World Naked Bike Ride - Part 69

London 2024

We've seen this guy before.  He calls himself lehairyhunk.  This time he's riding in the 2024 World Naked Bike Ride in London.  Note his rainbow headband.

Here he is posing with some other riders in Hyde Park, one of the places where London WNBR riders gather before the ride.

He did several poses in the park with other naked riders.

And here's a rear view of those posing riders.  Lehairyhunk is the second from right.

He also posed with individual riders, like this one, seen from the front ...

and from the rear.

The the ride began.  The route had several stops.  This appears to be along the Mall, leading to Buckingham Palace.

  Here they are in front of Buckingham Palace. 

The route took them through the Camden Town section of London, where they stopped by a "Gentlemen's".

Then they rode past the Park Plaza Hotel, above, and across the Thames on the Westminster Bridge.

They re-crossed the Thames on Blackfriars Bridge.  Above, a nice rear view of lehairyhunk on the bridge. 

Here he is on the other side of the bridge with Doggett's Coat and Badge Pub in the background, named for a rowing race on the Thames which is oldest such race in the world, having been held every year since 1715.

The WNBR route had to be changed in 2024 due to major demonstrations that were going on in central London on the same day.  That may have caused some traffic tie-ups for the ride.  But there's always one thing that male riders like lehairyhunk can do to pass the time (above).

The ride eventually went back to Hyde Park, where it ended and riders disbanded.

Daylight Savings Time

 Daylight Savings Time

OK, guys, time to move your cock forward ...

one hour ...

unless you live in Hawaii, like I do, or in Arizona.  These states don't observe Daylight Savings Time, so this is what I need to do today.  Nothing.

Estonian Photos - Part 25

 Estonian Photos

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 assumption has been 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.

The photo damage above probably happened during photo development, when it was too late to retake the photo.

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".

Olympics - Part 14b

2016 Olympics, part 2 of 2

A 2016 Cameroon 2500 franc coin celebrating the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Let's look at some more athletes in the 2016 Olympics.  Above, American basketball player DeAndre Jordan.  The U.S. team won a gold medal.

This is Brazilian gymnast Arthur Nory making a video of himself naked ...

and exercising.

British divers Ben Sambrook, Jack Laugher, Daniel Goodfellow, Will Hallam and James Denny.  Laugher won a gold medal and Goodfellow won bronze in the 2016 Olympics.

British swimmer James Guy.  He won two silver medals in 2016, and two gold medals and one silver in the 2020 Olympics.

U.S. shotputter Joe Kovacs won silver in 2016, 2020 and 2024.

U.S. swimmer Caeleb Dressel (2nd from right) won two gold medals in 2016, an amazing 5 gold medals in 2020, and two golds in 2024.  The other guys above are unidentified, presumably his teammates.

U.S. swimmer Ryan Murphy won gold in 2016 and 2020 and bronze in 2024.  The photo on the right is a skillful fake.  The original photo is at left.

We end with Serbian basketball player Nikola Kalinić, from a real (unfaked) video.  The Serbian team won a silver medal.  He shoots, he scores!

Olympics - Part 14a

 2016 Rio de Janeiro, part 1 of 2

The 2016 Olympic Games were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  This is a poster for the games by Juarez Machado called Muscular Runner on Copacabana Beach.

Let's look at some of the athletes in the 2016 Olympics.  Above, British boxer Joe Joyce won a silver medal.

British gymnast Brinn Bevan gets a targeted massage.

At right above, Dutch gymnast Jeffrey Wammes.

Mexican diver Jahir Ocampo. 

Another view of Jahir Ocampo from a different angle.

British weightlifter Sonny Webster.  Is that an invitation?

Spanish steeplechase runner Fernando Carro.

American basketball player Paul George.  The U.S. team won a gold medal.

We end with British diver Freddie Woodward exercising.

Tomorrow: more 2016 Olympics.