Two Late Entries!

Please welcome Patrick Danaher and Andrew Gardner!

It's an embarrassment of suckers!

More Notes!

Seems like I keep forgetting to mention something, so here's my attempt to start remembering.

1. Every Wednesday is a photo Check-In.
2. You do not need to carve your style or keep it neat every day, but you must have it neatly groomed for every Check-In. Which happens each Wednesday, if you happened to skip right past Item #1 here.
3. You need not carve your style until the second photo Check-In. That means that you can just grow for an entire week before anyone sees what you've got to offer. It's like a week of Free Parking. After that it's three weeks of explaining to friends, family, and strangers. Yippee!
4. Thought I'd more to say. Seems not. We resume our regularly scheduled forgettings.

Let's Break It Down

With the current slate of candidates, here's how things shake out:

44 Total Participants

20 Mantastic 2006 Participants

22 Mantastic Rookies

2 Mantastic 2006 participants who shaved early and didn't reach the finish line the first time around. Click here and here to see who is in dire need of redemption.

4 Mantastic 2006 Category Winners

That's a pretty interesting spread. What does it all mean, though?? As Mr. Natural himself often said, "Don't mean shee-it."

Who's Are The Candidates?

We've got a huge crop of hair farmers participating this year. I'd like to see us get through this many photos in a half-hour check-in. Ha!

Welcome aboard, gents.

Devin Breese
David Gibson
Kirk Larkins
Robert Alves
Jordan Schilling
James Brown
Ryan Hood
Morgan Loomis
Brian Smith
Jesse Jensen
Robert Dorris
Neal Hoover
Will Groebe
Jonny Tal, Jonny Tal
Jess Vickery
Dan Riha
David Schnee
David Link
Adam Gerardin
Jance Rubinchik
Hans Brekke
Nick Overstreet
Stacz Sadowski
Kane Brassington
Blaise Panfalone
Ryan Todd
Joe Bailey
Chris Halstead
Kenneth Voss
Nate Fredenburg
Tony Lobay
Kevin Cureton
Lee Hahn
David Behrens
Daniel Basse
Dave Kujawski
Russell Darling
Allan Gersten
Chris Morley
Blair Clark
Paul Hill
Geoff Wheeler
Matt Hoard
Jacob Telleen
M Stevens

Good luck, brother!

What To Expect On Day One

First off, let me state, for the record, that Day One is January 16th. Pow.

On Day One, we get things rolling. Faces are shaved clean, styles are assigned, and photos are taken. Here's how it will go down:

1. Wake up Wednesday morning, all full of P & V.
2. Go through your usual morning ritual, but add "Shave entire face clean" in there somewhere. No soul patches. No sideburns past the regulation length (more on that shortly). You don't have to shave "against the grain," but that doesn't give you license to do a crappy job, either. Do it right.
3. Show up to work.
4. At 4:30, we'll meet at a designated location. We're still working that out, but it'll be easy to get to. I know how easily you get distracted and lost.
5. When it's your turn, you'll step up to the table, take the single, six-sided die in hand, and roll. Each number on the die will correspond to a hair style. This will be the style you grow for the next four weeks, unless...
6. You pay a $5 Chicken Fee for the right to roll again. You can chicken out as many times as you like until you get something you can live with or you run out of cash. No I.O.U.s. No checks. Cash on the barrelhead, chumps.
7. After determining your style, saunter confidently over to the photo area, where your first Check-In photo will be taken.
8. Every week at the same time, a new Check-In photo will be taken. There will be more information on this in later posts.

Any questions?

The Presidential Styles

By now you know that we're growing hair for a month, starting on January 16th, right? The next logical question is, "What do these styles look like?"

Well, look no further. Our first President, George Washington, shows off this year's six models.

The Chester A. Arthur



A moustache that keeps on going, all the way to them ears. The thing to keep in mind here is that the line must hug the uppermost reaches of your growable hair. No dipping down to the jawline! Keep that thing up high!

The William H. Taft



Your basic moustache, but make it Presidential, not of the people or by the people. Phooey on that noise!

The Colonel



Colonel Sanders made a mint with this look. True, he wasn't a President, but that's only because he didn't run! Would you have bet against him if he did? Not likely. A moustache and vertical beard combo. Dope.

Freestyle Presidential Manscaping



What is it? Why the question mark? You'll love this one. Here's how it works...

1. Grow everything you can, all over your face, for one month.
2. On the day of the Final Check-In, show up with the most outrageous, creative, horrifying, belief-suspending beard you can shave. That's right. Dealer's choice. You like stripes? Great. Oh, horizontal stripes? Fine. Triangles, blocks, zig-zags, words, Tetris, the 50-50, a moustache on each cheek...all acceptable. It truly is Freestyle. James Knox Polk, 11th President of the United States, would approve.

Cheadle For President!



Yes, I know that Don Cheadle hasn't been President, but there's still hope! It's an election year, don't you know. Cheadle '08! Start the chant! This style is the baddest of them all. A handlebar that goes all the way down, right into a muttonchop. Just the narrowest demarcation between the two. Holy cats. This groove might just be too deep. Let's move on.

Van Fucking Buren



Here we go. Big, fatty chops. Make 'em big, make 'em bold. Make our 8th President get up and dance.

There you have it, people. The random drawing will take place on Wednesday, January 16th at 4:30 PM.

Brace yourselves.

What The Heck Is Mantastic 2008?

The answer to that question would be obvious if you knew what Mantastic 2006 was:

Mantastic 2006

Some say that you can't know where you're going until you know where you've been. This is as good a place as any to start, don't you think?