Bare Naked Nudity

A number of news stories in recent days have a common thread -- even if they lack "threads" in the street patois sense.

First came this Daily Telegraph report on July 2, about an interesting experiment in building up office morale:

David Taylor, a business psychologist, told workers at design and marketing onebestway, in Newcastle upon Tyne, that a Naked Friday idea would boost their team spirit.

He was called in to help the firm after six staff members were forced into taking redundancies at the start of the credit crunch.

Mr Taylor told them that, by stripping off their clothes, staff could also strip away inhibitions and talk to each other more openly and honestly.

He said: "Inviting an organisation to go naked is the most extreme technique I've used. It may seem weird but it works. It's the ultimate expression of trust in yourself and each other."

Despite some initial reluctance, nearly all the staff took off all their clothes – except for one man, who wore a posing pouch, and one of two female workers, who kept on black underwear.

The Telegraph article notes, almost as an aside:

The experiment in April was filmed for a one-off TV show, Naked Office, to be screened on July 9 on cable channel Virgin 1.

I don't think many American cable systems carry Virgin 1, but I expect some clamor for it from television consumers in the near future.

Five days later, this story from the Connecticut Post earned international attention:

A 41-year-old man was arrested after appearing for a dental appointment without a lick of clothing, police said.

Christopher Hoff, of Masarik Avenue, was naked -- and five days late -- when he showed up for a Monday appointment at Optimus Dental on Honeyspot Road. He was charged with two counts of disorderly conduct and one count each of public indecency and failure to comply with fingerprinting. He is being held in lieu of $10,000 bond.

When Hoff entered the dental office completely naked Monday afternoon, the startled female receptionist began screaming, police said. He ran from the office, police said, onto Honeyspot Road.

"Honeyspot Road"? Really?

Meanwhile, the story that's being reported all over the place today is about multiple attempts around the country to break the Guinness-confirmed world record for the most people skinny-dipping simultaneously.

In Ivor, Virginia, we learn that as part of a recruitment effort, White Tail Resort (that's almost as precious a name as Honeyspot Road) will try to break the record:

As part of the weekend's events, the resort will be participating in an attempt to make the Guinness Book of World Records as part of the nation's largest simultaneous skinny-dip at 3 p.m. Saturday, and on Sunday there will be a display of antique and customized cars.

For more information, call 1-800-987-6833.

From Palm Springs, California:

The Desert Sun Resort at 1533 N. Chaparral Road expects “hundreds of nude people” in its three pools at noon Saturday, said resort owner Elizabeth Young.

Thousands of other naked people across North America will take the plunge at the same time, she said.

There is no doubt a skinny-dipping record will be set because Guinness just created the category, Young said.

From Cleveland, Georgia:

North Georgia nudists Saturday gathered to set a Guinness World Record for the Largest Skinny-Dip in North America.

Serendipity Park, an American Association for Nude Recreation Club site near Cleveland, was the location of the local observance of a national effort to set the record according to park spokesman Chuck Ray.

“All the AANR clubs are getting together and exactly at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time we’re going to have the largest skinny dipping nation wide,” Ray said. “We’ve been planning this for several months now.”

Jerry Gunn, writing for AccessNorthGa.com, includes a photo of the event and explains the rules:

In order to qualify for the Guinness record, the skinny dippers had to be exactly that, completely nude when counted, but there was a concession for bashful first timers.

Participants not used to skinny-dipping in public were allowed to wear swimsuits into the water but had to remove the swimsuit once in the water and hold it overhead to signal the witnesses.

And in Maryland, courtesy of WBAL-AM radio:

There are two sites in the Baltimore Area where the skinny dipping will take place.

Walter Green is organizing an event at a private club North of Baltimore. Green told WBAL's Shari Elliker that the location is kept private because people have misconceptions about these events, and he wants to protect the site's reputation.

Green says the skinny dip will be preceded by a picnic at 1 p.m. Green said that he isn't sure how many people will attend. He is hoping for 50-100 people.

"I don't have a specific number in mind, just as long as everyone has fun," Green said.

Members of the Maryland Health Society will also participate from their location, at 3000 Patuxent River Road in Davidsonville.

The association on its website bills this as a family event, and as a way to celebrate,"a wholesome tradition as old as mankind and frequently honored in art and movies."

I just can't make this stuff up.

There really is a "Honeyspot Road" in Stratford, Connecticut. You can look it up.



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Virginian Francis Collins to Head NIH

During graduation season, I wrote an article that included a report about Dr. Francis Collins as the commencement speaker at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Collins has now been nominated to be the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by President Barack Obama.

Gardiner Harris reports in the New York Times:

President Obama on Wednesday nominated Dr. Francis S. Collins, a pioneering geneticist who led the government’s successful effort to sequence the human genome, as head of the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Collins’s selection, which had been rumored for weeks, was praised by top scientists and research advocacy organizations for whom the health institute is a crucial patron.

Based in Bethesda, Md., the N.I.H. is the most important source of research money in the world; over the next 14 months it will dole out about $37 billion in research grants and spend $4 billion on research programs at its Maryland campus.

“Francis Collins is an extraordinary scientist and one of the nicest guys you could ever meet,” said Dr. Otis W. Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

Gardiner notes, however, that despite expectations that Collins will face an easy confirmation by the U.S. Senate, there is some minor controversy that accompanies his nomination. One aspect concerns his management of the human genome project, while another is "unease" about Collins' evangelical Christian religious beliefs.

As a commencement speaker at VCU, Collins showed himself to be affable as well as brainy. He entertained the graduates and their family and friends with a parody rendition of "My Way," accompanying himself on the guitar.

His musical talents are mentioned in the New York Times story:

Dr. Collins earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Yale University and a medical degree from the University of North Carolina. He likes to sing and play a guitar decorated with a double helix, the shape of genetic code.

(The article does not mention Collins' undergraduate education at the University of Virginia. Collins is a Shenandoah Valley native.)

Here, in three parts (the third part featuring the humorous musical climax) is Francis Collins' commencement speech at VCU on May 16.

Part I:



Part II:



Part III:

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Definitely Not a Libertarian

I visited C-VILLE, a Charlottesville weekly newspaper, in my previous post, and I find myself in its pages again.

Speaking about a new law that took effect this month (prohibiting texting on cell phones while driving), a spokesman for AAA says:

“certainly any law is better than no law.”

You'll never hear that statement slip through the lips of a libertarian.

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Creigh Deeds, Millionaire Philanthropist?

Is Democratic gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds a secret millionaire?

A comment by one of his campaign spokespeople in a Charlottesville newsweekly suggests that this may be the case.

In an article by Caitlin Speaker on how the election of a new governor might affect the University of Virginia we find this statement:

Deeds, meanwhile, stands by his existing record of University support, says Deeds spokesperson Jared Leopold. “He has already invested millions in higher ed and it’s something UVA has seen,” Leopold says. “He has a particular affinity for the University.”

Now, a look at Deeds' personal finance reports (something required of candidates for public office and elected officials) indicates that he is a man of modest means. There is no suggestion that he has the wherewithal to invest "millions" in higher education.

Does Deeds have a hidden source of wealth that he, in turn, pumps into college and university budgets?

I already anticipate the comment that Jared Leopold meant that Deeds, as a member of the General Assembly, supported or introduced legislation to appropriate tax dollars to higher education projects.

But that is not what Leopold said. He did not say that Deeds "took other people's money and reallocated it to education programs that he personally favored."

No, Leopold said "he" (meaning Creigh Deeds as an individual) "invested millions in higher ed."

The only conclusion one can draw from this plain language is that Creigh Deeds is a multimillionaire philanthropist who has kept his generous eleemosynary activities under wraps for many years.



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Celebrating the Fourth of July

In honor of Independence Day, I have collected various versions of our national anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner" (lyrics by Francis Scott Key, set to the old English drinking song, "To Anacreon in Heaven"), which I have recorded over the past couple of years.

First is one of the most recent, from the 2009 Republican Party of Virginia's state convention on May 30. Here are the Hullabahoos, an all-male a capella group from the University of Virginia, singing the national anthem at the Richmond Coliseum:

From about two weeks earlier than that, the next video was made at the 2009 commencement exercises at Virginia Commonwealth University (also at the Richmond Coliseum). The national anthem, sung by J. Chase Peak, is preceded by "Pomp and Circumstance."

Last September, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin appeared at a campaign rally in Richmond. (She was then the vice-presidential running mate of Senator John McCain.) Governor Palin introduced Hank Williams, Jr., who -- even though he neither grabbed his crotch nor spit on the ground -- gave the worst rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" since Roseanne.

A much better presentation of the national anthem was heard on Constitution Day (September 17, 2008) at Montpelier, the home of James Madison in Orange County, Virginia. Here "The Star Spangled Banner" is performed by opera singer Eric Greene, who is introduced by television journalist Jim Lehrer.

On Labor Day 2008, at the annual Buena Vista parade and political rally, Miss Virginia (Tara Wheeler) opened the speechifying with the national anthem:

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Canada Day!

Let's take a few moments to wish our friends to the north a happy Canada Day.

It was on this day in 1867 that a brave band of Canadians ventured into the deepest, densest, darkest, most treacherous section of London, seeing to it that a bill passed the British Parliament to grant the provinces of North America a measure of autonomy. A hard-fought semi-independence, indeed!

In honor of the holiday, I have selected a few video clips for entertainment purposes only.

First, from Rose-Marie, Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald sing "Indian Love Call":

Next, Natalie Nevins performs the Big Band classic, "Canadian Sunset," on a 1966 episode of The Lawrence Welk Show. Ah-one, ah-two:

Third, Bob and Doug MacKenzie celebrate in the Great White North fashion(with beer):

Finally, Alanis Morrisette sings the Canadian national anthem, "O Canada," at -- naturally -- a Stanley Cup hockey match, in both English and French:

Célébrez, mes amis!


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A Sense of Priorities?

From a news release distributed by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, noting that the post-election protests in Iran had dominated the news early last week before the Mark Sanford story and the death of Michael Jackson began to fill the headlines and airwaves:

From the time it was announced Jackson had died through the end of the day Friday—a little more than 28 hours—60% of the news coverage studied across 55 different news outlets was devoted to Jackson’s death. And that does not include the broadcast network prime time specials devoted to the singer’s demise—two of them for two hours Thursday night and one for a single—the extra hours of morning news and more.

All media sectors covered Jackson heavily, but it was cable news channels that led the way. Fully 93% of cable coverage studied on the Thursday and Friday following his death was about the King of Pop. On the front pages of Friday morning newspapers, 37% of their coverage was Jackson-related compared to 55% of the leading online coverage.

If anyone needed proof of how much the media culture has changed it might be this. When Elvis Presley died in 1977, CBS News was criticized for choosing not to lead its newscast with it.

By comparison, the story about legislation that will most seriously affect the daily lives of American citizens was virtually ignored:

Breaking late in the week, Friday, the House passage of historic legislation to impose limits on global warming received relatively marginal coverage, roughly 2%.

I'm not sure if this misplaced sense of priorities reflects more badly on the news media or on news consumers, the American people.

H/T: TVNewser.

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