Moustaches

We shaved off our beards last night, leaving only remnants, which some choose to call moustaches.
I showed up with an early start. I trimmed a bit of my beard in an attempt to distract and/or intimidate my opponents at poker last night. It only slightly worked.


In no specific order, here are our moustaches.

Mustaches

There has been talk of mustaches replacing beards come March 21. This is exciting. I love mustaches. Here is proof from the fabled mustache era of my youth.

Bearded Brothers

I will admit that I once used my brother's ID to enter a 'drinking establishment' in my first year of university to celebrate the end of the first term. I think I had one or two beers, and they were most likely of poor domestic quality. The guy at the door must have had several more, because clearly, my brother and I are not identical twins.
My beard is much larger, fuller, and much less red.
Ian surprised us all when he showed up this weekend for the annual Extended Breukelaar Family Christmas Party with hair on his face. There are a million "hair on his face, no hair on top of his head" jokes that could have been made, but he's got some crazy martial art skills and he would have kicked my ass. So, I'll refer to them here from the comfort of the internet.

So, as far as the Peterborough Beard Collective goes, we shall welcome for one brief moment, my brother Ian as an honorary member. He is likely clean shaven now, though, so he is officially kicked out of the collective.

Which brings me to my next point. I appear to be the only one in the collective who has not substantially groomed my beard. I thought that others would last longer than I, but it appears as though all those surveys done some time ago pointing to my beard growing prowess were accurate.

Beard Glamour Shot

People all over the world are loving the beard thing...and rightfully so, might I add. The following is a link to, what could possibly be, the best beard fabrication I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing. May you enjoy it in all it's caging glory.

Update:
1) As you can see, Ben Tyne somehow snuck into our secret club. Good job.
2) Josh has started fresh with the beard growing, as he had to shave for work. Something about nuclear reactors.
3) I (Dave Breukelaar) am seriously considering trimming the edges of my beard. I've already trimmed the mustache area, in order to keep a certain beautiful woman happy.
4) Michael is one of the most awkward people to photograph. I am curious what his yearbook photo's looked like.

Considering the Trim

I've felt like a trim might be in order, especially on the moustache as it is starting to hang over the lip. I smiled in the mirror yesterday and saw moustache hair overlapping my teeth. The stark contrast of dark moustache hair over white teeth threw me off for a bit as I said to myself, 'That's disgusting.' But I collected by negative thoughts together and thew them out, only to embrace the next plausible option, combing the hair to the sides and forgetting about the trim. How would you ever get those incredible curls at the sides of your mouth if you trimmed. And thus...

...introducing the moustache comb. Used by moustache afficianado's world-wide. Lovely.

Food for Thought

Slightly applicable - contributed by Jeremy Vreugdenhil
http://www.pepsimax.com/movember

Mango Juice

Breakfast of beard champions.

Chris Jardin

Now this is a beard. Check him out at http://chrisjardin.wordpress.com/.

Well, it's been a month now since we all started growing our beards. I'm not about to boast or anything, but it looks like this a bit of a foreshadow of the podium. That's right. I said it. Both Carlo and Jordan seem to be gazing upon my gold medal of a beard with envy, and awe. (Actually, Jordan seems to be looking at my beard with slight approval, but more of a "I can and will do better than that" look. Carlo seems to be staring out the window at something (or someone). All kidding aside, the Peterborough Beard Collective is more of a brotherhood, a family affair. What better way to represent that then with actual family members and brothers being involved:

Michael VanDerHerberg and his cousins Josh and Jeremy Vreugdenhill (they're brothers).

I'd say that we're all looking quite good so far. None of us have been fired from our jobs yet for the growth on our faces. Our wives/girlfriends have mixed opinions. One month down, five to go. Who will go the distance? Will you even recognize him?

Who's In

Let's recap for a moment to verify membership:

The originals that have retained membership:

Carlo Raponi - Was accused of being an Italian Chewbacca until he trimmed his neck.
Christian Harvey - Has not trimmed a hair since day 1. Looking good.
David Breukelaar - Voted first place for Bushman and Best Beard. Trimming of the neck is evident but overlooked because of the Best Beard position achieved.
Jordan Vander Klok - Voted second place in all categories. Trimming of the neck is allowed as it would have continued otherwise for the full body sweater.
Michael VanDerHerberg - Voted first place for Endurance. A non-trimming purist.
Steve North - Stylishly maintaining an impeccable beard, even on his birthday.

The originals that have revoked membership:

Michael Vyn - No longer with us.
Peter Faught - Among the forgotten.

The added, but just as good as originals:

Josh Vreugdenhil - Cousin to the founder and accused of some moustache trimming, but a great beard nonetheless.
Jeremy Anderson - Came out of his mother's womb with a full beard and has not shaved since.
Steve Ross - Founder's counterpart at the New Canadians Centre. We're still waiting for some update photos although Michael can attest to him 'looking great'.

If there are others, expose thyself! Let your inner and outer beard be known.

Jer Anderson - Our Newest Member

Jeremy Anderson, unbeknownst to many of us, has been growing his beard since the inception of the Peterborough Beard Collective and is welcomed with open arms by brothers across Peterborough.

Beard and I

Unlike some of my other fellow beard growers, this is my first time donning this facial testament to manliness. I've never been a supporter of the winter beard. Mainly because you look like a bum. Sure, I've sported the I'm-a-soap-opera-character-who-was-thought-dead-but-was stranded-on-a tropical-island-for-a-month-this-whole-time-with-nothing-more-than-a-ripped-shirt-and-even-more-ripped-abdominal-muscles-but-despite-my-extensive-stay-i-managed-to-only-grow-scruff beard...but who hasn't!? This is an all new kind of facial hair expression; and it's influences upon me have been significant. Allow me to give an example... I was building a shed in my backyard out of lumber and steel and I needed to lift the monstrosity upright. Now my rational mind told me to ask my housemate for assistance, but my beard disagreed! With the harsh huskiness of a lumberjack and the brash fortitude of a Norwegian sailor it commanded me to accomplish the task on my own! I obeyed and did what I was told. Beard was right, and I feel that together there is nothing we can't accomplish! The accompanying photos are of Beard and I. One is the angry lumberjack look, the other is the playful, caring lumberjack look. Both are great, because Beard is there.

Survey Results

The survey results are out... with the 'Bushman', Dave Breukelaar comes in first place, followed closely behind by Jordan Vander Klok, and Carlo Raponi. For the endurance, Michael VanDerHerberg holds the claim to fame with an astonishing 10 votes, only barely beating Jordan Vander Klok.And rating the best beard out there, the crowds have chosen the luxuriously facially blessed David Breukelaar, again followed closely behind by Jordan Vander Klok. Let's focus on the results. Dave has a nice beard and it grows quick. We now know that Carlo, Jordan and Mike have also been enriched genetically with the facial rapidity encouragement. And Michael has only won the endurance portion because he's a stubborn son-of-a-gun and wouldn't let anybody get in before a Dutch. What is most interesting is that on all accounts, Jordan Vander Klok is our number 2 man. Now that's not bad Jordan, I'd phone home about that if I were you.

Survey... two days left

Who will have the best beard? Submit your thoughts here.

Workplace Hazards

As a life-long member of the Peterborough Beard Collective, and a competent, competitive participant in the annual winter beard growth, I hesitate to admit that I am already imagining a pre-spring trim. I know, its a cop-out. A renege. A failure.

In the past, I have always done rather well in the winter beard category of life. Perhaps I'm compensating for other, less abundant, aspects of being me. Or perhaps I enjoy a warm face and something that you can appropriately stroke in public. Last winter I wasn't even cold. Not even once. Maybe its because my beard was so huge. Maybe its because I was living in Costa Rica. Who can tell? My beard was so huge birds could nest in it. Flightless birds.

So why am I contemplating this madness? Why wield scissors (or a machete) and lop off what is clearly the tallest feather in my cap? Here it folks: work. That harsh mistress that we all must answer to, unless of course we are funemployed. I was funemployed once. It ruled. Alas, no longer. Now I am a cook, and I cook good food. Some other people's jobs may involve looking professional. Those people are lucky, as beards are probably the most professional thing you could possibly wear on your face to work. Cooks are not required to look professional. In fact, the more blood on your apron and the more poorly drawn tattoos you have on your neck, the better. But beards present hassle in the kitchen. They get in the way. They get dipped in the fryer. Caught in the blender. Bits of beard fall into a finely crafted salad, leaving your patrons unsure of how "local" food really should be, despite the dominant fad. In case you were wondering, none of those things are good things. But there just may be a saving grace. A saving grace that directly deals with both beards and foods. Ladies and Gentlemen (mostly gentlemen, unless you are a bearded lady), I present Beard Nets.

Oh, and in case you were wondering. What Dave wrote previously is actually true. My neck beard does connect to both my face beard, and my summer sweater. I have to artificially create a divide. I did just that this morning, and it made me feel like I was born again. Wondering what I would look like without the divide? Picture shag carpet + full frontal. Add well-proportioned muscles and a winning smile.

Week 2 Update

It seemed necessary to bump Christian the 'tortoise' out of the way and put up some pictures of the 'hares' in the group. These were taken this morning, after breakfast with the boys.Jordan commented that this is the 2nd longest he's ever gone with a full neck beard. There is no disconnect between his chest hair (his 'summer sweater' as he refers to it), his neck, his beard and the top of his head.

The Tortoise and the Hare

I have left my beautiful facial hair untouched for over a week now and I am starting to feel that maybe I will not win our little contest. I realized that I actually only shave once a week anyways so this is what I usually have. But then I remembered the beautiful parable of the tortoise and the hare. I remembered that though the hare started off strong, we know that his pride got to him and he lost. And so I said to my self, "Christian, you beautiful specimen of a man, who cares if after a week you look like a 13 year old just hitting puberty and Carlo looks like a freaking sasquatch! You will win, your facial hair has always been pruned to early, but once they realize that they are free to flourish, a garden of course strands will burst from the fertile earth that is your sweet, sweet face and you will come out victorious!!" I AM THE TORTOISE, AND I WILL ROAR (or whatever it is tortoises do.)

Survey Post

Who will have the best beard? Submit your thoughts here.

Itinerant Member - Chris Jardin

Check out his blog at http://chrisjardin.wordpress.com/ and check his beard out here.

Week One Update (well, not quite a week yet)

A few of us are sporting some decent stubble, making good progress. Does coffee put hair on our faces?

We're also proud to announce the newest member of the collective, Mr. Josh Vreugdenhil, seated to the right of Jordan in the picture below. Welcome aboard. The survey can not be amended to include Josh as we have just found out. We're at 27 responses to the survey so far with more to come before October 8th. If you'd like to visit the survey, click here.

Michael has cut the hair off the top of his head to somehow make the hair on his chin stand out more. A good strategy.

(ed note: Carlo pointed out that while he was looking admiringly at his coffee, Christian was looking admiringly somewhere else. I think there was a comment made about beard envy.)

Survey

Who will have the best beard? Submit your thoughts here.

The participants

Standing: Jordan Vander Klok, Christian Harvey, Michael VanDerHerberg, Michael Vyn with Desmond, Carlo Raponi
Sitting: David Breukelaar, Stephen North, Peter Faught

My money is on Desmond.

Day 1

Last minute trim

Day 1. Clean shaven for the first time in several years. I feel every breeze on my face. I feel naked. I need to hide behind my beard again...