While I'm on my soapbox, I'd like to point out that I am somewhat apolitical (moderately liberal and yes, I do enjoy hippie nudity) but here is another story that kind of illustrates the cultural problems I talked about above. Years ago, some may recall, the Indian Guru Bhagwan Rashneesh settled in a little town in Eastern Oregon and invited all of his urban, hip followers to live with him. There was a lot of nudity on the Guru's compound. And the naked scorned the nearby ranchers and Oregonians that complained. It got pretty ugly, but what really irked me was the level of TOTAL disrespect that the Rashneeshes had for the locals they encountered. The locals were treated like flies to be swatted or laughed at. For a time, they bullied the entire county, threatened local officials, and the Bhagwan himself would not even lower himself to SPEAK to locals at all. It was totally beneath him. Now, I would never support that level of animosity coming from a group just looking for their little paradise and not wanting anyone else to get in their way. And I don't for a minute suggest that those in Boulder ever acted in the same manner as the Rashneeshees. But the point is to illustrate the cultural biases that separate us all, and how nudity can often act as a spark plug that ignites trouble and highlights racial, ethnic, and cultural differences and prejudices. In my own family background, there is a mix of country, urban, liberal, and conservative elements, so i can see both sides to the argument. And while I DON'T support the Boulder police for what they did last year (siding with the liberal there), I DID support the locals in their battle against the Rashneeshees (siding with the conservatives now) - locals who's only sin was that they happened to live in some distant Guru's vision of paradise.

Klondike

I know Colorado is not as overwhelmingly conservative as i painted it - Maybe I was thinking more about Wyoming. (the "tiny minority" statement (refering to liberals in Colorado) is not accurate...)

KLondike

It is interesting (to me anyway) to see how 'the man/woman in the street' reacts when confronted with 'non-sexual nudity. From my experiences in the UK, both in Southampton and Brighton for the WNBRs, I can say that 99% of reactions is favourable, to say the least.

Maybe one or two people (usually Christians, never very tolerant and forgiving, despite the good teachings of their founder:D) will call out 'you should be ashamed', but as the happenings they claim happened in the garden of Eden (not near Brighton or Southampton, as far as I know) were not the fault of those on the ride, shame is not much in evidence, just joy of existance and delight in owning a body capable of peddling a bike 9 miles, clothed or not!!!

Maybe a nude appearance of one or two people may cause a different reaction (maybe an anthrapologist can answer this) to 700 naked or partially clothed people, but I fail to see why it would enrage public feelings to the extent of violence.

The people I have encountered have on the whole been delighted by the spectacle, many shout 'I wish I had your courage to do that' and at least 20 or 30 over the past three years have done just that, stripped naked there and then to join the ride.

The Brits are not as liberal as the Europeans, but seem (mostly) to have a very healthy attitude to mass full frontal daylight nudity in crowded streets, for a worthy cause. The police are 100% behind the organisers, in fact in 2009, a policeman from the year before fulfilled a promise he made in 2008 and joined the ride!

+1

I think I spotted quite a big bush. :eek: :)

This video is from last year, but it was just posted on youtube this month. I can't check if this is a repost, because almost all of the related youtube and rapidshare links on OCC are down. And since all the old links are down, at the very least it's a worthwhile repost. It's well lit and good quality, by youtube standards:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtqwbCW2aM4

and the save:

http://rapidshare.com/files/30269761...r__CO_2008.flv

and the caps:

From a link posted today in Free Sites by trebla: 10 '08 pictures, sampled from a gallery of 160+, reminding us what the authorities saw to it we'd be spared this year...

thanks as always, Crispus -

YOu know, someone needs to go into the business of manufacturing "pumpkin head" holders i.e. so that you can wear them on your head and they will stay in place without you having to use your hands to hold them. I figure if we're going to get serious about this tradition and spread it far and wide, pretty soon runners will demand better accomodations for their head. Something a little cleaner, lighter, more stable, less gooey......with a chin strap, vinyl interior.....

I'll work on it...

and BTW - kudus to the women who ran pumpkin-less......

Klondike

Here's something really cool and interesting. A student short film partly shot at the Boulder Pumpkin Run:

hxxp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS2-U5XPWPw

Enjoy

Fango

I watched this closely because I wanted to see how much they integrated him in with the actual run. When he trips, falls and gets laughed at - that is filmed separately. But when he gets back up (and picks up a different pumpkin than the one he fell with), he seems to be among the actual pumpkin runners. So.....in otherwords, this film could not have been made after the fact with someone else's anonomous footage of the run combined with his story. It looks like the whole thing was premeditated, or in otherwords, the idea for making the film preceded the event.

Right? (and thats what makes it so cool, like "American Pie goes to Boulder")

great find, Fango - :)

KLondike

I hope someone saved it; it's gone from youtube.