“Most bloggers today are familiar only with services designed for use with their choice of web browser. If you edit a WordPress.com account or WordPress.org installation, chances are you login and publish your material through the cloudware provided.

The same goes for Blogger and TypePad users, and as well as options like MySpace and Vox. But if you’ve grown tired of those standard frontends, and would prefer to utilize software to blog for work or for personal enjoyment, there are alternatives that you should know about. For Mac users in particular, there are several that prove as useful, powerful, and visually worthwhile as any comparative webware.

Flock

People conditioned to regard their Web browser as their de facto “blogware” will likely warm to Flock fairly quickly. You might say that’s because Flock is a browser as well. Its foundation is the Mozilla platform. The joy in using Flock and all that it grants easy access to is that it’s built for the social web. You can network and share photos and cool web pages with little effort. And, yes, you can blog, all while navigating the web just as you ordinarily would.

MarsEdit

One of the most celebrated of publishing utilities for Mac OS X users, MarsEdit, now in version 2.2.2, is not a free package. Its cost is $29.95 after a free 30-day trial. But a common refrain heard by users is that the more often it is employed the more the price is so clearly justified.

Apart from dead simple uploads and a quickly-learned interface, MarsEdit sports features like compatibility with Blogger, Drupal, LiveJournal, Movable Type, Vox, and more, a Flickr connection, and integration with more hardcore Mac-specific text editors like BBEdit and TextMate. In short, it’s a power tool.

ecto

Another multi-service editor of MarsEdit-like design, ecto puts considerable emphasis on getting you from A to B to Z as quickly as possible. It certainly holds its own by comparison with others on the market. Its list of supported blog services is extensive, to say the least. Presently in Version 3 form, ecto has been around for over 5 years, and costs $17.95 to own.

Blogo

Launched by Brainjuice, Blogo seems simply drawn and puts your typical blogware to shame. As with the other editors above, its support list for blogging services is long, allows you to quickly publish media, and can even manage to publish Twitter and Ping.fm messages in association with your blog feed – call it streamlined PR, if you will.

Finally, Blogo gives users the option to produce content distraction-free with an on-board full screen mode. That’s a nice little dollop of GTD whipped cream, for sure.

Tumblr Dashboard Widget

Here’s a super small and super lightweight Dashboard application tossed midstream into the mix. We think Tumblr Dashboard Widget is worth mentioning simply for the fact that Tumblr itself is a bare boned and ultra-minimalist invention. A widget of this size is a fine complement. Enough said.

Mac Journal

An appreciable application both for its adherence to the traditional idea of journaling as well as its implementation of color to make the editing environment that much more colorful, Mac Journal is something that, while quite costly at $34.95 for a license, runs with the best in the business. It may not carry the same fanboy cache as that held by MarsEdit and others, but it’s a strong delivery nonetheless.

Blog.Mac

Intended to be a generally fool-proof development, Blog.Mac is more or less the closest thing to something that would come out of Apple’s own software assembly room. It’s not heavy on the details. It’s personal blogging made simple.

The current release, Version 1.3 Beta 4, talks to Apple’s MobileMe web hosting service and offers better Mac OS X Leopard integration. It will set users back $29.99. The creators at Largemouth Software also offer a Blog.Mac template editor free of charge.

iWeb plus MobileMe

You could go with something independently-made like Blog.Mac, but if you prefer something actually from the halls of Infinite Loop, Apple presents its own website and webpage editor in the form of iWeb. It’s a very controlled setup, and comes with all Mac computers sold today (standalone iLife suite runs $79), and to make use of it in ways that takes advantage of the “Apple experience,” you’ll need to pony up $99 per year for MobileMe hosting (formerly “.Mac”) and photo gallery access and so forth.

RapidWeaver

Some people just want to blog in their own unique way, requiring a departure from many popular web services today. RapidWeaver lets users wield an editor’s stick in ways that no other application here is able. Of course, that can mean a concerted effort to continue a blog for a significant period of time within the environment provided by RapidWeaver and the folks at RealMac Software, but hey, if you want choices, you’ve got choices with this one. Nearly limitless options, really.

Fluid

Okay, so you’ve parsed the choices listed above, and you’re not quite sold on any of them. Perhaps you recognize more than ever your liking for the way your blog service of choice operates, but you’d rather have it resemble an application within your Dock or menu bar. Fluid lets you do just that. It behaves as a kind of super powerful webclip creator that allows you to access web applications without having to visit the URL in Firefox or Camino or whathaveyou. There’s a bit of a wow factor that goes with this download.

Story Source: http://mashable.com/2008/11/28/blogger-mac-apps/

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This is one of the couple versions of my HTC theme that I am working on for the Iphone.
Before installation, if you want to utilize the few icons I have, install categories and stacks. On my dock, the home icon is categories and I have all the native iphone apps in this and on the stacks arrow on the right I have all my games.

I have a blank app and the first three apps in the stack application blank so it doesn’t shot any icon on the dock.

When the cell signal is full it shows the windows logo, any other time than full it will show the signal bars.

This theme is no where near complete but I liked the reflection flip clock idea so……………………………
I added and configured the 6day widget to work with my theme. The boat icon is the Clock, but you could rename it and use it for anything. Follow the instructions in the file.
Update-I am making some more boat icons, so you can choose the one you like.

Instructions for installation are in the folder.

HTCPerfectStorm 1.5

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I have been using Song Bird since build 0.3.2, way back when in was really unstable. Well after a whole lot of time this somewhat memory hogging Music Player has blossomed into a really slick piece of free software. I mainly use it for the Skreemr integration.

The open source Songbird media player is preparing to leave the nest. The developers have announced the availability of the first Songbird 1.0 release candidate. This version provides better performance and reliability and also has a few more user interface improvements.

Songbird brings together web technologies, audio playback, and library management in a single application. It is built on top of Mozilla technologies—including the Gecko rendering engine—and can be extended with custom add-ons. It integrates with a number of popular web services, such as Last.fm, Flickr, YouTube, and Wikipedia. The new version benefits from numerous performance improvements, particularly for media importing, search, startup, and scrolling. Memory usage is still a bit too high, but this new version is more resource efficient than previous releases.

The Songbird developers have contributed extensively to bring cross-platform support to GStreamer, an open source multimedia framework that is used extensively on Linux. GStreamer is now used as the Songbird media backend across all platforms, improving the performance and reliability of audio playback. In addition to supporting MP3, FLAC, and OGG across all platforms, GStreamer also supports WMA on Windows and AAC on Windows and Mac OS X.

Songbird is improving at a rapid pace, but there are still a multitude of documented bugs and known issues for various platforms. For more information, check out the official release notes. The release candidate is available for download from the Songbird wiki.

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For you baby boomer’s, “Blog” is a shortened word for Web Log; it is basically a frequently updated journal or diary. Twitter is what they call micro blogging. Not a full pledged blog but rather a place to let your “peeps” know what you’re doing, at any part of your day. Although I haven’t completely been sold on the idea, but it is very popular and now someone has created a list to help you figure out what to use it for. If you still can’t figure out any good reasons to use one, a fine gentleman has created a list of reasons for you.

Twitter is hard to describe specifically because it is a social utility with more possible uses than a Swiss Army knife. Here are 101 examples of how Twitter members regularly use the service. Note that the content below has been taken directly from Twitter users’ posts, with all grammar, syntax and spelling left fully intact.

Job Twitter

1. Looking for a job. @codehermit Officially looking for a new job. Anyone looking for an alpha-geek Python developer?

2. Quitting a job. @melledotca I am quite certain I was not this busy at work before I quit my job. Oh well, least I know exactly when it’ll stop.

3. Complaining about a job. @obilon Looking for a new job. This one sucks. Arrgh! Anyone want to hire an SEO Guy/Online Editor? Just asking. Putting it out there.

4. Posting a job. @leeodden TopRank hiring PPC specialist and manager – posting job descriptions this aft. Initial inqueries to hr at toprankresults dot com.

5. Interviewing for a job. @velvetsiren Interviewing for accounting jobs. I found that my current job is grossly underpaying me. Surprise, surprise.

6. Networking for a job. @spbloom had breakfast on Bondi Beach. Now getting stuck into email and networking to find a job.

7. Commuting to a job. @cpchrisman Commuting: the biggest waste of time and resources we all participate in. Somewhat unconcious of its effect on us and our cities.

8. Getting lunch on the job. @pprlisa the question at a new job always is, what do these people do at lunch time and who will eat with me good luck with all that.

9. Meetings on the job. @twelvesquared wellll… tomorrow I have 6 job titles, a stress attack and at least 2 meetings to accomplish all without my boss and without errors.

10. Rickrolling people at your job. @extraspecial actually had to pause and consider the ramifications of Rickroll’ing in a communication I’m about to send to 2,000 people at work.

Love Twitter

11. Falling in love. @secretlondon Damn I want to fall “recklessly in love” *weep*

12. Losing love. @mixmanner Consoling a friend after a breakup from a long relationship. Hope I’m saying the right things.

13. Looking for love. @arielwaldman If ur riding a tractor and keep screaming “hello beautiful” at me, I’m probably not going to break my stride for you.

14. Physical love. @thejustinesane I need to get laid twitter.

15. Friendship, not love. @zoliblog. hehe, not love, just friendship

16. Hurting in love. @Mooooose Have you ever been in love? — proudly, yes. I’m only 25 but i love hard and honestly. no shame in that … and it f***ing hurts.

17. Problem love. @harveymilk I secretly love a person who admits that s/he dislikes most people. I have the problem of liking almost everyone.

18. Pet love. @kevinrose cats love to jump directly onto my stomach when I’m not looking, they think it hurts me, but it only makes me tougher.

19. Virtual love. @hillabean Thanks! I love virtual hugs and kitty hugs. Feeling better already.

20. Golf and love. @norman_sheng golf is like love affair, if you don’t take it serious, its not fun, if you do take it serious, it will break your heart.

Business Twitter

21. Launching a business. @ManojRanaweera I am still convinced about launching a business with public alpha product for $50k. Prove the concept and then seek out first round.

22. Funding a business. @rikwade Not implying anything underhand. If you’re receiving funding, business and technology support from a partner, you will naturally develop in a certain direction.

23. Complaining about a business. @moeskido My mom’s neighborhood bank sucks. It’s amazing they’re able to compete for consumer business, given how many better choices there are.

24. Advertising a business. @140local Remember. A picture is worth a thousand words. Make those thousand words sell your business or service.

25. Calling out a business. @affcld you are an idiot, you give the whole affiliate business a bad name! sell something useful for once in your life tool!

26. Cards for business. @Scobleizer that’s pretty cool. Best business card I’ve ever seen? Buzz Aldrin’s. Says “Astronaut.” ?

27. Closing a business. @lelonopo I’m sad to read Nau is closing up shop. Good business, good people.

28. Competing business. @whiskeychick Upscale hotels aren’t competing for business travelers. They push luxury furnishings and environment.

29. At-home business. @raowen The Trouble working at home…. the cat box. Nothing will blow your focus as much as one of the little guys “doing their business.”

30. Bad for business. @LawrenceChen Of course, it is bad that they also only open regular work hours during the week. Makes it hard for me to do business with them.

Sports Twitter

31. Watching sports. @davetitle The only time I see commercials in the post-DVR world is when I watch live sports. Reminds me why I try so hard to avoid commercials.

32. Arguing about sports. @scottypboston I assume I got a follow only so we could argue about the current superiority of boston sports.

33. Complaining about sports. @thechristianguy Manu ginobili is everything wrong about sports. Can he not complain one time down the court? Gimme a break!

34. Talking sports. @jasonfalls Welcome. Glad to talk ‘burgh sports anytime.

35. Fantasy sports. @robfay Starting my maiden voyage into fantasy sports. I’m in Yahoo! fantasy baseball w/ bro. Not sure if difficulty is b/c of site or new status.

36. Playing sports. @iamvinnie like sports? like drinking? like both at once? live in charlotte? play kickball with me! wed nights starting 6/18, dm/@ me if you wanna play.

37. Betting sports. @sosady man, I dunno what it is with you Drinkard’s and sports gambling, but it’s no fair.

38. Gym sports. @CincyRecruiter Thanks! This one practices at my gym, but not sure he’s in sports med. Will have to check that out.

39. Live sports. @HumanFolly anyone else going to the National’s Game tonight – there will be a mass group of NMSers attending

40. Virtual sports. @sobayaki Just got home, am exhausted after a long game of Wii Sports. No, my arm is exhausted.

Music Twitter

41. Listening to music. @princessofworld I love driving fast listening to really loud music! Today’s music selection: The Dead Kennedys.

42. Playing music. @joelitton BGrass music! KEWL! What do you play? Me: guitar mostly, used to have banjo, still have mandolin. Need to make time 2 pick!

43. Quoting music. @sparrowrose Socrates gets the Temporal Smack Down: “You are so not dust in the wind, dude!”

44. Downloading music. @ageekgal iTunes Music Store users: Always back up your purchased music immediately. You’re only permitted ONE DOWNLOAD of ea purchased song, EVER.

45. Live music. @KLSoltis Tonight at the Red and the Black: Mostly Monkee, OmegaBand. Should be good times if you’re up for some funky reggae rock live music.

46. Dead music. @lotd “People joining hand in hand, While the music plays the band” Grateful Dead, Music Never Stopped.

47. Law and music. @diamond_mind Is it because the mafia can’t make a living that they are all going to work with the RIAA, or is it just that politicians are thugs too?

48. On-hold music. @dpamac FedEx’s hold music is like a deafening Bolero by Phillip Glass performed entirely on an out of tune piano by blind monkeys on methaqualone.

49. Party music. @bklyndad loud loud loud live middle eastern music coming from party in adjoining backyard… needless to say, keeping the boy awake.

50. Classic music. @mattmcgee NP: “Zoo Station”, U2 Live in Sydney (1993) best freakin’ version evah.

Movie Twitter

51. Inspirational movies. @candysnap off to watch “Head On” for inspiration by Turkish/German director Fatih Akin, one of my fav movies.

52. Review movies. @sicrowe Here’s hoping “Redbelt” will be better than the movies I’ve been reviewing the past couple of weeks.

53. Theater movies. @frageelay Counting the minutes till I take Jackson to see Iron Man at the Woodstock Theater. First run movies? $5. Yeah, I love it here.

54. Netflix movies. @Gestalt I got caught up clicking through a link from a Netflix e-mail and just ended up adding 20 movies to my queue. Perilous distraction!

55. Classic movies. @jonv Vanishing Point was a 1971 cult classic, any other great classic car movies like Bullitt and this one?

56. Adult movies. @ricburwal friend sent me a link to some translation work he did. had the browser open for a hour, finally look: all descriptions of porn movies.

57. Home movies. @lyndoman I’m thinking, $25 m in the bank, you own half of Monaco, you are a Rothschild, you have a penchant for home movies, you like stick insects.

58. Pirated movies. @rayrayangel Overheard: guy at my last job used to do that.. and use up our blank movie-style dvd cases for his pirated movies.

59. Kids’ movies. @rooner Why are kids movies just a bunch of stories smooshed together into one mess?

60. Making movies. @john_larkin just watched it. 120 seconds. this is good example for students when teaching them how to make digital movies. Keep them short.

Political Twitter

61. Arguing politics. @brumdo Matt is arguing politics with a person,in a strip club, ABOUT POLITICS! WTF?!

62. Obama politics. @gregchiasson When Obama talks about cleaning up politics and government, it reminds me of Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver. Only, you know, not crazy.

63. Hillary politics. @sarahgilbert i, for one, am happy for hillary & think that a close race is awesome: keeps me excited about politics! oregon never counted in my lifetime.

64. McCain politics. @jiconoclast It’s just cynical politics on McCain’s part. He’s not even a religious man, but he wants the votes. It’s typical politics.

65. British politics. @kaleidoscope I would seriously consider how that is going to enhance your life? I mean, British politics is soooooo boring!

66. Local politics. @abrahamhyatt I love local politics. So why am I so bored with the PDX mayor race? Oh, right, because is unbelievable freaking boring.

67. Sexual politics. @shannonk Young bus dude holding forth on sexual politics: Leviticus “can kiss my ass.” That sort of thing gives me hope for the future.

68. Social media and politics. @MikeChapman The tide to Obama has swung. In politics a huge measurement of strength is fundraising ability. He is a social networking phenom.

69. Office politics. @celticfrog42 Why, in office politics, is there one jackass who always seems to win even though everyone knows he’s an ass who plays games?

70. Contemplating politics. @Gayla I think that fact that politics is so hard to figure out is what draws me to it in complete fascination sort of like forensics.

Beer Twitter

71. Free beer. @ravnos Bonus! Band gets free beer and im with the band. Woo free beer!

72. Cheap beer. @chrismckee I’d rather be clubbing seals while tripping on acid then sweating drinking cheap beer watching a jumpy dvd from amazon rentals.

73. Buying beer. @kfinsand Just purchased 2 bottles of Left Hook Lager to support Steve Novick’s campaign for State Senate, actually I just wanted to try the beer.

74. Buzzed from beer. @agersh Drinking beers. I Never drink. Believe or not I pretty buzzed from 1 beer. Alyssa has never seen me drunk in 7 yrs. Celebrating though

75. Dark beer. @svelterogue and he lost. breadstick in the second set. gutted? yeah. hollowed out, sliced, knickered. i want me a BEER!a dark ale over 10%.rochefort 10!

76. Light beer. @kirkk Attention marketers: referring to Natural Light beer as “Natty” does NOT make me want to drink it.

77. Brewing beer. @ciordia9 Back from the Beer brew. You drink enough of peoples home brew you are bound to do what I did, invest in a home brew system. Muahahah!

78. Keg beer. @dianabarden 7 yr old neighbor pourin a beer from the keg. says its for his mom.

79. Case of beer. @debono I’m starting a beer company named Dilla. Then people can go to the market and grab a case a Dilla.

80. Cooking with beer. @iamthelorax I am cooking a brisket for a party I am hosting. I just bought a case of beer. I opened one, but not to drink it. It was for the brisket.

Technology Twitter

81. Facebook on Twitter. @maxkondziolka Computer isn’t working properly, I shall not be online facebook frequently until the end of the year. But my twitter shall remain active.

82. Windows on Twitter. @MikeOnTheTrail The final Windows Vista migration issue has been fixed; automatic daily backups with notifications to me via Twitter of completion.

83. Mac on Twitter. @JasonCalacanis A $399 Mac tower?!?!? sign me up for an “OpenMac” — PsyStar is going to get sued to next century!:

84. MySpace.com on Twitter. @sct cancelled myspace account. never really saw the point. thankfully most of my friends have moved on. now if i can only get them on twitter …

85. WordPress on Twitter. @GoogleTutor yes. comcast is on twitter helping people. wordpress support forums are usually unhelpful and snotty.

86. iTunes on Twitter. @joshglid it would be cool if you could have twitter automatically pull the current song playing in iTunes into a tweet. I wonder how hard it’d be?

87. LinkedIn on Twitter. @tonykarrer Any suggestions- Trying to figure out if there’s a way to add your LinkedIn list to Twitter without spamming them with an email?

88. Firefox on Twitter. @likestarlight yeah, just testing the twitter firefox extension before i go to sleep. whoever said this was addictive WASN’T LYING! ok, really gone now.

89. Google on Twitter. @guykawasaki Stick this in Google and get ready to laugh: Kanamara Matsuri “Jenny found it.”

90. SEO (search-engine optimization) on Twitter. @audette zappos employees are so active on twitter that i almost expected tweets from them during our SEO workshops today.

Twitter Twitter

91. Apps for Twitter. @louiemantia Right now it’s the best Twitter app, but when WWDC comes, I think you’ll see lots of Twitter apps emerge.

92. Followers on Twitter. @lachlanhardy Same here. It’s all about targeted relevancy, right? Your Twitter followers are a better audience *for you* than Techmeme users.

93. Spam on Twitter. @xxabsentxx Spammers who follow you on Twitter in hopes you’ll read their spam… I dub thee, Twitter Litter.

94. Down Twitter. @TechCrunch OMFG Twitter is back! conversations are breaking out. Shangri la.

95. Humor on Twitter. @onreact_com Btw. Do not expect any humor from me here! I’m dead serious about twitter! like about my sombrero! You touch my sombero and I will *%§&!

96. Words created on Twitter. @chriscree Good night Tweeple. Tomorrow’s a long day for us all down he-yah. Gotta get some sleep first.

97. Birth on Twitter. @katiemazek Welcome to the world Timothy Ivan Mazek (TIM), 6 pounds 5 ounces at 5:50 am. Healthy and happy baby boy, he is so beautiful.

98. Death on Twitter. @willhowells Learning about Humph’s death from Twitter. Very sad. Saw him on stage only a few weeks ago. Especially glad now that we did.

99. Saved on Twitter. @praiseJesus If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Rom 10:9.

100. The community of Twitter. @watkins_lady hello, it’s nice to meet you and welcome to my twitter community.

One Great Twitter Search Engine

101. Summize searches Twitter. @dannysullivan just posted on cool tool to search social media & blogs and more on one page, plus awesome summize for twit searching

Original source

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A Brief History of Barbershops

The 1880’s to the 1940’s were the golden age for barbershops. During this time, men socialized in all male hangouts, and barbershops rivaled saloons in popularity. Visiting the barbershop was a weekly, and sometimes daily habit. Men would stop in not only for a haircut and a shave, but also to fraternize with friends and chew the fat.

During this golden age, barbershops were classy places with often stunning surroundings. Marble counters were lined with colorful glass blown tonic bottles. The barber chairs were elaborately carved from oak and walnut, and fitted with fine leather upholstery. Everything from the shaving mugs to the advertising signs were rendered with an artistic flourish. The best shops even had crystal chandeliers hanging from fresco painted ceilings.

Despite this level of luxury, barbershops were homey and inviting. A memorable and heavenly man aroma filled the air. The smell of cherry, wintergreen, apple, and butternut flavored pipe and tobacco smoke mixed with the scent of hair tonics, pomades, oils, and neck powders. These aromas became ingrained in the wood and every cranny of the shop. The moment a man stepped inside, he was enveloped in the warm and welcoming familiarity. He was immediately able to relax, and as soon as the hot lather hit his face, his cares would simply melt away.

The Decline

Photo by Curtis!

The first blow to barbershops came in 1904 when Gillette began mass marketing the safety razor. Their advertisements touted the razor as more economical and convenient than visiting the barbershop. The use of safety razors caught on, and during World War I, the US government issued them along with straight razors to the troops. Having compared the two razors size by side, upon returning home from the front many soldiers discarded both the straight razor and their frequent trips to the barbershop. Going to the barber for a shave became a special occasion instead of a regular habit.

In the decades after WWI, several other factors combined to weaken the place of the barbershop in society. Companies like Sears began selling at-home haircutting kits, and mom began cutting Junior’s and Pop’s hair. Then the Depression hit, and people cut back on discretionary spending like barber shaves. The loss of male lives in the World and Korean wars also shrunk barbers’ pool of clientèle. Then in the 1960’s Beatlemania and the hippie culture seized the country, and hairstyles began to change. Men started to grow their hair longer and shaggier, and their visits to the barber became infrequent or non-existent.

Even when short hair came back into style during the 1980’s, men did not return en masse to the barbershop. Instead, a new type of hairdresser siphoned off the barbers’ former customers: the unisex salon. Places like “SuperCuts” which were neither beauty salons nor barbershops, catered to both men and women. Many states’ licensing boards accelerated this trend by ceasing to issue barber licenses altogether and instead issuing a unisex “cosmetologist” license to all those seeking to enter the hair cutting profession.

Why Every Man Should Go To A Barber Shop

Photo by Curtis!

A barber knows how to cut a man’s hair. If you’re like most men these days, you’re probably going to some unisex chain salon like Supercuts. I used to do it too. Most of the time, I’d walk out of these places with a crappy haircut. Sometimes, my haircut would look decent for the first week or so, but then it would grow out into a horrible bowl.

The problem is that many of the people who work at salons are not trained barbers. They’re cosmetologists. The difference between the two can spell the difference between a dopey-looking haircut and a great one.

A barber is trained to cut with clippers, the main tool in cutting a man’s hair. Cosmetologists, on the other hand, are trained to use scissors. Their training is also geared towards catering to women’s hair. They become experts in styling, coloring, and perming- things a man has no need for. That’s why when you ask the cute stylist at SuperCuts to use the number 2 on the clippers, you walk away with a bad haircut. She’s probably not well versed in how to use them. But a barber can employ the clippers with finesse.

It’s a great place to chew the fat with other men. When I went to hair stylists, I hardly ever talked to the woman who cut my hair. I’d chat about my family and theirs and that’s about it. The woman who cut my hair usually ended up chatting it with the other women in the salon, while I sat there awkwardly.

Barbers, on the other hand, are interesting guys with interesting stories to tell. On my visits to the barber shop, I’ve met a retried Army Ranger colonel, a musician who spent 13 years on the road in a jazz band, and a man who is the third generation in his family to take up the profession. Each of them had fascinating stories to share. And I in turn feel at ease to say what’s on my mind. There is conversation about politics, cars, sports, and family. Guys read the newspaper and comment on current events. In between the banter, jokes are told and laughs are had. And everyone is involved: the barbers, the customers getting their haircut, and the customers waiting to get their haircut. Adding to the enjoyment is that a variety of men take part in the conversation; young, old, and middle-aged join in the mix.

I think there’s a good argument that barbershops are among America’s last civic forums Where do people go today just to talk with others in the community? Coffee shops? Every time I go to a coffee shop, people are at their own tables minding their own business. The only other place that I can think of is a bar, but bars are now co-ed instead of being bastions of manliness. Graduate student, Melissa Harris-Lacewell, wrote an article about how discussions in traditionally black barbershops shape political ideas in the African-American community. She noted how political debate in barbershops can be vigorous and engages young and old alike. Unfortunately, white Americans are missing out on this experience. So, if you’re wanting to get your thumb on the pulse of civic life in your community, head over to the barbershop.

You can get a great shave. Many barbershops still give traditional single blade razor shaves. You haven’t lived until you’ve experienced the pleasures of a great shave at a barber. This past weekend, I went to a barber here in town to get a shave. I reclined in the plush old school barber chairs that had ash trays in the arm rests, a throw back to a time when people could smoke in public places. Then my shave commenced. The barber first wrapped a hot towel around my face. Next, the barber massaged in a lemon based cream to clean out my pores.

After that, several more hot towels were applied. By then, I was feeling nice and relaxed, on the verge of falling asleep relaxed. The barber then massaged in some cocoa butter to soften my beard. Next, the barber brushed a warm lather into my beard that smelled like man and not like that crappy artificial goo you buy in a can. The barber then took a piece of razor sharp metal and scraped my beard off for the closest, best shave I’ve ever had. Allowing another man to hold a razor to your neck is a good way to remind yourself that you’re alive.

To finish it all off, I got another hot towel wrapped on my face along with a final face massage with a soothing vanishing cream. When I stepped out of the shop, I felt like a new man, ready to take on the world.

It’s a great activity to do with your father or son. Men need traditions that can help bond them together. Visiting the barbershop with your father or son is a great tradition to begin in your family. Many men have been going to the same barber all their life and have introduced their sons to the same chair and the same barber. What a great way to bond with the men in your life!

You’ll feel manlier. Every time I go to the barber shop I just feel manlier. I don’t know what it is. Perhaps it’s the combination of the smell of hair tonics and the all-man atmosphere. But more so, it’s the awareness of the tradition of barbershops. Barbershops are places of continuity; they don’t change with the shifts in culture. The places and barbers look the same as they did when your dad got his hair cut. It’s a straightforward experience with none of the foofoo accouterments of the modern age. There are no waxings, facials, highlights, or appointments. Just great haircuts and great conversation.

When you walk out of the barber shop with a sharp haircut, you can’t help but feel a bit of manly swagger creep into your step. So next time you spot that familiar red and white striped pole, stop in. You’ll be glad you did.

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