The Weekend Newds 11/7/08

• A Polish court fined two women for sunbathing topfree.

  "Showing nudity goes beyond social customs and norms in Poland," read part of the verdict issued by a court in Szczecin, northwest Poland. "Personal freedom ends where the freedom of another person begins."

• A visit to Croatia's southern islands was shocking for one travel journalist.

  Five minutes into my book I realized others had discovered my rocky shore and planted themselves on the rocks. I almost had a heart attack when I realized they were all naked! I had stumbled upon the “nudists” islet. Not that there is anything wrong with hanging on the beach in your birthday suit, but this certainly was not for me. I quickly gathered up my belongings and headed straight back to the dock to catch the next taxi-boat. Why didn’t the taxi-boat driver say anything as I left the boat? They just let me wander onto the naked island! I waited three hours for the next boat without lifting my eyes.

• This video of Wellington's Boobs on Bikes parade shows what a big yawn the whole event really was.
• Does the mention of Oxford University evoke visions of students in tweed studying Milton? Then you might be surprised to learn about the school's Gender Equality Week which featured topless girls wrestling covered in KY jelly.
• Closet nudism is alive and well. 76% of South Australia residents admit to stripping off and walking around in the nude.
• The annual naked bike ride at the University of Vermont could be banned because of "the behavior of those attending the event as spectators".
• A woman was found not guilty of indecent exposure for jumping naked into Moosehead Lake in Maine because it could not be proven that she exposed her genitals. Two of her male friends who joined her in the plunge were not as fortunate because apparently their genitals were slightly more visible to the people who filed the original complaint.
• Some star performers of the Royal Opera House have posed nude for a charity calendar.
• An Australian woman was fined for mooning, apparently because of her age.

  Magistrate George Wilkie told (Lucinda) Dimond: "I'd have thought you are a bit past this behaviour at your age," before fining her $400.

• A dozen Canadian high school cheerleaders stripped down to bootie shorts and strategically placed tape and paint and ran out onto the field during a football game. The girls were not punished, but they have apologized and promised that next year's routine would portray a more wholesome image.
• A politician in the UK has quit her position as councillor because her colleagues could not take her seriously. Myrna Bushell runs a phone sex business and acts as a "kissogram, strippergram and stripper entertainer".
• Tasmanians think that a proposed nude statue is the devil.
• Naturists have noted the passing of Rev. Bernice Gerard, whose 1977 march against nudity actually had the opposite effect and put Wreck Beach on the map.
• Travelmeister Rick Steves writes about American prudes and European nudes.

  It's long been a frustration for me as a guide — the difficulty of getting Americans into spas with naked Europeans. My first time was with my wife and some German friends — a classy, good-looking young couple. We were swept into the changing area with no explanation. Suddenly they were naked and I felt like the Road Runner just beyond the cliff's edge. Then — we eased up, and got naked. It's not sexy ... simply open and free.

• Kapiti Coast officials have received written submissions and petitions from nearly 1400 people opposing nudity on the district's beaches.
• The 12 runners who were ticketed at Boulder's recent Naked Pumpkin Run could face registering as sex offenders.
• Halle Berry admires the confidence of another actress.

  "Kate Winslet is always naked, sitting on a toilet, running buck-naked. She's free. I want to be the kind of actress who can really be comfortable with my body like that," she tells Elle Magazine.

• Amy Green is planning to row 3500 miles across the Indian Ocean - naked. She and her team leave in 162 days, and you will be able to follow their progress here.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked