January 19th, 2008

Finally got a shaving brush

shaving brush, shaving cream, Gillette Sensor razor

Ever since I read an article a year or two ago about how to get a better shave, I’ve been wanting to try out some of their tips. I believe that’s when I started shaving in the shower, which I definitely like better than trying to shave at the sink. I’ve had “shaving brush” on my Christmas, birthday, and Father’s Day wish lists, but it just never happened… until this past Christmas (2007). Lacey bought me a shaving brush and shaving cream.

I’m not brave enough or motivated enough to try a different type of razor, at this point, so I’m sticking with either my Gillette Sensor (which I’ve had since Gillette was nice enough to send me a free one for my 18th birthday; nice marketing, Gillette!) or my Schick Quattro. I prefer the Quattro, but the cartridges are more expensive so I only get them occasionally (sale + coupon is always good!). I can usually get a big pack of Sensor cartridges for a less outrageous price, although even those seem pretty darned expensive. I actually tried some generic cartridges last year, which fit Sensor razors, but the difference in quality was quite noticeable. I’ll stick with the name brands.

Anyways, I’ve used the shaving brush + shaving cream 4-5 times, now, and I’m definitely a fan. I’ve been able to get the closest shaves I’ve ever had, with no irritation, and have even been able to get more uses out of a single razor cartridge than I could when I just used regular store-bought mainstream shaving gel (i.e. chemical-rich goo).

If you’ve never tried using a good shaving cream and a badger-hair shaving brush, you don’t know what you’re missing. I’ve always hated shaving, and although the brush+cream didn’t make me actually enjoy shaving, like they have done for some people, they definitely make shaving less annoying.

I’m not sure where the article that I read a couple years ago, that first sparked my curiosity on this subject, but here are a couple that I’ve read since then:

and a couple of pages with links to more shaving-related information/tips/etc.:

Posted by spugbrap at 05:21am EST 1 Comment 

Categories: hygiene, links, shaving, tools, lifehacks, recommendations, products, tips, personal

October 28th, 2007

LINKS: News and Reviews of the 10-23-2007 Danzig concert in Baltimore, MD

This is a follow-up to my review of the Danzig concert that I went to on Tuesday, October 23, 2007. I’ve been reading various reviews, news articles, and forum threads about the show, and decided to compile several of them into a list (in no particular order).

  • REVIEW: evb: start of the Danzig tour last night in Baltimore
    • Elizabeth (evb) posted the first review that I found about the show. She felt that the girl (apparently Doyle’s wife) pole dancing during Gorgeous Frankenstein’s set was a pitiful attempt to distract from the band not being so great. I agree with that, except I actually liked the distraction. Hers is one of the only reviews I’ve seen that actually said much about the opening bands, which is kinda cool, since my friends and I arrived pretty late.
  • REVIEW: RockN Roll Experience - Danzig 10/23/07
    • This is a thorough review of the Danzig show, with some excellent photos, and even a video of Glenn Danzig getting back up on the stage after having fallen off. There was a very detailed description of the events surrounding Glenn’s fall, and the impact it seemed to have on his attitude. They also described some events that happened after the show, including a roadie collecting stuff from the fans that stuck around the longest, and Glenn autographing one thing for each person. I was a bit bummed to read this, because we did stick around for a while, and all we got was a water bottle with a setlist wrapped around it. But, I didn’t really have anything to hand to a roadie to get autographed, anyways, so oh well.
  • REVIEW: Clint: All the CONCERTS I’ve ever been to: Danzig. 20071023.
    • My friend Clint maintains this list of all the concerts he’s ever been to, including short write-ups about many of them. His review of the 10/23/2007 Danzig show conveys many of the same sentiments I expressed in my own; primarily, major disappointment about the complete lack of Misfits songs.
  • NEWS: Baltimore Citypaper: Glenn Danzig Takes a Spill
    • This is the first item that came up in my Google Alert for “danzig misfits rams head”. Yes, I made a Google Alert, because I was curious to hear what other people had to say about the show. This article is where I found out about the RockN Roll Experience review (linked above), so thanks to Michael Byrne for that!
  • NEWS: Washington Post: Danzig Isn’t Up to Playing the Fall Guy
    • While it’s sort of cool seeing this covered in a major newspaper, I think journalist Chris Richards sensationalized it a little bit too much. He spoke of “Watching that killer set climax with Complete. Danzig. Meltdown.” but I think that calling it a complete meltdown is quite a stretch. I was right there, and did not even realize he was being grumpy and yelling at people. I may have seen a little bit of that, but if I did, it was not significant enough to remember. Maybe it was more obvious to people that were closer to the stage (I was about 10 people back, and to the side), but I wouldn’t call it a complete meltdown, because it didn’t cause the whole show to grind to a halt. I’ve been to a good number of concerts, before, and it’s not that unusual for a singer to walk off the stage, and come back within a minute. Glenn may have been in a pissy mood, but he did keep playing, and I thoroughly enjoyed it when he sang songs from my favorite Danzig albums (the first 4 albums). I just wish he could have done at least one Misfits song. No offense intended to Chris Richards, though. I actually really enjoyed reading the article. :)

More to come as I read them. Feel free to post links to other articles you’ve read, in the comments section!

Posted by spugbrap at 12:04am EDT No Comments 

Categories: reviews, danzig, concert, links, news, music, personal