Aussielicious

Finally, the time has come for you all to cast your votes in the “Favourite Place” photography challenge. Initially when I set the challenge, the idea was to submit a photo of your favourite place within your home city. Clearly I’ve relaxed those rules because so many people sent in photos from National Parks, camping grounds etc, but I’m happy with that.

All the entries can be seen over at the new Aussielicious Challenge site. There are 43 entries over 5 pages there so take your time and make sure you’ve seen them all and judged them on their own merits. I will ask you to keep in mind the spirit of the challenge. The winner of this challenge receives a gift of Curtis’ self portrait that won the Self Portrait Challenge. A print of the winning entry from THIS challenge will be the gift to the winner of the next challenge so when you are looking at all the entries, keep in mind that it should fill the criteria of being suitable to print and frame on a wall in someone’s home.

Thank you to everyone who has entered this challenge. It’s been fantastic to see all the beautiful photos landing in my inbox and to see some of the places in the world that you are lucky enough to call home. The photo at the top of this post is one of my favourite spots in the world and in my home city. It’s a photo taken on Sydney Harbour of our iconic Sydney Opera House.

Go voting!

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So, the entries have closed in the Favourite Place photographic challenge. I’ll be posting the voting shenanigans probably tomorrow or maybe I’ll leave it til the weekend. The final two entries came in overnight here in Sydney and are from the US so they meet the deadline.

Mark sent this beautiful golden sunlight shot of Jersey. Now to me, if that’s the real Jersey Shore then the tv show should have been much more attractive.

The final entry for the competition has come from Scott with a great photo of Mt Ranier in Washington. What a beautiful spot. I know it’s a favourite of the Scenic Boys.

Esteban has sent in this beautiful image of a place called Medellin in Colombia. Imagine having that view when you wake up every morning! What a beautiful place. For those of you still wanting to submit photos for this Favourite Place challenge, you have less than 24 hours, it’s your last day! Email them to me at brenton.parry@gmail.com

Tonight we have two more entries in the Favourite Place challenge! Peter is a long time reader and commenter here at Aussielicious, all the way from Amsterdam where he took this beautiful photo.

On the other side of the world comes this colourful streetscape from Bob who took this photo in Paraty, Brazil.

Just one entry for you to enjoy tonight. It seems the entries are slowing down. You’ve still got two weeks to enter a photo of your favourite place. This is from Steven who loves this view of Manhattan. I have to say, it’s pretty fantastic. I loved Manhattan.

Once more I bring you the readers who have submitted some self portrait shots. Some of you have sent me more than one image but I’m selecting the best and posting those for the competition.

Today, from left to right we have Andreas, David, Lex and Kent and once again we have quite a diverse range of self portraits. Keep them coming in guys. I’m working on a prize for the winner.

And still the entries come! Tonight I’m sharing two more self portrait challenge entries with you all. On the left is Erik, AKA The Nude Canadian Boy who also submitted an entry to a Winter Nudity Challenge I had some years ago.

On the right is a beautiful photo by Curtis. I don’t know much about Curtis other than he reads the blog and is an enthusiastic photographer.

Here we are with more entrants in the Self Portrait challenge. First up on the left is the lovely Damien from 2 Cents Worth. Damien is a total sweetheart and a dirty bear when he wants to be, judging from the stories he tells me.

On the right is Mickey from China who also contributed to the previous incarnation of the self portrait challenge. Wherever that shot is it looks deliciously warm and sunny there.

I’ve already got four entries in the self portrait challenge. Two are from long time friends of the blog and contributors to other challenges but we also have two new contributors.

From left to right, in order of submission we have blog buddy, nudie and all round nice guy Matthew from NYCdancer. Then we have our hottie straight boy Hiram who has featured on these pages several times including in the aussieBum fitness challenge last year. Next up is Azza from the other side of Australia over in Perth. He took this shot of himself in Bali on holiday. From what I know of Azza it certainly captures him. He’s happiest when he’s nude in the sunshine. Lastly on the right we have Darin who tells me he is going to be at Burning Man too.

Thanks to the guys for entering the competition. Keep the entries coming guys and remember, they don’t have to be nudes. These guys are just comfortable getting their junk out.

A lot of you know Shannon Boh, he’s been blogging for a while now and is also making a name for himself as a photographer these days with a recent fashion spread all of his own in DNA. Shannon is a good mate of mine and is joining in the aussieBum challenge.

Shannon’s goals are to rediscover his abs and increase the size and definition of his chest and shoulders.

I’m going to make sure that myself and the other challengers keep you all updated with what we are doing to achieve our goals. For me, this week’s diet has been rubbish but at least I’ve been to the gym and done fairly effective workouts. Tomorrow will include my third workout for the week and my second aerial silks class for the week.

I’m breaking my workouts into two different days, twice each (hopefully) per week. Day one is chest, back and shoulders with three exercises each with three sets of 8-10 fairly heavy weights for each exercise. I really do need to start doing some cardio as well and for my own sanity some swimming.

You’ll have all noticed that I haven’t yet posted my “before” shot for my aussieBum challenge. That’s me to a tee, slack and procrastinating. So, at the suggestion of a reader I’m issuing the same challenge to all of you out there. Send me in your “before” photos and get yourself into shape along with me. The deadline is New Year’s Eve at the end of this year.

I found myself in a lively discussion this afternoon with a friend who is a sometimes reader of this blog and bit of a blogger himself. It’s come up a few times lately that he’s not in very good shape at the moment and that this blog actually makes him feel worse because it’s full of beautiful buff guys all the time.

I’m the first to admit that I am very much attracted to beautiful things and beautiful guys, hence the term “attractive”. I am also very aware that a lot of gay men (or straight as my friend is) are very hard on themselves especially in comparison to underwear models, bodybuilders and porn stars.

On the other hand, I know that sex sells and that while comparing ourselves to the men on this blog and others may not do our confidence any good, if I didn’t use hot guys on here at least from time to time, people wouldn’t come back. Why else do advertisers use models etc? Because it’s aspirational. If the beautiful people use this product or service then so should I/we. It’s an age old thing but to keep it in perspective, photographers and advertisers, after makeup, airbrush the models and manipulate the very proportions of their bodies to an even more “ideal” form. That means that the people we are aspiring to be don’t even look the way we see them.

SO, I’m posting a challenge (again). Send me your photos. I want REAL guys to send in their shots so that I can use them with my posts. I’m sticking to my rules. No hard ons and no sex shots, but you can be as nude and or anonymous as you like. I will still use model shots and other beautiful guys, but I will throw regular guys in as I can. It’s up to YOU! (brenton.parry@gmail.com)

This is Ulf. He’s a shy exhibitionist. He runs a blog himself with pics out and about nude, but he doesn’t show his face. I’m not sure where he is, but he’s a brave lad!

This is Crik, he’s taken up the nudity challenge for us. I’m not sure where in the world Crik is but he took these photos in the local park and in a shopping centre that’s being constructed nearby. I wonder if he’s going to get naked in the shopping centre when it’s finished and open?

It’s been a while since we’ve done what gave this blog it’s initial notoriety. So for the northern summer of 2008 I’m bringing back the public nudity challenge. The first run of the challenge was the most successful and most fun and it’s time to do it again. There are loads of examples in the archives of the old version of the blog including me nude on the Opera House steps.

For new players, the idea is to get a photo nude in a public or unexpected place. I won’t publish any erection photos. With my current financial situation, I won’t be giving a prize this year unfortunately and I’m leaving the creativity up to you. If there are any sports teams that want to do a group shot I’d love it, or even some families/brothers?  Keep it fun, and I take no responsibility for any arrests!

Email me your entries to brenton.parry@gmail.com