Plumbers smile, plumbers crack,
Plumbers often hurt their backs.
Plumbers wrenches, plumbers snakes –
Plumbers profit from earthquakes.
Plumbers plumb and plumbers bent:
Plumbers are all heaven sent.
Renowned English painter David Hockney (1937-2026) passed away a week ago. He is considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th and 21st centuries
He moved to Los Angeles in 1964. Above, Hockney on the beach at Santa Monica in 1964.
Hockney came out as gay when he was 23 years old, studying at the Royal College of Art in London. At the time, gay sex was still illegal in Britain.
Above, Man in Shower in Beverly Hills, 1964. Of course, not all of his art featured male nudes, but a fair amount of it did, and that's what we'll look at.
He seemed fascinated by the swimming pools in California. Above, California, 1965.
Two Boys in a Pool, Hollywood, 1965.
Peter Getting Out of Nick's Pool, 1966.
His paintings seemed to favor rear views, but is drawings were more explicit. Above, In An Old Book, 1966, one of 12 drawings illustrating Fourteen Poems by C.P. Cafavy.
This drawing is not as explicit, but it's more gay. It's called In the Beginning, 1966.
And this is An Erotic Etching, 1975.
Also from 1975 is Gregory Leaning Nude.
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We end with this photo of Hockney himself nude. It's called Portrait of David Hockney at His Studio by R.B. Kitaj, 1976. I got this from the Virtual Muscle Men blog. Thanks, Jerry!
Hockney kept creating until his death last week at age 88.
We have featured many photos of Jeff Cocking, a dedicated nudist who lives in Western Australia and posts daily photos of himself on his Twitter page as Nudist Jeff. Today we'll see Jeff on some beaches near where he lives. Above, Jeff (at right) with his friend Jacob on Mazzoletti Beach on the south shore of Western Australia, a bit west of Albany.
On Mazzoletti Beach.
A cold day on Mazzoletti Beach. You can see that a critical part has shrunk a bit.
In a rubber boat off Mazzoletti Beach.
Above Dingo Beach, just west of Albany.
Whaler's Cove.
At an unnamed beach with fellow nudist barefooted_trekka.
Jeff playing naked in the waves.
Having fish and chips with his partner Jason on Swanbourne Beach in Perth.
Jeff (left) with his partner Jason (right) on Swanbourne Beach.
We end with a shot that Jason took of Jeff against the sunset on Swanbourne Beach. Beautiful. And the sunset is nice, too.
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Jerome Jolibois, at right, has been organizing the World Naked Bike Ride in Brussels, Belgium since 2005. Above, he is attending a party on March 21, 2015, months before the ride, to promote the WNBR.
For the ride itself on June 20, Jerome dyed his mustache green. I don't know if it was to make him more recognizable to the other riders that he was organizing, or it was a visual pun about the WNBR being a "green" event, because bicycles don't generate pollution like cars do.
Here we see that he is naked for the ride. Jerome is a committed nudist. He has even appeared naked on TV.
Jerome leading the WNBR riders.
In the Grand Place, Brussels.
A rear view of Jerome in the Grand Place. On his back is written "0 gr. CO2", meaning zero grams of carbon dioxide (my thanks to Descamisado for pointing this out). It's presumably a comment on bike-riding being non-polluting, but it's misinformed, since bike riders do consume oxygen and emit carbon dioxide. However, they don't produce more toxic emissions, as cars do. That's one of two major messages of WNBR: riding bikes is less polluting than driving cars.
And here's the other major WNBR message: promoting safety for bike riders by telling drivers to notice bike riders even when they're not naked.
Here we see Jerome sideways. The writing on the back of the guy at left says "Je prête à rire mais donne à penser", which means "I invite laughter but give food for thought." Perhaps the nudity of the WNBR riders will invite some people to think about the WNBR messages.
Jerome and other riders at the Place Raymond Blyckaerts.
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The riders in downtown Brussels. Jerome is at left.
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The end of the ride at Square Frère-Orban, with Jerome again at the left.
Today is Donald Trump's birthday, which we will ignore. It's also Flag Day in the United States. Flag Day commemorates the adoption of the first U.S. flag by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. The flag's 13 stripes represent the original 13 states.
Big Dude might appreciate the penis shadow in this photo.
You could celebrate Flag Day by wearing a flag shirt ...
of flag shorts ...
or you could let the flag bless your activities today.
