Saturday, September 25, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Nudists and swingers at war at Le Cap d'Agde, southern France
"Traditional" French nudists in a town on the Languedoc coast are locked in battle with a new wave of naturists who advocate free sex and partner-swapping.
Tensions in the town of Cap d'Agde, which is known as France's "Naked City" thanks to its large nudist population, have risen after locals complained that the nudist quarter had been overrun by raunchy hotels and that children had been confronted with people indulging in sexual acts in public, according to the Independent.
The exhibitionist behaviour has been blamed on the "libertines", a group of swingers who have descended on the town in recent years. To make matters worse, the group has been accused of walking about in their clothes and mocking the "real" nudists, the paper said. Florence Denestebe, an independent local councillor, recently told a council meeting: "When the sun shines, there is an area of Cap d'Agde which turns into the European capital of free sex." She called on the mayor to intervene before there was an "explosion of libertine behaviour in non-nudist areas" of the town. Traditional nudists support the move. One told the paper that they had moved to the area because they wanted "a natural life" but that they had ended up living "surrounded by wild animals".The mayor said that he would consider the complaints but had already done all he could to keep the two groups apart. Two years ago anger of the influx of swingers led to two arson attacks on hotels that hosted libertine parties.Popularly known as the Naked City, Cap d'Agde, is the seaside resort of the town of Agde, France, on the Mediterranean Sea coast in the département of Hérault, within the région of Languedoc-Roussillon. Cap d'Agde is one of the largest leisure ports on the French Mediterranean.
The Village Naturiste is a large fenced-off part at the north-eastern edge of Cap d'Agde, although it is accessible along the public beach from the east. It is a self-contained town, where nudity is legal and common in the whole resort, including its restaurants and shops, day or night. In the evening, when it gets colder, more people are dressed, sometimes in revealing clothes.
Village Naturiste is a town by itself, with a 2 km beach, port and marina, campsite, apartment complexes, hotel, shops, restaurants, bars, post office, bank and ATMs, laundrettes, hairdressers, saunas, and other such facilities.
In 2009, Rene Oltra, the company which bears the name of the original promoter of the resort, required visitors to its campsite and villas and flats which it lets must belong to a naturist organization. In December 2009 the local authority proposed to renovate making the village almost traffic-free, beginning June 2010, constructing tree-lined walkways and promenades, a high-level promenade by the beach, and a hotel. The latter, a 29 bed four star hotel to be called the 'Hôtel le California', due to open in spring 2011, is already under construction adjacent to the landscaped roundabout near the entrance to the Naturist Village.
The naturist beach (where nudity is technically mandatory) has a length of about 2 km and is about 30 meters wide. Sand and water are of good quality and between 16 to 22 °C (61 to 73 °F). Lifeguards are on duty at several stations, during most of the day. Six restaurants border the southern end of the nude beach. Only one restaurant is available towards the northern end. Even though Cap d'Agde is in France, most of the service staff members speak English.
Heliopolis is the biggest and most prominent feature of Village Naturiste and is a 4-storey round apartment complex with a diameter of around 250 meters (820 ft) located at the beach. Heliopolis has a shopping area with a supermarket at the ground floor. It has approximately 800 apartment units for 2, 4, and 6 people. Built to Le Corbusier principles, the arc-shaped buildings contained an open centre with a swimming pool, tennis courts, and play areas.
With inputs from www.telegraph.co.uk and other sources including YouTube
Lady Gaga's infamous meat dress is to be archived
Lady Gaga's meat dress divides opinion
Photo: Lady Gaga at the MTV Video Music Awards
Lady Gaga's infamous "meat dress" is to be "archived" as beef jerky, it has been claimed.
The pop singer had tongues wagging when she turned up to collect eight prizes at the Video Music Awards earlier this month.
She then continued the theme by addressing a rally in support of repealing the Don't Ask Don't Tell laws that prevent gays and lesbians from serving in the military by saying that "equality is the prime rib of America" and everyone should have the right to wear a "meat dress".
Many music and fashion lovers wondered what happened to the dress and may have found their answer.
Franc Fernandez, the fashion designer who designed the outfit, has told the celebrity gossip website e-online: "The dress will go through a process where it becomes a sort of 'jerky' and will be archived. Thank you."
The dress, complete with boots, purse and a hat was made from cuts of beef divided internet opinion.
Cher, who presented the prizes, wrote on her Twitter account that as an "art piece it was astonishing!" and that the meat purse was "genius."
She added: "modern art elicits discussion, introspection and conflict! Everyone's talking about it! BINGO!"
However, animal rights groups condemned the garment.
A statement from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said that "wearing a dress made from cuts of dead cows is offensive enough to bring comment, but someone should whisper in her ear that more people are upset by butchery than are impressed by it".
Lady Gaga told chat show host Ellen DeGeneres, who had presented her with a "veggie bikini" on air, she meant no disrespect to anyone that is vegan or vegetarian, and called herself "the most judgment free human being on the earth".
"However, it has many interpretations. For me this evening, if we don’t stand up for what we believe in and if we don’t fight for our rights pretty soon, we’re going to have as much rights as the meat on own bones. And, I am not a piece of meat.”
Source: Original text and photo from www.telegraph.co.uk
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Message from Lady Gaga to the US Senate
In this video titled ‘A message from Lady Gaga to the Senate Sept 16 2010’ posted on YouTube, Lady Gaga, urges Americans to tell their home state senators to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” by joining hands with Sen. Reid and Sen. Carl Levin in opposing the filibuster.
She gives the phone number of the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, which is manned 24 hours a day and urges people to ask the operator and to connect to their senators, upon which they can tell their senators ‘to vote with Sen. Reid and Sen. Carl Levin in opposing the filibuster, defeat amendments to strike repeal, and defeat any crippling amendments.”
Lady Gaga, an avowed gay rights activist, has spoken out against the 'Don't ask, Don't tell' US legislation that forces gay and lesbian servicemen and women to live in secrecy or risk being discharged. She currently has about 6 million followers on Twitter and urged them to talk to their senators to overturn the 1993 legislation.
"Since then (1993) 14,000 Americans have been discharged from the armed forces, refused the right to serve their country and sent home regardless of honorable service or how valuable they may have been to their units," says Gaga in the video.
A tweet professing her love of US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada found prompt response from Reid who reciprocated with an invitation to visit him in Las Vegas.
Gaga adds, "I have called both of the senators that operate in my district. Ultimately the law is being enforced by using gay profiling and gay soldiers have become targets. Not only is the law unconstitutional, but it's not even being properly or fairly enforced by the government."
Friday, September 17, 2010
Wall Street Bull
The note added below this great B&W shot asks, "Wall St. Bull: When I see this iconic statue from behind, I'll always wonder... what the hell were they thinking?". Is it an allegory? Or is it symbolic of the Wall Street Executives that bled the nation and the world at large by treating themselves to FAT BONUSES and out of the way perks even when the Wall Street firms were neck deep in debts and operational loses? That anyway kicked of the worst recession of all times, even the worse than the great depression of the 1930s?
Louise Brooks: Sexuality and Censorship in Early Cinema
This video features some clips of Louise Brooks from the documentary "Why Be Good? Sexuality and Censorship in Early Cinema".
The American dancer, model, showgirl and silent film actress Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 - August 8, 1985), better known by her stage name Louise Brooks, is known for popularizing the bobbed haircut. Pandora's Box (1929), Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) and Prix de Beauté (Miss Europe) (1930) are the best films she acted in with her bobbed cut. She starred in 17 silent movies.
Brooks was one of the first naturalistic actors in films. Brooks was also known for her salty language. By her own admission, she was a sexually liberated woman, not afraid to experiment, even posing fully nude for photos. It was all in a period of cinema in which nudity was frowned upon and censorship was very strict.
