Hirsute Pogonologist

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Originally uploaded by akkleis

Yup, another posting about facial hair. Beards are in vogue. Facial hair is everywhere. An article in TIME magazine, a segment on CBS's Early Show, the Republic of Movember, a mirror.

On Thursday Feb 21, there will be a segment featuring Beard Team USA's trip to last year's World Beard and Moustache Championships in England. I'm a card carrying member, even though BTUSA doesn't have membership cards.

Movember (the month formerly known as November) is a charity event held during November each year.At the start of Movember guys register with a clean shaven face. The Movember participants known as Mo Bros then have the remainder of the month to grow and groom their Mo (Australian slang for moustache) and along the way raise as much money and awareness about male health issues as possible. I'll grow a mustache for charity.

When I started growing my beard back a year or so ago it wasn't because it was a new fad. I am not trying to make a statement. I just didn't want to shave my face anymore. Could I be a trendsetter and not know it? I was the first dude in my high school to have the 90210 "Dylan sideburns". I guess you could say I'm an artist and my medium is facial hair. Or you could call me a hirsute pogonologist (a.k.a. shaggy beard scholar) if you're not into the whole brevity thing.

How I Scored My Wife

A friend sent me a link to a CNN article about great first date cars. Not because I'm cruising for babes in my hot little topless orange number, Tawny (that's her and me in the pic), but because the 350Z Roadster is featured in the article. But my first date with Chronic involved taking Tawny for a spin down I66. That might just be what endeared me to her. Here's what female auto journalist Sheryll Alexander had to say about about the car:

Nissan 350Z Roadster
Mack Points: Pure Mack Daddy with powerful growling engine. Convertible top and sexy exterior lines.
Not Diggin' It: Rather small interior can make things tight, a bit too racy for commuting
MSRP: $27,900 - $40,250

First comes marriage, then the kids and then going out on a date seems more like a miracle rather than an exciting weekly excursion. So, my husband and I were overjoyed to be driving a sleek yet curvaceous Nissan 350Z Roadster on a recent trip to a world-class dinner at The Montage Resort & Spa in scenic Laguna Beach.

While watching rather violent Pacific shore waves break over rocks, sand and cliffs, we sat in the Z's cozy leather seats and noted how its driving mechanics feel so much like driving a Corvette -- pure power, racy cockpit and over-the-top masculine styling.

The exterior design definitely calls out to a more hip crowd of daring men who like the Z Roadster's sexy curves and oversized haunches. The carbon silver color, a dark silver tone with glinting highlights, really showed off the Z's muscular frame with modern appeal.

Now, your date may not get off on the under-the-hood details like molybdenum-coated pistons and micro-finished crankshaft and camshafts, but you'll get excited every time you let this 3.5 liter V6 roar down the highway. We thoroughly enjoyed the tight handling and super fast acceleration, but the heavy-footed manual transmission was not so fun.

However, we were especially impressed with the sound engineering, which makes the Z Roadster roar like you've got thousands of growling beasts at your feet. Your date, no doubt, will definitely think you are a dynamic guy with this much power at your feet.

Certainly not girly in any way, the 350Z Roadster's interior is a marvel in masculine design. This all-black wonder of leather and chrome accents looks and feels even more like a race car with its ventilated leather and mesh-appointed seats, which in our case came in a very stylish two-toned black and burnt orange accent colors.

Remember to be sensitive about your date's delicate hair style, so don't put down the Nissan Z's soft top until you have stopped at a quiet scenic spot. The silent, smooth and quick design of the top-down function would even impress fictional ladies' man James Bond.

Basically, the Nissan 350Z Roadster is truly a he-man's ride come true whether girls like it or not.

Wedding Video

The full 1hr 4min Shock wedding video. Enjoy!

Redskinz Finally Hire A New Head Coach

After a search that lasted 32 days, the Washington Redskins finally hired a new head coach-Jim Zorn. Who's that you ask? Well he's most recently the long tenured quarterbacks coach of the Seattle Seahawks. The Redskins originally hired Zorn two weeks ago to be the team's new offensive coordinator. Then they turn around and promote him to head coach. Zorn has never even been an OC of an NFL team and the Skins make him the HC. It's a departure from the big name HC hires the Redskins are known for since little man Danny Snyder bought the team-Gibbs 2.0, Spurrier and Schottenheimer. Whether it's a big name or a no name, the Redskins organization is screwed up. Washington Post sports columnist Sally Jenkins said it best in her Feb 7 column:

It's a bitter shame to say this, given how much it surely pains local fans, but the truth is that Redskins Park is no place for someone with a bright future. It's too dark and dysfunctional. The phrase "coach killer" comes to mind. No good one, except possibly Joe Gibbs, has had a decent experience under Snyder, not Norv Turner, Marty Schottenheimer, Steve Spurrier, Al Saunders or Gregg Williams. Which is why the only people who seem to be realistically entertaining the job now are either those desperate to get back in the game, such as Jim Fassel and Steve Mariucci, or climbers looking for their first head coaching office.

There is a consistent, central weakness in the Redskins' organization that no coach can fix. It's Snyder's tycoon mentality, his assumption that he can purchase people and make them do what he wants, and if they displease him, discard them. His paycheck players and presto coaching solutions fail every time. The franchise is based on a series of extravagant bribes, not a dime of which has ever been spent on the qualities that made the Giants into Super Bowl champions, namely good faith, loyalty, patience, unity and, above all, belief in the leadership at the top.

Something else in the NFL world saddens me as well. After 31 years, HBO is "sacking" Inside the NFL. I love that show. I didn't like any of the hosts-Bob Costas and former NFL players Dan Marino, Cris Carter and Cris Collinsworth-but it was a "deep" football highlights show, if there is such a thing. Inside The NFL was unique. I'm a traditionalist, so when I see a institution like Inside the NFL taken off the air by a dominant TV station due to competition, well all is not right in the world.