I’m delighted to report that in the past year we’ve pretty much girdled the globe in terms of outreach to those interested in SL naturism!

You can see that the blog ( according to wordpress statistics) has been visited by people in all of north and south America, all of Europe, large parts of Asia and Africa, and the far East and the Antipodes.

I’m determined, in the matter of drawing the world closer together under the flag of SL naturism, to crack China in the next 12 months, and, you never know, those parts of (central) Africa we still haven’t managed to ‘infiltrate’. To anyone who has visited the blog, I would just like to say ‘thanks’. Your support is very much appreciated.

Ella.

I’m indebted to reader Sandra who IMed me suggesting that a lot of people, girls mostly, have turned the self-portrait taken with their cellphone into something of an internet meme, ranging from underwear shots or party clothes, often posted to Facebook, to fully nude shots sent to boyfriends (often at the prompting of boyfriends, I would guess). I don’t use or like Facebook, so I’m afraid this element of ‘social media’ has passed me by. Clearly, I’m getting old and am now longer in touch with what motivates ‘the kids’ (although why girls and apparently guys too would wish to compromise themselves in such a way is beyond my sphere of understanding. You just know that in 20 years time one of these ill-conceived shots will puncture someone’s bid to become President or Prime Minister of their country, emerging at a very inopportune moment (probably just after election?) and will probably derail someone’s promotion within their employment.

This sort of stuff still doesn’t play well with ‘the powers that be’, and I’ve read a couple of recent media stories about teachers being sacked after compromising photos of them emerged. One, a UK teacher, had her employment terminated after it emerged she’d posed for a calendar. Not even nude, swimwear clad as I recall, she was nonetheless sacked and her chances of pursuing her chosen career are diminished.

While not remotely ‘naturist’, Sandra’s photos show how people do like to play with RL concepts and replicate them in SL. I find the idea amusing and the invention and delivery delightful in concept. There are a lot of people out there in SL land willing to construct new ideas stolen from RL.

As seen from behind, Sandra poses nude in the bathroom mirror, cellphone in hand

The same pose as it might be seen in the mirror. I’m particularly taken by the fact that the taps form the foreground, successfully completing the replication of RL in SL.

Harry

Look, I don’t do movies, all right? 90 minutes in a cramped seat, listening to others cough or talk on their mobile phones…it’s not my idea of fun. And when it gets to DVD, it’s no more fun, as I can re-create more passion, intrigue, drama, tears, better dialogue (at least, the dialogue I want to hear) and better direction in Second Life than I can passively watching some dreary film whose characters don’t engage me. I really don’t care about their bourgeois lives and condition. And then I get to watch a bunch of luvvies picking up some statuette as if what they’ve done has improved the lot of mankind.

Our heroes should be nurses, people who do make a difference, not some stick insect in a glittery dress blubbing because she’s won (are you reading, Gwyneth Paltrow?). I feel much the same about pop stars and sporting figures too. Overpaid. Full of their own self-importance. They can’t sing like Aretha Franklin, or kick a ball like Franz Beckenbauer (German soccer captain from the 1970s, US readers)

OK…you get the picture. I don’t particularly like television and I don’t go to the movies. I prefer SL, where I can re-create more passion, intrigue, etc etc….

Tonight is Oscars night. I won’t be sitting up. I won’t know the films, the ‘stars’, or care enough.

But it seemed appropriate to ‘honour’ the event, in our own jaded and cynical way, and also pay homage to those ‘nudesploitation‘ movies of the past.

And so our model takes to the red carpet, wins an award, makes some horrible speech.

Pookes

nb: depicting naturism in film -nudesploitation- was a way, purporting to depict ‘lifestyle’ rather than gratuitous nudity, that film-makers managed to circumvent the laws laid down in the Hays Code. 

As a result, there was a whole slew of movies in the 50s and 60s where the ‘nudist camp’ played a starring role.