Ready, Set, GO!

This weekend, the Ocean Angels take to the seas.

We've been cheering them on for a while now, and put in a donation to get our faces on their boat. The donation goes towards breast cancer research.

Come to find out, they aren't the only ones going naked. There's a pair from London rowing naked in support of Asthma research. They will have a satellite phone for receiving text messages and posting their thoughts. There's also these two Berkshire boys rowing in support of Sparks (medical research charity) and Headway (a head injury charity). The Berkshire boys say in their article that they'll bring 6 liters (almost 1.6 gallons) of sun creme. Lastly, because he's a single and can't row as fast, there's Simon who has also said he will row naked for the Willow Foundation charity.

All-in-all, this is part of a much bigger event: The Indian Ocean Rowing Race. There are 11 teams competing to be the among the first to cross the Indian Ocean. The different team sizes are:

• 1 team of 8, which will probably be the first since they have the most people-power.
• 4 teams of 4, which include the Ocean Angels and a group of Aussies in budgie smugglers.
• 4 teams of 2, which include the guys I linked to above, except Simon.
• 2 singles, which are brave people to attempt this huge trip alone.
  

This isn't your typical canuding trip. It's a 4,350 mile trip with threats of 50 foot waves and an array of dangerous ocean critters. There's a lot that can go wrong, and it's a long trip back to civilization. I really hope they all make it back to civilization safely. If they're lucky, they'll cross the finish line in Mauritius in 60 to 100 days.

The true nudists can answer this question of mine: Is 1.6 gallons of sunblock enough protection from the sun for 3 months? Or will we see naked lobsters crossing the finish line? Also, will they forget to put on clothes after 2 or 3 months of nakedness? I hope so -- it's big publicity if they're all smiles, naked, and crossing the finish line. They should keep that uncomfortable clothing off their freshly burnt skin.

The race website has a cool scoreboard of each team's progress. The naked ones to watch are #13 Pura Vida (Ocean Angels), #9 Southern Cross (Berkshire boys), #2 Dream It Do It (Londoners), and #3 Old Mutual Endurance (Simon). I'll be cheering them on, and I'll have more posts in the future about their progress.

Book and DVD Reviews

The nice thing about living in Wisconsin is that I can just drive to TNS HQ. My girlfriend and I went there Thursday to purchase a bunch of stuff from their Skinny Dipper Shop, drop off a CD, and to chat with Nicky for a bit.

As we were shopping, Nicky was explaining the history of each item. It's clear that they take a lot of pride in their merchandise, because they seek out the best quality for everything they stock. Additionally, they've been moving toward more eco-friendly items, which I certainly appreciate.

Anyway, among the things we bought are the following books and DVD. (What can I say -- I love books and always like to expand my library.) I haven't read them all cover to cover, obviously, but have skimmed them well enough to post a review.

The World's Best Nude Beaches and Resorts
The book is made to be a reference. It has color-coded tabs on the pages which makes finding a location easy. At the start of each country's section is a map of all the places listed. Each listing has a paragraph or two describing the place, along with a section of "practical info" on what you need to know to get there. When possible they include addresses, phone numbers, and websites. Not only is this book a great text, but it also has great pictures for most of the places listed and can give you a feel for what the place is like. About 1/3 of the book's content is pictures. The only downside is that the book only shows 1000 places, the "best" 1000 places, so it's not a complete reference. Based on the listings for Wisconsin and Queensland (places I know), there is about a 5:1 ratio for listings. I concur that the 4 that are unlisted aren't as good as the 1 that is listed, so they really do pick the best. This will certainly be my primary reference for beaches and resorts, and any traveller should have this book with them. It's a fairly cheap book, and is well worth the money.

The Funny Side of Going Naked
At about 150 pages of mostly images, it's a quick read. It's a book that once you pick it up, you can't put it down. The only time that you'll stop reading is when you're laughing too hard to continue. This happens a lot! Plus, the jokes are still funny after you've read them a few times. Whenever you need to cheer yourself up, reach for this book and open it up to any random page. This, too, is well worth the money.

Bodies and Souls: The Century Project
It started out as a fairly simple project, but has evolved over the last 20 years into something quite impressive. Each turn of the page reveals a new woman, slightly older than the previous one, with a picture on one side and their words on the other. Sometimes the author adds a little text to the bottom to put things into context better. The goal is to present real women, along with their stories of body acceptance and inspiration, to show other women that they are not alone in their struggles. It directly goes against society's pressure that women must be perfect. This book shows that you can be happy without being perfect. This isn't a full review, because I'm not a woman with body acceptance issues, and therefore don't have the qualifications to say if this book is of benefit or not. Sorry. My girlfriend is better qualified than I am (even though she doesn't have many body acceptance issues), so I may revisit this after she's read through it.

The Spirit of Lady Godiva
It's a book full of impressive black&white photography at many places across America. Each turn of the page has a full picture on one side, and some text about it on the other. The photographer shows standard building, landscape, and people shots, except with one small twist. His images show a world where people have a true choice of what to wear, or what to not wear. Textiles mix with nudes, and nobody seems to mind. (Well, OK, some heads are turned and some faces have a big smile, but a vast majority don't seem to notice.) What's most impressive is that all of these shots are real, and are of great quality. The book is a bit pricey, since it's a big chunk of tree. I'd only recommend it if photography is a big interest of yours.

Chasing the Sun DVD
This is a short video from TNS that is an introduction to naturism. It's made to be shown to classes, politicians, and anyone who doesn't really understand the topic. I'd say that it meets the goal pretty well. It includes statistics from the Roper polls, the positive economic impact of a nude beach, how beaches are self-policing and very safe, and how naturism is a family friendly activity. It addresses every big concern or misunderstanding that people have, and shows them that naturism is a good thing. The only problem with this video is that it shows a lot of nudity. Anyone who is seriously offended by nudity will not want to watch it, despite them being the ones that should watch it. Since it's a short video, they could've added a censored version just in case, or a version that uses alternative video clips that don't show nudity. Either way, it's in my archive just in case I need it.

If you have more to add about any of these items, or have questions, post 'em in the comments.

Springtime News

A few times a year I post what's new, what I've been working on, and my plans for the near future.

Freehiking Season

St Patrick's Day brought us some Irish Luck. My girlfriend and I went freehiking (for the first time ever) during the only 72+ degree day in March. We hiked a 3 mile trail that is absolutely perfect for freehiking. It has a clear wide path, wide open fields, a river, and not a house in sight. There was nobody else there, no bugs, no snow, and not much mud.

I sent a writeup about this trip to TNS. Most of it consists of how to find a good local trail for freehiking. I pointed out that almost all of their freehiking articles are from out West. I took on the task of finding a trail locally, in a state that has a higher than US average population density. Hopefully it'll be in one of the future issues. I could dive into the details of this trip, but I think it would only make you jealous.

I concluded that here, "freehiking season" is the few warm days we get in March. Summer months are too buggy, too weedy, and too busy. Fall is deer hunting season. April and May are turkey hunting season. March is all that's left, assuming it gets warm enough!

WWNCW

My other site, the World-Wide Nudist Collaboration Wiki, has been revamped to version 3.0. I removed the whole social web idea, stripped the profiles, and removed almost everything. Naturists don't need another social platform -- they need a collaboration platform! The new Wiki does only that, without any fluff and as simply as possible. It's fair to say that I gave the WWNCW a really big KISS.

So how does it work now? Follow these steps if you would like to initiate a project, event, or meeting:

1. Enter a project name and click "add project".
2. Fill out the new project form, which is only 4 questions.
3. Add events to your project calendar, create sections specific to your project for tables, polls, or more text. Tables contain information for tasks, items that are needed, or other general information. See the examples for how to use the tools.
   
4. People volunteer to help out or bring stuff by adding their name to the table. They can also vote for stuff, or post comments. The project almost organizes itself, since everyone has all the information in one central place.
   

Most important is that people DON'T NEED TO REGISTER anymore to go in and create/edit stuff. There is a shared WikiGuest account that anyone can use, or they can register to get their own username.

Nude Olympics

We're still in the process of organizing the Mazo Beach Nude Olympics this year. Of course, the project will be organized via my handy site mentioned above. (I'll do a special post when it's ready.)

Reading

At the start of winter, I had a pile of stuff that I wanted to read. And it kept getting bigger, since I never wanted to pull myself away from the computer just to read. I looked for another solution. Scheduling a time to read didn't work because I didn't take it seriously. I'm very limited to what I can take on my weekends of travel. I can't read at the beach since it's winter. All I needed was about a half-hour each day, so I moved my reading materials to the bathroom. Hey -- it works! I read through my 9 back-issues and 2 current issues of Nude & Natural Magazine, and highlighted some things in the NR 45 regulations (DNR land use rules). The real test is next -- I moved my Worldchanging book to there. It's almost 4 pounds of very small text. I bought it new in 2006, and haven't yet hit the half-way point.

Modeling

We answered the call from N 28.3 page 87, and it sounds like it might happen this summer! We not only offered ourselves as subjects, but also offered some of our "secret" locations. I'll keep you posted on what develops from this.

Missed News (4/2009)

If you were expecting pictures and a farewell today ... April Fools! :-) I at least convinced one blogger who realized it may not be true an hour later. I also had friends questioning if it was true or not, but they at least flagged my post as fishy right away. Other than that, it seems that nobody cares... Or they wanted to wait and make sure I was leaving before commenting. Here's a roundup of other April Fool's jokes.

The "Missed News" series is for all the random stuff I found interesting, but was missed by other popular bloggers. (Or that needs to be covered again.) Hopefully I filtered out the duplicates from Nudiarist's recent flood of news posts.

• NAC needs your help! Send an email to the Vermont representitives indicating that you want public nudity to remain legal on public lands, and to leave the many skinny dipping sites alone. (I sent an email last weekend.)
  
• I haven't heard anything from anyone in the nudist community about the new 2257 regulations that went into effect this month. Photographers who shoot nudes are freaking out about this, but the news hasn't hit any of my nudist blogs. Why?? Stephen Haynes wrote a whole book about these new regulations, and did interviews talking about it. Dave Levingston, a very popular photographer, has posted examples, got mad as hell, and is considering giving up nude photography because this law threatens to jail him for his work. How is this law going to impact nudists? It threatens to jail anyone who takes a picture that includes the pubic region, unless lots of records are kept.
  
• Mazo Beach's least favorite church is in a new battle. I had to laugh when I saw it in the paper!
• Speaking of the beach, I'd like to buy a bunch of these mosquito-killing lasers for the trail.
• All Nudist reminds us that the Ocean Angels paddle their naked butts across the Indian Ocean starting this month. It's not too late to join us in cheering them on!
  
• New image programs (iPhoto, Picasa) now feature face recognition. Picasa links the name to an email address and stores it on Google's servers. Soon enough we'll be able to identify all those anonymous naked people on the internet.
  
• Rich is afraid to be naked.
• Photos from The Century Project were banned from UNC, and protests are pouring in because of it.
• Here's a video showing just how fake most pictures can be.
• This is a very cool project to crowdsource to bored people with cell phones.
• A lawmaker wants to ban Barbie in West Virginia because she promotes an unrealistic body image.
• Hummer is probably closing unless someone is dumb enough to buy them. Yay!
• One photographer boasts that has has never killed a model, although this one was pretty close.
• In fact, modeling is fairly dangerous.
  
• I know it's been covered already, but I have to say it: Since when does an "anything goes" party not tolerate anything? I'd classify "clothing" and "mini-riot" as a part of "anything", which makes ot OK, right? It seems the owner forgot that anything goes at an anything goes party.
  
• For some laughs, check out the top 10 confusing place names, or the top 10 rudest place names.
• Although not naked, the lack of clothing is still mentioned in this headline. More cops need to sleep naked!
  
• More proof that Australians are tough. There's no mention of their sleeping attire, is that just an American thing?
  
• Urinating in public makes for an interesting equal rights case.
• I thought this photo of a "nudist locker room" was cute.
• A TV show is seeking a naturist couple who are getting married. We're not planning a wedding just yet, but I'm interested in seeing the show when it airs. Let me know if you spot it!
• People are surprised to find topless sunbathers in Europe, and other interesting things, through Google Street View.
• Australian magazines are testing the child nudity laws.
• NASA goes through so much trouble sending clothes to the space station. Sending clothes back to Earth just to get washed is such a waste. There is no reason at all why they need to wear clothes in an environment that is completely climate controlled.
• Here's PETA protesting pregnant pigs. They also protested KFC recently too.
  
• It's gotta be fun when the festival promises that you'll have a ball.

My Future Resort (Recap)

Instead of a conclusion, I'll post an end-of-the-bulk-of-it recap. Remember that I'll probably add posts in the future with other ideas, or improved ideas. So far though, these are some of the general concepts that I've presented.

• Part 1: Intro
• Resorts evolve, and disruptive ideas help speed up the process.
• Social frameworks can be more important than physical frameworks, despite the fact that they are often ignored.
  
• Part 2: Land
• Castle-type structures are best in urban areas.
• A big chunk of land is best in a rural area, with hill-tops being better than valleys because of wind and insects. (Natural predators and bat houses can help control the insect population.)
• The idea of a floating resort could catch on.
  
• Part 3: Sustainability
• Go green for profit -- green investments can save money in the long-run.
• Bring utility bills as close as you can to zero. Many examples are listed. Less money going to bills means more profit and more improvements.
  
• Part 4: Diversification
• There's no good answer for how to diversify, except...
  
• Diversify through a crowdsourced evolutionary model.
• Do iterative development.
• Specialize in something, preferably an event.
• Consider different markets if possible and target those you want.
• Compete with the daily lives of people.
  
• Listen to people, since they offer a creative spark.
  
• Part 5: Economics of Crowdsourcing
• Crowdsourcing works when implemented correctly.
• Offer the choice of working for a discount.
• Implement the crowdsourced evolutionary model for improvements.
• People can donate towards an improvement themselves, or organize fundraisers.
• This new model would mean less work for the owner, more younger/poorer guests with everyone being happy, optimal improvements, more meals and fun events, quicker maintenance, and a better sense of community.
  
• Part 6: Resource Sharing
• The lack of privacy can drive away people.
• Offer a privacy resource to bring them in, without compromising the family-friendly atmosphere. Tents and RV's aren't that private.
  
• Sometimes other scarce resources can be optimized to get more profit or to better utilize the resource.
  
• Part 7: Community Involvement
• Your venue cannot be an introvert.
• Give money to the community and be an active part of it.

There you have it -- my collection of ideas that will eventually work their way into venues of the future. As far as I've found, this is the most condensed collection of ideas on what nudist venues need to do in order to succeed. This series was 1.5 years in the making, and 6 months in writing. It's also probably my highlight of the year, so hopefully you didn't skip through it.

Addendum 1: This month I read an article in Nude & Natural Magazine (27.3) on the OLT. (Yeah, I'm still catching up with back-issues... this is from Spring 2008.) The second paragraph starts with "Colorado's Orient Land Trust (OLT) is so far ahead of the naked pack..." Mark Storey is correct, and I seem to be on the right track as well. OLT is making use of quite a few ideas that I've presented here: They have a big chunk of land, keep lots of bats, are completely off-the-grid because of the hot springs, have huge diversification, offer work for volunteers, and are an active part of the community. I've never been there, but I would absolutely love to check them out. Just like the best resorts, they stay booked pretty solid (with a prioritized queue). This is proof that they are doing something right!

Addendum 2: This adds to the ideas of my Economics of Crowdsourcing post. I didn't have a word for it at the time, when I talked about having people pitch in small amounts to buy something for the venue. The word is Crowdfunding, which is so new that it's not officially in the wikipedia yet [UPDATE: It's been added since 2009]. It's been around, however, in publications like TIME Magazine, BusinessWeek, and the Wall Street Journal. It's been used to fund movies, fund bands, fund t-shirts, and may just save the journalism business. It's an idea that's catching on, so it must be working.

Addendum 3: My girlfriend is a sale-hunter. When she points out a 50% off sale or a buy 1 get 1 free sale, I just shrug it off. The stores probably have a 100% markup, at least, so they aren't losing any money. A typical shopper will buy the sale item, and maybe a few other things, and the store either breaks even or makes money. If we apply this idea to a naturist resort, the resort loses profit because people only show up for the sale price and don't buy anything extra. If a resort advertises 50% off the first night's stay, many would go for the night and wait for the next sale. This gets business, but doesn't always get profits.

My suggestion was to allow people to work for a cheaper stay. This has the same amount of profit as normal by reducing the cost of maintenance and passing that savings directly to the guest. Since writing about that idea, I've found some middle ground that would do the same thing but also encourage people to visit again in the future.

Some good friends of mine pointed me to a different kind of sale: Menards Rebates. In most of their weekly ad's, they list items that are "free after rebate" (FAR). There isn't any trickery like with Black Friday, where they only stock a few of the items and sell out instantly. Menards keeps these items stocked for the duration of the sale. The only limitations with the sales are: You must also spend $10 to enable the rebates for FAR items. You get the rebates in up to 6 weeks and only as in-store credit. Lastly, there are limits on the number of items that you can buy. On a good week, you can get $25 in true FAR sales. This is the ONLY sale that I've seen where the store can lose money. Here's an example, assuming a 100% price markup, and without diving into too much math:

• $10 cash + $25 for FAR stuff, I get $35 in stuff, Menards pays $17.50.
• Rebated $10+$15 for more FAR stuff, I get $25 in stuff, Menards pays $12.50.
• Rebated $10+$5 for more FAR stuff, I get $15 in stuff, Menards pays $7.50.
• Rebated $5, I get $5 in stuff, Menards pays $2.50.
• Totals: I paid $10 out of pocket and got $80 in stuff, and Menards had to pay $40.

So how is it that they even stay in business? The secret is that people aren't perfect enough to execute that example. It's easy to hit the $12 or so mark for the non-FAR items during each visit. I've been trying to profit from these Menards sales for a few months now, but the $30 bird feeder and $40 table probably put Menards in the lead.

What's the lesson? With a gift certificate in hand, most people (including myself) will go there just to use it up, and probably spend some extra in the process. The FAR items aren't free until a future trip, and a future trip will likely include more FAR items. The rebates are strong temptation to keep people coming back.

This same concept can be applied to my credit-for-work idea. Instead of giving guests cash back at the end of their stay for any work they've done, give them the same amount in a gift certificate. Their next stay will be the one with the discount. It may also be of benefit to give half cash-back and half gift certificate to encourage them to start the cycle, similar to the other non-FAR sale items at Menards.

My Future Resort (p7) - Community Involvement

Fundraising is driven by desire – fire departments, girl scouts, victims, etc. all want to do something specific and need money in order to do it. Fire departments have fundraiser breakfast and supper events to get better equipment and to maintain what they have. Girl scouts sell cookies to go on trips and do things. Victims are often the subject of a fundraiser to help cover large medical bills. Each group wants something, puts forth a little bit of investment and time, and earns a lot of money in return.

Attendees are often happy with the good food and are happy to know that their money is going to a worthy cause. For all of the community fundraisers I've been the money-taker for, I've noticed that people are quite generous. It's common that people will round-up to the nearest $20 or $50 increment, and spend a lot on raffle tickets, simply because they know it's going to a good cause. An observation I've made is that people are often willing to use a coupon to save a dollar on groceries, and are often willing to give a dollar to charity. Both of these actions make them happy, even though they break even. The same people that are willing to work for a cheaper stay at your venue may also be willing to attend and spend money at the fundraisers, so don't count them out.

Most nudist venues already have one of the best resources available for fundraising -- people with time. Full-time residents are often lounging around and enjoying the sunshine while doing a whole lot of nothing. Currently, they have little desire to raise funds for anything, since all they need is enough money to pay for the cost of living. In part 5 (Economics of Crowdsourcing), I suggested a way to encourage people to raise funds for future improvements. They have the time, and now they have the desire, so fundraising will take off.

After a while, fundraising becomes an easy task and people get used to the idea. The venue has bake sales, craft sales, raffles, auctions, and a whole bunch of creative fundraisers with all proceeds going toward venue improvements. It's time to change the rules, because trouble can arise if we keep on this path. We need to invest in preventing future trouble.

What future trouble am I talking about? Being closed down. There are a several reasons why nudist venues can be forced to close, but most of them involve the community. Nudist venues can't be introverts. They need to integrate and be a positive member of the community, in such a way that the community knows about it.

It's a good move to start taxing your internal fundraisers. For example, 10% of any fundraiser profits should go into a community charity account. For people-power, consider a rent discount for those who put on clothes and do community service. This is fair, since they are giving up a day of nudity and aren't using the venue's facilities.

Once you have these resources, find an optimal way to contribute to the community. Buy steps or bricks with your name on them for community gardens or projects. Donate money or food to the local food pantry. (If this is at a church, they shouldn't condemn your venue if you're donating to the same cause as them.) Volunteer for adopt-a-trail or adopt-a-highway programs, especially if there is a sign indicating who is maintaining them. Sponsor community events, since they usually offer space for an advertisement. The community will view you as an active supporter, and the community will appreciate that. In return, there is less chance that the community will go against your venue in the future. The more you can do, the better off everyone will be.

Another recommendation, since your venue now houses full-time fundraising professionals, is to help out or provide community fundraisers. Here's an example: Everyone in town knows Alice, and Alice has fallen ill recently and can't afford the medical bills. Some people at your venue also know Alice and want to help out. Instead of having a nudist fundraiser at the venue, rent the community center and host a clothed fundraising event there. People will attend to support Alice, and the side-benefit will be meeting a bunch of the local nudists (clothed). They will reach the conclusion that we nudists are normal, fun, social people who are just as caring as the rest of the community. It'll give them the informal opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the nudist lifestyle. Once people understand they may eventually consider participating, or at least be OK with the choice of others to do so.

Simple ideas like this can go a long way in promoting naturism.

NEXT

Liz Book's Latest Protest

The battle for top-freedom is still going strong in Daytona. Here's the latest story from Liz:

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To all My Friends and Supporters of Topfreedom for Women,

My protest on the beach went exceptionally well yesterday. Channel 6 Orlando was there to interview me. I was topless the whole time. A few other topfree women joined me, but refrained from getting on camera. The whole time that they were shooting the interview, the beach patrol units were driving up and down right behind me! It was just so great! It was as if they were saying, "Yes, it is ok for her to be topless on our beach." Even if they knew that I was protected by the Constitution at that time.

I ventured out onto Main Street and the A1A crossing about 11:30. It was the first time I had taken this protest walk since 2004, when Daytona brought in Homeland Security to shut the protest down. Yesterday, there were no signs of law enforcement at all. I was thrilled, but still a little nervous. A few blocks up the street, I said, "Oh, what the heck!" and my top came off. I even stopped in front of one of my favorite supporter's establishments to wave and let them know that I was ok. You should have seen their faces! Little did I know, that the police had been arresting topfree women like gang busters in town for the whole nine days of the event. As that damned bridge came into site, I was overwhelmed with such a great feeling of accomplishment that tears came to my eyes. I was going to make it over that bridge this time. I just knew it. I took pictures the whole way over it. I even stopped at the guard tower for about ten minutes. It wasn't quite high noon. That was when I had proposed to make my speech. So I waited. Topless. The elderly gentleman who was working the bridge just loved having me there. What a turn about. There was a topless woman waving at the boats from the bridge. Instead of the other way around. As I made my way down the bridge to my little protest park on the other side, I could hear American Woman playing loud and clear from the sound system I had rented for the protest. My friends and supporters were waving me on from there. It was so wonderful. I cried. I call her "The Bridge to Freedom" now.

It wasn't until a few hours later, that I was sucker punched by Daytona's law enforcement. Again!

There was a lovely young woman who had come topfree onto the protest site. We took some pictures next to my protest signs. We had our backs to the road when a police officer on a bike pulled right onto the site, on the grass in front of us. Thank God, she managed to get her top up before he approached us. He looked at me and demanded, "You need to pull that f***ing thing up right now!" I looked back at him and said, "You need to call your Sargent right now." He again demanded, "You need to pull that f***ing thing up right now!" and pointed at my black velvet tube top that was around my waist. I again repeated, "You need to call your Sargent. You're making a big mistake!" It was at that point that he said, "Turn around and put your hands behind your back. You are under arrest." He had one cuff on me, when I turned to my friend and said, "Get this camera and start taking pictures, Now, please!"

What this young tough officer had to say, as we waited for his superior officer to come, turned my stomach. He said that he had no idea that we were in a legal protest. They had said nothing at the briefing that morning about it. This is not unusual, as Larry Walters pointed out so poignantly in my previous cases. The city of Daytona Beach has no respect for our civil or equal rights. They do not typically train their officers in this.

This officer told me that he couldn't believe that we were doing this, the protest, while he and the other officers were arresting hundreds of women on Main Street. He told me that they had arrested so may women on Saturday, March 7th, that they had to call in the "Cattle Cars" to haul them away. He referred to American women as cattle. I wanted to throw up, I was so upset by that. He did not handcuff the other woman, but she was obviously terrified, as he told her she had to remain there until he got his orders on what to do with us. After about 20 minutes, a Lieutenant showed up. He told the officer to "cut us loose".Then he grabbed him by the elbow and lead him away from us.

The rest of the day was fantastic. I did notice that they had hidden a police car behind some bushes nearby. But I wasn't afraid of them anymore.

I notified Mark Tietig,the lawyer who is handling my 14th Amendment lawsuit against the city and Larry Walters, the lawyer who handled all of my First Amendment winning cases. I told them what has occurred at the protest. I sent them the pictures to prove it. Mark is going to lodge a suit against them and Larry Walters has graciously agreed to add his name to it.

My God, enough is enough! They have recently built a huge multi million dollar police fortress in Daytona. If they think to pay the bill for that, at the expense of American women's lives and breasts, they had better think again! My friend, Jeddy Tranquil from New York, was in town for the Bikeweek event. On Thursday night, he witnessed a woman being arrested for daring to bare her breasts. He said that the police woman literally beat the crap out of this poor woman. The crowd was almost ready to riot. When my friend stepped up and said, "Don't you think that you have gone far enough?" The police woman threatened him with arrest, too. Just when I thought that maybe they were starting to slack off on this type of arrest, and violent behavior aimed at women, they have come back with a vengeance!

Not on my shift! They have stepped way too far over the line in their zealousness to dominate and intimidate women. I am so glad that Mark Tietig has decided to pick this one up. I am so glad that Larry Walters has let us know that he has our back on this one, too. My heroes to the rescue!

I had almost decided to make this the last of my protests. With the conquering of that bridge, the beach, and Main Street, I thought there might not be a need for more. Plus I have my 14th Amendment Lawsuit against the city to back it all up. Now, I am of a different mind. The look of fear in the Lieutenant's eyes said it all. They do not want to mess with this woman! I need to find a sponsor. Someone of good heart who can help me to promote and orchestrate these protests. I will beef them up, if I can find the help. Instead of doing them twice a year, I will do them more frequently. And possibly, in more anti-topfree locations around the country. The news the other night said that Daytona was trying to present a more family friendly atmosphere. Yeah right, with a serial killer on the loose and strong arm robbery being prevalent the year round, that's not going to happen! Every single one of their events is aimed at an adult crowd. Not my protests, though, it seems. There were so many families who brought there children yesterday that I was amazed. I even got pictures of some of them.

I know my business. I am writing a satire I call "The Protester's Handguide" right now. As long as I follow the basic steps of protecting free speech in protest, they are helpless to do anything about it. Their town and this state will be topfree before you know it. I will do what I can to see it happen. Just watch me!

Taking the Beach and Main Street Topless For The American Women, Liz Book