Presidents Day 2023

Presidents Day

This year we look at Presidents Day in Saline Warm Springs, which is a campground in Death Valley National Park.

Both the campground and the springs are clothing-optional.

This is Wizard Pool in an area known as the upper springs.

This is a pool in the lower springs.

Every Presidents Day, a softball game is held between campers at the upper springs (the Misfits) and those at the lower springs (the Skins).

I don't know if some of the Misfits and the Skins play in their skins, but the annual game attracts hundreds of spectators (above), so perhaps they do.  Some of the spectators are in their skins.

Some more spectators in their skins.

We end with a Park Service ranger who seems to be enjoying the naked festivities.  Federal law does not prohibit nudity in National Parks, only lewdness.

One final note: February is a nice time to visit Death Valley.  Summer is not.  Being below sea level, it gets very hot.  The highest temperature on Earth was recorded here in July, 1913: 134 degrees F (56.7 degrees C).  A higher temperature was recorded in Libya in 1922, but it is now considered to be in error, so Death Valley holds the record.

Beach Bums - Part 30

 Playalinda Beach, Florida

Playalinda Beach is located in Canaveral National Seashore near Titusville, Florida.  It's just north of the Kennedy Space Center.  This beach is much less crowded and more peaceful than Miami's Haulover Beach.

Playlinda is not officially clothing optional, but unofficially, the northern section is a nude beach, and the authorities don't seem to bother nude beachgoers.

The waves can be a bit rough, and there's a drop-off near the shore that might not be good for small children, but it's a good spot for surfers.

The beach is backed by a small dune.

These are the Florida Young Naturists having their annual Spring Bash on the beach.

It's a nice, peaceful place, whether you want to lie back and relax ...

or stroll along the shore ...

or just enjoy the views.

And speaking of views, Playalinda Beach is one of the best spots to view rocket launches from the Kennedy Space Center, only a few miles away.  Here's a short video clip of an Atlas V launch viewed from Playalinda Beach.

Photographers - Part 33

 Florian Hetz

Florian Hetz (above) is a gay German photographer living in Berlin.  A severe bout of encephalitis abruptly ended his career as a theater producer.  An after-effect of the brain inflammation was memory loss.  During his recovery, he began taking photos as a diary.  The pictures reminded him where he had been and with whom.

"My memory is okayish now," he says.  "I don’t need that camera as a crutch anymore. I kept carrying it with me, taking photos of stuff that interested me. It conditioned me to see things photographically.”

Judging by his work, what interests him is primarily male nudes.  The photo above was taken during an artist residency at the Tom of Finland Foundation in Los Angeles.

Hetz says, "The male nude is the least popular topic in the art context. It sells the least, and at the lowest price. Which is crazy. We grew up with the idea that the naked woman is beautiful and the naked man is not. I object to that heavily. Every human being is beautiful naked. Full stop."

Hetz has become especially noted for closeup nude photography.  The closeup views are somehow both impersonal (because the subject can't be identified) and intensely personal at the same time.

His photos have been described as having "obscene beauty."  The photo above is lit so the dripping penis looks like a shadow, but it isn't.

More obscene beauty – an artistic closeup of an asshole.

A closeup of a man sucking another man's tongue.

This looks like a closeup view of hands, until you notice the penis.

This subject is easily recognizable ...

but this closeup view of a scrotum is almost abstract.

We end with this view of a Fleshlight that, again, looks both impersonal and intensely personal.  Although it's not titled, I'm guessing it's a self-portrait.

You can see much more of Florian Hetz' work on his website www.florianhetz.com.

Calendars - Part 32

 All American Male Calendar 2019

Today we look at another All American Male calendar, produced by Trucker Cowboy Black and photographed by Desert Heat Images.  The calendar was produced and sold to benefit the Trevor Project, which is a suicide prevention organization for LGBT youth.

Mr. February, Craig.  Unlike most naked calendars that coyly conceal frontal nudity, this calendar doesn't hide anything.

Mr. March, David.  Also, the models in this calendar are mature men, not college students or Chippendale types.

Mr. May, who calls himself Redpaw.

Mr. June, Troy, who is also on the cover.

Mr. August, Jon.

Mr. September, Ed.

Mr. October, Chip.

Mr. November, Anthony.

Mr.  December, Allen.

We end with a behind-the-scenes photo that didn't appear in the calendar, showing a May-December romance.  Well, actually it was Mr. June and Mr. October.

Performers - Part 33

 Roberto Bolle

Roberto Bolle is perhaps the greatest male ballet dancer today.  Born in Italy in 1975, he was accepted into the ballet school at La Scala, Milan, at the age of twelve.

At age 20 he became a principal dancer at La Scala, and in 2009 he became the first Italian male principal dancer at the American Ballet Theater in New York.  Above, one of a series of photos by Bruce Weber for the book Roberto Bolle: an Athlete in Tights.

Another Bruce Weber photo.  Bolle has danced as a guest artist with all the world's major ballet companies.

By the way, he danced a solo at the opening of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.  That broadcast was seen by 2.5 billion people.  In 1999 he was named a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, and at the 2006 Olympics he raised half a million Euros for schools and hospitals in southern Sudan.

More recently, he has toured his ballet production called Roberto Bolle and Friends.  His name is a big draw in the ballet world.

Here he is on the cover of the Italian edition of Vanity Fair in 2014.

We end with a portion of his performance in the ballet Giselle at the San Carlo Theater in Naples, Italy, in 2010.  No wonder ballet aficionados love him!

Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 27

 King Midas

In Greek mythology, King Midas was the king of Phrygia, a region that is now part of Turkey.  There are many legends about him.  The most famous is about the "Midas touch."  The story begins with the old satyr Silenus, the tutor and foster father of the god Dionysus.  Silenus got drunk and lost in Phrygia.

(Above: Sleeping Silenus by Rubens, c. 1611)

The satyr was taken to King Midas, who entertained him royally for ten days and nights.  Satyrs were noted for being permanently horny, so we can imagine what this entertainment included.

(Above: Silenus, 540-530 BC, Athens Archaeological Museum)

On the eleventh day, King Midas took Silenus back to the god Dionysus.  Silenus was so happy with how he had been treated that, as a reward, Dionysus granted King Midas one wish.

(Above: a guy named Andy dressed as Bacchus (the Roman name for Dionysus) at a Halloween party.  Bacchus/Dionysus was the god of wine and of drunken revelry and orgies (the word bacchanal comes from his name).  I must say I like Andy's Halloween costume.)

King Midas wished that everything he touched would turn to gold.  Dionysus granted his wish.  Midas began to regret his choice when all his food and drink turned to gold when it touched his hands or mouth.

In a later version of the myth by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Midas' daughter turned to gold when he touched her.  Well, if Nathaniel Hawthorne can add to the myth, so can I.  In my version, Midas didn't have a daughter; he had a young man as a lover.  When Midas caressed him ...

he started turning into gold ...

until he became a golden statue.

Back to the original myth.  Midas prayed to Dionysus to take back his wish, which had become a curse.  The god told Midas to bathe in the river Pactolus.  When Midas did so, his golden touch washed away into the river.  This myth explained to the Greeks why the sands of that river were rich in gold.

(Above: Midas Washing at the Source of the River Pactolus by Nicolas Poussin, c. 1627)

In another myth about King Midas, Midas became a worshipper of the god Pan.  Pan and the god Apollo had a contest to see who could play the best music: Pan on his panpipes or Apollo on his lyre.  A mountain god judged the contest and declared Apollo the winner.  Everyone present agreed except King Midas, who said that Pan should have won.  Apollo was not amused.  He said that Midas must have the ears of an ass, and he turned Midas' ears into donkey's ears (above).

(Above: The Judgement of Midas After the Contest Between Apollo and Pan, Italian School, 1700-1733)

When Michelangelo painted the fresco The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, one of the figures in the painting was King Midas in Hell (above).  The joke is that the face of King Midas depicts the Pope's Master of Ceremonies, Biagio di Cesena, who had criticized Michelangelo for painting so many nudes in the Sistine Chapel.  Di Cesena is portrayed with the ears of a jackass and a snake eternally biting his penis.  When di Cesena demanded that the Pope order Michelangelo to paint over the face, the Pope replied, "I might have released you from Purgatory, but over Hell I have no power."

Valentine's Day 2023

Valentine's Day

This video is a Swedish commercial for an organic beverage called Clean Drinks.  At the end, it says "Happy Valentine's Day" in Swedish.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!