Author: αNaturist

Naturist Activists, Friends and Guests in Bay Area!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

This Wednesday, if possible, you should take part in the historic RALLY FOR URBAN NUDITY in San Francisco. I wrote previously about an attempt to strip San Franciscans and guests off their right to be clothes-free in public places, but here is a chance not only to stop the ban, but perhaps help to secure and expand this overlooked basic freedom?

So, here is a copy of the announcement, hope it will be success:

Greetings Body Freedom Supporters and Friends!

A reminder that on Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at Noon, the  RALLY FOR URBAN NUDITY will take place on the steps of San Francisco City Hall, (across from Civic Center on Carlton B. Goodlett Place).

Clothed, nude or anywhere in between, if you support the right to choose your own form of attire without government interference, come join us!

Sandy Hook is stronger than Sandy!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

As life in New York metropolitan area slowly returns to normal after the Frankenstorm, some of the city dwellers start thinking beyond the most vital issues. I’ve heard from several people already their concern about whether we’ll have a proper beach season next summer, because of some rumours that beaches got destroyed. So, yours truly got on a plane and went to check it out. Well, luckily I have a friend who is a pilot on a small plane and we planned a flight on the clear morning last Sunday…

When we reached the coastal area of Rockaway, it was obvious that for many people by the waterfront, the most essential question was still… where to live.

A large part of Breezy Point was wiped out by fire that fire department wasn’t able to reach because of the flooding.

These are aerial photographs of one of my favorite beaches, Fort Tilden, before Sandy.

And these are from this Sunday.

The beach itself looks as beautiful, but you can see that the dunes receded… and their sand covers the road now! I have mixed feeling about it being less accessible now. In a way, it is also nice to have some wilderness areas within NYC boundaries.

Jersey Shore suffered from Frankenstorm even more, but we flew only above its northernmost tip, Sandy Hook. Gunnison beach of Sandy Hook, probably my favorite one in the area, appeared totally flooded at first sight.

But it definitely remains to be a wide sandy beach as we know it!

It’s got this interesting sand barrier structure that goes along the shore, but I doubt it will last till next summer.

Parts of the road were still flooded, and I am sure there is a lot of mud and sand.

Another thing that I noticed looking at the beach, was that the parts of sand dunes covered with plants, even just grass or small bushes, seemed to have resisted the surge pretty well.

This made me think that the fence that limits access to the dunes for protection of shorebirds, such as plovers, was actually also necessary to preserve the plant cover. This, in turn, reminded me of a couple of case when I saw rangers patrolling the beach hitting the fence while passing through it and not bothering to put it back! One friend of mine took care of it, and he made it artfully!

In any case, I have no doubt that there will be a beach season next summer. Sandy Hook proved to be stranger than Sandy!

Country Club in New Orleans

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

In the aftermath of Frankenstorm in New York, I would like to post some happy photos from New Orleans, another city that 8 years ago suffered severely from a hurricane, and actually much stronger one than Sandy…

Despite being surrounded by water, New Orleans is not known for beaches, let alone naturist beaches. But there is a clothing-optional club with an open air pool, jacuzzi and bar all surrounded by lush tropical plants. It is called simply The Country Club, and the atmosphere is very laid-back.

It is located in the most charming and picturesque residential area I’ve ever seen, Bywater, rivalled only by the neighbouring Marigny (imho).

It is located close to bustling French Quarter, but in this neighbourhood, there are only few quiet cafes.

So it may be your perfect oasis of tranquility in the city. You can simply chill on a lounger by the pool or in a more secluded corner in the garden; there is WiFi, in case you need to work and stay connected to the outside world.

You can also order pretty decent food from the indoor restaurant (far not the best one in New Orleans, but that still means good in the culinary mecca!) or get drinks from the bar by the pool. Speaking of which, there are floating mats in the pool, that is what I call ultimate relaxation!

Body painting again and again :-)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Body painting seems to be a nudist party activity du jour. Almost every nudist party provides body paint as a part of their program, and there are some that are dedicated to it specifically. I went to one of the events organised by Social Exposure Media in NYC a month ago, and as always body painting proved to be a great tool for socialising and exposing [love to] our bodies.

Unlike previous parties that I’ve been to, this event provided paint that glowed in the dark! in black light, that is. Body art is not difficult to make intriguing and entertaining, it’s just fun to decorate bodies, but glow-in-the-dark effect makes it surreal!

Maybe this video will be able to show the atmosphere.

Now, there is body paint event on Halloween at SoHo Gallery for Digital Art. That might solve your costume problem! I just hope the city will be fine after Frankenstorm. And I guess people will be even more eager to go out and party! Just sign up, show up and show off! It is a ‘bare as you dare’ event.

hurricane flashback

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

In anticipation of the Frankenstorm, I can’t help recalling last year experience right before arrival of the hurricane Irene to New York City. A friend of mine got a reckless idea of running in the storm. Well, not that reckless, the storm was still a few hours away from the city, and it was a classic calm before the storm. The night was just more humid usual, but there was no wind. And I have never seen the streets of Manhattan so quiet and empty. We headed out to Riverside Park and it started pouring, but still there was no sign of wind.

Our only encounter in the park was a totally wet skunk that was running hastily away from the Hudson River.

Guess what we thought next. That seemed like a unique opportunity to jog in one of New York’s major parks naked, and we didn’t miss the chance!

We ran in the rain up to George Washington Bridge.

It felt fantastic, as if the city was just ours and nothing could stop us… But of course, we had to stop and go back. The storm never really hit Manhattan severely, but we wouldn’t know beforehand. So, luckily, our naked run remained the brightest memory from the hurricane Irene. Who knows what Sandy brings us this time. It is expected to be much longer (up to 36 hours, as opposed to 6 hours of Irene), and it’s definitely not going to be warm, especially if the tropical hurricane does merge with the wintry storm. Also, combination with full moon increases the chance of particularly strong surges, so we should stay away from the river…

Be safe and take care!

Naked men in exhibitions in NYC and Vienna; and sign petition against ban on nudity in San Francisco!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

A short exhibition about Russian gay men who fled to the US is now on display in a small gallery in Manhattan, 287 Spring. Sorry for the late alert, but this Sunday is the last day and I just visited it today. I had a chance to speak with the photographer, Alexander Kargaltsev, and he told me the idea to show those men naked, besides the aesthetic value, had a symbolic meaning. They fled from Russia, because they were confronted with aggression and misunderstanding, and new laws in many regions, including seemingly progressive Saint Petersburg, make it practically impossible even to mention such issues in public (the so-called bans on gay propaganda). Although US is still lagging behind in terms of equality in some basic right to its homosexual citizens, these asylum seekers at least can now live openly in such cities as New York, which is symbolised by their nudity – open and free – next to some well-known sights of the city or simply on the roofs. The story made it to Huffingtonpost, and even with uncensored photos. Also, the exhibition is free and the photographs are easily visible from the street. This publicity, however, made some of the models decide to withdraw their photographs, as they didn’t want to risk security of their family members who stayed in Russia.

Its worth noticing though, that they, as any other people in New York, don’t actually have the freedom to be unclothed in public, so their nudity is really not more than a symbol. San Francisco’s legislature seems to be much more liberal in this respect, but this harmless freedom is at risk even there. Sign a petition against proposed ban on nudity in San Francisco!

Vienna hosts even two exhibitions with naked men on display in different art forms, from sculptures to paintings and photographs, and not in a small gallery, but in two major museums: Leopold and Lentos. But surprisingly, Viennese dwellers turned out to be not ready to see [male] nudity on posters in the city.

Go figure what’s wrong with it… or better go check it out and show some support. You could actually even visit it naked! Here is a link to the video from the naked day at Leopold Museum: http://www.stern.de/kultur/kuriose-ausstellung-nackt-im-museum-1973612.html

Queer Woods of Pennsylvania (part II)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

In my previous post, I promised to continue about queer woods of Pennsylvania that were only going to get queerer, so here is where we ended up on another hot summer weekend: not a haunted house this time, but a lively campground, ‘the Woods’, oriented to gay and lesbian clientele. As you can expect from the name, it is located in the woods in the rural part of Pennsylvania. Most people stay in trailers or cabins, but you can also opt for a tent. The atmosphere is very laid-back, so clothing-optional policy only helps to ease your mind; on the other hand, they organise themed weekends, so you’re likely to find company with similar interests. Needless to say, it was a nudist weekend, when I was there with more than a dozen of naked friends.

One of the obvious things to do in the woods is, of course, hiking, and ‘the Woods’ provide plenty of room for hiking au naturel.

There are designated trails on the territory that belongs to the campground, but when we ended up at the edge of the Christmas tree farm, it was hard to resist posing in front of those in my favourite attire… I wouldn’t mind this kind of Christmas!

This guy in fur coat was clearly overdressed. It wasn’t a white Christmas!

Or was it?

There was a field full of chamomiles.

The field was so big, it seemed easy to get lost there!

So we returned to the campground for lunch and some relaxing time by the pool. There is also a small lake, but surprisingly very few people use it. Maybe this funny warning note is to blame for that.

Of course, it didn’t stop me from swimming there. To me, presence of fish is rather a sign of a healthy lake.

Shallow area in the middle of the lake indeed had numerous nests of sunfish.

But you can also explore the pond without getting wet: a pedal boat and a canoe are provided as well.

You can also see it as a work out: first legs,

then upper body 😉

And maybe some balancing exercises on a small rock in the middle of the lake?

I wasn’t the only one to claim the rock, but its true owner is this pond slider turtle.

Next to the pond, there was a sunlit meadow full of daylillies.

Activities don’t stop at ‘the Woods’ at night. They even offer a midnight hike! Many people have actually joined. Just watch out for ticks (it’s actually good to stay naked, so they cannot hide in and under clothes). The nights when we stayed were very warm, but in case it cools down, there are two hot tubs and a huge fire as well.

What else do you need to stay warm than a bunch of naked friends and a fire?

And to top it all up, the campground boasts a decent night club, well-decorated and with good sound. Unlike at Sunny Rest, another naturist club in this part of Pennsylvania, most people were dancing in the buff.

The choice of music didn’t necessarily fit my taste, but I surely enjoyed the night.

It was a fun retreat, special thanks to Ryan for organizing it!

Queer Woods of Pennsylvania (part I)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Once, on a hot summer day, we went for a hike in the woods of Delaware Water Gap. We just picked a random trail on the map and had no idea what lied ahead.

Blackberry bushes provided a sweet start! But in about an hour after we left the road, we noticed some houses in the middle of the woods. Who would live there without proper road access??

Right, no one! Those were haunted houses!

What was especially weird that there were some gardening tools and equipment around, as if the settlement was abandoned in haste.

There is definitely an interesting story behind all that, perhaps a car with several bullet holes in the door could provide a clue as to what might have happened…

The door was invitingly open, but I don’t think it is going anywhere!

We left the place puzzled; in a few minutes we were more keen on pretty plants around us,

and soon the trail brought us to the Delaware River.

We couldn’t find a proper trail to get down to it, so we had to go through the bushes and ferns. But we managed to get a nice spot for a lunch break and just needed to make sure we would remember where to go back to the trail.

Wait for the next blogpost, those Pennsylvanian woods will only get queerer 😉

Black light body paint party in NYC tomorrow + a couple of announcements

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Tomorrow, the Gallery Bar in East Village will once again turn into naked dance and body paint extravaganza. I’ve been to a couple of their previous events, and they were a lot of fun. This time it’s going to be a little crazier, as the paint will be glowing in the dark!

Curiously, these events are organised by Social Exposure Media, which isn’t a nudist group, but they manage to get a good turnout of happy naked people, I bet many of whom are first-timers. The webpage with info of the party is courtesy of Young Naturists America, however.

I also would like to add that my silence in the last weeks was mainly due to two amazing travels, which will definitely make several excellent entries for this blog 😉 One of them, as you can guess from my previous announcements, was of course Burning Man. Meanwhile, my friend Juan finally got his first blogpost published, congratulations! Soon we’ll add English translation.

Stay tuned!

and the Burning Man ticket goes to…

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

As I announced earlier, I had an extra ticket to completely sold out Burning Man and decided to find a lucky one to get it among my readers… and the ticket goes to AJ from Florida!

I am really happy that this guy is getting this ticket to this fantastic event after he practically lost hope he would make it to Burning Man this year.
And if you hear his story of how he got into naturism, it makes only more sense that he’s getting the ticket through this website.
So, ironically, he first tasted that simple freedom of being naked in what was supposed to be a repressive culture: on the shores of the Black Sea in former USSR. He promised to dig up some old photos in his garage and scan them, and then he’ll have an entry about it.

For example, he was in Crimea, maybe even on some of the beaches I described previously. On top of that, his best local friend was called just like yours truly, Kyrill. Was there any doubt the ticket was meant for him?