I had a great idea last night. (I know that phrase usually means "hold my beer, I got this" amongst the 30DC, but this may actually be a real live good idea). OK, probably not, but in the spirit of MAYhem, I'm forging ahead with it anyway. (For you uninitiated, I encourage you to check out the thread http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/may-2017-30-day-rule-focus-pix-discussion.55578/
to learn what MAYhem is, and to meet a great group of guys, who, although a bit nuts, have helped my shaving technique immensely. Anyway, make sure you've watched the initial video at the start of the thread to familiarize yourself with the 30DC and MAYhem rules and disclaimers before reading further. I'd encourage newbies to enjoy MAYhem by gawking from the sidelines and enjoy, because some of what goes on there is not condoned by me, management, or anyone with a functioning cerebral cortex. It's kind of like the 30 day crew's version of the old life cereal commercial "Let's get Mikey to eat it, he'll try anything" combined with the joy of watching some sort of half baked "Wiley Coyote" plan and wondering if it will work. As they say on TV "do not try this at home, these people are trained professionals" (and/or way dumber than you are).

Anyway, instead of PIFing away some thank you packages to several guys in the 30DC crew this month in order to show my appreciation for the generosity of others around here. I have decided, instead, to come up with a few MAYhem awards tied with some prizes for the winners. Similar idea as a PIF (or actually a PIB), just a lot more entertaining, and having the added bonus of rewarding some generous guys who can on occasion, display some very stupid behavior and bad decision making. As I think often we are not given enough credit for our stupid behavior, I'm here to help. Anyway the idea works like this:

In the following post I will keep track Potential Award Categories, nominees and for the "Shavys". (Basically a few inexpensive brushes, razors and some soap cookies, so nothing fancy) Some awards may be presented in May, but most awards, like "Most Ill Advised MAYhem Idea of 2017"will be awarded at the Shavy Awards after the completion of MAYhem in order to give everyone the opportunity to have their stupidity evaluated fully. While I'm pretty sure that @Drygulch has this category wrapped up, the month is still young, and I hate to deny anyone else the opportunity to be recognized. Besides, it happened in April, so the judges are still deliberating on that.

Please feel free to post suggested categories and/or nominees based on reports posted in the 30 DC thread throughout the month of May. I"m counting on this to be part of the fun.

Also, in order to recognize that this community is not an oligarchy, but more a group of teeming masses who amuse each other despite being looked on in confusion and disdain my much of the "non shaving community", the master list will also record "dissenting opinion awards" as they may be requested after the awards ceremony. If you think somebody got screwed out of an award or nomination, by theAcademy (i.e. me) you are welcome to recommend a "dissenting opinion award" as long as you contact that person and deliver that person an award of something of your own from your own inventory. This information can be added to the board by the Academy once the award is outbound.

Everyone is encouraged to participate and offer up potential award categories, nominees etc. Although everyone's feedback will be considered, all final decisions for the categories, nominees, and awards will be made by by the Academy. If you want to add your own prize to the general Awards Cache, this is welcomed, and I will add it to the list, however you must be willing to communicate with the winner and send them the prize from your den on your own dime or alternatively send it to me in a timely manner to distribute. If you wish to do this, PM me, but keep in mind that this whole hair brained idea was hatched as a way for me to give back to folks here and clear out the extras in my shave den, and I don't want to end up with more stuff than I started with or have hard feelings if something you sent me doesn't get claimed, so I am totally fine with no one adding anything to the box. REALLY, totally fine.

I'll try to make sure the master list stays updated as we go, but I do have a full time job, so if this thread becomes anything more than 3 posts long with crickets chirping in the background it might not be updated as often as you'd like. I'll do my best, but may need to rely on other people's patience and some help from other 30 DC guys if things get out of hand.

Awarding the "Shavy Award" will work like this: If you win an award, I will PM you with a list of awards available from the cache of stuff remaining. Although this is no guarantee of getting something you had hoped and dreamed of for an award, it may help winners to get something they actually like instead of walking away with a genuine coconut shrunken Ubangi head. (Having said that, this may be the only appropriate reward in a category, and it may actually be the most valuable prize left when compared to half used soap cookies, and small after shave samples, so the winner should be prepared to win whatever is awarded, by the Academy. No whining.)

This may end up being a few prizes given away with very little thread interaction, or it may end up making me ineffective at having any chance of an appropriate work/home/hobby balance for the next 30 days, depending on how many people want to jump in and participate. I'm good either way. Let the games begin!

AWARD CATEGORIES:

MAYhem Man of Steel
(i.e. most impressive body of work over the entire month of MAYhem)
Nominees:
@wchnu for shaves with the stivette, stivette taped to thumb, band blade, wire hanger razor, Japanese shave stick, etc.
@mrchick for shaves with 6 different instruments of MAYhem.
@Drygulch for shaves with 9 different instruments of MAYhem
The Shavey Goes to: @Drygulch
Shavy Awarded: Omega Boar Brush

MAYhem Trailblazer & Innovation Awards
(i.e. most significant contribution and/or innovation in the field of mayhem)
Nominees:
@Drygulch for his attempt at the "blade taped to finger" shave
@wchnu for development and (reasonably) successful shaves with the blade expoxied to a twig "stivette", "stivette taped to thumb", and coat hanger razor
@mrchick for the development of his "finger shaver 2.0"
@Norcalnewb for the "razorless blade shave"
The Shavey Goes to: @wchnu
Shavy Awarded: Razorock Tobacco Soap
The Shavey Goes to: @mrchick
Shavy Awarded: Partial Soaps & Samples from Stirling Mama Bear

Most Successful Shave with the Item Least Suitable for Shaving
Nominees:
@wchnu for his 2 pass shave with a blade epoxied to a twig
@Drygulch for his attempt at the "blade taped to finger" shave
@RyX for his one pass shave with an eyebrow trimmer
@Norcalnewb for the "razorless blade shave"
@Drygulch for his binder clip shave.
The Shavey Goes to: @Norcalnewb
Shavy Awarded: Razorock Son of Zeus Soap

Most Inspiring Photo
Nominees:
@Douglas Carey for his "Jeans Factory by the River" Shot
@clint64 for his "Shavemac Serentity" shot
@Norcalnewb for his "Textured Classic Shave" shot
@Boojum1 for his "Fine Baseball Shave" shot
@SharptoothC for his "Submerged Shavette" shot
The Shavey Goes to: @Douglas Carey

Least Inspiring Photo
Nominees:
@Norcalnewb for his accidental and unsuccessful attempt at "Shave Porn"
@mrchick for collateral damage on constructing the "Finger Shaver 2.0"
@Drygulch for stitches from the "shiv shavette"
@SharptoothC for his disturbing possessed avatar post
The Shavey Goes to: @SharptoothC & @Drygulch
Shavy Awarded:

Most Ill Advised MAYhem Idea of 2017
Nominees:
@Drygulch for his "blade taped to finger" shave
@wchnu for his 2 pass shave with a blade epoxied to a twig "stivette"
@NCoxSTL for his shave with a haunted razor
@wchnu for his "stivette taped to thumb" shave
@Norcalnewb for the "razorless blade shave"
@mrchick for the "finger shaver 2.0" shave
The Shavey Goes to:
Shavy Awarded:

Worst MAYhem Shave Results
Nominees:
@Drygulch for his first attempt at the "blade taped to finger" shave
@mrchick for his first attempt at the "finger shaver 2.0"
The Shavey Goes to:
Shavy Awarded:

Best Evil Genius Move
Nominees:
@Keithmax for his "doghouse misdirection scheme"
@RyX for his tip allowing family members to use shaving supplies in order to reduce "reportable hobby expenses"
@PickledNorthern for the "I saved you money" fliparoo typically reserved for womens shoes, now applied to razors.
The Shavey Goes to:
Shavy Awarded:

Best Shavy Awards Acceptance Speech
Nominees:
@cmorris357 for his Sally Field/Sharon Stone impression and inspirational efforts to recognize "the little people" (of Oz)
@jtspartan for his thanks to beer and accidental lathe projects
@Norcalnewb for his genuine and heartfelt thanks to several 30DC members and his wife

The Shavey Goes To:

Best Pre Mayhem Motivational Act
Nominees: @jtspartan for his 30DC brushmaking project
The Shavey Goes to: @jtspartan
Shavy Awarded: Tabac and Palmolive shave sticks

Least Successful Shave with a Modified Japanese Pain Stick
(Apparently all shaves with the pain sticks were unsuccessful. The nominees here upped the ante for the sake of science.)
Nominees:
@Drygulch for his "modified honing and finger shave attempt" with the pain stick
@cmorris357 for his "replacing the blade jerry rig attempt" resulting in, let's say, a "mild abrasion"
The Shavey Goes To: @cmorris357
Shavey Awarded: CJB Shavette & Feather Pro Blades by @Keithmax

AWARDED BY THE 30DC

"What's the Worst That Could Happen?"
(Best first shave attempt with a "new to you" open blade implement)
Shavey to Be Awarded: Dirty Deeds Shaving Soap Pucks provided by @Drygulch
Nominees:
@BaylorGator for his pain stick & dovo shaves
@SharptoothC for his first shave with a straight razor
@Screwtape for his pain stick & magic shavette shaves
@Linuxguile for his rolls razor shave
@MR41 for his magic shavette shave
@GarnerPW for his Shave after his first attempt at honing a straight razor.
The Shaveys Go To: @GarnerPW , @MR41 @Linuxguile , @Screwtape , @SharptoothC , @BaylorGator

"Living on the Mild Side"
(Seeks to reward the more intellegent among us... if any can be found...who seek learning and accomplishment in May outside the "rubber room" known as MAYhem.)
Shavey to Be Awarded: Shick Korona provided by @Linuxguile
Nominees:
@wristwatchb
@Fly2High
@RetLEO-07
@PLAla
@John Ruschmeyer
@Boojum1
@clint64
@Paul Turner
The Shavey Goes To: @RetLEO-07

"Shave Sensei"
(30 DC members nominated by their peers for being most helpful on their Shave journey).
Shavey to Be Awarded: Supermax shave cream, 2 pucks of Williams and 1 sample of Grey Flannel aftershave provided by @MR41
Nominees:
@Drygulch
@mrchick
@wchnu
@Bama Samurai
@RyX
The Shavey Goes To: @wchnu

"Most Competitve Shaver"
Shavey to Be Awarded: Shavette awarded by @wchnu
Nominees:
@Drygulch
The Shavey Goes To: @Drygulch

"30DCOG"
(Not sure if the OG refers to Original Group or Old Guy, but either way these guys are definitely deserving of an award! Those founding members of the 30DC that are in their 30th consecutive 30 Day Focus/ Rule.
Shavey to be Awarded: Dirty Deeds Soap Puck by @Drygulch.
@Bama Samurai, @NCoxSTL, @clint64, @Boojum1, @Drygulch. Honorary members of this illustrious group. @wristwatchb, @mrchick, @Douglas Carey, @Keithmax .
The Shavey Goes To: All the nominees listed above: @Bama Samurai ,@NCoxSTL,@clint64, @Boojum1, @Drygulch, @wristwatchb, @mrchick, @Keithmax.

Worst Shaving Scar
Shavey to Be Awarded: Artisan Soap awarded by @SharptoothC .
Nominees: @mrchick, @Drygulch

AWARD PRIZES

1. Ball-end Gold Tech (NDC '46-'50) & 20Voskhod blades by @jtspartan
2. Chrome Shaving/Brush Stand (new)
3. Thayers Rose Witch Hazel - Rose Petal (95%)
4. Fine AS Samplers - Italian Citrus, Snakebite (new)
5. DSC Shave Butter (90%) & Shave Lather (60%)
6. Ever Ready Vintage Brush re-knotted pure badger that sheds (I'd reknot it with something really good instead if it were me).
7. Old Spice Classic Cream - India (90%)
8. VDH Soap Puck (new)
9. Omega Synthetic Brush (only used once)
10. Generously Packed Sampler of Classic European Soaps/Creams (chocked full of goodness)
11. Classic Razor Handle - fits, Techs, Razorocks, etc. (new)
12. 1966 Travel Tech in gold plastic case with vintage blades
13. Blenheim Boquet Soap - 3 oz
14. Lime sampler - 7 lime creams & soaps with scents all too light for me. I like scents that knock me over).
15. Dapper Dragon Signature 1/2 full
16. Simpson small travel brush holder - brand-new, but is too small for my Stirling travel brush
17. Tons of soap samples I can list via PM if you are interested.
18. Harry's Razors Pack (see below)
19. Retail Shave Pack (see below)
20. MAYhem Recovery Pack (see below)


Additional Prizes Shown below:

Detailed Descriptions of Prize Packs Listed Above

#10 European Cream & Soap Sampler - samples of Proraso White, Proraso Green, & Speick creams; Razorock XXX, Razorock Classic, & Tabac soaps.

#14 Sample Lime Creams - Godrej Lime Fresh, Taconic Tequila Lime, Maggard Limes & Bergamot, Colonel Conk Lime, Coates Superior Lime, Dapper Dragon Coconut Lime Verbina, Musgo Real Lime Oil.

#17 Soap Samples - Ask if interested.

#18 Harry's Razor Pack - Razor Handle, cartridge, travel protector for cart, and Canned Shaving Gel. PLUS - Partial of Balm (The gel smells fantastic and was only used once, but I swore off of canned goo.)


#19 Retail Shave Pack - 1/2 full Can of Barbasol, Unused Edge Gel and Unused Everyman Jack Moisturizer


#20 MAYhem Recovery Pack - Multivitamins, MSM, and dramamine to help those faint from blood to recover quickly. (My den is in my medicine cabinet - told you I was clearing it out).

+1

Fun idea!

Checking medical coverage now....

Actually the original rules and post have been changed based on your comment, as we were clearly both kidding, but it occurred to me that others who may stumble on this thread and have not been previously exposed to our pre-existing stupidity may attempt to participate in order to get nominated to win a 1/4 of a used soap cookie. Not gonna happen under the new rules. We can all breathe a sigh of relief now.

30 DC-I thought the grand prize was a month in our nation's capital

Is that an offer to fund a fabulous grand prize package for two, Paul? An alternative and more accurate interpretation might be "after 30 days of mayhem, all I have to show for it is this Dumb Crap prize".

Aw shucks! I was gonna sharpen up my pruning shears. Bummer!

And to think I was getting ready to Shave my 400 lbs hog.


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I might be able to scrape up something more fabulous than a used Cookie for that one as long as you can avoid the PETA folks finding out. You'd have to post a video to qualify though. The upside, is if we called the category "Best shave of a 400 pound hog" there probably wouldn't be many other nominees in the category.

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We have the first winner of the first Shavy as well as our first nominations in two categories.

Loving it.

Does that include a stay at the new Trump hotel in DC at the old Post Office?

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Probably not, but I can walk a block from my house out to the intercoastal and take a picture across the lagoon of Mar A Lago from the cheap seats if that excites anyone. If I time it right, I can even take a picture of Air Force One flying over my house when he leaves. It's going to be rushed and taken with my iPhone, so prepare for it to be fuzzy and the plane to look like a dot in the sky by the time I get things lined up. That's probably as close as this thread is going to get.

If you do, I'd be interested in some of the bristle. Assuming it's up to specs. Been thinking about making a brush knot from scratch

Outstanding idea.

OK, since this is my first time hosting an awards show I'm still working on ironing out the kinks. (That's a nice way of telling you I'm making up this #*?! as I go along.) I decided that keeping a running inventory of the awards prizes seemed like a lot of uneccessary work, so instead I have posted a representative photo of what winners might win. If anyone wants to add to the list of prizes and send them out themselves, this would also be the place for me to to list that if you want. Also awarding the Shaveys will be simplified as I'm just going to send a PM to each winner with the details.

This post was kind of like the part of every awards show when Price Waterhouse guy comes out with a briefcase and shows how securely an accountant can keep a piece of paper in a briefcase while everyone rolls their eyes. A necessary part of the awards, I guess, but you're sitting there ready to get back to the action. Now, let's continue with the action…

I would like to nominate @Keithmax for his use of reverse psychology as demonstrated at Forums/Shaving/Straight Razors/Craigslist Finds/#23. The title of the category should be the "Evil Genius Award".

Absolutely love this! Great category, great nomination, and great story to back it up! Knowing this group, I'm guessing this category may have some stiff competition by the end of the month, if people continue to get involved.