Movember Rain

[sharplittleteeth]

There comes a time in every man's life where he stands in front of the bathroom mirror, with a razor blade in one hand and a moustache comb in the other.

And he is forced to ask himself: what sort of man am I?

What do I believe?

Am I the sort of man who wears a muttonchop moustache?





The moustache is gone.

It left a message, before it went:

It thanked you all for your support, especially those who donated so kindly to the Movember fund.

And it urged you all not to mourn its passing. All beauty is fleeting, it said. Flowers bloom then wither. Every song comes to an end. Even the stars themselves will one day fade.

This is not cause for sorrow, but celebration. We must revel in such magnificence while it lasts, and let its memory fill our hearts with joy.

So go in peace, it concluded. Live lives of wonder.


And that is why the moustache is gone.

Also: come on. Muttonchops?

Comments

[rilestar.livejournal.com]

I am bowing my head in a moment of silence.

Although I never got to meet the mo in person, I feel it has forever changed my life.

Rest in peace, little lip ferret. Long may your memory reign.

[sharplittlteeth.livejournal.com]

It's like the ending of The Little Prince.

[i-beloved.livejournal.com]

That's the exact same face I pulled when I knew the Mo was gone... awww

[sharplittlteeth.livejournal.com]

We just have to be strong, and help each other through the sadness.

It's what the mo would have wanted.

[i-beloved.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's important to be supportive to one another, after all... we were all very excited about the new, tough, you.

[sharplittlteeth.livejournal.com]

Excuse me while I bridle at that last bit.

Are you suggesting that the old, moustache-less, 6-hours-of-karate a week me was somehow effete?

:P

[i-beloved.livejournal.com]

*cowers in fear*.. errr.. no sir.

[http://users.livejournal.com/raven_/]

Vale, mo.

[sharplittlteeth.livejournal.com]

Maybe one day it will come back to us. It's a big world. Anything can happen.

But we must not waste our lives in waiting. We are here to live, the moustache taught us. Revel in our time.

[redcountess]

We are happy that the mo lived and was loved and will celebrate its life :)

[jan-event.livejournal.com]

Razors make cowards of us all.

[sharplittlteeth.livejournal.com]

So when was the last time you faced yourself, shorn of your goatee and your defences?


'Cause we represent a truth, son
That changes by the hour
And when you open to it
Vulnerability is power

And that truth is living proof of the fact that God is strange.

[morgan303.livejournal.com]

Saul Williams is really freaking cool.:)

Re: And that truth is living proof of the fact that God is strange.

[sharplittlteeth.livejournal.com]

So you're coming to see him this Friday, then?

Re: And that truth is living proof of the fact that God is strange.

[morgan303.livejournal.com]

Sadly no. Not Leonard Cohen or Juno Reactor neither. I iz poor and haz spent all my money on horseriding and art materials.

Re: And that truth is living proof of the fact that God is strange.

[damien-wise.livejournal.com]

What the-? Juno Reactor's in town? Waaa, why did nobody tell me this?! Looks like I'll miss it, anyway, since I've got important stuff booked for the next morning. *sigh*

Back to the mo: While it was fine at the time, it's good to see you back to your ol' self. :)

Re: And that truth is living proof of the fact that God is strange.

[morgan303.livejournal.com]

I only heard about it too late to do much about it. Sometimes I wish, since we have to put up with all the other bloody technological hassle, that the universe came with a text-message service that told us well in advance when the bands we like were playing, so that I didn't have to find out the week before that Ray Davies was doing a gig.>:!

[jan-event.livejournal.com]

Dear and gentle friend. I cannot believe that you too have been so brainwashed. The beard isn't neither a shield nor a mask: quite to the contrary, it is your true face, which you mindlessly destroy every morning. Your unique self that sits just underneath your skin hoping you will one day love yourself enough to allow it's radiance to inform the world.

If you say to me now that the past month was anything less than the most free, the most heroic, the most YOU that you have ever felt, well...

Why do you think they call it a bare-faced lie?

[sharplittlteeth.livejournal.com]

They call it a bare-faced lie because a bare face normally indicated openness and honesty. As opposed to all those shifty hairy types.

If you say to me now that the past month was anything less than the most free, the most heroic, the most YOU that you have ever felt, well... </>

Actually, quite the opposite happened. The more the moustache grew, the less I felt like myself.

Oh, it looked good. That's not just vanity - too many people genuinely said I should keep it. He was a handsome fellow, that man with the burnsides.

But he was stranger to me. So the moustache is gone.

Is there not something heroic in being true to yourself?

Besides, it did its job, raised its donations, and then was gone. Surely that's better than overstaying your welcome, stretching the excitement so thin it transmutes into tedium?

Always leave them wanting more.

The Music of Razors

[morgan303.livejournal.com]

If I'd known it was such a poetic little creature I'd have warmed to it a little more. Goodnight, sweet Mo; may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

I wonder what Lemmy's would have to say if he took it off?

In other news, apparently the two guys who started the whole Movember thing reef 10% off to the top for themselves, and are now sitting on a cool $900 000 this year. I wish I'd thought of that. Charity is a profitable business.

Skimming off the Top

[sharplittlteeth.livejournal.com]

Perhaps you should check your sources?

The 10% "off the top" covers adminstration fees.

From http://au.movember.com/outcomes/content/Financial-Summary/

In April 2008, Movember committed $6,343,502 each to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) and beyondblue - a 152% increase on 2006.

[...]

The donations to the Movember men's health partners represent 78% of the funds raised in Australia. A further 11% of the funds raised were used to fulfill Movember's primary objective of raising awareness about men's health issues, specifically prostate cancer and depression. [...]

The remaining 10% was used to cover campaign costs. This level of administration and fundraising costs is best practice when compared with other Australian charities, as evidenced by the Givewell reported fund raising ratio which was an average of 19% across 162 Australian charities.

And later on the same page:

Administration Costs

The cost of administration is the amount spent on:

* Audit and accounting costs
* Legal costs
* Salaries for the admin support staff which at its peak was 8 people
* Insurance
* Telecommunications and computer equipment
* Office rent and general office running costs
* Printing
* Postage

Fundraising Costs

The cost of fundraising is the amount spent on:

* Salaries for staff processing and receipting donations which at its peak was 6 people
* Development of the systems and technology to process over half a million individual donations securely
* Bank fees
* Travel

I'm not losing sleep over a charity paying its staff a salary. It's a simple cost/benefit analysis: would you rather pay them a salary and raise $16 million, or save on the salary and only raise a few hundred thousand?

Re: Skimming off the Top

[morgan303.livejournal.com]

Ah, thanks! There was a big discussion at work yesterday about it, and people were fairly adamant about the fact that the 10% skimmed off the top went to the founders over and above admin costs. I don't often listen to stuff like this without checking my sources, and this'll teach me to stick to that.:)

Jolly good!

Re: The Music of Razors

[sharplittlteeth.livejournal.com]

I wonder what Lemmy's would have to say if he took it off?

I think there would be a brawl if Lemmy ever dared. Man versus moustache, in a battle to the death.

Re: The Music of Razors

[morgan303.livejournal.com]

Somewhat reminiscent of Oscar and the wallpaper. Proving that my icon is wrong.:(

Re: The Music of Razors

[damien-wise.livejournal.com]

I wonder what Lemmy's would have to say if he took it off?

The Lemmy that can be shaved is not the eternal Lemmy.

[andricongirl.livejournal.com]

by mo..

so how much did you raise ?

did we get that final showdown between you and drzero?

[sharplittlteeth.livejournal.com]

I've yet to do a final tally, but I raised about $350.

And I'm still waiting on the good doctor to reply to my previous post.

[kits-the-dm.livejournal.com]

ah well... there's always next year.

[sharplittlteeth.livejournal.com]

"You won this round, Mr. Razor. But I'll get you yet, you defoliating do-gooder! I'll get you yet!"

[a-carnal-mink.livejournal.com]

Meddling kids no doubt had sommit to with it.