Starbucks Removes Topless Mermaid Logo

Starbucks has decided to remove its heritage logo on cups introducing the new Pike Place Roast. When the blend debuted in April, controversy erupted over the brown heritage logo on the cups featuring a topless mermaid with only a few strands of hair covering her breasts. The original logo, created in 1971, was intended to capture the seafaring tradition of early coffee traders and is based on a sixteenth-century Norse woodcut of a two-tailed mermaid. Starbucks denies that returning to the standard green logo is in response to the recent boycott by some conservative groups. The brown logo will remain only on Pike Place Roast packaging. Read more or vote whether ornot you think the topless mermaid logo is too racy at Starbucks.

Here at Living Waters Spa we serve Starbucks coffee each morning. I personally grind the beans and enjoy a great brew... and you can enjoy my coffee topless without fear!

It is often silly how companies bend to cultural pressure.

Body Acceptance Promoted by Allure Magazine

The May issue of Allure magazine features an article titled "Skin Deep." Citing some recent attitudes regarding nudity (such as the nude statues in the Department of Justice - shown here - that were covered with drapes in 2002 at a cost of $8,000 to taxpayers and a museum photo of a naked Venus banned from London's Underground ) the article states that "Clearly, nudity--even at its most artistic--can cause unreasonable alarm." The photographic portraits of the five actresses: Angie Harmon, Gabrielle Union, Zoe McLellan, Jill Scott, and Ana Ortiz are "far from pornographic . . . and vividly illustrate strong women who are confident and uninterested in offering cheap thrills." Says Harmon, "This experience wasn't about being a sex object. It's about showing the female body in a positive, beautiful way." Jill Scott noted, "nobody ever celebrates women whose bodies are bigger than a size 8. But here I am naked in a magazine at size 16. I hope I can be an inspiration to all women. We're all beautiful, each and every one of us." The issue is on newsstands now.

Simple nudity is so poorly understood in our society. At Living Waters Spa each week people come from all over to experience the ol' fashioned skinny-dipping. It is actually becoming more "hip" and "chic" as the younger generation understands more about body acceptance. It isn't sexual -- it is self (and others) acceptance!

We have all sizes, shapes, and ages of folks that come to the spa... often having a transformative experience as they are naked and see that what matters is that it "really doesn't matter."

New York Times Highlights Nude Vacations

Sunday's 4/27/08 Travel section of The New York Times led off with the feature article "No Shoes, No Shirts, No Worries" about the booming nude recreation travel industry. According to statistics cited by travel writer Michelle Higgins, nude vacations have become increasingly upscale events. The three-page spread includes a brief history of the beginning of nudism and how clothing-optional vacations are now considered mainstream and more in demand than ever. The article gives information about the American Association for Nude Recreations (AANR) clubs such as Avalon in Paw Paw, West Virginia, and Mira Vista Resort in Tucson, Arizona, as well as AANR participating businesses Hidden Beach Resort, Castaways Travel and Bare Necessities Tour & Travel.

Back in 2006 we had a guest at Living Waters Spa who later told us he was a writer for the New York Times. You can see the article here. It was a real honor to have the Times writer actually stay with us.

This latest NY Times article does not seem to be written by someone who actually stayed at the places mentioned. I talked this week with the President of AANR (btw, Living Waters Spa is a paticipating business of AANR) and mentioned my concern that the known swinger hotel (Sea Mountain Inn) was presented in the article. He too was concerned and was going to write to the author and explain the huge difference from and AANR facility like Living Waters Spa and that of Sea Mountain Inn.

We work hard at helping folks separate nude from lewd; skinny-dipping from sexuality; and that nakedness doesn't mean sex. Swinger places are the exact opposite. I'm not opposed to swinger places - frankly that means the swingers have a place to go and will not bother us or our guests. But I do have a problem when swinger places sneak into the nudist world under the guise of being "clothing-optional." The one mentioned does this all the time. Not to mention various claims of recognition and awards with no links or evidence to substantiate their claims. However, this time they do have the NY Times to cite... albeit out of the ignorance of the writer.

Living Waters Spa exists to help people except their bodies - themselves, in a non-sexual naked context. If you want to have sex in pubic, see sex in public, go into a hot tub that has had people having sex in it, then go to a swinger place. However if you want to enjoy skinny-dipping in pure mineral water in a non-sexual context - Living Waters Spa is for you!