masamonkeys

Carmen and Derrek are now married! The party was an absolute blast! And for those of you who are wondering our names are Derrek Pearson and Carmen Holt.

We’ll be posting a little web gallery with lots of pictures in the days to come.

Hello Everyone,

This film was shot in San Francisco over the summer. Syam Zapalowski directing, John Vandenber, Adam Brown, and Elizabeth Carol were acting. Tyler Pearson did the Sound for the movie. Nikko Barredoshot directed the photography. Thanks to everyone involved, enjoy!

I’ve been shooting for UCSF this week. They are celebrating Transplant Week. Basically it’s a big celebration for all of the doctors and organ donors and recipients. I’ve gotten to meet a lot of great people and hear some very interesting lectures. Last night they had a reception and dinner at the Fairmont. Here’s a photo I took of the opera singer.

Carmen

Look at that lettuce grow! We’ve also got a pretty awesome free standing fireplace, compliments of our neighbors upstairs.

I’m hooked. I watch this stuff every day now, mostly in the mornings when I should be doing my german homework. Anyways, for those wanting to watch German TV you can get a ton of stuff now on YouTube. Deutsche Welle has launched a YouTube channel in both english und deutsch and there are hundreds of videos.

And the first thing I hear my dad say when hearing I’m trying out a straight razor is “are you crazy?” — well I indirectly heard this through my brother Tyler who was instructed by my dad while on a cell phone to ask me this question.

Anyways, I bought a straight razor. I didn’t go all out though. I bought one that uses disposable razor blades. I wasn’t sure if I would like it and I didn’t want to cough up $200–$300 for a decent straight razor so I went the disposable route. The upside is the blades are super cheap. Between $.50 and $1 a piece depending on what kind and in what quantity you buy them. That’s a hell of a lot better than the $15 pack of 3 Gillette blades, which I am sick of buying.

I bought some decent shaving cream and a good brush to go with it. It was highly recommended by the folks at “The Art of Shaving” where I bought the razor and I thought I might as well give it a serious chance if I’m going to do this thing.

After purchasing it I went home and watched a few “how to” videos on YouTube. They were good at giving me a sense of the basics. Then I decided to go for it. I took a hot shower and afterwards went for my first shave with the straight razor. I should add that I had not shaven in quite a few days so that added to the complexity of the situation.

The tools.

This is me before I’ve shaved.

This is me after I’ve shaved.

My skin wasn’t really that red after shaving, it’s just bad color from the photo.

Regarding my tools. Maybe some of this is overkill but it’s my first time and I wanted to get the full experience. We have an initial oil used to prep the skin and help provide a barrier between the blade and your skin, it’s also suppose to provide a smoother surface so your less likely to cut yourself. There is also the brush, the shaving lotion, after shave lotion and finally the razor. I used a Dovo Shavette.

Well I’m sure you are wondering how it went. Well, it actually went just fine. Yes I cut myself, but nothing more than a few little nicks here and there which I think is pretty damn good for my first time shaving with a straight razor. I didn’t experience the gushing of blood that I had heard about. Granted I took a looong time to shave as it was very awkward to use at first. It’s mostly tricky to figure out the best angles and hand positions for holding the blade for the different parts of the face. Some areas I got a really nice close shave that was better than any thing I’ve experienced with the Mach3 blades from Gillette. Other areas I had quite a bit of trouble and it was still a little on the rough side after shaving. I only took one pass as I had all of the little nicks I wanted and my skin was not terribly happy with me.

It’s hard to tell yet but I think I may be a convert in the making. I’m going to give it a few months and see if I can really get the hang of it. Time will tell.

I’ve transitioned almost all of the videos that have been posted on this blog onto YouTube. We know have the Masamonkeys YouTube channel. It’s a place on YouTube where you can see all of the masamonkeys videos. Spread the word : )

Tyler just came up with a great new way to eat oatmeal and pancakes together. Pony’s Oats!