Mike Carcel still Most Popular 'mitchmen' post of all time - 2016 (MPP3)

According to my Blogger 'hits' stats, Mike Carcel (A-Z of Fetish Artists posting) remains my all-time most visited article (thus giving me my annual challenge of finding an uncontroversial sample picture by him - see below)

Mike Carcel - Caged

The caged man is an appealing idea that's quite hard to make into a good picture, Mike has got some good ingredients here, the small cage size, made of wood and suspended off the ground. I always think though that tying up a man who is already in a cage is a bit unnecessary -  although this particular cage doesn't actually have a top and there's open access at the front. It looks to be more of a 'picture frame' for prisoner humiliation. Note the well-disguised noose.

 

The posts in the table below are the 20 most viewed on this blog. Titles in the list link to the original posts. Please tell me if you have difficulty with any links

Posn (last yr)	Title of Post (& link)	Year of Publicn	Total Hits	2016 Increase
1 (1)	A-Z of Fetish Artists – Mike Carcel	2010	17445	3034
2 (2)	Priapus of Milet - 1	2012	12392	3452
3 (3)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Malex	2010	10214	1635
4 (4)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Franco	2009	9413	1461
5 (5)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Jotto	2009	8792	1496
6 (7)	A-Z of Fetish Artists – Martin of Holland	2010	6603	1461
7 (6)	My Initiation	2012	5936	352
8 (-)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Cavelo	2008	5412	4217
9 (8)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Heredia	2009	4878	874
10 (11)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Leo	2010	4697	1088
11 (10)	A-Z of Fetish Artists – Klaus von Brandenburg	2009	4501	868
12 (9)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Mahoney	2010	4500	774
13 (12)	A Tribute to Bound Gods	2011	4459	892
14 (16)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Platter	2012	4228	1155
15 (13)	Vintage Bondage Blog	2012	4125	655
16 (14)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Matt	2010	3952	681
17 (15)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Manflesh	2010	3864	729
18 (20)	A-Z of Fetish Artists – Michael Mitchell	2010	3800	1042
19 (18)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Marc	2010	3735	801
20 (17)	More Bondage Sightings	2012	3492	507

The "Top 20 Posts for 2016" had some surprises but the all time top 20 saw only small changes in 2016. Unsurprisingly (given it's existing lead) my Mike Carcel A-Z article kept it's spot at the top . Priapus of Milet-1 in second place closed the gap but not by much. These two articles continued to pull away from the rest at double the hit rate of the nearest challengers, although Mike 'only' scored 3034 this year compared with 3950 last. The Priapus article scored 3452 compared with 2716 in 2015, closing the gap by about 10%. 

 

The rest of the posts are the same as last year apart from the A-Z article on Cavelo which, following my revision last year, burst into the top 20 at number 8, beating every other post for number of hits received in the year (4217). It's arrival pushed the Shaving Fantasy article (19 last year) out of the top 20.

3 articles scored significantly more than their neighbours on the list enabling them to improve their position. Thus Michael Mitchell escaped the drop rising to 19 from 20 position and Sean Platter was another notable riser from 16 to 14 position ('demonic sex' is a frequently used search term at this blog!). The A-Z article on Leo also continued it's steady rise, entering the top 10. Most other articles recorded increases consistent with their position on the list, although you can see there are a couple of ‘falterers’ drifting downwards, notably My Initiation whose popularity in previous years baffled me since it is based on an image widely published on the Internet. The continuing popularity of my very brief note on Heredia is equally surprising to me, perhaps reflecting a scarcity of material about him on the net.

For comparison my 'Index of Artists' page reached 7376 hits during the year (up from 723) which would have earned No 6 spot in this ranking if I counted it as a post. I am very pleased that visitors are finding it useful. It shows the level of interest in artists who work in our field.

Cavelo's arrival gives us a representative of 2008 for the first time in the top 20, but there are no posts in the list later than 2012. I had expected Tagame to break into the list this year but A-Z of Fetish Artists - Tagame (Part 1) from 2014 is stuck at 23 just behind A-Z on Kalabro (2009) which at 22 has risen from 26 and is knocking on the door of the top 20, much to my delight. The leading representative from 2013 is my follow-up article on Mike Carcel which is at No 29 and still making gradual progress. The leading post from 2016 (WoodunArt) enters the list at 66. That's already just ahead of The Art of Eddie Chin (top in 2015) which is at 67 (up from 85). 

 

The total hits method of assessing popularity is obviously biased towards older articles and so (being a geek!) I also had a look at the total hits per year since publication - see table below. In this list, multi-part articles are represented by the highest scoring individual post. 

Top 10 Articles based on annualised hit rate

Article	Published	Hits per year	Position (& last year)	'Total Hits' position
A-Z of Fetish Artists - Woodunart	2016	3271	1 (-)	66
A-Z of Fetish Artists – Mike Carcel	2010	2645	2 (1)	1
Priapus of Milet - 1	2012	2634	3 (2)	2
A-Z of Fetish Artists - Malex	2010	1524	4 (4)	3
A Christmas Criminal (ep 1-5)	2015	1346	5 (-)	72
My Initiation	2012	1209	6 (5)	7
A-Z of Fetish Artists - Franco	2009	1183	7 (9)	4
A-Z of Fetish Artists – Tagame (Part 1)	2014	1168	8 (3)	23
A-Z of Fetish Artists - Jotto	2009	1099	9 (8)	5
A-Z of Fetish Artists – Martin of Holland	2010	989	10 (-)	6

Using this criterion WoodunArt bags the top spot and my own Christmas Criminal sneaks in at No 5 both articles taking advantage of the 'newly published' effect (just as Eddie Chin claimed No 5 in 2015). They can both be expected to decline next year but I'm happy to bask in my own little moment of fame!

Tagame is the only other 'outsider' to disturb the usual suspects from the total hits list, but he drops 5 places. Interestingly he is represented by Part 1 of my set of articles this year instead of Part 3 which was the most visited part last year. This probably reflects new readers following my guidance to start with the first article and that switch may also explain his unexpected stagnation this year in the main table.

The next 3 articles after these 10 are Bill Ward, Tom of Finland - 3 and Baron with Sean Platter and the great Teddy of Paris not far behind. So whilst this method of ranking does excessively benefit more recent, fresher works it also seems to acknowledge the true masters. Unfortunately the oldest A-Z entries, notably letters A-G which were much sketchier and originally had censored images are not well represented. These were not up to the standard of the articles from 'M' onwards. I have replaced most of the adulterated pictures now but my plans to revise more of these articles this year did not come to fruition, due to various problems including a catastrophic computer crash. The 'Ulf Retrospective' came to an abrupt halt for the same reasons. However I have consolidated the Etienne articles to try and give him the credit he is due (his top article is currently at 68 on the total hit list).

The articles I post to this blog are very much based on my own interests and fancies. My readers preferences doesn't always match my own (where are Les, JoeT and Link?). Nevertheless it's gratifying to see this interest in the great artists who often have a fairly low visibility on the web. I am hoping to finish the remaining A-Z letters in 2017 and take in some more CGI greats.

Thanks to all of you for your continuing interest and support.

 To see previous results click on the MPP label below

WoodunArt is Most Popular Post in 2016 (MPP1)

WoodunArt - Lumberjack  (click to expand)

At this time of year it is my custom to review the year's posts to see which attracted the most interest. According to my Blogger 'view count' stats, those below are the most visited posts out of all those published in 2016 (titles link to original posts). Where articles have equal numbers of hits those with the later publication dates are ranked higher. Stats collected on 29^th December 2016

Posn	Title (+link)	Hits	Published
1	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Woodunart	1443	Jul
2	A Christmas Criminal (16)	632	Jan
3	A Christmas Criminal (29)	566	Jan
4	A Christmas Criminal (19)	496	Jan
5	A Christmas Criminal (27)	492	Jan
6	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Bill Ward	461	June
7	A Christmas Criminal (17)	427	Jan
8	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Viste	388	Mar
9	A-Z of Fetish Artists – Waistband	372	May
10	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Valentine	372	Feb
11	Wait Just a Minute!	360	June
12	Chinese Bondage	360	Apr
13	A-Z of Fetish Artists – DF Ward	350	June
14	A-Z of Fetish Artists – Virginsoul	336	Mar
15	A Christmas Criminal (30)	336	Jan
16	Sailor Beware!	329	Apr
17	A-Z of Fetish Artists – WhiteBriefs	328	Jul
18	A-Z of Fetish Artists – WithNoTitle	327	Jul
19	Tell me if you enjoyed 'Christmas Criminal'	323	Feb
20	A-Z of Fetish Artists – Waldo	317	May
21	A-Z of Fetish Artists – Waelon	317	May

This is for entertainment only, I don't know how valid or representative Google's stats really are, I suspect they don't reflect at all people just browsing through the blog. Also posts from January have an advantage over December (see below*). On this simple measure nothing after July made the cut, despite that figure being only 317, slightly lower than last year's 331. Apart from the winner, all articles scored slightly lower than the equivalent ranking position last year, although mitchmen blog visits overall this year have increased (View last years table)

The winner this year is less surprising than Eddie Chin last time, but like him WoodunArt produces straightforward male representational art as well as S&M flavoured story-telling images. In this he follows the traditions of the other masters featured in my A-Z series, but with a notable touch of class. He is a worthy winner and his 'hit score' reflects this, more than 50% higher than Eddie's 955 in 2015 and Tagame's 973 in 2014.

As you might imagine, I am delighted that My 'Christmas Criminal' Story provided the runner-up and 7 of the top 20 entries altogether. It's the first time I have premiered a complete story at the blog (instead of the mitchmen Yahoo! Group) and my first all-colour series too. I expect to repeat these experiments sometime. Interestingly the individual episodes with the highest scores all feature the original group of images around which I built the story. Just to show the significane of timing in this annual review - the Christmas Criminal starting episode published on 23^rd Dec last year has had 1372 hits to date and Christmas Criminal episode 12 (Dec 27^th) has scored 1206. Both these items would have featured in the top spots here had they been published a few days later in 2016. As it was, their hits at the end of 2015 were far too few to register in that year's list either.

The other notable feature of this year is the return of several 'A-Z of Fetish Artists' entries which were totally absent last year. I'm glad Bill Ward, Valentine and Viste have got recognition from you but it's good to see lesser known names attracting interest as well.

There's usually a bondage-oriented photo post featured in this list and this year there are two, the intriguing 'Chinese Bondage' and 'Sailor Beware' honouring the Bound and Gagged studio once more. The number of articles with photographic content rather than artwork was 3 (the same as last year).

*Out of interest, I worked out how this table would look if I took into account the publication date as well as the total hits. On this measure (hits per 365 days) WoodunArt still comes top followed (a long way behind) by Bill Ward, WithNoTitle, WhiteBriefs, Wait a minute! and Christmas Criminal (16). If I were also to include more recent posts which didn't make the 'total hits' cut, the picture changes even more dramatically. For example, the December 'Vintage Season No 3' post (129 hits) would beat all but the winner, as would my October Greasetank Article (252) and the A-Z item on Xue Song aka Song Inkollo (161) in November. These articles benefit from their peak interest level being spread over a much shorter period. Which just goes to show this table shouldn't be taken too seriously!

Thank you to all my readers for your interest in my blog, I will publish the updated all-time list of favourites shortly. Happy New Year!

To see previous results click on the MPP label below

Vintage Season 6 - Hand Made by .... who?

David George (by Bruce of LA)

This cute model has a pleasing balance of muscularity and litheness and his face has a touch of butch ruggedness set off by that raffish quiff. You can imagine that this young man takes quite a pride in his dress normally. But although his G-string does not look out of place in this arty image and is of a sensible size, you can see that it doesn't seem very well made, the side seam is ruched up as though the thread is too tight. Perhaps the cotton shrank when washing out the traces of a previous wearer?

Unidentified

It's hard to imagine a stylish man about town being happy at being asked to wear this garment! The sides appear to be sewn up with string or leather, Native American style (if that's not an insult to the craft skills of those people). I can only imagine that it's holding some sort of tough lining in place, possibly an inner device designed to produce the projecting effect, although that tip looks like the real thing. The creases underneath are probably due to some other tailoring that is accentuating his balls. I don't think his mother made this for him!

Marty Shimkus (by Kris)

Another example of tailoring designed to lift and separate, but more skillfully executed. Despite the movie star pose this is an unashamedly erotic image and an astonishing example of just how far the sometimes despised G-string allowed photographers to go, pubic hair and all. I'm quite sure I'm not the only man who finds this close-up amply rewarding. The snug fit is a joy. There's another view of Marty's tackle in my previous post. 

Gene Meyer (AMG)

 You have to feel for this model, he's got pumped-up muscles, well distributed body hair and a mean and moody look, but they've made him wear the strangest of G-strings, looking more like his granny's old-fashioned, soft furnishings than manly sexy clothing. You can almost see his annoyance. It makes me wonder if some mischievous, back-room boy deliberately put together this item with the intention of embarrassing the wearer(s).

Andy Kozak & Vern Charles (AMG)

Andy's covering in this picture seems to have similar properties, thick looking material with oddly bulky side seams. Perhaps this pouch was designed for a winter shoot in a cold room. Taken by the same studio as Gene (above), it might even be the same garment (what tales it might have told us!). In this position it produces the peculiar effect of seeming to be attached to the supporting string only at the corner tips, like washing hanging on a line or that awful curtaining pinned up by those disinclined to put up conventional rails.

Don Fuller

 Don Fuller was a stalwart of the G-string era and some of his images are excellent but this posing pouch won't have won many converts to the cause. Workmanship aside, what's odd here is that although there is a strong intimation of something heavy hanging down inside, the top line is absolutely horizontal instead of showing the dipping curve you would expect. The supporting string looks more like cord than the usual flexible elastic but even allowing for some extra stiffness on that account, it still seems to defy the laws of physics. You might also wonder what is that oddly flat shape sitting at the bottom and pulling it down? Has he stowed his credit cards there? It's possible it's just a clumsy cover up of the dreaded penis head of course.

 

Nestor - by Danny Fitzgerald (Les Demi Dieux)

This is one of my favourite G-string images. A well muscled chest, cute face and an unusual pose that looks like the naughty boy waiting outside the headmaster's study for his misdemeanours to be dealt with. The seated position does not make great demands on his G-string but it looks almost as if it is torn at the side and hanging down.

"Fighting again is it, Jones? Well see about that!"

 More next time

Read this series from Part 1

Vintage Season 5 - Size Matters

After the string of faked G-string/Posing Pouches in preceding posts, the images in this one seem to be slightly more authentic and closer to what nature intended but perhaps a little lacking in erotic purpose. After all the aim of this garment is draw attention to (near) nudity and to hint at eroticism at the very least, otherwise you might as well clad your model in conventional, uncontroversial swimming trunks or shorts. So why present a model in a piece of cloth so large that it looks like a babies nappy, as in this picture of Forrester Millard?
(see also Donnie Kay in No2 of this series)

 Forrester Millard

The model's pose in this photo seems beyond reproach so perhaps the excessive pouch size is mocking the censorship of genuine 'nude art' by exaggeration. On the other hand it might simply be a device to make less obvious the hint of 3-piece suite daringly showing through at the bottom of the (wetted?) pouch. Unfortunately this stratagem seems to diminish the model's credentials as well. It does look as though model modesty can be discounted as a factor in this particular case though.

Artie Zeller and Marvin Eder (Keeling)

Marvin Eder seems to be just as bemused himself in this picture by 'Lon' which might be entitled 'You can look but you can't touch'. Actually this is a daring pose in some ways, hinting none too subtly at domination, bondage and manly interest in the nether regions. Of course, the Grecian column brands it as just a historical re-enactment, so that's alright then.

These two models have deliciously plush upholstery that goes a long way to mitigate that unappealing garment that bizarrely forms the focus of the image. I have a much nicer image of Artie coming up in a later article.

 

Marty Shimkus by Kris

You can almost glimpse another rationale for the oversize pouch in this example, with it's suggestion of a full erection created by artful folds and shadows. You can see there's complex multiple light sources involved in making this happen but I suspect there's a bit of touching up as well, either way I doubt it would have got into widespread print 'uncorrected'.

Once more this image dallies with S&M with the appearance of a whip augmented with rather vicious-looking extensions. The model's penitent pose with downcast eyes feeds into the suggested punishment theme. He seems to await his fate, draped with the implement that will deliver it. His G-string has a slightly less improvised quality than the previous two with proper side-hems visible, but then, the implied sub-text of ancient slavery does not require stylish gear for authenticity.

Forrester Millard + ano

In this picture it all gets distinctly jokey. Forrester Millard again with another model I haven't identified (but who bears a bizarre resemblance to a well known current British Football manager). The two men link arms outrageously like a promenading couple, hands on hips. Forrester eyes his companion's diminutive cover garment with something like disapproval or disdain.

You can see here how the smaller garment exposes more of the abdomen which is potentially a zone of erotic stimulation. Consequently that area has been shaved of pubic hair and possibly painted over in the photo as well to hide any unsavoury undulations, since in the eyes of the censors that was just as objectionable as the actual organs down below. It's quite likely Millard's expression is sarcastically drawing attention to the un-natural clean up. So here's another explanation of the high line garment - to avoid all possibilty of falling foul of the law. However there are traces of Millard's own pubic hair as well, above the 'string line'.

Jerry Ross

These 'large' G-strings came in a range of shapes and sizes. This picture of Jerry Ross (with the old bamboo again - see first pic) illustrates the 'narrow and deep' variant which sucessfully covers hairy zones above the groin and permits long penis-like shapes to be hinted at (as with Marty Shimkus above). Of course it doesn't deal with lateral hair growth quite as well and you might detect suspicious effects in this area on close inspection. At this point it might occur to you that hunting the alterations can become quite an erotic hobby! The streamlined, plunging shape of Jerry's garment lengthens his legs and links up nicely with the shadows at the side of his body/six pack, they angle downwards in the same direction creating a harmonious flow of lines whose focal point is......... you guessed! My copy of this photo credits AMG but the outdoor location makes me wonder about that.

Giancarlo Zampetti 

Here we have the wide and shallow variant photographed by British photographer John Barrington. It looks altogether more comfortable and arguably presents a more impressive sense of being filled with earthly delights than most of the others in this group. The width helps to accentuate the model's body bulk rather than his litheness, the reverse of the image above. If you compare the last two pictures their disparate garments almost reverse the model's relative sizes and shaping.

Andy Kosac (foreground), Vernon Miller, Forrester Millard

A splendid example of little and large G-strings. In this picture the pubic hair region of the lead model has not only been 'cleansed' but enthusiatically embellished with fanciful shadows that don't correspond with male anatomy. Kozacs scanty G-string appears to have gone unscathed in this process and that honesty makes a decent case for the garment as an erotic accessory. However it's the big fellows at the back that surrepticiously provide the most explicit imagery with rounded ball pairs showing clearly through their more capacious coverings. This sneaky incongruity must have surely thrilled the target audience.

I wonder who contributed their prized persian carpet for this scene? It conjures up the image of a slave being readied for sale in the bazaar so it's disconcerting to realise that those are actually handcuffs going on his wrists not antique chains. Nevertheless, Kosacs is almost into bondage here and make a decent fist of struggling against it. Unfortunately his cute companions seem more like paid attendants, politely dressing their charge and finding the complexities of the handcuffs more of a problem than his feigned resistance.
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(L to R) Juwa LaVonce, Howard Heidtmann and Don Hawksley

This picture by AMG (and it has to be them with bricks and bins in the background!) makes me wonder if models supplied their own G-strings. These ones certainly don't appear to have all come off the same production line. So we have Juwa modestly opting for the safety of size, Howard going for tight definition, just like his own body, while ragamuffin Don simply offers up a good handful neatly presented. Even G-string sceptics would surely be interested in taking their pick from this line-up. Notice how the actual colour of the string in all these pictures makes a surprising difference to it's prominence and through that the acceptability of it's appearance.

More next time

Read this series from Part 1

Vintage Season 4 - G-String Mysteries

 What do you make of this picture? It's obviously a magnificent torso image and that owes much to the skill of the photographer in preparing the oily model (I'll help with that!) and then audaciously cropping the image, removing half his head and outer limbs. It's awash with sensuality and for my money this G-string does not look at all out of place. The skimpy proportions and froth of pubic hair are unavoidably erotic when you're as close as this of course but it's shape is quite attractive too, with dipping curves seeming to echo the underside of the model's buttocks, like the overlapping scallops on a posh pelmet. 

But hang on, what's happening to the support string on the left? It is definitely real - you can see the indentation and shadowing of the hip flesh quite clearly. As it approaches the pouch, however, it seems to dive down and miss the point where you would expect it to join up and disappear inside the top hem. In contrast, the right-hand string appears to fully obey the normal laws of keeping up drawers. The more you look at the pouch, however, the more it seems to be hovering in the air, just in front of the model, but I can't decide if it's totally faked (despite the beguilingly realistic right hand string), or if it's actually attached to some other device behind, which we can't see.  

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Exhibit 'B' is another typical WPG image of two shapely men enjoying the sunshine. Their poses do not look natural, comfortable or stable and that tends to produce a corresponding, dissatisfied feeling in the viewer. However, if you allow your eye to rove over the torso areas you can see how the curves of their muscles and bodies seem to fit together and subtly complement each other. Thus the shoulder and pec of the model at the back fits into the curve of his companion's armpit, while the sweep of his tilted-back neck leads the eye down the plane of his chest to sweep across the concave shape of the nearer man's abdominal cavity and thence inside his G-string. This requires very clever crafting of the model's positions. It not only looks nice but visually suggests an intimacy between them and is thus erotic as well as arty. The overall composition is not entirely sucessful but you can see how judicious cropping might easily produce an image just as spectacular as the first example.

The G-strings in this picture are not clear, but they form different and slightly odd shapes, the one at the back strangely mounded while that at the front seems to taper off in mid air instead of continuing between the legs. It has a rigid shell-like appearance, a construction which would avoid inadvertant shaping of the garment to the objects inside. It lends some support to my conjectures about the shield-like appearance of the G-string in the first picture.

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This image also creates that shell like impression, with side strings again that don't go where you would expect. The curve of the top hem seems un-naturally rounded but that creates an unexpected peeking opportunity. It's another example of the Studio's low key eroticism and their refined artistry is illustrated here in the echoing double curves of pecs and knees (and the same shaped G-string between them). Also the elegantly flowing body lines like those of a diver. He's quite cute too!

Despite the Western theme, I don't think this is a WPG image and there's none of their artistry in this stilted pose (how I hate hands on hips!) or the lighting which does little for the muscularity on show. This shot relies more on the inherent appeal of the handsome model and on props to make it interesting but there's a very clear gulf in quality.

It's not a good copy but you get the distinct impression that this chap's pouch has been well and truly doctored. The black shadowing around the irregular shaped white patch makes it look 'applied' and the string is also unconvincing, not seeming to quite connect with the hem. Remember though that these disguises were intended to look just that, enough to be decent but unmistakably hiding something more tasty whose outline, surprisingly, can actually be discerned in the shadowing.
This feels like the tail starting to wag the dog!

More next time

Read this series from Part 1

I'd welcome ID information on the models in this article

Vintage Season 3 - More Puzzles in G-strings

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Vintage Season 2 - The trouble with G-strings

 Kurt Freeman by Bruce of Los Angeles

This semi-arty style of image was typical of the era of the pouch/string. The open pose is nevertheless fairly erotic. I have always found clothed bodies more interesting than naked ones in general and I must admit I do like the G-string. I know there are those that find them slightly silly but this looks OK to me. Of course you might argue that Kurt Freeman would look good in anything.....

Kurt Freeman with pole

....then again perhaps not.

I don't think this is a painted-on G-string, but it is the wierdest design imaginable. Notice how the top hem is completely horizontal instead of following the curve of the body like the upper picture. Whether real or superimposed the result is neither erotic nor flattering to the physique. It doesn't make Kurt look any less handsome but slightly foolish instead.


Donny Kaye

I don't there's any room for doubt about the authenticity of this garment. It's capacious cut would make any man comfortable - if he had no sense of style that is. In this case I suspect there's something else inside as well, just to prevent any risky shape 'materialising' through oil soaked fabric. It's not nice really and poor Donny seems to be in tears about being made to wear it. That's a truly mitchmen-esque humiliation in it's own way, putting this man firmly in his place, but on the whole I'm at one with the detractors here. 

more next time

Read this series from Part 1