Author Archive | Mark A. Rayner

A scruff of beards

A clutch of (8) beardsUnfortunately, humanity has lost much since The Golden Age of Beards — a time when the free-flowing exchange of thought, lead propelled at high speed, and yes, competition in beard technology was not only encouraged, but demanded. The philosopher and extemporaneous human, Sean Cullen, says, “give me a beard I can believe!” He was talking about opera, but the yearning … the yearning.

Don’t we all want to see more beards that we can believe? To help us in this quest, we present a clutch of beards.

1. The Maestro— a truly astonishing beard, usually worn by eccentric and brilliant artists. Warning — if you are not an eccentric and brilliant artist, this beard could cause narcolepsy or be a harbinger of incipient tooth-gnashing madness.

2. The Classic — If you have time to time to comb, oil and curl your beard, The Classic may well be the facial hair for you. This beard will turn some heads, particularly at Greco-Roman affairs. Warning — can get you unwanted attention at Greco-Roman affairs!

3. The Waveform — If you have time to time to part your beard every morning, with or without the use of beard-drugs, the waveform may be the beard for you! Warning — tends to cause quantum irregularities and uncontrollable laughter in undergraduate seminars.

4. The Electroco — an impressive beard grown to inordinate long length, The Electroco is not for the amateur beard grower. Warning — tends to catch stray food particles, get caught in zippers and cause potential sex partners to say “eeewwww.”

5. The Lincoln — Let’s be honest on this one; barely anyone can make this geometric nightmare look good, particularly in a pair of chinos and a golf shirt. Warning — may cause an uncontrollable urge to wear a stovepipe hat.

6. The Scrappy — The scrappy is rough and ready chin foliage, low on upkeep, and easy to grow — even for those of you who may be challenged in the production of testosterone. (We’re not judging.) Warning — can make you look like a hippy freak or an effete, absinthe-swigging artist who thinks he is Jesus.

7. El Quixote — This offshoot of the scrappy is a tough look to pull off, but if you’re fond of tilting at windmills on swaybacked horses, this is one you want to sport. Warning — certain to induce a full-on psychotic break after your first bad love affair.

8. Der Lipfinder — You will not like this beard, English. Is too much work to keep that upper lip free of hair, the way God intended. Warning — if you really are wearing Der Lipfinder for religious reasons, be aware that it drives the ladies crazy. Rrrroow!

Alltop is sporting a faux-scrappy. Originally published in April, 2007.

Ask General Kang: How do you address the work-life balance?

Ask General KangFor myself, I like to knock off work at about 3 pm, hit the links or drop by the club for a single malt scotch (or three).

Back on my homeworld, Neecknaw, I expected my troops, commanders, and personal grooming team to work 24/7, but that turned out to be unrealistic. So eventually I let them have ten hours off, per week. They could do with it what they willed: sleep, eat, bathe, and so on. (Though very few of my Gorriloids-in-Fezes Brigade ever chose to bathe.)

The main thing is that they worked so hard, they couldn’t possibly consider rebellion.

It seems to be working on this planet too.

Next time: Is it true they just discovered an inhabitable planet near Earth? Is the five-times Earth gravity going to pose a problem to my priceless origami collection?

Alltop is the folded paper of the Internet. Originally published in April, 2007.

Being Marika

Fijian Sunset

You’d never know if from looking at me, but I once was betrothed to a Fijian princess.

You’ll probably think the kava was to blame, but I believe it was my crush on Emily. In 1989 I started a round-the-world journey and one of my first ports of call was the island of Viti Levu, in Fiji. It was there that I met Emily.

Emily was a tall, elegant brunette with the most luminous and sad eyes I’d ever seen. But it was probably the warmth of her smile that I found so compelling. Whatever the source of my infatuation — erotic or romantic — I was keen to see what might develop between us. On our second day in Fiji, she discovered that a village on the island of Beqa was taking in travelers to raise money for their church. This sounded like an adventure to Emily, who had just finished a master’s in anthropology, and she wanted us to go. She could have asked me to go bare-assed snorkeling with tiger sharks and I would have said yes.

Read the rest of this short travel fiction here…>

Alltop doesn’t buy into this Valentine’s thing either. Beautiful sunset pic by David Gee.

Fiction Fridays: Scientific dating

are you real -- plastic lipsJeremy Butler, venture capitalist and shallow bastard, was ready for his next foray into the dating world. He’d read the latest studies, and he had a strategy.

Instead of giving lavish gifts that had material value (diamond bracelets, sports cars, fur coats and the like) he was going to spend on ‘worthless’ experiences.

He was still going to be classy. Jeremy had lots of money to blow, and he was going to blow it. But on experiences — opera, exclusive clubs, gourmet dinners — not on things.

The mathematicians had it all figured out. From their study, they showed that gold-diggers would not stick around for experiences. They would only stay for things.

That night he went out with Suziku, a cute Japanese woman who worked for Sony. It went splendidly. She was engaged by his exciting tales of venture capitalism. He adored her demure nature and lack of interest in drinking expensive champagne. In fact, Suziku didn’t eat anything. Perfect.

They arranged to go out again, and Jeremy was thrilled, at least as thrilled as his shallow soul would allow.

On the next date, he took her to the opera, and he was surprised to discover that in addition to speaking Japanese and English, she was also fluent in Italian. In fact, she translated for him, whispering in his ear at such a low level that only he could hear.

It never occurred to him that he did not feel her breath on his cheek as she did so.

This third date went even better; he walked her home and they kissed. Her lips were strange. Plasticky tasting. Was this one of those weird Japanese things — lipstick that tasted of plastic?

She invited him in; they kissed again, this time more passionately, and Jeremy thought it was odd that her tongue was completely dry. But by then, he was not thinking clearly. His shallow bastard had come to the fore, and he wanted only one thing. She led him to her bedroom, where she undressed for him, clumsily, but adorably so.

His excitement turned to fascinated horror as he gazed upon Suziku’s nether-regions; it was like he was a kid again, sneaking a look his sister’s Barbie doll. There was nothing there but smooth plastic. Suziku was some kind of advanced gynoid!

Jeremy figured would just have to make do — nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Originally inspired by:Japanese develop ‘female’ android, and more about gynoids at Wikipedia here. | Worthless dating tips. Cool photo, “Are you real” by cazucito. Yes, originally published in 2005!