Vintage bondage and vintage fetish. Sean Harper. Part IV. The story of Mr. T and The Weatherman

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Thanks much to Anon who helped me to find the most erotic fetish and bondage stories that I’ve ever read – The Perils of Batgirl (see the full list here). (To make them perfect from my point of view, I would remove the deathly context, though).

How I wish the special self-bondage suits did exist! And all those stimulating machines. Or the sensilatex zentai? Oh, The word zentai did not exist in the western vocabulary in the 90’s.

When I was reformatting the stories to publish them here, from time to time I would read a couple of paragraphs. Some scenes reminded me of Jim Weathers’ photo and video sessions. Suddenly all pieces snapped in place. The stories were signed by “The Weatherman” – Jim’s nickname. I searched the Inet and stumbled upon this Jim’s interview and learned about the fate of his partner Cory Thompson (remember “Mr. T scans”?), who committed suicide in the jail ten years ago.

And the story returned back to the 90’s when Mr.T and The Weatherman began their adventure with the site called Shortfuse. They had to learn photography, lightning, the art of bondage, how to deal with models, how to publish, etc. Then they parted when Cory was sentenced for the first time.

Not everybody is on Yahoo Groups, so I’m republishing what was posted by wants_no_rant on Sat Dec 27, 2003 7:10 am:

Hello again,

Well, I dont know why this has been on my mind all day, but it has. As I said, I never personally met, or spoke to Cory. However, he and I did correspond a few times after he’d started his paysite. And then, after his ‘falling out’ with some of his customers (myself included), he posted several times to the ‘protest’ Shortfusevideo Yahoo Group. In fact, those posts can still be seen there.

So, I didnt know him personally. But given that I’d been a fan of his since 1996, when I first got on the net, and came across his old ‘Mr. T’ site, back in the days of him scanning/posting Jay Edwards work, among others. Then to his taking a ‘leap of faith’ with his first partner (I believe his name was Marty Steele?), and then with Jim Weathers into Shortfuse Productions, I felt like I kinda knew him through his work and the anecdotes he would share on his site. I watched him initially apologize for his lack of acuity as a photographer, and then witnessed his enthusiastic reports as other photographers shared with him their techniques. He was usually much less than a humble man, as most of you probably know, and yet it seems that I maintained some level of respect for him, even after he showed his darker side….if for no other reason than he apparently had a dream, then persevered and followed it. That is a quality I’ve always thought worthy of admiration. It would have been nice, of course, if that particular quality had also been accompanied, in this case, with a few more ‘people skills’. But isnt that what they always say about artists, anyway? And in this case I have no problem at all in bestowing that title upon him. He worked at it and, in my mind, achieved it. Cory Thompson: artist.

Sorry to digress like that, but I guess I just felt like sharing those thoughts with you folks….

The real reason for this post is to advise you that I’d emailed several folks in the business who I thought might be able to confirm the info of his passing, and perhaps some details. However, none of them has responded as of yet. So, I decided to see what I could find on my own and came up with this article from SFGate.com . I should probably advise you that it’s a bit shocking. If anyone has any more info, I’m sure we’d like to hear it…. especially considering what seems to be shaking out as quite a bizarre turn of events:

——————————————–
(12-22-03) 19:47 PST VENTURA, Calif. (AP) —

A jail inmate hanged himself with bedsheets in his cell, four days after he was arrested for allegedly sending letters containing a white powder to the sheriff, district attorney and other Ventura County employees, authorities said.

Cory Thompson, 39, of Newbury Park, was discovered about 11 p.m Sunday during a routine security check at the jail, sheriff’s
spokesman Eric Nishimoto said.

Authorities administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation and paramedics were called but were unable to revive Thompson. He was pronounced dead a half-hour later.

Thompson, who was alone in the cell, had not shown any indications of being suicidal since his arrest Wednesday, Nishimoto said.

Thompson pleaded innocent Friday to charges of threatening to use weapons of mass destruction. The five letters he allegedly sent contained a white substance that turned out to be harmless, Nishimoto said.

The Sheriff’s Department is investigating the death.

�2003 Associated Press
—————————————–

I’m just speculating at this point, but it sounds to me as if that
aptly named ‘short-fuse’ might’ve been directed at the law
enforcement community this time. Wonder what THEY did to piss him
off. This is TOO wacked….

wants_no_rant

What a twist…