We have Victoria Beckham to thank for yet another moment of magnificence, as she posted this cheeky pic of her husband David Beckham showing a peek of his naked ass. Beckham’s booty has been celebrated wide and far, and in posts like this and this and this. He’s also been a favorite here as evidenced by this linky-licious post exhibiting his various attributes. This is the closest we’ve come to a true David Beckham nude posterior, so gratitude must be given to Victoria.
Seward Johnson sculpted these works of art which are currently scattered throughout downtown Albany, creating a jolt of surreal awareness when something you assume is human out of the corner of your eye suddenly turns inanimate upon closer examination. Those little tricks of perception have always been one of the most fascinating parts of art for me. Tricking the brain and challenging our too-often-unchallenged perspective is a main tenet of art that’s going to matter.
Sculptures like this also beg for some sort of engagement and interaction, even if it’s just posing for a silly selfie with them. We need more of that in this fractured world, and the idea of art as something for everyone is a comfort as we head further toward division. Art unites all of us in ways that little else can.
On a recent lunch break, I took a walk through downtown to see which of these I could find – there are a total of ten in various downtown locations – I managed to locate seven so far. The quest for the remaining three will continue next week.
Albany holds its whimsical enchantments close to its vest, only revealing them to those who are patient and who take the time to really look. That means going a little further on a daily lunch walk or simply keeping your eyes peeled for unexpected delights like a painted parking meter or a parking garage mural. Always a bane to the existence of the downtown worker, parking is a necessary evil that we might as well make as pretty and whimsical as possible.
Sometimes all it takes for a television show to move from a pleasant enough diversion to classic sitcom status is the right character played by the right actress. Such was the magical alchemy that happened when Nancy McKeon joined the cast of ‘The Facts of Life’ as Jo Polniaczek and immediately started sparring with blonde centerpiece Blair Warner. After whittling the cast down to its star quartet, the show found its footing, thanks to the gruff girl from the wrong side of the tracks with a broken heart of gold. Bringing a depth of feeling and emotional complexity to Jo, McKeon – and the chemistry she shared with her co-stars – put ‘The Facts of Life’ on the sitcom history map. She channeled her talents throughout her lengthy career in Hollywood, including a memorable stint on ‘The Division’ and multiple television movies. For most of us, it’s her indelible role as Jo that made the most lasting impression, and so she earns this Dazzler of the Day for giving her heart and spunky grit to all of us in the 80’s.
The title of this post belongs to a section of Washington, DC, and the Foggy Bottom metro stop always tickles me whenever I see it listed anywhere. On this morning, I’m using it to convey the fog that surrounded our pool in these transitory times of summer seeping into fall. No one is sorrier to see summer go than Andy and me, particularly after such a piss-poor summer that had more rain than spring and fall combined. A rather unfair set of circumstances given last year’s pool fiasco where every day without a functional pool soared to 90 and shone with full unfiltered sunlight. This summer hasn’t felt like summer at all, leaving us in sorry shape for making it through another winter. There are fewer memories to see us through, less Vitamin D coursing through our veins.
That said, I’m not going to lament the passing of summer, especially as there’s nothing to be gained for such wallowing. Better to embrace the change about to take place, lean into the impending season and celebrate the harvest. The gardens, in spite of (or perhaps because of) all the rain have performed fairly well. The ferns usually scorch by the end of July and persisted throughout August, while the Chinese dogwood ‘blooms’ lasted for months – a palliative part of sacrificing all the sunshine. And I’ve made a concerted effort to get into the pool at least once a day when the rain has broken, which forced me to take a meditative pause when my regular meditation fell by the wayside. Living may not be getting any easier, but our coping mechanisms are being refined. Life is about editing and improving and dealing with what we have on hand – not being given the perfect set of circumstances from the beginning. On such foggy mornings, the battle to break out of the haze serves as an opportunity to create our own clarity – and one of the lessons of this summer has been how to turn gray days into something brighter. That starts from the inside.
Continuing his quest for world domination on a Madonna scale, Lil Nas X recently revealed the album art for his upcoming ‘Montero’ opus, out September 17, 2021. He takes up the racy mantle with a naked pose that slightly reminds of Prince’s ‘Lovesexy’ moment, then goes one step further with a fun and enticing video intro. At the present pop culture moment, no one is doing more to so wondrously titillate and gloriously infuriate the masses than Lil Was X, and I am here for all of it. (Check out his Dazzler of the Day feature here.)
It’s been a while since we had a gratuitously-shirtless male celebrity post, so let this fill that gap as September doesn’t always require a shirt. It begins with the featured pic of Shawn Mendes who will be performing on the MTV Music Awards in a few days. Having missed the show for about the past twenty years, I have no idea what it’s like anymore, but maybe this will be the year I tune back in. Mendes has appeared shirtlessly here and in his underwear here and here.
Nick Jonas has been a perennial favorite in these parts – and these parts – and these parts – and these parts. Well, you get the idea. And for more of a shirtless Nick Jonas, see this and this. Bonus post: the brothers Jonas and a shirtless supporting cast.
The eternal debate over who is luckier to be married to the other is intense when it comes to John Krasinski and Emily Blunt. Here is Krasinski in shirtless motion, and if you need a nude John Krasinski fix go here.
Anderson Cooper has been a Hunk of the Day already, so he’s about due for his Dazzler of the Day crowning. Meanwhile, the shirtless parade continues…
Cody Christian, in his native habitat based on his body, has been here before in posts like this and this.
Musician Tom Goss turns the other cheek, and also appeared in this cheeky post.
Donning his own crocheted Speedo, Tom Daley brought Olympic glory to Tokyo earlier this summer, and Speedo heat here and here and here and here and here.
Last and most certainly not least, Michael B. Jordan closes things out with a Zen pose of shirtless magnificence.
The other morning I was driving through the neighborhood and passed the corner where the kids all wait for their school bus – always with their parents, either standing with them outside or staying in their cars. On this late-summer day, there was a group of kids with a lemonade stand, not one adult or chaperone to be seen. It was a lovely reminder of childhood innocence, though it made me wonder: why is it ok for them to be out on the corner selling lemonade with no adults today, but next week when school starts they all need their parents with them while they wait for the bus?
Do criminals only strike during the school year?
The power of summer…
Lest anyone forget, before George Clooney kissed Julianna Margulies and Jennifer Lopez, he kissed Mindy Cohn at the end of an episode of ‘The Facts of Life’. More people need to be aware of that, and so Mindy gets this Dazzler of the Day honor, thanks also to her tireless work as an LGBTQ+ ally, as well as a steady stream of film and television work since her days as Natalie on ‘The Facts of Life’. She also makes appearances with the Beekman Boys from time to time, because she has great taste.
Bright and intense jolts of color coming into the garden at this time of the year are mainly accomplished through the somewhat artificial practice of introducing a pot of obnoxious chrysanthemums into the landscape – perfectly produced mounds of temporary blooms that always look forced and rigid no matter how they are used. Better to have a plant like Vernonia fasciculata – commonly known as Ironweed – put on a show in a more natural and rustic fashion.
I found this plant two falls ago, on a big sale, and popped it in rather late in the season as an afterthought, thinking if it survived that would be an unlikely miracle. Of course I forgot about it until eery summer when it emerged and started sending up tall stalks of leaves. Hoping to force it to branch out, I cut those back the first spring they appeared, resulting in a shorter but more branched form. This year I let them go without any pruning, to see how high they would fly – they are now towering over me at well over six feet in height, and these blooms have just begun.
The plant likes moist soil in full sun, where it will achieve its stately size, and is reportedly host to the American Painted Lady butterfly. It’s a little coarse in leaves and form, but the color, and the time of bloom, are enough to merit its place in our garden.
Behold the almost-ripe fruit of the dogwood. Soon enough these will turn a bright salmon pink, at which point the army fo squirrels high patrols these yards will zoom up and down the branches of three, devouring all the fruit in sight. I tried them in a cocktail a few year ago, and while the flavor was sweet enough, the texture was coarse and awful – but apparently perfect for the squirrels and the bravest of chipmunks who aren’t afraid of getting that much closer to a sky that might hold a hawk.
This is the turn of summer, embodied by the dogwood tree, whose next trick will be lighting itself on fire in bright yellow and orange leaves before dropping everything by the end of November.
Fresh from this re-immersion into ‘The Facts of Life’ I was led to the fabulous Kim Fields for our current Dazzler of the Day. With three indelible and unforgettable roles to date (for her work on ‘The Facts of Life’, ‘Living Single’ and ‘The Upshaws’) Fields also did a quick stint on the Real Housewives, but wisely kept it to a single season. For many of us she will always and affectionately be remembered as Tootie, where for nine seasons she honed and sharpened her comedic acting skills, preparing her for a long career in Hollywood.
Andy and I were just lamenting the summer we have not really had this year, with all the rain and gray days, but September holds summer in most of its weeks, something everyone seems to forget once Labor Day arrives and school begins. This post, compiled with links from previous Septembers, is a reminder of how much charm and magic remains in the days of late-summer…
September 2020 ~ The strangeness that was 2020 spilled throughout the waning summer days…
September 2019 ~ September can be scintillating…
September 2018 ~ The Hunks of the Day were rife in 2018…
September 2017 ~ Nude male celebrities, trips to Boston, and friends galore signified 2017…
September 2016 ~ Cozy blankets, Tom Ford colognes, and shirtless male models posed for 2016’s last days of summer…
September 2015 ~ Travels and journeys and fun around the sun…
September 2014 ~ Broadway booty, bachelor parties, babies and bulges…
September 2013 ~Hints of fall, falling on the wind…
September 2012 ~ Bringing up the rear for these September posts.
It was on a recent rerun of ‘The Facts of Life’ (a comfort from my childhood) where I was reminded of the 80’s magnificence of Michael Damian, and re-familiarizing myself with where ‘Flyman’ went on his career trajectory offered reason enough for Damian to earn his first Dazzler of the Day. Surviving in the business of show is no easy feat, and that he’s still producing and acting and directing is evidence of a certain sort of brilliance.
When the goldenrod nods in bloom and the ferns have started to shrivel, it’s time to start rolling the yarn. I write that as if I’ve rolled yarn before, when in fact this was the very first time. I’ve always thought of rolling yarn skeins into balls an unnecessary step, and only ever crocheted directly from the skein, pulling as I go, but like reed-making for oboe players or rice-washing for chefs, perhaps this step is a part of the process, and so I’m indulging in it and enjoying the meditative trance that one eventually finds when the ball of yarn comes into form.
Like so many other endeavors, crocheting or knitting requires a certain amount of planning and preparation in order to do it well. That begins with having an idea of what you’re making, how much yarn you’ll need, and the proper tools. In the case of making a scarf or blanket (about the only things I’ll attempt this year) that means a crochet hook and the balls of yarn.
As the nights grow cooler, and the gray days drown in rain, rolling the yarn has become a lovely past-time for the end of summer.
