Fun Naked People

Holiday parties are rather predictable -- a little mistletoe here, an indiscreet coworker there, and some strong libations to stave off the season's ennui. If you're itching to celebrate in a different way -- and maybe even do a little unconventional Christmas shopping while you're at it -- skip the office gala altogether and head out to Nude Aid. Put on by the Center for Sex and Culture, the benefit is a self-professed "erotic art making and giveaway event" in which artists and photographers open up their creative process to the public, with a little help from models posing nearly nude or in their kinkiest get-up. Produced by burlesque queen Lady Monster and sexologist Carol Queen, it's the Center's most talked-about event. Last year, spectators witnessed luminaries like Leonard Nimoy, whose most recent claim to fame is snapshots of Reubenesque women in the buff, and post-porn modernist Annie Sprinkle getting their creative groove on. And aside from admiring all the nubile eye candy, party-goers can take home the pieces they inspire -- a piece of art is included in the price admission. Erotic starlets Nina Hartley and Sharon Mitchell host the festivities.
Sun., Dec. 9, 5 p.m., 2007