And now for something completely different....contest/PIF

[kingfisher]

OK, folks, here is the next update.

Four more satisfying shaves in the books. My Proline got a little dull. Found a Feather Pro that I had ordered from Try-a-Blade, so I loaded that up instead. Haven't used a Feather blade in my Feather SS for a long time. I feel like it tugs a bit more, especially on the first shave. It became smoother by the second shave, and now it seems to be working pretty well. Reduction on the first pass is similar to perhaps a bit better but face feel is still not as good as the Proline.

I also found a beta-test shaving cream from The Gentleman's Quarter and on a few shaves I used a dab of it to superlather my Soapy Science, on one shave just for the second pass. Still trying to load the same as if I am not using the superlather, to keep the contest fair. It beefs up the richness of the lather a tad, which is nice. I might stop using it so I can use it with other soaps that don't already make a nice rich lather......I haven't decided yet.

Still reading the Proust every day; some days more than others. But I am now 79% finished with the book. At the rate I am currently reading, I'll be finished with the book in about three weeks (by my calculations). So the question is, do I have 12 more shaves' worth of soap? I think it is going to be close and come down to the wire.

In prior editions of this post I have said that people who picked the soap are looking good. Although I think it is close, right now I kinda feel like people who picked the book are looking slightly favored. Time will tell. I am confident that we will have a winner before the end of this month.

Thanks to anybody who is still tuning in to the longest, most convoluted PIF in badgerandblade history!

 

[kingfisher]

Well, here it is. Short and sweet this time.

Four more good shaves. Soap still hanging in there. Can't see the bottom a second time since I mounded it up.

I didn't read quite as much this week. The PGA tournament was a real time-drain over the weekend, plus I worked in the morning on both days. I am now 84% finished with the book. (Scroll down for SPOILER ALERT......do not look if you plan on reading the book! I'll put it in the lightest font I can find. If you want to read it, you have to highlight the text.)








During this week's reading, his girlfriend/almost fiance died!


Book voters are looking pretty good right about now, I think. Good news is that either the book will be done or the soap will be done by the end of August, I'm predicting.

 

[emwolf]

already knew the spoiler from the BBC radio production.

 

[kingfisher]

already knew the spoiler from the BBC radio production.

OK, good. I'm kind of joking by making it a spoiler, anyway. I highly doubt that very many people are about to read this behemoth of a book.

 

[BobbyB]

Soap wins, I am in.

 

[kingfisher]

Time, once again, for the long-anticipated weekly update! Woo-hoo!

So, four more good shaves, although I did cut myself a tiny bit with the SS yesterday morning. That's twice in the past three weeks or so after going more than 7 months without so much as even a weeper. Not sure what my problem is. But anyway, the soap is still going strong.

As for the book, I slowed down a bit, but I am now 88% of the way through. And here's another spoiler, a major plot twist! (If you have even the slightest notion that you might want to read this behemoth at any point in the future, please don't read this particular spoiler. I put the text in white and in a small print; if you want to read it, you have to highlight it to see it.)







His girlfriend, previously said to be deceased, actually is very much alive!


Anyway, the contest continues. Even now, I'm not sure which is going to win. I can tell you, though, that I am still pretty sure this thing will be decided during the month of August. The excitement is building, I know.......

 

[kingfisher]

Update time!

We are getting very close to having a winner. Four more great shaves. The soap is holding up better than I expected, but is definitely getting low.

On the book front, I am now 92% finished! It's World War I. Some interesting descriptions of the war. Pretty good stuff.

I anticipate that the contest will end very close to the last day of this month, one way or the other. Either the soap will give out, or I will finish the book. So, people who entered, it's getting close to time to anticipate the random drawing. Patience is a virtue.

 

[carluchi]

The anticipation is killing me!

 

[Tanuki]

So glad I didn't find this thread until now. I think I'd rather read the Proust and 3017 my Cella brick than deal with weeks of sitting on the edge of my metaphorical chair, waiting tensely for literary/tonsorial updates.

But I'll be here for the thrilling finish!

OK, this is probably going to be the strangest thing posted on here all day, and if nobody is interested in this I completely understand.

Truer words, kingfisher, truer words...

 

[kingfisher]

Remember when I told you that this contest would come to an end and we would have a winner sometime near the end of August? Well, that prediction is coming true! This will be my last post in this thread before I announce the winner.

Here's what happened since last Monday. 1) I had four more great shaves with the Soapy Science Doc's Special Blend. It is VERY close to gone. I have had a secondary hole in the middle for a few shaves now, and there is only a very thin layer of soap left. 2) I am now 98% finished with the book. At my current level of reading, I will finish it on Tuesday (yeah, tomorrow!). So, to all y'all who said I wouldn't finish it, you greatly underestimated my power of resolve. I WILL finish the book, and I WILL finish the soap; it's just a matter of which will I finish first?

I am going to be shaving on Tuesday morning. And the question is simply this: after that shave, will there be enough soap left to support even ONE.MORE.MEASLY.SHAVE???? If there is, and my reading goes as planned, I will have finished the book first, and those who chose the book will be randomized. If there is NOT, the soap will be finished on the exact same day as the book reading, and therefore, I will have no choice but to declare it a TIE, in which case everybody's name will be entered. If, for some reason, I don't have time to do my usual reading, and the soap runs out on Tuesday morning but I am not finished with the book until Wednesday or Thursday, the soap will have run out first, and I will randomize the people who bet on the soap.

So, hang on to your seats, folks, the long, LONG wait is almost done! I WILL be using random.org to choose a winner sometime this week, one way or the other.

When I started this contest, I had absolutely no way of knowing that this would turn out to be so close that even now I don't know which is going to win. It has become much more interesting than I thought it would be. My only question now is this: should I use my Greydog brush for Tuesday morning's shave? It is my largest brush and uses up the most soap. I normally use it on Thursdays. Hmmm..........

 

[emwolf]

Building suspense from someone reading a book, reminds me of yet another Python sketch:

 

[kingfisher]

Well, here's the deal.

I finished the book, as expected, on Tuesday night. I didn't go to random.org until this morning, because the soap had to get me through one more shave, which was scheduled for this morning.

Well, it produced plenty of lather for a two-pass shave and there is still a little bit left in the container, maybe enough for one or perhaps two more shaves. So, it was close, and I will be finishing both of them within a week of each other, but, I finished the book first!

I went back through the thread and found that there were 9 people who correctly predicted that I would finish the book first. I numbered them one through nine based on the first through ninth in terms of when they put their entry into the thread. I then went to random.org and had it generate a random number between 1 and 9. And the winner is........(drumroll please)..........


AZBronco!!!!


Congratulations, AZBronco. Please PM me with your snail mail address and I will get your soap out to you as soon as I can, probably Saturday.

Thanks to everybody else who entered, and thanks for following this bizarro thread with me. I had a good time doing it, and I hope you did, too. I had no idea that the book and the soap would run out so close to the same time; it was a real horse race, way better/closer than I thought it would be back when I started the thread.

 

[emwolf]

congrats to all, since this was a fun one to follow!

 

[carluchi]

Congrats @AZBronco !

 

[AZBronco]

Wow—this was a surprise! I enjoyed your thread and look forward to trying the soap! I’ve been sitting on a pick of vintage Williams I found at an antique store a few years ago. I guess it’s time to break it out and do a comparison review.

 

[kingfisher]

Wow—this was a surprise! I enjoyed your thread and look forward to trying the soap! I’ve been sitting on a pick of vintage Williams I found at an antique store a few years ago. I guess it’s time to break it out and do a comparison review.

Yep.

FWIW, I did a comparison myself, using vintage Williams on one side of my face and CBL Tonsorial on the other; to me they were virtually indistinguishable. Great stuff. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the soap, with or without a comparison review.