Barely News

Time for another edition of all the news that's fit to bare.

Nudist resort owners charged with stealing water

In a case that highlights growing tensions brought on by California's drought, the owners and two resident-employees of the Lupin Lodge nudist camp have been charged with felony conspiracy for allegedly stealing water last year from a neighboring property to keep their parched resort open.

The complaint filed by the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office on Thursday alleges that Glyn Stout, 77, his wife Lori Kay Stout, 53, Michael Buckland, 38 and John Berryessa, 49, piped water from Hendry's Creek to the drought-affected, clothing-optional business despite numerous warnings to stop.

The four also face six misdemeanor charges, including trespassing on land managed by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. In photos taken by the district's wildlife cameras, the workers appear fully clothed while engaging in such activities as stringing a hose about half a mile upstream to a waterfall, prosecutor Denise Raabe said.

Well, duh; doing heavy work naked is begging for scrapes and other injuries.

If convicted, they face up to three years in county jail. The Stouts and Buckland are set to be arraigned in July; it was not immediately clear when Berryessa will have to appear in court.

I guess I'll pass it up on our upcoming California vacation.

Why These Agency Execs Went Through Hell to Get Naked in These Ads (SFW)

Rebranding is rebirth. New York design and marketing firm Mode Design Group—which today becomes full-service agency Viceroy Creative—took that notion pretty seriously, as its principals posed for rebranding ads stark naked, fresh from the brand ID womb.

The concept—an intentional echo of Stefan Sagmeister and Jessica Walsh getting naked for the 2012 announcement of their partnership—is fun and provocative. In practice, it wasn't so easy. Any rebranding has to be perfect. And more than anything, that meant getting in impeccable shape for the photos—shot by Robert Wyatt, who also photographed the "Equinox Made Me Do It" campaign.

Because sex sells?

The last episode of the naked news  (All the News That's Fit to Bare) featured the World Naked Bike Ride.  This week, we have Sarah Underwood's video report from the event:


Sara Underwood World Naked Bike Ride In Portland from John Nybe Editor on Vimeo.

And finally, good medical news. The "grow your own" breast is on the horizon.

It's not quite a lab-grown boob, but it's close. Mammary glands have been created using cells donated after breast reduction operations.

During puberty the mammary gland forms a network of milk-ducts that are repeatedly reshaped through a woman's life to allow her to provide milk for any children she may have. But the regenerative processes that enable this to happen are poorly understood. Unravelling them could help us better tackle breast cancer as it is the cells of this mammary gland network that usually go awry.

My guess is that the promise of growing new, real breast tissue for implants will soon fund the research, the way that porn funded the development of the internet. I eagerly await the development of the first three breasted woman.

Wombat-socho has the weekly compendium up at The Other McCain: "Rule 5 Sunday: Pipe Dreams."