TNS Eastern Naturist Gathering

We're leaving tomorrow, and we're Twittering the event! (Thanks to Nudiarist for the idea to set this up!)

My girlfriend's cell phone is linked to her Twitter account: NaturistGirl. We'll be using the #TNSENG hashtag for the event, so feel free to use it too if you're going or commenting. Follow our trip at both of those links. Internet access will be spotty, so don't expect a quick reply to any @NaturistGirl comments.

For the trip there, we're spending two nights at Niagra Falls. For the trip back, we have no plans.

I have two presentations to give at the event: "Crowdsource Our Problems Away" on Friday, and "Greening For Profit" on Saturday. Much of it is already posted in my Future Resort series, parts 5 and 3.x respectively. My goal is to make these available on the net afterwords for all of you. If I'm good, I'll be able to offer a video instead of just the slides.

Wish us luck!

Clothing Optional or Not?

I posted it on Twitter, but it's worthy of a quick post here too... There seems to be an interesting debate going between Bare Oaks and Terra Cotta Inn about their clothing-optional policies. One side says that nudity should be mandatory so that people have to "jump in" instead of hesitating. The other side says that people should be allowed to "jump in" when they are comfortable.

Both seem to work, but I think there is a better compromise that mixes the two and would end up more profitable.

My vote is that resorts should be "clothing taxed". Charge a flat fee for every warm hour in which the person is dressed. (The only exception would be bottoms on women during certain weeks.)

That way if they are seriously uncomfortable, they have the option of staying dressed a while and are willing to take the hit in fees. These fees also compensate for the discomfort from others when that person is dressed. Lastly, the fees encourage people to disrobe early to avoid having the fees stack up. Each hour, they must commit to either getting naked or paying more money to the resort.

It's a good idea -- feel free to steal it. Leave a comment if you decide to try it out.

Missed News (6/2009)

The "Missed News" series is for all the random stuff I found interesting, but was missed by other popular bloggers.

News:

• The Emerging Nudist (which may count as a popular blogger now?) posted a series called "Shock and Awe: A Strategy" which introduces military tactics into naturist strategy. The other parts are listed in the May archive.
• A furnace repairman decided that having a solid wall between him and a showering 21-year-old is unacceptable.
• Although it drew a crowd, having sex on the Windsor Castle lawn also drew cops and handcuffs.
• David had an interesting conversation with an officer while photographing a nude woman.
• In the same blog, he also tells a story of almost losing a model.
  
• Check out this Saudi Beauty Pageant article -- do you want your country to be like that?
• Germany had a school shooting, so they are now banning paintball and tightening gun laws.
  
• C'mon, we can think of some better captions for this photo!
• A real penis was spotted on Google Street View.
• Here's some interesting spy gadgets (including cameras) for those who are concerned about such things. I'm not sure how to spot some of those at the beach...
  
• This is how reporting should be done. Swingers invade a German beach, but it isn't called a nude beach. They never say nudity is bad, and seem to not care about the nudity at all. The real issue is the sex and invasive behavior of the swingers. Instead of banning all nudity like the US would do, beach regulars are keeping track of who goes there and the town is working together to clean up the beach.
• We need to think up a new word, because "textiles" won't apply if people start wearing paper.
• 80% of the 225 Key West businesses support a new nude beach. Richard Mason: Keep up the great work!
• Hopefully this catches on -- swimming pools that ditch the chemicals and use plants to filter the water.
• I like to post obvious comments in popular blogs. I should do it more often.
  
• He proclaimed: "You're all wearing inferior clothes to the sun's rays!"
• I thought it was a funny ad.

Rowing Race News:

• On the 20th bad weather halted the fleet and flipped a boat. The bad weather extended to the 26th.
  
• Southern Cross has a bad AIS unit (to warn other ships), and held their breath as an oblivious tanker closely passed by.
• The latest news is that the Angels are in 4th place. Boat #7 is still in the lead, #88 is flying by all of them as expected, and #5 is really close to the Angels.
• The Angels ate some moldy food, and survived without any issues. Sarah also announced that she will be getting off the boat at the next available opportunity. One of them keeps getting messages from her father asking about grandkids.
• They also hit a road closure, spent a night in the motel, and cant find the change for the toll road. Really though, they were just under the weather.
• After the weather, they answer to some cheery thoughts and describe their luxurious accommodation.
• In deceptive calm weather, the girls photographed some unique lunar phonema, played cards, did some gardening, and finally decided to row to record speeds. They have some catching up to do, so I hope they keep it up!