The Bald and the Beautiful

[ozzie]

Have you guys seen this? Chris Rose will shave his head if the rest of us peeps donate a total of $10,000.

Shave one, save one
He'll go bald if you'll give to cancer research

http://www.nola.com/living/t-p/index.ssf?/base/living-7/1173764469304190.xml&coll=1

Nearly $7,000 already donated in his name and we have until Friday to reach the goal.

This link will take you directly to the donation page. I know we've all been giving a lot to a lot this year, but we also get a lot from Mr Rose, so let's support him... and a great cause. Cheers.

http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/shavee_info.html?ShaveeID=12817

[Belle]

Great cause! Went to the donate link and it doesn't work (for me anyway) Will try again to take the hair off. Great fun and Good cause. Love kiddios!

[Amyloves...]

Thanks Ozzie...read the article yesterday and meant to post it here last night but I forgot. I'm donating also, even though he ain't gonna look too pretty with his head shaved!

[NOLA]

Another couple years of hair loss and I will be ready to join Chris. And trust me, I will be hitting up ALL of you for donations when the time comes!

[Jada]

Gotta love Chris Rose :)

[Corona]

Have you guys seen this? Chris Rose will shave his head if the rest of us peeps donate a total of $10,000.

Shave one, save one
He'll go bald if you'll give to cancer research

http://www.nola.com/living/t-p/index.ssf?/base/living-7/1173764469304190.xml&coll=1

Nearly $7,000 already donated in his name and we have until Friday to reach the goal.

This link will take you directly to the donation page. I know we've all been giving a lot to a lot this year, but we also get a lot from Mr Rose, so let's support him... and a great cause. Cheers.

http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/shavee_info.html?ShaveeID=12817
I love that man :)

[Belle]

Thanks Ozzie...read the article yesterday and meant to post it here last night but I forgot. I'm donating also, even though he ain't gonna look too pretty with his head shaved!

Maybe we should chip in for a real cute hat to protect his head at Fest? Does you hair grow quickly?

[Amyloves...]

Always thought mine grew quickly until I decided to do that Locks of Love thing.....now it seems to be taking forever! I'm starting to take vitamins now cause I've never ever been good at that. Maybe it will help.

[tangledupinblue]

Only until Friday? We better getting trucking on this....
We are ALL touched by Cancer. Thanks Chris!

[funkkjunkie]

My 5year old granddaughter is working on some locks of love. Her hair is just past her shoulders so she has a few years to go!

[mightyradgumbo]

Here is a link that I came across that may or may not be of assistance to Mr. Rose once he shaves his head:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16796808/

I will definitely donate as my momma passed from the ugly "C"

[Carolina Beadhead]

Have you guys seen this? Chris Rose will shave his head if the rest of us peeps donate a total of $10,000.

Shave one, save one
He'll go bald if you'll give to cancer research

http://www.nola.com/living/t-p/index.ssf?/base/living-7/1173764469304190.xml&coll=1

Nearly $7,000 already donated in his name and we have until Friday to reach the goal.

This link will take you directly to the donation page. I know we've all been giving a lot to a lot this year, but we also get a lot from Mr Rose, so let's support him... and a great cause. Cheers.

http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/shavee_info.html?ShaveeID=12817

Done.

[swag]

Man, do I feel like a chump, going bald for free.

[Zydekitten]

Sucker!!!

;) :D

[tangledupinblue]

I hope we get to 10,000 by Friday.... Will he not go bald if we don't?

[Carolina Beadhead]

Have you guys seen this? Chris Rose will shave his head if the rest of us peeps donate a total of $10,000.

Shave one, save one
He'll go bald if you'll give to cancer research

http://www.nola.com/living/t-p/index.ssf?/base/living-7/1173764469304190.xml&coll=1

Nearly $7,000 already donated in his name and we have until Friday to reach the goal.

This link will take you directly to the donation page. I know we've all been giving a lot to a lot this year, but we also get a lot from Mr Rose, so let's support him... and a great cause. Cheers.

http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/shavee_info.html?ShaveeID=12817

I put Jazz Fest Threadhead by my name and I now see that you can look to see who's donated. I B REPRESENTIN'! Don't leave me there alone!!!

(MRG, my mom died from the Big C, too.)

[tangledupinblue]

Where can you see that? I did as well??? I didn't put thead..My pops as well....
Many others in my family...

[Amy Winette]

Alright, done, he's gonna look funny bald!!

[tangledupinblue]

HA HA, just saw your name amy girl!
Makes me feel good........

Let's get this man BALD for JF!!!!

[festivalgirl]

We'll add to the hair loss as soon as I get home! Don't like to mention hair loss in front of Festivalboy, though.

[Zydekitten]

'kay - I just put some money in the kitty for Chris to be shorn . . . he's at $8,812.00. Just a little bit to go . . . you can kick in any amount y'all want from $1 on up and it's anonymous (so we can't see how cheap ya bastids are ;) )

:D

[mangoon]

10,032.00 . He's got it already!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very ,very cool!

[tangledupinblue]

YES, that is great...... I wish I could be there for the shearing....

[Belle]

Done here too!! You need a special hat!!! What a guy and what a heart.

[Orleansnj]

Did it - thanks for the link....EXCELLENT cause.

[jonnygospeltent]

Has anyone else noticed that Jazzfester guys (myself included) seem to be more follically challanged than most?

[Zydekitten]

Here's an update on Chris Rose and the St. Baldrick's shearing . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ugly Chris

So now we know: Bald isn't ALWAYS beautiful -- unless you count the timeless beauty of raising money for childhood cancer research

Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - Chris Rose

My first disclaimer in this story (I get the feeling there might be a few) is that this wasn't my idea.

Shaving my head was my idea, a stunt to raise money for St. Baldrick's Foundation, a volunteer-driven nonprofit group dedicated to childhood cancer research. I wrote about it last week, and promised to cut my hair off if reader pledges to St. Baldrick's reached $10,000, and they did; in three days we raised close to $12,000 and I thank you thank you thank you.

But that's all I was going to say on the matter. I thought that writing a story about the actual shaving event and my transition to life as a bald guy was a little too self-absorbed, even for me, New Orleans' clown prince of participatory journalism.

So blame my editors for this. They accorded "news value" to my shaved head not because it holds any inspiration, resonance or lessons for the city but because they decided that shaving my head in front of a hooting audience Friday was not enough ignominy for one man to suffer.

They concluded that my humiliation would not be complete until they ran photos of my new egg. (Photo slideshow here: http://www.nola.com/photos/t-p/index.ssf?rosehaircut )

Not enough that my own children taunt me now nor that every encounter on the street with a vague acquaintance is accompanied by awkward posturing and lots of, "Well, I don't want to keep you . . ." comments as they avert their eyes and back away slowly.

One woman said to me: "You look different." I responded: "Yeah, I got new glasses."

Not enough that I have discovered that the popular phrase "bald is beautiful" is the sole province of bald people trying desperately to make themselves feel better in a society that universally equates man's hair -- or lack thereof -- to his strength, virility and maybe even his honor and virtue.

Face it: There isn't a single superhero from Marvel Comics who was bald, unless -- as I have long suspected -- the reason they all wear those full body suits and masks is to hide their acne scars and receding hairlines.

In my life, I've never had anything even close to a military-style cut, so what I was going to look like with no hair at all was a complete mystery, although one friend e-mailed a photo-shopped speculation to me and it wasn't good.

I had been pondering which of the famous bald people I might resemble when the deed was done. I was secretly fantasizing that I might conjure Denzel or Bruce Willis or Yul Brynner in his prime, the most bad-ass baldy that ever walked the planet. Hell, I'd even settle for a Ray Nagin resemblance; sure, he's whack, but the ladies tell me he looks good with that smooth, shiny head.

But it turns out that what I ended up looking like is Paul Shaffer's older brother and this does little for the self-esteem. I couldn't have imagined that there was anything I could do that would make my nose look bigger than it already is but I was wrong.

And so I am what I am. But it's what's inside that matters, right?

Yeah, sure. Keep telling yourself.

The truth is, I hardly notice the difference. I thought my scalp would be real sensitive but it's not; the only sensation that has changed is that I feel every faint breeze across my stubble. I am not much of a mirror-gazer; my reflection reveals nothing to me on a daily basis other than to confirm what I already know: that I look older than I act and I could use more sleep.

So, other than quick and startling flashes in a window reflection or off some shiny kitchen appliance, I don't see what everyone else sees: me, bald. So when I went to my kids' soccer game the other day, all the parents bore mild grins but they were polite whereas the children, so unvarnished and real, were plagued by mixtures of terror and giggles.

My kids' friends already think their dad is really strange, but kind of amusing, and here was a manifestation of both. To break the ice, during the pre-game huddle at midfield, I made all the kids rub my head for good luck, a ritual the coach and other parents probably thought was a little creepy, here in an era when child molestation fears are rampant, but the kids enthusiastically embraced the idea.

And they won the game, although it was officially declared a tie because the league mandates that all the games are officially declared a tie to prevent any crippling infusion of shattered self-esteem in our precious and vulnerable offspring -- a gesture I find as hollow as, say, bald guys telling each other that bald is beautiful.

So I convinced the little girls after the game that it was rubbing my head that inspired their play and so now they think I am strange and amusing but also lucky. And I am.

My daughter took my hand on the sidelines and starting leading me around, telling her friends, "My dad is bald!" -- a commentary that was probably superfluous but it made me proud.

It also kind of made me feel like her pet hamster at show-and-tell. I feel objectified because of my appearance and welcome to the real world.

Since my head was shaved, I have noticed just how many guys my age and younger are also bald. It is certainly a fashion statement of the times, a surrender to the ubiquitous triumph of genetics over ego.

Better to be bald than going bald.

I look like I just got out of the army or finished chemo treatments and that, of course, is the point of shaving your head for cancer kids -- an act of compassionate solidarity. My wife suggested I wear a baseball hat if I'm self-conscious but that would seem to counter the point.

The point being, well . . . I don't really know what the point is other than these days, I find myself game for just about anything. Life is a fleeting spectacle or, as Dorothy Parker said: "Life is a cycle of laughter and song, a medley of extemporania."

So here are the pictures of me, bald, and this is my story.

It has been four days now walking in another man's shoes. I am Ugly Betty. I am beautiful.
. . . . . . .
Columnist Chris Rose can be reached at chris.rose@timespicayune.com; or at (504) 352-2535 or (504) 826-3309.

[Carolina Beadhead]

I got a real giggle out of the slideshow. That was great!

You're a good egg, Chris Rose! :D

[Zydekitten]

LMAO!!!

Yes, it was rather funny - I particularly liked the shots of him looking like Bozo, the Clown . . . :D

He's good folks!

[Corona]

LMAO!!!

Yes, it was rather funny - I particularly liked the shots of him looking like Bozo, the Clown . . . :D

He's good folks!
Actually he doesn't look too bad :) Way to go Chris!

[Corona]

I just donated so I guess we still can even though he already shaved his head. Both my parents had cancer and have been in remission for a few years now...fingers crossed!

[Zydekitten]

My mom too - fingers, toes and eyes crossed!!

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o67/Zydekitten/cross_eyed_cat.jpg

[Carolina Beadhead]

Actually he doesn't look too bad :) Way to go Chris!

I actually think it makes him look younger.

Hmmmm... maybe I need to... ummm... nevermind. :D

[Corona]

My mom too - fingers, toes and eyes crossed!!

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o67/Zydekitten/cross_eyed_cat.jpg
lol!

[mightyradgumbo]

He is a good man with a good heart and he is a true hero to the city for what he does, IMHO. Definitely brings it when he raises an issue. Put his head where his mouth was and got a whole bunch of people to put thier money up for a worthy cause.

[Belle]

I actually think it makes him look younger.

Hmmmm... maybe I need to... ummm... nevermind. :D

I kinda like bald but then again I like long hair too. Like it in between too. Oh thats right I like good people regardless!! Way to go and what a good cause. I donated a few times to locks of love, it feels real good.

[ozzie]

He's a good egg.