Hello everyone! Its that time of the year again! It is time to reserve your spot for the 2011 ROP BBQ in Pittsfield, MA! The dates are set in stone for the weekend of Friday August 12th until Sunday August 14th, rain or shine! (And given our history, it will probably be leaning toward rain) For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the event, you can expect three days of camping, relaxing with friends old and new, BBQing and the main event: Suspensions and pulls in the beautiful Pittsfield State Forest.  This is considered a public event, and everyone is welcome to attend! Whether you are considering your first suspension or have hung 100 times, the ROP BBQ is a guaranteed good time. There will be a few points to hang from in the woods, including a private spot for those of you seeking a more secluded experience. Most spots overlook Berry Pond for a beautiful suspension experience in the heart of the Berkshires. (Fun Fact: Berry Pond is at an elevation of 2,150 feet, making it one of the highest bodies of water in New England)ACCOMODATIONS:

It’s camping!

http://www.reserveamerica.com/r/campgroundDetails.do?subTabIndex=0&contractCode=ma&parkCode=pitt

The most important thing to note about staying for the weekend is that campsites are limited. That being said, they are extremely cheap (a few bucks a day) so get on the website and book that shit! Also, there is an important change this year when it comes to motor vehicles. There will be no parking available at either of the group sites! This means that you MUST reserve your own campsite to assure that you will have a parking spot. There will be a shuttle set up between Bishops Field (group site) and site 01 (top of the mountain- suspension sites). We will also have an indoor space reserved in the event that we have to move inside for a bit.

SUSPENSIONS:

If you would like to suspend at the event, YOU MUST PRE-REGISTER. You can do this by contacting this guy named Cere. He is handling all of the donations and will be happy to hook you up with a guaranteed spot to suspend.

FOOD:

The event is BYOFTBBQ (Bring your own food to BBQ). Bring what you like to eat, we will provide the place to BBQ! There is a Big Y not too far from the forest. Because we will be inside a State Forest, there are no drugs or alcohol allowed.

SPONSORSHIP:

We are currently looking for sponsors for supplies. Anyone can sponsor (shops, companies, particularly generous individuals) and we will have a little sponsorship package to offer that will showcase the sponsor. If your company is seriously interested in sponsoring our awesome event, contact Kristina- piercingsbykristina@yahoo.com.

Be sure to hit up the  events page for more info and a forum!

At the Dallas Suspension Practitioners Convention, where the best of the best  in the suspension community work together, you get to see the best of modern suspension rigging.

Take this photo Jared submitted for instance. The most noticeable variation of the rigging is the catch cups. How many times have we seen tandem suspensions done that took no precautions to reduce the risk of the lower suspendee being contaminated by the upper suspendee? These catch cups may not 100% isolate the lower suspendee from risk of contamination but they certainly lower the risk factor to a far more acceptable level.

The cord I am assuming is tech-12, (feel free to correct me if you were there and I am wrong on this) which has a ridiculously higher breaking strength than the 550 cord most suspension teams still use. Then there are the hooks, these particular hooks are made by Black Sheep Hooks and are an 8 gauge locking design with a higher breaking strength and the added  safety factor of it being a locked design when compared to the mustads, which are far more commonly used. Then, of course, there is also an assortment of locking carabiners and high rated shackles.

If you want to keep up with the latest and greatest in suspension techniques and equipment, be sure to check out the SusCon picture recently uploaded to this gallery , and also read up on the forums at suspension.org.

TSD was the original (modern) suspension crew and a lot of the amazing feats of engineering and artistry the members of TSD and there associates have come up still stand the test of time and many have not been duplicated or surpassed. I was thrilled to see another email from Ron Garza, with a picture, video and story about Mark’s rotisserie suspension circa 2003.

For a video of another one of Mark’s rotisserie suspensions, and to hear Ron tell the tale, keep on keeping on .

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I know quite a bit of you modbloggers were a wee bit disturbed when I posted the pictures of Ala’s open wound fingering, so you can imagine how thrilled I was when Jamie sent me these pictures from the recent Dallas Suscon.

The pics are of me getting a hole in my arm fingered by my boyfriend. This happened after the two of us did a forearm suspension on a spinning beam together. I was prepared for some tearing on my arms with doing this suspension, but we were both somewhat excited when I ended up with a hole in my arm big enough for Biohazard to get a few fingers in. Tearing hooks is of course not usually something to aim for, but in this case the result was sexy! I suppose the slogan for the event was right - ‘Even bad ideas are bigger in Texas’. Haha

For a close up shot of the “open wound fingering”, keep on keeping on.

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If you have ever suspended, watched a suspension, thought about suspending or even just enjoyed a photo of a suspension, you should probably go wish this old fart a happy birthday.

This picture took place at the recent Dallas Suspension Practitioners Convention. What this photo doesn’t show well is the fact Allen and Samar are gracefully balanced and rotating on a spinning beam. Photo credit goes to Rolf, who took dozens of awesome pictures of the event.

Lot’s of our readers know Allen Falkner as THE major innovator in modern suspension. This is an accurate way to think of him, but around Dallas he is known for more than just hanging from hooks. In Dallas, as well as beyond, Allen is also infamous for his ability to throw one hell of a party.

The Freaks and Fetish event is the preparty for The 2010 Dallas Suspension Practitioners Convention and will take place on Friday April 2nd. This year’s event will showcase performers and guests from around the world:

-World champion pole dancer Pantera Blacksmith

-Finland’s Snake Oil Sideshow

-The Return of Pain Solution from Norway

-Of course, returning to the role of MC is everyone’s favorite green darlin’, The Lizardman!

With all of the freakish thrills and sexy frills, this is a party you won’t want to miss.
For more information and ticket prices please visit The Church.

One of the top “don’t miss”  US East Coast events is definitely the Rites Of Passage annual BBQ/ Campout.

This years event will be held Aug 13th, 2010 to Aug 15th, 2010. Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning will consist of BBQing, Suspensions, Pulls, and just relaxing with friends at Pittsfield State Forest in Massachusetts.

Spots to suspend are going to be LIMITED, so it really pays to donate ahead of time to guarantee yourself a chance. For those who want to suspend please contact us via email at cererop@gmail.com or contact Cere through IAM.

Campsites go quickly, last year they ended up booking out early, so I’d also recomend reserving your site now.

One of the most common questions on Ask BME has always been “where can I find a suspension group to help facilitate a suspension for me?”. Well, Allen, has taken that question and answered it as thoroughly as possible with this update of the Suspension Groups page on Suspension.org.

It’s genius in it’s simplicity and user friendliness. I simply clicked on the US, a hook icon appeared. I clicked it and it took me to a map of the US states. I clicked Virginia and then another hook icon appeared. I clicked it and voila my group, M.O.M Suspension, as well as my friends group, Homage, appeared.

It actually worked too well, because now I realize I really need to make a M.O.M website and get it online.

Anyhow, if you are looking for a group check it out. If you are in a group make sure your group is listed, if not fill out the application and if so, make sure all the information is correct. If you don’t see a group in your area, and you are interested in possibly starting one the forums are a great place to figure out what you would need to do so.

As I am sure many of you have noticed BMEzine’s galleries have not updated in quite a while. Well, rest assured Rachel and crew are working diligently on getting the new BME site up (it may actually go live tomorrow), so updates will soon be back to their regular level of frequency.

For the time being though, Modblog pickings have been pretty slim, which is why I haven’t been posting as much lately. In an attempt to gain some content, I have been messaging people on IAM.

I knew Allen had a ton of pics from the Annual Agro Super Pull in Houston, so I shot him a message and asked for his top picks.  Needless to say, he had a bunch to choose from. Of the amazing pictures, none seemed more modblog worthy than these two shots from Mary Beth’s iphone showing the 30 person super pull.

That’s cool and all, but if you want to see it become a little more “super”, keep on keeping on.

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Every year there are a few MUST attend events for the body modification community. Events like the APP convention, BME Fest and others are high up on a lot of people’s yearly to-do list.

As of last year, there is a new annual must do event, at least for those people who are involved with suspensions. That event  is the Dallas Suspension Practitioner Convention, or Dallas SusCon as it’s more commonly known. Last years event was ground breaking for the suspension community, participants worked together and learned together. Aside from members of the suspension community learning from each other, teachers were pulled in from fields outside of body  modification to teach rigging and other various skills applicable to suspension.

Of course, the event is not all learning, there was plenty of fun to be had also, as you can plainly see in this video.

Here’s a brief synopsis from the man behind the event, Allen Falkner:

The 2010 Dallas Suspension Practitioners Convention will take place from Friday, April 2nd to Sunday, April 4th, 2010 in Dallas Texas. The three day event will feature expert speakers, classes in technique and safety, advanced suspensions and entertainment geared toward suspension practitioners.

This event is not for people wanting to attempt their first suspension. If you are new to the art of suspension and would like more information, please contact a group in your area.

Mission Statement:

The objective of this convention is to promote international communication within the suspension community, share information on techniques, protocols and safety measures, and address many concerns that have been arising due to the negative overexposure of suspension in the media. As you surely know, the suspension community has been growing in leaps and bounds with very little education and regulation to keep our industry in check. Events such as the 2010 Dallas Suspension Practitioners Convention afford us the opportunity to provide education and standardize regulation among suspension communities from around the globe.

Our estimated attendance will be 150+ suspension practitioners and body modification professionals. This event is for our suspension community to come together and share knowledge and skills with each other in a socially constructive and beneficial way

For several more pictures from last years inaugural event, keep on keeping on.

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