Tuesday, November 29, 2016

30 Days Hath Movember....

 The Movember Movement started 13 years ago when men were invited to grow a mustache as a sign of support for a fund raiser to help men's health.

I recall when Rob Fowler, a local weather forecaster, announced he would shave OFF his mustache to support the cause.

Meteorologists are funny that way - do the opposite, sort of like the weather often  turns out.

That was a few years ago and I see that Rob grew his dark, thick upper lip ornament in about 4-5 days.

Well, this year I decided I too would grow a sign of support but, with a full beard.

How hard could that be?

I wore a full beard for 5 years and that was only, uh, about 30 years ago.

Hmm. I remember it being more of a blonde color.

It was just going to be a 30-day beard. No big whoop.

Not like the elaborate one featured by a local brewery to honor Charleston.

Or, as we natives sometimes call it - Chucktown.

There is a sad story about that particular man, his beard, the beer can and its corporate image.

Although he never wore it styled like that, his bosses at a Christian college fired this adjunct professor or suspended him.

The thinking on campus was something about it "seemed" like he was  supporting the idea of getting slicked up and drinking beer.

I mean, look at the picture. He's NOT drinking a beer. He would have had foam on his 'stache.

It is possible to not have a time limit on how long you'll have a beard nor how long it can grow.

A band named ZZ TOP has quite a trademark with its two frontmen.

And they've been doing this for about 45 years!

Billy and Dusty - same two hairy guys for almost half a century.

The drummer does not have a fuzzy face but, his name is Frank Beard.

 And, it looks like he has a mustache.

I saw this fellow checking his phone on the deck at The Windjammer last year.

By the time I got my camera up to my eye, he had finished texting or checking his email and had turned it off.

When I asked him to turn it back on, I had to explain how it looked from a distance.

He seemed puzzled.

I took a few shots and showed him how it looked. He asked me to email it to him so I did.

I also congratulated him on his full beard. He said it was 6-years old.

Then I noticed the symbol on his shirt and we talked a bit about his brewery.

Beer and beards. Yet another connection!

I see a lot of beards when I travel overseas.

Can't remember if this fellow was in Berlin, Prague or Slovakia.

Whichever it was, he kept it trimmed neatly across the bottom.

I didn't mention it of course but, at first glance, I thought he was holding a mop.

He had an umbrella with a handle hooked over his left arm.

Some people  just let them loose to grow however long, wide, rounded off or scraggly.

For mine, it's too soon to tell.

It's filling in pretty good and I keep a close eye on it but, so far, it hasn't turned blonde yet.

Saw this fellow in San Antonio, Texas at  a Mardi Gras celebration on the banks of the Riverwalk.

I had flown there for my grandson's graduation from basic training in the U.S. Air Force.

Every week there is a new class of graduates and families so the city has a ready crowd of tourists, eager to see the Alamo and other sights.

I actually spotted this guy's white beard before I even noticed his colorful shirt.

Who knew that before the year was out, I would be sporting my own "newbie" beard.

Gauging how slowly mine is taking shape, he has had this carefully groomed look for quite a while.

Little more mustache wax and he'd be ready to be pictured on a can of Lone Star.

Only a few days left to decide if I'll shave or keep it for a while.

It IS kind of nice not to have to shave every day. And it's not as prickly as it was at first.

(Click on the images and photos for more details.)

Thanks for stopping by. Maybe I'll still have this on my face next Movember.









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Tuesday, February 09, 2016

Happy Mardi Gras ...Texas style!

A bonus while strolling around with my son and his family in San Antonio, was a "preview Mardi Gras" on the famed RiverWalk. 

The boats came by with their "Crewes," tossing beads to the amphitheater crowd.

Several NOLA-type jazz bands played in the background.

And a LOT of sponsoring Bud Lights were being consumed. Far as I saw, nobody fell into the river.

I, of course, set a fine image for my son and grand kids. Drank nary a drop!

Tourists-filled boats would glide by every few minutes and several got mixed in with the colorful theme-decorated boats.

What an added adventure for them!

I had flown to San Antonio to be there when my 19-year old grandson graduated from Air Force basic training and became Airman Boyd, Andrew S.

My son, his wife and their daughter and I were very proud of this young man.

I bit my tongue a few times to not utter comments about how the Marines did boot camp "back in my day."

That was then and this is now.

He went through 7.5 weeks of what the Air Force dishes out to its trainees.

Young Andrew was in the top 10% of his class. That works for me and for his dad and family.

Through the use of a Topaz plug-in photo software called Lens Effects, I was able to make him the focus center of attention.

As his Flight marched toward us in the viewing stands, I took this photo then later used selective blurring on my computer.

I did mention that we Marines had the same raincoat with the zip-out liner back in the 1950s. Ours were green of course, not Air Force blue.

The weather in San Antonio was quite pleasant, in the 60s during the day and just above freezing at night. 

Airman Boyd was excited to put on civvies again to spend some family time before he starts technical training on Monday. 

Over the weekend, we ate in a Lackland AFB Food Court among extremely healthy young men and women, all wearing camo gear.

On liberty, we explored the Alamo and the RiverWalk and drove out to nearby Natural Bridge Caverns.

We also went to a hockey game at AT & T Center and the San Antonio Rampage won 5-2. 

The ice was tinted pink for Breast Cancer awareness and the home team wore pink jerseys which were auctioned off afterwards as a fund raiser.

(Click on the photos and links to see more details.) 

Thanks for sharing a family-proud weekend with us.


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