Follicular traumatic expression caused by the WGA strike is the subject of Ben McGrath‘s “Strike Beards,” a piece in the 1.7.08 New Yorker. “Beards have always marked transitions in men’s lives,” says Allan Peterkin, author of “One Thousand Beards: A Cultural History of Facial Hair.”

And so, McGrath writes, “we get Al Gore after the election (whiskers of grievance and release), and Ted Kaczynski in his cabin (isolation, madness), and Johnny Damon with the Red Sox (superstition) — all iconic beards in their proper context.” And now David Letterman and Conan O’Brien and scores of striking writers, including Saturday Night Live writer Colin Jost. Asked to describe what he’s got growing so far, Jost says, √ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√Ö‚ÄúLet√ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√¢‚Äû¬¢s see…it√ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√¢‚Äû¬¢s sort of a Russell Crowe, 3:10 to Yuma beard.√ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√Ǭù
I can’t even grow a Seth Rogen Knocked Up man-beard. The best I’ve ever managed is a pathetic Bob Dylan-on-the-cover-of-New Morning-beard.