Vintage Military - Part 23

 WWII - Italy

After the Allies took Sicily, Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was deposed.  A new government signed an armistice with the Allies, but Hitler was unwilling to give up Italy so easily.  German forces took over Italy and Mussolini was put in charge of a puppet state, actually controlled by Germany.   German soldiers fought in Italy against the British Eighth Army under General Montgomery and the American Fifth Army under General Mark Clark.  The operation to retake Italy lasted from Sept. 1943 to April 1945, moving from south to north.

The caption of the December 1943 British photo above says: "Sapper B. Rainey of 1 Whalley Rd, Northwich, Cheshire enjoys a most welcome shower bath."  This and today's other British photos are from the Imperial War Museum collection, which often gives the names of soldiers in the photos, and in this case, it even gave his home address.  Well, there's no privacy in the Army!

This photo of American soldiers stripping to shower is from a set called "Air Artillery, Italy" in the LIFE photo archive.  It was taken in February 1944 by Margaret Bourke-White, who was a rare female war photographer.

March, 1944.  To bypass heavily defended German fortifications, the Allies staged a beach landing at Anzio, which in a way was a practice run for the D-Day invasion of France a few months later.  These are soldiers of the British Fifth Army at Anzio.  Caption: "Water supply at Anzio.  A batch of infantrymen back from the front line take a shower."

June, 1944.  British troops find more civilized shower facilities in the Royal Palace in Naples.  Caption: "Private Smith takes a shower in the shower baths available to visiting troops."  Although I doubt that these shower stalls would have been used by royalty, they are made of marble.  Perhaps they were built for the servants.

June, 1944.  American troops, one of them stark naked, heading across a lake in a rubber boat.  Photo by LIFE photographer Carl Mydans.

June, 1944.  Caption: "Three British soldiers take advantage of a rest from the line and cleanse themselves in Lake Trasieno. The far end of the lake is still in German hands."

October, 1944.  Caption: "At a front line bath unit, well within range of enemy shellfire, men of the 16-5 Lancers take advantage of a break in the weather to rid themselves of some of the accumulated mud of Italy."

October, 1944.  Caption: "Trooper D.H. Ireland of Hounslow, Middlesex, enjoys his newspaper as he lies soaking in a mountain stream."

In April 1945, Mussolini was captured and executed by the Italian resistance.  This photo from April 28, 1945 shows his naked corpse.  Mussolini's Fascist dream was to recreate the empire of ancient Rome by conquering the countries around the Mediterranean.   Perhaps this should be a warning to other dictators who seek to recreate vanished empires by conquering neighboring countries.

Ads - Part 18

Aldo Vandini

This is a German commercial for women's skin cream from the European company Aldo Vandini.  The product is called "Meine Schönzeit," which means "my beauty time" in German.  Most such ads show a beautiful young woman using the product, with the implication that if you use it, it will make you look young and beautiful, too.  This ad takes a different approach to attracting female buyers.

Festivals - Part 20

Stonehenge Free Festival

Stonehenge has always been a place of wonder and power.  The Druids worshipped there.  The stones are aligned so that on the summer solstice, the sun rises directly behind another stone set at a distance from the monument (above).

Some New Age enthusiasts who believe in ley lines, mysterious lines of earth energy, say that as many as 14 ley lines all converge at Stonehenge.

What a place to hold a rock festival!

The Stonehenge Free Festival was held on the grounds of Stonehenge in England from 1974 to 1984.  The festival featured rock bands, but it was also a celebration of hippie and New Age culture.  The festival was held in the month of June, culminating with the summer solstice on or near June 21.

This photo, which we've seen in a previous post, shows a naked hippie on the wrong side of a barbed-wire fence on the day of the solstice in 1976.

The festival participants camped out in an area near Stonehenge, which you can see in the background

The campsite was filled with cars ...

and tents, not to mention some naked hippies.

Here, a group of hippies are camping in teepees and making their own music with a flute and drums.  In addition to the guy smoking a pipe (I don't think he's smoking tobacco), you can see a couple of other naked guys walking around.

One of the drummers is sitting naked on his drum.

In 1984, the solstice celebration was held right inside Stonehenge.  These two naked guys seem to be performing some kind of ritual with a censer.

More people celebrating inside Stonehenge.

And just outside the stones, a woman presents a baby to the "tribe" while a naked man dips his fingers in a cup and sprinkles the woman, the baby, and the crowd – his version of holy water?  At the end of this clip you can see that they're next to one of the Stonehenge stones at the right.

By 1984, the festival had grown into a major event with 30,000 people.  Damage caused by festival campers cost £20,000 to clean up, and critics said that archaeological features such as underground barrows had been damaged (the archaeology of Stonehenge extends far outside the main stone circle).  The following year, the government banned the festival.

Not the Same Old Song - Part 11

 Chim Chim Cheree

Did you know that it's good luck to give a blowjob to a chimney sweep?  I have the proof right here, sung by Dick Van Dyke playing Bert the chimney sweep in the movie Mary Poppins.  Who would have thought there was a song about oral sex in a Disney movie?  Careful, Dick, there are children present!

OK, full disclosure: I cut out two words.  The original went "or blow me a kiss."  But I like my version.

World Naked Bike Ride - Part 22

 London 2010

Sometimes a WNBR rider catches my attention in multiple photos.  Last time, we saw Ginger Pogue at the 2010 London WNBR.  Here's another guy, easily recognizable because of the bike lock that he's wearing over his shoulder.

And he's not hard on the eyes, either.

Here he is riding.

And here's a closeup shot of him chatting with a fellow rider.

Here's another guy who I picked out of multiple photos of the 2010 London WNBR.

Why?  Because I think he's cute.

Here he is riding across what I think is Waterloo Bridge.

We round out our coverage of the 2010 London WNBR with a few other miscellaneous guys.  I believe this guy is waving the flag of England (not of Great Britain) – a red cross on a white background.  Remember my post on St. George and the dragon?  It's the cross of St. George.

This guy is equipped with a nice camera, plus some other nice equipment.

Finally, we have this guy with his slogan.  Of course, the Brits call it arse, not ass, but that wouldn't rhyme.  I think we can all agree with "Less gas, more ass."

Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 13

Sisyphus

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was a ruthless, deceitful king of Ephyra (modern Corinth).  He boasted that he was more clever than the god Zeus, and on two occasions he escaped death by lying to and tricking the guardians of the underworld, thus cheating death.

(Greek vase depicting Sisyphus carrying his stone, c. 530 BC)

The god Hades, ruler of the underworld, didn't like being cheated.  When Sisyphus finally died, he was condemned by Hades to roll a huge boulder up a steep hill, and then the boulder would roll down again, and Sisyphus had to repeat the task endlessly.

(Book Illustration by Abraham van Diepenbeeck, 1655)

Artists liked this theme both because we can relate to it – a task that seems difficult, endless and futile is called Sisyphean – and because it was an opportunity to depict a naked muscular man.

(Sisyphus Eternally Rolling the Rock, by Alexandre Denis Abel de Pujol, 1785-1861)

Above is a painting of Sisyphus by Franz von Stuck, 1920 (right) with a photo of von Stuck's model posing on the left.

An Art Deco bronze plaque of Sisyphus by Belgian sculptor Joseph Witterwulghe, 1920s.

Here's a clip from the Laurel and Hardy movie The Music Box, 1932, in which they have to lug a piano up a huge flight of stairs.  You can guess what happens, and in the full movie, it happens more than once.  You can see the full movie (29 minutes long) on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD8I6SG_DAU

This photo of a muscular naked guy as Sisyphus has been widely reproduced.  Of course, the rock is actually on a flat surface and the photo has been tilted to make it a hill.

This self-portrait by Boatin' Rob is called Sisyphus Redux, but this photo hasn't been tilted, as you can see by the trees in he background.  Those of you who like bears should click on the photo to enlarge it.

Another version of Sisyphus.  A farmer's work is never done.

We end with this recent take on Sisyphus.  Just when we think we're done with Covid-19, another variant comes along and we have to start all over again.  Thousands of years after the story of Sisyphus was told, it's still relevant.

Artists - Part 21

Cooper Renner

Cooper Esteban Renner is an author and artist living in Texas.  He has written a number of books, and he writes poetry under the name Cooper Esteban.

But we're interested in his work as an artist.  The drawing above gives his views on portraying nudity.

Most of his art is simplified, cartoon-like drawings, often self-portraits, and often with captions written on the drawing, like the one above, part of a series called "I would prefer not to," referring to a quote from Herman Melville's story Bartleby the Scrivener.  In this drawing, Renner would prefer not to put on clothes.

He's an unashamed male.

This drawing states his philosophy: "This is the mask" (clothed), and "This is who I am" (naked).

Another theme that runs through his work is that he's hairy.

For those not familiar with the classic science fiction story The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells, the plot involves a mad scientist who tries to surgically transform animals into humans, resulting in creatures that are half man, half beast.

As you can see, Renner treats his hairiness as a subject for humor.

Here, the hairiness is a bit exaggerated.

Renner is not gay, but he's also not ashamed to draw erections in his art.

Like the little poem above.

Even sex gets the humorous treatment.  

We end with a self-portrait as Sisyphus.  You'll see much more about the Sisyphus myth tomorrow.

You can see see more of Cooper Renner's art on his website www.cooprenner.com or on the photo sharing site www.flickr.com/photos/r3nn3r/, where he has posted thousands of drawings.

College Streaking - Part 22

 Texas - Part 2 of 3

We continue our un-coverage of the 1974 college streaking craze, alphabetically by state.  Here are more Texas colleges.

Above: Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, from the 1974 yearbook La Ventana.

University of Texas, Austin streaker with cowboy hat and boots (from a blog that unfortunately censored the image).

University of Texas, Austin - the main mall (from a blog that unfortunately censored the image).

University of Texas, Austin - from the yearbook Cactus.  At least the yearbook didn't censor the image.

West Texas State University, Canyon, Texas, from the yearbook Le Mirage.

West Texas State University, from the yearbook Le Mirage.

West Texas State University, from the yearbook Le Mirage.

Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas.

Stephen F. Austin State University.

Next time: More Texas colleges.