Episode III: Call Me Mr. A.D.D.

Man, things are a bit fuzzy. Trying to remember how this all went down is a little more difficult than I thought it would be, and I think I got a couple things mixed up, probably because of the A.D.D. I want to make this blog a little more detailed, so I went into my notes and stuff to build a little timeline. This part of the blog is for document sake, so before I go any further, I gotta back up a bit, and put some dates in here. I almost wanted to start over, but for some reason I feel like if I put something on a blog and leave it there for more than a day, I have to leave it there forever. Does anyone else feel like that? Weird.
Anyway, according to my notes and emails, on June 6, 2008, I registered to break the record on the Guinness website. I got the record agreement and a notice of application review on June 12th, and sent in the agreement that day. They got back to me on July 24th to tell me they had received the agreement and that they would review everything and get back with me again in 4 to 6 weeks. During this time is when I talked to Todd from Universal Information Services, and Nikki from Hebe GB, but we did not make anything final yet. At last, on August 13th, 2008, I got the go-ahead from Guinness!
They sent me the official guidelines for breaking the record for tallest Mohican, the name and measurements of the current record holder, and what they called a “Record Breaking Pack”. It was pretty cool to get this stuff, because it answered a lot of questions, and was very professional. It made it seem more real, more like it wasn’t just a stunt, but rather an achievement that would be recognized by an elite organization, if I could pull it off. It was also a bit scary, because it sank in that I couldn’t mess around, because Guinness doesn’t mess around, that’s for sure!
The guidelines were very specific, and no detail could be overlooked, otherwise it wouldn’t count. First off, they stressed that NO products could be used in the hair for the attempt, except hairspray, gel, or mousse. No gelatin, or egg whites, or anything like that. I was wondering if ordinary, everyday hair products would even make this mop stand up for 2 seconds! It was comforting to find out, however, that there was no time limit on the feat. That meant all I had to do was stand it up long enough for us to measure it and get pictures and other proof. Speaking of proof, that is another thing Guinness takes very seriously. I had to have two witnesses to be there for the whole process, and then they had to sign an affidavit, which I had to then get notarized. I needed video or photographic evidence that was convincing beyond a doubt. Also, as a requirement, it was necessary to get the attempt into the media. Up until now, I did not think that would be a problem, but for some reason this record breaking pack made me pause, and I suddenly became uncertain as to how much interest anyone, or any media, would have in some guy in Nebraska putting his hair into a Mohawk for 2 minutes. Well, I shook that off pretty quickly, and took solace in the fact that I already had some good people on my side, and the last guy was on a national television show. Suffice to say, the serious nature of Guinness lit a serious fire under my ass, and I knew I had to get to work, and do this right!
So, now we’re back to where we left off. Where was I? Oh, yes, the salons. I mentioned in the last episode that it was difficult to find a salon to sponsor me. I had a couple of friends who were stylists that said they would help, and a list of salons around town. The only thing is, I wanted the salon to be the primary sponsor, so I was asking for more money for the sponsorship. (The sponsorship fees were to help for promotion, charity, and whatever was left over helped me out with school). I had contacted a few salons, and they all turned me down pretty quickly. Most of the salons I contacted said it was not in their budget, but the weird thing is, some of them actually said they did not want to associate themselves with this kind of event. This kind of event? I thought this was tailor made for a salon! However, some of them thought that the Mohawk was not appropriate. I guess they thought it would somehow “tarnish” them. It was only a few of them that said that, but it was surprising to me.
So, my search for a salon continued, as well as my search for other sponsors. I had gone through the phonebook, looked on the internet, and talked to friends to compile a list of small businesses in town to contact. The first ones I contacted were in a certain demographic I was going for, which generally revolved around fashion, music, art, and entertainment kind of businesses, or anything that someone who was into Mohawks might also be into.
And that’s the situation, as of August 23rd, 2008. I had the OK from Guinness, a general plan, and two sponsors so far. I had no date for the event set yet, no venue, no bands, no hair stylist, no photographer, and a lot of work to do. I was feeling a bit scatterbrained, like everything was up in the air, floating around. I guess that’s because it was. I remember fighting with myself a bit, telling myself, “Hey, I got time”, and then thinking, “No, don’t think like that and procrastinate, get yer ass movin!”
That’s it for this episode. I know it was short, so the next one will be posted quickly, and I will make sure to start where I left off on this one, with my ass movin’!