The word "barber" comes from the Latin word "barba," meaning beard. It may surprise you to know that the earliest records of barbers show that they were the foremost men of their tribe (Damn, I was right all along!). They were the medicine men and the priests. Wherever there were legends and superstitions about the hair, the barbers flourished. To this day in India, the veneration of the hair continues and those who cut and dress the hair are important characters. In Egypt, many centuries before Christ, barbers were prosperous and highly respected.
In Greece, barbers came into prominence as early as the fifth century, BC. These wise men of Athens rivaled each other in the excellence of their beards. Beard trimming became an art and barbers became leading citizens. Statesmen, poets and philosophers, who came to have their hair cut or their beards trimmed or curled and scented with costly essences, frequented their shops. And, incidentally, they came to discuss the news of the day, because the barber shops of ancient Greece were the headquarters for social, political, and sporting news.
The earliest known organization of barbers was formed in 1096 in France when William, archbishop of Rouen, prohibited the wearing of a beard. The barber-surgeon, or chirurgeons, began to thrive all over Europe. They were the doctors of the times and the royalty as well as the common people came to the barbers to have their ills treated as well as for shaving and haircutting. The barbers embraced dentistry as well as surgery and this brought down on them the enmity of the dentists of the times.
Up to the year 1416, the barbers were not interfered with in the practice of surgery and dentistry. But it was soon evident that they were attempting too much. It was impossible to expect ordinary human beings to competently practice surgery, dentistry and the various tonsorial operations. People began to complain that the barber-surgeons were making them sick instead of well. Many barber-surgeons resorted to quackery in order to cover up their ignorance of medicine and anatomy. Some of the McHaircut places pretending to be Barbers, when they are actually beauticians trained in beauty collages still do to this day........."^)
ORIGIN OF BARBER POLE
The modern barber pole originated in the days when bloodletting was one of the principal duties of the barber. The two spiral ribbons painted around the pole represent the two long bandages, one twisted around the arm before bleeding and the other used to bind is afterward. Originally, when not in use, the pole with a bandage wound around it, so that both might be together when needed, was hung at the door as a sign. But later, for convenience, instead of hanging out the original pole, another one was painted in imitation of it and given a permanent place on the outside of the shop. This was the beginning of the modern barber pole. The blue stripe was added in recent times as a political gesture.
In these modern times the Barber Shop still is the place where men and some women come to relax, hang their worries on the hat rack for a bit, kick back and enjoy some humor and have some intelligent conversation with like minded souls. Also a place to get a great naturaly cut, long lasting haircut without a gallon of overpriced product capable of holding the hair in place in a full blown hurricane. I also think it's one of the last bastions of a completely free speech arena. A place where you can talk about anything and say anything you want without the bullshit of political correctness unfortunately so prevalent in these times.
So wherever you get your haircut, if it's at a regular Barber Shop by a real Barber trained at a Barber Collage, thank the guy or gal cutting your hair. They probably are a dying breed of professionals. They started out on the forefront of the art of cutting hair and are now slipping into the past with a lot of other wonderful things we all will come to miss. Like the rest of the world the McHaircut places located in McWallmart will probably eventually win the contest.
Until then frequent your local Barber Shop, keep them in business for as long as possible and give them a huge THANK YOU!, along with a giant tip........."^)
READ THESE INSTRUCTION VERY CAREFULLY AND FOLLOW THEM EXACTLY!!!
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Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Upcoming bullshit...er, I mean elections
Every election I go through this ridiculous, frustrating and worthless endeavor to try and understand the issues I'm asked to vote on. On top of that, I give it my best shot to try to get a grip on all the candidate's stands on things I care about. Which ones would best represent my views on what the government should or should not do with all the incredibly complex but worthy causes we encounter in life.
That is after all the reason most democratic countries have these things called elections. Supposedly we pion's get the chance to vote for people we think are way smarter than us to represent our wishes. Although at this time in our history a whole bunch of pion's seem to think they know what's best for the country and are making a bunch of noise to try and talk the majority into forcing our representatives into agreeing with their agendas. But that's a whole other blog for later.......heh.....heh.....
My main frustration for years now is how in the hell am I supposed to get unbiased information and knowledge about these things to help me make intelligent, responsible decisions at the voting booth? Don't EVEN suggest I find those answers on the internet. If you believe ANYTHING you see in there, I've got some swamp land for you to buy. I don't know about where you live but I can only talk right now about California. Being the 5th largest economy in the world, makes our problems huge indeed. I've even been told our problems effect the entire United States, if not the world. So, if you live elsewhere, you can't just write us off as "those crazy, hippy dippy left wing radicals". It's just not true in the first place and if our problems do effect the whole country, everyone everywhere better pay attention.
To get to my point (Holy crap, what a blabbermouth), I watch the political ads on the box and what do I get? We have three people running for the Governor of California right now. On the Republican side is a lady with a Gazillion dollars in her front pocket she made running some high tech company, then a career politician who is also at least a several times over millionaire. On the Democratic side we have this old as the hills, skinny, malnourished forever politician who was the damn Governor of California back in the cave man days, for craps sake.
Now what does the gazillionaire lady tell us with her ads? Every four minutes, for months on end (remember, she is a gazillionaire) she just pours on every negative spin she can find, make up or create about the career guy who is running against her, including accusing him of being one of those dreaded liberals in disguise. Does she tell us anything at all about how she would handle the many problems we have. Nope. Just how crappy the other guy is. I was at first infatuated with a successful businesswomen running the state but now just see her as a bitch.
Now what does the career politician tell us with his ads? Well, lets see here. That the gazillionaire is actually one of those dreaded liberals in disguise. On top of that his latest discovery is she has never voted in an election in her life. Holy crap Mr. career politician, I'll bet you screamed right out loud and wet your pants when you found that one out huh? Does he tell us anything at all about how he would handle the many problems we have. Nope. Just how crappy the lady is. I see him as this invisible nothing with a suit on, with nothing whatsoever to offer anyone, much less the state of California.
What does the one old fart Democrat tell us in his three or four ads thus far (He is only a millionaire after all). That his running mates (has a nice ring doesn't it?) are a bunch of nut cases, completely out of touch with reality. Does he tell us anything at all about how he would handle the many problems we have. Nope. Just how crappy the other two are. What I think about him is about as insignificant as can be imagined.
So after watching all the ads, reading all the political pamphlets and listening to everyone tell me who and what to vote for, do I have the slightest idea on how to do this very important and vital thing called voting with any intelligence or wisdom?
Nope!
Do you?
READ THESE INSTRUCTION VERY CAREFULLY AND FOLLOW THEM EXACTLY!!!
Right at the bottom of this posting is a "Comments" link. Click on it, follow the instructions and leave a comment about this post. You can use your name or make up one, BY CLICKING INSIDE THE CIRCLE beside "Name/URL".
Or just leave your comment anonymously BY CLICKING INSIDE THE CIRCLE beside "Anonymous".
I will receive an e-mail, OK it and then it will appear for others to view after they click on the comments link.
Come on.......DO IT!
That is after all the reason most democratic countries have these things called elections. Supposedly we pion's get the chance to vote for people we think are way smarter than us to represent our wishes. Although at this time in our history a whole bunch of pion's seem to think they know what's best for the country and are making a bunch of noise to try and talk the majority into forcing our representatives into agreeing with their agendas. But that's a whole other blog for later.......heh.....heh.....
My main frustration for years now is how in the hell am I supposed to get unbiased information and knowledge about these things to help me make intelligent, responsible decisions at the voting booth? Don't EVEN suggest I find those answers on the internet. If you believe ANYTHING you see in there, I've got some swamp land for you to buy. I don't know about where you live but I can only talk right now about California. Being the 5th largest economy in the world, makes our problems huge indeed. I've even been told our problems effect the entire United States, if not the world. So, if you live elsewhere, you can't just write us off as "those crazy, hippy dippy left wing radicals". It's just not true in the first place and if our problems do effect the whole country, everyone everywhere better pay attention.
To get to my point (Holy crap, what a blabbermouth), I watch the political ads on the box and what do I get? We have three people running for the Governor of California right now. On the Republican side is a lady with a Gazillion dollars in her front pocket she made running some high tech company, then a career politician who is also at least a several times over millionaire. On the Democratic side we have this old as the hills, skinny, malnourished forever politician who was the damn Governor of California back in the cave man days, for craps sake.
Now what does the gazillionaire lady tell us with her ads? Every four minutes, for months on end (remember, she is a gazillionaire) she just pours on every negative spin she can find, make up or create about the career guy who is running against her, including accusing him of being one of those dreaded liberals in disguise. Does she tell us anything at all about how she would handle the many problems we have. Nope. Just how crappy the other guy is. I was at first infatuated with a successful businesswomen running the state but now just see her as a bitch.
Now what does the career politician tell us with his ads? Well, lets see here. That the gazillionaire is actually one of those dreaded liberals in disguise. On top of that his latest discovery is she has never voted in an election in her life. Holy crap Mr. career politician, I'll bet you screamed right out loud and wet your pants when you found that one out huh? Does he tell us anything at all about how he would handle the many problems we have. Nope. Just how crappy the lady is. I see him as this invisible nothing with a suit on, with nothing whatsoever to offer anyone, much less the state of California.
What does the one old fart Democrat tell us in his three or four ads thus far (He is only a millionaire after all). That his running mates (has a nice ring doesn't it?) are a bunch of nut cases, completely out of touch with reality. Does he tell us anything at all about how he would handle the many problems we have. Nope. Just how crappy the other two are. What I think about him is about as insignificant as can be imagined.
So after watching all the ads, reading all the political pamphlets and listening to everyone tell me who and what to vote for, do I have the slightest idea on how to do this very important and vital thing called voting with any intelligence or wisdom?
Nope!
Do you?
READ THESE INSTRUCTION VERY CAREFULLY AND FOLLOW THEM EXACTLY!!!
Right at the bottom of this posting is a "Comments" link. Click on it, follow the instructions and leave a comment about this post. You can use your name or make up one, BY CLICKING INSIDE THE CIRCLE beside "Name/URL".
Or just leave your comment anonymously BY CLICKING INSIDE THE CIRCLE beside "Anonymous".
I will receive an e-mail, OK it and then it will appear for others to view after they click on the comments link.
Come on.......DO IT!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Is speeding worth it?
I've lived in a little mountain town called Foresthill for around 23 years now. It's about 17 miles up a relatively windy mountain road from the main local freeway. Several years ago, the state did a major revamping and straightening out project on our road. The funding was provided on the basis of safety because so many terrible accidents were happening on our humble road through the years.
I remember at our little 4th of July celebration at the local park right before authorization of the project, people had a booth there asking us to sign petitions asking the state to do something about our horribly dangerous road. Even then I remember thinking what the hell does the road have to do with anything dangerous? It's just a road isn't it? In fact a beautiful mountain road with gorgeous views to enjoy on the way down the hill. Isn't that like blaming guns instead of the human finger? In my mind there are actually very few truly dangerous roads that I know of. Now there are plenty of complete idiots that drive too damn fast though isn't there? They are the ones causing all the danger to say the least.
I came to the conclusion years ago while driving about 30 miles on the freeway from Placer County to Sacramento for a job that driving like a mindless maniac or driving completely relaxed and safely made very little difference in time saved. Would you believe maybe 5 or so minutes in a 30 mile stretch? On Foresthill road almost every day I drive around 60 miles an hour on the straightaways in a 55 mile zone (just kidding Mr. Highway Patrolman Sir). Every day cars wiz past me going at least 65 approaching 75 miles an hour on these little passing lanes we have there. The truth as we all should know is the time saved driving fast on the 15 or so miles of foresthill road is probably in the few minutes range, at the most.
So the obvious question we all need to ask is this. Is this few minutes saved worth the look on the faces of our friends and loved ones standing there looking down at our coffin during the funeral? How about living with the fact that our stupidity killed a whole family of neighbors/friends living on the hill?
I know this will get me in trouble but here goes anyway......No science involved here but in my own personal experience 90% of those cars have one young to middle aged well dressed women apparently on her way to work. The other 10% are young male idiots looking to get their thrills killing someone with their sports cars/motorcycles or construction workers in their gigantic 4 wheel drive stupendous monsters they think they need for some reason.
So if you are one of those women or guys who think you need to speed and hurry everywhere you go, how important really is a couple of minutes in the grand scheme of things. Are the lives of your children, your friends, your neighbors worth so little to you that you would hold a loaded gun to their heads while drunk out of your mind? Of course not!
So for all our sakes, the next time you get in your car to start the drive down the hill to go to work, take a moment to reflect on your mood right at that moment. Grab your coffee, set back for just a moment and do some deep breathing exercises to get you in the right mood to not be stupid today.
In the case of speeding cars, stupid=DEATH!
READ THESE INSTRUCTION VERY CAREFULLY AND FOLLOW THEM EXACTLY!!!
Right at the bottom of this posting is a "Comments" link. Click on it, follow the instructions and leave a comment about this post. You can use your name or make up one, BY CLICKING INSIDE THE CIRCLE beside "Name/URL".
Or just leave your comment anonymously BY CLICKING INSIDE THE CIRCLE beside "Anonymous".
I will receive an e-mail, OK it and then it will appear for others to view after they click on the comments link.
Come on.......DO IT!
I remember at our little 4th of July celebration at the local park right before authorization of the project, people had a booth there asking us to sign petitions asking the state to do something about our horribly dangerous road. Even then I remember thinking what the hell does the road have to do with anything dangerous? It's just a road isn't it? In fact a beautiful mountain road with gorgeous views to enjoy on the way down the hill. Isn't that like blaming guns instead of the human finger? In my mind there are actually very few truly dangerous roads that I know of. Now there are plenty of complete idiots that drive too damn fast though isn't there? They are the ones causing all the danger to say the least.
I came to the conclusion years ago while driving about 30 miles on the freeway from Placer County to Sacramento for a job that driving like a mindless maniac or driving completely relaxed and safely made very little difference in time saved. Would you believe maybe 5 or so minutes in a 30 mile stretch? On Foresthill road almost every day I drive around 60 miles an hour on the straightaways in a 55 mile zone (just kidding Mr. Highway Patrolman Sir). Every day cars wiz past me going at least 65 approaching 75 miles an hour on these little passing lanes we have there. The truth as we all should know is the time saved driving fast on the 15 or so miles of foresthill road is probably in the few minutes range, at the most.
So the obvious question we all need to ask is this. Is this few minutes saved worth the look on the faces of our friends and loved ones standing there looking down at our coffin during the funeral? How about living with the fact that our stupidity killed a whole family of neighbors/friends living on the hill?
I know this will get me in trouble but here goes anyway......No science involved here but in my own personal experience 90% of those cars have one young to middle aged well dressed women apparently on her way to work. The other 10% are young male idiots looking to get their thrills killing someone with their sports cars/motorcycles or construction workers in their gigantic 4 wheel drive stupendous monsters they think they need for some reason.
So if you are one of those women or guys who think you need to speed and hurry everywhere you go, how important really is a couple of minutes in the grand scheme of things. Are the lives of your children, your friends, your neighbors worth so little to you that you would hold a loaded gun to their heads while drunk out of your mind? Of course not!
So for all our sakes, the next time you get in your car to start the drive down the hill to go to work, take a moment to reflect on your mood right at that moment. Grab your coffee, set back for just a moment and do some deep breathing exercises to get you in the right mood to not be stupid today.
In the case of speeding cars, stupid=DEATH!
READ THESE INSTRUCTION VERY CAREFULLY AND FOLLOW THEM EXACTLY!!!
Right at the bottom of this posting is a "Comments" link. Click on it, follow the instructions and leave a comment about this post. You can use your name or make up one, BY CLICKING INSIDE THE CIRCLE beside "Name/URL".
Or just leave your comment anonymously BY CLICKING INSIDE THE CIRCLE beside "Anonymous".
I will receive an e-mail, OK it and then it will appear for others to view after they click on the comments link.
Come on.......DO IT!
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