Goodbye Playoff Beards...

It's been an epic 40 days with playoff beardage...a sad shave it was.

Of course I couldn't shave without being a little curious how a mustache would look...



Ashok, also curious...



And one of Ashok's friends, Seth, decides to rock the 21st President of the United States, Chester Arthur's beard...

Sabres Fall to the Sens

When Alfredsson's shot went into the net in OT, it was as if the entire world stopped moving. No one spoke for minutes. The dream season came to an end. Although heartbroken, it only took a few moments before the "Let's Go Buffalo!" chant rang through the rafters and through the hallways of HSBC again. It was a great game, probably one of the best I'd ever been to. It was amazing seeing how charged the entire city was. I'm glad I got to see the end of this historic season, even though it ended in a loss. As for now, a quote from my facebook wall, the quote Franklin texted everyone hours after the game, the quote Marv Levy put in the locker room after the first Superbowl loss...

"Fight on, my men, Sir Andrew said,
A little I'm hurt but not yet slain.
I'll just lie down and bleed awhile,
And I'll rise and fight again."
-Uknown Poet

Next year, slighty different team, same goal.

Playoff Beards Week Three

Here we go...Week 3 Playoff Beards with matching player beards!






Baker/The Goose
Full beard let grow for the most part without trim, not as full as others




Franklin/Briere
Small, slow growing hair, concentrated only in certain areas of the face




Pete/Drury
Heavy beard growth, trimmed around cheek area






Ashok/Campbell
Full beard growth at a rapid rate, little or no skin showing in chin area.






Josh/Miller
Scraggly, quick growing, minimal groom, not full, face still viewable in patches






Wilson/Pominville
Trimmed, yet firm and highly concentrated

Week Two Playoff Beards

It's just after 2 weeks since the playoffs (18 days)...The Sabres are in Round 2 v.s. the Rangers, up 2 games to none.

Here's a story from the Buffalo News about playoff beards in Buffalo...

Week 2 playoff beards...Gettin' kinda scraggly...scraggly good.


Baker (Could be a stunt double in one of those pics)


Franklin


Pete


Ashok


Josh


Wilson


Playoff Puppy?

Cup Build 2007

This weekend fellow hockey enthusiast Don Ferlazzo and I decided to build our own Stanley Cups to help cheer our teams on through the playoffs. We both chose different materials and methods of construction.

From good 'ol trusty Wikipedia... "Commonly referred to as simply "The Cup", "The Holy Grail" or facetiously (chiefly by sportswriters) as "Lord Stanley's Mug", it is one of the most-recognized symbols in North American sports and is at the center of several legends and superstitions."

You too can impress your girlfriend with your very own Stanley Cup. Here's a brief photo essay on how we did it...


The materials (Mine on the left, Don's on the right). You haven't lived until you've walked around Home Depot with a bucket of Stanley Cup.


Don decides to hammer the air while singing "If I Had a Hammer" as I discover that the Super Glue is only sticking to my fingers, not the plastic buckets.


Just before I realize the metal bowl won't work. Don discovering drain piping can also be used for the Cup.


Damn tin foil just isn't working, time for a last minute re-design. Don concentrates on his gluing.


Super Glue and tape isn't holding up my Cup. Don suggests using the dozens of Ithaca pins Zach took from "Ithaca Night" at the Riviera Country Club. Shockingly enough, the pins do work and hold my Cup tiers together.


Thanks to Ithaca College my Cup stands tall. Good thing I also bought a plastic bowl. Don finishes his Cup.


My cup becomes silver along with half of the other patio furniture.


Don walks off, pretending the New Jersey Devils just won the Cup. Pretend is all he can do this year because he knows the Sabres are just too good to beat.


Goodnight Cup...dreaming of the Chippewa Cup Celebration 2007...

Click on the photos above to make bigger, or check out the rest of the photos on my Flickr site...

Week One Playoff Beards

It's the NHL playoff's, which mean playoff beards (which also include less women, less job opportunities, less razor burn, less time to get ready in the morning).

My friends and I are not going to shave until Chris Drury hoists the Sta-ahhhhh okay...here are the rules...

April 10th, 2007
Ok guys, get in that final shave by 11:59 EST...You hear that Pete? Eastern Standard Time! That is the last FULL shave for any of us until the Sabres win the cup! If any of us do for some ridiculous reason (i.e funeral, wedding) need to shave it, that reason MUST be approved by a majority. (Remember doctors note needed or obituary(no copy, original ONLY!)

Rules
1. Cleaning up the neck- I am fine with this, honestly about a week in my principal will probably make me. But only CLEAN UP work. Hence, no full shave.

2. No dying- I am very tempted to get a J.P Dumont red tint going on mine, but, I digress, alas, I decide, don't mess with it. (Look at that tricky comma work...grammar king!)

3. Be Proud- Gentlemen, your beard is a work of art! Be very proud and show it off to anyone who will look! There will be the nay-sayers, we say "go to the playoffs pinhead."

Have at it boys!

Beard General,
Steven James Baker


Before

After Week 1 of the Playoffs....

Baker


Franklin


Me


Ashok


Josh


Wilson

Things I Am 97-99% Sure Live Outside My Bedroom Window

I have been living in an apartment in North Hollywood for almost a year now. It's a nicer development compared to the rest of the area. I can't say a day or night goes by without hearing some sort of strange noise bellowing from outside.

Here's a small sample...

Auction Guy

In a nearby lot, Auction Guy finds it necessary to auction off cars about twice a week in the morning for about 3 hours each time. Thanks to his giant sound system, we can clearly make out what cars nowadays are going for. Thanks Auction Guy!!

The Pterodactyl

I was ecstatic when I first heard the Pterodactyl squak in the early hours of the morning from a couple houses down. I love dinosaurs, and I love even more that they apparently exist now. But morning after morning of squaking leads to sleep deprivation as I ponder things like "Wait...Why can't I have a Pterodactyl myself? If I had one I'd train it to not squak so much. I'd train it to make funfetti cake from scratch"

The Crying Baby 2007

It just cries and cries and cries, all night long...and cries and cries and cries. Shut up baby, get a hobby or a job.

Cats

After living here a year there are not many noises I haven't heard coming from a cat. I can now tell when they're fighting, crying, molesting each other, paying taxes. Oh then there's the sound they make when they realize getting Arby's at 10PM on a Tuesday night just wasn't a good idea. I hate cats.

Ghetto Bird

How exciting a helicopter circling around my neighborhood with a giant spotlight skimming the gorund can be! I wonder if it's chasing a convict on the run who just broke into a bank, ran over a couple pedestrians, jaywalked and is now looking for cover in my neighborhood. At least I am protected by the walls of this townhouse and it's windows. I'm safe.

Revving Infiniti Engine Guy

Thanks for revving that engine, guy. I hope it makes you feel mighty powerful. I hope all the onlookers in our deserted townhouse alley are throwing themselves at you in awe.

The March 29th 11:05PM Creature
It was late. Windows open. It had been raining for a couple days. Zach and I were in my room talking. Then we heard the sound. A sound that can only be described as "an evil, menacing, creaturish laugh" ringing from directly below my window. Whatever made the noise scampered away immediately, fading into the night. Zach described it as "clearly being pissed off at something."
I just hope it wasn't this...

If it was, I'm moving. I'm confident it wasn't the creature above, though. The one we heard sounded furry.

What's outside your window?