Last night was the official kick-off party for the World Championships. Anchorage has it own traditional beard competition called "Mr. Fur Face". This year they decided to hold the competition as part of the Kick-Off Party. Instead of being divided into particular styles the categories have more to do with the color of your beard. There was Red Fox, Honey Bear and Polar Bear to name a few. Mickey was, of course in the "Black Bear" category. He seemed to be a crowd favorite. In fact the people next to me were cheering for him to win even before they knew he was my husband. Alas, this particular honor went to a gentleman on the Canadian team. After the competition, the Australian band The Beards took the stage. They sing songs about beards for people with beards and they are musical genius. Our friend Ty said he would have come to Anchorage just to hear them play and I must say I agree with him completely. You can check them out here: http://www.myspace.com/thebeardsclub
I think my new theme song may be, "Beards Don't Kill People, People With Beard Kill People".
Pics from the parade and the kick-off party are posted: http://picasaweb.google.com/JHooverArtwork/Alaska?feat=directlink