Ebony Soul 2010-2011 18-Month Wall CalendarThe Latest Addition To MyBlack Male Calendar Collection (80+)

Hey Y'all!

Well, it's August and you know what that mean??? It means it's that time of year when new calendars traditionally begin launching for use for the next year. I have been collecting Black male calendars as a hobby for about 9 years now. I have a total of 81 Black male calendars in my collection! YES! I AM A SERIOUS COLLECTOR! YA HEARD! LOL!

Can't You Tell I'm A Happy Camper! LOL!

There are awards given out for best calendars (I forget what they are called) and Anthony Ragland is a 4-Time World Award Winner for his Ebony Soul calendars over the years. And if I had to give out awards myself there is no question that I'd give one out consistently to the Ebony Soul calendar series. It is by far my favorite and best produced calendar hi-liting Black men: from the selection of Black bruthaz, to the posing/directing of the bruthaz, the composition/framing of the bruthaz to the situations/locations. The only thing I'd say is missing is a lack of Black history almanac vignettes that could be added to the boxes on particular days where folks can get at least a weekly dose of our African heritage. KWANZAA is included though.
The Ebony Soul calendar series is produced by the photographer on the project - Anthony Ragland himself. This brutha has a nice eye and I LOVE his work!! As I mentioned before, Anthony has a knack for selecting good lookin' bruthaz.

AH! Gotta LOVE It!
Excellent Art Direction Layout On The Back Cover!

Not only that, Ebony Soul is the only regularly published Black male calendar that consistently produces a TRUE 16 or 18-month calendar. That means there are 16 or 18 individual bruthaz featured for each month. Not that crap where a calendar features the last 4 months of the existing year on one page (and is too small to be functional anyhow), and then features 12 bruthaz going into the next year. Some calendar producer calls this a 16-month calendar when, Uhhhh... NO!

Michael (February 2011) Lookin' Mad Guud and Sexy!

Overall, I give the Ebony Soul 2010-2011 calendar 3.5 stars out of 5 this time around. It's not 5 stars this time because the situations/locations and model direction shots aren't as good as the two previous calendars before it. However, Anthony has definitely got daring and gone risque for the first time with some nude shots (but you don't see genitals or butt), yet keeps true to his artistic integrity and didn't fall into a crude soft-porn category! (THANK YOU, Anthony!) Nevertheless, I have and LOVE the calendar overall.

Julian Is A Mad Hottie!
He's My Favorite Model In This 2010-2011 Calendar
As Well As The Previous Ebony Soul 2008-2009 Calendar

You can click the very first image of the calendar itself at the top of this blog entry where you can order it directly from Amazon.com via Anthony Ragland's website. The calendar costs a little more than most calendars at $19.99 plus $5 bucks for shipping, but just remember it's a true 18-month calendar and will last a little more than a year and a half on your wall. Anthony ships the calendars out USPS Priority Mail (2 to 3 day service) so you'll get it pretty fast.

Another notable calendar that is real HOT and that I recommend, too, is City Gym Boys!

Be qool y'all! Peace!

ROD (aka BIG ROD)




UPDATE (Tuesday, August 25th, 2009):

Hey Black Family,

I sent Anthony Ragland, the producer/photographer of the Ebony Soul Calendars, an email a week ago and I got a response back and wanted to share it with y'all:


Hello Big Rod,
First of all, thank you for your continued support and compliments on our calendar. Your blog was well written and with a great sense of honesty, both with the compliments and slight criticism.

Our goal is to produce a product that everyone will be proud of, not just the models included. We do receive a lot of feedback each year and I include those thoughts in fine tuning our upcoming productions.

Thank you again,
Anthony Ragland
Producer
EBONY SOUL INC.
www.ebonysoul.net