Tuesday, July 24, 2007

(more) naked cycling

let me preface this by saying i am NOT a nudist aficionado, nor do i condone the concept of public nudity.

i just find it funny.

especially when there are people running (er...riding) around naked who have no business being naked.

i posted an article about a month ago on cyclists around the world going nude (reference: naked cycling). that was in honor of June 9, which was the annual World Naked Bike Ride Day, and took place in cities as diverse as London, Barcelona, Vienna, La Paz, Rio de Janeiro (no surprise), Tokyo (?!?!), Sydney (aussie aussie aussie!!!), Auckland, Portland, and San Francisco (of course...dude, was there ever any doubt?). the event was meant to protest the reliance on fossil fuels, the human rights violations associated with petroleum production, and the lack of bicycle riding around the world.

weeelllllllllllllllll...

it appears that some people in the world have taken the concept (if not the cause) to heart, in ways quite possibly not intended (note: there are pictures accompanying some of the below links):
hmmmmmmmm...

okay. i have to say i have some issues with this. i know it was hot, and i know it was summer, and i know there's some cultural reasons for this and all, but...

dude...duuuuude...duuuuuuuuude...way. over. the. line.

i mean, i know we're all human and just creatures of the planet earth, but seriously, come on, do we really need to throw visions of putrid corpulescent flabby wobbly jiggly tires of lard and cellulite--never mind genitalia and the accompanying gluteus maximi--at each other? apparently some people believe we do.

yeah, i know what you're thinking: what's the difference between this and World Naked Bike Ride Day?

here's how i see the difference: World Naked Bike Ride Day was a public protest, and the nudity on bicycles then was meant to get attention for a cause related to the act. in contrast, this...well, this, was just gratuitous.

i should note that the people who got arrested on World Naked Bike Ride Day were largely (depending on the country) allowed to go (i.e., they were released by the authorities) with very little punishment--in Portland, for example, they weren't even fined and a follow-up court hearing ruled them innocent of any malfeasance. here, however, these tourists were apparently issued punishment (although...it is relatively recent, and i suspect that because they are tourists--and because nudity isn't that big a deal on the list of the world's concerns--their violations may be downgraded at a subsequent date).

still, i think we can summarize all this in 1 of 2 useful words: ewwwwwwwwwwwwww. gross!

2 comments:

bari said...

Ok, yesterday you scared me with your shark tales, but today you made me laugh (a lot). And yeah, it's pretty gross.

jonathan starlight said...

thanks for the comments!

yeah, a little humor always helps.