I have no idea why the big crowds always show up later in the season... Today (July 26th), the parking lot was packed and we had to park on Laws Drive. Of course, the beach was also pretty full as well. The Contenders were there, and the Elders were there, and then a whole mess of other people. It was so full that I couldn't differentiate between groups. This concept made me happy, because it appeared that everyone was integrated into a single community instead of separating into sub-groups. If only it would stay that way...
Remember that this whole "Mazo Manor" thing is inspired by the Meerkat Manor TV show. (You have to admit that there's a striking resemblance between the FOMB and the FKMP, at least in the pictures.) I'm the production crew, who occasionally goes to the beach and then writes a dramatized, and somewhat anonymized, documentary of what's going on. If anyone is interested in writing episodes for days that I'm not around, I'd love to expand the production crew! I'm doing this mostly for fun, and I understand that I don't always get the facts right depending on who I talk to and how much I observe. I'm sure the producers of Meerkat Manor have this same problem, except with the whole "talking" thing.
With that said, I need to also point out that today overloaded the production crew. The lack of grouping and busyness of the beach made it very difficult to observe what was going on. Also, we were there for only 2 hours, and mostly showed up to meet with people before a party. Now, back to the story...
Walking to and from the beach, we encountered 5 couples who were being eaten alive by mozzies because they didn't bring any spray. We offered ours, and all of which readily accepted. We went through about half a can that day, and not much of that actually went on us. C'mon people, bring some protection before you enter the gauntlet. It was apparent that they were either new or hadn't been to the beach in a few years, because anyone who knows the current state of the gauntlet either bikes or has strong bug spray in hand.
Leaving the beach, we found a somewhat creepy business card on the small parking lot. Doing a quick search, I found that he's also listing this on craigslist here. I'm seriously failing to see how this could be considered entertaining, especially when stretched into a full hour. (No pun intended.) This guy has "exhibitionist" written all over him, and probably does free performances in the South-Ender section.
The beach also had a recent visitor hanging in the back and taking pictures. The Elders approached him, and demanded to see/erase the pictures and were going to tell him to go away. He popped out the camera's memory card, handed it over, and then took off. This action shocked the Elders, but it makes sense: In that situation, would you hand over a $40 card and consider it gone, or hand over an expensive camera with the possibility of losing the camera and getting beaten up? Of course he wouldn't have, but he didn't know that. Upon investigation, the pictures were all blurry and didn't amount to anything.
We saw the young couple from episode 2, and asked if they were attending the party. They were invited, but were unsure. The couple from episode 3 were also invited, but we never saw them. There weren't any other young couples our age at the beach, and none went to the party.
They missed out, because the party was awesome! We had a small but comfortable back yard (with a bouncer at the door), a campfire to roast our chestnuts and toast our buns, a pool to cool off in, the best pork chops I've ever tasted, and about 30 of the most entertaining clothing-optional guests! There were a few cameras, but all were in the hands of very trustworthy people and I know exactly where those photos are going. They're going into "brag books", one of which was recently started by us. So far, it only has photos from my trip to Australia, a few artistic ones taken locally, and a few of our place. It's no match for the photo library of Mazo history that a certain other person has. Lessons from his collection are: We need to bring back body-painting, and need to bring back the Nude Olympics. They looked like a lot of fun!
I don't want to go into the details of the party because it's not really beach related. But, I will say that it was a lot more fun and a lot more social than a day at the beach. We're considering a "movie night" (with my projector pointing at the white wall by the pool) and a "Passion Party night" for couples. It's important to point out that none of that is sexual beyond just words. We're true nudists, not swingers or anything else. It'll be a tasteful movie (I'm thinking "Sirens" or "Medicine Man" from the list), and a passion party just like one in the textile world. We may combine the two into a single party, depending on interest.
All-in-all, it was a great evening. I'm glad to see such a busy beach, and glad that people are willing to host such great parties!
NEXT EPISODE
Friday, August 1, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
New Ammunition for Top-Equality
I found this picture a while back, but haven't been able to add it to a post yet. So, I'll just do a special post about it...
Normally, when debating the whole breast legal/illegal issue, people post pictures. These pictures typically have an attractive naked female torso, and a really fat guy that kinda has man-boobs. When you're trying to convince people that the breasts are the same, it's a horrible comparison. Any man will think the attractive female has attractive breasts, which supposedly promotes sexual interest. The fat man doesn't stand a chance. Well, the one I found stands a chance...
Take a look at this picture on flickr, and lets debate: What makes the breast illegal?
Is it the size? If so, I'd say this person has a lot of women beat in terms of size, including the size of the nipple. If size were an issue, the laws would specify that breasts cannot be shown if they were a specified size or beyond. This clearly isn't the case, because women with "bee-stings" still get arrested.
Is it the attractiveness? If this were the case, it would be highly subjective. Cover up everything except the breast of the picture above, and ask someone if it appears to be attractive. They'd probably be interested. Attractiveness isn't the case, because women who are very unattractive still get arrested.
Is it because it sometimes secretes liquid? Well, that's a strange reason to ban showing it. More often, that's the primary reason why it is legal to show when nursing an infant. If liquids were the issue, we should arrest anyone who cries in public.
Is it the gender? You bet! Most people who see the above picture would say the legality depends on if it's a man or a woman. Are they offended when they see it? They probably can't answer due to a lack of obvious gender. If they need to think that hard about it, then they probably aren't. It's clearly the size and shape of a typical breast, but would certainly draw mixed emotions from those who oppose only the female breast.
So the laws dealing with breasts have nothing to do with the actual physical breasts. If they did, the guy pictured above would certainly be illegal. (I assume it's a guy based on the facial and chest hair... If transgendered, they are probably becoming a man and taking lots of testosterone. It's safe to assume the person is male or mostly male.)
Hopefully this image serves as new ammunition for top-equality... Go ahead and start using it when talking about this issue. It'll certainly confuse the opponents!
Update: I did eventually use this picture in the GoTopless Chicago protest, and pictures of us holding the sign have been circulating. It was one of the favorite signs at the event.
Normally, when debating the whole breast legal/illegal issue, people post pictures. These pictures typically have an attractive naked female torso, and a really fat guy that kinda has man-boobs. When you're trying to convince people that the breasts are the same, it's a horrible comparison. Any man will think the attractive female has attractive breasts, which supposedly promotes sexual interest. The fat man doesn't stand a chance. Well, the one I found stands a chance...
Take a look at this picture on flickr, and lets debate: What makes the breast illegal?
Is it the size? If so, I'd say this person has a lot of women beat in terms of size, including the size of the nipple. If size were an issue, the laws would specify that breasts cannot be shown if they were a specified size or beyond. This clearly isn't the case, because women with "bee-stings" still get arrested.
Is it the attractiveness? If this were the case, it would be highly subjective. Cover up everything except the breast of the picture above, and ask someone if it appears to be attractive. They'd probably be interested. Attractiveness isn't the case, because women who are very unattractive still get arrested.
Is it because it sometimes secretes liquid? Well, that's a strange reason to ban showing it. More often, that's the primary reason why it is legal to show when nursing an infant. If liquids were the issue, we should arrest anyone who cries in public.
Is it the gender? You bet! Most people who see the above picture would say the legality depends on if it's a man or a woman. Are they offended when they see it? They probably can't answer due to a lack of obvious gender. If they need to think that hard about it, then they probably aren't. It's clearly the size and shape of a typical breast, but would certainly draw mixed emotions from those who oppose only the female breast.
So the laws dealing with breasts have nothing to do with the actual physical breasts. If they did, the guy pictured above would certainly be illegal. (I assume it's a guy based on the facial and chest hair... If transgendered, they are probably becoming a man and taking lots of testosterone. It's safe to assume the person is male or mostly male.)
Hopefully this image serves as new ammunition for top-equality... Go ahead and start using it when talking about this issue. It'll certainly confuse the opponents!
Update: I did eventually use this picture in the GoTopless Chicago protest, and pictures of us holding the sign have been circulating. It was one of the favorite signs at the event.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
How To: Improve Any Venue with $10
(Please click for full resolution.)In terms of performance, markerboards are hard to beat! The materials are cheap, usually $8 for a simple board and $2 for markers, but the payoff is improved organization and better communication between everyone. However, this is only if the board is set up well! A blank board will likely never get used -- but add some sort of framework, give people markers, and something wonderful will happen. I'll show you how to get the best performance out of this simple tool, and point out why every nudist resort (or other venue) should have one.
The philosophy is simple -- anyone can grab a marker and start writing and erasing at will. What prevents someone from messing it up? Well nothing, really. Most nudists are genuinely good, so it's probably not going to happen. They have a right to write, and you have a right to erase, and vice-versa. It all balances out. Good writings will stick, and the not-so-good ones (or out-of-date ones) will be erased.
The image above is created by me and is loosely based on Nudiarist's Paradise Gardens post. It serves as an example for what I'm talking about in this post.
Materials
The markerboard that I have was about $8 at Wal-mart. I have two of them at home because they work so well -- we use them all the time. (Note the duct tape holding it together in the picture.) The markers are very cheap, and $2 can get you a 4-pack of small ones. I'd recommend larger sizes so they don't run out as quick. A markerboard with no markers is useless, so make sure you have plenty on hand! If you run out, make it a top priority for your next shopping trip. As long as people cap them properly, they should last for quite a while.
If you want a huge markerboard, use solid white tileboard or showerboard. (See the link for details.) You can get a 4' x 8' slab at Home Depot for only $13. Bigger is always better -- one that size could hold every event and announcement for a year and have plenty of space left over.
The cost of having a markerboard is almost free, even for a resort on a shoe-string budget. If you frequent a resort that doesn't have one, consider this one of the cheapest and best donations you could ever give them. Make sure to print out this post and include it in the gift.
Placement
Now that you have a shiny new board, where should it go? You have two priorities in figuring this out:
- Keep it away from kids, or it'll become artwork.
- Place it in a high-traffic area, such as a lobby, office, or pool area, so everyone sees it often and can contribute.
It's a good idea to hang the markers next to or above the board to deter kids. If they don't rest well on top, make a loop out of string around the top corner of the board. Then, bend a paperclip into a hook and tape it to the marker. Finally, hang the marker on the loop. Some boards are magnetic, and some markers have magnets. If you have these, simply attach them to the board. This is a bit more expensive though, and uses up valuable markerboard real estate.
Framework Overview
A blank markerboard never gets much use. As board-master, it is your goal to bring organization to this large slab of white. You need to define a framework that promotes contribution, and keeps everyone informed and collaborating smoothly. Follow this guide to start things off, and tweak things or expand as needed later on.
First is to choose your color. On my board, I used black for everything provided by management. The framework is in black, and my notes are also in black. Of course, I make sure to keep all black markers to myself, so everyone else knows that if it's black, it's me. This way it's easy to tell if management added something, or if it was someone else.
If your framework will be permanent, consider drawing it out in permanent marker. That way the lines, etc. cannot be erased. This is good for dividing up the board and dedicating sections to certain things. Any other messages should be erasable. If you really need to make changes, a new board is only another $8-$13.
Calendar
There are specially designed markerboards that have a 1-month blank calendar on them -- just write in the date numbers and events. Or, make one yourself. If you have a smaller board (like mine), limit yourself to having "this week" and "next week". Make sure to keep this up-to-date! If you have a larger board, do a whole month. Remember to make the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday spaces a little bigger since more events usually happen those days. I chose to use European-style weeks, because I like "weekends" to be at the end, and Monday to be the start of the week.
Encourage other people to add their own events. If Bob and Ann are having a poker tournament, they should add it to the calendar. It's a whole lot easier than trying to tell everyone face-to-face and round them up at the right time. Using the board keeps everyone informed about what's going on, so they can make their own schedules. Bob and Ann could even ask people to RSVP in the "Other Notes" section.
Announcements
How to you inform everyone about something? Meetings take time, and many don't go. Signs and posters are wasteful. The PA system might be a little annoying, if we can hear it. Face-to-face takes forever and can miss people. Writing it on the public markerboard is a simple and effective solution!
This section is dedicated to what management has to say. Anyone could write in here, but remember that black is the color of management, and they have the means to erase everything else.
Tasks
This is extremely important, and something that most neglect. I'll drive the point home with my "Future Resort" series later on, but I'll try to summarize it here.
Tasking is the best way to organize what needs work and who is working on it. Traditional resorts are bad at Tasking! They either force members to do stuff, or try to do it all themselves. Owners have a hectic life because everything is broken and everyone is relying on them to fix it. Too often, they forget about the little things. This is a problem, to which I have the solution: Open up!
Having a task list allows people to add things that they find, and to volunteer to fix things when they have extra time. (Nudists seem to have a LOT of extra time, especially the permanent residents.) Also, this lets people voice things instead of just wander away and leave it for the next person.
In my example, Nudiarist stumbled onto a few broken things that people probably forgot about. He generously added these to the board: "Balance pool table" and "Replace [broken] darts". Dan knows how to balance a pool table, and has time this afternoon to work on it, so he added his name to that task. Nobody knows where to get new darts, so it's still open for a volunteer. It's time to mow the lawns again, so the usual guy (Dave) has been assigned to do it. When Dan and Dave finish their tasks, they should erase them.
What does the owner have to do? Not much! The place practically fixes itself, and nothing is forgotten. If the darts task is open for a while, the owner can step in and find/buy some new ones. With this method, the simple things are pointed out and taken care of by the community without much intervention by management.
A problem that may occur is that people never volunteer. A discount for the resort is good incentive -- post the amount by the task. (In black, of course.) I know that I'd volunteer to fix stuff to reduce the cost of my stay!
Funds
Things cost money. Anyone can coordinate fundraisers and donate the money to a "community account" at the venue. Then, have people vote for what they think the money should be spent on. Make sure to keep names with the votes, because people should have only one vote. (If they re-vote, consider it a revised one.) If nobody likes the "community bikes" idea, and the owner buys them, it's only going to make people angry and go unused. Let people vote for what they want, and they might be more willing to donate more money towards it. The owner acts to buy what makes the most people happy, and will have the money quicker. (If the "Pool AC System" is something everyone really wants, you can bet they'll be contributing money to get it.)
At most places, I pinch my pennies because I don't know where that money is going. I can only assume it's going to the owner's pocket. Inform people and they'll be more willing to participate and get the funds you need.
Other Notes
This section is for anything else. Consider it a place to fill in all the gaps. See what I have in the bottom corner of my board. Good ideas are classifieds, lost+found, thanks and other feedback. It can also be used to track stuff, like a to-do list for a big event or the status of the all-day volleyball tournaments. It's like a forum where anything goes.
Conclusion
Observe how I took a drab block of white and transformed it into a tool for productivity and organization. It's so simple and so useful that I find it hard to believe that venues choose to operate without one. Also, it's so cheap that any member can donate one. This is a tool that has a huge payoff at an almost-free cost, and I strongly suggest that any member or venue that is reading this should give it a shot. It improves communication between guests and management, and reduces the burden on management to coordinate everything. A better-quality resort will boost revenue and boost member happiness. There's no downside to introducing a markerboard to your resort, so do it!
Shameless Plug
For a high-tech, world-wide nudist markerboard, see the WWNCW. It has the same concept as I've presented above, and is completely free!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Mazo Manor - S1E03 - Now That's a Clean Sea-Doo!
My girlfriend and I took the motorcycle to the beach on the July 4th holiday. Upon arrival, I noticed that the beach was a bit more empty than what I was expecting. Over time, it became much more lively. It was mostly middle-aged people and there was a really good gender balance. That's one thing I love about mazo -- most resorts have mostly old men, but the beach has a much better mix.
The Contenders were around this time, and were engaged in their group for the entire time we were at the beach. A few of them swapped out to watch, but no outsider was invited in (that I noticed). They are beyond the skills of most outsiders anyway. I heard a few reports from other people saying that individually they are great to talk to, but together they are somewhat rude. This attitude is primarily caused by a person who I will call Champ. I never approached this group to hear their side of the story. It's a little intimidating, actually.
Here's another intimidating thing: Couples our age. At home, my girlfriend and I have a problem with making friends. None of our hobbies in town are social (aka, we don't drink), so all the friends we have are from work. In other words, we have kinda boring friends. I used to have other friends in town, but they all have graduated and moved away. Our only big social hobby is Mazo Beach, so we are trying to meet new friends there. We'd prefer people our age, and that are somewhat close to our area. People our age are rare, and hard to approach correctly. (Example in the last episode, who weren't around this time like I hoped they would be.) And it seems that the couple is always more attractive then ourselves, which only makes me feel bad for trying to talk to the "hot girl at the party".
There was one other couple on the beach our age, and they apparently were weekenders (or more) that we just hadn't seen yet. I didn't want to approach them directly, and we missed our opportunity to join in when Smokey was talking to them. As we approached, Smokey was leaving, so instead I joined up with him to go check out a boat that we had discussed previously. It was a 1950's sailboat hull that was remade into an electric boat with a canvas top, and looked awesome!
As luck would have it, the couple went for a dip while we were chatting with the Elders. My girlfriend waved them over to us on their return, and they joined since they knew the Elders. Success! We learned that they were from our area and have some common interests with us. We think they're great, and we're looking forward to seeing them more often either at the beach or at other social activities in our area. They have our contact information, and I really hope they contact us. They energetically invited us over to their spot on the beach to chat more -- and I fully intended to visit!
Another thing the female of the couple mentioned is that she was yelled at. She put on a tanktop to go to the porta-potty. Normally she should wear pants too, since the shirt didn't even begin to cover her butt. (My observation is that every other part of the land is closed right now, so it's only nudies in the mini parking lot -- we shouldn't have to wear clothing since there is no possibility for textilers.) Champ yelled at her, something to the effect of "You need to cover up -- this is our beach and we don't want weekenders getting us in trouble!" The Elders later pointed out that the couple visit the beach more often than the Contenders, again calling them rude. They admitted that if encountered, it would really be a DNR judgement call since she was mostly covered. Mostly though, they didn't like Champ calling it their beach. It belongs to the public, not them.
After the couple left the group conversation, I asked Kingpin a burning question that I had: Were the many people on the island supposed to be over there? I've heard from several people that they aren't supposed to be, because it's in another county and outside of the traditional beach area. Kingpin didn't know about where the county line was exactly, but said that he was never told by the DNR or anyone official that people shouldn't be there. My further investigation (at home) is as follows: (click the image for full view)
The county line is highlighted in yellow, and the source for this is the Wisconsin DNR WebView. It's an odd place to draw the line, but the island in question is indeed in a different county. However, does this really matter? The DNR controls the land on both sides and in between, and it's not like they have to call in a different county's DNR person to investigate something on the other side of the river. It seems that the only people who could answer my question is the DNR -- little did I know, I'd have the answer today.
There was fairly heavy canoe traffic today, and for some reason almost ALL came through near the beach. The beach was rockin', so I guess they wanted to sneak a peek. There was one guy that was dressed kinda flashy who zoomed in on a sea-doo. Upon closer inspection, we discovered that this was a DNR warden.
What do we do now? I know they usually peek in, but normally it's from the mini parking lot and not a sea-doo. This guy stopped by some swimmers, who held his sea-doo in place after he shut it off to talk to them. Kingpin, my girlfriend and I wandered out there as well. Kingpin knew him by name already, and I just couldn't pass this up.
The warden asked Kingpin how things have been going. He knew that the Elders and other regulars do a great job at self-policing. Kingpin reported that there haven't been any problems. The warden seemed content, as-if surrounded by friends even though not a beach-goer, and decided to have lunch while chatting. He asked about how far people have been going down the island, and Kingpin (who patrols this occasionally) gave him about how many were there and how far they are going. The warden didn't mind at all -- strongly indicating that the DNR doesn't mind people being on the island as long as they are close to the traditional beach. In other words, the part you can see from the traditional beach is OK by this warden. He never said that people shouldn't be there, and people were currently there. However, people shouldn't test the limits by wandering further.
Update: On a technical note, the island is beyond the traditional area. The beach-side is probably OK for a quick visit, but don't go on the other side. This is the main river channel, and the people on the river will complain. If there are complaints, the DNR will do something about it. Although the DNR warden didn't seem to mind, he may be giving us enough rope to hang ourselves with.
The people of the beach really appreciate the DNR. They offer us safety (the warden fined a textile canoeist for having glass near our beach just before visiting us), and we help them out by self-policing, pulling invasive weeds, cleaning the roads, and whatever we can. The group noticed that the sea-doo was a bit dirty, so a few of them washed it off with river water during the warden's lunch. (I'm sure he was happy that a naked woman was washing his sea-doo.)
This whole encounter proved several things:
Anyway, during the chat I noticed that the couple we had met earlier were leaving. They invited us over, and I felt really bad that I hadn't made it over there. Oh well, we'll have to catch up another day! Despite how badly I wanted to go back on the 5th or 6th, prior commitments and our current sunburns indicated that we probably shouldn't. I'm sure the beach was rockin' even more over the weekend -- sorry that we had to miss it!
NEXT EPISODE
The Contenders were around this time, and were engaged in their group for the entire time we were at the beach. A few of them swapped out to watch, but no outsider was invited in (that I noticed). They are beyond the skills of most outsiders anyway. I heard a few reports from other people saying that individually they are great to talk to, but together they are somewhat rude. This attitude is primarily caused by a person who I will call Champ. I never approached this group to hear their side of the story. It's a little intimidating, actually.
Here's another intimidating thing: Couples our age. At home, my girlfriend and I have a problem with making friends. None of our hobbies in town are social (aka, we don't drink), so all the friends we have are from work. In other words, we have kinda boring friends. I used to have other friends in town, but they all have graduated and moved away. Our only big social hobby is Mazo Beach, so we are trying to meet new friends there. We'd prefer people our age, and that are somewhat close to our area. People our age are rare, and hard to approach correctly. (Example in the last episode, who weren't around this time like I hoped they would be.) And it seems that the couple is always more attractive then ourselves, which only makes me feel bad for trying to talk to the "hot girl at the party".
There was one other couple on the beach our age, and they apparently were weekenders (or more) that we just hadn't seen yet. I didn't want to approach them directly, and we missed our opportunity to join in when Smokey was talking to them. As we approached, Smokey was leaving, so instead I joined up with him to go check out a boat that we had discussed previously. It was a 1950's sailboat hull that was remade into an electric boat with a canvas top, and looked awesome!
As luck would have it, the couple went for a dip while we were chatting with the Elders. My girlfriend waved them over to us on their return, and they joined since they knew the Elders. Success! We learned that they were from our area and have some common interests with us. We think they're great, and we're looking forward to seeing them more often either at the beach or at other social activities in our area. They have our contact information, and I really hope they contact us. They energetically invited us over to their spot on the beach to chat more -- and I fully intended to visit!
Another thing the female of the couple mentioned is that she was yelled at. She put on a tanktop to go to the porta-potty. Normally she should wear pants too, since the shirt didn't even begin to cover her butt. (My observation is that every other part of the land is closed right now, so it's only nudies in the mini parking lot -- we shouldn't have to wear clothing since there is no possibility for textilers.) Champ yelled at her, something to the effect of "You need to cover up -- this is our beach and we don't want weekenders getting us in trouble!" The Elders later pointed out that the couple visit the beach more often than the Contenders, again calling them rude. They admitted that if encountered, it would really be a DNR judgement call since she was mostly covered. Mostly though, they didn't like Champ calling it their beach. It belongs to the public, not them.
After the couple left the group conversation, I asked Kingpin a burning question that I had: Were the many people on the island supposed to be over there? I've heard from several people that they aren't supposed to be, because it's in another county and outside of the traditional beach area. Kingpin didn't know about where the county line was exactly, but said that he was never told by the DNR or anyone official that people shouldn't be there. My further investigation (at home) is as follows: (click the image for full view)
The county line is highlighted in yellow, and the source for this is the Wisconsin DNR WebView. It's an odd place to draw the line, but the island in question is indeed in a different county. However, does this really matter? The DNR controls the land on both sides and in between, and it's not like they have to call in a different county's DNR person to investigate something on the other side of the river. It seems that the only people who could answer my question is the DNR -- little did I know, I'd have the answer today.
There was fairly heavy canoe traffic today, and for some reason almost ALL came through near the beach. The beach was rockin', so I guess they wanted to sneak a peek. There was one guy that was dressed kinda flashy who zoomed in on a sea-doo. Upon closer inspection, we discovered that this was a DNR warden.
What do we do now? I know they usually peek in, but normally it's from the mini parking lot and not a sea-doo. This guy stopped by some swimmers, who held his sea-doo in place after he shut it off to talk to them. Kingpin, my girlfriend and I wandered out there as well. Kingpin knew him by name already, and I just couldn't pass this up.
The warden asked Kingpin how things have been going. He knew that the Elders and other regulars do a great job at self-policing. Kingpin reported that there haven't been any problems. The warden seemed content, as-if surrounded by friends even though not a beach-goer, and decided to have lunch while chatting. He asked about how far people have been going down the island, and Kingpin (who patrols this occasionally) gave him about how many were there and how far they are going. The warden didn't mind at all -- strongly indicating that the DNR doesn't mind people being on the island as long as they are close to the traditional beach. In other words, the part you can see from the traditional beach is OK by this warden. He never said that people shouldn't be there, and people were currently there. However, people shouldn't test the limits by wandering further.
Update: On a technical note, the island is beyond the traditional area. The beach-side is probably OK for a quick visit, but don't go on the other side. This is the main river channel, and the people on the river will complain. If there are complaints, the DNR will do something about it. Although the DNR warden didn't seem to mind, he may be giving us enough rope to hang ourselves with.
The people of the beach really appreciate the DNR. They offer us safety (the warden fined a textile canoeist for having glass near our beach just before visiting us), and we help them out by self-policing, pulling invasive weeds, cleaning the roads, and whatever we can. The group noticed that the sea-doo was a bit dirty, so a few of them washed it off with river water during the warden's lunch. (I'm sure he was happy that a naked woman was washing his sea-doo.)
This whole encounter proved several things:
- The DNR really is in good terms with the nudists that use the beach.
- The nudists are in good terms with the DNR.
- Kingpin is a primary contact for at least this DNR warden.
- The island isn't off-limits, but can be if we push further.
- The DNR is awesome!
Anyway, during the chat I noticed that the couple we had met earlier were leaving. They invited us over, and I felt really bad that I hadn't made it over there. Oh well, we'll have to catch up another day! Despite how badly I wanted to go back on the 5th or 6th, prior commitments and our current sunburns indicated that we probably shouldn't. I'm sure the beach was rockin' even more over the weekend -- sorry that we had to miss it!
NEXT EPISODE
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Mazo Manor - S1E02 - Kingpin in Training
I was alone today (June 21st), so I filled the backpack and took the motorcycle to Mazo. On the way, I stopped at the gas station and grabbed some food for the beach.
No bug spray was needed -- the mozzies were surprisingly sparse. The water level was just fine, slightly high but there was plenty of beach available. Almanac said the water was 77 degrees, and that the water may still be a little polluted from the flooding. The beach seemed calm for a Saturday, and consisted of the Elders and random people scatted around the rest of the beach.
I asked about the garlic mustard issues from last time. It wasn't a prank. Captain Planet and Gaia (who were there today too) put it there themselves, and the caller thought that someone else did it. Another blog has posted a picture of this event. (Hmmm.... were they the ones that called Smokey?)
I took a walk around the beach. It's funny that the Elders were chatting away, and most everyone else was dead silent. There were no other chatty groups on the beach. The demographics were surprising today -- there were attractive couples there my age, maybe even a bit younger. There was even a group of just females, my age, which is a very rare sight for any US nudist venue.
Kingpin detected a newbie couple towards the back of the beach. I knew that he would want to talk to them, since he likes to meet everyone on the beach. Ok, maybe just every newbie group that contains one of more females. This is for good reason though: More females that are encouraged to be at the beach means it's more comfortable for other females and brings the gender balance closer to even. Men don't really need the encouragement.
I was curious as to how a professional such as himself would approach them, so I waited. This is really a bigger issue than it seems! A single man walking up to a couple to chat could certainly make the female uncomfortable, meaning they won't come back. The answer: Kingpin waited until she was in the water alone (and after they had been there a while), then walked over to the guy and started with a joke about his very white butt. As they were chatting, and in good terms, she came back to join in the conversation. If the woman didn't like it, she would've stayed in the water. There's a very good chance I'll be using the technique too, assuming my girl isn't along. (A couple approaching another couple seems OK, as long as it's not right away... People need time to adjust.)
Kingpin is actually great at making newbies feel welcome. I've put myself to be a "Kingpin in training", because I'm really good at watching over the events and status of the beach....when I'm there. I'd love to welcome and encourage more people of my generation, because some of us may become the new Elders someday. Also, I'm very much an "information booth". I can almost always answer any question thrown at me accurately, and know more about the news issues that people bring up than they do.
There was another couple around that were my age, but I didn't get a chance to talk to them. Also, I wanted to talk to the group of younger ladies just to figure out their story of how they made it to the beach with no men, but didn't.
While chatting with Kingpin and the newbie couple, Kingpin brought out some photo books. One was his collection from when the religious zealots were blocking the trail to the beach. The other was of him and friends, and a giant "Team Mazo" written with nude bodies on the beach, and taken from the guy that occasionally flies a helicopter to the beach. I hadn't seen these pictures, and was unaware of that event. It was probably before my time... Either way, his "brag book" impressed the newbies.
There were two groups of non-nudists in the area. One was a larger group of canoers that stopped on the unreachable island, many were younger and most were loud as they played around. Another group of 3 guys 2 girls, who walked all the way to the beach, only stripped down to bathing suits on the edge of the beach. They waded out to the reachable island for a while. It's only a guess, but I think they went to the beach to drink, and they were probably underage.
One of the guys I talked to told me a little more about the beach history. He was wondering is they were going to have the Nude Olympics on the 4th, like they have in the past. I haven't heard anything about it if they are, but I assume people will bring games and stuff on the 4th anyway. He said that attendance is way down compared to the past.
From my point of view, the beach is getting more disconnected. This disconnect makes the beach less strong, and makes it hard to plan events and have a sense of community. The web presence of the beach is primarily a group of completely out-of-date sites, a Friends of Mazo Beach yahoo group, and bloggers (All Nudist and me, are there more?). Blogs and forums are limited tools, and are all competing with each-other. I believe that the answer is in a central, community-driven site that provides a variety of tools for collaboration. If I could get the WWNCW to catch on, all sorts of wonderful things would happen.
Lastly, I asked Kingpin if he knew a "Steve & Angie". He didn't recall right away, until I mentioned Skippy. Of course he knew them! However, he didn't know anything more. Sorry guys, I can't send cookies (per your earlier comment) unless I have a last name, address, or another year. Being newlyweds, you're not listed as "Steve & Angie" (or any similar names) in the phonebook just yet. Of the 4 Steve&Angie's I found in the Madison area, none match your house. (I used Microsoft's 'Birds Eye' view, and one of the houses was for sale recently so I could see the inside of the house.) Besides, if I got cookies in the mail from someone I never met -- I probably wouldn't eat them!
All-in-all, I had a great time, but I think I overdid it. My skin has three shades of red: Light red means that it'll fade away and be just as white as before. Medium red turns into a nice tan. Dark red means it's burnt. At the beach, it appeared to be the perfect medium red.... It looked a lot darker when I got home. Oops! Promise me that you won't laugh at my peeling skin on the 4th, ok?
NEXT EPISODE
No bug spray was needed -- the mozzies were surprisingly sparse. The water level was just fine, slightly high but there was plenty of beach available. Almanac said the water was 77 degrees, and that the water may still be a little polluted from the flooding. The beach seemed calm for a Saturday, and consisted of the Elders and random people scatted around the rest of the beach.
I asked about the garlic mustard issues from last time. It wasn't a prank. Captain Planet and Gaia (who were there today too) put it there themselves, and the caller thought that someone else did it. Another blog has posted a picture of this event. (Hmmm.... were they the ones that called Smokey?)
I took a walk around the beach. It's funny that the Elders were chatting away, and most everyone else was dead silent. There were no other chatty groups on the beach. The demographics were surprising today -- there were attractive couples there my age, maybe even a bit younger. There was even a group of just females, my age, which is a very rare sight for any US nudist venue.
Kingpin detected a newbie couple towards the back of the beach. I knew that he would want to talk to them, since he likes to meet everyone on the beach. Ok, maybe just every newbie group that contains one of more females. This is for good reason though: More females that are encouraged to be at the beach means it's more comfortable for other females and brings the gender balance closer to even. Men don't really need the encouragement.
I was curious as to how a professional such as himself would approach them, so I waited. This is really a bigger issue than it seems! A single man walking up to a couple to chat could certainly make the female uncomfortable, meaning they won't come back. The answer: Kingpin waited until she was in the water alone (and after they had been there a while), then walked over to the guy and started with a joke about his very white butt. As they were chatting, and in good terms, she came back to join in the conversation. If the woman didn't like it, she would've stayed in the water. There's a very good chance I'll be using the technique too, assuming my girl isn't along. (A couple approaching another couple seems OK, as long as it's not right away... People need time to adjust.)
Kingpin is actually great at making newbies feel welcome. I've put myself to be a "Kingpin in training", because I'm really good at watching over the events and status of the beach....when I'm there. I'd love to welcome and encourage more people of my generation, because some of us may become the new Elders someday. Also, I'm very much an "information booth". I can almost always answer any question thrown at me accurately, and know more about the news issues that people bring up than they do.
There was another couple around that were my age, but I didn't get a chance to talk to them. Also, I wanted to talk to the group of younger ladies just to figure out their story of how they made it to the beach with no men, but didn't.
While chatting with Kingpin and the newbie couple, Kingpin brought out some photo books. One was his collection from when the religious zealots were blocking the trail to the beach. The other was of him and friends, and a giant "Team Mazo" written with nude bodies on the beach, and taken from the guy that occasionally flies a helicopter to the beach. I hadn't seen these pictures, and was unaware of that event. It was probably before my time... Either way, his "brag book" impressed the newbies.
There were two groups of non-nudists in the area. One was a larger group of canoers that stopped on the unreachable island, many were younger and most were loud as they played around. Another group of 3 guys 2 girls, who walked all the way to the beach, only stripped down to bathing suits on the edge of the beach. They waded out to the reachable island for a while. It's only a guess, but I think they went to the beach to drink, and they were probably underage.
One of the guys I talked to told me a little more about the beach history. He was wondering is they were going to have the Nude Olympics on the 4th, like they have in the past. I haven't heard anything about it if they are, but I assume people will bring games and stuff on the 4th anyway. He said that attendance is way down compared to the past.
From my point of view, the beach is getting more disconnected. This disconnect makes the beach less strong, and makes it hard to plan events and have a sense of community. The web presence of the beach is primarily a group of completely out-of-date sites, a Friends of Mazo Beach yahoo group, and bloggers (All Nudist and me, are there more?). Blogs and forums are limited tools, and are all competing with each-other. I believe that the answer is in a central, community-driven site that provides a variety of tools for collaboration. If I could get the WWNCW to catch on, all sorts of wonderful things would happen.
Lastly, I asked Kingpin if he knew a "Steve & Angie". He didn't recall right away, until I mentioned Skippy. Of course he knew them! However, he didn't know anything more. Sorry guys, I can't send cookies (per your earlier comment) unless I have a last name, address, or another year. Being newlyweds, you're not listed as "Steve & Angie" (or any similar names) in the phonebook just yet. Of the 4 Steve&Angie's I found in the Madison area, none match your house. (I used Microsoft's 'Birds Eye' view, and one of the houses was for sale recently so I could see the inside of the house.) Besides, if I got cookies in the mail from someone I never met -- I probably wouldn't eat them!
All-in-all, I had a great time, but I think I overdid it. My skin has three shades of red: Light red means that it'll fade away and be just as white as before. Medium red turns into a nice tan. Dark red means it's burnt. At the beach, it appeared to be the perfect medium red.... It looked a lot darker when I got home. Oops! Promise me that you won't laugh at my peeling skin on the 4th, ok?
NEXT EPISODE
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Mazo Manor - S1E01 - Garlic Mustard Mystery
It was the perfect afternoon to be at the beach! My girlfriend and I Off'd ourselves before starting on the long walk to paradise. About half-way down the trail, a car was parked in a suspicious spot with nobody around. Not only that, but the car was covered in garlic mustard. I joked that it made horrible camouflage, since we could still see the car. From the air, the bright-colored car would probably be invisible -- that's how much of the plant was on it! The only reasonable conclusion I could come up with is that they were keeping it off the ground so that the seeds don't spread.
Further down the trail, we saw Captain Planet and Gaia pulling the invasive plant. It was obvious that the car we saw belonged to them. They recognized me, since they saw me only a couple weeks earlier for the road cleanup. (Which, by the way, the nude hiker agrees with. Get out and do this too!) I offered bug spray, which they readily accepted since theirs was in the car. I didn't say anything about their car, even though the obvious question was right on the tip of my tongue.
Once we finally made it to the beach, we settled down next to the Elders. I already knew them from last year because, obviously, they are always at the beach. The Elders are always fun to talk to, because they are very opinionated! They proceeded to tell me how bad the Diligents are, though not as bad as the Contenders. I'm friends with the Diligents, and can understand their opinion, but I don't agree with it. I'll approach the Contenders at a later date and see if the accusations hold true.
After complaining about other sub-groups on the beach, they mentioned that they might start their own. They wanted to learn how to start and maintain a website, since one of the members has a lot of time on their hands. They wanted an official organization, with open books and better communication. I told them that the web work has already been done, and it's called the WWNCW. All they need to do is participate. If everyone participated, we'd have a very strong beach!
Kingpin enlightened my day when he said I was the "future lifeblood" of the beach. (In context, he was talking about my generation, but I can take it personal, right?) As Mr. Future-Lifeblood, my goal is to get everyone at the beach to work together instead of splitting into a million sub-groups and stepping on each-others toes. I didn't say any of that to Kingpin, but probably will next time!
Smokey got a call, and he couldn't stop laughing. Someone informed him about the garlic mustard covered car. Apparently it's wasn't on purpose -- it was a prank. Whodunnit? Nobody knew, but I'll ask about it next time to see if the mystery is solved. It must've been a lot of work to put that much of it on the car, so someone was serious with their intent.
After a bit, Captain Planet and Gaia made it to the beach and kept their distance from the Elders and us. It was late, and the beach was thinning out, so we decided to put our clothes on and head out. As we were leaving, we were called over to where Captain Planet was. He asked for my email address, which I gave him, and he said he'd be in contact.
So far, nobody has emailed and there have been no new users on the WWNCW. Steve and Angie posted that they were at the beach. I don't remember any "famous beach dog" being there, so they must've been there in the morning. I'll catch up to them eventually! They seem to be the dominant Mazo-area blog, despite being the younger of the two, which means they must have really good social connections. If I could achieve their support, it would be a great benefit to the beach and to nudists in general. (I know they're listening.)
NEXT EPISODE
Further down the trail, we saw Captain Planet and Gaia pulling the invasive plant. It was obvious that the car we saw belonged to them. They recognized me, since they saw me only a couple weeks earlier for the road cleanup. (Which, by the way, the nude hiker agrees with. Get out and do this too!) I offered bug spray, which they readily accepted since theirs was in the car. I didn't say anything about their car, even though the obvious question was right on the tip of my tongue.
Once we finally made it to the beach, we settled down next to the Elders. I already knew them from last year because, obviously, they are always at the beach. The Elders are always fun to talk to, because they are very opinionated! They proceeded to tell me how bad the Diligents are, though not as bad as the Contenders. I'm friends with the Diligents, and can understand their opinion, but I don't agree with it. I'll approach the Contenders at a later date and see if the accusations hold true.
After complaining about other sub-groups on the beach, they mentioned that they might start their own. They wanted to learn how to start and maintain a website, since one of the members has a lot of time on their hands. They wanted an official organization, with open books and better communication. I told them that the web work has already been done, and it's called the WWNCW. All they need to do is participate. If everyone participated, we'd have a very strong beach!
Kingpin enlightened my day when he said I was the "future lifeblood" of the beach. (In context, he was talking about my generation, but I can take it personal, right?) As Mr. Future-Lifeblood, my goal is to get everyone at the beach to work together instead of splitting into a million sub-groups and stepping on each-others toes. I didn't say any of that to Kingpin, but probably will next time!
Smokey got a call, and he couldn't stop laughing. Someone informed him about the garlic mustard covered car. Apparently it's wasn't on purpose -- it was a prank. Whodunnit? Nobody knew, but I'll ask about it next time to see if the mystery is solved. It must've been a lot of work to put that much of it on the car, so someone was serious with their intent.
After a bit, Captain Planet and Gaia made it to the beach and kept their distance from the Elders and us. It was late, and the beach was thinning out, so we decided to put our clothes on and head out. As we were leaving, we were called over to where Captain Planet was. He asked for my email address, which I gave him, and he said he'd be in contact.
So far, nobody has emailed and there have been no new users on the WWNCW. Steve and Angie posted that they were at the beach. I don't remember any "famous beach dog" being there, so they must've been there in the morning. I'll catch up to them eventually! They seem to be the dominant Mazo-area blog, despite being the younger of the two, which means they must have really good social connections. If I could achieve their support, it would be a great benefit to the beach and to nudists in general. (I know they're listening.)
NEXT EPISODE
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Mazo Manor - S1E00 - Pilot
I've already been frequenting Mazo Beach. As a social chameleon, I've accidentally made friends with two opposing groups. What played out is something that reminded me of the TV show Meerkat Manor -- the only soap opera on TV where everyone is naked and fuzzy. So here is the official start of: Mazo Manor! The text-only show portraying the natrual lives of au natural tribes.
I'll try to keep things anonymous, but stay true to the developments as I witness them. The people at Mazo Beach will likely be able to figure out who's who, and I doubt that any would learn of new developments via this blog. The word spreads pretty quickly there, even between groups. Plus, I'll have at least a week of delay before I post things to ensure that it's all old news. If there's any trouble, I'll edit/terminate the series as needed.
Hopefully this series ends up being better than Maslin Beach (review), and a bit more exciting than the Mazo posts at All Nudist. I'll show the drama, comedy, conflict, and adventure of life at the nude beach. I'll try to mingle my way into each of the groups (which I planned to do anyway since I like everyone there), and approach issues from all of their observed angles. My goals, opinions, and experiences will be shared in the storyline.
The groups are as follows: The Elders, who aren't exactly old, represent a group that have been regulars to the beach for a long time. They have impressively dark tans and are always well prepared for a day at the beach. It's safe to say they know everything, and everyone, at the beach. The Diligents, who are a small group that organize the road cleanup, and occasional other events. The Contenders, who certainly put on a show when they're around. The South-Enders, who hopefully stay out of the show. And The Clusters, an always-changing group that forms in a specific spot, and has an unusually even gender balance among members.
Specific actors that I've met and named so far include Kingpin, Smokey, and Almanac from the Elders, Captain Planet and Gaia (pronounced Guy-ah) from the Diligents, and the elusive Steve and Angie ('All Nudist' bloggers) who I believe are part of the Clusters. Just like the meerkats, group names and actor names will be created as needed. I don't mean to offend anyone with the names, but I don't want to use real names either...except those who already have open blogs.
Without further to do -- let's start the show!
NEXT EPISODE
I'll try to keep things anonymous, but stay true to the developments as I witness them. The people at Mazo Beach will likely be able to figure out who's who, and I doubt that any would learn of new developments via this blog. The word spreads pretty quickly there, even between groups. Plus, I'll have at least a week of delay before I post things to ensure that it's all old news. If there's any trouble, I'll edit/terminate the series as needed.
Hopefully this series ends up being better than Maslin Beach (review), and a bit more exciting than the Mazo posts at All Nudist. I'll show the drama, comedy, conflict, and adventure of life at the nude beach. I'll try to mingle my way into each of the groups (which I planned to do anyway since I like everyone there), and approach issues from all of their observed angles. My goals, opinions, and experiences will be shared in the storyline.
The groups are as follows: The Elders, who aren't exactly old, represent a group that have been regulars to the beach for a long time. They have impressively dark tans and are always well prepared for a day at the beach. It's safe to say they know everything, and everyone, at the beach. The Diligents, who are a small group that organize the road cleanup, and occasional other events. The Contenders, who certainly put on a show when they're around. The South-Enders, who hopefully stay out of the show. And The Clusters, an always-changing group that forms in a specific spot, and has an unusually even gender balance among members.
Specific actors that I've met and named so far include Kingpin, Smokey, and Almanac from the Elders, Captain Planet and Gaia (pronounced Guy-ah) from the Diligents, and the elusive Steve and Angie ('All Nudist' bloggers) who I believe are part of the Clusters. Just like the meerkats, group names and actor names will be created as needed. I don't mean to offend anyone with the names, but I don't want to use real names either...except those who already have open blogs.
Without further to do -- let's start the show!
NEXT EPISODE
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