23 July 2016

I checked out of one hotel due to air conditioning problems, checked into another hotel and then found out that my stained and bacteria encrusted Mach 3 razor handle from a previous millennium had been left behind.  The hotel was kind enough to let me inspect the room, but the maids already threw out the razor, my blood stained towels and my fishing pole.  Oh well.  I was able to butcher my face with a disposable one-bladed Bic yesterday and tomorrow night I'll use my safety razor for a smooth shave.

On my drive from Florida to Alabama last week, I listened to four of the Longform podcasts: episodes 141 (Stephen J. Dubner aka half of Freakanomics), 153 (Tim Ferriss aka the Four Hour everything), 159 (Ira Glass aka Mr. This American Life) and 164 (Lena Dunham of HBO's Girls fame).  I found the first three fascinating and Lena Dunham boring.  Stephen Dubner talked about writing and working with the other Steven on their books.  Tim Ferriss is a very interesting person, but I keep reverting to "Yeah, we'll he's single, no kids, worked his ass off and then sold his business!  Of course he travels the world and does all kinds of cool stuff!"  Ira Glass talked about the beginning of working for NPR and what he almost called his show instead of TAL.  Lena Dunham just seems too young for me and haughty.  I've only seen the first episode of Girls so I'll have to give it another shot.

I used the Stitcher app on my phone to listen to more recent episodes on my phone and enjoyed the Jack Hitt, Kathryn Schulz and Frank Rich episodes.  Many of the Longform interviewees are writers, so now I need to go read Mr. Hitt's "Fiasco", finally read "The Really Big One" on the New Yorker (about the impending earthquake that will impact Washington, Oregon and California) and go watch Veep on HBO.  Since I have to watch, read or listen to media in numerical order, I started over today with episode 1 and got through episode 4.  If you really want to listen to them I figure by now you can navigate to the moving picture experts group layer three file or use an app.  If you have an iPhone, there is a Longform app for it, but apparently none for Android.

28 June 2016

If you've ever wanted a chance to cut yourself in small, painful, burning ways, shaving with a safety razor is a way to do just that, and psychologically connect with your forefathers.  I had been thinking about an alternative (or supplement) to the Mach 3 for a while, after reading about how using a safety razor would save me money, save me time and increase my testosterone.  I found a razor with five blades and a soap kit for around twenty bucks at the grocery store on Saturday.  Sunday night I had a decent redneck beard going, so was able to put the tool to the test.

...okay when I searched "you might be a redneck three day beard" I found this hilarious gentlemen:

He gives a just-under-two-minute refutation of the case against gender neutral bathrooms, nothing to do with safety razors (not that he uses one...).  He makes some interesting points and his accent is pretty funny.  Honestly, I never see anyone's parts in a public bathroom but my own, so it's hard not to agree with him.

...here's the razor and kit I bought:

 
So if you have an inkling, go get yourself a Van Der Hagen Traditional Safety Razor set, with an authentic boar bristle brush, soap bar and bowl.  Be warned of the following:

1. Keep the razors out of reach of your kids.
2. Keep the soap out of reach of your kids.
3. Keep the bowl and brush out of reach of your kids.
4. Your shave time will increase about twenty times.  When I shave my upper lip, I had to just use the tip and shaved about two hairs per stroke.

Anyway, I hear the blades last forever so no need to join a shave club.