Year of the Beard

My Dad Told Me To Update My Blog October 13, 2009

And he’s right. I haven’t updated in a while and Octobeard (as it’s been called) has been a big month. So.

Here.

We.

Go.

Less than three months left! Sooner than later I will not have a beard. That will be interesting. I have a hard time imagining my life without the beard. I wonder what it’ll be like to be able to eat without getting any hair in my food. Or how my face will feel. Or if maybe I can finally get a date. Only time will tell. For those of you who are wondering where I have been recently, I promise, my social life will once again be active come 2010.

October has actually been an awesome month as far as publicity goes. First of all, you may have heard of a little publication called “Cleveland Magazine.” If you haven’t, it’s a magazine about Cleveland. October’s issue is their “best of Cleveland” issue, and guess who got best beard? Okay that’s not true. I didn’t win best beard. I’m not sure if anyone did. Regardless, they did do a little piece on me and my Year of the Beard project. You can pick up a copy at your local news stand now, or you can check out the article here.

Now most people would think, “Oh, I’m in Cleveland Magazine, I guess that’s enough press for one month.” But Year of the Beard knows no shame. So what did I do? I up and got published in the Plain Dealer as well. If you’re unfamiliar, the Plain Dealer happens to be Cleveland’s daily newspaper, and boy is it good. Check out the winning captions from “last week’s contest.” Yep. Number 4. All me. You know I don’t want to say some are better than others, but all I am saying is that I’d be pissed if I sent in “Look, Daddy, it’s an Obama tree” for a few reasons. First off, because I’m not funny. Second, because my name would be stricken and replaced by “multiple entries.” So to all of you who submitted that. Good job. Try to be a little more original next time.

And that’s it.

PSYCH!

My Facebook has been blowing up lately with a pretty awesome video that some people found online. It’s a wonderful song about how awesome beards are. I know none of us here at Year of the Beard need any reminding about how awesome beards are, but just in case you may have forgotten, I’ll leave you with the song.

PEACE!

Mr. Year of the Beard Goes to Washington June 2, 2009

Recently I took a trip to Washington DC. Oddly enough they let me on the plane with no problems. I know, I couldn’t believe it either.

So I had this massive plan to film an epic story called “Mr. Year of the Beard Goes to Washington.” I was going to film it with my very nice camcorder, but I ran into a little problem. I got about halfway to DC proper from my buddy Patrick’s place in Virginia when I realized the battery on my camcorder was dead. Nothing. Not even like thirty seconds. Just nothing. So we had to double back and I picked up my still digital camera (5.0 megapixels), which has a limited capability to take some of them ‘moving pictures.’ I filmed a less massive, not so epic movie. Also called it Mr. Year of the Beard Goes to Washington.

So now I present to you Year of the Beard in the nation’s capital.

Mr. Year of the Beard Goes to Washington from MyFriendCleveland on Vimeo.

Interview with Cleveland Beard Legend Dan Polito March 23, 2009

You can watch the video here but it’s actually better if you go to the Vimeo page where you can watch it in sweet hi-def!

Year of the Beard Interview – Dan Polito from MyFriendCleveland on Vimeo.

Happy Beard Day to Me! February 23, 2009

Saturday was a big day for me. Not only was it day 52 of the year, but it was also my birthday! (or as a few of my friends said, “Happy Beard-day!”) I got together with a few friends, some bearded, some not, and had a pretty awesome time. Highlight of the night was one of my favorite past times: Bar Bowling! Little known fact: my dad once bowled a 300 at bar bowling. As the night got later bar bowling turned into: Trick Shot Bar Bowling. I’m dangerous with the under the leg throw. 

But back to more pressing matters, it’s now less than two weeks until the Year of the Beard Fundraising Bonanza at McCarthy’s! Have you RSVP’d yet? Do you know what you’re wearing? It will most likely be the fashion event of the season so make sure you’re bearded up and ready to go. There are also some plans in the works for some additional fund raising at the party, but nothing has been finalized as of right now. I will keep you in the loop as soon as I hear more on that.

And now a very entertaining video that was passed on to me by my friend Mike. In this video, we not only see a fantastic beard, but for some reason we watch a man put 2,222 toothpicks in it. Odd? Certainly. Entertaining? Definitely.

That’s all for now, beard fans!

ps – I’d like to thank my very good friend Mary Katherine Riley for being the first person who donated over at the Facebook page. She got the ball rolling and started the trend and we’ve seen some good donations since. Thanks again Katie!

This Guy is Giving Beards a Bad Name February 15, 2009

While I certainly appreciate his acting abilities, and I am in complete awe of his beard, I can’t say I really condone Joaquin Phoenix’s actions on the Letterman Show recently.

Joaquin Phoenix on Letterman