Hiking - Part 75

 Grand Portage State Park

Today we look at two hikes done by favorite unashamed male Jim Tighe in Grand Portage State Park, Minnesota in 2023 and 2024.  Above, Jim on the trail.

One of the side trails leads to a ridge with a view of Lake Superior.

Jim at the peak of the ridge.

By the sign for the spur trail that leads to the ridge and view.

Grand Portage State Park is located on the Canadian border.  Looking north, that's Canada on the other side of the Pigeon River.

By the Middle Falls Trail sign.

Here's Jim by the Middle Falls of the Pigeon River.

Much more impressive are the High Falls of the Pigeon River, viewed from the High Falls Overlook.

Here's Jim by the International Border Monument, which explains the history of how this section of the U.S-Canadian border was determined.  Click on the photo to read the text.

Note that the monument shows a British flag, not a Canadian flag.  In the years mentioned on the monument, Canada was a British colony.  Later, Canada became a semi-autonomous Dominion, but interestingly, the Canadian maple leaf flag did not appear until 1965, and it was as late as 1982 that Britain ceded authority over the Canadian constitution and Canada became completely independent.

We end with Jim at a "selfie station" near the border.  This is not the actual border; the Pigeon River is the border, so the "Canada" sign means that Canada is in that direction.

All photos used with Jim Tighe's permission via Creative Commons license.

Events - Part 76

 Columbus Day

Today is Columbus Day.  Christopher Columbus discovered America on October 12, 1492.  Some people do not consider that a thing to celebrate, as it led to genocide of Native Americans.  So, today's post does not celebrate Christopher Columbus.  It celebrates an event in Columbus Circle, New York City.

The event was New York City Bodypainting Day on July 26, 2014.  Organized by artist Andy Golub, NYC Bodypainting Day had 30 painters and 40 nude models.  The models were mostly female, but there were a few male models, like the one above.

Bodypainted with an Egyptian theme.

A design with little pieces of faces.

This design is entirely made of faces.

And this design is one big face.

This design comes as somewhat of a relief: a geometric design with no faces.

Now we're back to a face (for the older gentleman) and eyes and facial features (for her).

We end with a rear view of the older man being bodypainted with another elaborate face.

In 2011, in an earlier New York Bodypainting Day, Golub and two models were arrested, but charges were dropped after authorities ruled that it is legal to be nude in public in New York if the nudity is associated with an art project.  So this event has performed a public service in advancing the freedom to be naked and unashamed.  That's something to celebrate, whether you celebrate Columbus Day or not.

Not the Same Old Song - Part 67

Flintstones

The Flintstones was a cartoon TV show produced from 1960 to 1966, starring cavemen Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble and their wives Wilma and Betty.  Some of us are old enough to remember it.

This is the song that introduced each episode.  Fred and Barney were best friends.  I found some artwork showing them being more than friends.  But, after all, as the song promises, "You'll have a gay old time!"

Weighing In - Part 76

Harry Scarff

"Horrible" Harry Scarff is an English boxer, born in 1993.  Above, we see him weighing in for his fight against Jack Flatley on Sept. 28, 2019.  Flatley was previously undefeated and held the English super-welterweight title.

There was no modesty shield.  Scarff didn't care; he just started stripping.  The attendant had to take off his jacket to provide a modesty shield.

Meanwhile, we got a nice rear view of Scarff.  In the ensuing fight, Scarff won by unanimous decision, capturing the English super-welterweight title.  Scarff's record to date is 13 wins and 4 losses.

Poem of the Day - Part 76

I'm a Little Teapot

I'm a Little Teapot was a song written by George Sanders and Clarence Kelley in 1939.  Kelley ran a dance school for children, and I'm a Little Teapot provided a routine of minimal difficulty for the younger children.  The song was recorded and played on the radio, and it became a hit.  In 1941 Newsweek called it "the next inane novelty song to sweep the country."

My interpretation of the lyrics is for a slightly older generation.

I'm a little teapot short and stout.

Note: I got this photo from Vellohomo (gracias, Franco) as a black-and-white photo, which I colorized.

Here is my handle

And here is my spout.

Artists - Part 79

 Gonzalo Orquín

Gonzalo Orquín is a Spanish realist painter.  Born in Seville, Spain in 1982, he studied Fine Arts at the University of Seville, then transferred to the University of Perugia in Italy in 2005.  He has lived and worked in Italy ever since.

Orquín is fond of painting naked males, and he is unashamed to be seen naked himself.  Above, Orquín poses with his painting Model at the Horse.

Here's a rear view of Orquín.

Let's look at some of his work.  Above, Icaro, 2005 recalls the legend of Icarus, the boy who could fly but flew too close to the sun.

Nu a la fenetre, 2009.  The French title means Naked at the Window.

Another French title: Apres l'amour, apres Fabbri (After Love, After Fabbri), 2011.  Fabbri is an Italian company that sells gourmet foods like chocolate covered cherries.

Grande Inferno Romano (Great Roman Hell), 2011.

Orquín is a photographer as well as an artist.  In 2013 he was about to open an exhibit of photos of same-sex couples kissing in beautiful Baroque Italian churches.  One of the photos is above.  Then the gallery received a letter directly from the Vatican threatening legal action, saying the Church was against the exhibit because it showed "expressions of affection that do not belong in a place of worship."

The gallery cancelled the exhibit.

In 2014, Orquín and another artist painted this street art in Rome called La Cappella Porcina (The Pigs' Chapel), perhaps expressing his opinion of the Church.

Back to realistic portraits: this is Il Ragazzo dei Cardellini (The Goldfinch Boy), 2021.

We end with Jaceck, 2022, a portrait so realistic, I thought it was a photograph.  But it's not a photo, it's a painting measuring 80 x 60 cm (30 x 24 inches).

Beach Bums - Part 73

Kings Beach, NSW Australia

Kings Beach is a small sandy beach near Byron Bay, south of Brisbane, Australia.

Looking toward the other end of the beach.  Some friends gathered for a game of beach volleyball.

Kings Beach has been used as a nude beach since the 1930s.  By the 1970s it was often used by gay men, because it was a secluded and safe place at a time when homosexuality was a crime in New South Wales.  It has now become a notable gay naturist destination.

Although it's not an official clothing-optional beach, local police did not bother it, and by the 1980s they even encouraged naturists to use it instead of other Byron Bay beaches.

There was one official clothing-optional beach in the area, Tyagarah Beach, but in 2024 the National Parks and Wildlife Service revoked its clothing-optional status, making Kings Beach the only remaining nude beach around.  Above, a "nude not lewd" rally at Tyagarah Beach to protest closing it as a nude beach.

Kings Beach is still used as a nude beach, especially by the gay community.

Whether for sunbathing, swimming, surfing, or boogie-boarding (above).

A massage on the beach.

We end with a Kings Beach photo for Big Dude, who likes penis shadows.  This is Tariq Sims, professional Australian rugby player.  What the hat conceals, the shadow reveals.