bare naked men

I’m going to take my cue from The Creator - and let’s face it, the Universe is the ultimate blog! - who is said to have advised: Six days shalt thou labour with thy imagination, and on the seventh day shalt thou rest and reflect. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a Christian, but I think it’s good advice for anyone hooked on cyberspace where time never stops.

Let’s start with two of the biggies: beauty and freedom. This blog is dedicated to the beauty of the nude male, something that gay men are attracted to and society has some mixed feelings about. I reject the notion that pictures of a man, even with an erection, are porn. When artistically photographed in all his “glory” (or edited to look that way like the ones here), the result can be very beautiful, and no one should feel guilty about finding them so (straights included).

I may not be able to define porn, but I know it when I see it, and most of the time it’s not very beautiful. So there are all those websites where you feel guilty or nauseated or both just to visit them, and worse, someone is trying to exploit your desires to make money off them. The only way to challenge the porn industry is to make the alternative freely available so that gays can feel good about their desires. It seems that Europeans and Brazilians aren’t so hungup on male nudity, so maybe it’s a cultural thing and can change. Okay, so I’m 30ish and still idealistic.

One of the motivations of starting this blog is to make the products of my imagination freely available to others, hoping you will find them beautiful and sexy (which are not mutually exclusive attributes). I don’t subscribe to the notion that “information wants to be free” - I think people really mean “we want information to be free” and we want others to do the work for us.

So, enjoy, copy freely if you like what you see, don’t exploit my work, and please leave me comments and feedback - that’s the only reward I ask.

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After a week of hot athletes, I’m thinking of my uneasy relationship with sports that goes back to being a not very sports-minded kid. Actually, growing up in a small town, one of the big attractions of going to high school was being able to see all the boys in my class nude in the locker room and showers. I didn’t understand why I was so attracted to this homosocial environment, but quickly developed an obsession for it. The only problem was how to find a sport that let me spend more time there so I could see the boys not in my own class – the answer being badminton! Okay, not very butch, but it did the trick.

The most homoerotic moment of those years was the day that the two biggest hunks in the school (think Daniel Cudmore versus Mark Dalton) had a towel fight in the locker room, where they tried to flick their weapons at each other’s genitals, the other guys cheering them on. I don’t think either landed a bullseye, but every time they came close I think each boy felt a shudder of delight and pain.

I still remember details of all those boys’ bodies, but if those were real pictures, and not just memories, they’d be illegal (right?) as we were all under 18. But now, I have zero interest in any “teen sites”, and have never seen a locker room picture that comes remotely close to those memories that will never change. Strange.

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So why are we so obsessed with film stars and their bodies? I guess they seem larger than life and far more attractive than the everyday world. Except they really aren’t – remember the recent paparazzi photos of Jude Law in the nude and how ordinary he seemed compared to how sexy he looks on film (except we now know he’s uncut), or the famous ones of Brad Pitt. Fuzzy screencaps aren’t much better. I’d rather look at the pictures here even if they are fantasies.

When I was a kid and watching movies, I started becoming infatuated with masculine skin wherever it could be seen – obvious stuff like Tarzan and Roman gladiators. But I also sensed that despite the obvious sexual appeal of these men, they didn’t seem to be treated that way. Women were the ones praised for their beauty, and the men were beautiful too but no one wanted to talk about it. Maybe it’s because most men don’t want to think about other men as being beautiful, even if they know they are.

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I suspect that gay men spend more time with fantasy men in their head than straight guys do with women – though obviously I can’t prove that. The first time I met this guy who is now a friend, he was wearing a T-shirt with a famous hunk picture on it. My gaydar said no straight guy would wear something like this, and sure enough, it turned out he was gay. The funny thing was that he kept referring to the guy on his shirt as if he were a real person, as in “he would like that” when making a decision about something. Maybe it was just a neat way to pick up guys, but it seemed more than that with him.

To round out this first month (and thanks for the comments), I’m going to show you 5 of my favourite guys who are almost imaginary. I have no idea of who they are, and these are the only pictures I have of them, but they seem real enough inside my head. If anyone knows anything about them, please tell me. But then, I don’t know you readers either and you don’t know me and we probably don’t know them. This is all so anonymous, but really exciting too.

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This site is all about using our imagination – and making it seem real in pictures. Someone once said that the brain is the most powerful sex organ, and I think that’s true in the sense that what we imagine as erotic may be just as powerful as something that’s physically erotic. And of course when the two go hand in hand, so to speak …. Okay, for April, I’m going to add some more models, as these seem to be the most popular pictures people want to see, but there are also some other themes that could be interesting: Bears & Daddies, classic models from the recent past, TV actors, musclemen, more sports guys, and of course more film people. I also take requests. In the meantime, look at the March archive for over 30 pix.

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I suspect that many gay men participated in “jerk off fantasies” before they experienced the real thing – I certainly did. I also wonder if there’s still some guilt associated with those fantasies because they’re not really acknowledged as socially acceptable in the same way a straight kid hiding “dirty magazines” under the bed would be regarded as totally normal, not to mention all the ads and films and songs that reinforce that kind of behaviour. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about that because next week, i.e. tomorrow, I’m going to start a theme of “the classics” – guys mainly from the late 1980s and early 1990s that were my jerk off fantasies when I was a teenager. I remember the first time I sneaked a peek at Playgirl in a store and how surprised (and aroused) I was when I realized they showed everything. Now, of course, I realize it was mainly “soft” cocks that were not overly erotic, even if then the guys seemed pretty hot. But what better time to correct that, and to undress a few others that never got past shirtless, and see if they still do the job! Maybe for you too.

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I guess it’s pretty clear from my recent group of “classics” that the type of men I prefer fall into the “muscle bear” category – well-built with hair always gets my attention. I have no idea why, any more than I understand why anyone is attracted to anything or anyone. It’s a wonderful mystery, so we might as well enjoy it. On the other hand, I’m not crazy about the standard categories – from bears to twinks – but I guess they serve a useful purpose, as long as they don’t take over our imaginations or restrict us. I’d like to think one could find something attractive in just about anyone, well, maybe not everyone! At least visually speaking. Anyway, all of this because next week I’ll start a series on “Bears and Daddies”, but maybe include a few hirsute men that you might not expect.

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Bent has the “Daily Slap”, and here we have the “Daily Strip” which is a little more adventuresome. But it’s also potentially dangerous territory. If you Google “stripped naked” you basically get two categories, the active one (where someone decides to strip naked for some reason) and the passive one (where someone is forced to become naked, usually as a prelude to humiliation or torture). A pretty big difference. I’m not into S&M or bondage, but I admit to being fascinated by watching an attractive person stripping or being stripped – hence the motivation for this blog I guess. I recall being at Vancouver’s nude beach – which is generally not as sexy an experience as people think it is. In fact, seeing most people nude is boring. But watching someone strip, the fantasy that maybe they’ll look better naked, is far from boring. I remember seeing one group of very straight guys descend on the beach and quickly strip. Only one was worth watching, but it was thrilling to see him take off his clothes. To make the event even more memorable, he ran up to a girl near me, totally naked except for his watch which he asked her to keep safe for him, showing not the slightest embarrassment. Which made him even sexier in my eyes. Of course I would have gladly done much more for him than that, but to him I was invisible. Even the word “stripped” is much sexier than simply “taking off all your clothes”. And it’s much better to indulge in that fantasy here where no one is going to get hurt or embarrassed.

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I’ve never quite understood why I find the image of an attractive guy apparently “tied up” so sexy, when in fact I’m not into S&M. I definitely don’t want to see any ropes or chains, just a hunky body immobilized. Heck, he can just hold his hands behind his back and that’s enough for me! As in the last two postings for instance. That posture often enhances the pecs, so that’s one reason. But I can also see the attraction of hands above the head, or spread out sideways. It flattens the chest, admittedly, but the arms and neck muscles can look good, not to forget those who like the pits showing (I’ve always thought that was a substitute for the pubic region, but whatever). I suppose the basic fantasy is what you could do with a man in that situation. I’ve never had the opportunity in real life, but I’ll settle for the fantasy in the meantime. Actually, all of this seems tame compared to what I learned when a very quiet friend of mine, quite sophisticated intellectually, told me that he and his wife were into BDSM, and proceeded to give me details, and not just about private enjoyments, but groups, and even conferences with demo’s. I kept wondering if his preferences were at all related to what else he told me about thinking he must be gay all through his private school experience. The human psyche can be really amazing. Anyway, check out all the variations in the coming week’s pix.

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With a couple of nice exceptions – thanks – this week’s theme didn’t seem to generate a lot of interest, which I find a bit surprising. Does no one want to admit to sharing these types of fantasies? Anyway, this week we’ll go back to something more mainstream. First I promised you the sexiest picture of Brad Pitt you’ve ever seen (and he’s certainly a favourite for these kinds of fakes), and then I’m going to try something new – show you screencaps of a movie the way I wish it had been shot, i.e. lots of BNM. And since I’m crazy about Paul Telfer, that’s my only hint is that it will involve him. Stay tuned.
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Well, the gladiator movie was a big hit this week, so you’ll get another one next month. As I’ve said before, Hollywood has always trotted out the beef with their Roman and Greek epics, just like the old masters did with their paintings. They all got to show homoerotic images which straight society had to tolerate because they were from “classical” times long ago. I really loved those films as a kid, and so it’s fun to go back to them now and take the genre a step farther. But when I was a teenager in the late 80s and early 90s, I started becoming aware of a generation of hunky TV and film stars, all with lots of hair and great chests, that had become popular in the 70s and early 80s, and still could be seen on re-runs and late movies. I’m thinking of guys like Robert Redford, Tom Selleck, Warren Beatty, Patrick Duffy, Robert Conrad and so on. I guess a psychiatrist would think these were father figures for me, and maybe they were, sort of, but they started defining what a “real man”, or at least a desirable adult one should look like. That type doesn’t seem to be around these days, and looking back now, I still think they were a new kind of sex symbol compared to what came before (maybe with the exception of Marlon Brando in the 50s). Anyway, that’s our theme for this coming week.

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So much for a week of nostalgia for the hunks of the 70s. We’re going to indulge in a different kind of beef this week – musclemen. This is a pretty standard theme in most gay picture sites, and I have to admit I love looking at a well developed male body. Of course they are almost always smooth, but that’s okay. I’ve always found it interesting, though, judging by these sites, that gay men don’t seem interested in actual bodybuilders, such as the ones that compete for titles. I guess there are some exceptions (Frank Sepe comes to mind), but mostly those guys just seem over-developed to the point of being ugly. My skeptical mind suspects that it’s somehow related to keeping bodybuilding all hetero and safe from any homoerotic overtones. Then there’s the nasty little secret about it all being to compensate for a small cock. Well, there’s no lack of musclemen with great equipment, and we’ll just strip a few that don’t seem to want to go all the way to gain our admiration.

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I keep hearing this phrase – “the internet is made for porn” – and I keep wondering why it’s so popular. Of course the porn industry is alive and well and making tons of money on the internet, though not off of me. Maybe people mean that because you access it privately and somewhat anonymously, you can indulge your desires safely. Well, it may be “safe sex” for the user, but not for your computer which can catch a virus really fast. So why do I find it all so boring and predictable? Don’t get me wrong, I like looking at men having sex fine enough, but it always looks the same: the solo (jerking off), the duo (sucking and fucking), and the group orgy (doing all of the above). Endless repetition, all to sell videos I guess. Somehow it all seems tedious and predictable. I remember seeing European sex films in Amsterdam and it was such a relief when they had an actual story line and even some humour, compared to the American ones which were all mechanical. Anyway, I stated at the start of this blog that I don’t regard these pictures of bare naked men as porn, though I admittedly I could show some with more sex involved. Actually, I think the internet is made for exploitation, but maybe we can find something different to do with it.

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Thinking back now on all those TV series that I’ve mentioned this last week makes me wonder where are all the gay positive shows today, now that we’re supposed to be so “acceptable” to mainstream society – except in certain places, of course. What am I missing? Yes, there are some great films, like Brokeback Mountain, but TV seems to have become more of a wasteland than ever before. Why isn’t there a contemporary Tales of the City where we could see real affection between men. Why is it socially acceptable to see movies where men kill, maim and blow each other away as a matter of course, but none where they are allowed to show any real affection or share a kiss? Yeah, I know there are “gay characters” on various shows, but no really sensual relationships between them. There’s been a lot of social progress towards equality, of course, particularly here in Canada, and that’s great, but our desires and relationships still aren’t a part of everyday life, particularly not in the media.

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The World Cup has got to be not just the largest sporting event in the world, as some claim, but also the most homosocial. Where else will you find so many thousands of men spending so much time together in various states of dress and undress with frequent physical contact? Of course officially it’s all straight and super-macho, but I wonder what else is going on. A lot of the sexiness comes from the lack of heavy protective gear like American football, so everyone’s body is much more on display. And the photographers never seem to miss a shirtless shot.

One simplistic observation is that the whole thing has been a duel between the beefy brawn of the northerners, and the seductive sensuality of the southern, Latin countries. I’ve always liked the way Mediterranean men (as well as the Portuguese and Brazilians) are comfortable being physical with each other, even though there’s more homophobia there and less tolerance than in the northern countries, at least publicly. There was a moment in one of Portugal’s games where a teammate landed on the goalkeeper and the two were embracing each other for an amazing length of time. The (northern) commentators made sly comments about such a display of what seemed to be affection, and even played the whole thing in slow motion later, if only in sheer amazement at how two men could be interacting.

I haven’t been a big David Beckham fan, but I have to admit he’s never looked so good, now that he’s got rid of about a dozen hair experiments and finally found one that suits him. But in the England-Ecuador game I was really glad he scored the winning goal, as he’s been so supportive of the gay community in England, and I thought he deserved to win. And so I felt really sorry about the tragic outcome in the game against Portugal, even though I love those sexy southern guys. So, now the final four are three Mediterranean teams and Germany. Who will win out?

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What a dramatic finish to the World Cup on Sunday - Greek tragedy for Zidane at what should have been his moment of triumph - and over-the-top elation for Italy, the team I was rooting for. Like I said a week ago, I really like those Mediterranean teams, and particularly the way they celebrate. I also mentioned how wonderfully physical the men are with each other, and now everyone’s calling this picture a “Brokeback Moment”. It might seem like it, but I’ve seen lots of Italian boys and young men hang off of each other, totally uninhibited, never sexual (at least overtly) and entirely natural. I wish all men could behave like that toward each other - I’m convinced the world would be a better place if they did. So, Viva Italia, for showing us such team spirit and togetherness. They deserved to win in my books.

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Is it just my imagination, or are there a lot fewer free picture sites with nude men these days? Admittedly I don’t surf as much these days, and sites come and go, but I’m not aware of as many as there used to be.

When I first started collecting pictures around 2000, it seemed like there were lots of free sites available. In fact, my policy was never to pay anything, become a member, go through an adult check or give any information about myself. And if there were too many pop-ups or weird ads, I’d just skip the site. It wasn’t too difficult under those conditions to collect a lot of pictures, most of them good quality too, and so after about 5 years I had over 10,000. But most of those sources are gone. One of the best was Reddnat in Brazil, attractively laid out and organized by theme, but it’s gone now I think. It must have been a lot of work to keep it up, and move it from time to time. In fact, the only big one that’s still available is the amazing Hair Trigger site with its comprehensive collection of named furballs.

Of course, I’d love to hear about any suggestions or favourites you have.

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This reminds me of a wonderful guy I met very briefly (no more than 5 minutes) about 10 years ago. The details don’t matter, but I was instantly infatuated with him, and fantasized about him for years after. We couldn’t have exchanged more than a couple of sentences, but everything about him, his looks, his body and his voice, appealed to me immediately, and I always regretted not having said anything that might have connected us longer, like “would you like to get together for dinner?” or “would you like to spend the rest of your life with me?” Given that he drove a car with a license plate from far away, it seemed there was no way I’d ever meet him again, and probably he forgot about me a few minutes later and maybe he wasn’t even gay. And, reality being what it is, if we had got together by some stroke of luck, maybe I would have been turned off. So which is stronger, the idealized memory or the reality? Just like the pictures here, so I guess you know my answer.

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They say you should never discuss politics, religion or sex if you want to avoid controversy and risk losing friends. That’s probably good advice, but here we deal with sexual politics, particularly from a minority perspective. So I’ve been wondering if anyone has ever thought about the tensions that white Americans have with blacks, and Israelis have with Arabs, based on how sexualized Black men and Arab men are.

Gays certainly know about all that, the sexual part I mean. It’s not uncommon on thematic gay picture sites to have sections devoted to Blacks and Arabs, though with the latter, it’s usually a mix of real Arabs with anyone else who is dark and/or furry. But I don’t recall ever seeing a site devoted to sexy Israeli men, though I’m sure there are some (like Eliad Cohen). But compared to how gorgeous young Arab men are, I think they are pretty well outnumbered.

You could probably interpret a lot of the history of American culture as how whites have tried to come to terms with black sexuality. I understand that the terms “jazz” and “rock ‘n roll” originated as black terms for having sex, for instance, and when that music was first introduced, everyone knew it was somehow sexual and dangerous, but then it gradually got assimilated into white culture (and commercially exploited). And from what I’ve heard of Arabic music, it sounds really sensual as well.

Unfortunately the flip side of that sexuality is that Black and Arabic culture is often homophobic, as if all that male beauty and sexuality has to be somehow contained. Anyway, I don’t want to offend anyone with these comments, which are really more like queries (and I’ll delete the post if anyone does take offence), but I’ve been thinking about it a lot with all the middle East conflict, particularly when you see pictures of those sexy Arab men.

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I can hardly believe this blog has been going for six months. In “blog years” that’s a lot. So, 170 posts and nearly 200 original pictures have been posted during those months! For the most part, the response has been enthusiastic, though I expected more feedback comments. However I appreciate the ones I’ve got – and as an artist I’m into quality not quantity, and the quality has been great. So how long can I keep this up – I mean, are there any other blogs out there posting original visual material every day? I obviously don’t have the storehouse I did when I started, but it’s been so much fun creating and sharing these fantasy pictures, I’ll continue as long as I can and you want me to. So, a quick toast to BNM, and on with the show!

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Well, the opera theme didn’t seem to generate a lot of excitement, but I had a ball doing it, and maybe you guys need a little “cultural exposure” from time to time, and if this kind of exposure doesn’t do it for you, I don’t know what will!

So, this week, we’re back to the more popular models, and surely the most popular overall are the Brazilian ones, so we’re going to have a whole week of them, pant, pant. Of course, I’ve stripped quite a few already (Juliano Lopes, Rafael Branciforte, Raphael Laus, Iran Malfitano and my fave, Sebastian Rulli). We’ll come back to a couple of those with some new pix, and add some others.

I’ve often heard gays comment on how many gorgeous Brazilian guys there are, and judging by sites like Made in Brazil, you might indeed wonder if there isn’t anyone there, at least under 30, who isn’t drop dead gorgeous! Well, my quick answer is the mixing of cultures. Whenever I see someone of mixed race (think Tiger Woods) they always seem to get the best of both parents’ qualities – or maybe those are just the ones I’ve noticed. Of course a little semi-tropical environment (as in beaches) doesn’t seem to hurt, but the Latin style does seem to have something to please everyone.

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Why does the internet, which is basically a good thing, have to be corrupted by spammers and scammers? It’s bad enough that I have to deal with spam emails every day that clutter up my in-box, and then there’s the obvious scam artists trying to rob you – I get told I’ve won a lottery twice every day! How can a guy be so lucky!

And now, I’m really pissed because this site has been attacked. I don’t know if you saw the threat of legal action that was made in a comment on Sept. 11 by some cyber-terrorist. Fortunately I’d seen this scam exposed on another site where someone gets you to delete your site and then they take it over for their own purposes, and you can imagine what those are. You can also read my reply, which was basically to get lost.

I regard this site as a contribution to the gay community, even if it’s an unusual one, and I’m not getting any economic benefit from it. So I deeply resent being threatened by some scam artist. The really frightening part of this is that they push gay people’s built-in guilt button that somehow what we do on our blogs is wrong. We can’t give in to such attacks with self-censorship; it’s just another form of homophobia.

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I’ve often thought that the way society treats male and female beauty is strikingly different. As problematic as the concept of female beauty may be, there is no lack of its being acknowledged just about everywhere, and by everyone. On the other hand, male beauty is just as obvious but rarely referred to. Okay, a man may be described as “handsome”, or in a cool manner as “easy on the eyes”, but seldom as beautiful.

Gay men, of course, are the connoisseurs of male beauty – and that really is the theme of this blog – and have no hesitation discussing all types, styles and manifestations of such beauty (or lack of same). But I really think that all men know what we’re talking about, but if they’re straight, they just don’t acknowledge it. Do they really think that if they recognize a man as attractive, then it means they are attracted to him? It’s not the same thing.

What’s most puzzling to me is when straight men know that they themselves are attractive, and probably try to accentuate it. I suspect they also know that they ‘get ahead’ because of their looks, in many subtle ways. They’re also good at sizing up the ‘competition’, but at the same time, they often get uneasy if another man seems to find them attractive. I don’t think you can have it both ways. Being attractive to some members of the opposite sex means being attractive to some members of the same sex – and you’re just plain lucky if it works that way.

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How often have I heard that phrase, “he’s not my type”. Well, I’ve used it too, particularly in deciding who to strip on this blog and who not. As you’ve probably figured out by now, I prefer men with pecs and hair, not twinks or flat-chested guys.

I guess most of us mean that we find a certain “type” of man particularly attractive, presumably based on his build or physique. But I’m often amazed when people say they find someone attractive that I just can’t see at all. And yet, when I think back on the men I’ve had sex with, or even affairs, few of them actually fit my “ideal”. Maybe that’s why I’m single, but I don’t think so. When you get to know someone, they can be a turn-on, even if they don’t look like your “type”. I wonder what would happen if I actually fell in love with one of those “gods” – would I be disappointed, or would he have enormous power over me? Well, in the meantime, it’s easier to keep these ideal guys as jerk-off fantasies.

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I’m always surprised and a bit amused when someone discounts the pictures on this blog as “not real”, so I was quite happy when a response to the recent Kumar picture was just the opposite. The guy said he felt like “believing the picture” because it was better than anything that could be “reality” – just like good art actually.

So that’s my point in doing this blog is that it doesn’t make sense to me to search for something that has no chance of happening in any sort of satisfying way, and the fantasy is as real as anything else you can experience – and maybe even better. Of course I’m not the only one offering something for the gay imagination, but at least it’s offered with fewer strings attached. Thanks to all those who leave comments.

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On the last “reflection” I talked about the fantasy versus the real, with maybe the former being better. I recently discovered that someone had made a request that I remove one of my images (Ian Lawless) – which I was happy to do. The odd thing was that the reason given was that since Ian hadn’t done any nude shots, my version was probably “made up”, which of course everything on this site is. Keep in mind, the picture was very flattering and quite pleasant to look at (I recall David really liking that one). The person making the comment wasn’t Ian himself (I would have apologized if he himself hadn’t liked it), and the only thing I can think of is that it might have been his agent trying to “protect” his image. In the art world we always say, there’s no bad publicity, only no publicity, so maybe a picture like this would make Ian more popular, who knows? And then will Daniel Radcliffe’s agent let him appear in the nude on a London stage but not on a virtual blog? Somehow I don’t think they will object – they’re making too much money off this buzz (and I’m not).

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The first anniversary of this blog quietly passed 10 days ago, and it hardly seems possible that it’s been over a year since the first post on March 1/06. Since then I’ve posted about 300 pictures and had a lot of fun doing so, which it seems many of you shared.

The low point was a pseudo-threat designed to take over the site (which didn’t materialize, thankfully), and the high points have been some of the comments people left. In general, visitors seem most interested in actors and models they know, and lots of names have been suggested. Athletes don’t seem as popular, though I like a lot of them. Some of my favourite pictures are of men I don’t know by name, but whose bodies I find attractive, but these haven’t got too much reaction. And only two pictures were objected to on principle and they have been removed. Most of the other “objections” have been about cock size and state of circumcision, which I hadn’t anticipated. And I’m still puzzled why people either object to a picture being a “fake” (it’s still a picture) or else just don’t get the fantasy.

Chris Evans, Jesse Metcalfe, and Sebastian Rulli seemed to generate the most comments. The opera hunks last September created a buzz in that community, and the World Cup guys also attracted attention. The three Gladiator movies (Spartacus, Hercules, and Hercules & Iolus) got a lot of approval and were the most ambitious creations to date, not to mention guilty pleasures.

So I guess I’ll continue sharing the fantasies. I now get notified by email with each comment, so that means you can comment on older pictures too, as well as make suggestions. And for those of you doing your own fantasies, why not post them on a site and let us know.

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I love it when men get physical with each other in a caring sort of way, and one of the great things about living in Vancouver is that you even see straight guys being freer with each other, at least in some instances. I guess they are the ‘metrosexual’ type, though I don’t really like that label, but if it means they’re not afraid to have physical contact with other men then I’m all for it. Certainly most of my straight friends have no problem giving me hugs. Admittedly I live in the predominantly gay West End area of town, but I’ve seen it elsewhere too. Of course, like all gays, I’ve had hateful slurs thrown at me from men in passing cars. But what would the world be like if all boys were socialized to find physical contact with all of their friends totally normal? A lot more peaceful if nothing else.

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I liked what David said about the Donny Osmond picture, that it was “transgressive”. I guess he was referring to what I was saying in the post about the difference between Donny’s cleancut image, the way he’s portrayed in the media, and his actual sexy body. So to uncover him like that seems transgressive because it shows him closer to what he really is - a hairy hunk.

Actually, anything that expresses a gay sensibility seems transgressive to the mainstream norms – and therefore it’s essential that we make those voices known. Obviously this entire blog is pretty transgressive in that it shows what many of us really desire to see, except that all we usually get is tantalizing glimpses and a kind of denial that male beauty produces a natural sense of attraction. When a parent finds their teenage son’s hidden hetero-erotic magazines, everyone just smiles; why should it be such a crisis if they were homoerotic instead?

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We haven’t had one of these for a long while (reflections I mean) which probably isn’t good. Anyway, I keep getting this message from Google that some readers have contacted them to say they find the content of this blog objectionable. No reasons given of course. Just for the record, I did remove two pictures where reasons were given.

The odd thing is that about the same time as this appeared, there was a comment left that started by objecting to the comment (maybe David’s) responding to my absence being over, “Thank God you’re back”. That someone would single out such a common expression - and take it literally as religiously offensive - is pretty strange, not to mention what the person was doing poking around in the archive of old posts and comments! Of course they went on to refer to the “immoral” activities here so I suppose that was the real objection.

So if this is the American religious right, I guess we can ignore them (they’ve never had any real presence here in Canada). However, I do find it odd that if you really believe that man was made in the Creator’s image, or however the phrase goes, how can you not appreciate the beauty of the men we feature here? Or maybe it’s just the implied sexual attraction for other men that they can’t tolerate. Sounds like homophobia not immorality to me. Fortunately (so far) the blog hosts aren’t getting involved. Thank God - or should I say, Thank Google.

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I’ve always assumed that this homoerotic blog would be of interest to gay men - and your comments support that (big time, usually). But I occasionally wonder if any women get off on gay sites? After all, we feature the hottest men, so why not? Or would they be looking for something different?

I guess if we take the Playgirl approach as being what women want to see - all a bit soft and non-threatening - there’s a difference, but why would women want to be limited to that? Now, I understand that women might not want to see gay sex, but what about the hot solo men? Like the last six I’ve posted, for instance, that are my current hot faves. So, if there any women lurking out there, why not let us know what you think? Or would that upset the guys? Just curious.