Not the Same Old Song - Part 74

Great Balls of Fire

Great Balls of Fire was a 1957 hit by Jerry Lee Lewis.  It sold a million copies in the first 10 days after its release, making it one of the best-selling singles of its time.  I have accompanied it with visuals showing some great balls, but probably not the ones that Jerry Lee Lewis had in mind.

Vintage Military - Part 97

World War I - Suez Canal

Last time we saw that Britain had taken over Egypt in World War I to protect the Suez Canal, then invaded Palestine.  But Palestine was a sideshow; Britain's main concern was the Suez Canal.  Today we will look at troops from Britain and its colonies and dominions that were stationed at the Suez Canal.

Above, a photo from John Trevor Peat showing New Zealand cavalry troops bathing in the canal.

Another photo from a New Zealand member of the Wellington Mounted Rifles showing troops swimming their horses in the canal.

Australian troops bathing in the canal by Thomas John Richards, 1915-1916.

Patrick Hamilton from Australia labeled this 1916 photo "water sports – the coolest place in the summer".

Kantara (now El Qantara), Egypt: bathing in the Suez Canal, photo by a soldier from Edinburgh, Scotland, 1916.

We end with another photo from our Edinburgh soldier at Kantara: skinny dipping in the Suez Canal, 1916.

Olympic Photos by Paul Richer - Part 14

Olympic Photos by Paul Richer, part 14

Today we conclude our series of nude photographs by Paul Richer of athletes in the 1900 Paris Olympics.  Richer was on an official Olympic commission to study the athletes.  Richer was responsible for taking nude anthropomorphic photos of the athletes, and since it was an official commission, almost all the athletes who were asked to participate did so.

We start with Danish athlete Charles Winckler, above, who competed in swimming, shot put, and discus, and was on the gold-medal-winning Danish tug-of-war team.

Here are Paul Richer's photos of Winckler, front view ...

rear view ...

and side view

French athlete Guillaume de Saint Cyr, above, competed as a runner and in shot put.  

Here are Paul Richer's photos of de Saint Cyr, front view ...

rear view ...

and side view.

We end with two mini-movies.  Photographer Paul Richer was a pioneer in chronophotography, the early practice of taking multiple photos of a moving subject.  The gif above was made from Richer's photos of an athlete throwing a shot underhand in 1900.  The athlete was not identified, but was probably one of the athletes in the 1900 Olympics.

And here is another gif made from Richer's photos, showing the same athlete throwing a shot overhand in 1900.

This concludes this series of Olympic photos by Paul Richer.  I hope you enjoyed them.

Performers - Part 82

 The Beatles

The Beatles were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.  Of the four, John was the most willing to be photographed nude.  Above, he posed with his girlfriend Yoko Ono for the cover of the November 23, 1968 issue of Rolling Stone magazine.

Years later, he and Yoko graced the cover of Rolling Stone again on the January 22, 1981 issue.

In 1968, John and Yoko put out the album Two Virgins, with this full-frontal photo on the cover.

How could they sell the album with that naked cover?  In stores, the album was covered with brown paper with a cutout for John and Yoko's faces and the album name Two Virgins.

John was even photographed sporting an erection in this photo with Yoko.

What about the other Beatles?  I don't know if this nude photo of Paul McCartney is real or fake.

But this photo of Paul in the bathtub, taken by his wife, is real, including a peekaboo view.

There are apparently no unfaked nude photos of George or Ringo.  We end with this 1968 pop art poster of all four Beatles by Richard Bernstein.  It's art, not a photo, and it shows them all circumcised.  In actual fact, Paul was circumcised, but John certainly wasn't.  I don't know about George and Ringo.  Oh, well.

Photographers - Part 82

Louis Igout

Louis Jean-Baptiste Igout (1837-1881) was a French photographer when photography was still new.  He also founded his own publishing house, specializing in producing high-quality photographic prints.  His company became known for innovative printing techniques that allowed for greater detail and clarity.

Above is plate 38 from his book Album d'Etudes - Poses (Album of Studies - Poses),  which contained plates of photos of nude men, women and children.  We're concentrating on the men.

For more clarity online, I have cropped the images from the book and brightened them slightly.  Above is plate 38 again.  Click on any of these images for a larger version.

I came across this image online, labeled "Model for painting with rock".  It is actually not the model for a painting. It's the second image from plate 38 above.

Here are a few more plates from the book.  Above, plate 33.

Plate 37 features two models with some wrestling or fighting poses.

We end with another model on plate 41.

Louis Igout died in 1881 at the age of 44.  I do not know the cause of his death.

The blog Vintage Muscle Men has featured many photos by Igout - go to the blog and click on Igout on the list at right to see them.

Calendars - Part 83

Naked Rugby Players

The Naked Rugby Players calendar is a calendar put out by a group of British rugby teams. The 2019 calendar featured 71 naked players from six teams.  Photographer Monty McKinnen got to photograph all six teams naked.  On the cover: the Liverpool Tritons.

Like most of these British nude calendars, it raises money for charity: in this case, Balls to Cancer, an organization fighting testicular cancer.

Above, the Sheffield Vulcans rugby team.

The Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents.

The Bristol Bisons.

The Glasgow Alphas.

The Northampton Outlaws.

We end with the Liverpool Tritons bellying up to the bar.

Protests - Part 82

Portland Emergency World Naked Bike Ride

Normally, World Naked Bike Rides (WNBRs) are held in various cities to remind drivers to drive safely around bicycles and to encourage people to ride bikes instead of driving cars.

But organizers in Portland, Oregon, called for an "emergency" WNBR on October 12, 2025 to protest two things: (1) Donald Trump's decision to send the National Guard to Portland (note the rider's message above "Fuck Don-Old") ...

and (2) the activities of ICE in Portland (see another rider's message above).

The forecast called for rain, so some riders came prepared.

And the ride began.

Like other WNBRs, not everyone rode a bike, and not everyone was naked (it's "as bare as you dare").  These two guys ran the course with another anti-ICE message.

Here's a frontal view of the same two guys.

And here's a rear view, as it started to rain.

More protesters ("Fuck ICE").

The ride led to ICE headquarters in Portland.

We end with a couple of riders who are wearing face masks like ICE.  I read speculation based on pictures like this that ICE had infiltrated the WNBR.  Believe me, these guys are mocking ICE.  ICE agents would not appear naked in public.

In the end, the National Guard was not sent to Portland.  It was opposed as a totally unnecessary political stunt by the Mayor, the Governor, and both Senators from Oregon.  A U.S. District Judge barred the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard to Portland, and after the Supreme Court declined to overturn a similar judge's ban in Chicago, Trump announced the removal of federal troops from numerous cities, including Portland.  So the National Guard was not sent there.