That may be true for another group of fans, but not us!

Need an ice pack!

SOOOOO handsome!

All time favorite!!! Shades are soooo cool!

I agree. i like Vince with shades, he looks cool and bad(in a good way).

I love this photo! It's under my pillow. Hubby don't have a clue!! Unless,...... flies behind the headboard!! LOL!!

Love this one !!!

me too. It´s great.

HOT!!!! Need the freezer!!

Here.

Dang, we could eat dinner! LOL!!!I see ice cream?

Yummy!!!

wow definately really hot is their room in the freezer for me lol

So does anyone think that Bobby will shave now that he's in recovery mode for Season 8?

I'll be in the top left section!!!


Yeah, if he doesn't I'll fedex him some Gillette as a hint!

LOL...I'll pay the postage and handling!

That is a great question cluck as we know that VDO does everything for a reason- such as using scruff to show a long, tiring day. (Moar scruff!) Maybe he will- I like the clean shaven or the scruff more than the beard myself so if youand TFM need any help paying for those razors or shipping...let me know.

I'll help Bobby eat this, thanks LBD!!!! I'll leave ya a bite!

That is a sexy look!!

Stubble look's good!

Not LOCI-related, but so perfectly-suited for a Thread about Beards, here's a Newspaper Article about, of-all-things, a "Beard Contest." Fun reading, but you really need to use the link to view the photographs of the wild beards and mustaches for the "full effect."

Beard Team USA brushes up for Alaska competition
Matt Villano, Special to The Chronicle Pg. E-1
Saturday, March 14, 2009

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/14/DD4816E7VI.DTL&hw=Beards&sn=001&sc=1000

Fire-red and puffy like a cloud, the beard that hangs from Jack Passion's face commands the kind of stop-in-your-tracks attention generally given to sirens and 95 percent off sale signs.

This shock of hair is quite literally a national treasure netting Passion the title of World Champion in the "Natural Full Beard" category at the 2007 World Beard and Moustache Championships - a distinction he's held proudly ever since.

With the 2009 competitive facial hair season in full swing, the Walnut Creek resident is gearing up to defend his title at regional contests such as today's New York City Beard and Moustache Championships, and the next WBMCs in Alaska in May.

Fuller beards appear to be making a social comeback (actors George Clooney and Mel Gibson are among recent devotees; then, of course, there's Joaquin Phoenix), the Alaska event pits the best beards from our nation against the best of the world.

Passion and a host of hirsute heroes make up a group known as "Beard Team USA." The U.S. squad features a host of Bay Area all-stars, including Team Captain Phil Olsen, mustache maven Gary Hagen and Aarne Bielefeldt, whose long gray-white beard makes Santa's look modest.

While it's safe to say the team wouldn't stand a chance without its local representatives, Passion notes that at least in the beard world, distinctions are less about individuals and more about the hair.

"In the art world, we celebrate the artist, not the canvas," he says. "Here, in the alternate universe that is competitive facial hair, we celebrate nothing but the canvas-just the beard itself."

Humble beginnings

In the sport of competitive facial hair, Beard Team USA is a relative expansion team, founded by Olsen in the early part of this decade.

Because he lives in Tahoe City (Placer County), the retired lawyer and Stanford alumnus used to grow a beard to keep warm in winter and shave it off in spring. On a chilly night in 1999, however, he found himself in Ystad, Sweden, where he stumbled upon the "peculiar world" of the biennial WBMC.

His beard was modest back then; no more than a foot or so. After seeing what fun competitors had going face-to-face, it hit him - the beard could galvanize a nation.

"The whole thing was such an unusual and flamboyant display of oddball masculinity - a cult of people who had created their own art form," Olsen said. Olsen took it upon himself to assemble an American team and put the U.S. on the follicular map. He befriended a bunch of competitors from Germany, the nation credited with inventing the sport, and convinced them to hold the 2003 contest in the U.S. Four years later, on Halloween Eve, the WBMCs were held in Carson City, Nev.

Every American who showed up for that event became a charter member of Beard Team USA.

To this day, Olsen says the team is still open to everyone:

"We don't have an application. There's no interview process. You don't have to pay dues. There's no secret handshake or oath. To be honest, you don't even have to have facial hair. We don't want to get into saying, 'That person's facial hair isn't good enough' or 'That's not really a beard.'

To avoid those controversies, everyone is welcome. "

Grooming techniques

Despite the absence of rigorous admission requirements, many members of Beard Team USA take participation in annual and regional events very seriously.

Bielefeldt, a 43-year-old electrical engineer who lives in Willits (Mendocino County), says he cares for his 2-foot-long beard religiously, applying an olive oil-based conditioner from L'Occitane. Gary Hagen, the Gilroy resident who took home top prize for his handlebar mustache in 2003, clips his locks at least once a week.

For Passion, who is 25, beard maintenance has become a lifestyle.

No matter where his travels take him, the freelance musician spends about 15 minutes brushing his beard in the morning, and another 15 minutes at night. Occasionally, he'll also splurge on a treatment with jojoba oil.

Equally critical is Passion's passion for keeping his face clean - a process he (painstakingly) details in a forthcoming e-book titled, "Jack Passion's Facial Hair Handbook."

"I like to think of facial hair like the coat of an animal - the coat is healthy because the animal is healthy," he says. "I don't drink. I don't do drugs. I treat my body like a temple because a healthy man equals a healthy beard."

Interestingly, while local members of Beard Team USA are more than happy to share certain aspects of their hair care rituals, each and every one of them makes clear that some techniques must remain secret. Olsen, for instance, lists four or five of his favorite products, but won't share his strategy for using them.

"I have to be careful because the competition is still a ways away," he quips.

The Mane Event

Out of this year's 18 categories, many are esoteric and oddball facial hairstyles, such as the Dali Moustache category, which pays homage to surrealist Salvador Dali by rewarding a long and thin mustache that points upward.

While many Americans see facial hair as an expression of individuality and nonconformity, Olson says German competitors grow and style their mustaches in accordance with the rules in order to win the game.

"It's a cultural difference, really," he says. "If you take a cross section of American beardsmen, you're likely not going to find people who can be competitive in every category."

But that is changing. During the 2005 WBMCs, held in Frankfurt, Germany won 14 out of 17 first-place trophies, and the U.S. won one. In 2007, however, during the last WBMCs in Brighton, England, the 37 representatives of Beard Team USA took home five first-place wins.

This year, local members of Beard Team USA say the squad hopes for somewhere in the neighborhood of eight or nine victories. The team should be bolstered by a good turnout. Olsen says he is preparing for a record team head count of roughly 250 competitors. More than half of these participants are expected to be Alaskans, who recently wrapped their own regional Mr. Fur

Face competition.

Festivities will begin on May 20 with a welcome barbecue and continue the next day with another reception in the heart of town. Then, on May 22, participants will lead a Parade of Beards through downtown Anchorage. The Mane Event, the championship contest, will take place on May 23.

A number of former competitors describe the championship as "a cross between Oktoberfest and Miss America."

Not surprisingly, the celebration involves a lot of beer, so it's fitting that the trophies are ceramic beer steins (with a mustache guard to keep foam off the facial hair, of course).

New this year, organizers plan to erect a catwalk-type stage for competitors to strut their stuff, which is convenient because many competitors also wear costumes. During the last event, Olsen wore an old Civil War uniform and Passion wore a white tux. Neither would reveal what they would be wearing to the competition this time around.

Bielefeldt, the graybeard, would say only that he plans to wear a turn-of-the-20th-century top hat. "Costumes add flair," he says. "When you're up there in front of the judges, you can never have too much of that."

No matter who wins, Passion said there are intangible benefits to facial hair that are more valuable than any prize.

"Think of the beard as a filter - because (jerks) aren't going to come up to you and say, 'Great beard,' you know that anyone who comes up and actually asks about it is going to be cool," he says. "Underneath my beard is my heart, which means that people who express interest in it are going to get to see the real me."

Beard Team USA

There's still time to join Beard Team USA. Captain Phil Olsen, will actively be recruiting members up until mid May, and notes that training for the event might just be one of the easiest pastimes known to man.

"This is the ultimate couch potato sport because preparing requires doing absolutely nothing," he notes. "It's the opposite of an activity. You sit there. You let your hair grow. That's it." Olsen can be reached at www.beardteamusa.org.

The World Beard and Moustache Championships will be held May 20-23 in Anchorage, Alaska.

To learn more about the event, visit www.anchorage.net/worldbeard. Additional information and registration forms are available at www.akbeardclub.com. For information about visiting Alaska, check out www.travelalaska.com.

Matt Villano is a freelance writer. E-mail us at datebookletters@sfchronicle.com.

I think he has. The most recent pic I've seen from March 13 filming had no beard. Still no tie, though.

ooh, yay! Where did you see these pics?

Someone posted one after she was lucky enough to get Vincent to pose with her. I'll crop her out and post the pic...




March 16, 2009

Yeah! Thanks! Great pic!

That's funny, LociFan, the octopus beard was kind of scary, though o.O



I remember when she posted that pic minutes after, lucky girl.



Aw, c'mon , how can you not that beard?

AAHHHHH, YES!

He is so cool.

Not long guys to see this face!I love the stubble still, hell I love Bobby anyway he wants!

That hurts me!

I loved K.

I love this man!

GREAT PICTURE!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No beard!!!!!!!!

Great post K. I loved it.

You're so generous, krod!




Yay...I love seeing his handsome face! Thanks for the great pic, Amy99!

This is my new fave!! Thanks for sharing.....

Thanks for posting this, KRod! This is now the wallpaper on my computer, and it looks fantastic.

He is fine with the gouty

Love this, Bobby in the shadow!

This is HOT!

Spring and Bobby's in the air! Love this pic!!

GREAT!!!!!!!! I LOVE THEM!!!!!

~moark~

Love this!!!

Wow, that's a great one! There's our guy, standing guard over his city.

The close shave....aaahhh yes!

Miss that face!

Uh....why yes, Vince....I think the stubble looks nice. ::THUD::