Here’s the concluding part of the Beauty & the Beast nude charity calendar review, in aid of the breast & testicular cancer units at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd. Part 1 here
It felt more than slightly odd trying to buy one of the Clawddnewydd nude charity calendars. What would the seller think? After all, this is neither an everyday purchase nor an everyday sale, is it? And I've got standing in the community, me. In the event, it was OK. We all managed a (nervous?) laugh. She confided that a chuckle was—and would be—the reaction from most people, judging by last year’s Rhuthun nude calendar. That and a little innuendo.
Later, at home, the next thing was to open it up. Apparently, it was the ladies themselves who had sealed the calendars in plastic, to ensure prying eyes turned to purchases. I found myself putting the moment off. I needed coffee. Just in case. I did think of a glass of wine, but it was too early for that. But I needn’t have worried. It was all in the best possible taste. Usually.
The first thing you need to remember is that these people are ordinary mortals. Yet, the skill of the team who put this together means that you wouldn’t know it. The make-up and styling’s expert. And the photography is engaging (ahem—I’m talking about the scenery). These obviously aren’t family snapshots, they’re imaginative yet only slightly brash.
Few are totally nude. Boots seem to play a significant part but they enhance rather than detract. It reminds me of Grimsdyke in the fifties ‘Doctor’ comedy novels by Richard Gordon. Wag Grimsdyke finds himself in a liberal Swedish mixed sauna and, to retain his 1950s conservative British sense of decency, he resolutely refuses to go totally starkers—by keeping his socks on throughout.
What we’ll never know, though, is whether there were any Photoshop enhancements deployed to ameliorate flaws or enhance backgrounds. Did jack-the-lad Mr March really ‘cheekily’ stand in the village pond holding nothing but his (fishing) rod by the main road, for all to see? Or was it really in the studio? And was raunchy Miss February really doing the fasted thing on two feet—looka dat, looka dat*—in front of a large sports crowd?
It’s difficult to choose which is the best. The pose most like the original Yorkshire WI calendar is probably Miss June's. The most provocative (in the animated sense) is probably Mr November.
All I now need to do is resist the temptation to hunt down houses for sale in Clawdnewydd and join the pantheon of gods and goddesses who live on the hills. It was a tenner well spent.
This is the Birchall’s second charity nude calendar. Click here and then follow the link for last year’s. What’s in store next time? A film starring the people of Clawdd? Might the Rhuthun/Ruthin Blog be a sponsor?
STOP PRESS: Beauty & the Beast has gone international. It's on sale in England—in St Helens, Merseyside
*From the 1970s Ray Stevens song, The Streak, that poked fun at the early 1970s fad for streaking in public. “Once again, your action news reporter in the booth at the gym, covering the disturbance at the basketball playoff. Pardon me, sir, did you see what happened?” A large number on the calendar probably weren't born when that single climbed to no.1...
It felt more than slightly odd trying to buy one of the Clawddnewydd nude charity calendars. What would the seller think? After all, this is neither an everyday purchase nor an everyday sale, is it? And I've got standing in the community, me. In the event, it was OK. We all managed a (nervous?) laugh. She confided that a chuckle was—and would be—the reaction from most people, judging by last year’s Rhuthun nude calendar. That and a little innuendo.
Later, at home, the next thing was to open it up. Apparently, it was the ladies themselves who had sealed the calendars in plastic, to ensure prying eyes turned to purchases. I found myself putting the moment off. I needed coffee. Just in case. I did think of a glass of wine, but it was too early for that. But I needn’t have worried. It was all in the best possible taste. Usually.The first thing you need to remember is that these people are ordinary mortals. Yet, the skill of the team who put this together means that you wouldn’t know it. The make-up and styling’s expert. And the photography is engaging (ahem—I’m talking about the scenery). These obviously aren’t family snapshots, they’re imaginative yet only slightly brash.
Few are totally nude. Boots seem to play a significant part but they enhance rather than detract. It reminds me of Grimsdyke in the fifties ‘Doctor’ comedy novels by Richard Gordon. Wag Grimsdyke finds himself in a liberal Swedish mixed sauna and, to retain his 1950s conservative British sense of decency, he resolutely refuses to go totally starkers—by keeping his socks on throughout.What we’ll never know, though, is whether there were any Photoshop enhancements deployed to ameliorate flaws or enhance backgrounds. Did jack-the-lad Mr March really ‘cheekily’ stand in the village pond holding nothing but his (fishing) rod by the main road, for all to see? Or was it really in the studio? And was raunchy Miss February really doing the fasted thing on two feet—looka dat, looka dat*—in front of a large sports crowd?
It’s difficult to choose which is the best. The pose most like the original Yorkshire WI calendar is probably Miss June's. The most provocative (in the animated sense) is probably Mr November.
All I now need to do is resist the temptation to hunt down houses for sale in Clawdnewydd and join the pantheon of gods and goddesses who live on the hills. It was a tenner well spent.
This is the Birchall’s second charity nude calendar. Click here and then follow the link for last year’s. What’s in store next time? A film starring the people of Clawdd? Might the Rhuthun/Ruthin Blog be a sponsor?
STOP PRESS: Beauty & the Beast has gone international. It's on sale in England—in St Helens, Merseyside
*From the 1970s Ray Stevens song, The Streak, that poked fun at the early 1970s fad for streaking in public. “Once again, your action news reporter in the booth at the gym, covering the disturbance at the basketball playoff. Pardon me, sir, did you see what happened?” A large number on the calendar probably weren't born when that single climbed to no.1...
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