‘Beard News’ Category Archives
Dec
David de Rothschild – 21st Century Renaissance Man
by Coach Adam in Beard News, Celebrity Beards
After finishing this month’s Outside magazine article on David de Rothschild, I felt compelled to share his story with you, my dear Beard Coach friends. I hope the brief bio below motivates you to grow the best beard you can, broaden your horizons, and take action for a cause you feel passionately about.
If you’ve read The Beard Manifesto, you know I am obsessed with the idea of bringing the Renaissance man back, updated for the 21st century. A modern Renaissance man has to be a well-rounded generalist like his predecessor; yet, his interests must lie not in the ancient world of Latin translation and Aristotle, but rather in how to better the current world situation. And of course, he must do it all with a handsome beard.
First, let me present a bit of background information on David de Rothschild to get you up to speed. He is the youngest of three children born into the well-known and incredibly rich Rothschild banking family of England. As a result of his wealthy British upbringing, he became an accomplished horseman by age fourteen. He attended university at Oxford Brookes (not The Oxford, but hey…) and graduated with honors with dual degree in Political Science and Information Systems. After graduation, he proceeded to earn an advanced diploma in Natural Medicine from the College of Naturopathic Medicine in London. After this graduation, he went on to try out a career in music merchandising. Not only did he take off in this unlikely direction, he also purchased an organic farm in New Zealand in 2001.
Let’s pause a moment and chalk up the titles this generalist can claim.
- Equestrian
- Political Scientist
- Information Systems Specialist
- Natural Healer
- Merchandiser
- Farmer
In 2005, David discovered his true calling, founding his environmental organization Adventure Ecology. The main focus of this organization is to raise awareness of global environmental issues through adventure expeditions. In 2006, he crossed from Russia to Canada through the Arctic to raise awareness about the fragility of the Arctic climate. Because he previously traversed Antarctica on a personal expedition, he became one of only 42 people ever to reach both the north and south poles. In 2007, he led a trip to Ecuador to document the damage that international oil companies are causing to that country’s tropical ecosystem.
His current project is the Plastiki, a sailboat made of used plastic bottles and other recycled plastics. David plans to sail this plastic boat from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia, via the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an area estimated to be twice the size of Texas in which bits of plastic suspended in the water outnumber plankton by a ratio of six to one. Not only is this project raising awareness of the huge problem of plastic waste, but it is also offering a possible partial solution. His boat design team is making use of a new material abbreviated srPET. It has the properties of fiberglass, but is made of recycled plastic. If the material holds up to this rigorous field test, it could take the place of many rotomolded plastics, thus reducing the introduction of new plastics into an already overwhelming abundance.
So now we can also chalk up the following titles David can claim.
- Adventurer
- Environmental Activist
As you can see, David de Rothschild is an extremely well-rounded man with a passion for improving the world around him. In interviews, he comes off as incredibly well-spoken, but not overly well-heeled, and as you can see in his photo, he wears a beard quite well indeed. In the quest to increase the number of bearded Renaissance men in today’s society, David serves as an iconic example. Although we may come from much more modest means, we can all take his story as an inspiration to broaden our knowledge base as much as we can in our respective areas of interest and use that knowledge for the good of our world.
Oct
National Beard Month
by Coach Adam in Beard News
That’s right, gents. National Beard Month (i.e. November) is nearly upon us! Time to get that Novembeard going! And you know who’ll help you find beard success. That’s right. Ye Olde Beard Coach. Now, sign up and grow it.
If you’ve read The Beard Manifesto, you know how I feel about “winter beards.” But I’m willing to set those feelings aside for the spirit of national beardedness. Hey, you never know, some fellow may grow out a beard next month as a gag and end up falling madly in love. How many of you guys came to be permanently bearded by starting a joke beard?
Hey, whatever it takes to get more beards flowing from sea to shining sea, people. Hey, I know, let write a patriotic beard song! In honor of National Beard Month. I’ll go for it if you will. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for amazing bearded patriotism the likes of which have never been seen or heard in this fine land.
Until then, get over to the National Beard Month Facebook page and become a fan. I did. And it felt right.
Oct
Lula’s Secret to Olympic Influence
by Coach Adam in Beard News
Well, it looks like Chicago missed out on the 2016 Summer Olympic bid even though our president took a quick trip to Copenhagen to lobby on his home city’s behalf. It kind of stings to be snubbed like that, but finding out that the honor was given to Rio made things feel quite a bit better.
Why do I care about Rio de Janeiro so much you ask? Why prefer Rio to Tokyo or Madrid? Heck, I’ve even been to Madrid and had a great time. I like Rio because of one man… Lula. President Luiz Ignacio Lula de Silva of Brazil. Otherwise known as the most amazingly bearded head of state in the world.
Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
I am rather pleased that the nation run by the very man mentioned by name in my Open Letter to President Obama has won the privilege of hosting the Olympics and all the benefits that entails.
Could it be that the IOC was swayed by Lula’s beardedness? Probably not, but I sure like to think it had some effect. This begs the obvous question that if President Obama had shown up in Copenhagen relplete with a glorious full beard, would Chicago have been tapped for the hosting gig? We’ll never know because this is yet another issue that has come and gone with a beardless Obama.
The madness has to stop. We can’t play “what if” any longer. Help me convice the president that his beardedness may very well change the course of national and world events. Let’s do this before we get passed over for any other important honors and are cast as a country that simply can’t get things done.
Sep
Allstate Guy’s Beard Meeting Approval
by Coach Adam in Beard News, Celebrity Beards
I posted a couple weeks ago about Dennis Haysbert, The Allstate Guy, appearing with a beard and how great I think that is. I’ve been scouring the web looking for a clip from the commercial, but have yet to find one. I did, however find a recent photo of him on the Raleigh Star’s site of his appearance at the Jimmy V Golf Classic, held in Raleigh, NC.
That, my friends, is a sweet gray beard.
And I’m not the only one digging it. I did a quick Twitter search for “Allstate beard” and here are some comments that popped up.
Of course, there were the naysayers as well, but that’s just added evidence that this site and all the other sites out there promoting the beard in a positive light need to work harder. I’m obviously not going to promote their negative bearditudes here.
Several people were disoriented by the Allstate Beard…
However, the most common Twitter reaction to the Allstate Beard was not positive or negative… but simply to shout from the rafters about it. Consider these:
Love it or not, the Allstate guy’s beard is making waves. Let’s hope he still has it in the next commercial, and the next, and the next…
Lastly, I’ll leave you with the most hilarious tweet about the Allstate Guy’s beard that I ran across.
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