Celebratory Snifter at The Red Lion Arlingham

Brian Streatfield

Brian ‘Streaters’ Streatfield

I was having a nice pint of Uley Bitter in the The Red Lion pub in Arlingham, Gloucestershire, when my mate Streaters walked in, and without blinking, doffing his hat or a nod he orders five double whiskies. The landlord pours them, lines them up on the bar and we all look on as he knocks them back in quick succession. As soon as Streaters finishes the landlord jokingly asks, “what’s the big occasion?” And Streaters replies, “my first blow-job!” The landlord immediately offers up a congratulatory and celebratory snifter, but Streaters replies. “if five doubles didn’t get the taste out of my mouth, I doubt the sixth will!”

~

A Celebration of The Life of Brian. Brian ‘Streaters’ Streatfield, born 4th October 1938 – 25th July 2014. He was like an Uncle to me, he was a dear, dear friend and I loved him very much.

This series of ‘Pub Jokes’ marked Streaters is my little tribute to a man who loved a pint in a good pub; he was also the bloke that I loved to have a pint with, and I’ll miss him forever. Rest in peace you old ‘B’

What does SS15 and AW15 stand for?

“What does the SS and AW in SS15 and AW15 stand for within the world of fashion?” SS15 stands for the Spring Summer fashion season in the year 2015. The AW stands for the Autumn Winter season!

There are also three popular hashtags to be found on Twitter (and other social networks) over the next few days (and beyond up to Paris, September 23-October 1, 2014) #ss15, #aw15 and #LFW (London Fashion Week, September 12-16, 2014).

The British Fashion Council and the London Fashion Week Site are always a good places to keep up with events and for the links to the latest and live London Fashion Week news.

Vivienne Westwood Red Label show on Sunday 14 September 2014 @ 17:00 – by invitation only!

My fashion and hairstyle predictions are more general and not really seasonal! See: Fashion Trends & Hair Styles – Predictions For 2014 – if you are interested? I’ll be posting my latest trends and fashion predictions for 2015 early in December 2014.

The Place of the Foreigner

George Imlach McIntosh (Gordon Highlanders)

George Imlach McIntosh (Gordon Highlanders) receiving his Victoria Cross from King George V for outstanding bravery and valour at the Battle of Passchendaele

Quite frankly, I find it really odd in this year 2014, we’re commemorating the 100th anniversary of the First World War, we honour those who fought and died together. Heroes everyone. Why then would the SNP want to brake up the union? I don’t understand. Really, I don’t understand.

I’ve a strong feeling that we’re witnessing a form of Fascism at work (it’s not just Nationalism, it’s more than that), and that it’ll end badly! [edit: 22.10.14 – it’s not over yet!]

The place of the foreigner is within the Lowlands…

As a net is made up by a series of knots, so everything in this world is connected by a series of knots. If anyone thinks that the mesh of a net is an independent, isolated thing, they are mistaken. It is called a net because it is made up of a series of connected meshes, and each mesh has its place and responsibilities in relation to other meshes.

When the net is torn we mend it. There are no foreigners. Who’s the foreigner?

Miracle at The Red Lion in Arlingham

Brian Streatfield

Brian Streatfield 1938 – 2014

I was having a nice pint of Uley Bitter at the The Red Lion pub in Arlingham, Gloucestershire, when my mate Streaters walked in with his two dogs; he gave me a nod and a wink and said to the landlord, “if you give us a free pint of beer each, I’ll show you something totally amazing that you’ve never seen before!”

“Okay, but it’d better be bloody good or you’re paying,” said the landlord.

Streaters reaches down and lifts up Fred, one of his dachshunds, and he plops Fred on the bar. Immediately Fred scampers along the bar at high speed, jumps off the end, performs an elegant mid-air somersault and lands on a table. He then pulls out a ukulele an proceeds to play it beautifully. The landlord says, “Bloody Hell! That’s unbelievable! Have a beer.”

As soon as Streaters and I finish our beers he says to the landlord, “if I show you another amazing trick, that you’ve never seen before, will you give us another free pint?”

“Yeah, if it’s as amazing as the last one, why not?”

So Streaters reaches into his Barbour jacket and pulls out a small green toad. He puts the toad on the bar and the toad begins to sing with an angelic female voice. We are all absolutely amazed, and the landlord brings us each another pint.

Anyway, we’re sitting at the bar talking, laughing, supping our beers and listening to the fuckin’ toad, and this bloke rushes over and says, “Jesus H. Christ! A singing toad! I’ll give you five hundred quid for him.”

Streaters immediately says, “done mate!” shakes his hand and hands him the toad. As the bloke is walking away, the landlord sidles over to us and says, “Streaters, that was a singing toad for God’s sake, you must be mad, why sell it for just five hundred quid? It must be worth millions!”

Streaters said, “Ha ha, don’t worry. Fred’s also a ventriloquist.”

~

A Celebration of The Life of Brian. Brian ‘Streaters’ Streatfield, born 4th October 1938 – 25th July 2014. He was like an Uncle to me, he was a dear, dear friend and I loved him very much.

This series of ‘Pub Jokes’ marked Streaters is my little tribute to a man who loved a pint in a good pub; he was also the bloke that I loved to have a pint with, and I’ll miss him forever. Rest in peace you old ‘B’

Junior Hairdresser

Junior Hairdresser
Phillip Andrew @PAGladwinHair wrote on #HairHour, I paraphrase:

I’ll be finishing my training soon, and wondering how it’s best to start getting my own clients, Can anyone help? I’ve been looking mainly for models, but I’m about 2 months off of finishing and wanting to start to find the clients.

I replied simply with: I wouldn’t worry too much about getting new clients, worry about the quality of your work, then they’ll come flocking! Because hairdressing is all about results!

Then the NHF for Hairdressers @NHfederation asked:

Why do your clients love you? #hairhour #DontBeModest

And I replied, tongue-in-cheek, “Because I love them.” But the real answer is much more complicated than that!

Later in the frenetic discussion that is #HairHour, HerPassion @thehaircampaign wrote:

Admire your clients lifestyles, take pleasure interacting with them, delight them, understand why they visit you, and your impact on them.

And I thought, let’s be frank, “What a sycophantic, self-serving load of Bollocks!” But then again, analysing your business isn’t a bad thing – it’s just that I have issues with banal statements like, take pleasure interacting with them!

When I was a junior hairdresser and about two months away from going on the floor (becoming a stylist) the last thing that was on my mind was building a clientèle; however, it was then that Oliver went stylist to stylist around the salon, starting from the top, asking them if they wanted to do a photo-session after work that night – It was a Friday! Everyone was saying no because they were going out! The photo-session was to be a ‘before and after’ shoot of a secretary with curly hair for Woman and Home Magazine – No photo credits, just a fee of ten quid, which is worth about one hundred pounds today!

cassie

When Oliver finally asked me, out of utter desperation (because he obviously didn’t want to do it either), I said yes, and I was totally over the fucking moon. I can’t describe how deliriously happy and nervous I was, even though I’d already been on numerous photo-sessions and fashion shows as a junior, assisting a stylist. This was my first solo event! Oliver said, “Don’t tell them you’re a junior!”

About a week after the Woman and Home Magazine photo-session, I was handing blue hair-rollers to one of the junior-stylists (my most hated task) in the custom of a typical douchebag, one blue roller pushed on to the end of each finger! Oliver sidled over to us and said to me, “I’d like you to do a fashion show for Coco tomorrow. By-the-way, Penny Ryder phoned to say that Woman and Home loved your work.” And off he slid.

I looked the junior-stylist in the eye to bring her back to reality, so I could escape the irksome chore, then at my fingers with the last two rollers stuffed on the top and it looked like I was giving her a massive blue plastic V sign, and we both burst out laughing. Happy days.

But at no time was I ever thinking about building a clientèle or why they love me and I certainly was not admiring their lifestyles – I was just doing it!

A Contemporary Caliphate

It was a BBC Asian Network documentary by Catrin Nye – @CatrinNye and Athar Ahmad – @AtharAAhmad entitled: Caliphate? What an Islamic state means to British Muslims that sparked this blog post, A Contemporary Caliphate. Seven British Muslims of different sects debated on air whether a Caliphate is needed in the twenty-first century – also, it just so happens that I’m currently reading T. E. Lawrence’s “Seven Pillars of Wisdom.” BTW, I agreed with Mina Topia’s opinion!

You should be able to hear it here: Islamic State: Young British Muslims debate Caliphate

The Caliphate of the Turkish Ottoman Empire ended in 1922 with the last Sultan and Caliph, Mehmed VI, being exiled to Malta. And thus the Republic of Turkey was born! Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founding father of modern day Turkey, attempted to Europeanise Turkey! He: liberated Turkey after world war one. founded the Independent Republic replacing Sultans and Monarchy. secularized the overall state. created a modern bureaucracy. created a modern secular education system and abolished non-governmental educational institutions. introduced the Latin alphabet (from Arabic). created a base for modern industry. gave women the right to vote. banned the Fez and set up many governmental institutions. To say that he was totally-fucking-awesome is an understatement. I love Atatürk’s motto, “peace at home, peace in the world.” I am a Kemalist.

The Islamic State (IS), formerly known as: the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), formerly known as: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s homies, formerly known as: Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi’s Bitches, formerly known as: al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), are a terrorist group of barbaric murdering and raping bastards. They will fail in their quest to set-up a Caliphate because of: modern world thinking. religious differences within Islam. oil. And, national sovereignty – IS are living in an historically obsessed, idealistic dream world.

Muslims in Whitechapel, East London

Muslim ladies in Whitechapel, East London – Via: Mehdi Hasan: We Mustn’t Allow Muslims in Public Life to be Silenced

Nuns from St Joseph's Convent, Leeds. Photograph: Marcin Mazur CCN

Nuns from St Joseph’s Convent, Leeds. Photograph: Marcin Mazur CCN – Via: Young nuns go for life with the vow factor – The Guardian

If I was to walk down the high street of our small Berkshire village, here in the U.K., and bump into a Muslim woman wearing a hijab (a veil/headscarf that covers the head and chest), or a Catholic nun in traditional habit, I would smile and nod and think kindly of their religious commitment. However, should I be walking through the beautiful streets of Üsküdar (on the Anatolian side of the Bosporus and my wife’s home town in Istanbul, Turkey), where most woman are wearing at least a headscarf, I would be thinking, “these women are oppressed.” …Maybe I’m wrong to be thinking like that? But it seems like Atatürk’s vision of the future, a secular modern Turkey, is slipping, sliding back into the past?

I’m a Feminist – yeah, guys can be feminists too you know! In fact, I’d say all blokes should be feminists. A male feminist can be a lot like a reformed smoker – FERVENT (maybe that should be: religious – ha ha) ‘holier-than-thou,’ hypocritically virtuous! And then again, maybe sex gets in the way, or we realise that people are not equal in many ways and that it’s not just about gender! Maybe, actually, I’m a Humanist? Anyway, I believe that everyone should be treated equally. So what pisses me off is, when I see a woman who’s wrapped up like an Eskimo, walking behind her husband who’s dressed like a fucking gigolo – where’s the equality in that? – “It’s time to burn the headscarf” quoted from: Fashion, Politics and a Turkish Rebellion.

Turkey’s president: Erdogan on top | The Economist

Turkey’s president Erdogan on top – Erdogan is the real New Sultan/Caliph – Via: It would be better for Turkey if the presidency remained mainly ceremonial – The Economist

It seems to me that the real Contemporary Caliphate is Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s vision of Turkey? And that the Muslim Brotherhood is the inspiration and driving force. However, the Muslim Brotherhood has been outlawed in Egypt – and that’s my point really, it’s that old Shia Vs. Sunni nut again!

I’m an Atheist. In what holy scripture, written by God, does it say that it’s okay to kill, especially children? Surely humanity itself is our leading source of morality; at what point in our world’s history has God ever intervened (to stop any slaughter)?

It’s time for peace in our time.

Why do only 17% of clients return to salons regularly

Bruno's book of haircutting

PhorestSalonSoftware – @thephorestword tweeted during #hairhour:

Well it really is a staggering statistic – I replied listening to my gut feeling, “Quality of work?” And when I say quality of work, I’m thinking; why would a client who’s happy with her haircut want to change her hairstylist?

Jump back in time to the mid to late 1970s, I was working at Ricci Burns in the King’s Road, Chelsea, London and I thought that hairdressers in the provinces (everywhere outside London) were rubbish! Sounds very snobby, judgemental and biased – I know, but it was born out of some personal experience. My clients demanded excellence, their careers often revolved around their appearance, an inferior, sloppy hairdo would not have been accepted. On the other hand, the demand for a high quality hairdo in the provinces didn’t appear to be there; dare I say that clients in the provinces (the general public) wouldn’t’ve even recognised a good haircut in 1976 – yeah, I know that’s a massive generalisation, but what I’m talking about is a demand that drives hairdressing standards.

For me, this whole journey starts in the period between 1970 and the late 1980s, maybe it was when Vidal Sassoon created his line of hair-care products in the early 1970s? Most London salons had their own line of ‘self’ branded hair-care products for sale, but I think Vidal Sassoon was the first to go into major production (with Helen of Troy Corporation), selling in the USA and Europe in 1980. This was the beginning of celebrity hairdresser branded hair-care and beauty products. John Frieda, another big name in the UK, followed suit in the late 1980s. Today there are a plethora manufactured by global beauty companies like: Procter & Gamble (Vidal Sassoon), L’Oréal (Jean-Louis David), Estée Lauder (Bobbi Brown – Makeup Artist) and Unilever (Tigi for hair salons, Toni & Guy)…

Then there was Toni & Guy who franchised their business in the late 1980s – obviously they had their own branded hair-care products! In my view, it was Toni & Guy who not only improved hairdressing standards in the provinces, but also pushed up the price of hairdressing, and they increased competition on the high street. I won’t talk about Unisex (1960s), but that too plays a part.

Over the last five years or so we’ve seen the massive rise of social media which has had a profound impact on television, celebrity culture, mainstream journalism and of course the general public. The image of the self, including the selfie and user-generated photos, take on a new meaning and importance – everyone and anyone can suddenly become a celebrity by going ‘viral’! The public demand for high quality hairdressing hasn’t only arrived, but it may have exceeded the supply! Hence, “Only 17% of clients returned to the salons more than twice.” …The general public aren’t getting the celebrity service they now demand, so they are looking elsewhere for better. They are salon hopping! Actually, they should be complaining.

There is another explanation though:

Firstly, I’m always very suspicious about surveys and survey results & analysis. Phorest, who conducted the survey and who asked the question, are a salon software business – so they do have a vested interest and they will have an angle! I’ve a strong feeling they will say that if you use the Phorest Salon Software, you will be able to identify what’s going wrong and grow your business?

With greater competition on the High Street, salon owners are under more pressure to maximise their income from floor space, so they are renting out chairs to freelance hairstylists, therefore these salons may only be able to accommodate a ‘walk in off the street’ clientèle? …Walk-in clients are not usually regular and loyal. It all depends on the freelance to experienced staff member ratio.

And don’t forget the old adage, “a hairdressing salon is only as good as its worst stylist!”

Cover Image: Bruno’s book of haircutting (Couper les cheveux soi-même) by Bruno Pittini. Copyright & published 1976, this edition by Sphere Books 1979 – My copy is the last one left (I think). The book is a step-by-step guide to cutting your own hair, so, if you’re tired of expensive visits to the hairdresser…

Bruno Pittini (deceased) and I did a couple of fashion shows together in Paris in 1980/81.

#PutChildrenFirst – I love this photo

 I love this photo of Koo

I love this photo of of my wife Koo aged ten

This is a lovely picture of my wife Koo (aged 10) winning a gymnastics award. Her first sport was gymnastics and her favourite gymnast was the Romanian gymnast, Nadia Comaneci.

Koo’s eldest brother (Bulent) was walking in her home town Uskudar, (Istanbul, Turkey) and saw a sign that said they were registering gymnasts for a newly opened sport center. He put her name down, without asking her, and took her to her first gymnastics class.

I’ve always thought of her as the “Sparrow from Uskudar” – Olga Korbut, but she doesn’t even know who Olga is!

ALWAYS #PutChildrenFirst

Proud to be a Sweaty Sock

The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games - Team Scotland's Parade Uniforms by Jilli Blackwood

The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games – Team Scotland’s Parade Uniforms by Jilli Blackwood. (left-right) Scott Wright (Rugby 7’s) Frania Gillen-Buchart (Squash) designer Jilli Blackwood, Charline Joiner (Cycling), Lee Jones (Rugby 7’s) and Sean Lamont (Rugby 7’s) – the opening ceremony uniforms during the Kitting out session at the Univeristy of Stirling, Stirling. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Sunday July 6, 2014. Photo credit: Kenny Smith/PA Wire.

Okay, so I’ve had my pop at Jilli Blackwood on Facebook and Twitter:

Yeah, well, the blue of the shirt and dresses do make Team Scotland look like The McSmurfs and Jilli’s dark outfit is a little sinister and very Gargamel-esque, however, I would like to stand by her by saying, “The tartan weave and design is traditional, emotional and inspiring (just like the Scots. The blokes really do look like Tartan Trannies – haha), and as her source of inspiration for the design of the shirt and dress, I feel sure that Jilli is reflecting the pattern used throughout the Scottish Parliament. For me, there is a strong feeling of Henri Matisse in the look. Jilli is a renowned textile artist and designer, and I feel Very confident that when Team Scotland’s athletes step forth and parade around in the dazzling opening ceremony they will look Totally Awesome.” The petition to scrap Team Scotland’s parade uniform is bollocks – The funny thing is though, the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games mascot is called Clyde, it’s a thistle designed by competition winner Beth Gilmour, from Cumbernauld, but it looks like a Gollywog and no one seems to care – which is very odd!

Anyway, moving on to some politics, I suppose that pumped up, little bully Alex “Fish Face” Salmond and that fucking little Ewok Nicola Sturgeon, will call a Jihaggis when the beautiful, fair people of bonnie Scotland vote NO in their independence referendum on the 18th of September 2014: obviously Salmond’s as thick as a short plank, everyone in England knows that if the Scottish really wanted independence, all they had to do was give the vote to the English – we’d soon tell them to fuck off because we’re sick to the back teeth of hearing, “I hate being ruled by Westminster” – and then there’s that dour Andy Murray, who said that he would be supporting anyone other than England in the 2006 World Cup, obviously he faced a backlash from his English fans and his excuse was that he was only joking, but let’s face it, all the clown was doing was echo a typical anti-English sentiment that’s rife throughout Scotland, he’d unconsciously laid bare his inner thoughts (wanker) like the egotistical Tommy Sheridan, who was on Andrew Neil’s totally brilliant late night show “This Week” (10 July 2014 @ 11.35pm) – Sheridan did the “Take of the Week” slot, which parodied the opening scene from one of my favourite films, Trainspotting directed by Danny Boyle, where heroin addicts Mark “Rent Boy” Renton (Ewan McGregor) and Daniel “Spud” Murphy (Ewen Bremner) are running hell for leather down Princes Street in Edinburgh and are being chased by two John Menzies’ security guards, but Sheridan’s voice is not the voice of an eloquent punk, it’s the voice of an embittered socialist, “Choose life, choose more jobs, choose more homes, choose a publicly run health service, choose free education, choose a living wage, choose spending on hospitals and schools not immoral nuclear bombs, choose a new fairer Scotland, choose independence…” he blurts out, letting us all know what he really thinks, that they’re a nation of drunks and junkies, Sheridan missed out Irvine Welsh’s ending to that section, “But why would I want to do a thing like that?” Choose wondering who the fuck you are on a Friday morning after staying up til the wee small hours drinking Tennent’s larger and watching Itchy and Scratchy – the Abbott and Portillo show, and ye can stop ya fah-kin whingein cuz we all know what it’s like being ruled by the fuckin Scots, Gordon “Bigoted” Brown Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010, who was also previously the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007, and Alistair Darling Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2007 to 2010, fucked us All up the arse during the 2007-2008 global financial crisis – including 2008 UK banking crisis – (the worst crisis since the 1930s great depression), which cost the United Kingdom hundreds of billions of pounds sterling and then at the time, the socialists had the audacity to protest, “Why should we pay for their crisis?” as if they lived on the forest moon of Endor, Oh Shite they do. Okay, well it was under the watchful eyes of Messrs Brown and Darling when the former treasury chief secretary Liam Byrne (Labour MP for Birmingham), left that infamous note for his successor saying, “I’m afraid to tell you there’s no money left” and there it was, yet another slip that tells us all the Scottish members of the Labour Party are not to be trusted with the United Kingdom’s finances – Salmond’s fascist Scotland will soon go bankrupt and bring the rest of the UK (The London English) to its knees – retribution for 1746 Rab C. Nesbitt style, which is totally brilliant because it will boot the Scottish Olympic team, Football team and their effeminate Rugby team firmly into touch, they’ll never win another medal, shelf-determination at its best :)

Proud to be a Sweaty Sock - playing golf at one and a half years old

Proud to be a Sweaty Sock – Me playing golf St Andrews 1 1/2 years old

I’m part Scottish (paternal grandparents), Robson wears the Gunn Clan Tartan, our motto is, “either peace or war.” As a baby I lived in St Andrews, Fife. My Silver Cross pram in the background, my brilliant golf swing in the foreground.

I LOVE Scotland – We Are Better Together in a United Kingdom

Fashionable Antiques in Farnham

antiques farnham surrey - The Antiques WarehouseAntique centres, like the The Antiques Warehouse, make great location studios – especially when they are set in the attractive setting of two Elizabethan tithe barns; they’re brilliant, fascinating indoor venues for models, photographers, hairdressers and make-up artists who are just starting out and looking to build their portfolios by doing collaborative test sessions.

Don’t forget, antique centres usually allow free access to period props and room settings.

I am currently supporting Hilary on Twitter – please feel free to join me at either @SlashHairNet or @JackVonFrost. The Antiques Warehouse displays fashionable antiques in Farnham – it is a wonderful, friendly centre.