By Elisa Ung
The Philadelphia Inquirer
BERLIN — Sandra, 16, looks coyly up from the magazine, wearing a black choker and nothing else. Boyfriend Elias, 18, grins from the opposite page, also pictured fully in his natural state.
"Tell me, why do you love each other?" reads the headline. And the young couple tells why — and, explicitly, how.
Sell this in America, and risk a long sentence for child pornography.
But this is nothing illicit.
It's Bravo, the most popular teenage magazine in Germany and one of the most widely read general-interest youth publications in Europe. Target reader age: 10 and older.
Sandra's parents gave permission for her to pose nude. Her spread comes in the same issue as a free sheet of fake tattoos, a feature about Harry Potter and an exclusive report on the German boy band currently making girls swoon.
Bravo's editors say the full-frontal pictures are intended not to be lewd, but to be instructive and reassuring to teenagers just learning about the birds and the bees.
This is the work of "Dr. Sommer," a pseudonymous column in Bravo that has become an institution, guiding generations of German teenagers through the everyday angst of young life, love, piercings, broken friendships and yes, sex.
Nudity is common on European newsstands. But in a teenage magazine?
"We take this very seriously," said Bravo's deputy editor-in-chief, Alex Gernandt. "It is not pornography. It deals with naked people, but in a very sensitive way. We try to portray young people to tell readers, 'You are not too fat, not too thin. You are OK the way you are.' "
The column highlights a basic cultural divide between much of Europe and the United States when it comes to sex.
And Gernandt points to Germany's lower teenage pregnancy rate as proof of which approach is better.
About 85 of 1,000 U.S. young people ages 15 to 19 become pregnant, compared with 16 out of every 1,000 in Germany.
"We are more liberated," he says. "We try to deal with [sex] as something normal."
The column started in 1969, and in the early years, many German parents were known to ban it from the house or glue the Dr. Sommer pages together.
Eveline von Arx, who has been writing the Dr. Sommer column for three years, credits it with helping Germans speak more openly about sex.
When it began, "Dr. Sommer really broke taboos, and it was really spectacular to do something like that," von Arx said. "It's not that spectacular anymore. People are used to it. Everybody knows it.
"I am often asked if it's even necessary. People think our society is very sexualized, and naked bodies and sex are everywhere, and young people should know everything. But they don't know anything sometimes."
Each weekly issue of Bravo now features photos of two nude teenagers — male and female, generally between the ages of 16 and 20. The feature is called "That's Me," and the pictured teenagers talk about their bodies and their experiences with love and sex.
They are paid a little more than $500 to pose, and many report a self-esteem boost from the experience, von Arx said.
Weekly letters to Dr. Sommer may range from "Everybody's had sex, only I haven't" to "My boyfriend is once again interested in his former girlfriend."
Sample answer: "Nowhere does it say that youth have to have sex by a certain time. ... Talk to your boyfriend about it. Tell him what you feel."
The Dr. Sommer staff also has live chats with worried teenagers on Bravo's Web site, alongside explicit picture galleries that in the United States would surely inspire an uproar.
Unlike the United States, "there seems to be a consensus in a lot of Europe, including Germany, that older teenagers are going to have sex, it's part of life, it's a healthy aspect of growing up and you need to have info about it — the more the better," said Vanderbilt University sociology professor Laura Carpenter. She was a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Pennsylvania when a flight attendant friend working a Frankfurt route began bringing her back copies of Bravo.
Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company
Friday, September 15, 2006
Thursday, September 14, 2006
New naked ski instructor calendar revealed
08 September 2006
The Rylstone and District Women's Institute in North Yorkshire have a lot of naked calendars to answer for…
On these pages we must have covered half a dozen various ‘naked calenders’ across the years (although a quick search only revealed the ‘chalet girls calendar’).
So it had to happen in time that Austrian ski instructors would show off their own attributes.
’Can be flipped over depending on preference…’
Twenty-four male and female instructors from Lech in the Austrian Arlberg braved the Alpine cold over 3000m to pose for their Ski Instructors Calendar. Each calendar has both male and female photos and can, in an unfortunate choice of phrasing ‘be flipped over depending on preference’.
Inspired by a drunken Brit…
According to a company spokesman, the idea for the calendar came when a drunken British ski-school member tried to persuade a group of instructors to strip off. He said: “We often get men staring at the female instructors and many women seem to sign up just to flirt with their teachers, so we thought, why not give them what they want?”
Snowboard teacher Kiki, 28 (they don’t offer her personal statistics) said she “loved being a model: I never had any idea it would be so much fun.”
“It’s such a pity the year only has 12 months”
According to calendar boss Gerhard Lucian, this should be a calendar to watch out for. While he originally thought it might be hard to persuade enough people to strip off in the end “we had so many people sign up, and they were all gorgeous, so it was actually very hard to choose.” [BTW don’t be mistaken, in typical Teutonic style – ever been to a sauna in Austria? - they really do strip off!]
Lucian summed up the struggle he had in selection with the fact that “it’s such a pity the year only has 12 months.”
So, if you’re after a hottie instructor, the lesson is, head to Lech.
Check out http://www.skilehrerinnen.at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Seattle train commuters get daily glimpse of male nude beach
WOODWAY, Wash. – It happens in a flash as the afternoon Sounder trains carry commuters north from the city to Everett — a glance at an otherwise secluded beach frequented by mostly gay men who take it all off.
"Every day we look outside the train and count how many are there in their birthday suits," said Sarah Thompson of Edmonds, a project manager. "It's a plus for riding the train. It's an added bonus. It's the entertainment factor for the Sounder."
The beach below a bluff in this peaceful suburb, which bills itself as "The Quiet Place," has been a favorite with male nudists for decades. In 2004 the start of Sounder service gave them new exposure to commuters shunning the Interstate 5 traffic follies for a ride along the eastern shore of Puget Sound.
"All the women pile themselves up against the window," said Steve Barber, a rider who works for King County law enforcement. "It's comic relief."
As the train crosses from King County to Snohomish County and passes the huge tanks at a roofing and paving plant, books close and fingers cease their tapping at laptop keyboards as attention is focused through the shoreside windows.
"It's just a fleeting maybe four or five seconds, but it's definitely worth it," said Cecile Bagrow of Edmonds.
"Most of the time we have to get up out of our seats to look out the window," Thompson said. "It depends on who's on the train. Sometimes we get kind of rowdy about it."
The rocky beach is bounded by railroad tracks, fences and the water. It's accessible only by trespassing on land owned by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. and a petroleum company.
"You would have to be one of the people that sleeps both ways to miss it," Thompson said. "They're right there."
Some men recline on towels. Others stroll this way and that, stand gazing out at the water, scamper for cover, leap into full frontal view in an apparent effort to shock the riders or just wave at the train.
"There's an average of six a day," Thompson said. "Sometimes there's more, sometimes less. Sometimes we're disappointed because there aren't any."
Police Chief Doug Hansen said he's been aware of naked men on the beach throughout his 20 years of work in Woodway but adds that more have been seen in the past five years.
Local officers sometimes team up with Edmonds police and Snohomish and King county deputies to shoo away the nude sunbathers, most of whom come from the Seattle area and foreign countries, Hansen said, adding that their reactions range from "openly hostile to embarrassed."
Although nude sunbathing and trespassing on private property are against the law, generally just give warnings and seldom issue tickets, he added.
By some accounts, the beach has been frequented by gay men since the 1930s, and Mayor Carla Nichols said local residents have not complained.
"Just about everybody in town is aware," Nichols said. "Now that we have the commuter trains going regularly, it makes sense it would eventually become a feature."
groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
"Every day we look outside the train and count how many are there in their birthday suits," said Sarah Thompson of Edmonds, a project manager. "It's a plus for riding the train. It's an added bonus. It's the entertainment factor for the Sounder."
The beach below a bluff in this peaceful suburb, which bills itself as "The Quiet Place," has been a favorite with male nudists for decades. In 2004 the start of Sounder service gave them new exposure to commuters shunning the Interstate 5 traffic follies for a ride along the eastern shore of Puget Sound.
"All the women pile themselves up against the window," said Steve Barber, a rider who works for King County law enforcement. "It's comic relief."
As the train crosses from King County to Snohomish County and passes the huge tanks at a roofing and paving plant, books close and fingers cease their tapping at laptop keyboards as attention is focused through the shoreside windows.
"It's just a fleeting maybe four or five seconds, but it's definitely worth it," said Cecile Bagrow of Edmonds.
"Most of the time we have to get up out of our seats to look out the window," Thompson said. "It depends on who's on the train. Sometimes we get kind of rowdy about it."
The rocky beach is bounded by railroad tracks, fences and the water. It's accessible only by trespassing on land owned by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. and a petroleum company.
"You would have to be one of the people that sleeps both ways to miss it," Thompson said. "They're right there."
Some men recline on towels. Others stroll this way and that, stand gazing out at the water, scamper for cover, leap into full frontal view in an apparent effort to shock the riders or just wave at the train.
"There's an average of six a day," Thompson said. "Sometimes there's more, sometimes less. Sometimes we're disappointed because there aren't any."
Police Chief Doug Hansen said he's been aware of naked men on the beach throughout his 20 years of work in Woodway but adds that more have been seen in the past five years.
Local officers sometimes team up with Edmonds police and Snohomish and King county deputies to shoo away the nude sunbathers, most of whom come from the Seattle area and foreign countries, Hansen said, adding that their reactions range from "openly hostile to embarrassed."
Although nude sunbathing and trespassing on private property are against the law, generally just give warnings and seldom issue tickets, he added.
By some accounts, the beach has been frequented by gay men since the 1930s, and Mayor Carla Nichols said local residents have not complained.
"Just about everybody in town is aware," Nichols said. "Now that we have the commuter trains going regularly, it makes sense it would eventually become a feature."
groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
Lions assistant arrested for nude driving and drunken driving
Exclusive: A Detroit Lions assistant coach was arrested twice in the last two weeks, once for allegedly driving drunk and once for indecent and obscene conduct, the Free Press has learned.
In the latter incident, a Dearborn police ticket describes the coach as “driving on public street without any clothes on. (NUDE).”
Joe Cullen, whom first-year head coach Rod Marinelli hired from the University of Illinois, coaches the defensive line. Cullen, 38, posted bond in both misdemeanor cases and was still coaching the Lions at practice Wednesday.
He walked away from a Free Press reporter who wanted to ask him about the incidents, but later the team released a statement from Cullen.
“I would like to apologize to the Detroit Lions organization, our fans, my family and friends for any embarrassment these incidents have caused. These incidents represent a mistake in judgment on my part. I deeply regret them and have learned a valuable lesson. It won’t happen again,’’ Cullen said in the statement.
Lions officials said Cullen has requested treatment.
The nudity incident happened Aug. 24 about 11:15 p.m., the night before the Lions flew to the west coast for a game against the Oakland Raiders.
Police stopped Cullen in his car, which was traveling eastbound on Michigan near Lapham Street. The ticket does not provide any other information about why Cullen allegedly was nude. The Lions said alcohol was involved.
A week later, Dearborn police again arrested Cullen, this time about 11:48 p.m. on Sept. 1, the night after the Lions lost their final exhibition game to the Buffalo Bills at Ford Field.
Court records show Cullen had a blood alcohol content of .12 after police stopped his 2006 Ford Explorer as it traveled west on Michigan near Tenny. Michigan law sets .08 as the legal limit.
Cullen, who lives in Dearborn, is scheduled to appear in 19th District Court next week on both cases..
Marinelli, asked about the arrests after Wednesday’s practice, declined to comment and referred questions to Lions president Matt Millen, “It’s a personal issue right now,’’ Marinelli said. “Matt’s going to handle it.’’
Millen released a statement later, saying, “We are obviously very disappointed. These are very serious matters that will be handled sternly and appropriately by our organization. Coach Cullen requested immediate help in seeking treatment. That assistance has been provided and a comprehensive, private program has been established for him.”
Cullen was fired from the University of Mississippi in early 2005 after an alcohol-related arrest at a restaurant. Athletic Director Pete Boone said Wednesday that no one from the Lions organization contacted him for a reference.
When asked whether the Lions were aware of Cullen's history and whether he would be disciplined for the current situation, Millen would only say, “This will be handled the same way any of these situations will be handled with a player. And that’s that it will remain confidential and private. We will respect the privacy of the person and we would expect that you respect that also.”
Cullen has also coached at Indiana, Memphis, Richmond, Louisiana State and the University of Massachusetts, where he played nose guard from 1986-1989.
September 6, 2006
By Jim Schaefer and Nicholas J. Cotsonika
Free Press Staff Writers
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
In the latter incident, a Dearborn police ticket describes the coach as “driving on public street without any clothes on. (NUDE).”
Joe Cullen, whom first-year head coach Rod Marinelli hired from the University of Illinois, coaches the defensive line. Cullen, 38, posted bond in both misdemeanor cases and was still coaching the Lions at practice Wednesday.
He walked away from a Free Press reporter who wanted to ask him about the incidents, but later the team released a statement from Cullen.
“I would like to apologize to the Detroit Lions organization, our fans, my family and friends for any embarrassment these incidents have caused. These incidents represent a mistake in judgment on my part. I deeply regret them and have learned a valuable lesson. It won’t happen again,’’ Cullen said in the statement.
Lions officials said Cullen has requested treatment.
The nudity incident happened Aug. 24 about 11:15 p.m., the night before the Lions flew to the west coast for a game against the Oakland Raiders.
Police stopped Cullen in his car, which was traveling eastbound on Michigan near Lapham Street. The ticket does not provide any other information about why Cullen allegedly was nude. The Lions said alcohol was involved.
A week later, Dearborn police again arrested Cullen, this time about 11:48 p.m. on Sept. 1, the night after the Lions lost their final exhibition game to the Buffalo Bills at Ford Field.
Court records show Cullen had a blood alcohol content of .12 after police stopped his 2006 Ford Explorer as it traveled west on Michigan near Tenny. Michigan law sets .08 as the legal limit.
Cullen, who lives in Dearborn, is scheduled to appear in 19th District Court next week on both cases..
Marinelli, asked about the arrests after Wednesday’s practice, declined to comment and referred questions to Lions president Matt Millen, “It’s a personal issue right now,’’ Marinelli said. “Matt’s going to handle it.’’
Millen released a statement later, saying, “We are obviously very disappointed. These are very serious matters that will be handled sternly and appropriately by our organization. Coach Cullen requested immediate help in seeking treatment. That assistance has been provided and a comprehensive, private program has been established for him.”
Cullen was fired from the University of Mississippi in early 2005 after an alcohol-related arrest at a restaurant. Athletic Director Pete Boone said Wednesday that no one from the Lions organization contacted him for a reference.
When asked whether the Lions were aware of Cullen's history and whether he would be disciplined for the current situation, Millen would only say, “This will be handled the same way any of these situations will be handled with a player. And that’s that it will remain confidential and private. We will respect the privacy of the person and we would expect that you respect that also.”
Cullen has also coached at Indiana, Memphis, Richmond, Louisiana State and the University of Massachusetts, where he played nose guard from 1986-1989.
September 6, 2006
By Jim Schaefer and Nicholas J. Cotsonika
Free Press Staff Writers
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
Monday, September 04, 2006
Peter bares all for women's magazine
Peter bares all for women's magazine
Sep 1 2006
Rin Simpson, Western Mail
A WELSH model, who was named one of the top 50 most eligible bachelors in the UK, has bared all for a nude photo shoot in a national women's magazine.
Peter Sheath from Swansea was one of six Welshmen who made it onto the list, compiled by Company magazine.
Now the same magazine has persuaded the bold 26-year-old to pose naked for its October issue, for a feature about this year's most eligible bachelors.
Entitled "Red, White and Phwoar!", the feature shows Peter lying front down on a bed, exposing the derriere which once earned him the title of "Sexiest Bum In Europe".
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
Sep 1 2006
Rin Simpson, Western Mail
A WELSH model, who was named one of the top 50 most eligible bachelors in the UK, has bared all for a nude photo shoot in a national women's magazine.
Peter Sheath from Swansea was one of six Welshmen who made it onto the list, compiled by Company magazine.
Now the same magazine has persuaded the bold 26-year-old to pose naked for its October issue, for a feature about this year's most eligible bachelors.
Entitled "Red, White and Phwoar!", the feature shows Peter lying front down on a bed, exposing the derriere which once earned him the title of "Sexiest Bum In Europe".
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
Friday, September 01, 2006
It's time I did Folsom
But whether I can bring myself to strip off completely in the crowd i just dunno. These pics are amazing and inspiring though, and are taken from various years. I know I'd get carried away there. :-)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
Hoskins struggled to contain his excitement
HOSKINS STRUGGLED TO CONTAIN HIS EXCITEMENT
English actor BOB HOSKINS struggled to contain his excitement when he appeared naked alongside sexy female extras in Oscar nominated comedy MRS HENDERSON PRESENTS. The HOOK star disrobed during one pivotal scene in the movie, about a nude revue in 1930s London's historical Soho nightclub The Windmill. And the 63-year-old was surprised by his reaction to his pleasant surroundings: "I looked up and saw these beautiful young bodies... and then I looked down and thought, 'Oh dear.'"
01/09/2006 12:39
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
English actor BOB HOSKINS struggled to contain his excitement when he appeared naked alongside sexy female extras in Oscar nominated comedy MRS HENDERSON PRESENTS. The HOOK star disrobed during one pivotal scene in the movie, about a nude revue in 1930s London's historical Soho nightclub The Windmill. And the 63-year-old was surprised by his reaction to his pleasant surroundings: "I looked up and saw these beautiful young bodies... and then I looked down and thought, 'Oh dear.'"
01/09/2006 12:39
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Not the Oblation Run but the students are still naked....
Yes indeed it's not even that time of year and the Philippine students have stripped off for another run. And who can blame them? The Phillipine government has made all sorts of ludicrous mutterings about the University breeding malcontents so why not strip off and tell the middle aged morons to piss off. They must have been young once surely? So anyway I went looking for some pics, and though I found little about the latest run I included some photos of the Oblation as well. Hope you enjoy them.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
More pics from the performance artists
It would seem that the performance artists of Chengdu make a habit of getting naked in their work. (See previous posting August 21 2006). here are two more of their performances- these are from last year.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
Toby Rand strips to conquer
Ian Thorpe may crave anonymity in Los Angeles, but his Australian rocker neighbour Toby Rand is a different kettle of fish, having vowed to run naked down LA's trendy Melrose Avenue.
Rand is one of seven remaining hopefuls competing in television show Rockstar: Supernova.
The winner of the show will become the lead singer of rock hell-raiser Tommy Lee's new all-star band, which includes ex-Guns 'n Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke and former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted.
Rand, a blonde-haired 28-year-old surfer from Melbourne, was one of the early favourites to win Rockstar: Supernova, but seven weeks into the series his popularity has fallen, with internet and text message voters around the world.
Things, however, are now looking up.
In the latest episode, Rand stripped naked for the right to sing the Peter Gabriel classic Solsbury Hill on the show, with Clarke accompanying him on guitar.
Lee, almost as famous for his exploits away from the music scene, including an X-rated video with former wife Pamela Anderson, applauded Rand's decision to bare all.
"After seeing you run around naked there's no question in my mind about your commitment," Lee said.
"This is what rock stars are all about, dude, and it was nice to see you being a maniac, so welcome.
"And Toby, by the way, nice arse."
Rand is well known in Melbourne's music scene for fronting band Juke Kartel. He worked at a Brunswick carpet company to make ends meet, but quit the job to fly to the US to compete in Rockstar: Supernova which is filmed each week in LA.
The show is the sequel to last year's series, which found a new lead singer for INXS.
Rand said he was not sure if his parents would be so appreciative of his naked romp, although he would do it again.
"What are you prepared to do next week? That's what the ladies want to know," host and former guitarist with Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Navarro, asked Rand in front of the show's live audience.
Rand thought for a moment, before replying: "I'm prepared to run down Melrose Avenue naked to get the song next week."
Rockstar: Supernova is shown in Australia on Foxtel's FOX8 channel.
The other competing singers come from the US, Canada, Iceland and South Africa and each week one is eliminated, with viewers around the world voting via the http://www.rockstar.msn.com website or via text message.
Rand and his rival contestants live in a mansion in the Hollywood Hills, just a short drive from the million dollar home Thorpe bought as his LA base while training for next year's world swimming championships in Melbourne.
Rand and the other Rockstar: Supernova contestants last week had a taste of what their lives could be if they won when Lee flew them via private jet to Las Vegas for a boozy night out.
Rand lived it up.
Footage aired from the Vegas trip showed a groggy Rand telling Newsted at a bar: "I'm smashed."
Naked ambition ... Toby Rand, left, with mate and fellow band member Tommy Kende.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
(August 23, 2006)
AAP
Rand is one of seven remaining hopefuls competing in television show Rockstar: Supernova.
The winner of the show will become the lead singer of rock hell-raiser Tommy Lee's new all-star band, which includes ex-Guns 'n Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke and former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted.
Rand, a blonde-haired 28-year-old surfer from Melbourne, was one of the early favourites to win Rockstar: Supernova, but seven weeks into the series his popularity has fallen, with internet and text message voters around the world.
Things, however, are now looking up.
In the latest episode, Rand stripped naked for the right to sing the Peter Gabriel classic Solsbury Hill on the show, with Clarke accompanying him on guitar.
Lee, almost as famous for his exploits away from the music scene, including an X-rated video with former wife Pamela Anderson, applauded Rand's decision to bare all.
"After seeing you run around naked there's no question in my mind about your commitment," Lee said.
"This is what rock stars are all about, dude, and it was nice to see you being a maniac, so welcome.
"And Toby, by the way, nice arse."
Rand is well known in Melbourne's music scene for fronting band Juke Kartel. He worked at a Brunswick carpet company to make ends meet, but quit the job to fly to the US to compete in Rockstar: Supernova which is filmed each week in LA.
The show is the sequel to last year's series, which found a new lead singer for INXS.
Rand said he was not sure if his parents would be so appreciative of his naked romp, although he would do it again.
"What are you prepared to do next week? That's what the ladies want to know," host and former guitarist with Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Navarro, asked Rand in front of the show's live audience.
Rand thought for a moment, before replying: "I'm prepared to run down Melrose Avenue naked to get the song next week."
Rockstar: Supernova is shown in Australia on Foxtel's FOX8 channel.
The other competing singers come from the US, Canada, Iceland and South Africa and each week one is eliminated, with viewers around the world voting via the http://www.rockstar.msn.com website or via text message.
Rand and his rival contestants live in a mansion in the Hollywood Hills, just a short drive from the million dollar home Thorpe bought as his LA base while training for next year's world swimming championships in Melbourne.
Rand and the other Rockstar: Supernova contestants last week had a taste of what their lives could be if they won when Lee flew them via private jet to Las Vegas for a boozy night out.
Rand lived it up.
Footage aired from the Vegas trip showed a groggy Rand telling Newsted at a bar: "I'm smashed."
Naked ambition ... Toby Rand, left, with mate and fellow band member Tommy Kende.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
(August 23, 2006)
AAP
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Strip and streak earns monk defrocking
This is hilarious- I had to add this story to the blog....
August 27, 2006
A Cambodian Buddhist monk who stripped naked and raced through suburban streets after a heavy night of drinking rice wine laced with toads has been asked to leave the monkhood.
Sim Soktriya, chief monk of Russei Keo district on the outskirts of the capital, said a woman discovered the naked monk passed out on her doorstep.
Soktriya said Dem Yonly, 30, had been drinking toad wine, excusing the forbidden behaviour for Buddhist monks by saying he was drinking it as medicine to treat an unspecified illness.
Cambodians widely believe that poison in the toads helps kill illnesses.
Yonly stripped and streaked, then fell asleep near his pagoda, scaring a woman who walked outside to find the naked monk lying in her garden covered in mud, police said.
Officers turned him over to the pagoda.
"He will not face criminal charges - we have just asked him to go home. This is not the first time he has been warned, but he does not listen," Soktriya said.
He said Yonly had been a monk for nearly seven years but had showed no sign of improvement. The defrocking also bars him from rejoining the monkhood at any other pagoda in Cambodia, Soktriya said.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
August 27, 2006
A Cambodian Buddhist monk who stripped naked and raced through suburban streets after a heavy night of drinking rice wine laced with toads has been asked to leave the monkhood.
Sim Soktriya, chief monk of Russei Keo district on the outskirts of the capital, said a woman discovered the naked monk passed out on her doorstep.
Soktriya said Dem Yonly, 30, had been drinking toad wine, excusing the forbidden behaviour for Buddhist monks by saying he was drinking it as medicine to treat an unspecified illness.
Cambodians widely believe that poison in the toads helps kill illnesses.
Yonly stripped and streaked, then fell asleep near his pagoda, scaring a woman who walked outside to find the naked monk lying in her garden covered in mud, police said.
Officers turned him over to the pagoda.
"He will not face criminal charges - we have just asked him to go home. This is not the first time he has been warned, but he does not listen," Soktriya said.
He said Yonly had been a monk for nearly seven years but had showed no sign of improvement. The defrocking also bars him from rejoining the monkhood at any other pagoda in Cambodia, Soktriya said.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
Naked in vermont
Given the article about teens getting naked in the streets I thought I'd check out vermont. It looks like a dinky kinda place as I found thse pics from the so-called Naked Crit. Enjoy.
Let Us Be Naked: Teens Stage Nude Sit-In
Let Us Be Naked: Teens Stage Nude Sit-In
Some have appeared naked in a downtown parking lot. Others rode their bicycles or simply strolled the streets in the nude.
Teenagers in the quaint Vermont town of Brattleboro are raising eyebrows this summer with brazen displays of nudity.
So far they haven't been arrested or ticketed: public nudity isn't illegal in the town of 13,000 people, unless it's done to arouse sexual gratification.
Vermont has a live-and-let-live tradition, allowing skinny-dipping and nude sunbathing. Brattleboro, the first permanent English settlement in the state in 1724, is home to a community of writers, artists and musicians as well as transplanted entrepreneurs from Boston and New York.
When the weather grew hot this year, a couple of dozen teens took to holding hula hoop contests, riding bikes and parading past the shops wearing only their birthday suits.
Nobody, including the police, seemed to take offense until one local, Theresa Toney, went before the town government in August to complain about a group of youngsters naked in a parking lot.
"The parking lot is not a strip club," she said. "What about children seeing this?"
Town officials asked their attorney to draft an ordinance to ban such displays for the Select Board to vote on in September. When the teens heard about it, some staged a nude sit-in.
"I don't see why it's such a big deal," said Alec McPherson, a recent high school graduate as he sat at a coffee shop table, browsing a thick volume of artwork from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Everyone's naked in this book."
His companion, Jeremiah Compton, a high school junior who plays in a local metal-and-punk band, agreed. "It's just that we're bored and expressing our right," he said.
"We have a nuclear power plant a few miles away and a ridiculous war in the Middle East, countries getting bombed," said Ian Bigelow, a 23-year-old who had gathered with some of his friends outside a bookstore. "So why's it such a big problem if we chose to get nude?"
Source: AP
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
Some have appeared naked in a downtown parking lot. Others rode their bicycles or simply strolled the streets in the nude.
Teenagers in the quaint Vermont town of Brattleboro are raising eyebrows this summer with brazen displays of nudity.
So far they haven't been arrested or ticketed: public nudity isn't illegal in the town of 13,000 people, unless it's done to arouse sexual gratification.
Vermont has a live-and-let-live tradition, allowing skinny-dipping and nude sunbathing. Brattleboro, the first permanent English settlement in the state in 1724, is home to a community of writers, artists and musicians as well as transplanted entrepreneurs from Boston and New York.
When the weather grew hot this year, a couple of dozen teens took to holding hula hoop contests, riding bikes and parading past the shops wearing only their birthday suits.
Nobody, including the police, seemed to take offense until one local, Theresa Toney, went before the town government in August to complain about a group of youngsters naked in a parking lot.
"The parking lot is not a strip club," she said. "What about children seeing this?"
Town officials asked their attorney to draft an ordinance to ban such displays for the Select Board to vote on in September. When the teens heard about it, some staged a nude sit-in.
"I don't see why it's such a big deal," said Alec McPherson, a recent high school graduate as he sat at a coffee shop table, browsing a thick volume of artwork from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Everyone's naked in this book."
His companion, Jeremiah Compton, a high school junior who plays in a local metal-and-punk band, agreed. "It's just that we're bored and expressing our right," he said.
"We have a nuclear power plant a few miles away and a ridiculous war in the Middle East, countries getting bombed," said Ian Bigelow, a 23-year-old who had gathered with some of his friends outside a bookstore. "So why's it such a big problem if we chose to get nude?"
Source: AP
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
Monday, August 21, 2006
Students' naked performance causes outrage
A total of 41 university students, both male and female, took part in the display at a golf course in Chengdu city.
According to Chongqing Morning Post, the performance art, named @41, is completed by 41 young students standing nakedly in the shape of "@", then falling down like dominos.
But the performance of the students - from the Sichuan Conservatory of Music and Chengdu Academy of Fine Arts - has caused a huge debate in China.
The organiser and director of the performance, known only as Zhang, commented on the college's website: "As the dominant power for the future world, youth is responsibility; youth is power!"
Another participant, Mr Li, also defends their art form: "It's a breakthrough. Not only to my art creation, but to our social ethics."
Many people however are opposed to their work and have been speaking out on various news websites in China. One such comment reads: "It's a seduction to youth. The organisers should be severely punished, since they do this porn stuff under the label of art".
Another disgruntled member of the public remarks: "If naked is art, then taking a shower in the bathroom is much better. Psychos!"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
According to Chongqing Morning Post, the performance art, named @41, is completed by 41 young students standing nakedly in the shape of "@", then falling down like dominos.
But the performance of the students - from the Sichuan Conservatory of Music and Chengdu Academy of Fine Arts - has caused a huge debate in China.
The organiser and director of the performance, known only as Zhang, commented on the college's website: "As the dominant power for the future world, youth is responsibility; youth is power!"
Another participant, Mr Li, also defends their art form: "It's a breakthrough. Not only to my art creation, but to our social ethics."
Many people however are opposed to their work and have been speaking out on various news websites in China. One such comment reads: "It's a seduction to youth. The organisers should be severely punished, since they do this porn stuff under the label of art".
Another disgruntled member of the public remarks: "If naked is art, then taking a shower in the bathroom is much better. Psychos!"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
Gutsy City traders to strip for cancer relief
LONDON (Reuters) - City traders are set to raise eyebrows by posing for a nude calendar to raise money for a cancer charity.
The calendar will feature 12 people posing naked but with their modesty preserved, the KatCanDo charity for colon cancer told Reuters.
KatCanDo, which was set up by Kate Coles in 2004, is still looking for more people to fill the slots.
"It's a very serious attempt to raise money," said Stephen Coles, the husband of the charity's founder. "It will be tastefully done."
Kate Coles was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2003 and died in March 2006.
But some traders -- a breed not renowned for being shy and retiring -- were bashful.
"I think I give the world enough amusement without taking my clothes off," said one London-based dealer.
Nude calendars of ordinary people with strategically placed objects covering their modesty has become a popular way of raising money.
The phenomenon reached a wider audience with the film Calendar Girls, which was based on the true story of Women's Institute members who posed nude for a naughty charity calendar to raise money for leukaemia research.
The project follows a similar calendar in 2005 that featured hospital doctors and which sold around 5,000 copies, raising several thousand pounds to buy equipment and facilities not normally provided by the NHS.
KatCanDo added that donations can also be made through its website, www.katcando.org.uk
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
The calendar will feature 12 people posing naked but with their modesty preserved, the KatCanDo charity for colon cancer told Reuters.
KatCanDo, which was set up by Kate Coles in 2004, is still looking for more people to fill the slots.
"It's a very serious attempt to raise money," said Stephen Coles, the husband of the charity's founder. "It will be tastefully done."
Kate Coles was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2003 and died in March 2006.
But some traders -- a breed not renowned for being shy and retiring -- were bashful.
"I think I give the world enough amusement without taking my clothes off," said one London-based dealer.
Nude calendars of ordinary people with strategically placed objects covering their modesty has become a popular way of raising money.
The phenomenon reached a wider audience with the film Calendar Girls, which was based on the true story of Women's Institute members who posed nude for a naughty charity calendar to raise money for leukaemia research.
The project follows a similar calendar in 2005 that featured hospital doctors and which sold around 5,000 copies, raising several thousand pounds to buy equipment and facilities not normally provided by the NHS.
KatCanDo added that donations can also be made through its website, www.katcando.org.uk
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
Nude photo exhibition in HK revives debate on artistic expression
By Channel NewsAsia's Hong Kong Steven Jiang | Posted: 19 August 2006 2240 hrs
HONG KONG : An unusual exhibition in Hong Kong has highlighted a long running debate over the boundaries for artistic expression.
The photo exhibition is so controversial that even discreet admirers peeping in from the streets run for cover when they see a news team.
Life-sized pictures of ordinary men and women in their birthday suits are an extraordinary sight in Hong Kong, even in the art world.
Roy Lee, who snapped all the photographs, has vivid memories of a woman who heard him discussing his exhibition with friends.
"All of sudden, she slapped me on my face, saying 'you're filthy'," recalled photographer Roy Lee.
But that is exactly the mindset that Roy and his amateur models want to change.
"Nudity in Hong Kong is always associated with pornography. But to the Europeans, nudity is something beautiful and natural," said Lee.
The photographer named his show "The Square" to highlight the government's requirement that the models' private parts be blurred.
Without the pixilation, Roy feared that he may be slapped again - with a fine of more than US$50,000.
And money, said the photographer, was why the city's tabloid media seemed to freely print licentious pictures everyday.
He said they don't mind paying the fines as they can sell more copies and recover the sum.
But most independent artists do not have such a luxury.
Roy's models echoed his frustration.
TV producer May Yu said she had been nervous as it was her first time posing in the nude.
But the rare experience, she said, had made her more comfortable with her body.
And she now questions the need to modify the photos.
"The square culture is so ironic. You can still pretty much see everything, so what's the point," challenged May.
A fellow model said the point of this exhibition was to nurture greater appreciation for fine arts in Hong Kong society, starting with the young.
"You have to build in the concept in the students' mind from an early stage. Eventually they may understand the difference between nudity and pornography, and also understand what art tries to express," said musician Kung Chi-Shing.
Until then, artists like Roy Lee and the censorship authorities will continue to square off over artistic freedom.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
HONG KONG : An unusual exhibition in Hong Kong has highlighted a long running debate over the boundaries for artistic expression.
The photo exhibition is so controversial that even discreet admirers peeping in from the streets run for cover when they see a news team.
Life-sized pictures of ordinary men and women in their birthday suits are an extraordinary sight in Hong Kong, even in the art world.
Roy Lee, who snapped all the photographs, has vivid memories of a woman who heard him discussing his exhibition with friends.
"All of sudden, she slapped me on my face, saying 'you're filthy'," recalled photographer Roy Lee.
But that is exactly the mindset that Roy and his amateur models want to change.
"Nudity in Hong Kong is always associated with pornography. But to the Europeans, nudity is something beautiful and natural," said Lee.
The photographer named his show "The Square" to highlight the government's requirement that the models' private parts be blurred.
Without the pixilation, Roy feared that he may be slapped again - with a fine of more than US$50,000.
And money, said the photographer, was why the city's tabloid media seemed to freely print licentious pictures everyday.
He said they don't mind paying the fines as they can sell more copies and recover the sum.
But most independent artists do not have such a luxury.
Roy's models echoed his frustration.
TV producer May Yu said she had been nervous as it was her first time posing in the nude.
But the rare experience, she said, had made her more comfortable with her body.
And she now questions the need to modify the photos.
"The square culture is so ironic. You can still pretty much see everything, so what's the point," challenged May.
A fellow model said the point of this exhibition was to nurture greater appreciation for fine arts in Hong Kong society, starting with the young.
"You have to build in the concept in the students' mind from an early stage. Eventually they may understand the difference between nudity and pornography, and also understand what art tries to express," said musician Kung Chi-Shing.
Until then, artists like Roy Lee and the censorship authorities will continue to square off over artistic freedom.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Macy mortified by prison nude scene
SEABISCUIT star WILLIAM H MACY was mortified when he had to appear nude in his new film, EDMOND, in a prison filled with real inmates. The actor agreed to strip off in a scene where he had to walk down a long prison corridor. But the embarrassment of appearing naked in front of convicts was nothing in comparison to the special "sock" he had to wear to protect his manhood. He explains, "The bad thing is when you do a scene like this you have to wear a sock. You can use your imagination as to where you put the sock. "I knew I was in trouble during the first take when I walked about four steps and STUART GORDON, our director, says 'cut' and walks around and looks at me and says, 'Can we get a shorter sock?'"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Nude dance show is what market will bare
Fuse's 'Pants-off Dance-Off': 'Dumbest show on TV' unlikely hit
Monday, August 7, 2006; Posted: 3:31 p.m. EDT (19:31 GMT)
Not every idea has to be smart to make it on TV. Sometimes stupid works, too.
At the end of busy days in his New York production office, Tad Low will sometimes crank the music loud for his staff to take a dance break. One day someone observed, "How hilarious would this be if we did this in the nude?"
From that offhand remark came "Pants-Off Dance-Off," which has quickly become the Fuse network's most popular series ever. No more complicated than its title, the competition features people dancing in front of a screen playing their favorite music video, while slowly shedding clothes.
"Why hasn't anybody put naked people and rock music together on television before?" said Low, who created the "Pop-Up Videos" series for VH1. "It seems so obvious, like peanut butter and jelly."
Five dancers are featured in each show, from Tuesday through Friday at 10 p.m., and viewers vote online for each night's favorite. Those choices then compete in Saturday's "dance-off." The series is in repeats now until the second season starts September 26.
Once Low came up with the idea, he persuaded his girlfriend's friend to dance in front of a screen in his office so he could film a pilot episode.
"I was thinking, 'What is happening here? What has gone on with my life that I'm sitting here behind a camera directing a woman to remove her clothes?' But when I put it together in the edit room, it was one of those moments where you say, 'This is so funny and mesmerizing.' "
Don't expect models or strip club refugees. Low purposely sought ordinary folks, men and women, as a way of striking out against airbrushed culture. The models have included a 58-year-old retired male teacher and a woman dressed in a clown suit.
Pop-up factoids appear on the screen during the dance ("As a child, Masta Wong wanted to be a subway conductor") along with comments from host Jodie Sweetin.
Catherine Mullen, Fuse's new general manager, recalled finding the pilot originally titled "Dance Without Pants" hilarious, but admitted to many doubts about how it should be done.
"We didn't want it to be predictable," she said. "We didn't want to make it salacious. We didn't want it to be 'College Girls Gone Wild.' We wanted to make it like 'The Gong Show.' "
After she saw the pilot in February, the show debuted on Fuse in April -- a ridiculously short period of time in television. It has given the 3-year-old network a buzzworthy program, something it has lacked in trying to emerge from the large shadow of MTV and its siblings.
Contestant: 'I just went with it'
Fuse doesn't pretend "Pants-Off Dance-Off" is anything more than it is. After TV Guide called it the "dumbest show on television," Fuse proudly trumpeted that quote in the headline of a news release.
The "pants-off" part of the show is a bit of a tease. When the clothes are finally off, Fuse covers up the bodies with an electronic version of a towel. Viewers who want to see more are directed to the network's Web site, where breasts and genitalia are pixelated.
The conservative approach has annoyed some fans, and Low wishes Fuse would do a late-night version of "Pants-Off Dance-Off" that would show some of what is seen online. Mullen said it was part of Fuse's strategy to have different content available on different platforms, like online and on cell phones.
Howard Wong, a 33-year-old computer worker from New York City, saw an item in a nudist's magazine about the show. He had piled up some $200 in parking tickets, so the opportunity to earn $200 to dance for an obscure TV network appealed to him.
"I didn't know what to say or what to do," he said. "I just went with it. It was a total adrenaline rush. I knew I had made a total fool of myself. The whole thing was absurd, but I think the creator of the show knew that."
Maybe it was his androgynous dance style, or the washboard abdominals, but Wong -- who uses the name Masta Wong -- became a three-time champion.
Wong briefly worked in California as a photographer shooting pornographic videos. Now he's occasionally getting recognized on the street for his time spent stripping in front of the camera.
"I'm not going to lie," he said. "It is kind of cool."
For Low, "Pants-Off Dance-Off" completes an odd trilogy of programming about music videos. After "Pop-Up Videos," which became popular for its image-busting snarkiness, he created "Video IQ" for Fuse. On that show, viewers were invited to solve puzzles inserted into the promo clips.
"I don't know what that says about the culture at large," he said. "But we've certainly made it easier to watch. Less reading."
It's his belief with "Pants-Off Dance-Off" that ordinary people can be more interesting to watch than the Paris Hiltons and Lindsey Lohans of the world.
"Who hasn't danced around in their underwear to their favorite song?" he said. "It's one of life's moments of unbridled enthusiasm, and the notion of this show is to make that contagious."
Howard Wong -- known as "Masta Wong" -- is a three-time winner on "Pants-Off Dance-Off."
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
Monday, August 7, 2006; Posted: 3:31 p.m. EDT (19:31 GMT)
Not every idea has to be smart to make it on TV. Sometimes stupid works, too.
At the end of busy days in his New York production office, Tad Low will sometimes crank the music loud for his staff to take a dance break. One day someone observed, "How hilarious would this be if we did this in the nude?"
From that offhand remark came "Pants-Off Dance-Off," which has quickly become the Fuse network's most popular series ever. No more complicated than its title, the competition features people dancing in front of a screen playing their favorite music video, while slowly shedding clothes.
"Why hasn't anybody put naked people and rock music together on television before?" said Low, who created the "Pop-Up Videos" series for VH1. "It seems so obvious, like peanut butter and jelly."
Five dancers are featured in each show, from Tuesday through Friday at 10 p.m., and viewers vote online for each night's favorite. Those choices then compete in Saturday's "dance-off." The series is in repeats now until the second season starts September 26.
Once Low came up with the idea, he persuaded his girlfriend's friend to dance in front of a screen in his office so he could film a pilot episode.
"I was thinking, 'What is happening here? What has gone on with my life that I'm sitting here behind a camera directing a woman to remove her clothes?' But when I put it together in the edit room, it was one of those moments where you say, 'This is so funny and mesmerizing.' "
Don't expect models or strip club refugees. Low purposely sought ordinary folks, men and women, as a way of striking out against airbrushed culture. The models have included a 58-year-old retired male teacher and a woman dressed in a clown suit.
Pop-up factoids appear on the screen during the dance ("As a child, Masta Wong wanted to be a subway conductor") along with comments from host Jodie Sweetin.
Catherine Mullen, Fuse's new general manager, recalled finding the pilot originally titled "Dance Without Pants" hilarious, but admitted to many doubts about how it should be done.
"We didn't want it to be predictable," she said. "We didn't want to make it salacious. We didn't want it to be 'College Girls Gone Wild.' We wanted to make it like 'The Gong Show.' "
After she saw the pilot in February, the show debuted on Fuse in April -- a ridiculously short period of time in television. It has given the 3-year-old network a buzzworthy program, something it has lacked in trying to emerge from the large shadow of MTV and its siblings.
Contestant: 'I just went with it'
Fuse doesn't pretend "Pants-Off Dance-Off" is anything more than it is. After TV Guide called it the "dumbest show on television," Fuse proudly trumpeted that quote in the headline of a news release.
The "pants-off" part of the show is a bit of a tease. When the clothes are finally off, Fuse covers up the bodies with an electronic version of a towel. Viewers who want to see more are directed to the network's Web site, where breasts and genitalia are pixelated.
The conservative approach has annoyed some fans, and Low wishes Fuse would do a late-night version of "Pants-Off Dance-Off" that would show some of what is seen online. Mullen said it was part of Fuse's strategy to have different content available on different platforms, like online and on cell phones.
Howard Wong, a 33-year-old computer worker from New York City, saw an item in a nudist's magazine about the show. He had piled up some $200 in parking tickets, so the opportunity to earn $200 to dance for an obscure TV network appealed to him.
"I didn't know what to say or what to do," he said. "I just went with it. It was a total adrenaline rush. I knew I had made a total fool of myself. The whole thing was absurd, but I think the creator of the show knew that."
Maybe it was his androgynous dance style, or the washboard abdominals, but Wong -- who uses the name Masta Wong -- became a three-time champion.
Wong briefly worked in California as a photographer shooting pornographic videos. Now he's occasionally getting recognized on the street for his time spent stripping in front of the camera.
"I'm not going to lie," he said. "It is kind of cool."
For Low, "Pants-Off Dance-Off" completes an odd trilogy of programming about music videos. After "Pop-Up Videos," which became popular for its image-busting snarkiness, he created "Video IQ" for Fuse. On that show, viewers were invited to solve puzzles inserted into the promo clips.
"I don't know what that says about the culture at large," he said. "But we've certainly made it easier to watch. Less reading."
It's his belief with "Pants-Off Dance-Off" that ordinary people can be more interesting to watch than the Paris Hiltons and Lindsey Lohans of the world.
"Who hasn't danced around in their underwear to their favorite song?" he said. "It's one of life's moments of unbridled enthusiasm, and the notion of this show is to make that contagious."
Howard Wong -- known as "Masta Wong" -- is a three-time winner on "Pants-Off Dance-Off."
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/performingmales
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