That’s a shame John. I think most of us have had a back shelf rogue brush for one reason or another. Comfort should always be a deciding factor in our kit choices.
A journal of a Cajun's life wet shaving
- Thread starter cajunrph
- Start date
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- #2,262
300+ Shaves in 2024 203 of 300+
August 2024 GRUME 9/31
ARKO!!!! August 9/31 ARKO GUNG HO
Shave Date 8/9/2024
Razor: Rocket HD 500
Blade: PAA Platinum Stinglets err Strangelet(5)
Pre-Shave: Leaf Pre-Shave Oil, Neutragena Facial Cleaning bar
Soap ARKO!!!
Brush: Zenith 507-IF Italian Flag
Post-shave: Alum Bock, Thayer's Witch Hazel, Mother Bear Winter Balm, PAA Hotel Cecil.
Rating: 26/30 9 for Comfort, 9 for cuts and weepers (2), 8 for smoothness, neck stubble, BBS on the face, and DFS+ neck.
Notes:
On to an open tuck of PAA PlatimumStinglets Strangelet blades. This was a rough blade and will get the one and done treatment so I can be done with them quickly. I noticed the blade roughness right off the bat and to add insult to injury, I got a nick on my right cheek, a place I don't recall nicking in quite some time. The alum block provided more feedback than any other shave. Therefore one and done and I will put these behind me. After these I'll give myself a break and use a good blade for a bit, then the Tigers will be shown the door and I'll only have more better blades to shave with.
Wishing all blessings and fantastic shaves.
August 2024 GRUME 9/31
ARKO!!!! August 9/31 ARKO GUNG HO
Shave Date 8/9/2024
Razor: Rocket HD 500
Blade: PAA Platinum Stinglets err Strangelet(5)
Pre-Shave: Leaf Pre-Shave Oil, Neutragena Facial Cleaning bar
Soap ARKO!!!
Brush: Zenith 507-IF Italian Flag
Post-shave: Alum Bock, Thayer's Witch Hazel, Mother Bear Winter Balm, PAA Hotel Cecil.
Rating: 26/30 9 for Comfort, 9 for cuts and weepers (2), 8 for smoothness, neck stubble, BBS on the face, and DFS+ neck.
Notes:
On to an open tuck of PAA Platimum
Wishing all blessings and fantastic shaves.
Heal quickly John. To a better shave next time.
+1. Quick healing and the use of smoother, proven blades
I am not laughing at this, just the naming of the "blade." I have given them a similar re-naming, but I especially like the first one.
Oh, I see the second one is the given name, thought it said Strangle-et. That was my nickname for them.
As for one and done, I think the whole tuck just might fit in the garbage can intact!
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- #2,266
Thanks. The nicks closed up with the application of the Thayers.
As for one and done, I think the whole tuck just might fit in the garbage can intact!
Depending on how it goes tomorrow with my British Ball End Tech, the next step may be to bin the remainders. I don’t want to waste but life is too short to deal with a chitty blade. Or something like that.
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Heal up quickly, John.
- Thread starter
- #2,268
300+ Shaves in 2024 204 of 300+
August 2024 GRUME 10/31
ARKO!!!! August 10/31 ARKO GUNG HO
Shave Date 8/10/2024
Razor: British Ball End Tech
Blade: PAA Platinum Stinglets err Strangelet(1)
Pre-Shave: Leaf Pre-Shave Oil, Neutragena Facial Cleaning bar
Soap ARKO!!!
Brush: Zenith 507-BC Blue Cobalt
Post-shave: Alum Bock, Thayer's Witch Hazel, Mother Bear Winter Balm, Bootleggers El Dorado for the winnnnn!!!!.
Rating: 26/30 9 for Comfort, 10 for cuts and weepers (0), 7 for smoothness, neck stubble, BBS on the face, and DFS+ neck.
Notes:
The British Tech was able to tame the Stinglets some what, no cuts today, and a tad bit less irritation and alum block feedback. But more stubble than normal, likely due to extreme caution I was using not to cause excessive irritation. One and done today for the Crap'lets err Stinglets, errr Strangelet. PAA put money into the packaging, with the fancy art work of the tuck being duplicated on the dual wrapped blade. Also, there's hardly any wax dots to deal with. A shame PAA didn't put more into procuring a quality blade instead of a flashy presentation. The packaging is top notch, the blades are chit, worse that the Tigers. Two blades left, and I'll be done with the tuck and on to a better blade. I have a tuck of opened Nacets that needs some attention.
Work was busy this week on top of CE requirements looming. I knocked out the 30 required hours of CE this week and I can rest on my laurels, till I cram it in again the next rotation. Bootleggers El Dorado, what can I say, its a great one. Pairs very well with the ARKO!!! covering up the "scent" well.
Take care my brothers, blessings and best of shaves.
August 2024 GRUME 10/31
ARKO!!!! August 10/31 ARKO GUNG HO
Shave Date 8/10/2024
Razor: British Ball End Tech
Blade: PAA Platinum Stinglets err Strangelet(1)
Pre-Shave: Leaf Pre-Shave Oil, Neutragena Facial Cleaning bar
Soap ARKO!!!
Brush: Zenith 507-BC Blue Cobalt
Post-shave: Alum Bock, Thayer's Witch Hazel, Mother Bear Winter Balm, Bootleggers El Dorado for the winnnnn!!!!.
Rating: 26/30 9 for Comfort, 10 for cuts and weepers (0), 7 for smoothness, neck stubble, BBS on the face, and DFS+ neck.
Notes:
The British Tech was able to tame the Stinglets some what, no cuts today, and a tad bit less irritation and alum block feedback. But more stubble than normal, likely due to extreme caution I was using not to cause excessive irritation. One and done today for the Crap'lets err Stinglets, errr Strangelet. PAA put money into the packaging, with the fancy art work of the tuck being duplicated on the dual wrapped blade. Also, there's hardly any wax dots to deal with. A shame PAA didn't put more into procuring a quality blade instead of a flashy presentation. The packaging is top notch, the blades are chit, worse that the Tigers. Two blades left, and I'll be done with the tuck and on to a better blade. I have a tuck of opened Nacets that needs some attention.
Work was busy this week on top of CE requirements looming. I knocked out the 30 required hours of CE this week and I can rest on my laurels, till I cram it in again the next rotation. Bootleggers El Dorado, what can I say, its a great one. Pairs very well with the ARKO!!! covering up the "scent" well.
Take care my brothers, blessings and best of shaves.
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Have a blessed Sunday.
- Thread starter
- #2,270
Two'fer
300+ Shaves in 2024 205 of 300+
August 2024 GRUME 11/31
ARKO!!!! August 11/31 ARKO GUNG HO
Shave Date 8/11/2024
Razor: 1957 Fat Bottemed Tech
Blade: PAA Platinum Stinglets err Strangelet(1)
Pre-Shave: Leaf Pre-Shave Oil, Neutragena Facial Cleaning bar
Soap ARKO!!!
Brush: Zenith Unbleached Boar
Post-shave: Alum Bock, Thayer's Witch Hazel, Mother Bear Winter Balm, RR The Dead Sea.
Rating: 29/30 10 for Comfort, 10 for cuts and weepers (0), 9 for smoothness, neck stubble, BBS on the face, and DFS+ neck.
Notes:
Whart???? Whart happened?????
It can't be, no way, did the Fat Bottom Tech just turn the Stinglets back into the Strangelets?? This shave was a top-tier shave, up there with the best of the best. The Sea Lion fur patch was obliterated, with no irritation and very little Alum Block feedback. I was tempted to give the blade another shave, but do not worry dear readers, calmer heads prevailed and into the bin the blade went, keeping with my one-and-done for this tuck—a confusing but very pleasing shave. RR The Dead Sea was a fine scent for mass, one I was not scheduled to serve and I actually got to sit in the congregation and be a regular folk, for once.
300+ Shaves in 2024 206 of 300+
August 2024 GRUME 12/31
ARKO!!!! August 12/31 ARKO GUNG HO
Shave Date 8/12/2024
Razor: 1952 US Ball End Tech
Blade: PAA Platinum Stinglets err Strangelet(1)
Pre-Shave: Leaf Pre-Shave Oil, RE Pre-shave soap
Soap ARKO!!!
Brush: Yaqi Cavern Lake 24mm Two Band Badger
Post-shave: Alum Bock, Thayer's Witch Hazel, Mother Bear Winter Balm, PAA Atomic Bay Rum.
Rating: 29/30 10 for Comfort, 10 for cuts and weepers (0), 8 for smoothness, neck stubble, BBS on the face, and DFS+ neck.
Notes:
Two shaves in a row with the US techs taming the Stinglets. This one wasn't as close because I held off on attacking the Sea Lion Fur patch today so that I wouldn't induce tenderness, one must take their small wins when they can. And two successful shaves with the Stinglets is a win. I am done with the tuck and now only have the Tigers to banish to move on to my better blades. But I will take a break from suspect blades and TaaT a Nacet tuck I have open. PAA Atomic Bay Rum is the scent of the day, and a good one. It is odd that the British Tech did not do as well as the US-made ones, likely differences in tooling are the reason.
I am back into making pizzas again, maybe that fitness pizza in my mouth crack awakened my desire for pizza. The Grozney RoccBox sat idle for a good while, partly due to my struggle with stretching the dough and loading it on the launching pizza peel without fubar'ing the pizza up into a sorry excuse for a calzone. I wanted to figure out a dough ferment schedule that would allow a pizza bake after work on weekdays. After much research, watching YouTube videos, and reading my various pizza books, I had success with a room-temperature ferment and a cold-temperature ferment. And I pulled off a white pizza also which my wife loved. It was vegetarian, not vegan as it had milk and plenty of cheese, along with sauteed mushrooms and onions. Before this latest foray into pizza making, I was making pan pizzas and some round ones on a baking steel in the house oven. Those were good, very good, but not as good as what the Grozney Roccbox can crank out. There's something different in pizza baked at 800+ degrees, it's hard to explain but the taste is much better than the ones baked at lower temps. The crust is also has a better bite, whereas the oven tends to dry out the crust, the RoccBox cooks the pizza so fast, under 2 minutes, that the crust seems to retain some more moisture and is much better. The Roccbox is for 12-inch pizzas or less and can do some non-round pizza but the size would be quite small, not to mention the difficulty in turning the pizza that is oblong. Everyone in the house likes the pizza, and the dogs enjoy the crust of you want to give it to them. With a RoccBox done pizza, the crust is one of the best parts of the pizza, I don't give it to the dogs, my wife on the other hand has a kinder heart. I am currently experimenting with a 21 hour room ferment dough and a 72 hour cold ferment dough. The longer the ferment the better the flavor, but room temp vs cold temp also makes a difference. Just as we experiment with our wet shaving, one can experiment with pizzas as well. But with Pizzas, you eat your mistakes, and there's no blood unless you nick your finger while preparing the toppings.
I got to see Legend yesterday. He’s growing up fast.
That's all for today, blessings and best of shaves.
300+ Shaves in 2024 205 of 300+
August 2024 GRUME 11/31
ARKO!!!! August 11/31 ARKO GUNG HO
Shave Date 8/11/2024
Razor: 1957 Fat Bottemed Tech
Blade: PAA Platinum Stinglets err Strangelet(1)
Pre-Shave: Leaf Pre-Shave Oil, Neutragena Facial Cleaning bar
Soap ARKO!!!
Brush: Zenith Unbleached Boar
Post-shave: Alum Bock, Thayer's Witch Hazel, Mother Bear Winter Balm, RR The Dead Sea.
Rating: 29/30 10 for Comfort, 10 for cuts and weepers (0), 9 for smoothness, neck stubble, BBS on the face, and DFS+ neck.
Notes:
Whart???? Whart happened?????
It can't be, no way, did the Fat Bottom Tech just turn the Stinglets back into the Strangelets?? This shave was a top-tier shave, up there with the best of the best. The Sea Lion fur patch was obliterated, with no irritation and very little Alum Block feedback. I was tempted to give the blade another shave, but do not worry dear readers, calmer heads prevailed and into the bin the blade went, keeping with my one-and-done for this tuck—a confusing but very pleasing shave. RR The Dead Sea was a fine scent for mass, one I was not scheduled to serve and I actually got to sit in the congregation and be a regular folk, for once.
300+ Shaves in 2024 206 of 300+
August 2024 GRUME 12/31
ARKO!!!! August 12/31 ARKO GUNG HO
Shave Date 8/12/2024
Razor: 1952 US Ball End Tech
Blade: PAA Platinum Stinglets err Strangelet(1)
Pre-Shave: Leaf Pre-Shave Oil, RE Pre-shave soap
Soap ARKO!!!
Brush: Yaqi Cavern Lake 24mm Two Band Badger
Post-shave: Alum Bock, Thayer's Witch Hazel, Mother Bear Winter Balm, PAA Atomic Bay Rum.
Rating: 29/30 10 for Comfort, 10 for cuts and weepers (0), 8 for smoothness, neck stubble, BBS on the face, and DFS+ neck.
Notes:
Two shaves in a row with the US techs taming the Stinglets. This one wasn't as close because I held off on attacking the Sea Lion Fur patch today so that I wouldn't induce tenderness, one must take their small wins when they can. And two successful shaves with the Stinglets is a win. I am done with the tuck and now only have the Tigers to banish to move on to my better blades. But I will take a break from suspect blades and TaaT a Nacet tuck I have open. PAA Atomic Bay Rum is the scent of the day, and a good one. It is odd that the British Tech did not do as well as the US-made ones, likely differences in tooling are the reason.
I am back into making pizzas again, maybe that fitness pizza in my mouth crack awakened my desire for pizza. The Grozney RoccBox sat idle for a good while, partly due to my struggle with stretching the dough and loading it on the launching pizza peel without fubar'ing the pizza up into a sorry excuse for a calzone. I wanted to figure out a dough ferment schedule that would allow a pizza bake after work on weekdays. After much research, watching YouTube videos, and reading my various pizza books, I had success with a room-temperature ferment and a cold-temperature ferment. And I pulled off a white pizza also which my wife loved. It was vegetarian, not vegan as it had milk and plenty of cheese, along with sauteed mushrooms and onions. Before this latest foray into pizza making, I was making pan pizzas and some round ones on a baking steel in the house oven. Those were good, very good, but not as good as what the Grozney Roccbox can crank out. There's something different in pizza baked at 800+ degrees, it's hard to explain but the taste is much better than the ones baked at lower temps. The crust is also has a better bite, whereas the oven tends to dry out the crust, the RoccBox cooks the pizza so fast, under 2 minutes, that the crust seems to retain some more moisture and is much better. The Roccbox is for 12-inch pizzas or less and can do some non-round pizza but the size would be quite small, not to mention the difficulty in turning the pizza that is oblong. Everyone in the house likes the pizza, and the dogs enjoy the crust of you want to give it to them. With a RoccBox done pizza, the crust is one of the best parts of the pizza, I don't give it to the dogs, my wife on the other hand has a kinder heart. I am currently experimenting with a 21 hour room ferment dough and a 72 hour cold ferment dough. The longer the ferment the better the flavor, but room temp vs cold temp also makes a difference. Just as we experiment with our wet shaving, one can experiment with pizzas as well. But with Pizzas, you eat your mistakes, and there's no blood unless you nick your finger while preparing the toppings.
I got to see Legend yesterday. He’s growing up fast.
That's all for today, blessings and best of shaves.
Tech is king!
- Thread starter
- #2,272
As my son used to say when he was young..... Yes are!!!!
- Thread starter
- #2,273
300+ Shaves in 2024 207 of 300+
August 2024 GRUME 13/31
ARKO!!!! August 13/31 ARKO GUNG HO
Shave Date 8/13/2024
Razor: El Grande De Fatip
Blade: Nacet (1)
Pre-Shave: Leaf Pre-Shave Oil, RE Pre-shave soap
Soap ARKO!!!
Brush: Zenith 507-IF Italian Flag
Post-shave: Alum Bock, Thayer's Witch Hazel, Mother Bear Winter Balm, Bootleggers El Dorado for the winnnnnnn!!!!.
Rating: 28/30 10 for Comfort, 10 for cuts and weepers (0), 8 for smoothness, neck stubble, BBS on the face, and DFS+ neck.
Notes:
Hal'ah'lure'yah, off the Stinglets onto a proper blade, the Nacet. I have three in this tuck and it is another low-lying fruit in my Taat quest. After that, I may Taat the last of my Tigers, maybe. The Nacet was smoother on the ATG pass than any of the shaves with the Stinglet, despite being in the more aggressive El Grande open comb razor. I'm looking forward to the next 14 shaves with the Nacets. And El Dorado, what can I say, a great scent on any day.
The room-temperature fermented Pizza dough was over-fermented, which posed a challenge to forming the pizzas and successfully baking them in the Roccbox. The first one tore as I tried to turn it, some was the dough, and much was user error. It was a mess but it still ate great, I ate the whole darn thing to get rid of the evidence. It was quite tasty, another white pizza, but this time I drizzled some olive oil over the pie before going into the RoccBox. The other 3 dough balls were also a challenge to stretch, but I was able to load all on the launching pizza peel and bake them with no problem. Over-fermented dough can and does make a great pizza, it just takes some extra special handling. I have 4 more balls cold fermenting in the fridge for a bake tomorrow, we shall see how that goes.
That's all for today, blessings and great shaves for all.
August 2024 GRUME 13/31
ARKO!!!! August 13/31 ARKO GUNG HO
Shave Date 8/13/2024
Razor: El Grande De Fatip
Blade: Nacet (1)
Pre-Shave: Leaf Pre-Shave Oil, RE Pre-shave soap
Soap ARKO!!!
Brush: Zenith 507-IF Italian Flag
Post-shave: Alum Bock, Thayer's Witch Hazel, Mother Bear Winter Balm, Bootleggers El Dorado for the winnnnnnn!!!!.
Rating: 28/30 10 for Comfort, 10 for cuts and weepers (0), 8 for smoothness, neck stubble, BBS on the face, and DFS+ neck.
Notes:
Hal'ah'lure'yah, off the Stinglets onto a proper blade, the Nacet. I have three in this tuck and it is another low-lying fruit in my Taat quest. After that, I may Taat the last of my Tigers, maybe. The Nacet was smoother on the ATG pass than any of the shaves with the Stinglet, despite being in the more aggressive El Grande open comb razor. I'm looking forward to the next 14 shaves with the Nacets. And El Dorado, what can I say, a great scent on any day.
The room-temperature fermented Pizza dough was over-fermented, which posed a challenge to forming the pizzas and successfully baking them in the Roccbox. The first one tore as I tried to turn it, some was the dough, and much was user error. It was a mess but it still ate great, I ate the whole darn thing to get rid of the evidence. It was quite tasty, another white pizza, but this time I drizzled some olive oil over the pie before going into the RoccBox. The other 3 dough balls were also a challenge to stretch, but I was able to load all on the launching pizza peel and bake them with no problem. Over-fermented dough can and does make a great pizza, it just takes some extra special handling. I have 4 more balls cold fermenting in the fridge for a bake tomorrow, we shall see how that goes.
That's all for today, blessings and great shaves for all.
We only do sourdough pizza at our house and my dear wife usually let it ferment for about 3-4 days in the fridge. They are fantastic that way. Now we do not have a special pizza oven, but she sets the oven for 500 degrees and uses a steel plate in the oven. Comes out great!
Next time email all of us a slice!
- Thread starter
- #2,276
I had a sourdough culture last year, named him Francis Nicholas Deaux, Frank'N'Deaux. I was looking over my bread/pizza journal while preparing for the pizza bakes and found the entry when Frank kicked into gear. I started the entry with
HE'S ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I left Frank in the fridge too long and my wife threw him out, he was moldy. One day I'll start another culture.
A Steel plate is the closest thing to a high-temperature oven. But the pizzas out of the high temp ovens are out of this world.
4 more pizzas tomorrow, what ya want on yours??
Speaking of toppings, bolstered by the successful white pizza sauce I made, I started to think about what other sauces I could use instead of the tomato-based sauces. I have seen pizzas with a curry sauce and various other Indian-inspired foods. What about Etouffee sauce?? I wonder how that would hold up to the high-temperature bakes. Some sausage and shrimp, topped with some thinly sliced chives. I'm getting hungry thinking about it and I have over an hour left at work, and no pizza here.
Rosemary, roasted potato and bacon, please, with a pint of Guinness
- Thread starter
- #2,280
That’s a good one also. There’s so much you can do with pizza. It won’t pass the Neapolitan Pizza Police, but that’s ok. You can make it your own.
