via Irraditus
As I was writing my tirade against the floodwaters of superficial historical innacuracies being spawned by the mainstream media who only care about the Darwin after he got famous, certain denizens of the blogosphere have unleashed the beast of all beasts: A challenge!
Kevin Z (Deep Sea News/The Other 95%) and the Southern Fried Scientist have laid down the gauntlet for Darwin beard challenge from now until October 1, the date of the publication of the 1st edition of On the Origin of Species, by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life as printed in the book.
Neat and trimmed goatees do not count. Beards must be “Huge, bold and bushy”.
All are welcome to participate. Sadly, my job relies on my dashing good looks and charisma, so I will not be participating this year. Beauty, it’s a curse some must suffer.
The guys are also forgiven for at first dealing with the post-Origin Darwin beard. Kevin Z has also suggested a sideburns growing contest. And boy did Chuck have sideys that would make the original 90210 cast hang their head in shame.
SBS is showing Paradise Lost (I think half last Sunday, half this one coming) and if you feel the need to be inspired by some old-school Beagle sideburn re-creation action.
It's Alive!! 
So is that your entry into this challenger epic, perhaps Darwinian, proportions? 😉
I will be tempted to engage in sideburns fury next year.
We can talk about my procrastination issues later, too.