and packing up your tatara muramasa to ship to Darth Osyris!
Dignity and the Wet shave
- Thread starter BigAlVista
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #682
"You don't like Tatara products..." (Says Jedi Bav (BigAlVista) with a wave of the hand)"...You like Gillette Fusion Pro-glide razors (with another wave of the hand)"
- Thread starter
- #683
Sunrise at Barrajas
Beautiful, Mark... Safe travels. Coming home is sweet.... but the jet lag lingers for a few days, especially as we age a bit.
Enjoy your trip Mark!
- Thread starter
- #687
Thanks, Guido.
After a long two travel day(s), my first shave at home was with the Nodachi and the OC Masamune plate. Definitely too soon for a formal review, but my first impressions are as follows:
1) Fit and finish are excellent, however the Masamune comb could use a bit more polishing. The prongs are a tad sharp (compared with the Timeless)
2) Weight. It's a relatively heavy razor in the hand. The balance point is pretty far down from the head. It's comfortable though. They have an effective, but proprietary, head/handle junction design that seems to preclude "messing around" with handles
3) Closeness: Got a very close shave using a Schick. The shave itself was a solid BBS. 11 hours later, it's a solid DFS+. I'm impressed. Again, this was my first shave with it and I could barely keep my eyes open from lack of sleep when I lathered up (did a lousy job with the lather as well)
4) FIS: A solid 5. I expect that this will improve as I get to know the razor better.
After a long two travel day(s), my first shave at home was with the Nodachi and the OC Masamune plate. Definitely too soon for a formal review, but my first impressions are as follows:
1) Fit and finish are excellent, however the Masamune comb could use a bit more polishing. The prongs are a tad sharp (compared with the Timeless)
2) Weight. It's a relatively heavy razor in the hand. The balance point is pretty far down from the head. It's comfortable though. They have an effective, but proprietary, head/handle junction design that seems to preclude "messing around" with handles
3) Closeness: Got a very close shave using a Schick. The shave itself was a solid BBS. 11 hours later, it's a solid DFS+. I'm impressed. Again, this was my first shave with it and I could barely keep my eyes open from lack of sleep when I lathered up (did a lousy job with the lather as well)
4) FIS: A solid 5. I expect that this will improve as I get to know the razor better.
- Thread starter
- #688
Thanks, Kim
Welcome home, that sunrise would be a good study painting for Don (@huck1680).
Proprietary handles are bad em-Kay.
- Thread starter
- #691
Yes Mr. Mackey.
- Thread starter
- #692
Thanks, John. Good to be home
- Thread starter
- #693
I'm on day 3 of my learning curve with the Tatara Nodachi with Masamune OC plate. while I'm getting good shaves with this razor, it's not coming naturally to me. I'm finding that getting the most out of it depends more heavily than with some other razors on the shaving angle and the applied force based on the specific hair growth patterns on my face. While we do this (consciously or otherwise) with most non-pivoting razors, to me, this razor is more "picky".
For me (YMMV), it's analagous to driving a 1970's rear-wheel drive Porche. Fabulous car, but you need to know how to drive it.
I need another couple of days before I post results.
For me (YMMV), it's analagous to driving a 1970's rear-wheel drive Porche. Fabulous car, but you need to know how to drive it.
I need another couple of days before I post results.
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Hey, glad yer back. Yeah I'm working on sunrises too. Not planes though, may try cars/trucks at some point.
- Thread starter
- #695
I'm sure they'll be magnificent!
I'm getting used to my Tatara configurations as well. So far, with the Noda-mune and the Masa-dachi configurations, it seems to work best for me if I visually align the cap/guard to my face to go for a neutral position. I do that a few times during a shave. Neutral is more shallow with the Tataras, so doing it by eye rather than by feel/soujd has improved the shave for me. Have you tried that? Do you hav
e any tips for me?
I am glad you made it home safe and sound. It seems like a truly bitter/sweet visit. As time passes it will be more sweet than bitter.
- Thread starter
- #698
Thanks, Lol. You are doing what I've been doing. It's working great, just that it does require more attention than shaving with many other razors.
I think it might just be a question of acquiring muscle memory relative to the handle angle and application of pressure.
Yesterday's shave turned out to be great. I checked my face before going to bed (17 hours after the shave) and my face was at DFS-, with no accumulated irritation after three days daily use.
Couldn't ask for better (I may need to do a side-by-side comparison with my OC Blackbird at some point).
But until I build up that muscle memory, this will not be a razor I grab for a quick/rushed shave.
- Thread starter
- #699
Thanks, Andrew. That's exactly right. The wedding was beautiful and heart warming. The ceremony was full of love, joy and live acrobatic entertainment. There were attendees from all over Europe and the America's to celebrate a union of two beautiful young people starting their life journey together.
Doing shots with my wife's first cousin (the father of the 25-year-old relative whose life journey ended face-down in his couch with his legs splayed out on the floor after a dinner alone, and found the next day by his mother) was, as a father of a 26-year-old myself, difficult.
The juxtaposition was stark.
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- Thread starter
- #700
September 18, 2024
The Circle of Life Tour
A couple of weeks ago, my family and I went to Europe. With my wife’s family living in Poland, we do trips like this 2 or 3 times per year, but this trip was a bit different.
Several years ago, my nephew fell in love with a lovely young woman from Madrid, with family in Cuba and Mexico. They spent Covid together in Miami and I will forever remember our periodic family “Zoom Calls” where he and his girlfriend would be in bathing suits (or in his case topless) while the rest of us were trying to stay warm and healthy. Their love grew and they decided to marry.
While she was here on a student visa, they were concerned that if they were to marry in Spain, there might be difficulties for her getting back. They had a small celebration here in NY last summer and the big wedding celebration was two weeks at a lovely Pecan farm and wedding venue outside of Madrid.
Of course we wanted to go.
As was normal for us, we also wanted to spend some time in Poland so that we might spend time with my mother-in-law, who is battling ALS. Complicating matters was that my mother-in-law’s two primary care givers (my brother-in-law and my mother-in-law’s next-door neighbor) were both going in for medical procedures concurrently during the time of our planned visit.
Two weeks before we were to leave, we received sad word that my wife’s 25-year-old cousin passed away. We asked what the cause of death was, but it was unknown. Apparently, he had some heart issue that the family had not shared, but nobody knows for sure how he actually died. The family declined an autopsy. The young man was clean cut, well-educated and appeared healthy. We learned after his death that in fact, he was known within the family as “sickly”.
My son and I had limited vacation time, so we decided to spend three nights in Spain and three nights in Poland. My wife would stay in Poland longer to attend to her mother.
As a consultant, I spent much of my career flying all over the place and am generally used to jet-lag. I was not ready for the whirlwind that was to come.
Being a frugal traveler, I decided to use points for as much of the trip as possible. Unfortunately, while I could get to Madrid on Delta, I could not use Delta points to get to Poland. In addition, because of the differential plans for my wife, we could not all jump on common record locators. After about a day of “please hold” calls with airlines and rewards desks, I was able to pull everything together: We would all fly Delta to Madrid, Lot from Madrid to Poland, Lot from Poland back to Madrid, and then Delta back to the States. This would entail an extra night in Madrid on the return home. After spending an hour on the phone with Verizon, our cell coverage was squared away. I put holds on packages from UPS, USPS and Fedex. We were ready to go.
I have a son that will be married next summer at a venue in Northern CT that is in many ways like the one we went to in Spain. I have another son that is almost the same age as our young cousin that passed away. As I reflect on the joys and sorrows of this past week, I am acutely aware of life’s fragility and the blessings that we have come to enjoy.
The Circle of Life Tour
A couple of weeks ago, my family and I went to Europe. With my wife’s family living in Poland, we do trips like this 2 or 3 times per year, but this trip was a bit different.
Several years ago, my nephew fell in love with a lovely young woman from Madrid, with family in Cuba and Mexico. They spent Covid together in Miami and I will forever remember our periodic family “Zoom Calls” where he and his girlfriend would be in bathing suits (or in his case topless) while the rest of us were trying to stay warm and healthy. Their love grew and they decided to marry.
While she was here on a student visa, they were concerned that if they were to marry in Spain, there might be difficulties for her getting back. They had a small celebration here in NY last summer and the big wedding celebration was two weeks at a lovely Pecan farm and wedding venue outside of Madrid.
Of course we wanted to go.
As was normal for us, we also wanted to spend some time in Poland so that we might spend time with my mother-in-law, who is battling ALS. Complicating matters was that my mother-in-law’s two primary care givers (my brother-in-law and my mother-in-law’s next-door neighbor) were both going in for medical procedures concurrently during the time of our planned visit.
Two weeks before we were to leave, we received sad word that my wife’s 25-year-old cousin passed away. We asked what the cause of death was, but it was unknown. Apparently, he had some heart issue that the family had not shared, but nobody knows for sure how he actually died. The family declined an autopsy. The young man was clean cut, well-educated and appeared healthy. We learned after his death that in fact, he was known within the family as “sickly”.
My son and I had limited vacation time, so we decided to spend three nights in Spain and three nights in Poland. My wife would stay in Poland longer to attend to her mother.
As a consultant, I spent much of my career flying all over the place and am generally used to jet-lag. I was not ready for the whirlwind that was to come.
Being a frugal traveler, I decided to use points for as much of the trip as possible. Unfortunately, while I could get to Madrid on Delta, I could not use Delta points to get to Poland. In addition, because of the differential plans for my wife, we could not all jump on common record locators. After about a day of “please hold” calls with airlines and rewards desks, I was able to pull everything together: We would all fly Delta to Madrid, Lot from Madrid to Poland, Lot from Poland back to Madrid, and then Delta back to the States. This would entail an extra night in Madrid on the return home. After spending an hour on the phone with Verizon, our cell coverage was squared away. I put holds on packages from UPS, USPS and Fedex. We were ready to go.
- Night 1: Redeye – JFK to Madrid. Over the North Atlantic, I took advantage of the flight’s free WiFi. The minute I went on-line, I was bombarded with messages from my alarm company, the police department and my parents. My alarm had gone off. Before I could assess the situation, the wifi went dead. I spent the next hour wondering if we had been burgled. The WiFi came back and it turned out to be a false alarm. Thank god, but BigAl did not get any sleep that first night.
- Day 1: We landed in Madrid at about 7:30 AM (1:30 AM EST). Got into a cab and checked into a lovely little boutique hotel in central Madrid off the Plaza del Sol. We all took a brief nap and then marched ourselves to the Thyssen Museum. Then we marched ourselves to a lovely little Michelin 1-star restaurant for lunch. Then shopping. Then, back to the hotel. 17,000 steps that day before 3pm. We grabbed another hour of sleep, got cleaned up, then off for an early 8pm dinner (that’s early in Madrid) to the “Pre-game reception” at a roof-top bar. Magnificent views of the minarets against the setting sun. We spent hours connecting with the future in-laws as well as with my sister and her clan from Central Florida. My nephew’s father in-law is a television and media personality in Spain, so there were quite a few interesting people at the cocktail party ranging from artists to performers – the photographer was one of a handful of people sought out by media personalities for his portraits. I can’t wait to see what he produces from the two events!. At about midnight, we walked another mile back to our hotel. We were exhausted, but loving every minute. At some point, I looked at my phone and saw that a black bear had had it’s way with our garbage back in NY. C’est la Vie (I think that was this day, but it may have been another).
- Day 2: My son’s Fiancé has a cousin that runs a tour business in Madrid. She hooked us up for a 3-hour Tuk-Tuk tour. Lot’s of fun and the guy was hilarious. He had spent a few years in the States and his English was perfect. After the tour, we found another magnificent restaurant and had Paella and a wide range of seafood. Perfecto! Back to the hotel for a couple of hours of sleep. At 5pm we all met about a mile and a half from the hotel to jump on a tour bus to the wedding venue – an active Pecan farm that had a magnificent manor house and banquet hall. The party started at 6pm. There was a classical guitarist, a silk-rope acrobat, a DJ, outstanding food. I will remember this wedding until I lack the ability to remember. At 3am we headed back to Madrid and by 4am, I was in bed for another couple of hours of sleep.
- Day 3: We got up at 8, grabbed a quick breakfast, then got ourselves to Barajas for our journey to Poland. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to buy three seats together, so my wife, younger son and I were in middle seats all over the plane. Not a free seat anywhere. Oh well. My wife has dear friends from high school that regularly go waayyyy above and beyond the call of duty for her. This year, her best friend’s brother picked us up at Chopin airport and drove us two hours north to my wife’s town, Ostroleka. We are blessed to have such friends. We arrived at the house late and did our best not to wake up my mother-in-law. After four days of practically no sleep, we all collapsed for 9 hours.
- Day 4: I awoke to find a package waiting for me from Stando Razors. I’ve written about that previously, but what a nice treat to see that copper razor after a joyous (but relatively sleepless) few days. Later, my wife’s sister-in-law stopped by with her daughter, the daughter’s husband and granddaughter (named Mellania, or Mella). Mella is a 6-year-old bundle of joy. She bounced around, played hide and seek and generally stole everyone’s attention. Having had nothing but Spanish food for three days, my wife and son were craving American eats, so we ended the day at great pub near the apartment called Frangos, where we got wings, burgers, Pizza and beer. Another night of actual sleeping! I could get used to that.
- Day 5: After a traditional polish breakfast of cold cuts, cheeses, hot cereal and tea, one of my wife’s cousins came by and took us to the village where the young man who passed away grew up. Everyone came out to greet us, but the mood was restrained. Everyone’s eyes were red. Nobody knew what to say. My wife’s cousin, the father of the deceased young man, brought out a bottle of moonshine, poured me a drink and we spoke about his son. The ladies started crying, so they went inside to prepare food while the men drank. Within an hour, the cousin, my son and I killed a half liter of bimber. My wife needed to be back by 1pm so we piled in the car and drove those 30 kilometers in silence.
- Day 6: After a few hours of sleep, a car service picked my son and me up at 5am (11pm NY time) for the beginning of our trek home. There wasn’t much sound in the car. The juxtaposition of the wedding with the condolence call took from us whatever energy we still had. Though we stayed at a magnificent hotel in Madrid that last night (complete with free-upgrade to a king suite), my son and I were done. We were exhausted in every way possible.
- Day 7: By 6am the next morning, we were on our way back to JFK. My older son and his fiancé came home earlier in the week, sick as dogs. My younger son came home sick. My wife also came down with a cold that last day as well. She is still in Ostroleka, but is finally feeling better. I was spared.
I have a son that will be married next summer at a venue in Northern CT that is in many ways like the one we went to in Spain. I have another son that is almost the same age as our young cousin that passed away. As I reflect on the joys and sorrows of this past week, I am acutely aware of life’s fragility and the blessings that we have come to enjoy.
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