The 1962 song You Really Got a Hold on Me by Smokey Robinson became a top 10 hit for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. It was later selected as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll." It was also recorded in 1963 by the Beatles, but I'm using the original Miracles version.
My interpretation of who has a hold on what may be a little different from what Smokey Robinson had in mind.
Arnold Billy Allen, born in 1994, is a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter from England in the featherweight division. He's very successful, having won 20 out of 23 fights. Here he is weighing in. I couldn't find any pictures of him weighing in naked. So why is he here? You'll see.
Here he is scratching an indelicate location while being interviewed.
He has a sense of humor. He posted this photo of himself on his Twitter page strategically posed next to someone's decorated car.
His father, Pacer Allen,is a professional strongman. Here's Arnold with his father and his father's pit bull.
And here's what inspired today's post: Arnold Allen and the dog in his father's yard.
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
In 1940, four French teenagers stumbled upon a cave that their dog had gone into. The Lascaux cave contained astonishing paintings such as the bulls above, shining a spotlight on prehistoric art, a subject that had previously been neglected. The Lascaux cave paintings are estimated to date from 20,000-15,000 BC.
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Much prehistoric art features animals, like the Lascaux cave paintings. Of the human figures, females dominate, such as the Venus of Willendorf, said to be the world's earliest erotic art (25,000 BC).
But there are also male figures, such as this hunter with an erect penis, depicted next to a bull in the Lascaux cave.
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Another French prehistoric site is the Grotte du Sorcier (Sorcerer's Cave). Above is the Sorcerer figure from that cave, dated at 15,000-10,000 BC.
It's sometimes hard to see the figures when they are just scratched into the rock, so tracings are made of them. Above, tracings of the Sorcerer, showing his prominent penis, made in 1953 by Father Andre Glory, who discovered the carving. By the way, the name Sorcerer was given to the figure by Father Glory; it was not actually a prehistoric sorcerer.
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Another tracing of a figure with a prominent penis. This one is called the Man of Piscos, carved into rock above the Piscos River in Portugal. It's thought to date from 20,000 BC.
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Somewhat more recent (but still ancient) paintings of men with penises from Cingle de la Mola in Spain, dating from 7000-4000 BC.
The previous examples are from Europe, but prehistoric art has been found around the world. Above, a figure from the "Magnificent Gallery" of rock art near Laura, Australia. The figure has a noticeable penis.
A bit below the previous figure is a white figure with a penis, and above him, a brown figure with what appears to be an extraordinarily long penis. This rock art gallery dates to 20,000 BC.
Are you starting to get the idea that prehistoric people were not ashamed to be naked?
We end with the Sayburç reliefs, a carving in southeastern Turkey dating to the ninth millennium BC. It is said to be the earliest depiction of a narrative scene.
And among the animals and human figures is this man. What's he doing? He's masturbating. Even 10,000 years ago, guys jerked off.
Punta Križ is a nude beach in Rovinj, Croatia, on the shore of the Adriatic Sea.
The beach is very rocky.
There's no sand, just rock ...
and pebbles. But it's popular because it's a legal nude beach.
Someone painted this sign on the rock saying "gay beach" in Croatian, with an arrow pointing to the gay end of the beach and some doodles of a cock and an ass.
This beach became known for the sexual activity that takes place here, both gay and straight. That's the reason for this sign. It says that exhibitionism is prohibited, which is odd, since it's an official nude beach, so nudity is perfectly legal, and "lewd acts" are also prohibited.
All that did was to drive the "lewd acts" off the beach into the woods behind the beach. Above, a guy cruising in the woods.
And here's what happens in the woods behind Punta Križ beach.
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Another kinky Bible story? Yes, but here's the thing: this story is presented in the Bible as an accomplishment of Jehu, not an outrage or a sin. Not only was using the temple of another religion as a latrine a good thing, but slaughtering innocent people just because they practiced another religion was a good thing. Note that the people who worshipped Baal were not at war with Israel. Their only "crime" was that they worshipped a different god. Today we would call this genocide.
Keep that in mind the next time someone tells you that you should practice "Biblical morality."
The World Naked Bike Ride in Brussels, Belgium, on June 15, 2024 was led by Jerome Jolibois, who has organized and led the ride for many years. Above, Jerome is interviewed by reporters.
Riders meet in a park before the ride begins. Here's Jerome with a young man we have seen before in other WNBR events who sports body paintings of Spongebob Squarepants characters.
Jerome (at left) posing with another group.
And posing with yet another group of riders.
Here's Jerome by a monument to 19th century Belgian patriot Frere-Orban. The inscription, translated, says "I will fight for liberty until my last breath."
And then the ride began. The banners on Jerome's bike say "Body Power" (the pink banner), "Climate Justice Now" and "World Naked Bike Ride." Two of the themes of WNBR events are to celebrate the human body ("Body Power") and to protest against vehicles that burn fossil fuels, which is causing global warming ("Climate Justice Now").
Here's Jerome leading the riders though the streets of Brussels.
Going down another street.
We end with the riders at the Arc du Cinquantenaire, which was built in 1880 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Belgium's independence from the Netherlands in 1830. Jerome can be seen toward the left with the banners on his bike.
We continue our series of photos from the Tartu Ülikooli museum of anthropology in Estonia.
For those who haven't seen my previous posts in this series, a few words of explanation. The museum provides no information about the men, other than the photos came from the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Tartu. In particular, it does not say who these men are, or when or why the photos were taken.
My best guess is that they are military recruits. The very short haircuts suggest that these photos were taken during or shortly after the enlistment process.
Many of the men have dark faces and hands. Are they are tanned from working outside like farmers, or are they dirty from some dirty occupation? We don't know.
When were the photos taken? My best guess is between World War I and World War II, when Estonia was an independent country with its own military. Before WWI, Estonia was part of the Russian Empire, and after WWII, Estonia was part of the Soviet Union until 1991.
A clue to the time frame is that these photographs were made on glass plates, not film. Dry glass-plate photography started in 1871 and began to fall out of use in the 1920s. I found some references to it in Estonia through the 1930s.
One other clue to the time frame of these photos is that in a previous batch, one of the men is wearing a wristwatch. Wristwatches were considered to be for ladies before World War I. (Men used pocket watches.) However, during the war, wristwatches proved very useful for soldiers and pilots. After WWI, wristwatches came into fashion for men.
Although wristwatches were evidently rare in Estonia (only two men wore a wristwatch among the hundreds that were photographed), it suggests that these photos are post-World War I.
Since the use of glass plates fell out of use in the 1920s, I think the photos were most likely taken shortly after World War I.
Although these appear to be military recruits, these may not not be military photos. We know that the museum that currently has the photos got them from the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Tartu. If these are military photos, why would they end up at the Institute of Anatomy?
A more likely possibility is that the photos were taken by academics. Scientists at the Institute of Anatomy were doing studies to try to measure what they considered racial characteristics of the population by measuring the body, including phrenology (measuring the skull), ideas which are now discredited.
I think that the scientists at the Institute of Anatomy may have persuaded the military to let them take photographs of the naked new recruits for "research" purposes. I have no written evidence to support this idea, but since the photos were at the Institute of Anatomy, and the photo subjects appear to be military recruits, it's now my best guess as to what happened.
One other question that perennially arises from these photos is: why were the men photographed in pairs? Was it to save film?
The answer is that these photos were made on glass plates, not film, but glass plates were more expensive and involved more labor than film, so yes, it's likely that the men were photographed in pairs to save on glass plates.
So, bottom line: My best guess is that these photos were taken after World War I, the subjects are new or recent Army recruits, and the Estonian military allowed scientists from the Institute of Anatomy to take photos of the naked recruits for "research".
