Galileo Galilei

“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.”

If ever a man was ahead of his time, it was Galileo. The son of a musician, born in Florence in 1564, Galileo Galilei aspired to be a doctor, and when studying medicine he acquired a flair for mathematics and physics.

In the 17th Century, religious and scientific teachings held that the Earth was the fixed center of the universe around which all the planets and stars revolved. But a theory, developed by Niklaus Copernicus, placed the Sun at the hub of the universe. In 1607, when Galileo constructed the first astronomical telescope, and made careful observations, he was now convinced that Copernicus was correct in that the Earth indeed revolved around the Sun.

Like most gentlemen of his era he cultivated an elegantly mustachioed beard, and his innovative experiments earned him wide recognition. But Galileo’s radical thinking aroused the wrath of the Church authorities, and under threat of torture he was forced to recant. Centuries later, in 1939, the Pope admitted that Galileo was right after all.

Whose Beard Is It Anyway?

by Bill Alley, Broadcast Host, Wordsmith and Beard Advocate

Time to stop with the irks and do for your beard what works. Yes, another slogan: it’s about time this Beard Advocate sets the record straight on the all too typical questions that get asked (or worse, assumed) by so-called experts on mens health, style, looks and beard.

Target one: the magazine Mens Health. It appears in my mailbox, even though I never ask for it. It’s addressed to some guy named Kenny Morgan, who to my knowledge never lived here previously. But I do know the mag trick: stick a name and an address together and voila!: instant subscription (free of course) which gins up their viewership. How do I know this? Worked for the Chilmark, Massachusetts post office where Mary Jo Kopechne (the woman who drowned in Ted Kennedy’s car at Chappaquiddick) still gets dozens of magazines she could never order posthumously.

Target one’s problem: though the magazine often has about a 50/50 ratio of bearded men to shaven, and in the latest article (The Girl Next Door—To Beard Or Not To Beard) they give a thumb’s up to whiskers over stubble, one must remember this is a writer—a woman no less (Naomi Piercey), and although she is favorable to beards past stubble length she is not a beard expert.

Too many of us who are easily swayed get into the ‘change things up’ mood swing. I observe men who have great beards one day finding themselves shaven or severely shorn back to what looks like a starter beard. They see me and look aside, and I know they’re embarrassed. One such great beard at work disappeared a few weeks ago and his confession was ‘I tried to trim and made a mistake’. Sometimes, that’s an excuse for ‘my spouse / girlfriend / job / barber / whatever made me do it’. This particular profession loves the beards David and I sport there; some of the ladies beg us to never shave. (True beard love!)

Men, you have enough pressures that are gnawing at you – your face should not be one of them. Your DNA is your whisker road map, totally owned by you. Grow the beard you’ve dreamed of, appreciate how it defines you, and never, ever let a pundit or partner or profession come between you and your whiskers. That kind of compromise will leave you uneasy, as Garrett mentions in this month’s Beardsley Radio Podcast. Give it a listen.

Beards of Baseball 2018: An Interview with Todd Van Steensel of the Chattanooga Lookouts / Minnesota Twins
by Bill Alley, Broadcast Host, Wordsmith and Beard Advocate

BA: Todd,when it comes to sport in the United States I’m often fascinated when sportsmen come to the US to add their talent to professional teams. What attracted you to the sport of Baseball while in Sydney?

TVS: I firstly had no idea what baseball was until I was about seven years old. Mum and dad wanted my brother to try a summer sport and one of his friends from soccer convinced him to play baseball. I went along to a practise, saw how cool the uniforms were and the rest is history.

BA: I love Australia, mates there, and the food! Finally got a few weeks there back in 2012 and would have been a permanent transplant. Miss it terribly. So you being here playing baseball here must be a passion. What fuels that passion?

TVS: I think the passions stems from the amount of work I put in, and the amount of time and work my family have put in to this for me. Driving me around the country back home throughout the summer, sitting out in the cold in the winter, just watching me train and play. I do this all for them. Wanting to make them proud.

BA: You’ve landed with a farm team that’s got what I call ‘beard chutzpah’. The Twins organization has no fear of the whisker, and your coach is the first I’m aware of that actually approached Beardsley regarding our products to help the guys ‘up their grooming game.’ Along with bearding between the guys, what team-building psyche goes on?

TVS: The beards get a lot of talk these days since we were allowed to grow them last season. Always comparing who has the best beards, but when it comes to team building, our club is big into ping pong. We got a ping pong table this year and it’s turned into a lot of light hearted but heated fun.

BA: I’ve been at this beard 31 years and have found a lot of suggestions and opinions about having facial hair go all over the road, from helpful hints to fake news. Your beard is quite impressive. What do you attribute your regimen to?

TVS: It depends for me. When I have shorter hair I grow my beard long, and when I have long hair I have a shorter beard. Right now I’m trying to grow some flow so the beard is tamed and trim. The help of the products provided to us really help keep it in line and looking clean.

BA: When meeting another bearded fellow there are ‘tells’ we men do in acknowledging one another, along with unsolicited comments. What do you hear from family, friends and fans?

TVS: My mum doesn’t really like the beard, she’s always commenting on it being bad, but then my girlfriend likes it. So you’re always going to get varying opinions. Fans always love a good beard, so I always hear good things from them.

BA: Of all the organizations in the world the University of New South Wales has done bearded men wrong with insane accusations of beards being dirty, even harboring disease. Have you encountered such from people, and if so, what’s your response?

TVS: I just tell them to feel my beard and smell it if they think it’s dirty, usually gets a good response out of them.

BA: Baseball’s Beard Attitude truly made history with the Boston Red Sox in 2013 and their World Series victory. How are the clubs you’ve been with growing one for the win?

TVS: It almost comes down to clubhouse rivalry with the beards. We are all trying to outdo one another. Guess you could say that the beard culture could be taken on field all trying to outdo each other out there.

BA: Can’t help but notice that you’re one of those guys who wears his faith on his sleeveless arm. Being a man of similar faith what is the message and encouragement that particular scripture does for you?

TVS: It’s just a reminder to mean that when times get tough and I don’t understand why things are happening the way they are, there is a bigger plan and bigger picture ahead.