Performers - Part 3

 Puppetry of the Penis

In 1997, Australians Simon Morley and David 'Friendy' Friend created an act inspired by Simon's collection of "dick tricks".  They called it Puppetry of the Penis.  It consists of the two guys naked on stage, each contorting his penis, testicles, and scrotum into various shapes, while a giant screen at the back of the stage provides an enlarged close-up view so everyone can see.

Of course, there are only so many shapes that you can make with your penis, testicles, and scrotum, and most of them are really pretty stupid, but they're so outrageous that the audience loves it.

They have performed around the world, and the show is so popular that they have licensed other teams in Australia, the UK, and America to perform it.

What follows are some of their dick tricks, extracted from the only complete video of their act that I could find.  It has French subtitles, but the audio is in English (with an Australian accent), so if you're not French, just ignore the subtitles.

We start with one of their classics, the Hamburger.

A little stretching produces the Eiffel Tower.

But that's not the only thing they can stretch.  This is the Boomerang.

What time is it?  Well, get out your wristwatch.

Watch the screen in the back for a closeup view of The Eye.

After doing a Woman trick (the old mangina thing that everyone has seen), the audience is unprepared for the Other Woman.

Here's a Slow Emerging Mollusk.

We'll close with The Fan.  It's not the end of their act,  but I'm exhausted just looking at it.  One thing is for sure: these guys are world-class unashamed males.

Ads - Part 2

 Richmond Ham

Today's unashamed ad subject is a British ad campaign for Richmond Ham in 2012, featuring a man "as nature intended."

The campaign included putting these posters in British supermarkets.

Another supermarket  poster.  Of course, they concealed frontal views.

But this poster did show a rear view.

And here's their TV commercial.  The commercial was banned in Britain.  Government censorship of nudity?  No, the nudity was no problem.  At the end, it says "Britain's only ham made with 100% natural ingredients."  But the ham came from Ireland, so the government ruled that they couldn't call it British ham.

College Streaking - Part 7

 Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware

We continue our un-coverage of the 1974 college streaking craze, in alphabetical order by state.

Colorado College, Boulder, Colorado, 1974.

Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.  The Yale Daily News student newspaper, Feb. 18, 1974.

Another Yale Daily News streaking article, Apr. 2, 1974.

Yale streakers, Apr. 3, 1974.

Streaker on a unicycle.  Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut, March 21, 1974.

University of Delaware, April 16, 1974.  To me, he just looks cold.

Larry's Fairy Tales - Part 4

The Emperor's New Clothes

Once upon a time, there was a a young emperor who loved clothes.  Tailors from all over the empire competed to make him the most fabulous garments.  But he was never satisfied.

(Painting: Emperor Napoleon by Francois Gerard, 1805)

One day, a new tailor appeared at the palace.  He promised to make a magic garment that only the wise could see.  “But first,” he said, “I have to measure your Majesty’s body."
    "I had no idea custom made clothing required such detailed measurements,” said the emperor.
    “Oh yes.  I may have to measure this part several times to get it right."

(Image: cartoon by Gerard Donelan)

The next day, the tailor returned and pretended to drape the garment over the emperor.  “Here is the garment, your Majesty.  It’s so light, you can hardly feel it.  Only the wise can see it.  It is invisible to fools.”

(Photo: Aviation recruit medical exam, 1918.  Photo by Lt. Reid)

The emperor was not deceived, but he thought this might be a good test of his subjects.  First, he called his counsellors into the throne room.  He asked their opinion of his new magic garment that was invisible to fools.  They all told him it looked magnificent.

Then he went to church, where the Archbishop and all the priests praised the magic garment.

Then he read a public address from the royal balcony.  The press were fulsome in their compliments.

(Photo: Greek exhibitionist John Mask)

Then he mounted his horse and led a procession through the streets.  The public cheered him.

(Photo: Horse cantering with nude rider, by Edweard Muybridge, 1887)

But one young young man in the crowd cried, “The emperor is naked!  And so am I, unless you think I have a magic garment, too!”
    The emperor was happy to have finally found someone who would tell the truth.  “You shall be my prime minister,” he said.

But having found that he could get away with being an exhibitionist, the emperor continued to wear the “magic garment” for the rest of his days, as did his prime minister.  And they lived happily ever after.

World Naked Bike Ride - Part 5

 FKK Lad

We previously posted this photo of a policeman checking out a rider at the WNBR in Brighton, England in 2017.  The rider, who calls himself FKK lad, has participated in many WNBR events.

His name is Laurence Barnes, and he is originally from Melbourne, Australia.  He has traveled widely and gotten naked at every possible opportunity.  Here he is at the WNBR in Melbourne in 2015, holding another rider.

Then he moved to Berlin, where he enthusiastically embraced FKK, the German naturist movement.  FKK stands for Freikörperkultur (free body culture).  Here he is at the 2018 WNBR in Brighton, England, with his trademark rainbow flag socks and "I 💜FKK" painted on his chest.

He loves to be photographed naked and often poses with other WNBR participants.  This is at the 2018 WNBR in Manchester, England.

Here he is posing in front of Buckingham Palace at the 2019 WNBR in London.

Another photo at the 2019 WNBR in London, posing with two other guys.

Here he is at the 2019 WNBR in Brighton, England, posing with a guy in a dog mask.

Another photo at the 2019 WNBR in Brighton, giving another guy a piggyback ride on  the beach.

We close with this shot of him blowing bubbles at the 2019 WNBR in Manchester, England.  How could you not love this guy?

In addition to WNBR events, Laurence has shared lots of other nude photos of himself on his FKKlad Instagram account (now deleted) and Twitter account.  He's not ashamed for people to see him naked, to know that he's gay, and to know his real name.  He's one of the most unashamed males on the planet.  I'm sure we'll be seeing more of him.

Vintage Military - Part 6

Finland, 1941

All of today's images are from SA-kuva, the amazing Finnish archive of photos from World War II.  Some have been cropped to show detail. 

Minnesota is called the "land of ten thousand lakes."  Well, Finland has 188,000 lakes, and Finns love playing in and on their lakes.  Swimsuits were an unnecessary luxury for soldiers in wartime, and SA-kuva has hundreds of photos of men (presumably soldiers) in the water, always naked.

See the swastika on the boat?  Finland's position in World War II was peculiar.  Shortly after World War II began in Europe, the Soviet Union invaded Finland, attempting to add it to their empire.  For the rest of the war, the Finns fought the Russians.  But the Soviet Union, fighting Germany, was considered an ally of Britain, France, and the U.S.  So these Western countries refused to help Finland against Russia, even though Russia was clearly the aggressor.  Finland turned to Nazi Germany for help and received it.  However, Finland never officially joined the Axis (Germany, Italy, and Japan), it remained a democracy, and it never persecuted its Jews, who remained safe.

These soldiers are working on something in the water.

Going swimming in a lake.

Swimmers on a rocky shore.

Probably a cavalryman with his horse and friends.

Doing the laundry in a lake.

I think this is a river, not a lake, because of the logs being floated to their destination.

We close with an officer sunbathing on a stony beach, but we have lots more photos from SA-kuva, so stay tuned.

April Fool's Day

 April Fool's Day

When researching the 1974 college streaking craze, I came across this article in the University of Michigan student newspaper.  University president caught streaking!  (Click on the picture for a larger version.)  Note that this was in the April 1 issue of that year.

April 1 is also the date of the annual St. Stupid's Day parade in San Francisco, sponsored by the First Church of the Last Laugh, and celebrating everything stupid.  This is not a nude event.  People join the parade wearing all kinds of strange costumes and holding deliberately stupid signs.  But like many San Francisco events, there are always one or two guys who show up sans clothing, like the two above in 2011.

Here's a front view of the same two guys.

According to the event website, the parade route goes past the "Statue of the Bare-Butt Mechanics."  Officially, the statue is called the Mechanics Monument, sculpted in 1899 by Douglas Tilden.  But I think "Statue of the Bare-Butt Mechanics" is a good description.

Happy April Fool's Day!