The Hirsute Of Happiness: An Essay On Busking And Beardom

Movember -- the month of the moustache. The portmanteau of moustache and November. As a show of support, most of the male staff members at my school are growing moustaches and beards for the international rally for Cancer research, research especially for those children with cancer and for the prevention of prostate cancer in men. The hairied results are socially positive – Everybody likes the moustache! And these are the types of moustaches and beards our Movember men are sporting. There are men with Anchors, having a beard styled along the jaw line along with a pencil moustache, and actually resembling an anchor. A couple of the guys have gangsta and sport Raps, manicured moustaches and thin lined beards. Others have Goatees and Van Dykes. Quite a number have the Lincolnic chin curtains just like Honest Abe's. Some of the fellows have opted for the Mutton Chops; one has a Fu Manchu, and another has a Handlebar. None have Leprechauns or Klingons (see The Irish Rovers and Star Trek).

Applying these Movember moments to yet another argy-bargy on the art of busking, here are some whiskerings to keep in mind:

• Moustaches and beards are auxiliaries that cost nothing to grow and little effort to harvest.





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  Castaway moustaches and beards are for the canaille, not for buskers.





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  Moustaches and beards are cathartic – no more blades.





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  Moustaches and beards cosmeticize the real ugly busker.





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  Moustaches and beards signal a dalliance with the foot-loose and fancy-free.





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  Moustaches and beards are never demode; they are always trendy.





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  Moustaches and beards are not for fops.





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  Moustaches and beards represent free thinking, not indolence.





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  Moustaches and beards are not stigmatic; they are sweet.





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  Movember is a la mode.





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  Movember is hip and mod.

Brother buskers, next Movember be happy -- be hirsute.

Britt, one of our female staff members, jokingly proclaimed that we Movember men look like 70's porn stars! (See her picture atop her cast of porn stars.) In celebration of my own porn star past, I wrote this song:

Ice Cream Dreams

C Leafing yellowed

D Photographs

C Flipping pages

D Through my past

C From misty – rainbow

D Rings of gold

C Do shades of time and

D Dreams unfold [4x]

Verse 1

G A golden beach

D A blue green sea

C Hand in hand

Em We walked the sand

G Laughed and kissed

D In summer winds

C Whispered words

Em Of Harlequin

[chorus]

G Are you being

D Are you being

C Are you being

Em Lonely there

G In ice cream dreams

D And endless fun

C Ice Cream dreams

Em And bubblegum

Verse 2

G Danced around

D Those midnight fires

C Sang each other

Em Lullabies

G Wicked moons

D On silver waves

C Hand in hand

Em We walked the sand

[chorus]


Riff

C Rock Hudson

D Doris Day

C Mickey Mantle

D Cassius Clay

C Emma Peel

D Paladin

C Hand in hand

D We walked the sand [4x]

[chorus]

Photos by William Wright