Okay, okay, not entirely. But I did participate in a rather humorous project that left me, shall we say, suggestively bare.

Consider it my fairwell gift to Plymouth, my former community. The story goes like this:

I received a call from the Main Street Plymouth organization, for whom I had performed in the past. They informed me that they had “something to give me” and would like me to attend their committee meeting later that week. Unfortunately, I was in NJ caring for my injured girlfriend and could not make it. Instead, we arranged to meet in one of the members offices privately the following week.

I was greeted by Susan Messinger, a member of the Main Street Plymouth committee, who ushered me into a chair in her office. Her words to me were as follows:

“Now, you have to understand that, if you had been able to attend the meeting last week, this would have been presented to you by two men in tuxedos, on a silver platter, accompanied by a white rose.”

What in the world could it be, I thought! And why so much trouble? She then handed me a sealed envelope.

“Open it, read it, and we’ll talk about it after”, she said.

I opened the envelope and withdrew a very well put together invitation, stating that they recognize and appreciate the unique qualities that I possess and bring to the Plymouth community, and that they are proud to have me as a member. For that reason, they would like to invite me to appear in the 2004 Images of Plymouth calendar.

“How sweet” I thought. “That was kind of them.”

As I replaced the invitation, I began shaking my head in affirmation, thanking her for being so kind, and stating that I would be more than happy to do so.

“Do you know what it is”, she asked.

I though to myself “Not more than you’ve already told me…”, but opted for the silent and confused look.

“It’s a nude calendar, featuring the prominent members of the community”, she so politely informed me with a straight face.

It was then that I began to laugh. A nude calendar?

“But it will be tastefully done, with nothing private actually revealed”.

Even before this statement I had already decided that I would do it. A nude calendar. A sword swallower. Me! It was hilarious, and I’m always up for a good laugh. So I agreed.

The three part photo composition was done by Ian Raymond of Raymond Photographic Imaging. He used his creativity to compose a shot that feature me sword swallowing, fire breathing and bound in a straight jacket. Many thanks go to him for all of his hard work with me, as well as doing such a great job on all of the other calendar photographs. I may put a copy of the image here soon.

Whereas nudity is certainly not what I’m known for (it’s a shock to even see me in a pair of shorts!), I do feel that it is a rather hilarious fairwell and parting gift to the Plymouth community.

The unveiling of the calendar was June 30, on the campus of Plymouth State University. Copies are $15. A link will be placed here when it is made available.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2003 at Jul 02, 03 | 9:49 pm and is filed under Roderick Russell News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.