College Streaking - Part 44

 Cal Poly 2010

Last time, we looked at the naked run tradition of California Polytechnic State University, or Cal Poly, in San Luis Obispo, California.  The naked run is called "Streak Hathway" (sometimes misspelled Hathaway).  Today's photos are from Streak Hathway in 2010.

The naked run was started in 2006 by Cal Poly student David Lindstrom.

Students run naked down Hathway Ave. in San Luis Obispo outside the university.

This guy is unashamed.  You want to look?  Look.

In 2008, Lindstrom started selling Streak Hathway T-shirts to raise money for breast cancer.

This guy should be popular because of a certain feature that's, shall we say, outstanding, and perhaps becoming upstanding.

Don't cover up, buddy.  It's a streak!

The local police said the event is legal, and they do not interfere.  Judging by the smile on one of them, they're enjoying the view.

Here's a photo for those of you who admire rear views.

Come on, guys, take off the shorts.  It's a streak!

This guy is getting up close and personal with the people in this car.

While his buddy gets a bit up close and personal with him.

Come on, guys, don't hold clothes in front of you.  It's a streak!

And they're off!

Showing off to passers-by.

And down the street.

We end with a guy celebrating this Cal Poly tradition.  Now that's an unashamed male!

Calendars - Part 39

Clawddnewydd

Clawddnewydd is a village in Wales.  In 2009, they decided to produce a naked calendar featuring village residents to raise money to fight breast cancer and testicular cancer.  What was different was the format of the calendar.  It was double-sided.  If you hung it on the wall one way, you saw 12 months of naked females.  If you flipped it over, you saw 12 months of naked males.  Good idea.  Something for everyone!

Of course, we're interested in the males.  This is Mr. January.  Like most of these British naked calendars, frontal nudity was concealed behind carefully placed objects.

Mr. February.

Mr. March.  At least rear views weren't concealed.

Mr. June.

Mr July.

Mr. August.

We end with Mr. September.  In my opinion, anyone who can pronounce "Clawddnewydd" should get a free calendar.

World Naked Bike Ride - Part 43

London and Amsterdam 2017

This guy was in the London WNBR on June 10, 2017.  Maybe it was his spiky hair that I noticed.

I wasn't the only one who noticed him, as evidenced by this guy taking his picture.

Here he is pedaling along on his bike.

But a few weeks later, he also turned up at the Amsterdam WNBR on July 1, 2017.  Instead of a bike, he was riding a "footbike," which seems to be a cross between a scooter and a bicycle.

Here he is (at right) with a bunch of other riders in Amsterdam's Park Frankendael before the ride.

And they're off!

He's sporting a slogan on his back: "Use your brain, use your body."

The ride pauses outside the Athenaeum Boekhandel (bookstore), and he climbs up, the better to see and be seen.

This clip from a video of the 2017 Amsterdam WNBR shows our spiky-haired friend riding along on his scooter.

We end with a video clip of him (at center) jumping for joy along with two other guys.

Instruments - Part 33

 Other Instruments

Today is devoted to musical instruments for which I was not able to find enough nude photos to give them their own post.  Surprisingly, I couldn't find any nude photos of bassoon players, aside from the photo above.  It was labeled "Composer arrested after debut performance of 'Symphony for Bassoon and Naked Dwarfs'."  However, it was also labeled humor, so I think it's a fake photo.

This is not a fake photo.  It's a guy playing the hurdy-gurdy outside the Tronsmo bookstore in Oslo, Norway.  The bookstore is known for being LGBT-friendly.

A guy playing the kalimba on Vancouver island, Canada.

A painting of a man playing maracas by Peter Clementi

And if you can't find maracas, maybe artichokes will do (just kidding).

A sitar player.  Considering India's tolerant attitude toward nudity, especially at religious festivals, I expected to find nude Indian sitar players, but this Western guy was the only one I could find.

A guy and his xylophone.

And running the gamut from A to Z, the guy on the left is playing the zither.

We end with this photo that was billed as a naked orchestra.  I'd call it a big band, not an orchestra, but they certainly are naked.

Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 34

John the Baptist

John the Baptist actually existed.  However, that didn't stop the authors of the Gospels and others from inventing myths about him.  Above, Study for a Youthful St. John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1480, is one of the earliest artistic representations of him.

Above, John the Baptist in the Wilderness by Guido Sanuto, 1545-1555.  Three of the Gospels say that John spent time in the wilderness, an appealing subject for artists.  Naked in the wilderness!  Never mind that two of the Gospels say that John was clothed in camel's hair.

Youth With a Ram by Caravaggio, 1602, is also called Saint John the Baptist on the flimsy pretext that the ram might be a sacrificial ram and thus refer to the sacrifice of Jesus, and the grape leaves, which produce grapes which produce red-colored wine, might refer to Jesus' blood.  In any case, it was an excuse to paint a naked youth.

Saint John the Baptist by Joseph Marie Vien, 1747, appears to be sitting on the edge of a bench or a bed, certainly not in the wilderness.  Maybe this is supposed to be John imprisoned by King Herod.  Herod actually did imprison and execute John, according to the 1st century Roman-Jewish historian Josephus, who is a somewhat reliable source, unlike the Gospels, which are mostly fairy tales.

This statue is St. John the Baptist Preaching by Rodin, 1902.  John is unfortunately wearing a fig leaf ...

But we have this photo of Rodin's model Gaudenzio Marconi posing for the statue.

In this 1932 painting, St. John the Baptist by Karoly Kernstok, John is naked, but having him under a fruit tree somehow doesn't look much like the wilderness.

In some (but not all) of the gospels, John the Baptist baptized Jesus, as portrayed in Big Baptism by Marc DeBauch, 2006.  DeBauch includes some traditional religious symbolism here (the dove above Jesus, John's staff in the form of a cross, foreshadowing what will happen), but the rest of the imagery is more in line with DeBauch's usual gay erotic art.

We end with the story of Salome, the daughter of King Herod's wife Herodias.  According to legend, Salome danced the dance of the seven veils before the king, pleasing him so much that he offered her anything she wanted.  She demanded the head of John the Baptist, which was delivered to her on a platter.  Needless to say, this sensational story, partly told in the gospel of Mark, is a fairy tale.  The gospels are not credible historical sources.  The only credibly documented part of the story is from the historian Josephus, who said that Herod did have John the Baptist put to death, and Herodias did have a daughter named Salome.  Nothing about Salome dancing for Herod, and nothing about the head on a platter.

We're not interested in the dance of the seven veils in this blog, but the staging of the opera Salome by Richard Strauss at Covent Garden in 2008 featured an executioner, played by Duncan Meadows, above, who enters the stage stark naked carrying the head of the Baptist (not on a platter) and presents it to Salome.