I’ve prepared this post in advance. By the time I post it I’ll be in a castle away from home, publishing this ‘remotely’ via my phone, and Gran will be looking after the children. Jim and I are here for a Hogmanay Charity dinner. Photos will be taken and some may even reach the local newspaper (not our local newspaper, incidentally! Thankfully we live beyond this local paper’s catchment area!)

I have to say that, just like SL (above) we kind of scrub up OK in real life too.

Thank goodness photos like those above won’t reach our local paper though, lol.

Last week I gave you a heads up on some tartan flavoured dresses suitable for Hogmanay, but during the week I was able to get a simpler, non-tartan evening gown, and of course went shopping in SL for something similar. The real life and Second Life aren’t remotely similar, but I’ve stuck up a post to show me making a little non-tartan stand this evening 😉

I’m also meeting up with BB tonight (whom I cast as ‘Bebe’ for the duration of that holiday). Some of you may remember she was one of the non-naturists who went on holiday with me in June 2014. Over three years ago already? Wow! BB had embraced naturism by week’s end and, although she hasn’t been on a naturist holiday since (as far as I know) she joined a naturist swim on her return and attends it regularly every month. I’ve been to a couple of the swims with her. So I’m looking forward to a good chin wag and catch up later on.

‘Is anything worn under the kilt?’, Scotsmen are often asked.

‘No’, is the joke reply, ‘it’s all in full working order’ 🙂

When the highland dancing begins later, or when sitting chatting between dances, I fully expect that I shall see more than expected from some of the men, as nothing will almost certainly be worn under their kilts! It’s a topic I covered last year.

This time last year I’d also had a bit of a fall on the ice, so wasn’t dancing. I wasn’t worried, I don’t like dancing. This year I’ve no excuses so I also expect to be dragged onto the floor for some ‘reel’ or ‘set dance’ that will almost inevitably involve a bit of dancing over and around swords.

Happy Hogmanay!

Ella

Over at Çommune Utopia’s sim, there’s a meadow where, I think, erotic readings sometimes take place.

I’ve never been to that, I’ve no idea what it entails, as ‘erotic’ falls beyond the remit of this blog. Come to that, promoting Commune Utopia activities has previously led this blog into a little bit of bother, lol, when Diane suggested she might blog about an orgy they were holding and the grid (well, a couple of people, lol) objected. At the time they were probably right to object, as we’ve always held a firm ‘genuine naturism only’ policy, and reporting an orgy was well off our radar.

But we, and presumably they, got over the storm in a teacup. Indeed, one party who objected saying ‘that’s not genuine naturism’ had the audacity to do so while their own blog freely promoted a bit of adultery as relatively commonplace in naturism. It’s not. Never has been, never will be. Hypocrisy at its finest, and I told the blog author as much on here AND on their own blog.

Since then, I’ve tried to widen the scope of naturism a little. I still don’t like, or recognise, this sort of behaviour as acceptable within naturism, but I’m adult enough to know that (a) goes on and (b) does get tacked on -inaccurately, unfairly- as an adjunct of naturism. Consider the slightly more freewheeling activities at real life naturist venues like Cap D’Agde or Hedonism to understand that while many can and do visit these places for the same sort of genuine naturism I enjoy, they’re existing hand in hand with ever more risqué activities being hauled into ‘the naturist family’.

It is entirely conceivable I could return to Cap D’Agde, with my family, and enjoy an entirely innocent, genuine naturist holiday…providing I don’t explore certain sections of beach by day or clubland by night.

I could choose to ignore the reality of the ‘more risque’. And indeed I have ignored it for the time this blog has existed. But we can’t hide our heads in the sand to the existence of this sort of behaviour.

These locations do exist. These locations are a part of a wider naturist fraternity/sorority whether I, or you, like it or not. And, as I’ve said, the genuine sometimes co-exists with the risque in the same location.

I decided some time ago to, not exactly embrace these sort of ‘naturist’ activities in real life and Second Life, but to at least acknowledge their existence. I can certainly report, but still maintain a firm ‘anti’ line in our editorial. It seems that I can very readily say ‘look…this sim exists. It’s not what I regard as real naturism. It’s not what you’ll see at a real naturist beach, 999 visits out of 1000’. But it’s quite silly to suggest sex never happens at a naturist beach or resort. Of course it does. Go to the beach early enough in the morning in a genuine naturist resort and you may stumble upon a couple getting ‘frisky’.

What’s key is that there’s no one around. Or the people (participating) think there isn’t. It doesn’t fall into the ‘public sex’ element of, say, Cap D’Agde. Young lovers making love? What could be more natural?

On that basis, then, there is a place for us to report, even disapprovingly, the full range of naturism. Some of this we’ve already done. ‘Wild swimming’ isn’t ‘naturist’, being more of a ‘nude activities’ kind of thing, but no one would ever suggest it doesn’t belong within the broader naturist family. Where do we draw the line?

At music festivals people adopt a fairly ‘clothing optional’ attitude, often, and while it isn’t ‘naturist’, it’s often seen as within the broader naturist family. Where do we draw the line?

WNBR? Burning Man? Again, it’s all about being clothing optional and of ‘body acceptance’. Not ‘naturist’ per se but within that same broad naturism. Where do we draw the line?

Expect, in 2018, SL Naturist to expand the sims we review, without necessarily giving those sims our seal of approval.

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Within SL there’s a growing tendency for ‘naturist’ sims to drift away from being ‘naturist’ to being ‘clothing optional’. I’ve had enough of this and of watching ever increasing numbers of avatars teleport into a sim while clothed.

Where ‘clothing optional’ sims exist, we’re going naked. No messing about in swimsuits. Naked or nothing, even if we’re the only ones naked. If the sim permits it, we’ll be naked, not trying to conform to a majority does code. Keen naturist avatars have been doing this, dressing, on some sims where clothes aren’t needed (according to the sim rules). If we, the naturist community, don’t make a stand in SL, we’ll lose more sims to the evil of ‘clothing optional’. Remember : nude or nothing for us in sims where nudity is allowed.

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Sssh! Not a word! But after months of running the blog alone, I’ve now got a couple of new writers added to the staff roster. Expect to be introduced to them in the coming days.

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And that’s it from me for 2017. Some changes coming to SLN in 2018, so keep checking back to the blog. I’m now about to jump in the car and drive to a Scottish castle for a New Year’s Eve (Hogmanay) bash. Ball gowns and men in kilts! 🙂

There’s a couple more posts to follow -relevant to New Year’s Eve- which I’ve already pre-written and will publish via my phone later, but I won’t be at the computer to add anything else until tomorrow afternoon. Whatever you’re doing this evening, behave responsibly, act sensibly and have a great time. See you all in 2018. Happy Nude Year.

Ella

I’m a member of ‘Commune Utopia’, a sim and group in SL, and I was tickled to log in today and see this as a group notice!

I’ve not been there in a while (I’ll change that in the New Year) so I’ve not seen the recipe book Sparkle Lytton mentions in her group notice. I’ll change that too in the New Year.

What a fantastic use of SL resources! I just love the imaginative creativity many avatars apply to further enhance their SL experience.

Click on the notecard and…

Voila! The recipe! It looks delicious, and as is said, a lovely light recipe following Christmas excess. I’m going to try this next weekend (maybe not with chilli flakes, though) and will definitely be getting over to Commune Utopia to pick up a copy of their recipe book!

The kitchen, also remember, can be a place to practice some indoor naturism as well. In fact, for people who are just taking their steps into naturism, home naturism is a perfect jumping on spot, because it really is somewhere you can be naked, yet focused on something else, and if you’re unsure about the whole ‘social nudity’ thing, wandering around in your nothings will quickly make you realise that ‘hey, this feels good’ to not even remembering you’re nude in a very short space of time. At home, nudity need never be confined to just the bathroom and bedroom. You have a whole range of rooms in which to practice home nudity and normalise it for you.

Ella

South America has a long-standing tradition of nude protest, something we’ve reported on from Mexico (I know, central rather than South America), and Argentina, a couple of times.

Now I learn of another ‘topless’ protest in Argentina, for (I think, if my Spanish is good enough) Free the Nipple. I’ve only just discovered this, and the protest took place last February, but what’s interesting is that the reporter, Moreno Pardo, who works for a news(?) organisation called Rosarioplus.com. joins in!

Moreno Pardo

I find that when disseminating the news, the mainstream media adopt an editorial viewpoint and report accordingly, mostly acting as ‘organs of the state’ (including the BBC). It’s unlikely you’ll find a reporter jump off the fence in any radical manner, mostly toeing the broadcaster and government’s line and offering only token ‘opposition’ by perhaps asking one or two soft questions which are intended to be batted back by the government spokesperson with ease, but the questions may still be presented as ‘evidence’ or ‘editorial balance’.

One of the great things about the digital age is that there’s a lot of micro-broadcasting organisations out there who now accurately counter a bland, meaningless version of ‘news’.

Would one of the major news organisations ever consider 19 seconds on a topic -top free equality- that affects half of the world’s population? No. Which is why it’s hugely refreshing to find a news outlet dedicate 19 minutes to the issue, and for the reporter to nail her colours to the mast by coming firmly down on the side of top-free equality herself. You go, girl! If major news outlets were to begin dedicating 19 minutes to top-freedom, how long might it be before the population determined that their governments passed it into law?

Mark my words: top freedom will eventually be like the Berlin Wall, and the entire Eastern (European) Bloc collapsing. The instant one nation opts to make it law, a domino effect will follow.

Ella

Word reaches me that in January Ireland will have its first official naturist bathing/sunbathing place, Hawk Cliff outside Dublin.

I don’t have a lot of detail yet, but what I can say is that until now Ireland was the only country in Western Europe that didn’t have an officially recognised naturist beach, so congratulations to them for making all of Europe now an official naturist zone. Anyone touring Europe can, if they so wish, enjoy naturism in every country in Europe! 🙂

I’ll add more detail about Ireland’s first official beach (there have been several unofficial beaches for years, apparently) as it comes in from my various naturist news aggregator links.

(Note : I don’t plan to do every country in Europe, or elsewhere in the world, as part of this ‘Round the World’ series, rather highlight naturist events such as that just described, or provide a snapshot of naturism in a country or region).

Ella

Liana Klevtsova, a student from the Russian city of Irkutsk, has recently made a protest against cutting down trees for Christmas, saying that we should utilise fake trees instead. To highlight this, she stripped off and posed in a Siberian winter, fully nude.

The story is covered in many news outlets, including Russia Today.

Liana also has a youtube video…

and on her Vkontakte (it’s a Russian social media service, much like Facebook) page, some uncensored photos of her protest turn up.

Certainly, there’s no need to cut down young trees, something she rightly says are ‘the lungs of the earth’, but I was under the impression that of all the earth’s resources that we use, trees are the one thing we’re freely replenishing year on year. Use coal or oil once, and it’s gone from the planet. But we can and are replanting trees at a reasonably impressive rate, and it’s estimated there’s more trees on earth now than there were 100 years ago.

Nevertheless, it was something that persuaded model Amaris (of whom more anon) to get out in SL to express some solidarity with Liana.

Ella

I’m in that period of my year where next year’s holidays begin to loom large, and thoughts of 2018’s holidays are uppermost in my mind.

Something to look forward to in the cold, dark nights of a European (or North American) winter.

Of course, it’s not all a bed of roses, as international terrorism has led to a situation where flying is something to be endured rather than enjoyed. Personally, I find it a bloody awful experience.

We’ll probably endure another round of media scare stories about being ‘seen in the nude’ by airport X-ray machines.

Not only can the authorities see your penis…

..they can process the x-rays to a positive and effectively see you fully nude. Breasts, vulva….the lot!

Or can they? Or should we even care?

Here I am, in SL, on an aircraft, in negative form, the photo from a post from last year’s ‘Postcards from Spain’ series. Maybe a little similar to those airport security hold in real life form? (Or maybe not…it’s hard to know how much detail x-ray machines at airports actually record).

As a naturist, I don’t really care. Thousands have seen my real life naked form. Thousands(?) have probably seen some of the real life photos of me that have emerged online (although my real, full name, or any name at all is never tagged on them…so far at least). A security man at an airport here and there makes little difference to me. I just don’t care.

But some people, the bodyphobics in real life, do. ‘An infringement on privacy’.

Look…I’m going to be going in a tin tube six miles high. If the price of my security, up there, is someone seeing my ‘private parts’ on an x-ray to ensure it…work away!

Anyway, I have the answer.

Sometimes, naturists fear being known as naturists because they reason photos, or even the knowledge they’re naturists, will damage or end their career. It’s why many naturists are ‘in the closet’.

So…let’s work around that fear.

Ladies and gentlemen, the World Naked Photobase.

Every three years, you go and get your naked photo taken, front and back view, which identifies scars, tattoos and so on. These are uploaded to a database which anyone in the world can access. The President of the United States will be on there. Hollywood ‘A’ listers will be on there. You and I will be on there. Everyone will be on it within three years, and for infinity beyond that.

Airport security can match and overlay your previous ‘nude database’ photo with your current outline. And that rules out people travelling under stolen passports. I mean…your breasts haven’t shrunk in the last three years. Your penis hasn’t grown another two inches.

So there’s going to be a programme that can match a current nude negative to a current nude negative, a bit like face identification on some internet services like Facebook.

You’re going for a job. Does that employer want someone covered with tattoos representing the company? (Yes, there remains discrimination against tattoos) It works both ways. Logging into and viewing the World Nude Database is logged, thereby providing prospective employees with a record that their prospective employer viewed the nude photos, and maybe made a decision on hiring based on that. Something for the declined prospective employee to bring up with an industrial tribunal.

I start a new job. My new co-workers can view me naked online. And I can view them online.

Sure, I suspect that many, many people would log in to check out their colleagues. And then what? The mystery, the mystique, is over. That leggy blonde new to Accounts? Looks lovely naked, sure, but where’s your sexual innuendo in the workplace going thereafter? Nowhere. That’s right. A whole raft of suggestive, off-colour remarks are rendered redundant. You now HAVE seen him/her naked.

Don’t get me wrong…such a database would be THE biggest thing on the internet forever, for a while. And would then fade as ‘a thing’. Do you really care to see that leggy blonde naked? Well, you might get around to it but in the meantime, what were last night’s soccer/basketball results.

Believe me, like naturism means you don’t look anymore, a World Naked Database means you wouldn’t look anymore.

She’s just joined the Accounts department. Wanna see her naked?

Now you have. Now what? Gonna ‘out’ her as naturist? Sorry, what’s the point?

She’s just joined HR. Wanna see her naked?

Now you have. Now what?

She’s going through airport security and a red flag has come up against her. Let’s check her against our World Naked Database photo. Nope, she’s the same woman. She is who she says she is. Next!

She’s going through security and a red flag has come up against her name. Let’s check her out…nope, her body shape doesn’t match the database. Bring her in for questioning!

Believe me, half in jest or not, a World Naked Database would effectively kill off all manner of nasty whistleblowing ‘outing’ by office busybodies in an instant (you’ve seen my saggy boobs, I’ve seen your flaccid penis), as well as improving airport security.

Ella

I’m pretty sure the tax people didn’t know her as ‘Betty Sycamore’! 🙂

And ‘Katarina’ was too long to write on in body paint, so ‘Kat’ it is.

Pookes covered similar ground to this in a blog post in February 2015.

She also likened, very accurately, to the way Second Life works with name tags generally covering over avatars’ heads.

Back in the 60s, naturist clubs, specifically US ones, had a tradition of writing people’s names on their arms on entry to the club. It kind of served two purposes.

One, you could approach a stranger and call them by name, making for a friendly atmosphere. The sort of friendly atmosphere for which naturism is famed. Having your name on your arm merely short-circuited the introductions to a degree. Ditto Second Life. Hovering name tags mean you can say ‘hello John’ or ‘hi Janet’ immediately without the need for long-winded introductions.

Two, although less common by the 60s, was that some people liked anonymity in their club and not necessarily known by their real name because of attitudes that prevailed in the workplace beyond the naturist club.

In 1920s Britain, the desire for anonymity and secrecy was such that people in clubs would be assigned a name on joining, usually something Greco-Roman, so you could have a naturist club career as ‘Ajax’ or ‘Achilles’ or ‘Euripides’.

Incidentally, ‘Betty Sycamore’ sounds like a name made for Second Life!

French avatar Noreena adopts a 1960s US style of identification

Ella

No sooner had I posted this than a photo I’d never seen before appeared online…so here’s Roberta and Wilhelmina…

Naturist films have a long history.

There were early 60s ‘nudesploitation’ movies such as those above.

All the way through to Educating Julie…

..and right up to the most recent exploration of the lifestyle, Act Naturally…

They’re of varying quality, but they’re always an interesting watch. (Blaze Starr is an excerpt, Act Naturally a trailer, and Educating Julie a full movie)

So let’s expand that small, varied and interesting canon of naturist movies by adding one more…The SL Naturist movie, and naturism within Second Life! 🙂

Yes…amongst our plans for 2018 is our very own naturist movie, shot in Second Life and including several avatars. I have no idea how long production of this will take or how complicated it may be, but we’re going to do both that and also do some short ‘travelogues’ from within SL naturist sims, all free to view from the SLN youtube channel we’re also setting up.

Don’t hold your breath just yet! It’s a whole new learning curve and there will be an entire raft of mistakes to make while learning. BUT we should be able, at the very least, to do little ‘live action’ videos from some of your favourite SL naturism sims as 2018 progresses. I’ve already ‘completed’ one very short video of me demonstrating a free Bento dance that’s currently available.

As I’ve done a couple of screen grabs from the video itself definition isn’t as good as it would be in a usual SL photograph, but hopefully the images above will demonstrate where we’re coming from, and going to!

By complete, I mean I’ve danced…it’s now necessary to add some music to it and add some titles (such as the location to get it!) but believe me when I say it’s a whole new way of looking at SL naturism and adds a whole new dimension to what we’ll (eventually) be reporting.

Stay tuned!

Real life is busy this weekend, it being New Year’s Eve, but I’ll see if I can grab some time -no promises, this may well roll into next week- to complete the dance demonstration and then publicise our own youtube channel in due course.

Ella