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Monday, March 18, 2024

Celebration Day

10,000,000 views . . . and counting


At 15:53 Hawaii Standard Time on March 17, my blog view counter clicked past the 10 million point.  Thanks to a recent major accelleration in the growth of the viewership, this came months sooner than I had anticipated.  So, I had to reschedule a series called Chow Time at the Nudist Colony set for today to run the celebratory piece which follows.

I want to welcome you new viewers, and thank those of you who have been with me all these years.  I especially want to express my appreciation for those who comment and contribute photos and ideas.  You all mean a lot to me, and some of you are now my friends.

What follows is a two part countdown of your favorites, the most viewed posts.  As an intermission, there will be a section about you guys in terms of where you are from and the tech that you use. (Thank you, Google Analytics.)  And last, I will post my own current favorite photo.

Enjoy the look back!

Most Viewed Countdown, Part 1 - Places Ten Through Six


Our top ten countdown starts with the only nudist photo to make the winning group.
An all male beauty pageant appeared on March 16, 2019 and placed 10th.

 

Number Nine


Bruno is a very popular guy around here as you will see.  
This Colt photo came in ninth place and posted on July 7, 2022.

 

Eighth Place

Number eight is this shot of Ed Miller by AMG from March 20, 2019.

 

Number Seven


The first of two Navy photos in the top ten, this one is
 ranked number seven and appeared on June 30, 2023,

 

Sixth Place


Sixth place goes to this photo of Julian Duarte by Bruce of LA which appeared on September 3, 2019.  This one is special because I got it from James at Men From Back Then and it headlined a series of photos he originally posted.  It gots lots of comments and lots of views.

 

Intermission: Geography and Technology


This map shows the countries whose residents are my most frequent visitors going back to day one.  (The table at bottom shows the top twenty nations by visit.  Ukraine is a relatively new top performer, something I find amazing and gratifying, which I can also say about the presence of Russia in this group.  That Ukrainians under violent attack and Russians under severe repression come here makes me prouder than my overall numbers.  And speaking of repression, there's Iran, right there in the top twenty.  Too small to see on the map, but recently surging in terms of numbers are Singapore and Hong Kong, two places punching way above their weight class.  Honorable mention also goes to India and South Africa, two countries which have recently been on the upswing.  China comes and goes from the map depending on how strictly the government there is minding the internet connections.

For all of you all over the world, I thank you for coming here, and I wish you the very best, with my added hope for peace and freedom everywhere.






 

Viewer Technology


For you techies out there, you may be interested in the blog's viewer
 numbers by browser and operating system as show below:





And by operatng system:




 

Most Viewed Countdown, Part 2 - The Top Five


Fifth place goes to this early 20th Century photo that appeared May 28, 2021. 
 It's good, but I'm surprised that it is the oldest photo to make the top ten.

 

Number Four


Here's Bruno (again!) in fourth place this time.  The photo appeared here on May 23,2021, 
and it bears the Rip Colt marque that Jim French used before he went to simply "Colt."

 

Third Place


This shot from Dan Delaney's Playgirl spread from April 22, 2019 placed third.

 

Second Place


Second place in the VMM all-time most viewed list goes 
to this March 8, 2020 post of three navy men.

 

And now Number One . . . Twice!


Somewhat to my surprise, this Dave Martin photo of Bill Derrick from January 6, 2021 came in as the most viewed image ever on the blog.  It's not the best photographic quality, but it does show Mr. Derrick off nicely.  A bit of digging into my Bill Derrick photos on Google Analytics, however, produced another take on the most viewed title.  The photo below has appeared three times on the blog.  (Yes, I like it that much.)  When I added the three posts' totals together, it jumped to first place by a wide margin.  It is also Bill Derrick by Dave Martin.  This time I wasn't surprised at all.




 

And a final indulgence


I get a lot of messages from the blog contact form that never appear here, and one of the frequent questions is "What is your favorite picture?"  Well, that changes over time, and I've even done series on the topic, but the photo above is my current favorite.  It's by Gaudenzio Marconi from 1870, and I find the model, the pose, and the composition to be sublime.  I don't even mind the grid marks an artist put on there when he used the photo for it's intended purpose as poor man's substitute for a life model.  That just adds to the authenticity.  In my world, it doesn't get better than this.

And it doesn't get better than having a hobby that brings me as much satisfaction as this blog does.  To all you new viewers, welcome.  To all you loyal old timers, thank you.
As for me, I'm looking forward to the next 10,000,000.

 

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Day of the Derriere - Surf Bums


It's time for a Day of the Derriere, and our men are surfers showing us their bums.
Does that make them surf bums?

 

Shapely


This fellow has a delightful shape.

 

Crowd I


This is a nice crowd scene, but the water looks too sloppy for surfing.

 

Paddling out


This is a new version of paddling out.

 

Silvery Moon


Mr. Scumbeast found this one for me and called it "Silvery Moon."

 

Posing?


That water is too shallow to surf in, so he may be posing.



 

Crowd II


I don't know why one guy has his shorts around his ankles.

 

Side view


This surfer is showing us a side view.

 

North Shore Oahu?


This looks like an isolated spot I know on the North Shore of Oahu.

 

On the trail


Sometime it takes a hike to get to the good surf spots.

 

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Vivienne Maricevic


Thanks to viewer and regular commentator Gerald, I recently learned about a fine
female photographer of male nudes named Vivienne Maricevic.  I was amazed 
by what I found, and today is the first of several series featuring her work.
Above is the cover of her book She Shoots Men.
Many thanks to Gerald for inspiring this set!

 

Nice lighting


I really like the lighting in this photo,
even if the package is somewhat obscured.

 

1980s?


This was supposed to have been made in the 1980s, but weren't full sleve tattoos 
relatively rare in those days?  Also rare are derriere shots by Vivienne Maricevic.  
She almost always went full frontal with her male nudes.



 

Leather Man


Ms. Maricevic's work brought her into contact with the New York leather scene.

 

Dave Ruby


This is Dave Ruby, a man with quite a history.  He was a star athlete in high school, 
National Guard member, a wannabe cop, hotel manager, veteran swinger, male escort, 
star of a live Times Square S&M show, and star of over a hundred heterosexual adult films 
and peep show loops.  Oh, and he did all that while successfully holding down his 
day job as a respected court reporter in the New York justice system.  Busy guy.

 

Male Strippers


Vivienne Maricevic did a memorable series of photos taken in a variety of adult 
entertainment venues, some of which were around Times Square in New York.  
This one is in a gay establishment, but I see a couple of women in the crowd..

 

Little Man


George Dureau wasn't the only photographer to have an appreciation for handsome little men.  Vivienne Maricevic took a successful go at it in this excellent picture.

 

Help with the brim


This is one of those very sexy "less is more" photos,
and the hand on the brim of the hat is a interesting element.

 

Joe, 1980


I really like the effect in this one.
I found it labeled "Joe, 1980."

 

Window Dressing


If Ms. Maricevic didn't call this one "Window Dressing,"she should have.  
It must have been summer, seeing as how he's sitting on the radiator.