It’s nearly 10pm here and I’ve just got home from the movies seeing “The Blind Side”. I cried. I cry easily in movies and television shows, even commercials have been known to bring me undone. But it’s time for me to go to bed and sleep so that I can get my sorry arse out of bed to go to the gym. I’ve been relatively motivated for the last week so I’m running with it. Tomorrow is legs and shoulders. Damn squats and lunges hurt.
Enjoy this video of the Spencer Tunick shoot.
Over the years I’ve heard some good things about Helsinki. Sadly it’s not somewhere I’ve managed to see yet, but given I haven’t travelled anywhere near as much as I would like, that’s no surprise. Wandering around the world wide web during my lunch today I stumbled across this gem, called Yrjonkadun Uimahalli from the 1920’s tucked away in Helsinki and for the nudists amongst us, it’s hanging on dearly to it’s old fashioned ways.
Over four floors, this pool is open on separate days for different genders and up until recently, nude swimming was mandatory, not optional. If you dared wear swimwear you used to be escorted out of the premises. Now they are a little more relaxed but from what I can find online, nudity is still the preferred choice!
You can hire a personal change room or a private cabin with bathrobe, sauna seat cover and bed, where you can relax and soak up the “Serene Roman baths atmosphere” while you order from the cafe menu. Sounds pretty darned good to me!
What comes to mind after a long hot day in the office and a gruelling aerial silks class when you can tell summer isn’t far off being over? Getting a bunch of friends together and having a skinnydip in one of Sydney’s beautiful harbour locations of course.
The Skinnydipping Sydney facebook group is starting to gain a bit of momentum and last night, thanks to the balmy weather, we had 10 guys turn up. We swam and chatted and laughed for close to 45 minutes before packing up and heading home. We’re going to have to mix up the locations or it’s only a matter of time before we get busted.
It’s quite funny when newcomers are trying to work out, in the dark, whether the people they can see swimming around and jumping off the pontoons are the people they are actually supposed to be meeting. It would be a bit awkward to turn up, strip off and swim over to a group of people that aren’t expecting naked company.
Here’s a Sky News video of yesterday’s shoot at the Opera House. I really can’t wait to see the finished shot.
This morning at 4am I arrived at the Sydney Opera House, expecting Sydney to be all cynical (a bit like me perhaps) and to have not shown up for the Spencer Tunick photo shoot. I was very pleasantly surprised to find out, a couple of hours later as I walked up the steps of the iconic building, to realise that 5,200 people had turned out of all kinds of body shapes, sizes, ages, genders and sexualities.
The organisers expected 2,500 people so we more than doubled their expectations and it was an amazing and liberating experience. Some would say that my nude body doesn’t need any more liberating, but to have over 5,000 other naked bodies around me was fantastic. Some have said it felt tribal and completely non-judgemental and I would have to agree. They guys would probably argue that the cold weather was doing nothing to help a lot of us and that’s true too, but we were all in the same boat.
It was quite an emotional moment when I realised that, even though this was a Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras event, about 50% of participants were straight (my estimation) and that not a single one of them was concerned about being nude with gays and lesbians. Most people were nervous, some were not. I couldn’t help but think, how many friends were seeing each other nude for the first time? How many people were running into acquaintances unexpectedly at their most vulnerable and how many of them might be more confident in their bodies after the experience.
I’ll happily admit there were people I knew there that I’d been curious to see nude and now I’ve ticked that curiosity off. It’s human nature to have a look I think. I’m glad I took the plunge and joined in. It’s a once in a lifetime experience and I loved it.
Yesterday saw the media gathering for Spencer Tunick’s photoshoot which is part of the Mardi Gras. Next monday morning, 3000 people will cover the opera house steps and inside the main auditorium for one of his famous installations.
I was invited to the media launch yesterday but couldn’t make it because of work. They had two nude models lying on tables with sushi for the masses to eat. The local news reports of course made jokes about wasabi. I can’t wait to do this on monday morning. That is, if the shoot goes ahead. At the time of the launch yesterday, Tunick who had just flown in, was without luggage, or cameras thanks to the services of Qantas that has lost it all.
Previously I’ve shown you the photos of the Dieux Du Stade calendar guys and the annual nude rugby match on the beach in New Zealand. Now I bring you this bunch of photos of a very real looking match of Rugby. I don’t have any details on where it is but judging by the dirt and grass stains on the guys bodies, they are playing for real. They certainly aren’t shy about physical contact with another nude man. Liberated footballers? It’s a rare thing, but a nice one.
When you think about nudism there are certain countries and regions that come to mind. Places like Germany are renowned for having nude sections in city parks, and a very liberal attitude towards stripping off. Australia’s climate is perceived to be suitable for year round nudity (it’s not). Alaska is not somewhere that I would imagine has a great nudist movement. The northern European countries have a strong nude sauna culture despite their wintry conditions.
Roaming the profiles on Hangoutnude, as I do, it struck me just how many people in the UK are nudists. I would say they are over represented in terms of percentage of profiles, especially for an area with weather so conducive to rugging up and staying warm and also not having the culture of saunas to fall back on.
London has nude night club nights like Club Starkers and Naked and a host of others, there are nude swim clubs, the bathing pavilion at Hampstead Heath is packed with naked sunbathers within it’s walls on a nice summer day. How has this come about? Why is there such a popularity with nudism in a cold country like Britain? I think it’s great but haven’t got my head around it.
Over the past couple of months I’ve come across several guys online who were raised in nudist families, some of them with brothers brought up by a single dad, others with both parents. All of these people had one thing in common. They were all brought up without any shame about their body, nudity, erections or sex in general.
Are nudists more open minded or do they just have a different set of hangups? I think people brought up in a nudists environment are probably less likely to have body image issues or at least just deal with them better. Perusing any nudist website, like Hangoutnude, you’ll see that the vast majority of bodies are a long way from the commercial ideal of perfection. Surely that goes a long way to giving a healthier perception of what is healthy?
My parents weren’t prudish but apart from the odd walk between bathroom and bedroom, I never saw them nude and while I wasn’t taught that there is anything wrong with nudity, it’s not really something my parents would actively encourage. If I had kids I’d bring them up to be comfortable with being nude, but to respect other people’s boundaries.
A guy I’ve been chatting to was married to a man for some time and while they were together, the other man’s son came and stayed with them regularly from the age of 11 to 16, when their relationship ended. They would all happily spend most of the time at home nude and given the time period covered the son’s puberty he was apparently often hard but was taught that it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Such a healthy way to live.
Firstly thank you so much to all the people that have said I can join their camps at burning man. As you can understand, the prospect of joining total strangers is a little odd but not out of the question at all as that’s what you do when you don’t know anyone.
My main issues with getting to and surviving BM are, how do I get into the middle of the desert without a vehicle? I will be travelling to other parts of the US if I make it over there so lugging a tent and other camping/survival items isn’t entirely plausible. I have not the first idea about what it will take to survive the week without starving. For seasoned Burners, I’d love to hear your advice, tips, tricks and if anyone has advice on transport etc, please leave your comments!
After a couple of recent night time skinnydips with a couple of different nudie buddies, and noticing how much of an effort it was to actually track someone down who was available to join me, I have created a Skinnydippers Sydney facebook group for everyone in Sydney who loves a bit of a cheeky nude swim.
I’m hoping that everyone will make contacts and enjoy those cheeky nude swims with like minded guys and girls more often. Backyard pools, hotel pools, ocean pools, beaches. Wherever you like to get your junk out in Sydney for a swim, you can chat about your favourite spots or times. So come join up!
I don’t have much to say tonight. I’m in a bit of a strange mood after a long day. I’m toying with an emotional and hopefully cathartic post that may come soon.
In the mean time, enjoy this sexy video from Fratpad.
I’m not even a paid member of Fratpad but the idea of a bunch of, well frat guys, running around nude, being made to do crazy nude challenges, and horse around at close proximity to each other is a lot of fun. The guys all seem to really enjoy the attention and even go along with the gayer stuff, like the jack off races where the winner cums on the loser.
They don’t claim that all the guys are straight but make them have sex. Sure they put them in fairly sexual situations, like massaging each other or challenging them to give the best lap dance but the guys all seem to see it for the laugh that it is. There are a couple of guys that are openly bi, and I think there have been gay guys in there. If I was going to join a fraternity, I’d want to be in that one. Needless to say they are all buff and young and hot, but it’d be a safe bet that a serious gym routine would be part of their contracts.
It’s not the sexual stuff I like most, but the naked horsing around like this oiled up slip and slide video!
Last weekend after we got home from a boozy night out, my flatmate and I were chatting and snacking before bed and somehow the nudity thing came up. I’ve been making a concerted effort not to talk about it so I don’t pressure him into saying anything or causing tension.
He said that he doesn’t mind if I walk to the kitchen to get a drink nude or get something from the laundry or whatever. Basically as long as I’m not lying around on the lounge etc he’s ok. That’s a big step from the initial “not comfortable with it at all” situation. I think he’s realised that I’m not interested in sleeping with him and we are becoming good friends and very comfortable with each other which I’m really enjoying.
Our differences aren’t driving each other mad and we are quite respectful of the other’s boundaries. As yet I haven’t tested the new relaxed rules as I wanted to chat about it sober first and make sure he’s ok. The last thing I want to do is make him feel like he has to put up with something that makes him uncomfortable. But right now, he’s away for a few days and I’ve got the house to myself all day so I’m nude and have a nude mate or two dropping by over the day. Yay.
Yesterday I went off to the beach down in the National Park with Hot Nudie and met some other friends there. HN and I were the first of the group there. Neither of us braved the walk down nude even though we probably both would under normal circumstances and may well do next time. The reason for the apprehension? Well it was to be our first time seeing each other naked.
There is a strange dynamic in play when you have barely started dating someone and haven’t yet had sex but you are about to be naked together. There’s nothing wrong with it and it was a nice dynamic to experience. Most couples, ie non nudist couples, wouldn’t ever get to experience that. We did kiss and cuddle in the water and it did of course lead to things popping up. HN did have to roll over several times through the day to hide some localised swelling. If it had just been he and I, it wouldn’t have been a problem, but given that my friends were there a raging hard on probably isn’t appropriate.
