The Beginnings of Shirtlessness

I mentioned that my Christmas involved a performance of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and had to post a picture of the men in that company as a holiday treat. Above please enjoy a lovely picture of Glenn Sims and Matthew Rushing, two of the premiere dancers in the company, in an athletic pose of excellent shirtlessness. The Ailey company boasts some of the most gifted dancers in the world, and I am happy to report that they consistently demonstrate good shirtlessness as well. One of my favorite pieces in the repertoire is the "Sinner Man" section of Alvin Ailey's choreographic masterpiece "Revelations" which features three shirtless men performing leaps, turns, and splits that will take your breathe away. This year is the 50th Anniversary of the company, and if you are looking for something to do in the next week in New York, please consider seeing them at City Center before January 4th.

Seeing the performance last week, I reflected on the roots of my affinity for good shirtlessness, and thought about the first time I saw Ailey in 9th grade. I remember not only "Revelations" but also a piece called "Bad Blood" choreographed by the late Ulysees Dove in which shirtless men literally threw and caught women over their heads. I remember being absolutely transformed by the performance. Looking back, I wonder if that wasn't the beginning of it all...

Wishing every one a very Happy New Year! I am...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Presidential Shirtlessness

I realize that this is just shameless and that the President-elect has many other causes to support before Good Male Shirtlessness, but can we give a big IMS Hey!! to President Elect Barack Obama? If the soon to be Leader of the Free World has time for fitness and seeing the sun, I think we all do. Bravo! I don't have high hopes for what his vacation pics will look like next year at this time, but I think he is starting us all out with air of hopefulness by allowing himself to be photgraphed shirtless at all. With this example out there, 2009 may turn into a good year after all. Now if my retirement account would go back up in value and theaters would produce the work of little known but fabulous ethnic playwrights, all would be well in my world.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, even if you are not Christian. I'm not, but I had a lovely 2 day celebration that included sweet gifts, delicious meals, snuggling, a performance of the amazing Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and quiet time on the couch. If only every day could be Christmas! Until that time, I am...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Women's Choice Shirtlessness

During the Today show this morning, there was a segment on who men and women in America chose as the Sexiest Male and Female for 2008. Both Hoda and Kathie Lee seemed astonished that men and women would have different sexiest picks; I was not. So for all the ladies, I give you the female #1 sexiest star, Johnny Depp. I will also point out that men chose Hugh Jackman who was also People's Sexiest Man Alive. What does this say about the editorial staff of People magazine? Hmmmm...

One difficulty I have with Johnny Depp is that it is very hard to find a picture of him shirtless without a cigarette. If I were posing shirtless, I'm not sure that burning embers are the accessories that I would choose for the shoot, but to each his own. Please do not take the above picture as any endorsement of smoking; it is merely an endorsement for mature men who are fit and like to take their shirts off. Given that Jennifer Aniston is next to naked in GQ this month with her age emblazoned all over the article, I guess that the public is pushing the boundaries on how old you can be when posing nude. IMS does not endorse agism and is happy to see that now nudity over 40 is apparently gender neutral. Ms. Aniston only made it to this year's women's sexiest list which makes me wonder about the editorial board of GQ.

Anyway, Christmas is coming, and the weather has turn bone-chillingly cold here in New York. I don't anticipate any good male shirtlessness out and about for a few months for sure. I'm lucky that I'm going to LA next month for a few days in hopes of catching some good winter male shirtlessness there. Until then, I am...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Sherlock Shirtlessness

Great news just in from another IMS member: Robert Downey, Jr. will be appearing shirtless in the upcoming Guy Ritchie film of Sherlock Holmes. Click here to read all about it. What is so exciting about this news is that apparently Mr. Ritchie has felt that the bar has been raised on the sleuthing film by the Bourne Supremacy movies and our favorite Bond films to require good male shirtlessness. This is a victory for IMS members everywhere. Shirtlessness has become part of a genre! While Robert Downey, Jr. broke my heart on Ally McBeal by being so good on the show and then getting caught with drugs, I know he will not disappoint on this one. RDJ is definitely good for some good male shirtlessness. Let's just hope that there will be more than one scene of it.

On a personal note, I am participating in a holiday event for a theater company here in New York as an actor and have found myself cast in a short play in which my character tries to get the other character, played by the vice president of IMS, to take his shirt off. While not everyone at the event will recognize or understand the sheer brilliance of the casting of this, I thought you should know that I am out there continuously working for the cause!

Today is supposed to feature some sort of Storm of the Century causing school closings and panic galore. So far, it appears to be snowing. People are very bundled up, however, and I think I can officially call the season for good male shirtlessness closed in the North East. I really will be looking to new episodes in January to satisfy the craving. I hope ABC is listening. Until then, I am...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Starter Shirtlessness

So continuing with the theme of reruns and using photos that the vice president sends me, I give you Chris Diamantopoulos from "The Starter Wife." I have not seen him on the show but am told that he is always shirtless. Good introduction. He is also married to Becky Newton who plays the delightful Mandy on UG. I like you more, Chris. Finally he is wearing trunks that are Bond-esque without being embarrassing. Obviously, this guy can be on my blog. Hurrah!

The next two weeks do not bode well for our cause, and so I beseech you to send me some direction for what you might like to see. I need new avenues to explore, or else I'll just go back to ogling Daniel Craig from "Casino Royale" which I think has finished its welcome with my most discerning readers. BTW, I just heard that "Australia" only has one shirtless scene. In a three hour movie featuring People's "Sexiest Man Alive" should have more than one shirtless scene in my opinion. I don't know if my busy holiday schedule of holiday parties and mistletoe will allow for a movie with only one shirtless scene. There's a recession, folks, and I want the most bang for my buck in that department!

So I am arming myself with a spinach dip as I venture out into the holiday party season. It is 60 degrees in New York today, and so I can only imagine that some good shirtlessness may await me somewhere. Until then, I am...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Re-Runs of Shirtlessness

Since last night was all re-runs and I had my writers lab anyway, I am posting a picture of Robert Buckley who may be following Eddie Cibrian's groundbreaking steps in never working on a project that does not involve shirtlessness. The expression on his face in this shot says to me "Gosh, it's hard to always give such amazing shirtlessness." Keep up the good work, Robert. Now I have featured him before when I had hope for "Lipstick Jungle." Sadly that show made women look too idiotic for me to endorse. Now it appears he is playing cougar bait again in a Lifetime movie with Heather Locklear. I applaud all the networks that keep providing Mr. Buckley as love interests to "older" (read over 35) women. It's very vindicating, especially to those of us who read scripts that describe women over 35 as "elderly."

I think that there may be no new episodes of anything until the new year, and so I will continue to take requests and post pictures sent to me. The above picture was sent to me by an especially hard-working IMS member. I thank the vice president of IMS from the bottom of my heart.

The weather is New York continues to baffle, and so I may have to go out and look for some Christmas shirtlessness. Normally, I would discourage this type of shirtlessness, but with global warming who is to say that you can not follow the two point standard of good shirtlessness even in December? Off to look for it! Until I've found it, I am...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Suggestions for Shirtlessness

After yet another week of no shirtlessness, a fellow IMS member and I were discussing who should be shirtless on ABC and decided to make some helpful suggestions. IMS is nothing if not proactive. As you can see from the above collage, Tuc Watkins has extensive experience in shirtlessness from his days on "One Life to Live." He is able to cook, search the fridge, and drink a pitcher of orange juice, all while shirtless. I think his gay lawyer Bob on DH should be shirtless in an episode soon, perhaps while gardening or drinking a pitcher of orange juice. My personal second choice is Andrew. I think he is so cute in his new preppy persona, and I think perhaps he could start swimming to work out the stress of having Bree for a mother, boss, and wedding planner. Sincerely, though, kudos to ABC for showing Bree and Andrew's relationship develop and grow wih her acceptance of his sexual orientation. I was worried that the 5 year jump in time would gloss over this development.

As for GA, all I can say is "Code Black." There is an unexploded bomb on your show, and I have a feeling that when it blows it's going to take the whole show with it. I'm sad because I did enjoy GA so much, especially Patrick Dempsey's hair and Eric Dane's pecs and towel scenes, but this past week was really beyond repair. "Teach me?" Really? Denny has now officially had more episodes as a dead person than as a live one, and I think that this fact alone should give the writers pause.

Finally, last night I felt a strange uneasiness when both shows previewed future episodes that seem to feature gay male characters sleeping with women. Is this a joke? I am confused and concerned. It was bad enough when they made Callie sleep with both Sloane and Hahn to decide which one she preferred, but to make gay characters in established relationships suddenly jump into bed with women also in relationships really worries me. Orientation is not like picking a cookie for dessert. I'm going to hope that this was a trick of clever editing. Until then, I am...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Asian Shirtlessness

My writers' lab had an event at the Asian American Writers' Workshop last night, and between that and the post event celebration, I didn't have time to watch UB or GA for commentary, although at this point, I no longer expect any shirtlessness on these shows. For our event, all of the Lab writers had to write a short play with the title of a book sold at the workshop, with the titles being handed out randomly. We had 10 plays in our evening, and I noticed that a lot of them dealt with the theme of the emasculation of Asian men in American pop culture. So not wanting to contribute to that trend, I thought I would give you the poster boy of Asian Shirtlessness, Daniel Dae Kim. He definitely adheres to the Two Point Standard of Good Shirtlessness, Fitness and Seeing the Sun, and apparently never wears a shirt on "Lost." Also, lots of people post about their crushes on him all over the Web. I'd like to applaud him for what his contribution to the cause of good male shirtlessness in which we are all interested. Bravo, Daniel!

Incidentally, my play was called "Gangster of Love," and told the brief story of a younger man trying to get an older women to date him. I know some day I will laugh at the idea of the "older woman" being in her 30s, but for now and the crowd last night, it seemed to resonate. In honor of IMS, I did make the male character say "I look great with my shirt off" which went over big with the crowd, thanks to some IMS members in the audience. A big shout out to all of the Ma-Yi Writers' Lab for putting up some great work and to the member in particular who took the aforementioned line and ran with it.

So I'll catch up with UB and GA and of course, hope for the best of DH this Sunday. The gay porn storyline should result in some shirtlessness, but who knows anymore? Until then, I am...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Shameless Post

Another night of no shirtlessness sent me to YouTube to find this ridiculous montage of Hugh Jackman shirtless pics. I'm sure Trunk Snob will have something to say about his swimsuits, but I thought that we could all use some unabashed shirtlessness on the first day back from Thanksgiving break. I'm sure that no one will find it surprising that I did not experience any good shirtlessness over the holiday spent in Buffalo, NY. While I think Buffalo was a wonderful place to grow up, I do not find it to be a great place for good male shirtlessness, especially during the sunless months. One has to wonder about a woman who looks forward to returning to New York City in December for good male shirtlessness.

Alas, my return to Sunday night television did not really pay off. DH was mostly setting up for juicy things to come which I eagerly anticipate. I just wish some of the set up involved someone taking their shirt off. But that's just me. Also, Steven Weber decided to show up on B&S again and tease me with taking off his jacket but no shirtlessness. Now that he has made an appearance on both DH and B&S this season, I can only wonder if he will be a guest carpenter on "Extreme Home Makeover" next week.

With the holidays coming up, am taking requests for good holiday shirtlessness. Please feel free to send suggestions of whom you would like to see shirtless for Christmas, and this little Hindu girl will do her best to make your wish come true. Until then, I am...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS