Big Towel Blog

Drums!

2009-10-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

I recently was gifted a beautiful set of wine red Pearl Forum Drums! So far the only shit I've learned are a couple weezer songs and I heard it Through the Grape Vine as performed by CCR. I am looking into getting some nice Wuhan China cymbals or possibly a Solar china crash. Something that sounds nice but isn't too too pricey. Below is a pic of them:

Actions of Hate

2009-02-22T23:55:00.000-08:00

All, last night 4 of my close friends were jumped outside of a small town pub. One of my friends is in the Auxiliary for the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP, equivalent to state police) and another is going into the army for Military Police duty.

Several of the individuals in the bar got wind of my friends being in the military/police force and headed outside just before last call to set up an 'ambush' for my friends. When the four of them left the bar, they were confronted by 10 of these individuals. When the OPP Aux stepped outside he was blindsided and sent to the pavement where 5 of the group began kicking him several times. 2 of the friends tried pulling them off, but the other half of the group went after them. The Military Policeman-to-be is a 3rd degree black belt and managed to land a few good licks on one of them, but was then overpowered as well.

The fight continued and the end result was the OPP Aux not being about to open one of his eyes, two of the friends with bruises and one of them with a broken nose. The Thing that REALLY burns me is the female on looker who was struck by one of these men. She was smashed against a wall and her arm broke.

This all happened not even 30 mins after I left with my girlfriend and her friend. I feel awful that this happened after I left and that I wasn't there for my friends when they were in trouble. I know I wouldn't have made much of a difference against those odds, but it should have been my face in the pavement with them...

The thing I ask you is, WHY? Why would hearing that two men in the bar are police/military be enough reason to gang up, ambush and severely beat them?! WHY?! These people sign up to do a service for their nation. They sign up to protect these people and this is what happens? It is complete and udder BULLSHIT!

This completely shakes me and shatters my views. I can just replay in my head how it all went down. Also how the situation would have been different. I mean, this is a small port town, a small close knit community. You would not expect this kind of shit to go down.

I ask you all why and how anyone could be so hateful to servants of the peace?

Beard Blog: 3.5 weeks in

2008-12-09T11:08:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a slow week. I have barely grown any more hair and it's becoming frustrating. It's like I am having a facial hair drought. Here are the image updates:

Front:

Right Side:

Left Side:

Neck:

The itching is almost unbearable. I have started using after shave lotion on my face to sooth it, but I still find myself idly itching at times. MUST... LET... IT... GROW!

Dirty Man Challenge?

2008-12-02T07:13:00.000-08:00

Certain unnamed friend, notice the Dutch forehead

It has come to my attention there is a name attached to what I am doing. I am currently not shaving for several weeks in order to grow out a beard. During this time, I will not be cutting my hair either. A certain unnamed friend (see above file photo) has told me this is called the 'Dirty Man Challenge'. Such an annotation is correct in the sense that it is a challenge of manliness. However, calling it the 'Dirty Man Challenge' is not accurate.

I want to make something clear: Men with beards are manlier than others without. The term is 'rugged' not dirty. There's a real difference. Below is the face of my rugged self:

As you can see, I am rugged not dirty. I believe the certain friend who used the term is only jealous because his Dutchness prevents him from growing a respectable beard. When he gorws a beard, it looks like an ill-seeded cornfield.

I will continue to grow this beard despite criticisms by jealous people and it will be a great robust beard of epic proportions.

Tyler

Discovering Gypsy/Cabaret Punk

2008-11-30T16:55:00.000-08:00

The World/Inferno Friendship Society

My fantastic new infatuation in music is Gypsy/Cabaret Punk music. It is a collection of Orchestra Bells, Pianos, Accordions, Saxophones, Clarinet, Tubas, and other various types of instruments. All of this mixed into a nice punk look and sound; a very nice balance. I am pretty certain my roommates don't appreciate me blasting this music, but it needs to be played at the appropriate levels to be enjoyed properly.

Amanda Palmer

In addition to a combination of great instrumentals, this genre usually employs really deep and meaningful lyrics. Here is an excerpt from the song Ich erinnere mich an die Weimarer Republik by The World/Inferno Friendship Society:

"I'm a fag, I'm a Jew, how do you do?
That's Mister Anarchist to you.
You think your scene's dead?
Well mine got killed by some dimwits'
Triumph Of The Will.
From the all ages shows,
to the full wet bars,
to the front line squats of your culture wars,
I ain't gonna hit you with the dogma or the lecturing, this has to be a purely personal thing.
You see, Pirate Jenny didn't have no friends
When those bulls they came for her, and
Sally Bowles' man got pushed up against the wall. Now everytime I see a Swiss bank I spit,
you say 'resist control' well I mean it,
'Cause it was come as you are in the cattle cars and there ain't a damn thing you can do about it, except remember,
Die Weimar."

Some bands who fall under these genres are:

The World/Inferno Friendship Society
DeVotchKa
Amanda Palmer
The Dresden Dolls

For more information on this great genre of music, check it out on Last.Fm!

Tyler

Reinventing Manliness!

2008-11-30T09:29:00.000-08:00

Nowadays, men are becoming less and less manly! When I say manly, I mean in the traditional sense of the word. Nice plain suits, classy hats, polos and slacks are the traditional manly clothes of generations before us. But now metrosexual stylings are on the rise, further blurring the lines between men and women. Male manorisms are further stretching away from the traditional form of manliness. From how we shave to how we conduct our selves in a corporate environment. Every sense of being a man is threatened!

There is hope however and it can be found in the form of The Art of Manliness . This website has everything in it on how to be a more traditional manly man. I have personally been reading a vast variety of articles on that website as of late. You should too!

Read the articles, learn the lessons and help bring back manliness!

Tyler

Beard Blog: 2 weeks in

2008-11-29T10:41:00.000-08:00

I have recently decided to under go the task of growing a full beard. Over the next several weeks I will be posting updates on here, complete with pictures. This week is the first update. The following are pics two weeks into bearding:

Front:

Left side:

Notice the light areas mid-cheek. This part will be the greatest challenge in weeks to come.

Neck:

Right side:

So far the only real challenge is to resist the urge to shave. No matter how bad the beard feels or looks at first, absolutely no shaving/trimming! It's going to be this way for at least 6 weeks. It will be hell, but I believe the end result will be worth the wait. After new years, I can finally start to trim. For now, I just let'er grow!

Interested in growing your own beard? Visit some of these helpful sites:

Beard Revue
Beards.org
Art of Manliness

Some bearded inspirations of mine can be found here:
20 Manliest Mustaches and Beards from Facial Hair History

Check back in the future for more Tyler's Beard Blog updates.

Tyler

First post!

2008-11-29T10:16:00.001-08:00

Yeah first post I made it yeah! Hmm, somehow the thrill of making the first post is lost in a personal blog.

Over the next few weeks I will be trying the whole blog approach to the internet. First time blogger, long time reader. The blogosphere is vast with a variety of different topics and articles. What would make someone read my blog? Unknown.

Some things that will be feature in up coming blogs:

Tyler's Beard Blog; I have set out on a mission, a bearded mission. I will be posting images of my beard's progress along with beard links on the net, and other fun facts about the exciting world of beard growing. Should be interesting.

Personal Journal; The exciting world of the big towel, encapsulated into a blog post.

Things I find amusing; various things around the internet I find interesting, I'll share with my devoted readers.

Should be fun. That's all for now,

Tyler