It's late September 2002 and I embark on a unique vacation with my cousin and my youngest step-brother. We flew to Phoenix, rented a car and drove a circle around the western US for two weeks, hitting all the major cities, Yellowstone, and the Grand Canyon. We were on a tight and set schedule, allowing only one day in some areas and two in others. Since it was a family trip, I opted for the most part not to book anything or meet anyone in the business, except in Seattle, where Lew Rubens and his partner Maria Shadoes were setting up shop. I was taken by the ties Maria could take, her incred...

It's late September 2002 and I embark on a unique vacation with my cousin and my youngest step-brother. We flew to Phoenix, rented a car and drove a circle around the western US for two weeks, hitting all the major cities, Yellowstone, and the Grand Canyon. We were on a tight and set schedule, allowing only one day in some areas and two in others. Since it was a family trip, I opted for the most part not to book anything or meet anyone in the business, except in Seattle, where Lew Rubens and his partner Maria Shadoes were setting up shop. I was taken by the ties Maria could take, her incredible flexibility, and of course, she was a redhead. I contacted her and she agreed to do a shoot when my trip rolled through. So when we got there after a day of sightseeing, I split from my family and started looking for anything I could use to tie up Maria. I had packed a few leather straps and my Hitachi and some plastic wrap for gagging, but I had to scrounge for the rest and with no real time to find a hardware store, I foraged around, finding some string and ripping up one of hotel towels. I also asked Maria if she could bring any toys. I nervously waited for her arrival. Though Lew and Maria were just starting out, they were definitely drawing a fan base and a lot of attention, which is why I chose Maria to be the one shoot I did on the trip. I was hoping to meet Lew but he chose not to accompany Maria to the shoot, quite odd that she came alone especially back in the day where safety were the norm. Maria arrived in the outfit I shot her in, cropped top, white mini skirt and white high heels, looking the part of the high price I wanted for my scenario. Simple scenario, high end gets more than she bargained for. Maria brought a vibrating egg that she said was her favorite toy at the time, so I knew that orgasms in bondage was ok. She also said she loved breath play and asked for one of my leather straps around to do the job. She was more than advertised, and really the first model I had worked with to this point that was truly all in with bondage, control, and the bdsm lifestyle, though she was far from submissive, she needed control taken from her. I was immediately smitten.

I took my leather straps and strings and things and took Maria through four bondage positions, getting more creative and daring as we could in a hotel room. Bent over a chair held down a a neck strap, hogtied through a little table, hair tied to heels, cumming from the vibrating egg. Balancing on her knees in the closet, tied to the closet rack strappado, tied hair and tied nipples. Wearing her out half mummified with the plastic wrap I brought, Hitachi strapped to her thigh. The bondage was far from Lew Rubens quality but it got the job done and Ms Shadoes was soon a sweaty spent mess on the hotel bed and the shoot was a success. She smoked a cigarette and we chatted and she was on her way. I had a couple drinks down at the hotel bar that evening and even participated in a little karaoke, awash in the glow of making such a bright new star in our business cum so hard. It was good for my confidence and, as it turned out over the next couple years, she became a great friend and a key player in my development.

In January of 2003, Bondcon became it's own thing and one of the organizers not named Vesta, Mike, or Genesis Lynn split and took the name to Vegas. I was not going to go as a matter of loyalty, but Sgt Major hired me to be his camera man, off to Vegas I go. Lew had a booth there and I introduced him to Maria and met Lew with the Sarge. Sarge booked Maria right there. That evening, in his room Sarge shoots Maria and a long since gone model friend she was with. The chemistry between Maria and Sarge was immediate and intense. At the end of the shoot Sarge was so taken by Maria that he rented a limo and took us out to dinner. Back at the con hotel we met up with a very spent but still smiling Lew Rubens from all the models he had tied at his booth all day. A friendship was born out of that con. Sarge would fly Lew and Maria to his home, hiring Lew as his rigging instructor and Maria as his practice model. I was invited up as his camera man on some of those sessions to document them and to brainstorm video ideas. I would take KC with me those trips. Lew would tie KC to demonstrate, much to KC's delight. Sarge would copy Lew's tie on Maria. I took it all in and ran camera. There is an awesome Sgt Major video that we shot in the summer of 2003 starring KC and Maria as renegade mercenaries that mess with the wrong guy. I do not have the video masters at they are property of Sarge but I have the images and seeing KC and Maria strung up and whipped by Sarge is still one of my favorite all time days.

There was a brief period of time in 2003 and 2004 that The Bondage Channel was selling Lew Rubens and Sgt Major DVDs along with my own. Most of the updates during this time were also their content. I had the vision to turn The Bondage Channel into something that resembled what Kink.com became in 2006 but could not work out a suitable deal with Lew and Sarge. They wanted (or had) their own sites and I did not have the resources or the smarts to do what Kink actually did, give them complete control of their sites, just host it and collect revenue.

Lew and Maria eventually split, as I did with KC, ending a very magical time. The rest of my time in Cleveland Sarge and I would travel to each other's home and I would hire models for him including one special model I will save for a future post. But it was never the same as those times with Maria and KC. Sarge stayed close friends with Maria. I thought they may actually become a couple but that did not happen. Maria enjoyed moving on in her career with a new partner until she sadly passed away from that fucking asshole Cancer, taking away an incredible talent and an even better person far too soon.

Enjoy the video that ushered in an amazing period in my life and career starring the late and truly great Maria Shadoes. Shot September 26 2002.

Mr. Mack