Blog Master G

Greetings, moustache fans. Pete may have drawn strength from the mystique that is Chalmers and the wonderment that is Chase in Day 3, but tonight I come to you having channeled the power of my ’70s namesake, Gabe Kaplan — the power of the ’70s lives dormant within this older brother’s soul (sidenote: here’s a great blog entry of Megan sporting a ‘stache in honor of her dad).

For those of you not alive in the ’70s (hey, I was, but barely — that counts), there was a show called Welcome Back, Kotter. And its star, a magical moustache sporter whose power we must honor today.

So without further ado, here is the before:

And here, the after:

Recognize those clowns?

Tonight in Saratoga, my Day 4 moustache was seen about town — first at the Saratoga Chamber’s annual holiday mixer, then at Max London’s new bar & restaurant (its bakery originator, Mrs. London’s, was recently featured in USA Today), and finally at 9 Maple, where Sarah, Justin, then later Jen, and I tore up the town. The locals were excited to see the new ‘stache legend out on the town (a first since this competition began).

Oh yes, and here is Peter’s Day 3 entry:

You’re up, Pete. Bring it!

Pete, what happened yesterday? You had a series of blog updates following your official Day 2 entry, and you had this blog entry about Manifest Destiny? but no official Day 3 entry!

I hope you weren’t swallowed by a giant, man-eating moustache! Or perhaps you were paid a visit by this guy, and have entered a state of moustache meditation so deep that you are still there and preparing to come back with a vengeance.

My ABMGC 2007: Day 3 awaits a challenger…

The ‘stache contest is in full swing and I haven’t blogged this consistently in ages. There’s nothing like a moustache contest to bring out the best in people. First, be sure to check out Pete’s Day 2 blog entry if you haven’t already done so — he attached a razor to his face as if to say, “Who needs you? Not I!”

Next, before today’s ‘stache update, there’s lots of news from our fans:

• Johnny reminisced about his “spell back in SF where i had my porno-stache”
• Enoch sent a “friendly word of warning: don’t go so far down the rocky path to hirsute power that you can’t return”
• Megan said “cheers to your ’staches” and pointed us toward some real professionals in the world of competitive beard and mustache growing (these guys see us coming and fear our wrath)
• In true Alex fashion, he wanted us to lay down the criteria for ABMGC 2007 (criteria? what’s that?)
• Pete has received challenges from two entrants who want in on the ‘stache action (Bill and Bo Ro)

There are also important questions to ponder at this stage in the game — things like:

• “What’s my strategy?”
• “What style ‘stache am I going for?”
• “Wait, was Alex right? Do we need criteria?”
• “Will I ever look as cool as the Backstreet Boys and those fabulous ‘staches?”

Finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for — my Day 3 ‘stache entry:

Bring it, bro… whatcha got for Day 3?

As loyal readers know, yesterday marked the start of the ABMGC 2007. Today is officially only Day 2 of the challenge, and already we have a new contender from the outside.

So I was talking to my Mom today about the challenge, and she reminded me that this would not be the first time her sons would go neck and neck — err, upper lip to upper lip — in a moustache growing contest. Nay, back in the early ’80s her sons sported moustache pride.

Sure enough, to the basement I went and what did I find? Evidence of my bro and me in the original ABMGC — 1980s style!

Fast-forward to 2007. After a night of delicious enchiladas at Ken and Rachel’s house, here is the state of my ‘stache on Day 2:

Note the new element brought to the table: LFT. Andrew, we like your suggestion, and have modified the rules accordingly. Now we shall hearken back to the LFT days of yore.

Growing up, my Dad always sported a mustache. To date, his sons have never followed him down the path of the upper lip hair.

Until today.

Last night my bro challenged me via text message to a moustache-growing contest. Despite my hesitation, tonight I accepted his challenge. I thought, why the hell not? If my Dad could sport the ‘stache most of my life, why can’t I for a couple weeks?

The contest runs today through New Year’s Day, and you can follow the action here on BMG as well as on Hegemony.

Though we’re 3,000 miles apart, let the brotherly bonding through cyberspace and upper lip hair begin!

Vanity Fair recently published a story on Hitler’s Toothbrush mustache, which I won’t be growing.

Friday night Albany’s Power Couple, Alex and Cati, came to Saratoga Springs, and we showed this town who’s boss.

Following some cocktails and delicious cheese from Putnam Market, we headed to Mama Mia’s for the infamous eggplant pizza, introduced to us by their biggest fans, Hugh and Jami.

We had lots of laughs, delicious food, and good times, including Alex’s attempt to strum Happy like a guitar.

After Mama Mia’s, we stopped in for some late night entertainment at Gaffney’s, followed by an evening of competitive Hearts late into the night (Alex cleaned us out of a 5-spot, on which he promptly wrote “Gabe & Jen” and promised to keep it close by his own heart… always).

And what night would be complete without some fun with the Alcohawk?

Last weekend was my awesome wife’s birthday extravaganza. We started the weekend right with our second visit to Bloomers (read about the first visit here). It was equally as awesome as our first visit there. This time I had an excellent cajun catfish and Jen had seared sea scallops with jasmine rice over a bed of spinach in a light cream sauce. Simply delicious! And Jen got to sport her new birthday coat, secured by yours truly at the Saddlery in downtown Saratoga Springs. We capped off that evening with Jen’s white sweater twins at Patricia’s place.

Saturday night Jen got all snazzied up (yeah, she was smokin’ hot) and accompanied Alexis to her work Christmas party at the Canfield Casino in Congress Park (same place Dan and Shira got married this summer). I was the chauffeur, and joined the ladies for drinks at City Tavern after the main event.

Sunday we drove to Philmont for a family dinner since Jen’s aunt was in town from Sacramento to announce her engagement to her new beau.

And the birthday festivities extended into the week, with a Beekman Street Bistro dinner with Ken, Rachel, and Justin on Tuesday night. BSB does a weekly prefix menu for just $25 per person. I have to say that the food was not up to par in my book. I had the “Artic Char.” Yes, they actually spelled it “Artic.” That should’ve been my tip-off to avoid it. I also received misleading intel from two unnamed members of my party that it was a white fish, not a salmon-esque fish. I’m not a salmon guy. It was also my fault for not asking the server to tell me more about it. But Jen loved her curried lentils with pita and feta (it was damn good). I’ve also decided I enjoy the Bloomers ambience more, so Bloomers may now be my #1 and BSB my #2 (I’ll forgive them for having an off night).

Happy belated birthday to Jen!

Question: What do you do when the weather outside is frightful?

Answer: You have an impromptu game night, of course.

Saturday night we were joined by the likes of Sarah, Eric, Anne, Tom, and Patricia for a rockin’ game night at our place, featuring games such as Loaded Questions, Encore, and Alcohawk Slim (technically, that last one is a breathalyzer that was one of Jen’s birthday gifts this year, but it’s still a lot of fun to play with — which reminds me, we should make a spreadsheet and start logging BAC scores).

View more photos from Winter Storm Game Night.

Has it really been 9 days since I last blogged? Where does time go?

Much has happened in the past week-plus, including my wife’s birthday — happy birthday to my best friend and beautiful wife, Jen! — along with tons of snow, and lots of partying.

It wasn’t until Valentine’s Day 2007 that we got our first real snow storm of last winter. This year has already been a much different and snowonderful story, which began with snow in November and continued the past several days with snow storms on Thursday night, Friday night, and again all day yesterday. So yet again I awoke today to a winter wonderland outside.

What have we done while all this snow has been coming down? We’ve partied, of course — Thursday through Saturday nights we were either out on the town or hanging out with friends at our place, and it’s been a great few days.

View more photos from yesterday’s storm (time to snow blow yet again today!).

Hwæt. We Gardena in geardagum
– 1st line of Beowulf, from the original Old English text

Translation: “LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings.” This is the story of the people kings of Saratoga Springs.

Once upon a November 24, Gabe and Justin braved the long, cold road to Albany. They arrived at a destination to see the modern adaptation of a thousand-year-old text — in 3D. With a naked, animated version of Angelina Jolie. It was strange and violent and the 3D effects, while cool at first, got old after a while, and haven’t really come that far since the last time 3D movies were popular 20 years ago. If I were you, I’d skip the movie and spend your time learning Old English, which is way more fun.*

So back to those people kings of Saratoga. Upon returning from their journey to the strange land of Albany, Gabe and Justin found themselves enjoying an evening of modern mead, friends, and fun at the Stadium Cafe. And the 3D experience was in full effect.

* For the record, at Vassar I actually took English 235: Old English, wherein we studied the original Beowulf text. It went toward my foreign language requirement. Oh yeah, and Stella’s full name: Stella Brie Neorxenawange. Her last name means “paradise” in Old English. Yes, she is a dog of paradise.