The Sunday Newds 8/19/07

• Are No Nudes Good News?: The Economist concludes that nudity used as an instrument to generate publicity has become ineffective.

  The resurgence of nudity is not a sign of a return to a less sinful age but rather the tail end of the crumbling of restrictive social mores since the 1960s. But as public nudity has become more acceptable, its power to surprise and so its usefulness as a catalyst for change has diminished.

• Teacher Leave the Kids Alone: Redwood Middle School in Napa has a dress code that makes IRS instructions look simple by comparison.

  Below is a list of items that students are not allowed to wear at anytime: Red or Blue colors worn as or in conjunction with gang types of clothing, Bandanas or rags, belt buckles with the initials S, N, West Side or BP, clothing with old English style writing, low riders, drama masks, laugh now-cry later, prison insignia, tears, shaved or partially shaved eyebrows, pen or tattoo marks with 3 or 4 dots, hanging belts, the numbers and/or letters 8, 13, 14, X4, 18, 69, 80, 81, 88, 311, 420, 707, SS, SUR, 187, X3, XIV, XIII.

• The Naked Appeal of Our Human Imperfection: A writer for Independent News sees a naked comedy show in Edinburgh and experiences a sort of epiphany.

  Given a choice between spending time with a woman (or man) who is physically flawless, and therefore intimidating, or with a person who has a sense of humour about themselves, I know which one I would pick. It has been an enormous relief and an inspiration to meet the naked comics who can laugh at how unfair life is.

• Nearly Bare: Only the assistant manager of a Canadian store went fully naked under her apron in a protest demonstration against the wastefulness of over-packaged products.
• Open Up That Golden Gate: Mayoral hopeful George Davis is running on only one issue: to make Golden Gate Park clothing-optional.
• The Way We Live?: The Sunday Times has a new feature designed to help women cope with everyday life, but instead the writers add angst to what should be easy and natural pleasures, such as going to the beach.

  Unless you’ve paid for them or they’re naturally pert, don’t go topless. Leave something to the imagination...Aim to stride seductively through the waves. Pull in your stomach, hold your head up high, and think gymkhana as you pick up your feet, lift your knees and step over the waves. Don’t try and push through them, as you’ll lose your balance and fall flat. If you don’t have massive breasts, you could try this at a light trot.

• Cold As Ice: Hundreds of naked people posed on a disappearing Swiss glacier for photographer Spencer Tunick at a Greenpeace sponsored event to raise awareness about global warming. Here is a link to some photos.
• Back to the Garden: The BBC has a nice profile of naked gardeners Ian and Barbara Pollard.
• Sign of the Times: Government funding was halted for Japan's "Naked Sign Language News" but a Tokyo TV company will carry on with the show.
• Nude at a Funeral: Actor Alan Tudyk spends most of his onscreen time naked in the new movie "Death at a Funeral".

  He had never done a nude scene on the big screen, but one of his "Funeral" costars, Rupert Graves, was no stranger to baring it all for the cinema. "He said, 'Don't worry about it, Alan. The first 10 minutes you are very uncomfortable, and then after that it's like, why isn't everybody naked? It's the most natural thing.' "

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