great, and the company was excellent.  It also gave me a chance to prove the rumors chivalry's demise were greatly exaggerated. Traci, with us at the meal,  was one of Richard & Marie's friends and cut quite the swath through the crowd that afternoon in her outfit.  Her boots were high fetish with their six inch platforms, stiletto heels, and thigh high laces.  Very sexy.  Very fetish.  And, not surprisingly, very painful!  After some several hours in them pouncing on the pavement, Traci's feet were screaming. During the dinner she joked that we would have to carry her home as her feet were aching so much in those wonderful boots.  Richard and I said this wouldn't be a problem as one of us would take her by the heels and the other by the head! Well, after the meal, it turned out her doggies were yappin' so loud she couldn't hardly stand on them - let alone walk.   Seeing a lady in need of assistance, I stepped forward and offered her conveyance to her abode.  Perhaps not the most conventional conveyance but one which did the job. We almost made it all the way back to the front door before I had to set her down from my shoulders.  That was a lot further than she would have been able to go otherwise.  It also made for a great sight to see coming down the way on Folsom - and a great way to end this year's event.

I had my camera with me as usual and went through three rolls of film that yielded almost eighty pictures.  I have gone through them and culled the most interesting for here.  This year I actually managed to run out of business cards before I ran out of film or out subjects to shoot pictures of.  I was really surprised at that for it is almost always the other way around.  I'll have to work on that for next year!

Could you find an SM Clown?         Ikea's newest line of human furniture? And Party Houses both.... LARGE... ...and small Or a Pony Prancing Pretty?  This is one of the reason I like Folsom so much.  There is always something going on in The City in general and Folsom Weekend just magnifies this.  That is one of the primary reasons I keep coming back to it year after year. The crowd this year was literally "hangin' out the windows and off the rooftops" to see the show.  Nothing new, actually.  A good Folsom will always inspire such antics.

One nice thing about having a pad on Folsom is that it affords you an excellent view of the whole thing. This is Folsom looking East   And this is Folsom looking West.

Wanker Bait Here is another "view" that always amuses me.  At both Folsom and Dore Alley there are always a few guys who prance around buck naked.  I call them "Wanker Bait" for that is what they most usually attract; wankers.  Some of these guys are nice to look at and some are just out there getting a good old fashioned "air bath."  In any event it is usually the crowd that is more worth watching.  Their reactions run the gamut and also allow you to tell the tourists, from the leatherfolk, from the wankers.  The wankers come to these events just to get pictures of the freaks and of the dicks.  That's it.  You can usually tell by how they're dressed if not by what they spend their time hunting for and taking pictures of. In this particular photo, I can only wonder what the guy on the cellphone is saying and what the woman next to him is thinking.

Red Is In Red and black can look really good together.  This fine gentleman on the left shows just how good.    As does this other fine gentleman here on the right. Either way, red and black make a very vivid and powerful statement.  Even when the it is worn not as an external hide, but as one still attached and yet to be "tanned" - as is the case with the gentleman's below.

This is the primary reason I go to Folsom.  I have a number of friends up in SF and even more of my friends pile into town over that weekend as well.  It is always good to see them and catch up with them even if but briefly.  There is also the good chance that I will make new friends over the weekend as well.
 

No, that is not my butt.  Would that it were.  I first met this guy at Dore.  He was very sexy in his little shorts and Russian Navy hat.  His was very sexy now here at Folsom in his little shorts and beret.  Fun guy to talk with as well.  He was working (in all meanings of the word) the Gay Men's Chorus booth.  Whether or not all the folks who stopped by that booth were interested in signing up with the gay glee club or not, having this fine man out in front of their booth sure did generate a lot of attention.

I have been to enough Folsom's and other outdoor summertime events to realize that comfort is king and style is secondary.  While a head to toe heavy leather outfit may look hot, out in the warmth of a sunny day, it is more than hot to wear - it can actually be unhealthy!  Then too there is the price you pay for fashion even beyond the possibilities of heat stroke.  Some outfits are not just killer in how they look but also killer in how uncomfortable they are to wear - and I'm not even talking about the ladies (of various gender) who try wearing their stilletos all day on pavement! 

With all this in mind I have tried to be both as comfortable and as appropriately dressed as I can when I am at Folsom.  Usually this has meant wearing my black BDU's (Battle Dress Uniform) pants and my army boots.  These BDU's may be black but they are all cotton and only "tropical weight ripstop," i.e. lightweight and thinner cotton than otherwise.  This means that my pants breathe a lot better than even jeans and immensely better than a pair of leather pants ever could.

So I was pretty much set when it  came to this year's event.  I was wearing a white shirt and my black BDU's as I started strolling through the festival.  It was hot and I was sweating a bit but I knew that, save but for a pair of leather shorts, I was dressed in a manner finely balanced between comfort and leather image.  Or so I thought.

Two of my longtime Bay Area friends, Kevin & Andy, then came up to me and quickly dispelled my illusion.  They were both wearing their matching black Utilikilts.  I had seen one of these fine things before but never so many and never so up close.  They looked great!  I also imagined that they would be much more comfortable in that day's heat than even my "tropical weight" BDU's.  I was in luck because the Utilikilts (Uk for short) folks  just happened to be vending at the Festival and just happened to have a pair in my size and color preference.  Here is the result just a minute or so - literally - after my slapping my plastic down to make one my own.

This rig was extremely comfortable.  I like it a lot.  It was also absolutely perfect for the day's heat and for the locale.  I'm not sure how appropriate it would be to wear to work or out and about.  For most leather and/ or gay events however, it will do just fine. As I wandered around the Festival that day I came to like the Uk more and more.  Even just the act of walking tended to circulate air up underneath the kilt.  That felt great.  It also kept me much cooler. One of the places I stopped by was the Steamworks booth.  I have heard much about the Steamworks bathouse over in Berkely but have never been there.  One of these days I will have to try it if for no other reason than to say that I have done so.  Their booth and the booth babe boys were certainly nice too look at.

Mark Chester I eventually wound up over at Mark Chester's studio.  Mark, for those of you who don't know, is an excellent photographer of leatherfolk.  He is part of the tribe and tends to "get it" when trying to capture images of leatherfolk which show our innerselves as we express it in our play. I had been to Mark's studio on several previous Folsom's.  He usually asks for a donation to get in and has various examples of his works hung on the walls.  This year admission was free, the works were still there, but he was offering to take your picture, digitally, for free.  More than one shot of yourself though would cost you a donation you deemed appropriate.  I jumped at the chance.  Mark was, as you might imagine, extremely busy that day.  He is only now getting out the photos he took during the brief hours the Festival was running.  As I get more in I'll see which others I can post.  This one however, is as good a place to start as any!

The NCSF is an organization devoted to helping defend alternative sexual practitioners from being crushed by the array of reactionary forces in our country.  It is a tough row to hoe but I am glad to be a part of the effort.  They have proven instrumental in getting the word out to the media and the public that sex is not a bad thing and that leatherfolk are not crazed psycho killers just waiting to abduct innocent high school kids.

A very worthwhile organization run by some very dedicated folks.

As I go through my albums and scan those in I will be updating this page with those new images.

The Folsom Street Festival is full of wonderful eye candy.  A lot of it is leather or fetish oriented but some of it isn't.  Take this fine gentleman to the right here.

Aside from his belt he isn't wearing a bit of leather on him yet he was quite a sight to see.  I thought I would share this with you.

There are some Folsom "old hands" who have been to so many Festivals that they really know how to get the best results from their time at them.  Some of these guys stake out a particular piece of real estate on Folsom Street and let the Festival pass before them.

The real estate they pick is worth it to them for various reasons.  Some guys pick a nice shady spot.  Some guys pick a spot with a good view of the crowd.  Other guys pick spots with a good view for the crowd.  I don't know if this man was of the later or the former but the crowd certainly did enjoy their view of him!

In the meantime, I hope you have enjoyed your "stay" at this site.  Check back again to see what new images I have added.  Until then, stay well, play hard, play safe, and have fun!

Madoc