Larry's Fairy Tales - Part 2

Jack and the Beanstalk

Starring Joe Leitel as Jack and Don Hawksley as the Giant.

Once upon a time, there was a young man named Jack who lived in a ground-floor apartment.  He was good-looking, but very shy.

(Photo: Joe Leitel, AMG)

In the penthouse of the same building lived a handsome man.  Jack called him “the giant” because of the size of the bulge in his pants.  Jack worshipped him from afar, but he was too shy to do anything about it.

(Photo: Don Hawksley with trouser bulge by Pat Milo)

Jack’s best friend was so tall and thin that Jack called him “the beanstalk.”  Jack confessed that he was hopelessly attracted to the giant.  “I know what you need,” said the beanstalk.  “Here’s a magic bean.  Swallow it and it’ll give you the courage to go meet the giant.”

Jack swallowed the bean and then, feeling courageous, he climbed up the stairs to the penthouse and knocked on the door.  The giant opened the door.
    “Hi, I’m Jack, from downstairs,” said Jack.
    “Hi. I just took a shower, but I’ll be dressed in a minute,” said the giant.
    “Oh, no need to dress on my account.”

(Photo: Don Hawksley by Pat Milo.  Disclosure: doorway added with Photoshop.)

    “Fee, fi, fo fum, then come on in and have some rum,” said the giant.  
    They sat next to each other on the giant’s sofa, but though he was getting very excited, Jack was still too shy to make the first move.
    “Be you alive or be you dead?  We both have boners.  Let’s go to bed,” said the giant.

(Photo: Don Hawksley by Pat Milo)

The next morning, Jack crept away, stealing the giant’s T-shirt, because he wanted to keep something of the giant’s.  For a week, Jack avoided the penthouse, because he was afraid the giant might be mad at him for stealing the T-shirt.
    “You need some more courage,” said his friend the beanstalk.  “Have another magic bean.”

(Photo: Joe Leitel, AMG)

Jack swallowed the bean, climbed up the stairs, and knocked on the giant’s door again.
    “Fee, fi, fo, fum, what took you so long?  Let’s have some fun,” said the giant.
    The next morning, Jack stole a pair of the giant’s underpants.

(Photo: Don Hawksley in T-shirt by Pat Milo)

Jack was afraid to face the giant again for another week.  Finally, he asked his friend for another magic bean.
    “Jack, I have a confession,” said the beanstalk.  “There’s nothing magic about those beans,  The courage was inside you all along.  Now go to your giant.”

(Photo: Joe Leitel)

So Jack climbed up the stairs again and hesitantly knocked on the door.  He confessed to the giant why he had been afraid.
    “Silly boy, I don’t care about that.  Can’t you see what you do to me?” said the giant, who had indeed become giant.
    “Fee fi, fo, fum, for someone so smart, you sure are dumb.
    Be you alive, you dunderhead, move in with me, and share my bed.”

(Photo: Don Hawksley by AMG c. 1960)

So that’s what Jack did.  And they lived happily ever after.

(Photo: Joe Leitel and Don Hawksley in bathtub by AMG)

Weighing In - Part 2

Sugar Ray Robinson

Sugar Ray Robinson (1921-1989) is considered one of the greatest boxers of all time.  He held the world welterweight title from 1946 to 1951 and the world middleweight title in 1951 and, after retiring, came back and won it again in 1955.

The first three photos are from the LIFE magazine photo archive.  None were published in the magazine.

This photo of Robinson weighing in was taken in 1955 by LIFE photographer Grey Villet.  Nobody seems concerned about modesty.

Here's Robinson weighing in for a fight with Carmen Basilio in 1957 or 1958, taken by LIFE photographer George Silk.

Another view of Robinson's weigh-in for the Basilio fight.  Officials were holding up a cloth to screen the view of the fighter from the audience, but photographer George Silk had a better view.

Here's Sugar Ray before a fight with Jean Stock in November 1950.  Photo by Walter Carone.  No false modesty with this guy.  He was the world champion and he knew it.

Events - Part 2

 Bay to Breakers

Another San Francisco street event that includes naked participants is the annual Bay to Breakers run, named for its course that crosses the peninsula from San Francisco Bay through Golden Gate Park to the Pacific Ocean.  Though its official name is Bay to Breakers, it has become known as Bare to Breakers by those who participate nude.

Most of the runners are not bare, so this is a more typical sight.  It's not just a race; it's a party.  One year, over 100,000 people showed up.  People run ...

... or walk ...

... or take a break by the side of the street.

Participants are male and female (though, as usual, the naked people are mostly male).  They're young ...

... and old and in-between.

Many people wear costumes.  This woman came dressed as a subway door.

But a true Bare to Breakers runner, like this guy, wears almost nothing but a smile. 

College Athletes - part 1

 Swimmers

Until the 1960s, men swam naked when there were no women around, and this included high school and college men's swimming teams.  They practiced naked and only wore swimsuits for public competitions.

All these photos except the first are from the LIFE magazine photo archive.  None were published in the magazine.

Swim practice at Stanford's Encina Gym in 1930.  (Photo from the Stanford Libraries)

University of Michigan swimming coach Matt Mann talking to a swimmer.  Photo by William Vandivert, 1938.

University of Michigan swimmers.  Photo by William Vandivert, 1938.

These are not swim team members, just University of Michigan medical students playing naked in another pool during a break from studies.  Photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1950.  An eagle-eyed follower of my friend's blog http://www.vintagemusclemen.com recognized the location as the pool in the Michigan Union building.

Yale swimmers hitting the showers.  This photo, which has been widely reproduced online but sometimes misidentified, was taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt in 1937.

The Yale gym had a curious spray facility to ensure cleanliness down there.  Photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1937.

Here's Yale swim coach Bob Kiphuth.  No need for modesty.  Yale (and especially Yale's gym) was all-male.  Photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1937.  Smile for the camera!

Artists - Part 1b

 Juliusz Martwy/Lewandowski (continued)

Martwy/Lewandowsky has painted a large number of nudes and sex scenes.  A few of them include women, but it's clear his main interest is in men.  This 2010 work is called An Egg.

This is Akt Zelony (Green Nude), 2017.

This is Male nude in the bathroom.  I like the realistic, everyday setting.

This is Fruits of the Poison Orchard, 2014.  I'd love to know what the title refers to, but he also made two nearly identical copies of this work, one untitled and one called Lovers with Lamp.  So maybe we shouldn't read too much into the title.

This is called Kochankowie (Lovers), 2017.  Interestingly, his few paintings of heterosexual sex are much more explicit, showing penetrating penises.  His paintings of gay sex are less explicit, but they show people making love, not just having sex.

Even in this untitled 2017 painting of a guy rimming his lover, there's a feeling of care and tenderness.  This is a favorite subject of the artist.  I could have done a whole post on his paintings of guys rimming.

In the end, his paintings are not about sex but love.  This one is just called Love, 2018.  At first I thought the genitals had been omitted on the guy on the left, but when I looked closer, they're there, just dim and shadowy.  The focus is on the kiss, not the genitals.

The artist told a story about this painting.  Some workers came to his place when he was finishing this piece, and he didn't have time to hide it before they arrived.  Later, he put it away.  The next day, when they came back, they demanded to see it, saying "This is love."

Artists - Part 1a

 Juliusz Martwy/Lewandowski

Juliusz Martwy is a Polish artist born in 1977.  He also produces art under the name Juliusz Lewandowski.

By either name, he is gay, and that shows in many of his works.  This is Self-Portrait with Aleksy, 2014.

He has a fascination with the medieval period.  He described this 2020 painting as "Drunken Hussites in their camp."  The multiplicity of little figures reminds us of Pieter Bruegel.

This work is called Crusaders with bananas and swallows.  It's historically possible that Crusaders could have encountered bananas in the Middle East, but the artist no doubt included them to add a little humor as well as being sexually suggestive.  I have no idea what the swallows signify.

Sex is never very far away for this artist.  This cartoon or drawing is captioned: "Thanks to this, they can bravely resist the attacks of the infidels."

Tomorrow: more art by Juliusz Martwy/Lewandowski: nudes and lovers.

Poem of the Day - Part 5

 Ozymandias

And on the pedestal these words appear:

“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings;

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

Nothing beyond remains.  Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

From Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley.  Photo by Herbert List, 1937.