Fetish Con, if you dare

By Jay Cridlin
Published August 10, 2007

Fetish Con 2007

Seminars and appearances get going Friday through Sunday at the Hyatt Regency Tampa, 211 N Tampa St. Limited access day passes are available through Sunday for $25. www.fetishcon.com.

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Break out the bullwhips. Fetish Con is back in town.

Now in its fourth year in Tampa - and seventh overall - the highly successful sexual fetish expo returns to the Hyatt Regency Tampa this weekend, meaning you'll have a good chance of seeing a man walking through downtown on a leash.

The annual convention draws attendees from around the country. Outsiders are welcome. Here's a brief, safe-for-work preview of who and what you can expect to see.

Three fascinating people:

1. Maria "The SnakeBabe" Gara, a Las Vegas model, magician, fire eater and animal activist. She has rescued and adopted dozens of exotic animals, and has used some of them in her stage show, including a common boa named Fellatio.

2. RubberDoll, a Fort Lauderdale fetish model and performer whose stage shows feature "strict rubber nuns and demented latex nurses." She is not to be confused with RubberRuss, her boyfriend and photographer; or RubberBoy, a self-described "bondage toy" from Seattle.

3. Smoking MaryJane, a Hollywood, Calif., pinup model who describes herself as "one of the most well known activists for medical marijuana rights." On her Web site, she describes pot thusly: "It's like a warm summer day in the middle of the ocean, and I'm smoking it."

Three seminars you won't want to miss:

1. "Lovers Double Suspension," in which bondage artist Lew Rubens will suspend a pair of models "in sexually suggestive positions," taking ideas and suggestions from "all the perverted minds in attendance." 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

2. "Pain for Pleasure, Not to Injure," presented by embersMaster ("a loving sadist") and dizzy dew ("a true pain slut"), who promise to explain "where you can strike your partner and where you cannot." 11:30 a.m. Sunday. (Skip church!)

3. "Pony Play Fun & Games," presented by PonyOATS, which is the name of a Florida ponyplay group. "Ponyplay" is a horse-related role-playing fetish rooted in man's fascination with equines. 4 p.m. Friday.

Three comments from MySpace page:

1. "Went to my first time to ur parties and I was sold by the end of the night! I was spanked, tied up and bitten, along with a couple of other things. Thank you, now my eyes have been opened and I see the light to a whole new life style :)" -- sugar

2. "Thanks for adding this living doormat. I know my place, I am a worthless cuckold foot slave for couples to use." - footcuckold

3. "We are looking for diaper lovers that will be in Tampa next week for FetishCon interested in appearing on The Bubba the Love Sponge Show. ... Preferably a mother & baby boy." - kurt

[Last modified August 8, 2007, 13:44:29]