And Now for Some Gratuitous Nudity

This story in the Record-Searchlight caught my eye this morning and I wanted to share.

First, some background . . . do you remember the movie "Calendar Girls" from 2004?* According to the stringent research I conducted for, like, 10-12 minutes, in 1999 a group of women of Yorkshire, England, created a calendar featuring artfully-posed photos of themselves naked as jaybirds.

 


This guy is naked as the day he was hatched.  (Illustration stolen from this site)

The fundraiser for leukemia research was a huge success despite the fact (actually because of the fact) that none of the women fit the contemporary ideal of a pin-up girl. The bravery and good humor of the women appealed to tens of thousands of people enough that they willingly pried open their wallets to buy.

 
 

(Photo stolen from these guys)

Well, apparently the little mountain town of Weaverville has a group of merchants (both men and women) trying the same approach. It's hard enough being a merchant without having all of your customers drive down the hill to a bigger town to shop, so I think these people are used to taking extreme steps to keep people's attention.

Like, getting naked, apparently.

(Photo stolen from the Trinity County Visitor's Guide site)

The best part of all of this is that it is
a fundraiser.
You guessed that, right? Well, it is. Weaverville was dealt a devastating blow September 12th when the Trinity River Lumber mill burned, and wiped out a significant source of revenue for the area. You can read about recovery efforts here because my 12 minutes of research time are up. Buying a calendar will help these people financially in a very tough time, plus, you get a naked calendar. Win-win.

I'm calling them to get a calendar for my office wall. Remind me to post a photo of it when it gets here. Who's with me?



*I haven't seen the movie, nor do I have any connection to the town of Weaverville, California, other than driving through it when heading to the redwoods.

Comments

[Jason]

This is awesome. I love gratuitous nudity. No matter how old. Especially when its for a good cause.

[Meg]

That is awesome.

[MommyTime]

This calendar is hilarious.

And, not apropos for this post, but on the fleas: I had a friend whose house had such awful fleas once that you could actually see them jumping up out of the carpet and onto your ankles as you dashed across the floor to get out the door. So I sympathize with the bite problems, and I hope your flea bombing has worked.

[baronessvonb]

I am SO not eating any food from that counter.

Maybe a portion of the fundraising can go enrolling some of the merchants into a FoodSafe program...

[Audubon Ron]

Oooh, warn me next time, I'm eating breakfast.

[Suz Broughton]

I did see the movie a few weeks ago, so funny!
I like the idea of helping out, even though I just bought a kitten calendar, I will order one too.

[momx2]

Well, maybe you could just let me know how the calendar looks. I'm not sure I really need to see it, I'll take your word for it ;)

[Bob Cleveland]

I call those "peek-a-boo" calendars. Peek, then boo.

:)

[Bob Cleveland]

Well if the Jaybird is in fact nekkid, have you ever seen one with CLOTHES ON? Huh? HUH?

My daddy told me that those girls in the pictures in his bottom desk drawer under last year's phone book.. that those feathers WERE their clothes, but mommy never wore any like that.

I think the birdie is nicely dressed. Much more than those girls.

[Kathi D]

I wish they would make one with optional stick-on clothing.

[Chesapeake Bay Woman]

Awesome. I love gratuitous nudity, especially when it's for a worthy cause.

[foolery]

You do rock, Miss Marcy -- you know that, right? Im making MY call at lunch (because, you know, I do work, I hear). Thanks.  : )

[The Glamorous Life Association]

Um, I don't think I actually want to SEE the calendar. But I think I will contact them to see if I can make a donation. With my eyes closed.