NYC BMC FTW

Just like after a wedding (or an engagement... read on), the party that was the NYC Beard and Moustache Competition has left me with the inevitable feeling of "well, now what?!"  The copious amount of planning that went into it, the tons of anticipation this brought on, so many nerves and butterflies filling many a stomach, the myriad of press and out-of-towners with millions upon millions of hairs filling chins and lips and descending to my hometown of Brooklyn... sadly, it's all over now... so, what do we do?!

   

Sob stories aside, I'm glad that my wife (and future son) gave me the opportunity to attend this monumental event... which is my long winded way of saying that I am still an expectant father and didn't get "THE Call" on Saturday, and was able to cover and partake in the festivities.

Myk O'Connor's rallying call prior to the event (as reported here) rang truer and truer as each category was moving through judging... fake beards out of the way, onto goatees, straight into freestyle, recession beards and finally... the piece de resistance, the full natural category... Myk ran the show like a smooth yet hairy operator of sorts, taking shots and quoting bearded literature sages (achem) while boosting the matchups and giving the IFC "Whisker Wars" people plenty of competitive fodder for their storylines.

  

That said, the one storyline that we took away from the event was the expertise that Build-a-Beard has bestowed on us, and the insane amount of information we eagerly retained through our hairy tribulations over the last few years... I, like Riss, am now an expert on beards... insanity.

To exemplify this, just look at the winners and our predictions:

• Full Beard --
  
  • Prediction: Jack Passion (unless Mark Krayenhoff enters and brings the Brooklyn thunder)
  • Result: Jack Passion wins, shocker (Mark enters Freestyle, gets bronze), Aarne Bielefeldt garners 2nd place for his gnomish effort.
• Moustache --
  • Prediction: Ben Davidson (unless he hasn't been working out his arm strength and loses in the run-off arm wrestling)
  • Result: Ben got 2nd place (should've exercised more...), a Ned Flanders lookalike steals the stache gold.
    
• Goatee --
  • Prediction: Steve Cline (since Paul Beisser is sure to have severe jet-lag)
  • Result: Steve Cline takes the local gold as expected (surprisingly, Paul went the "ZZ Top" Route).
    
• Freestyle --
  • Prediction: A German Pretzel
  • Result: No Germans in attendance, so a US Born pretzel got the prize (our favorite twisted beard of the night, Jon Rice, got robbed...).
    
• Recession beard --
  
  • Prediction: Someone from Detroit
  • Result: not sure where that guy was from... but he had a great outfit.
    
• Fake beard -- 
  • Prediction: A girl with a bigger bosom than beard
  • Result: her fake beard was so mesmerizing I forgot to look at her bosom...

The highlight of the night for me, other than being treated as said expert by IFC production team (and even by the one and only Thom Beers himself!), was the marriage proposal that Myk surprised his fiance Karolina Gwiazda with, it was adorable... see it for yourself below:

With the cutesy formality out of the way, below are the videos of all the winners being announced... it was our pleasure to report on this for you all, both here and live on twitter/facebook... so just know, the source of all your up-to-the-minute hairy news is right here, www.Build-A-Beard.com... Major thanks to all those that showed B-a-B love at the event (and for those that didn't, surely you'll change your mind sooner than later)... to quote an IFC exec: Thank you Big Apple, you've been delicious.

P.S. You can find our entire collection of photos from NYCBMC in our Hairy Pics tab, or just click here (you lazy ass).

Brooklyn, Start Your Beards... NYBMC is here (there)!

REJOICE OH PEOPLE OF NEW YORK (aka OUR people)!!!

The New York City Beard and Moustache Competition (hosted by our good friends at The Gotham City Beard Alliance), a charity event (with proceeds going to The Feal Good Foundation www.fealgoodfoundation.com) and the northeast's largest and most important beard and moustache competition is happening TOMORROW!

Visit the Gotham City Beard Alliance site www.gothamcityba.net fill out the Registration form if you plan on competing, the tickets are available for purchase at TicketWeb, so get them now or donate an additional $5 at the door (for a total of $20 to play). Club Europa (98 Meserole Ave, where else, Greenpoint/Brooklyn) will be the location, and the festivities will start promptly at 6pm... don't be late.

What's better, is that the organizer is B-a-B's greatly hairy friend Myk O'Connor, who's rallying call ("This is the year of the Beards, with IFC rolling out a new show called Whisker Wars, America promises to be the dominating force in facial hair!") should energize any and every facial hair wearer (or wannabe) from Brooklyn to Burbank.

The night will be supplemented by the sounds of DJ Corn Mo and The Intergalactic Fighters, with on-site trimmings courtesy of Tomcats Barbershop... AND a giant cut-out of The Rockettes to boot.

Don't miss this, trust me, as you always have (perhaps more so)... your favorite beards and staches will be there, come out or miss out.

Categories (and our predictions):

• Full Beard -- Jack Passion (unless Mark Krayenhoff enters and brings the Brooklyn thunder)
  
• Moustache -- Ben Davidson (unless he hasn't been working out his arm strength and loses in the run-off arm wrestling)
  
• Goatee -- Steve Cline (since Paul Beisser is sure to have severe jet-lag)
  
• Free style -- A German Pretzel
• Recession beard -- Someone from Detroit
  
• Fake beard -- A girl with a bigger bosom than beard

Surely none of this would be possible without sponsors, and Myk as amassed many. The good people at Scenic Presents (www.scenicnyc.com), Beard Team USA (www.beardteamusa.org), Coffee Lab Roasters (www.coffeelabroasters.com), Tomcats Barbershop (www.tomcatsbarbershop.com), and Blue Beards Original (www.bluebeardsoriginal.com) all deserve our thanks and business for helping NYBMC come to fruition. KUDOS to you all!

Hope to see you there,
El Beardo and Riss

P.S. While I am planning on attending this awesome event... truth be told, I may not make it. My wife, let's call her El Beardette, is 9 months pregnant... and we are both anxiously awaiting the arrival of little beardo, whose actual due date is, wouldn't you guess it, Saturday 12/4... If at all possible, I will make an appearance, if not... well we got field reporters covering this from all angles.

Hairly Yours,
Alex "El Beardo" Aizenberg

Mark Krayenhoff - Hail To The Brooklyn Beard King

As we happily announced last week, Mark Krayenhoff is Brooklyn's Beard Ball winner.  Mark is a fabulous architect in New York who recently granted B-a-B the chance to sit down for an exclusive interview with the man behind the glowing (but no longer growing) gray...  

How long have you grown your beard?  
I grew my first beard when I was 18, almost 34 years ago - and I’ve never been clean-shaven since.  I was crazy about facial hair ever since I was young and I was very eager to grow my own beard as soon as I could.  Over the years I’ve had a short beard, various forms of goatees, and for one summer, a mustache.

*Mark in picture series - "My Beard & The Weather"

Have you always admired beards?   
Most definitely – it’s part of being a man!  When I was a young teenager in the 70's I was dying to have big mutton-chop sideburns (think Engelbert Humperdinck), although they went out of style by the time I could grow them.  I always noticed bearded men like Glenn Hughes from the Village People, Kenny Rogers, Al from Home Improvements, or even Raymond Burr when he had a beard.

How long is the beard?  Is it still growing?
My beard reaches below my nipples.  The longest hairs are 14.”  It has reached terminal length, so it’s not getting any longer.  I was hoping it would reach my belt buckle like ZZ Top but this is where it stops.  (My boyfriend has a beard too, so we get compared to them a lot).  Also, my longest moustache hairs are 4 to 5” so I use mustache wax to keep them out of my mouth.  It’s like painful dental floss if the hairs get caught in your teeth.

*Mark in picture series - "My Beard & The Weather"

Being an architect in NYC, how is your beard received by your clients and peers?
I’m lucky – I work in a small firm that does mostly high-end residential projects, so most of my clients are sophisticated, intelligent people, so it’s not a problem.  I can imagine that some of them are surprised when they first meet me, but they soon realize that I’m good at what I do, and I’ve never had a complaint.  And for those clients who want something really new and original, I think my appearance is an asset.  They know they won’t be getting the same old thing from me.  It would be much harder if I worked in a big firm designing office buildings where the corporate culture was more conformist.

Who is your favorite famous beardo and why?
Jack Passion has a truly incredible beard – although I don’t think he’s famous outside of beard circles.

We noticed you were drinking beer at the 2010 Beard Ball... any advice on how to keep the froth from the 'stache/beard?
LOL – that’s a very good question!  You really have to change your way of eating and drinking with a big 'stache, but it’s more than worth it.  Once in a while I like getting beer foam on my 'stache so I’ll drink from a mug, but normally I only drink bottled beer to keep my mustache out of the way.  (And eating soup is even more of a challenge, because it’ll get in my 'stache at the same time that my beard is dipping in the bowl).

What did you enjoy most about Beard Ball Brooklyn, other than this honor?
It was great to have the opportunity to chat with other men about their beards.  I know it’s something that a lot of men think about, but they don’t often have the opportunity to talk with other men.  I often hear guys say they wish they could grow a beard, but their partner won’t let them, or they have to be clean-shaven for their job.  There is a lot of anti-beard prejudice out there, so it’s great to have a friendly place to talk about it.

Are you going to "go Beard or go home?!"
Absolutely! 

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Here is a special tribute to Mark Krayenhoff's hairy life -- 8 historical photos of his progress from 1980 to the present – short beard, various goatees, and now his long beard.  Note: progression from brown to white.

1980 - Mark's 1st beard – 22 years old

1991 - "The 1990s were all about goatees" – 33 years old
 
1994 - "Experimenting"

1995 - "Another goatee"

1996 - The least facial hair Mark's ever had as an adult – a chin strip - 38 years old 
1997 - Mark growing his beard long for the 1st time

1998 - "A bit fuller" - 40 years old

2005 – "Going gray quickly now" -  Shortly after this, Mark ceased trimming his beard completely

2010 – 52 years old - Brooklyn Beard Ball Winner.  
Mark's beard has reached maximum length and is mostly white

*Build-A-Beard would like to sincerely thank Mark for sharing his pictures - and allowing us insight into his awesome bearded journey. You make NYC proud, sir!