South Pacific - Part 1 of 13

I'm reposting my 13-part series South Pacific, with videos that I created three years ago to retell the famous musical in a gay version.  I've made changes to some of the videos, including some revised song lyrics.

Why repost it now?  South Pacific was known for its beautiful music, but it was also notable for its story about love overcoming racial prejudice.  My version is about love overcoming homophobia, and I think for the next four years we may need some stories with that message:  love wins in the end.

The following is my original post from three years ago.

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Buddy Holly is the Guy I Love

Today marks the beginning of a somewhat ambitious project.  A few months ago, as part of my "Not the Same Old Song" series, I did a version of the song There is Nothing Like a Dame from the musical South Pacific.  My friend Jerry (check out his blog Vintage Muscle Men) told me that he always thought someone should do a gay version of South Pacific.  I took it as a challenge.

For the next 13 days, I'm presenting my gay versions of songs from South Pacific.  The great music by Richard Rogers is unchanged, but I've altered the lyrics (with apologies to the spirit of Oscar Hammerstein II).  In some cases I've stuck very closely to Hammerstein's original words; in others I've put in references that you'll get if you know the original words, and in others I've made some substitutions that are quite a bit more naughty.

Because I don't have singers at my disposal to record my new lyrics, I have substituted wordless voices that I generated on my synthesizer, along with subtitles that you can follow along.  For some songs, I have used video clips from the classic 1958 movie South Pacific for the visuals.  For others (the more naughty ones), I have included some X-rated video clips.  You'll see.

I'm following the 1958 movie, not the 1949 Broadway musical, because the movie is the version that most people are familiar with.

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We begin the way the movie begins.  The setting is a military base on an island in the South Pacific in World War II.  Handsome Lieutenant Joe Cable is flying in for a special mission against the Japanese.  The pilot points out some local sights, ending with "That's where the Seabees play."   In the movie, this dissolves into the Seabees singing the first song, Bloody Mary is the Girl I Love.  In my version, it's Buddy Holly is the Guy I Love.  The visuals of the Seabees dancing are from the movie.

The original lyrics are:

        Bloody Mary is the girl I love

        Bloody Mary is the girl I love

        Bloody Mary is the girl I love

        Now ain't that too damn bad!

        Her skin is tender as a baseball glove

        Her skin is tender as a baseball glove

        Her skin is tender as a baseball glove

        Now ain't that too damn bad!

        Bloody Mary's chewing betel nuts

        She is always chewing betel nuts

        Bloody Mary's chewing betel nuts

        And she don't use Pepsodent!

As you'll see, I changed the words, but I tried to make them echo the original as much as possible.  For example, it was a short step from "betel nuts" to "big ol' nuts."  And, although the original lyrics were sarcastic, I think the chorus "Now ain't that too damn bad!" is the perfect introduction to this gay version of South Pacific: I love a guy.  Now ain't that too damn bad!

Notes: 

1. Yes, I know Buddy Holly was after World War II, so the reference is anachronistic, but I liked the name as an echo of the original words.

2. For those who didn't get my reference to goober peas: they're peanuts.  Goober Peas was a popular Southern Civil War song, but it still would have been known during World War II.  The first published version of the song credited the composer as P. Nut.

Weighing In - Part 64

Kajan Johnson

Kajan Johnson, born in 1984, is a retired Canadian mixed martial arts fighter who fought in the lightweight division of the UFC.  On November 12, 2010 he was weighing in for a fight against Ryan Healy at MFC (Maximum Fighting Championship) 27, a mixed martial arts event in Enoch, Alberta.

Although he didn't strip naked for his weigh-in, Kajan, known as "Ragin' Kajan," was wearing underwear so thin and tight that he was showing quite a VPL.

The front view didn't leave much to the imagination.

And neither did the rear view.

Kajan won the fight.

Poem of the Day - Part 64

Hot Cross Buns

Here's my take on another old nursery rhyme.  SickoRicko, this one is for you.  And Big Dude, there are some dick shadows for you, too.

Hot cross buns!

Hot cross buns!

One a penny, two a penny,

Hot cross buns!

If you have no daughters,
Give them to your sons.

One a penny, two a penny,

Hot cross buns!

Artists - Part 67

Théodore Géricault

Théodore Géricault (1791-1824) was a French painter who was a pioneer in the Romantic movement in art.  Above, a self portrait, 1820.

He was fascinated by horses.  Above, The Charging Chasseur, 1812.  The Chasseurs were the Imperial guard of Napoleon.

Géricault is best known today for The Raft of the Medusa, 1819, above.  In 1816, the French ship Medusa was shipwrecked in Mauritania on the west coast of Africa.  150 passengers and crew tried to sail away in a hastily-constructed raft, but only 15 survived to be rescued, having endured starvation, dehydration, and cannibalism.  The incident, blamed on the incompetent French captain, became an international scandal and an embarrassment for the French government.  The painting drew political criticism when it was exhibited in Paris in 1819, but when Géricault showed it in London it was praised, and it established his reputation.  The painting is now in the Louvre in Paris.

Note the frontal nudity of the figure at left front (click to enlarge).  To its right, the face-down figure was modeled by another young French artist, Eugène Delacroix.

Géricault painted a large number of male nudes, and only a few female nudes.  Above, A Shipwreck, 1818.

Most of his male nudes were called studies, though they look like finished paintings.  Above, Study of a Nude Man, 1801, is now in the National Museum in Warsaw.

Study of a Nude Man, 1808-1812.  Many of Géricault's paintings are not precisely dated.

Study of a Nude Man, 1810-1820, shows a man pulling on a rope.  Two similar paintings of a nude man pulling on a rope were painted either by Géricault or by his followers.

Study of a Nude Man with Sword, 1814-1816.

Nude Warrior with a Spear, c. 1816.

Man Lying Down, c. 1820.

Academic Sketch of a Standing Nude Man, undated, is a beautifully finished painting, not just a sketch.

We end with Study of a Man, undated, showing a naked man holding some kind of club or weapon.  This is a good example of how the Romantic movement in art tried to show drama and emotion.

Géricault contracted tuberculosis when he was in his twenties.  His health deteriorated, and he died at age 32.

Beach Bums - Part 61

Playa Luna, Chile

The coastline of Chile is 4000 miles long, but it has only one official nude beach: Playa Luna in Puchuncavi, slightly north of Valparaiso.  A local nudist group named the beach and pushed for its official nude beach status, which was granted in 2000.  Above, an 11th anniversary celebration at the beach in 2011.  We looked at this beach last year, but it's worth another look.

The beach is actually located in a wildlife preserve.  It's very private because of cliffs at the back of the beach.  Above, the stairs that lead down to the beach.

On the beach, you can sunbathe ...

or bring a beach umbrella to avoid too much sun.

You can walk along the shore ...

or go in the water, but few people swim here because the Humboldt Current brings cold water from Antarctica up the coast of Chile.

Here we see the water starting to wash over the beach as the tide rises.

This guy has discovered that at high tide the beach is entirely underwater.

But he apparently found a way to occupy himself on the moss-covered rocks.

When it's not high tide, the beach is a pleasant place to stroll along the sand ...

or along the water's edge ...

or to just sit back and admire a view like this.  And the sunset is pretty, too.

Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 58

Japanese Penis Festival

The Kanamara Matsuri or Festival of the Steel Phallus is a festival held every spring in the city of Kawasaki, Japan.  It celebrates this legend:

There was once a sharp-toothed demon who fell in love with a beautiful girl.  When she decided to marry a man, the demon was jealous and inhabited her vagina the night before the wedding.  Then, on her wedding night, the demon bit off the penis of her husband.  The girl tried to get married again, and the demon bit off the penis of her second husband.  Finally, the girl went to a blacksmith, who forged a steel phallus for her to use as a dildo.  The demon broke his teeth on the steel phallus and he left the girl's vagina.

In celebration of this legend, there is a shrine in Kawasaki to the gods Kanayama-hiko and Kanayama-hima, who are gods of blacksmithing and metal works.  In the shrine is a giant black metal penis.  During the festival, men carry this black penis in a procession through the streets, above, led by a Shinto priest.

There is also a giant pink penis carried by transgender females that's more visible and gets more attention.

Other giant penises in Kawasaki include wooden ones, above ...

and another black metal one.

During the penis festival, vendors sell many things, including penis-shaped candles ...

and penis lollipops that you can lick ...

or suck.

These vendors are carving penises from vegetables.

This festival-goer has a penis nose ...

and this one has a penis hat.

Festival-goers don't actually show their own penises, but in 2012, Batman showed up in the crowd, wearing a g-string shaped like an erection ...

and otherwise almost naked.

People pray to the gods in the Shinto shrine for easy childbirth, marital harmony, and protection from sexually transmitted diseases.  The festival has become a tourist attraction, and it now raises money for HIV research.

World Naked Bike Ride - Part 67

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