Jonalysis

Yes, the late Heath Ledger wore them too. Leather pants, I mean.

I became aware of Heath Ledger when I saw him in “Brokeback Mountain”. The film made my fetishism for certain kinds of cowboy hats surface for a while. The fetishism submerged again when I found out how expensive felt cowboy hats are and realized how rarely I could wear such a hat. Well, at least I have my cowboy boots.

I recently discovered that Heath had performed in a television series called “Roar”. His character was Conor, a young Celtic chieftain. A narrator describes the premise of the series in the beginning of every episode:

Long ago, at the edge of the known world, the last Celtic tribes were fighting for survival. Europe had fallen to the Romans and this remote and untamed island was the final stronghold of the ancient ways.

In an interview, Heath described his costume as consisting of “leather pants and this little leather top with chains and stuff”. The upper part of his costume changed every now and then but he always wore the same kind of leather pants. Heath was not happy to wear the costume when the series was being shot in the heat of Queensland.

Watching the “Roar” series made me think about my preferences regarding leather pants. Here are some of them:

• Heath’s leather pants are brown. I prefer black leather pants. Brown leather is better than no leather at all, but the color seems to be quite important to me.
• The upper part of Heath’s leather pants is very form fitting. I like the upper part of leather pants to be snug, but not necessarily that snug. I do not wish to see a male version of a “camel toe“.
• Heath’s leather pants have a fly in the backside. I prefer leather pants that have a fly in the front side. Leather pants without a fly in the crotch look weird somehow.
• Heath’s leather pants taper off clearly. I prefer leather pants with a boot cut. A man appears to stand more firmly on the ground if the profile of his lower extremities does not resemble a carrot.

What are your preferences?

“Roar” can be bought as a DVD from Amazon, for example.

How many people would wear leather pants if it were not for the stereotypes that surround them? “Musical Hal” is interested in this question. He has created a poll about the subject: “Leather pants: Your honest opinion”.

Those who have participated in the poll are not a representative sample of any well-defined population. That is why the results of the poll cannot be generalized: the results describe only the opinions of the respondents. However, participating in the poll is useful. It makes one think about how much the attitude of other people influences one’s way of dressing.

What is your honest opinion?

Edit February 11, 2008: the poll has been closed.

A scene from the episode “Air Jesse” in the eight season of the comedy series “Full House”:

Jesse has agreed to participate in a celebrity basketball match. The only problem is that Jesse does not know how to play basketball. His friends, Daniel and Joseph, have agreed to teach him.

Daniel and Joseph meet Jesse at the basketball court. Jesse is wearing a leather jacket and leather paints.

“Nice outfit, Jess!” Daniel comments sarcastically.

“Well, I’ve got my wrist band” Jesse replies and shows the elastic white wristband to his friends.

“All right, now you look like a real athlete” Joseph says.

Jesse is a rock star and he rides a motorbike so he has two “acceptable” non-comical reasons to wear leather pants. However, I am not aware of other episodes where Jesse would wear leather pants. That is a pity because he does look fine in them.

Some people have claimed that other such episodes exist. Trisha Barker claimed in “The Lantern” that Jesse wears leather pants in the episode “Our Very First Show” in the first season. “Justshannon” claimed in “MousePad” that Jesse wears leather pants in the two-part episode “The House Meets the Mouse” in the sixth season. Unfortunately, both claims are false.

Other characters in the series have worn leather as a joke, too. Joseph wore a leather outfit in the episode “Daddy’s Home” in the first season.

Daniel wore a leather outfit in the episode “Ol’ Brown Eyes” in the fourth season.

Amusing, but not arousing.

The eight season of “Full House” can be bought as a DVD from Amazon, for example.

Gila Weiss was waiting for a bus near the Machane Yehuda open air market in Jerusalem on April 12, 2002, when a suicide bomber struck. Gila was seriously injured. She writes in her blog “My Shrapnel”:

The bombing left me with shrapnel wounds over my entire body aside from my feet. My feet were spared because I was wearing my brown leather Naot brand mini-boots that covered my feet up to right below my ankles. I bought the shoes while I was still in Ulpan. [- - -]

At first I thought of buying another pair of canvas slip-ons, but then I decided to invest (to the tune of 350 shekels — about $80) in a pair of Naot, on the basis that these shoes would last for years and years and years, during which time period I would not have to look for more shoes. Unfortunately, I forgot to factor in the diminishing effect that a human bomb has on the lifespan of a pair of shoes. That being said, I can tell all of you interested consumers that Naot — at least the style I had — provide effective protection for your feet against suicide bombers. [- - -]

So despite the loss of my shoes, I am nonetheless pleased with my purchase, and am considering contacting Naot, and asking them if by chance they sell leather pants, shirts, gloves, helmets, underwear, bras, and full-face masks for my future outings. I suppose I could go to a sex shop, but I don’t know that the quality would be as high.

I am glad that if I say “leather protects me”, it is only the wind or a motorcycle accident that I am talking about.

How to promote a profile site? That was the question that recon.com wanted director Marco Puig to answer. His answer? Four videos, featuring a boxer, a skinhead, a biker and a rubber man, and a fifth video, a collage of them all.

A beautiful answer.

Finnish leather fetishists are in for a treat. You see, the Yle TV1 channel broadcasts the melancholic comedy series “Sensitive Skin”.

The main character in the series is Davina. She is in her sixties, married, a former model, and works in an art gallery in London. Davina is played by Joanna Lumley. In Finland, she is most famous for the comedy series “Absolutely Fabulous”.

For a leather fetishist, “Sensitive Skin” is a treat because the series features Greg, a part-time piano teacher. He wears leather. All the time. Greg is played by Adam Rayner.

Two seasons of “Sensitive Skin” were produced. Each season has six episodes. Yle TV1 broadcasts both seasons. Greg appears in three episodes.

In the fourth episode of the first season, Greg seduces Davina downstairs while Al, Davina’s husband, practices piano upstairs. After the lesson, Greg is about to leave with his motorcycle. “Nice bike!” Al comments. “Yeah, well, I’ve always been kinda partial to the… older model” Greg replies, winking.

Later, Greg picks up Davina and they go to the British Museum. Among other things, they see Xerxes IX, the mummified female ruler. Davina and Greg snog in a storage room. However, the snogging comes to an embarrassing end when Greg makes the mistake of comparing Davina to the mummy.

In the sixth episode of the first season, we see Greg only briefly. He meets Davina in a café.

In the first episode of the second season, the camera licks Greg’s leathers as he walks on a street and Davina tries to avoid meeting him. Greg tries to get hold of Davina, but encounters her sister’s husband instead. Eventually, Greg meets Davina and tells her that he is going back to Australia.

I see leather on television quite rarely. Even more rarely do I see leather on television on a man I find handsome and in a program I like. In “Sensitive Skin”, everything hits the mark perfectly.

Both seasons of “Sensitive Skin” can be bought as DVDs from Amazon, for example.

Cody Chesnutt tells us:

I can do anything I want because I look good in leather. Motherfucker, I’m cool with attitude and ego to spare. Everybody’s lookin’ at me. I know you wish that you were lookin’ like me, because I look good in leather.

Show your attitude now. Look good in leather. When you leave the house, look in my direction if you don’t know how.

Cody Chestnutt is a musician. The text above comes from his piece “Look good in leather“. The piece is part of Cody’s album “The Headphone Masterpiece”.

Cody tells about his piece in a New York Times article:

That is the Fonz’s theme song. This is what Happy Days taught us. What defines cool? Black leather jacket and jeans.

It is hard to know whether Cody wants us to take seriously the lyrics of the piece or whether the lyrics were made tongue in cheek. Perhaps the piece charms exactly because one can approach it both ways.

As a melody, “Look good in leather” is likeable, but ultimately forgettable. However, thanks to the lyrics, the piece will survive for a long time.

“The Headphone Masterpiece” audio CD can be bought from Amazon, for example.

I rarely go to gigs. When I do, it is usually not because I like what I hear but because I like what I see.

I do not remember how I originally came to know about Lauri Tähkä. Some time during the summer 2003, I went to his web site and liked what I saw. A handsome man in leather pants, yummy! I wanted to see Lauri live. Therefore, on August 10 my boyfriend and I jumped on our motorcycles and rode hundreds of kilometers to the hotel Pitkä-Jussi in Kurikka.

I do not recall whether I had heard even a single piece of music performed by Lauri Tähkä before the gig in Pitkä-Jussi.

The gig was a nice experience. Lauri looked as handsome as in the photographs and seemed like a likeable bloke. The show was energetic and the music did not sound bad either.

I saw Lauri on a gig for the second time in Downtown, Turku, on January 10, 2004. After that, I have not gone to his gigs. It is much easier just to go to the Internet. For example, kuvablogi.com hosts an astoundingly big collection of photographs from Lauri Tähkä’s gigs. The following users are among the most prolific photographers: paulatakala, hempukka, Liinukka, piitu, satuolento, Jones, eevis-77, Taateli and AaJii.

I doubt that I will ever get around to go to Lauri Tähkä’s gig again. Fortunately, other people will. With cameras.

Crane operators in the ports of Helsinki began an illegal strike on May Day 1948. The newspaper Helsingin Sanomat wrote about the strike on May 11th, 1948:

The crane operators demand the dismissal of one of their colleagues. They blame their colleague for the fact that the city won’t buy leather pants for the crane operators. The colleague had told to a member of the wages board that such pants are not needed for operating a crane.

The crane operators ended the strike when they learned that the city had not canceled the purchase of leather pants: the city had not promised to purchase leather pants for the crane operators in the first place.

It would be interesting to know how the crane operators came up with the idea that the city should buy them leather pants. Whatever the reason, I’d be in favor of such perks!

Exhibition “Nahka on Rock” (“Leather is Rock”) features the history of Finnish rock music through the leather clothes of the artists. The exhibition can be viewed in the museum of Raisio from January 18th to August 31st, 2008.