Attempted Moustache

As we discussed in our very first blog, the Candi’s Dog audience more often than not want to talk about anything but the music, with the ‘freaky twin thing’ and the ‘bizarre hair growing out of a man’s face thing’ neck and (hairy) neck in the attention stakes. This situation was harmonious while it lasted but now Matthew has well and truly parked his tanks on Stephen’s lawn by deciding to grow a moustache. To be fair, despite the escalation in the war for attention, Matthew’s motives are entirely noble. He’s growing this for Movember to promote awareness of men’s physical and mental health issues.  In case you’re unsure how important this is here are a few headline stats:

– Average life expectancy for men is 4 years less than women.
– Men have a 14% higher chance of developing cancer and 37% higher risk of dying from it.
– In 2011 6,045 people died from suicide, of which 75% were men.

If your reaction is to cower in terror and curse your Y chromosome, think again. There are also lots of informative guides on the site to help recognise and deal with these issues.  After all, much of these things are preventable or treatable.  If you are not a male of the species, please do encourage the men you love, and even the ones that really irritate you, to check this site out.

While I said Matthew’s motives were entirely laudable, there is a part of me that suspects many men relish the opportunity Movember gives them to grow some facial hair without incurring the wrath/ridicule/hostility of their bosses, friends, partners etc. Quite why the decision to allow your face to grow the hair that naturally grows out of it should cause quite the stir it does is in the supposedly tolerant 21st century is really beyond me. If anybody thinks I am exaggerating please do try and grow some facial hair and see what I mean.

So please do support Matthew as he tackles the very real issue of male mortality and the possibly not quite so serious issue of beard and moustache liberation this month. You can follow his growth on this blog and his movember page, where you can also donate. Please use the comments box on this blog to give encouragement, or share health and facial hair related stories. If you want to see his moustache up close (and I would think you may need to get VERY close) come and see us perform live.

And remember the whole point of Movember is to raise awareness so please, if you are at a Candi’s Dog gig, for this month at least, skip the twin thing, put the music questions on hold and speak to Matthew about men’s health. Ask him anything he’s a liberated 21st century guy!