Barber Shop Blog

hope you have a good barber

2009-12-20T13:27:00.000-08:00

Amen to that, props to the person behind this image.

the great arlon jabus and mamie palmer

2009-10-14T21:47:00.000-07:00

road to recovery

2009-10-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

The pic below was taken a few hours after I fell off my skateboard, the break was no bueno, I had to wait 9 days to get the surgery done, they added a 6 inch metal plate in my forearm...now its been healing for a few days and I am starting....just starting to feel better.

Norway Pops gets Barber Shop Props

2009-09-03T20:03:00.000-07:00

Oyvind Nissen is from Norway and rides a board like natural pro. I am grateful to have people like him as my friend half way around this small world.

Mad props go out to Bunzi-D for sporting one of my shirts!

2009-09-03T19:47:00.000-07:00

This is a banging track, and I am beyond words that Bunzi-D is reppin the Barbers Nation all the way across the Atlantic in the UK.

Click here to check out his myspace, and listen to his other tracks...good stuff.

Also BIG shout outs to my Norwegian friend Oyvind Nissen for the connection.

We're getting the band back together!

2009-09-03T19:24:00.000-07:00

Oh Yes I Did!

2009-02-16T17:49:00.000-08:00

Last month I built a Photoshop template to assist me when choosing shirt colors. I can now set my designs on top of any color shirt body, and once colors have been selected send them off to the printers.

The night before the inauguration I came up with this Obama shirt and printed a couple by hand right here in my studio at home.

The image does not show it...but the back reads "Yes We Did!"

Sketchy Stuff...

2009-02-16T15:13:00.000-08:00

This post is dedicated to Sydney Nadine Metcalf, born at 1:38 p.m. on February 2nd 2009 - Groundhogs Day! This 6lb 11oz little groundhog girl is the daughter of my friend Chris "Sketch" Metcalf and his good lady of Oregon, congratulations you two, and much love! Send pictures???

In true sketchy Chris Metcalf style...I took a brief hiatus, or maybe was hibernating in a cave for the last few months I cannot remember and as edith Piaf sand "no regrets". I admit, building the foundation for this business has been slow going and the global economic situattion has not helped. I did have take a little break there for a bit with all the Holiday travels and work and such. Although I have been working more the past few weeks...and it feels great.

Below are just a few recent sketches I have been working on, I have also been doing a LOT of the administrative red-tape inevitable paperwork one must do when starting a business, the fun part!

The bottom image shows the progression from idea, to quick sketch in coffee shop and then two more drafts.

As always click on the images to see them bigger.

this is a test

2009-02-02T18:38:00.000-08:00

It's been so long since I posted anything...I had to test my skills. It's just been one of those busy seasons life can sometimes throw our way.

Upcoming local art exhibit sparked my interest!

2009-01-11T18:15:00.000-08:00

CLICK HERE TO VIEW RAC'S WINTER EXHIBITION

Barbershop: “Good Hair/Bad Hair” Smack Down (This Time it's Personal)
This is an interactive multimedia installation that celebrates the social and cultural significance of two Black institutions, the barbershop and beauty shop. They are explored for their historically social and cultural relevance to the African American community, through narratives of barbers, beauticians, patrons, and artists young and old. Walk through a fully replicated set of the barbershop; with old school barber chairs, clippers, razors, and hair products. Stand along the wall of a beauty shop circa 1950's with authentic jars of hair preparations, singed curling irons, crimping irons, and antique hair dryers. Scan the photos depicting the subtle nuances and artistry alive within these shops then and now. This exhibit focuses on the issue of Black hair as it relates to identity, social consciousness and self, and the stigma created within the black community about so called "good hair" and "bad hair" that continues today. It’s an educational forum that explores the range of Black hairstyles as "classifiers" and of what the Black Diaspora consider beautiful. Learn how beliefs about hair texture, curl, and kink defined what was termed as "good hair" and "bad hair." See the evolution of Black hairstyles, Black consciousness, and Black pride. Hair type, styles, management, and treatment are discussed from the process, to the perm, to the natural.

I found the picture below a few weeks ago, a really cool shot of an O.G. barber shop in Egypt...I like all the razors hangin on the wall...and the way the child is curiously looking at the cameraman.

Happy New Year! 2009 everything will be just fine.

2008-12-31T18:44:00.000-08:00

The writings on the wall...

2008-12-17T21:03:00.000-08:00

I shot this picture with my cell phone camera just after getting a nice good cut here in Point Richmond...they say NO two barber poles are the same, and I beleive that.

Interesting...the internet say's the darndest things!

2008-12-16T22:27:00.000-08:00

While searching for images related to Barberin, I came across the one below...but the blog that it is from is the interesting part. John Kricfalusi or John K as he is commonly known...was the creator of the 90's cartoon Ren and Stimpy which came out of Spumco, which was a cartoon animation studio.

Well John K has his own blog which is filled with cartoon and animation insight, history and info. He also offers advice and damn helpful lessons and such...pretty cool hands on way to disseminate and connect with a vast audience.

click here to view john k's blog

I just got a Woody.

2008-12-16T19:00:00.000-08:00

I am not sure I really get this...but I like it.

2008-12-15T21:46:00.000-08:00

Shave a pig, make a wig, sell the wig and buy some snuff...hmmm...okay.

click here to see more of this comic book artists interesting work

Not a bad strategy, distract the kid with a comic...then cut his ear off.

2008-12-15T21:42:00.001-08:00

Get Shorty

2008-12-11T20:48:00.000-08:00

So after re-reading that article below, I decided to learn more about the place where Shorty Maniace cuts it up, the F.S.C. It turns out to be much more than a your local neighborhood barber shop, it is a mighty fine establishment.

click here to learn a little more about the F.S.C.

Why do you think they are called the Knicks?

2008-12-11T20:38:00.000-08:00

This online NY Times article was sent over to me today, thanks...good looking out.

click here to read the article

click here to view the slideshow

Guess who's back...

2008-12-10T21:09:00.000-08:00

3 months ago when I purchased the domain, I set up this image as a placeholder for the site...not many people saw this, as I was not running around telling people to go to a site, which was not up yet. The post it note is no joke...those things haunt me.

Someone asked me why it reads 2009, I simply replied, patience is a virtue and all good things take time...oh and I probably won't get anything going until then which seems about right.

It's alive!

2008-12-09T19:55:00.000-08:00

Today lightning sparked life to the official Barber Shop Clothing website.

Click here to check it out!

This was my first time designing a site, and although I am happy with the simplicity and layout I am working on an updated site to launch in Spring, along with my first line of goods.

Hustler Barber Shop?

2008-12-04T20:17:00.001-08:00

Now I am all for hand painted murals...

But the picture of a guy alone smoking a cigar in a bathtub drinking champagne and watching TV...holding electric clippers in one hand and a comb in the other...for some reason does not connotate a hustler to me.

Let it be.

Stuart Davis is one of my favorite artists...

2008-12-04T20:14:00.001-08:00

Stuart Davis (1894-1964)
Barber Shop Chord, 1931
Lithograph
Signed in pencil.
Edition: 25
13 3/4 x 18 3/4 inches
Cole and Myers 14

Norman Rockwell kept it high and tight...

2008-12-04T20:06:00.001-08:00

bric-a-brac barber style

2008-12-04T19:42:00.000-08:00

It's actually a pretty cool little sculpture, dig the sleeping dalmation.

Lord High Executioner executioned in a barbers chair.

2008-12-03T19:29:00.000-08:00

If you like to read, click here for the story.

no sir, it aint like mine...the bomb squad get's buzzed and faded

2008-11-30T23:47:00.000-08:00

Bombsquad "It aint Like Mine" from Joshua Dixon on Vimeo.

Who needs a haircut?

2008-11-30T18:13:00.000-08:00

The Unabomber really needed a haircut, why do you think he wore the hood and glasses, embarrassment.

Could a nice visit to the local barber shop have prevented Ted Kaczynski from becoming the Unabomber?

Let's think about this for a second, looking good is the beginning to feeling good, as proven by the end exchange between Eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd in the 1983 movie Trading Places.

So Theodore grew up as a smart child, moving through school in the 50's and 60's and eventually receiving a degree from Harvard and a PhD in math from the University of Michigan.

I am willing to bet his hair was cut frequently during this time, it was when he starting teaching at UC Berkeley when he started to cross over into the Una-world, those damn free radical liberals.

Let's face it, when they found him in his remote cabin he looked like a mess...now Michael Landon never looked that bad and he lived in a little house on a prairie.

If I looked as scruffy as Ted became, I may hide out too...and start thinking weird anti social thoughts...on occasion I have been known to do this, and I quickly run out to the barber for a trim and a shave...and the world is a lot better afterwards, trust me.

Now you may think I am being shallow or naive for connecting physical looks with a persons mental state, and especially that of a psychotic murderer, although am I really? I admit I am not a specialist, nor do I hold a PhD in Mathemetics or any such prestigious title of that nature, yet I personally think I may be onto something.

Take a look at a timeline of pictures, he looks perfectly normal as a kid with a bird on his shoulder sitting next to his brother, who would have guessed he would have gone full goose bozo and did what he did?

So do the world a favor go get a haricut and start looking good...but more importantly FEEL good.

diagram of a tryptophan overdose

2008-11-28T10:16:00.000-08:00

Mohawks, brohawks or fauxhawks pick your poison.

2008-11-23T20:50:00.000-08:00

I don't talk much...I just cut the hair.

2008-11-19T18:33:00.000-08:00

C.R.E.A.M.

2008-11-18T23:46:00.001-08:00

Too good not to post.

2008-11-13T22:59:00.000-08:00

Is it getting thin?

2008-11-13T22:58:00.000-08:00

Heads will roll...

2008-11-12T06:50:00.000-08:00

Bull City Barber College

2008-11-08T20:29:00.001-08:00

I would love to see the full clip of this...

Bull City Barber Shop from Sven Ryelsdorn on Vimeo.

Claymation is meant to look like this...haircuts are not.

2008-11-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

Barber Shop from Robert Loughlin on Vimeo.

Yes we can, yes we did, and yes he does...

2008-11-05T22:45:00.001-08:00

Oh yes he does, President Elect Barack Obama backs the barber shop...here he is visiting Major League in Philly before he beat out Hillary in the primary, and way before his triumphant and historical victory of last night.

Sneak Peek at Official B.S. Site

2008-11-05T22:41:00.000-08:00

Who needs a haircut?

2008-11-04T09:30:00.001-08:00

Donald Trump was built for this prize. I guess being worth 2 billion dollars does not get you a good barber. I guess the world talking about how bad his hair looks for years does not sink in...Donald time to tell your Barber he is fired.

Tortoise and the what???

2008-10-24T17:43:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me what the Tortoise and the Hare reference meant in the previosu post:

The Aesopian tale proved the hare's cockiness was his downfall, while the tortoise surefooted, steady endurance made him the winner. In their second meeting, during a boxing match, the tortoise's endurance proved him a winner once more.

I might have to run this one as a shirt...

Where is the legit Barber Shop website???

2008-10-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, I have been working on the site, just think about the story of the tortoise and the hare.

It will be ready soon, and will be coming at you like a car crash!

Who needs a haircut?

2008-10-21T21:51:00.000-07:00

Who needs a haricut?

2008-10-15T19:58:00.000-07:00

Let's cut to the chase here, I needed a haircut then and probably do now! This is around 1980 and it's me next to my grandpa Andy the barber, and my great grandmother. I can see it in his eye's "sure it's his birthday, have you seen my scissors"!

So I grew up in the era of the "bowl" cut, and regretably was forced to have this hair style for many years. I remember family pictures with everyone rocking the "bowl", from dad to mom, and down the line through my brothers and even some with my sister with the tupperware style.

Let's all take a moment and be grateful that this style has subsided, for now at least.

Who needs a haircut?

2008-10-13T21:05:00.001-07:00

So I could not resist dropping Biz Markie as another immortal contestant on "who needs a haircut", not only because he had an album titled "I need a haircut", but the guy is well deserving of any and every award we can offer him.

Sunday Funnies

2008-10-12T14:59:00.001-07:00

Paul Newman - A true legend to say the least.

2008-10-08T21:18:00.001-07:00

Who needs a haircut?

2008-10-08T21:02:00.000-07:00

I decided to start a regular posting titled "Who needs a haircut?", when I stumble across people who are in obvious need of a trip to the local barber for that classic age old 20 dollar 20 minute makeover...first up is one of my favorites, Chewy is that you?

Obama supports the Barber Shop

2008-10-03T21:32:00.000-07:00

BARACK THE VOTE!

Super Bowl cuts since before you where born kid!

2008-10-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

The Bold and the Beautiful.

2008-10-02T16:01:00.000-07:00

Barber Shops From Around The World - Looking Good Billy Ray - Feeling Good Louis

2008-10-01T00:12:00.000-07:00

I started to post this with some friends of mine in Japan in mind...as last week they showed some of their friends and customers my first shirt, and handed out some combs at the INTERSTYLE trade show. Arigatou gozaimasu and you know I appreciate the support!!!
Here is the thing I am too tired to write much more, as I just revised my first shirt design for the second run and started more designs tonight so I have just about had enough for the day...12:32am and I am signing out. Oyasuminasai or konnichiwa depending on what time zone you read this. Much love.

Japanese

African

American

Coming To America

2008-09-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

Now and Then.

2008-09-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

The picture above was taken from google maps using "street view"...422 E. Weber Avenue...I am guessing old grandpa's shop was one of these 2 storefronts, I will let one of my family members take a look and confirm.

Even stranger, as I panned down and around the street, look what I found at 410 E. Weber...the Stockton Barbers College...no joke another interesting coincidence revolving around all my BS.

Respect...find out what it means to me.

2008-09-28T15:33:00.000-07:00

The photo in the last entry had a good memory written on the back of it, from my moms. Good looking out gramps. I am going to give a shout out to my family now, for supporting me with this projet, and providing me with pictures, memories, jokes, and actual barber equipment handed down through the family ALL of it being used to inspire me on this journey. Much love, much repsect.

I forgot to mention...

2008-09-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

Above is a picture of my grandpa Andy, in his shop on 422 E. Weber St Stockton CA taken in 1962.

I forgot to mention in my last post that one of the more personal and inspiring moments of that day came upon my visit to Owen's Barber Shop on Cutting Boulevard in Richmond CA. You see I had done what I needed to do with my morning, which was getting through the red tape bureaucratic procedure to gain my first business license, going to skate around the skate park get coffee and wash the car. After this while heading home to work on my site I realized that having a weekday afternoon to get stuff done should not be spent A. indoors and B.working at a computer. This is when I decided to attack the streets. I had the list of barber shops in Contra Costa County printed out from a week ago in my back pocket...and I knew if there is one thing that's easy to find when driving around, maybe more than corporate colorways and identities, is the red and blue barber pole...which truly is as useful now as it was the day they invented it.

So I hit the first shop I saw, where I quickly got shut down...the barber like the idea of hitting barbers shops to push my stuff is smart but then claimed he was not into the Raiders as a team and would therefore not support me in my cause...I conceded that am I also not a Raiders fan by any means...and the shirt does NOT have a Raiders logo...it's a Barbers logo...he was not buying it. I crossed him off the list I kept in my back pocket.

So I continued into Richmond with a left onto Cutting Blvd...as I had seen Owen's shop many times while on my morning commute. This was where while explaining that my grandfather and great grandfather were lifelong barbers and this is why this project means more to me then just another brand of clothing...and why I am targeting barbers, hoping they will dig it, one of the Barbers asked where my grandpa's shop was. I quickly replied, the first shop was in Oklahoma, and then my grandfather opened his own in Stockton California. Well it turns out this guy grew up in Stockton, which is not out of the ordinary...although him asking me where the shop was is where the conversation started to get interesting. I told him downtown, and he thought for a second while sitting in one of the un-used barber chairs leaning back looking up, and then he looked at me and said was it on Weber...well as a matter of fact it was.

That was interesting, and maybe for me it's more personal and meaningful...but the coincidental moment seemed more like a a strange destined point in my life, it helped me through the day...getting denied all along the way...selling that 1 shirt at the very last shop I went to...I knew it was not going to be easy, and welcome a challenge.

1st down...and whole lot of game left to play.

2008-09-25T20:41:00.000-07:00

After making it official and getting my business license, I took the rest of the day to hit the streets. I went to probably 15 barber shops in 4 hours and only sold 1 shirt. It was not a total loss by any means, quite a few backed the brand dug the idea but where not Raiders fans and that's when I b-lined south from Richmond into Oakland hoping the Raiders shirt would be better received. I had good feedback and repsonse in Oaktown but many wanted XXL or XXXL. Lesson learned even though I knew this going into it.

I took a break from interrupting barbers while they made thier oney, and I hit a clothing/shoe boutique called Verse. It's a dope shop in oldtown Oakland with really good peeps...I had a really great conversation and this is when I realized today I actually made first down, but have a lot of hustling to do.

Niners fans hold tight...and yes the legit BS site will be up shortly I have been working my ass off to make sure it's worth the wait.

Thanks to all the shops who heard me out today and gave me that nod of approval...and when I said I would be back, I will.

Paid In Full

2008-09-25T12:44:00.000-07:00

The bums lost...

2008-09-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

All around the world it's the same song...

2008-09-12T00:16:00.000-07:00

All around the world fools need to get cut...as long as there is hair, there will be barber shops.

Patience Is a Virtue

2008-09-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe you are wondering what's the deal...a clothing brand and no clothes to show just typicl blog chatter, let me assure you that it's in the works and I appreciate your pateince...good things take time. Have you ever rushed a barber while they are cutting away...try it, I dare you.

Mecum Kills It Too.

2008-09-10T09:58:00.000-07:00

So after posting that painting below, I though I would shamelessly plug my older brother's site as he is also one of these amazingly talented and insane artists that makes paintings look like photo's.

www.ericmecum.com

Here is one of his older works... to be exact it's 19 years old, and I chose this one as I remember the location which is Sonora CA...and I remember him working on this one in his cramped messy bedroom, doing what he does well.

Cottingham Kills It

2008-09-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

Robert Cottingham is an insane realist painter, and how could I not post this one of his many works.

DIY

2008-09-08T22:26:00.000-07:00

There is something about this shop that is too cool not too post...when I figure it out I will let you know...

Shall we build a site...

2008-09-06T18:37:00.000-07:00

As of now the web address for "the shop" now leads to this blog but I promise to get the official site done asap...for now I offer another new thing to look at and waste time with on the interweb.

My first run of shirts came in Saturday and has proven to be an instant hit.

2008-09-03T13:56:00.000-07:00

When I get my site up and running you can help me get from red to black by joining the Barbers Nation, support your local Barber Shop.

This is dedicated to the one I love.

2008-08-31T08:55:00.000-07:00

Can't touch this.

2008-08-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

Tuco needs a haircut.

2008-08-31T08:51:00.000-07:00

Listen to Fosdick!

2008-08-31T07:46:00.000-07:00

Classic cuts.

2008-08-30T09:55:00.001-07:00

oh you think you're a wiseguy eh

2008-08-30T09:08:00.000-07:00

Support your local...

2008-08-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

"Beauty isn't worth thinking about; what's important is your mind. You don't want a fifty dollar haircut on a fifty cent head."

2008-08-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

~ Garrison Keillor

Everyone needs to get cut at some point in time.

2008-08-28T19:31:00.000-07:00

Best business card I will ever have.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life, so go get a haircut!

2008-08-28T19:13:00.000-07:00

Yes, we certainly are unbreakable!