Calendars - Part 58

Tony Merlot, 2015

Tony Merlot lives in Melbourne, Australia.  He has posted many naked photos of himself on Flickr, including this set of calendar photos for the year 2015, starring Tony and his friends, taken on some nude beaches near Melbourne.

You'll notice that, unlike the British nude charity calendars that show rear views but never frontals, Tony's calendar does not have that constraint.

January shows Tony on the beach.

February shows Tony again.

March shows Tony with his friend Ian on Sunnyside Beach.  Ian and other friends were not named in the calendar photos, but I identified them from other photos on Tony's Flickr site in which they were named.

April shows Tony's friend Ron.  If Ron appears a bit aroused, see the last photo in this post for a possible explanation.

May shows Ron again.

June shows Ian on Sunnyside Beach.

July shows Ian on Sunnyside Beach again.

August shows Lindsay (left) and an unidentified friend.

September shows Ian again.

October shows Tony on Somers Beach.

November shows Tony before he grew his mustache and beard.

Finally, December shows Tony on an unidentified beach.

That's the end of the calendar photos.  But Tony's Flickr site contains many more photos of him and his friends, often on the nude beaches.  Most just show them nude, but a couple of them go further, and I'm including them as a bonus.  This is Tony sucking Lindsay, who appears in the August photo, on Somers Beach.

And we end with Tony sucking Ron, who appears in the April and May photos, on Sunnyside Beach.

Not the Same Old Song - Part 52

Shake

Shake was a 1965 hit by Sam Cooke.  This may not be the part of the anatomy shaking that Cooke had in mind, but I think it fits.

Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 53

Jain Monks

The Jain religion is one of three ancient religions in India, distinct from Hinduism and Buddhism, though they all share the belief in reincarnation.

Jain monks are divided into two groups, one of which is the Digambara (literally, sky-clad) monks, who are completely naked.  Above, the revered monk Acarya Pushpadantasagara with his colleagues.

Digambara monks are naked at all times, including walking around in public, above.  Passers-by in India see nothing wrong with this.

The reason for nudity is that the monks have renounced all possessions, including clothes.  They only keep two things: first, a feather duster made of peacock feathers, which they use to brush insects out of the way so that they do not kill even the smallest thing, and second, a pot that contains only water.

Above, a monk blesses a novice.  The novice is not allowed to be naked until he becomes a full-fledged monk.  Being naked is an honor to be achieved, not something shameful.

A monk with disciples and nuns.  Only Jain monks are allowed to be naked; not disciples and not nuns.

A Digambara monk in New Delhi.  Note the swastika symbols.  To us Westerners, the swastika is a symbol of Nazi evil.  In India, the swastika has been used for thousands of years, and it has nothing to do with the Nazis.  It is an important symbol in the Jain religion, representing, among other things, the four destinies of souls in the cycle of death and rebirth: hellish beings, animals, humans, and heavenly beings.

Jain monks on a pilgrimage to Shravanabelagola, a holy site.

Another Jain monk on a pilgrimage to Shravanabelagola.

This is the temple at Shravanabelagola that they are heading to.  It features a naked statue of Bahubali, also called Gomateshwara.  Supposedly he was the first Jain monk to achieve Moksha (enlightenment) long ago.  He meditated for so long that vines grew up his legs and arms, as seen on the statue.  The 58-foot-tall statue, made in 981 AD, is said to be the tallest statue in the world carved out of a single piece of stone.

Every 12 years a festival is held there, and the statue is bathed and purified.  Above, Jain monks at the feet of the statue.

I won't go into the beliefs of the Jain religion, except to say that even for laypersons it prescribes some austerity, and it forbids killing any living creature.  As a result, all Jains are vegetarians.

Above, a gathering of Digambara monks in Delhi in 2014.  Jain monks are required to be celibate, but at least they can meet and hug naked.

World Naked Bike Ride - Part 62

 Melbourne 2020

Today's post is about two guys in the WNBR in Melbourne, Australia in 2020 who caught my eye.  The first is the guy above with "Freedom" on his chest.  His penis looks very small (although he may be a grower), but he is still unashamed to participate in this naked event.

And he not only participated, he showed off.  Here he is hanging from a metal bar ...

at the entrance to a courtyard where WNBR riders are gathered.  You can see he's attracting attention.  You can also see he has "WNBR" painted on his ass.

Another frontal view.

And then he dismounts.  You've heard the expression "It's not the size of the boat, it's the motion of the ocean."

I would only add, sometimes it's not about the hot dog, it's about the buns.

In that same courtyard, we see another guy in the right foreground with something painted on his abdomen.

Here's a better view of him in the park where WNBR riders gathered before the ride.  His design is a face with his penis like a tongue sticking out.  Because of the overall shape of the face design, I'm calling him Mr. Potato Head.

Here's Mr. Potato Head during the WNBR ride though the streets of Melbourne.

He's definitely an unashamed male.

Olympics - Part 7

 Olympics 1980-1984

The 1980 Olympics were held in Moscow.

However, this was just after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, and 66 countries boycotted the Moscow Olympics, led by the United States.  Above, a boycott poster.

Athletes from the Soviet Union and other Communist countries such as Cuba won most of the medals, since they were almost the only ones competing.  Above, Soviet swimmers Aleksandr Sidorenko, left, and Sergei Fesenko kiss each other after they finished first and second in the mens 400-meter.

The 1984 Olympics were held in Los Angeles.  Above, a 1984 Olympics poster.

Another 1984 Olympics poster.

The Olympic Gateway was built in 1984 to greet visitors to the Los Angeles Coliseum.  It was surmounted by headless male and female statues by Robert Graham.  The male statue, above, was modeled after Olympic athlete Terry Shroeder who played in the 1984 Olympics.

German decathlete Siegfried Wentz won a bronze medal.  Above, he gets a massage in 2009.

American runner Carl Lewis won 4 gold medals in 1984 and continued winning Olympic gold medals in 1988, 1992 and 1996.

This is a statue by Arno Breker of German decathlete Jürgen Hingsen who won a silver medal.

Brazilian runner Robson da Silva competed in the 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympics.  He also posed for a very uninhibited set of photos, one of which is above.

American volleyball player Karch Kiraly, known as "Special K", won gold in 1984 and also in 1988 and 1996.  We see him above in a photo by Bruce Weber.

We end with Austrian tennis player Thomas Muster, who competed in the 1984 and 1992 Olympics.  In 1996 he was ranked the #1 tennis player in the world.  After an exhibition match in 1996, he auctioned off his tennis racquet to support a children's charity; then he auctioned off his clothes (above).

Next time: Olympic Games 1988 and 1992.

Performers - Part 57

 Album Covers part 3

Here are some more album covers.  Above, Return of Dolemite by Rudy Ray Moore, one of his comedy albums featuring stories and rap performances about a pimp called Dolemite.

If you thought that was suggestive, how about the cover of his Zodiac album?

Hemispheres by the Canadian rock band Rush has a surrealistic cover featuring a naked dancer from the Toronto Ballet School.

The Rush album 2112 included a gatefold sleeve (above) with a figure called the Starman.

Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly) by the Icelandic band Sigur Rós uses a cover photo called Highway by Ryan McGinley.

Grave New World by the English band Strawbs uses an illustration called Glad Day painted by William Blake in 1795.

If the cover of Hand in Glove by the English band The Smiths looks homoerotic, it was intentional.  It features a photo of George O'Mara by physique photographer Jim French.

Throughout his career, English singer Robbie Williams has teased his fans with glimpses of rear (never frontal) nudity.  Above, Under the Radar Volume 1, a compilation album.

Here's another compilation album, Under the Radar Volume 2.

I don't know if this is the back cover of Under the Radar Volume 2 or an alternate cover.

And the cover of Under the Radar Volume 3 had – surprise, surprise – another shot of Robbie's butt.

We end with another Robbie Williams tease that he did on Comic Relief in 2003.