Where's your head at? - Microdiscectomy + 26

Not much has changed on the recovery front. I see the doctor tomorrow and I will find out when I can return to work. I will tell you what they say in the next blog. But as leaning over the sink trimming my beard caused pain I suspect I am not entirely right yet. After the Doc yesterday I will have to pick up some plughole unblocker because rather too much of my beard hair ended up down the sink, which is now errr blocked.

The Beard
I bought some beard clippers the other day and as I mentioned above, today was the day that I set about taming 3.5 weeks of beard growth. But never having had a beard before I didn't know what style would be best. Obviously I had suggestions from friends and the consensus was to tidy up what I had. But I went online for some advice and the first thing that seems critical is: What shape of head do you have? 

There are apparently 8 male head shapes:

Now I was a little unsure what shape I was. I think I either have a round or an oval head. I think it is naturally oval but rounder than it should be. Fortunately the guidance online pretty much agreed with my friends: that trimmed and neat would do the trick. With a round head you should keep the bit on the chin longer so that it elongates your head. Sounded like a decent plan to me.

The next question is: A beard...really? You haven't forgotten you have grey head hair and a ginger beard have you? Well in the last blog I discovered that Brian Blessed has the two tone look. A fine role model. But the other day, in a photo album about his US tour I discovered that Billy Bragg, the Bard of Barking, is one of us too. Saints be praised!

All Hail The Bard

That was enough for me. And he has an oval head with the trimmed look. It was a sign. I was going to do it Billy style!

So the third and most critical question was: You've never done this before, are you going to screw up horridly and end up clean shaving yourself?

Well in truth it came close. I went little by little but a look in the mirror showed I hadn't been as precise as planned. But I rescued it I think. Here is how I look now:

What's the verdict from the blogosphere?

Movie Watch

Brave 3.25
It looks beautiful as all Pixar movies do. But what kind of film is it? An adventure? A fairy tale? An advert for Visit Scotland? Billy Connolly as Fergus and Julie Walters as the witch stand out in this film, but there are not enough laughs or genuine excitement to really engage you. There are some great ideas in there, but it feels like a first draft in need of a re-write. Oh and the music. My god, if ever a film was angling for the best song Oscar it was this one. Sadly the songs just weren't good enough. Unless you like the blandness of Enya etc.

There Will Be Blood 3.5
Maybe I missed something, but this film was ok but what was all that Oscar fuss about? It's good, and Daniel Day Lewis is as always, superb. But it just didn't do it for me. This sort of thing used to be the stuff of a Sunday Night mini-series. I don't know. Maybe it needs a re-watch but right now I don't have the urge.