Why Do We Wear Clothes? – YouTube

Why Do We Wear Clothes? – YouTube. this guy gives a really unique take on why clothes are invented by humans and no other species.

there is the usual reasons for clothes, to protect against the cold, the sun, etc. that alone is a good reason for clothes.

he did not mention clothing can give authority and status , a form of camouflage,so it is useful for a social animal like us to allow us to regulate society so that people can live together in harmony. it is part of the social evolution of humans and i think it plays a part in  the whole evolution of social  rules and laws.

i would think fashion is  another form of expression, or camouflage for status as well as a form of group cohesion and identity.

people might say but what about primitive societies, they have no clothes… but they have tattoos, and penis gourds whose length can act as status indicators.

nudists may not like his explanation, or for that matter, that clothes exists, but the fact that clothes have persisted suggests that it is a very crucial construct amongst us humans. it means that nudists will never convert humans back to nakedness.

i like the naked lifestyle myself, but even i can see it has its drawbacks especially for us who live in cold climates.

the author suggests that embarrassment and shame are social constructs to guide how people behave so that they can live together as a society.

naked exhibition

London

3.1.12 thursday
First naked event of this new year that I have attended came today, at the opening of an art exhibition of naked art, and we were naked as well. There was wine, and snacks, and socialising.

One performance art was happening which I did not realise was until later on . I saw a pile of bricks in the middle of the room, and some people were looking at it. I moved on to the next room thinking nothing of it.

Much later, I went into that room and I could see toes peeping out of the bricks. My first thought was that those are real realistic toes, and was reminded of this man who make giant figures of people using a substance that was very life like. The effect of the bricks and feet makes it appear there was a model underneath it. Suddenly I noticed the bricks in the middle of the pile were moving up and down and I thought they have an inflatable model under there.

And I exclaimed ‘it looks so real‘. I thought it was a cock that was inflated and deflated to appear erect that caused the bricks to move up and down.

They told me it was a real person underneath those bricks, and when I looked I saw a pair of dark eyes looking out at the top end, and blinking. It was a real naked woman underneath those bricks and her breathing moved the bricks.

Wow, this is real dedication. To suffer for art, because the floor was cold, and the bricks must be cold and weigh a ton.

And the poor girl was under there for the whole duration of the viewing. And for all I know beyond the 2hrs for the event, because I left just before it ended at 8pm.

It was fun being naked and looking at the naked art. Though there were not many male nudes paintings unfortunately. Lots of naked female nudes. But the guests at that function made up for it as majority of us naked there were males.

The art exhibition continues tomorrow with another after hours gathering presumably for the clothed guests. As an exercise to get people to come and buy the art, I think it was unsuccessful, as most of us were there because we just liked being naked rather than interested as buyers of artwork.

U might think being naked and liking to be naked, we collectively would be a strong market for those wanting to sell naked art. But you will be wrong. it is not so. We like the doing of naked, not the buying of it.

We don’t want to own anything. At least that is how I see it.

Being naked is one of the cheapest if not the cheapest pastime u can indulge in. no clothes to buy, and only heating to pay and even then, most of us sidestep that one too.

I met this guy who remembered me and said we met at the naked walk in the thames estuary last year. He was the guy who told me that he don’t put the heating on in winter. I told him that I still have not need to put my heating on so far, and I have good hopes not ever.

He said he lives outside London so it was colder.

And I met the guy who first let me know of this event, by posting it to the naked bike ride yahoo group. He goes to the naked bike rides.

And I came back and read an email from a friend who said he is having a naked party on 19jan. So that is another naked event to look forward to.

all kinds of random thoughts

London

17.12.12 Monday.

Went to Brixton to the 99p store today to try to find socks for 99p. But there are none to be had. I may have to go to Bournemouth to the 99p stores there to get them. Or wait till the new year sales at primark.

Whilst I was at the 99p shop I bought Johnson’s baby oil 200mg. I have run out of baby oil. Very useful to moisturise the skin after a shower.

There is no rush as socks are something that have no urgency. Haha.

Seeing I was in Brixton, I went to the market to buy ginger and garlic.

Here in uk, the shops put out plastic bowls where they fill it with fruits, etc to sell all for £1 each.
I saw a shop selling quite a large amount of ginger in the £1 container outside the store. Must be quite the biggest amount I have seen.

The ginger was not only huge but there were two big bunch of them. So I bought it. And they are not old either which usually they are when they are put out like that in the containers to be sold at £1.

The shop which I usually go to, where the owner gives me a 10% discount is manned by a young guy this morning when I went there. He did not seem interested in my custom. So I figured I wont be able to get him to give me any discounts.

So I went elsewhere to buy the garlic. I bought 5 small bulbs for 69p at another store. Yet, his store was selling 7 bulbs of garlic for the same price. I know I should have bought from him, but it just goes to show how an uninterested shopkeeper can influence your decision to buy from him or not.

Then I stop by a store where I know they sell 6 onions for 50p. Quite cheaper than in the supermarkets for sure. There was no price notice and I would not have known about it. Except last time I visited I saw a woman gave him 50p for them, and that made me realise they are quite a good price. So I go there to get my onions now. Haha.

U might well say stop boring us with these prices of ordinary foodstuffs. I know it is boring if u don’t live here(in London or uk), or even if u do haha. But I like talking about it. Haha.

Most people talk of frugality, but not mention much about the small transactions like these, 50p here, £1 there may not sound like a lot, but they mount up.

But the most important thing they do is to tune your mindset to a less expensive mode.

For eg, if u are used to buying stuff at £5 or so, anything less and u think is a bargain. for me who buy things at £1 or less, only 20-50p will be a bargain.

That is why when I went to primark and saw their £5 packs of socks, my initial reaction was ‘that is cheap’ until I realise that it comes to £1 a pair of socks. That is not cheap. Remember these are run of the mill socks. And not even pure cotton either.

I think I can easily expect them to be reduced come the boxing day sales. I read that the tube is going on strike on boxing day. Hmm, might it be less crowded and so be worth going there on that day?? I might go there by bus in the morning and see what I can find. Might escape the big crush later on in the day.

And as they say, take care of the pennies, and the £ will take care of itself.

(added. Google provides an app called Finance41 f41 (finance-for-one, geddit?) and I have been using it to track my outgoings. It is the middle of the month and already I have spent £27 and it is from buying small items. Only two items are about £3 . One on pork2.8kg, the other on frozen fish1kg.

I know my expenses are very small, but I can see it is the little bits of 50p , £1 that mounts up. My usual spend a month is about £50-£60. It was half in the past, when I was less spendthrift, haha. I have loosened up a bit these days.)

I forgot to look out for a plumber’s plunger, to unblock my kitchen sink. For some reason, the cold spell had caused a blockage.

I have a plunger but the rubber tip is eroding and melting. It must be about 20yrs old. I like to make things last and really use them till their last dying breath. Haha.

I think there are no plungers to be sold in Brixton area. I have to go to balham and the hardware stores there. I saw plungers for sale there the last time I visited the area. Cant remember how much they cost.

Added 10pm. I got back from the supermarket having gone there hoping to find 10p bread. Well, I was lucky. When I arrive, the bread were there, by the entrance, and they must have been hauled there only recently, as there were plenty of hovis wholemeal multi seeded bread800mg for 10p each. So I bought 3.

It being Monday, the usual hordes of shoppers like me were not around so that might account for me being able to get these multiseeded bread.

 

There were lots of white bread, wholemeal own brand bread, etc too. Sometimes I buy Warburton’s white bread. simon likes them.

My freezer is not very big, so I cannot really stock up with a lot of bread as they take up so much room.

 

Added. Read this ,

http://www.thelocal.fr/page/view/nudists-fined-for-being-naked-on-famous-naturist-island#.UNCLyuRg_QM

I have been there years ago, mid 90s, and did wonder than why they have this peculiar law that insists that the centre of the town is not nudist. So we had this strange situation when we walk to the centre of town naked, and once there have to put on a slip of clothing. In an island that is supposed to be a naturist place.

I thought that part of ile du levant have been bought from the army which occupies the rest of the island and made into a naturist place and so is private land. But it seems the town centre is subject to French laws.

Why now have it come to arrests? those nudists have been arrested for being nude there Usually people observe the law, esp the locals who live and work there.

The local shopkeeper was fined for being naked in the terrace of his shop. And a local refused to cover up when told to.

So many places that are naked have been subjected to this sort of harrassment. In the past the law was usually unenforced. Now there seem to be some people who deliberately go there to enforce the law and make naked people forced to get dressed. It seems to be a sign of the increasing intolerance of nudity that seem to be the trend these days.

some thoughts

London

A guy says he is bisexual. Another said even so, u still have a preference. It is like a chap who said he is an independent voter, he will have a preference party that he more often than not votes for.

I wonder if someone who says he is bisexual is really tending towards being gay but is not willing to say so. Saying bisexual is a half way point to finally acknowledging he is gay.

This is because if u are straight, u don’t need to say u are anything else. But if u are gay, It is such a stigma to be gay, even nowadays, u want to step into a half way house first.

Have you notice this… that if u are gay and u sleep once with a woman , nobody accuses u of being straight, but  if u are straight and sleep with a guy once  and boy will they be branding u gay.

In an ideal world, we will not be labelling each other, but than maybe the way we are made makes us have to label things, that is how we as a species have survived. We label something as good or bad for us, for eg, good to eat or dangerous to eat, or dangerous to go there, or not… labelling makes us avoid dangerous situations. It is a a short hand to let us make sense of the world and the environment and each other so we can suss a person out immediately in terms of whether they are enemies or friends.

Anyone different from us will by definition be an enemy. In the past this would make u stay alive or not.

Now of course we all live in a society and no one goes killing another for food or territory or females to mate. So labelling is not so useful anymore but u cannot expect us to ditch all those evolutionary traits that have served us well for 1000s of years of evolution just like that.

http://cheezburger.com/6819257344

This one is regarding steve gough , the naked rambler. It seems the police don’t want to keep him locked up but he insists on being naked and Scottish law for some reason do not want people going naked. He has shown them up to be upholding a foolish law. People say steve is stubborn, but I think he is showing that a foolish law is a foolish law and a throwback to the olden days and it is high time Scotland acknowledge this and remove this willingness to make nakedness a contempt of court or breach of the peace. Which is the two laws used to jail him.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19625542

This one is saying London is costly to live in. if u are a visitor , it is… because u have to live in a hotel, and accommodation esp short term ones are expensive. And also being a visitor u only go to the touristy places that sell overpriced goods and eat at touristy restaurants. So of course u will find it expensive.

I think also people read of these surveys done by companies and magazines that cater to the businessman to let them compare cost of living in various cities and because these guys go to high end restaurants and stay at high end hotels, and take taxis, and so on, it is not surprising they give an impression that London is expensive.

Take it from me. I am a Londoner and it is very cheap for me to live here. It is cheaper to move around and get things here in London than for my friends living in the small towns and villages. For one thing, public transport for them is scarce, so they have to shop locally and it is not cheap to shop local as they are like captive shoppers and the businesses near them know it. It may be they are small shops and so their costs are high relative to the bulk buying that big nationwide retailers can command. But whatever the reason it is not cheap. Whilst I can get very much reduced prices for food at the end of the day in the supermarkets in London. Even the normal prices for meat etc are lower than in the villages.

With public transport so scarce, and expensive, people need the car. And we all know it is expensive to keep a car. And it is colder in the country, so they have to put on their heating. Whilst for me in London, it seldom gets that cold, and I have not have to put on my heating for 4yrs or so now.

Also , people tend to live in flats in London and the heat between flats helps keep them warm. In the country the houses are old and separate and so harder to keep warm.

The whole city has a warming effect. The buildings retain their heat and radiate it out at night. Cities are like heat sinks.

Also so many things are thrown out that u can furnish a flat using stuff u pick up in recycling bins for free. I have yet to see such a thing happening in the country villages and small towns.

http://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/london-costs-but-thats-a-small-price-to-pay-8371619.html

I have been browsing the gay blogs in wordpress and I find them rather sad. Are there no happy gay guys anywhere? Gay guys who love their lives?
I love being gay and my life is wonderful. And I am not rich. Surely there must be tons of others like me, but maybe a happy life is not very pluggable nor is it fun to write about. After all who wants to read of someone who is happy. It just makes you feel awful when u compare it with your life. Most people are not happy.

Still, I do wish there are more happy gay guys blogging about it rather than the gay section full of rather sad gay people or always writing about the bad things that happen.

Sad is more entertaining to read , it seems. Well it must be so otherwise why do we have such sad blogs talking of sad things? Whether they are gay or straight sad and bad seem to get a lot more press. I don’t know why…

I find it saddening to read sad things, and I avoid them, but I guess humans being being what they are, it makes people glad to read that others are worst off than they are.

Someone in a broadcast says it is a human trait to compare your situation with others, so if u say for eg, trains are 89% on time, or some such figure, people are not happy , but if u say trains in uk are generally more punctual than trains in germany, u will find a lot of people will brighten up at that. He says people in uk are always happier if there is anything here that is better than germany. Haha.

Is that so?

He said, now that the trains have put up notices
saying when the next train is coming, people are much happier about it than before when they don’t know when the next train is due.

Though I find people get angry again if the sign is wrong, and their 7min train stretches to 10mins or more with the last minute taking ages to change.

It is true I for one prefer this notice of when the next train or bus is due. I think It is because then it gives us the option to catch another train or bus instead or go and do something else first.

He was talking about changing your perception to make yourself happy or sad . A very useful strategy to make yourself happy.

In that broadcast he also said why pensioners feel happier than young unemployed. Both are jobless.

I think that is obvious, because old people have already lived their lives and have done and seen all they want to. Whilst young people are just setting out on their lives and want to see and experience everything and lack of money or jobs will restrict them.

One is at the beginning of their lives, the other is at the end.

And it is a fact that once u have seen life and done most things, u know what they are like and u can say, it is nice to have seen and done them, but it is no big deal. It is not really as nice as u think it can be. So u can retire knowing u have not missed much.

Whilst the young still think there are wonderful things they should do and see, and I shall be missing out if I don’t. and how am I going to do and see these things if I don’t have a job and money?

a visit to a naturist club

London

I was just reminded by a blog that it is soon going to be 2013. 20, 30 years ago would we have imagined what it would be like in 2013?Some who is 40 now or 50 now they would be just 10yrs/20yrs old, or 20/30yrs old then. Or if u are 60 now, you will be 30/40yrs old.

added 2.12.12 today is 20 yrs since the first text message was sent. they are allready saying social networking is taking over and making it obsolete. 

Somehow, the gap is bigger at 10yrs and 40yrs. Than at 30yrs and 60yrs.

Both are 30yrs between them, but don’t you think it is much more difficult to imagine what u will be like at 40yrs when you are 10yrs old whereas it is quite easy to imagine what u will be at 60yrs when u are 30yrs old.

Somehow I feel that a 10yr old will experience bigger changes in his life when he finally reaches 40yrs than a 30yr old when he reaches 60yrs.

Perhaps it is not surprising because when u are 10yrs old u are more or less at the mercy of other people, your parents for sure. And being a kid your personality is not formed at all and can change in any direction. Whilst I think by 30yrs old, u have more or less got the personality for life. And then the next big change in you will be after 60yrs old.

That is my theory anyway. Haha.

Today, I went to a naturist club in south London. it’s a lovely place. Must have started out as a big property with a large garden. Founded about 1933, and had a swimming pool built in 1934. Which when u consider in those days heated swimming pools must be quite rare in uk is quite a innovative thing to do. Esp an outdoor pool too when the british weather is so inclement. Maybe that is why they incorporated a temporary plastic roof that encloses the pool during winter and can be dismantled in summer.

Its sad that their membership is declining. But in a way, it is their fault for being afraid to offend their female membership by admitting more men. They say their female members will not like it. How true is that? Maybe that is an old fashioned view, that the men in that club still harbours, or the women of the previous generation still harbours. That men and women should not see each other naked, maybe that is the view of the older generation of women, whilst this generation of women may not believe that at all.

I don’t know. But whatever it is , it is preventing the club from admitting more men. So the men that are there are old. The women are old, and I wonder whether that gives the impression it is a geriatric home.

The place needs huge amounts of money to improve the facilities as it gets older. The trouble with buildings is that they age and need upgrading.

I know my block of flats, built in 1898 needs regular maintainance, which is taken care of in the lease which insists that it be done every 8-9yrs. So at least the fabric of the building is kept in good shape.

But when u own the house, and there is no lease that insists u do regular maintainance, the temptation is to let the work slide, and let benign neglect take over.

Until the roof leaks or something collapses.

Anyway, we had a lovely time enjoying the facillities. The swimming pool is just lovely to swim it, very deep which for those who know, makes for really great swimming as it makes the body more buoyant.

They are so laid back, I was swimming with my friend and suddenly realised that they have not asked me to pay the £5 , and my friend say oh it is a donation, and there is a pot on the table for people to put the money in.

I did not see the pot.

When we were about to leave, I mentioned to my friend what happened to this donation pot, and he pointed it out to me. It was sitting on the table where the two ladies were collecting the invitation and ticking off the names.

They are so sweet, not insisting on people putting in money . I wish them success in keeping their club thriving. And just hope that somehow they have a change of heart and realise that opening the club to new members and men will rejuvenate the place.

In the discussion in the sauna about this, someone said they don’t want to have more men, as it will change the dynamics. Excluding men, who form 50% of the population will lead to their downfall, and generally the downfall of all landed naturist clubs.

As it is so many of us do not see the landed clubs as being revelant to our naked lifestyle.
We don’t feel the need to hide ourselves as we don’t mind who sees us naked.

Can u imagine what it will be like 30yrs from now, to all these landed clubs and naked lifestyle? Will we have a situation when being naked is normal and there are places for it as it is not anything to remark on.

I find it hard to imagine it happening. don’t you?

We left at about 2pm, and my friend said he is in no hurry to return to Guildford where he lives and since his day ticket allows him free travel into London after 11am, he said he will wander around London and see the lights.

So I decided to join him, and it so happened the train we got was going to London bridge so that was where we went.

And we wandered into borough market. I have heard of this place, where u get gourmet food being sold. I thought it was near borough tube station, but it was very near the London bridge station.

my friend was tempted to buy the boar pie, reduced half price to £3. it was very heavy he said. so must be dense with meat. i am sure he would enjoy it. 

And coming out of the station we were surprised to see the base of the shard.

It was not very impressive close up, unlike when it was seen in the distance and when it is lit up.

That was surprising, the base was empty, no shops or lobby or anything.

And in contrast to it, we went into southwark cathedral and just marvelled at the vaulted ceilings and carved stone work. I think it must have been touched up and restored because everything look so new and sharply carved with some parts left  in their original state of broken looking and bits knocked off.

It was built about 1100s. So must have been built after the norman conquest. in 1066. First as a priory.

I have been seeing a tv program , the dark ages, and so I know this priory was not built during the dark ages. which is between 4AD and 1066. 

It was enjoyable looking at bits of London that I did not know about. Even though I have lived here so long. It is nice to investigate these with a friend.

And we ended up in costas, in old Compton street and my friend treated me to a capuchino there. Not a bad price, £2.25 for a medium cup which is really big. I cannot imagine what their big size must be. It would be the size of a soup bowl I think. Haha.

It was very frothy and I was eating it with the spoon. Haha.
Very nice indeed.