Current Burghermunch Newsletter

Volume 2, Issue 4

June, 2000

The Burghermunch is a pansexual (all-inclusive), 18 years and older group in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, interested in pursuing s/m, dominance and submission, bondage and discipline, fetishes, and other interests in leathersex, and spreading knowledge of these areas as an outreach organization for those who are curious about these areas and/or wish to find a social outlet with like-minded individuals.

A munch is an informal gathering of people interested in BDSM and similar topics. The first munch was organized in San Francisco several years ago. Munches now occur independently all over the world. They are generally organized via BDSM mailing lists and news groups on the Internet, but often expand by word of mouth. Most munches take place where food is available. Some are held in public places and discourage kinky dress or behavior; others are held in private space and allow fetish wear, play and demos. Munches are opportunities for people with interests in BDSM to socialize with one another in a low key, friendly atmosphere.

The Burghermunch is currently held at the Elbow Room, 5477 Ellsworth Avenue in Shadyside at 7:00pm on the 1st Tuesday of every month. There is usually enough privacy to have frank discussions but not demos or play. Some people wear subtle fetish attire but others come in casual or work clothing. There are no dues or fees associated with the munch, although dinner is on your own and tax and tip is automatically added to the bill. Billing is on a per table basis.

Workshops are held at the GLCC (Gay and Lesbian Community Center), 5808 Forward Avenue in Squirrel Hill; phone 422-0114. There is a $1 to $5 donation per person; suggested $3, of which $1 goes directly to the GLCC for giving us space. Volunteers are needed for future demos so if you have an area of interest please speak up. Note: Starting in March, 2000 refreshments will be served at workshops.

Munches 1st Tuesday of every month (Elbow Room, Ellsworth Ave, Shadyside, 7:00pm)

-June 6^th

-July 4^th; Cancelled in lieu of Independence Day

-August 1^st

-September 5^th

Current Workshops 3rd Saturday of every month (GLCC, 5808 Forward Ave, Squirrel, 7:30 - 9:30pm)

- June 17^th; Breath Play

- July 15^th; Bondage Without Knots

- August 19^th; TBA (Any Volunteers?)

- September 16^th ; Mummification

- October 21^st; TBA

- November 18^th; TBA

- May 20^th; Electrical Play

- April 15^th; Genitorture

- February 19^th; Waxing

- January 15^th; Basic of Singletails

- November 20^th Black Rose Review

- October 16^th; Nostalgic Review of Bondage

- September 18th; Play Party Etiquette

- August; Kennywood Day

- July 15^th; Knife Play

- June 17^th; SM and the Law

- May; Edge Play

- April; Fisting

- March; Basic Rope Bondage

- February; BDSM on a Budget

- January; Sadistic Reflexology

An anarchistic little network which welcomes all women who are interested in pursuing SM, dominance and submission, leathersex, fetishes, and other manner of kinky sexual behavior with women. It is not necessary to identify as a lesbian to join us. Currently the leathergrrrls exists as an email list. If you want to join the list, send a note with the word "subscribe" in the message (no quotes) to:

Dressing for Pleasure is under new ownership and management and is offering a 10% discount to all Burghermunch attendees. Just mention this ad.

To subscribe to the Burghermunch mailing list send a note with the word "subscribe" in the message

(no quotes) to:

bdsm-request@charcoal.com

An excite community on the Internet

Ask Max at: invictus@nauticom.net

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A diverse group of copywriters, graphic artists, printers and photographers geared to the needs of Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual & Trangenerdered businesses/organizations and those supportive of the comunities.

For details write to: KPE_Email@yahoo.com

AIDS WALK

Unite to Walk for people with AIDS on Sunday, June 11^th, 2000. Walk in honor of those you have lost. Walk and raise money to help people with HIV/AIDS. Walk to help stop the spread of HIV because there is still no cure for AIDS. The walk is held rain or shine, so please dress accordingly. If you have any questions, please call the AIDS Walk Line at 242-WALK.

Schedule of Events:

8:00 a.m. / Check-in begins

9:15 a.m. / Opening ceremonies

10:00 a.m. / AIDS WALK 2000 steps off

Noon / After-Party

Volunteers Needed! If you would like to contribute to the Walk in another way, volunteers are desperately needed to work as flag persons at the intersections of the five mile path through Schenley Park from 9:00 a.m. to noon. You will receive a free t-shirt and are most welcome at the after-walk party on Flagstaff Hill. Bring a friend along (at least 16 years old, please) and you can staff an intersection together! Call 412-242-2500, extension 119 to help. (Drivers with SUVs, vans, and station wagons are also needed to transport flaggers from Flagstaff Hill to their posts and back.) This is a great way to get involved.

Every Tuesday night from 9-2 Pluto’s has a fetish night. Pluto’s is at 18^th and Penn Ave in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. Fetish wear and play are encouraged! There is a $5 cover charge. For more info: (412) 281-0771.

The Pennsylvania Drummer/Drummerboy Organization and Drummer Contests International (DCI, Inc.) is proud to announce the completion of the 2000 Pennsylvania Mr. Drummer/Drummerboy Competitions at Pittsburgh’s Leather Central, were 3 men and 3 boys vied for the coverted titles.

The highly successful weekend began with an informal Meet & Greet on Friday, which included an auciton of various items from the contestants and the judges. The auctions raised funds for the Leather Archives/Drummer Gallery and Pittsburgh’s Gay and Lesbian Community Center.

In front of an enthusiastic and appreciative Saturday night crowd (of 515 attendees), the contestants strutted their stuff in three categories: Introduction & Drummer Image, Jock Strap & Favorite Fantasy, and Interview (held that afternoon).

Emcee extraordinaire Frank Nowicki kept the evening moving and had the audience roaring with his "creative wit and silver-tongued charm." President Mike Zuhl and The Executive Board of Leather Central kept everything else running smoothly with the help of dedicated Pittsburgh volunteers, who are gratefully thanked for all their hard work and effort.

The competitions came to an end with the much anticipated announcement of the following winners: recipient of The Brotherhood Award was Drummerboy contestant Ky Eaton of Pittsburgh, PA; Pennsylvania Drummerboy 1^st Runner-Up, Mark Edgell of Pittsburgh, PA; Pennsylvanina Mr. Drummerboy 1^st Runner-Up, David Labriola of Verona, PA; and the top award recipients – Pennsylvania Drummerboy 2000, Derick Rojas of Baltimore, MD and Pennsylvania Mr. Drummer 2000, Rich Fox of Pittsburgh, PA.

Hard-hitting interviews and difficult decisions were handled by a stellar panel of judges, consisting or: Woodie Barnes, International & Pennsylvania Drummerboy 1999; Ryan Goldner, International Drummerboy 1998; Jack Holczer, Pennsylvania Mr. Drummer 1999; Bobby Peck, Co-Founder of Pittsburgh Leather Grrrls; Fraser Picard, International Mr. Drummer 1999; Al Santora, Founder of the Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather Contest; and Vern Stewart, 1998 Pantheon of Leather Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient. Scores were tallied and validated by Mary Elizabeth Boyd, a leather community personality; and Matt Vertz, Executive Board Member of Pittsburgh Leather Central.

Rounding out the weekend – over 50 dedicated and somewhat exhausted leatherfolk, including the contestants and judges, celebrated the close of the contest weekend with a Victory Brunch Send Off at Leather Central.

In closing, the Pennsylvania Drummer/Drummerboy Organization sends its best regards to Rich and Derick, as they continue their journey on to the 2000 Mid-Atlantic Competitions. Also, join us next year when the competitions are held May 4^th – 6^th, 2000. For information call (412) 321-3227 or (412) 322-9241.

Letter from Karl and francine:

Dear 'Burghermunch Folks,

Karl & francine have been the organizational force of the 'Burghermunch since early 1996, to one degree or another. We've been through good times and bad times and mediocre times, and by now the 'Burghermunch is really quite successful, to the point that we have a solid, regular schedule of 'munches, workshops, and occasional other events.

At this time, however, Karl & francine are about to move out of the county. (Yes, really. Finally.) There's a set of things that have to do with "being organizational" for the 'munch that just won't be reasonable for us, when we're living an hour's drive out of the city. So we are looking at the necessity of off-loading a big chunk – the majority -- of the responsibility of running the 'Burghermunch to someone(s) else.

A year or so ago, we experimented with a "steering committee", which was reasonably successful, as far as it went, at getting others to participate in these organizational matters. Unfortunately, the concept didn't fly in the long run because there wasn't one single person besides Karl & francine who was willing to put in the effort to deal with it every single month. What we're looking for now is a person, or probably several people, who can take responsibility for various pieces of how the 'Burghermunch runs, who are willing and able to be exactly that dedicated: To do their part in making things work every single month.

As a starting point, we're suggesting that the following jobs need to be handed off to others. There is no reason why more than 1 of these need to go to 1 person; it would spread the load better if each job were taken by an individual, but then again spreading the jobs among a group will require that that group have good enough communication so that nothing falls through the cracks.

- Tuesday dinner 'munch coordination:

Making reservations with The Elbow Room management; making alternate arrangements when it's closed (this has happened to us twice in the last couple years); staying in touch with management to ensure that we remain on their good side with regard to check payment.

- Saturday workshop logistics:

Getting volunteers lined up; staying in regular contact with GLCC staff regarding facility use; dealing with money collection at meetings; getting snacks & drinks ready at workshops; filling out the GLCC attendance slip, and preparing payment envelope.

- GLCC key coordination:

The arrangement with GLCC is that we don't have a key of our own which we keep. Rather, we have to pick up the key at a nearby store on the Friday before a workshop, and we have to return it inside the mail slot of this store immediately after the meeting.

- Newsletter editor:

Francine needs someone to take over this for her entirely. We can hand you MSWord-format copies of old newsletters. The updates that are needed every other month or so are mostly calendar changes, occasional news pieces about area activities, getting small bits of advertising in place, and sometimes finding humor pieces to make it more enjoyable.

Several other jobs tend not to need replacement responsibility: The mailing list, bdsm@charcoal.com, mostly runs itself, and Karl will maintain that to the extent it needs any attention at all. The web pages under http://www.charcoal.com/burghermunch/ can still be edited by Karl and francine; however, we will need to have people who give us information, ready to edit into place. The informational email address, burghermunch@charcoal.com, needs people who are able to take the time to answer anywhere from 1 to 5 pieces of email each week from people asking very general questions.

Generally speaking, most of these "logistics" jobs mean that whoever takes over these jobs must get there early and stay there late. (And the GLCC key coordinator has to make a special trip to pick it up on Friday to begin with.) You can't ever say, even once, "Oh, I just don't think I can make it this time," unless you can also make reasonable alternate arrangements for someone to take your place.

We'd like to talk with people right away, and make arrangements in the immediate future, for these jobs to be taken over so that continuity is maintained. Please contact us very soon in person or via email at burghermunch@charcoal.com.

Note from the Editor:

Countdown of things you don't want to hear your top say when you are naked and tied up:

#99: "Did I ever mention that little fantasy I have about tennis balls?"