From 13888780f549f1f94f49135acc5d89ed21e70db1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Bdale Garbee Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 23:34:17 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] blog my take on the shaving incident at LCA 2009 --- bdale/blog/posts/Facial_Dignity.mdwn | 90 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 90 insertions(+) create mode 100644 bdale/blog/posts/Facial_Dignity.mdwn diff --git a/bdale/blog/posts/Facial_Dignity.mdwn b/bdale/blog/posts/Facial_Dignity.mdwn new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1085678 --- /dev/null +++ b/bdale/blog/posts/Facial_Dignity.mdwn @@ -0,0 +1,90 @@ +[[!tag tags/misc]] + +People keep asking me about +[the beard thing](http://www.itwire.com/content/view/22838/1090/)... Here's +my take on what happened and why. + +Just before I left for [LCA 2009](http://lca2009.linux.org.au), my +wife offered to send along one of the +[limited edition prints](http://karenskollage.blogspot.com/2008/11/copies-of-waterfall-photo-for-sale.html) +of her +[award-winning waterfall photograph](http://www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/natures_best_2008/gallery/waterfall.html). She knew from prior years that the LCA +organizers often host an auction or raffle to raise money for some worthy +charity at the conference banquet. Since the photo was taken at +[Milford Sound](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milford_Sound) on the way +to last year's [LCA in Melbourne](http://lca2008.linux.org.au/), +there was a connection between the photo and LCA. We had no idea what +this year's charity might be, nor did we anticipate that her photo +would become the centerpiece of the evening's fund-raising activities. + +The charity selected this year was an organization that is trying to +[save the Tasmanian Devil](http://www.tassiedevil.com.au/) from +extinction. Professor Hamish McCallum, the chief scientist with the +program gave a talk after dinner and before the auction began. +The native population is suffering from a fatal facial tumor disease that +results in horrible lesions, and is likely to kill off all the Devils within +a decade or three. My family and I all have a strong love of nature, and +Karen and I had the pleasure of touring Tasmania after +[LCA 2003 in Perth](http://www.linux.org.au/conf/2003/), so this seemed like +a great charity to raise money for with her photo. + +As often happens at LCA, the auction and related fund-raising activities +got complicated. This year, the photo alone was bid up to $2500 (which was +very cool!), before people started offering things for higher bids. For years, +going maybe as far back as Perth, I've been cajoled about shaving my beard +if the bidding hit some level, and have always said no. This year, someone +offered $5000 if I would shave my beard, and again I said no. Much later, +after more cajoling and many counter offers, when the bids and various +matching offers had us approaching $20,000 in total donation to the charity, +I relented and announced that if we hit a total of $25,000 going to the +charity I would consent to a shave. The resulting frenzy, including +the suggestion that if it went high enough +[Linus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Torvalds) should do the +shaving, and the formation of a bidding consortium that kept raising more +money and bidding against itself, was completely unexpected! Others have +tried to capture [details of the insanity](http://zarfmouse.livejournal.com/291848.html), +but the bottom line is that by the end of the evening, the total had blown +*way* past anything we could have imagined, and by the end of the conference +the total going to the charity was on the order of $40,000! + +Why did I agree to let Linus shave my beard? To be honest, I'm not entirely +certain. I only had one beer that evening, so I can't blame intoxication. The +fact that it would yield a worthy charity something over 10 times what my +wife's photo alone had drawn as a maximum bid seemed significant to me. In +hindsight, I also think I was at least a little bit curious to see what +my face looked like after having a beard since sometime around September +of 1982! In any case, I made the offer, insane amounts of money were raised, +and on the last day of the conference, over the lunch hour, Linus took +trimmers in hand and removed my beard in front of an audience. + +The reactions have been completely overwhelming. A local TV station +and a local newspaper in Hobart were both there and ran stories. The ripple +of mentions in the blogosphere was and is just astounding. There's even a +silly +[Shaving Bdale](http://andrew.secretlab.com.au/lca2009/ShavingBdale.html) +game created overnight by the "Mad Scientists" at +[Secret Lab](http://secretlab.com.au)! And from all over the globe, people +I do and don't know have been sending emails and finding me on IRC to plead +with me to grow my beard again! Right after the shave, my good friend +[Keith Packard](http://keithp.com) said "Bdale, grow it back!". Before +I left Hobart, my wife emailed saying she and the kids hoped I wasn't +waiting until I got home to start. Joey Hess blogged +[a hairy tale](http://kitenet.net/~joey/blog/entry/a_hairy_tale/) about +how I'd scarred the minds of young Debian developers. The leader of +[Debian-RS](http://www.debian-rs.org/) sent word by email that the group +all hoped I would re-grow my beard. And on and on and on... I'm really not +used to being the center of so much attention! + +Being suddenly without beard felt weird in lots of silly little ways. I +was hyper-sensitive to drafts. The feel of cold beverages hitting my upper +lip was downright strange. And I kept wanting to scratch what wasn't there! +After making faces at myself in the mirror for a while, I decided I really +wasn't happy, and do prefer being bearded. So I haven't shaved since Saturday +morning in Hobart, and am pretty scruffy looking. My wife said today that +I'm "already starting to look like Bdale again". + +At the current growth rate, I have high hopes of having at least some facial +dignity back by the time I +[speak at FOSDEM](http://fosdem.org/2009/schedule/events/debian). And no, +I won't be shaving my beard off again any time soon... + -- 2.30.2