The Crazy Australian

Well, the votes are in. The verdict? Shave!

Thanks 17 to 5 vote win to the ‘shavers’ (read: sadists), the terrible job has been done. The shower is over, 3 razors are dulled, and my legs are now sleeker than a spaceship. Or a spaceship covered in stubble and the occasional hair.

The result? (See bottom of post for picture)
I must say, it does feel sort of cool. Slippery. It looks a bit gross though. I’m only bleeding in 2 places, which is nice.
I feel both less masculine and more masculine – less because now I have chick’s legs… and more because I have managed to achieve that. It takes balls to shave your legs.
I keep finding random patches of hair… apparently I missed some spots.
The real test will come tomorrow night when I hit the water. I’m told it feels great!

Lessons?
I definitely have a new-found respect for chicks who shave (or at least another reason to question their intelligence. Not that I’m complaining…) It’s hard! You need to be a freakin yoga instructor to get to all your legs! It’s good exercise too.
It takes aaages. It was officially the longest shower of my life! Who knew legs had so much skin?
Turns out, despite never using sunscreen on my legs and always wearing shorts… they’re pretty pale. And I only have freckles on my right calf. Weird.

Final Thoughts?
I’m not looking forward to it growing back. Check back for updates.
Girls, we love you for it!
Guys, don’t do it. Just don’t.

Thanks to every who voted! (I think…) Hope you stick around for updates ect.

To finish, let’s have some highlights:
Most persuasive argument so far: Bec said ‘its remotely attractive’
Scariest argument so far: Bec said ‘its remotely attractive’ (It isn’t.)
Funniest story: jpj’s smurfy friend.
Best goss: Smeiks has done it… and enjoyed it! (At first…)

And, best of all, the funniest moment: my girlfriend threatening to grow her leg hair “like a boy’s”. EW!

Do you feel sufficiently violated yet? 

What do you think? Leave a comment. 

Save the Shave update:
Only 2 hours left to vote to save me from my ‘friends’

The votes so far: 17 for shaving, 1 for waxing, and 104 votes for keeping the hair. Except 100 of those came from one person (ok, a very important person… but still 1 person.) So, 17 for and 5 against.
It doesn’t look good. I’ve even bought some cheap razors.

But there’s still time! I need you guys who truly appreciate the beauty of a hairy leg to come through for me! (because if you don’t, I’ll never be able to crack the ‘that was a close shave!’ joke… and who wants the world to miss out on that?)

So get voting.

UPDATE: ergh. It happened.

Implications for life? Be aware.
Don’t forget to save the shave!

20 minutes ago I made a big mistake.

I entrusted my safety to democracy. I offered to shave my legs if enough people voted for it.

20 minutes later and the votes stand at 12 votes for shaving and just 2 against!

I’m scared.

But I have faith in the good of humanity. There’s still 23 hours to go. If you have a shred of goodness in you, if any decency, if an ounce of love for me, if the slightest belief in the sanctity of a man’s leg hair – please! – vote to save me from the shave! Think of the children!

Save the shave!

UPDATE: Too late.

My dear readers, I need both of your opinions urgently.

I have made the St Andrew’s College swimming team. (Ok, I’ll wait while you get back on your seats. I’m not thaaat unathletic, ok?)

The meet is on Wednesday. I have moderately-to-very-hairy legs, and its quite possible that shaving them tomorrow will make me that much more speedy. At the very least, I’ll look like a swimmer (ie, emasculated).

But I’m scared. Firstly, and most importantly, I expect it to be itchy. Secondly, my girlfriend has expressed some displeasure at the thought. Longer term, I’m not looking forward to the prickly regrowth.

So, to shave or not to shave, that is the question. And the answer is in your hands. Whichever has more ‘votes’ by 9pm tomorrow night will be done. SMS your vote… just kidding, leave a comment.

mood: anxious

UPDATE: I’ve decided that I need a minimum of 10 shave votes before I do. You may need to spread the word.

UPDATE 2.0: This article is hilarious! I relate.

UPDATE MACH 3: Well, thats 10 votes already! Wow! Who would have thought that Rhys knew so many metrosexuals (or just sickos … only kidding… sort of). One vote against (THANKS MATT!)… now the fight is on to save the hair!
Come on blokes? Are you going to let them emasculate me? Defend the weak!

UPDATE the 4th: the campaign is on! Save the Shave!

UPDATE V: Shave. And pictures.

Yesterday I linked to an article on a better way to talk to atheists about Christianity. It had some good insights.

I have swung around on this overnight.

There are good tips to be integrated; they are helpful. But more important than doing it ‘right’ is doing it <b>at all</b>.

It doesn’t matter if you aren’t any good at proclaiming the gospel – God is bigger than them, He is stronger than their resistance. Paul “did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom” but instead “resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified”. (1 Corinthians 2)

God’s words will not return to Him empty. The gospel <b>is</b> foolishness to the world, your job is not to make it less so. You are the messenger, don’t write the message, don’t open the message, don’t lose the message, don’t chane the message, don’t add to the message – DELIVER the message.

Great article on how to talk to atheists. (h/t HH)

As you’d expect, his understanding of Christianity is flawed, and he is ignorant of (apparently any of) the reasons for its truth. All the same, he still raises some good points.

Essentially:

1. Talk less. Listen more.
2. Actually live the gospel.
3. Don’t refer (only) to the Bible as your authority.
4. Don’t use heaven and hell as incentives for believing.

Number 2 particularly resonates with me. Christians are hypocrites!! That’s to be expected, we are sinful people following a perfect Saviour. But Christians today are way too comfortable with their sin, and far under-estimate their sinfulness. We need to more openly declare that we are sinful, so as to never give the impression we think otherwise. We also need to repent more, examine ourselves more, apologise more, confess more, and put more importance on change.

Christians could also be better prepared to defend the faith rationally, since (contrary to many atheists) Faith is <b>NOT</b> believe without or even in the face of evidence, it is <i>trust</i>. As John Piper says, God is <b>not</b> honoured by base-less belief, but is honoured by well-founded belief.*

* Not a quote. Click for source.

… do I have to be nice to the weirdo who always sits in the front row and sings off-key at church?

No, you have to be more than nice – you have to love him.

1 John 3:10 says: “This is how we know who the children of God are … : Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”

Relax – even old Christians find this hard, you’ll get better at it. It helps to remember that you are weird enough yourself – there are probably some people who love you even though they think you’re weird too.

… do I need to clean up my act first?

No way man! Come just as you are, but don’t come hoping to stay just as you are.

If we all had to become good before we could follow Jesus, there wouldn’t be any Christians. And if we even could become good first, we wouldn’t need Jesus.

No, come to Jesus just as you are and He will clean you up.

… do I need to go to a church?

No, you’re already in the Church.

When you become a Christian you instantly become a family member of Jesus’ Church, made up of everyone who calls Him Lord, the one He died to create.

Going to a church will not make you a Christian, nor is it required to stay one. But it is extremely helpful and will help you stay one.

And, since you are a family member, don’t you want to hang out with your new family?

This article will make aspiring authors despair.
A fan submitted the opening chapters of three Jane Austin novels to 18 publishers, and all were rejected publication. Only one even recognised them.

What on Earth do you need to do to be heard in the literary world these days? Be dead?

Interesting story from the US.

Gotta love his guts:
“[The teacher] showed the student a policy for the class that prohibited … religious beliefs in artwork…
The boy tore the policy up in front of Millin, who kicked him out of class. “