Friday, March 6, 2020

Favorite Pic of the Day for March 7th

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~Check out today's BIRTHDAYS HERE:~

Back Issues: All American Man, 1988


Check out the highlights of December 1988's All American Man, including cover boy Jeff Stryker, on PAGE 2 HERE:

Instagrams that Inspire: Nico Greetham


Like many of the subjects I feature on FH, my introduction to actor Nico Greetham stemmed from an image.  In Nico's case, the image however, was of Meryl Streep.   I was working on my Oscar pieces earlier this year, and my clicks let me to story of Meryl being cast in the movie adaptation of the Broadway musical The Prom.  In the article, was image of image of Nico, who is playing Nick Boomer in the upcoming flick.


Nico was so freakin' adorable, a google search commenced.  Nico is probably most well known for his role as  Calvin Maxwell / Yellow Ninja Steel Ranger on the television series Power Rangers Ninja Steel.  I hadn't heard of Nico, nor seen an episode of the show, but I'll be keeping my eye out for The Prom and Nico's future projects.



Classic Soap Hunk: Robert Parucha


Although I'm not currently really watching any daytime soaps, FH readers know, they were an important part of my childhood.  Like many soap lovers, I became familiar with the soaps due to my mother.  She watched a three hour block most afternoons, and I often caught the last hour after I returned from school.


Like those people who attend church on Christmas and Easter, I've become somewhat of a holiday soap viewer.  I check out my favorite families during Christmas vacation, Easter, and of course sick days.  Soaps are like chicken soup on a sick day, comforting, and familiar.  Some characters, like Jack, Traci and Ashley on The Young and Restless, have been on for decades, and are usually there when I check in.


I wasn't sick when The Young and Restless aired their most recently tribute to Victor Newman, but I did watch on the CBS site when I knew it was a clip show.  When a sit-com does a clip show, I usually skip it, they usually do them as fillers to make their yearly quota of episodes.  When a soap does a clip show, it's a trip down memory lane, with episodes going back twenty, thirty and forty years.  Although I haven't watched the show that long, I have checked in on a dozen or so episodes each year for the last couple of decades.


I didn't watch when Victor's brother Matt Miller was on the show, but when he showed up on the clip show, I certainly took notice.  Whether the hot daddy he is today, or the hot stud he was several decades ago, I took notice when actor Robert Parucha graced the screen.


According to his IMD page, the actor played Victor's brother back in 1986.  He returned to honor his brother in the recent tribute episode, and the show wisely chose a clip of Matt shirtless and sweaty int he stables.  The clip certainly had me googling!   Although he was on the show in the eighties, Parcucha was still sporting a bit of a seventies porn vibe, with his hair and mustache. 


My googling led me to some old modeling shots prior to joining the show.  He certainly looks a little more GQ prior to his metamorphosis into hot soap stud. Parucha had a handful of TV guest spots before and after his soap stint, including roles on L.A Law, Lottery, Baywatch, Dynasty and The Client


Although he's currently working in another field, the show would be smart to bring him back on a more regular basis.  Poor Traci needs a man, and Matt Miller back on a regular basis might have me checking back in more than just on holidays.

Evoking Stimuli: Clyde by Male Beauty by bengie


'Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.'
Viktor E. Frankl


Regular readers of FH know that my curiosity is often drives what drives not only how I construct a story together, but whose stories I choose to spotlight.  Whenever I have the chance to interview or pick the brain of an artist or model, I try to asks questions specific to their work and what it was that impacted me about their visuals.

There are also a few questions, that I use again and again, questions at the heart of my passion for imagery of the male form, and questions with answers that are beautifully unique for each model and artist.  One of those question is about why.  What stimulated them to pick up a camera, or want to remove all of their clothing, to produce images of the naked male form.


Even more than stimuli, it's so much about that space referenced by Viktor Emil Frankl.  As a neurologist and psychiatrist as well as a Holocaust survivor, the Austrian Frankl was referencing issues far more pressing than nude modeling, yet all decisions we make in our lives, and especially ones which lead to change, are often emotionally impact, and personally life changing.


So many of the models I've featured have stories of spaces in their lives overshadowed with painful experiences which played a role in their deciding to try nude modeling.  For most, they're not only shedding their clothing, but shedding, and often facing, the experiences which dominated their lives for so long.


For Clyde, those painful experiences included a lengthy illness, one which gave him a lot of time to think about what he wanted to do when and if, he recovered.  One of those things was a photo shoot, a way to create a permanent visual diary of his body and appearance, especially when healthy and at it's peak.  It would also be a great celebration and symbol of his recovery, which as you can, it beautifully ended up to be.


Clyde enjoyed his celebration shoot so much, he went on to do more and more, one of which, included a two hour journey to Cheshire, to shoot with Male Beauty by bengie.  I've always found bengie's work to be a celebration of the male form and this series of images is certainly a celebration of the physical, and internal determination and strength displayed by Clyde. 


The Chester photographer's work always has an erotically positive feel, and his models are usually surrounded by natures beauty, gardens and fields of flowers or crops.  He also often shoots models in the shower, something up