Real life. Busy-busy. No post =(
…the Third Reich invaded Norway. In my line of work such dates tends to be noticed, and my mind is on things not terrible related to shaving today.
April 9th 1940 marked the start of a two month long campaign that ended in the Norwegian Armed Forces in Norway surrendering. It was the longest campaign after being invaded in 1940 – Poland fell in four weeks, France in six… but Norway, with the numerically smallest, barely trained and even worse equiped army in Europe at the time held out for eight. Granted, our geography makes it easy to defend – but our soldiers and volunteers for the most part simply did not give up.
For those unfamiliar with this – in the grand scheme of things – minor part of history, here is a few links:
Operation Weserübung, Norwegian Campaign, HNoMS Pol III, Battle of Drøbak Sound, Battle of Hegra Fortress, Battle of Vinjesvingen, Battles of Narvik, Battle of Dombås, and German occupation of Norway – Wikipedia
The king’s defiance, and chaotic escape and Norway to recall loss of freedom – NewsInEnglish.no
It sounds like a cliché, but freedom isn’t free. Sometimes it must be protected against enemies from outside the nation, sometimes it must be protected against enemies from the inside the nation – but it must be protected regardless.
It’s 2015 over here now…
Last year was fun, frustrating, stressful and boring… in other words, like all years so far. But shaving is still enjoyable and relaxing, and sharing via this blog is still rewarding – so I’ll keep doing both.
Have a happy, productive and well shaven 2015!
While Norwegians – being sensible people – celebrate Jul (aka Midwinter blot, Yule, Mōdraniht, Dísablót, Kwanzaa, Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, or many other mid winter celebrations) on Christmas Eve, I’ll take the opportunity on Christmas Day to wish you all a well shaven holiday.
…so off course it is safe – duh!
I keep coming back to the free book Shaving Made Easy, since it’s both a fun read in it’s old fashioned way and I learn something new.
Today I was looking up what the author had to say about mirrors;
Position of the Mirror.
The mirror should hang between two windows if possible, so that when you look into it the light will fall directly upon both sides of your face. You will then be able to get a good reflection of either side. Remove the collar. To prevent soiling the shirt, place a towel around the neck in an easy, comfortable manner, pinning it at the side.
The importance of good light aside… remove the collar?
Turns out that a well dressed gentleman a century ago not just shaved in his shirt, but said shirt had a detachable collar like this one:
The upside was that the collar could be kept clean and well starched, which apparently was the Done Thing for a respectable gentleman at the time… so well starched in fact that the Norwegian (as well as Danish and German) term for a detachable collar was “Father murderer” – the idea being that the stiff edge could slit your throat if you turned your head around.
While we might still slit our throats with out razors, at least our shirts aren’t going to be the end of us these days…
Real life is taking too much time today – no shaving related post, sorry.
Now try that with Mike’s Natural Soaps!
I’m having a broken tooth extracted today – long story, not all that relevant here, etc.
But the real, burning, important question I keep coming back to is this; Will the swelling go down so I can shave tomorrow? Because, as you all know, shaving is important.
Out and about – but as I’ve explained before; a little forward planning, and a well laid out kit… Joy can be had away from the den.
