To care or not to care?

Posted on October 18, 2013 by tashfriday

Good morning Tash Appreciators,

These days, we’re encouraged to care about a multitude of things. Sure, there are maybe a few things that we should all care about but does there come a point when we have to say “you know what, I just don’t care about that and I’m not going to worry about it”?

This week, I witnessed an argument about whether a persistent problem should be ignored or whether action should be taken to try and sort it. This problem has driven everyone involved to distraction and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. For the purposes of this exercise, let’s say that the problem is to do with an allocated parking space which is persistently taken by folk who have no right to use it. It’s very annoying, and although steps could be taken to prevent unauthorised use, speaking to the offending drivers in the past has had no impact on the problem.

The positions adopted by the opposing camps are these: in one camp is a group who have been ground down by the whole thing. They’ve attempted to sort the problem but, for the sake of their sanity (and for the safety of the offenders), they’ve decided to accept that things won’t change and have found another space to use instead. They don’t want to end up like this:

In the other camp is a group who will not let the matter lie. Why should they go to the trouble of finding an alternative space? These other people are wrong – it’s not just a point of principal; the unauthorised use causes genuine inconvenience.

It’s an interesting dilemma and I can see both sides. Instinctively, it doesn’t seem correct to give up one’s rights and effectively quit by allowing things which are wrong to continue. It doesn’t seem to be in the spirit of TF to let matters of principal drop. However, at some point, do we not all reach a stage where the hassle of fighting outweighs the inconvenience? Is life not too short to waste time worrying about stuff which we can’t control? Is it not better to just move on?

I was listening to a great podcast the other week about the up-side of quitting. It talked about the opportunity costs in persevering with something just because you feel it’s “wrong” to quit. Of course, that has to be balanced against the fact that most things which are worth doing are not easy.

In the end, I was in the camp which decided, reluctantly, to let the “parking space infringement” slide. I’ve got better things to do and I’d rather move on and sink my energy into something worthwhile than worry about things I can’t control. If you’re sitting there wishing you could quit something but think you can’t solely because you have some moral obligation not to quit, don’t – it’s ok to quit.

This week’s Tash is a quitter but I admire him all the more because of it. Dave Chappelle was a comedian with a $50 million contract to star in a show on Comedy Central. However, one day, he just quit. Life in the limelight wasn’t making him happy so, rather than moaning about celebrity life while still cashing cheques, he left the country. He later came back and started doing live shows again – that’s what made him happy, I guess.

Have a great weekend folks!

#keepgoing

Hurry up with my damn croissants

Posted on October 4, 2013 by tashfriday

Morning Tash Appreciators,

I’m a bit behind in listening to it but this week has seen Kanye West’s eighth album – Yeezus (yeah, it’s very like Jesus, isn’t it) – getting a lot of airtime in TF HQ. For those who don’t know who he is, this magazine cover tells you everything you need to know about who he used to be:

This album is good – really good. The lyrics and melodies are imaginative and quite different from any hip hop album I’ve heard before. The only difficulty with it is it’s also one of the angriest records I’ve ever heard. Parts of it make for difficult listening.I don’t have a problem with an album being difficult to listen to, nor do I think that many Tash Appreciators are interested in what Kanye raps about on this album. What is interesting, I think, is that he wasn’t always an angry guy. In his first big release in 2004, his lyrics were about consumerism, being self-conscious and modern racism. It was all pretty insightful and constructive:

We buy our way out of jail but we can’t buy freedom.

We buy a lot of clothes when we don’t really need ’em:

Things we buy to cover up what’s inside.

I don’t know what’s happened to Kanye to make him seemingly change his outlook on life so dramatically (maybe it’s just as he predicted in 2004: “the people highest up have the lowest self-esteem”) but it seems a shame that it’s come to this, even if it does make for entertaining music.

We’ve probably all had times when we’re angry or disappointed about what’s going on around us and that can sometimes seep into our attitude towards life in general. It’s also difficult for us to always see those changes in ourselves. The aim, I guess, is to ensure that we have folk around us who will say when things are getting out of hand. It’s a shame, but maybe Kanye doesn’t have someone around him to say: “Here, you know that song when you say ‘I am a God’ over and over again and then use that line which talks about you wanting a “damn croissant”? That’s too far.” They should perhaps show him a picture of this week’s Tash:

The croissant Tash is a first for TF.

I’ll leave you with one final Tash this week. It’s a picture of Kanye from his High School yearbook. As you can see, he was awarded best dressed, he’s happy, he’s rocking a Tash (just about) and he’s wearing a polo shirt:

As a matter of fact, he chastises himself in this current album for ever wearing a polo shirt. However, I wonder when he was happier: when he was wearing that shirt or when he was writing this album.

Have a great weekend folks!

#keepgoing

You’re having a laugh!

Posted on September 27, 2013 by tashfriday

Good morning Tash Appreciators,

I’ll keep it short and sweet this week.

As was discovered in one of TF’s satellite offices this week, most people enjoy a good prank; particularly when they have masterminded and implemented it. Just like a good Tash, pranks can lighten the mood when folk are a bit down and can also invigorate people when they’re lacking energy.

Just for the hell of it, here are a selection of TF’s favourite pranks:

Pranks can go wrong though, badly wrong. The most obvious example of that is where the person upon whom the prank is being played does not find it funny. Perhaps worse, though, is where the person doing the pranking takes it too far. This might be where there have been a series of pranks and the ante has been raised to such an extent that something must eventually go wrong. There are a fair few examples of these too:

In the wrong hands, the Tash can be a dangerous thing too. For example, at a recent beard and moustache championship held in New Orleans there were stunning examples of superlative moustachery (not a word, but I’m having it) such as this:

While, in New York, Justin Bieber was trying to pull off this monstrosity (you might need to look closely):

Tashes, like pranks, should only be attempted by those who know when they can and, more importantly, can’t be pulled off.

Have a great weekend folks!

#keepgoing

‘Star Trek’ Teleportation Prank Confuses Mall Shoppers (mashable.com)
Guys Prank Buddy by Replacing All the Tap Water in His House with Beer (gawker.com)

Tashcrawl 2014

Posted on September 20, 2013 by tashfriday

Good morning Tash Appreciators,

First this week, an announcement. Quite independently of TF HQ, a sub-crawl (it has apparently been christened by one particularly poetic Appreciator as a “Tash-Crawl”) will take place tomorrow in Glasgow. I understand it will start with a large lunch at the Counting House and the first stop will be at around 2pm at Times Square, next to St Enoch Square station. All are welcome and although Tash related apparel is recommended, it’s not essential. The arrangements will be on Facebook and twitter. There is a fair possibility that, during the course of the afternoon, this:

May turn into this:

For those who may not be familiar with Glasgow’s subway system, the Tash-Crawl is but the latest incarnation of a very old Glaswegian activity – the subcrawl. Only in Glasgow would people willingly spend the best part of a day travelling in a smelly old orange train purely in the interests of finding a novel way to have fifteen drinks. What makes this even stranger is that Glaswegian comedy duo Francie and Josie used an entirely complimentary song about the subway in their set:

It’s strange where people get their enjoyment from, I suppose, and another example of that is the release this week of Grand Theft Auto V: the fifth incarnation of what must be one of Scotland’s most successful exports.

GTA, as it’s usually called, has made Dundee/Edinburgh’s Rockstar North over £500 million in it’s first week and is apparently even more popular than a good Subcrawl. Some people will find it difficult to understand where the fun is in a game where the player is encouraged to commit a variety of pretty awful crimes. Some may even think the game is dangerous.

TF isn’t a platform from which to preach morality and I’ve got nothing to add to the debate about whether games like GTA should be allowed. However, what I will say is that we should be pleased that a Scottish product has managed to be so successful for so long. What is clear is that regardless of whether it’s a subcrawl (which could hardly be said to be healthy) or a violent video-game, people tend to be interested, now and again, in things that aren’t good for them.

This week’s Tash is a man whose activities would easily fit into the plot of GTA. Although he’s a dangerous and unpleasant chap, we still find him interesting. There have been numerous news reports about him over the years and Eric Bana even starred in a film about his life. I’m talking about Mark “Chopper” Read:

If you’re wondering where his ears are, he asked one of his pals to cut them off with a razor blade while in prison. See what I mean, you’re interested, aren’t you!

Have a great weekend folks!

#keepgoing

GTA 5 is criminally good say video game fans (scotsman.com)
Grand Theft Auto V Jacks Global Sales Record from Take-Two Interactive (technabob.com)

Can’t Hold Us

Posted on September 13, 2013 by tashfriday

Morning Tash Appreciators,

The subject of TF from a few weeks ago has been on my mind. The future starting slow can be a pain in the neck for all of us – waiting just isn’t fun. So, this week, I’ve got a few examples of people for whom the wait was worthwhile.

First up, for the hipsters, a rapper who seemed to emerge from nowhere with a track about fly second-hand clothes:

Macklemore, complete with Tash – a man with style.

For most of us, the first time we came across this chap was with his track “Thrift Shop“. Personally, though, I preferred his second single, “Can’t Hold Us”. From a TF perspective, this is a much better song. It’s about raising yourself up and generally not taking no for an answer.

Perhaps surprisingly, “Can’t Hold Us” was first released in August 2011. It was only after the monster success of “Thrift Shop” that Macklemore spent big bucks on a good video to accompany the track and effectively re-released it. As of July this year, over three million copies of “Can’t Hold Us” have been bought in the US alone. He’s also playing in Glasgow tonight, if any Appreciators happen to be in that part of the world.

Looking back in history, there are numerous examples of people who have had to wait half a lifetime or more before getting where they wanted to be.

Benjamin Franklin didn’t sign the Declaration of Independence until he was 70, making him the oldest signatory:

Ray Kroc was in his fifties when he started to think about turning his family owned business into a franchise which now serves 68 million people every day – McDonald’s:

Susan Boyle didn’t hit the big time until she was 48:

And, this week’s Tash didn’t become President of South Africa until he was 76:

If we think the future starts slow for us, imagine what it must have been like to spend 26 years waiting in prison. I think sometimes we can be too impatient. Sometimes, but by no means all the time, we should sit back and prepare ourselves for the moment when the right chance comes along; at which point, we’re ready to grab it with both hands.

Have a great weekend folks!#keepgoing

TGI Friday

Posted on September 6, 2013 by tashfriday

Hello Friday Appreciators,

The last few Tash Fridays have seen some examples of classic Tashes. While that’s all well and good, I wonder sometimes whether TF focuses too much on the Tash and not enough on the Friday.

Like the Tash, Friday is one of those things that is universally appreciated (hence the change to this week’s usual greeting). I bet that if you all looked on your Facebook news feeds today, at least one person will have posted something like this:

For most of us, Friday at 5pm is the point where we are furthest from our next day of work and for that reason we can’t get enough of it. To prove that universal appeal, you only need to look at the global chain of restaurants which uses an acronym of “thank goodness it’s Friday” as it’s name.

It may mean something different to all of us, but the feeling of turning the computer off and flying out of the office on a Friday evening is common to us all. I think that feeling it’s a combination of this :

And this:

Of course, there is a Tash connection to both of those clips. The song in the first video is “You Make My Dreams” by Hall and Oates and the second is an example of Carlton Banks’ dance from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air (essential Friday viewing when I was younger). John Oates had one of the greatest Tashes in rock and roll:

And both Will Smith and Alfonso Ribeiro are well versed in the ways of the Tash:

The point is, both Tashes and Friday are part of that long list of small things that make life worth living (along with cider on a hot day, showers with good water pressure etc) and it’s no wonder that the combination of them seems to have an appeal.

Have a fantastic Friday and a great weekend.

#keepgoing

The Future Starts Slow

Posted on August 30, 2013 by tashfriday

Hello Tash Appreciators,

I came across a Nike advert called “just do it – possibilities”. It’s pretty good:

It looks at various every-day people who are starting out in sport and asks what’s stopping them from taking their participation to the next level. Like many Nike adverts, it challenges the amateur to ask more of themselves: to run further, jump higher and fight harder than they have in the past or ever thought they could.

The choice of music used in the advert is interesting too. The song is called “The Future Starts Slow” by The Kills, and I think it hits the nail on the head – if you want a future filled with success, you’re going to have to expend a lot of time and energy in getting there. In sport, and life generally, it’s often the initial stages that are the most difficult as, although it never gets easy, once you’ve started to get better you can least look back and see the progress.

This week was also the 50th anniversary of Dr King’s “I have a dream” speech. TF has covered this in the past but it was a long time ago and I’m sure you’ll forgive me for coming back to it.

The most famous part of the speech (the “I have a dream” part) is towards the end but, at the beginning, Dr King talks about President Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation. He says that, one hundred years after the Proclamation that slavery was to end, the “black man” (I’ve changed the words used) “is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land”. He says that the Proclamation was a cheque which has not been cashed and he talks about now being the time for the bank of justice to pay out.

I guess that the speed at which ambitions are reached is directly proportionate to the scale of what you’re trying to achieve. You can go from being able to run a mile to running a marathon in a few months, but even Abraham Lincoln’s efforts couldn’t speed up a civil rights movement that took 100 years to give minorities even a semblance of equality.

All of that being said, fifty years after Dr King’s speech, we can look back and see real progress not just in the US but around the world. Sure, there is a vast amount of work to be done in the fight for equality but the future now doesn’t seem quite so far away and it’s coming more quickly all the time. I guess all we can do is think “we’ve come this far, why can’t we go further?”

I’ll leave you with Dr King and his superlative Tash. Can it be any surprise that such a man chose to wear one:

Have a great weekend folks!

#keepgoing

P.s. If you haven’t read the speech, it’s well worth it: http://www.archives.gov/press/exhibits/dream-speech.pdf

Curtain Raiser

Posted on August 23, 2013 by tashfriday

Good morning Tash Appreciators,

After an extended break, TF has reopened for business refreshed, reinvigorated and ready to raise the curtain on the next season of Tash Friday.

As this is the season opener, it seems only appropriate to go back to the roots of TF. Although the level of Tash related paraphernalia appears to be cresting a wave of popularity at the moment, that wave has been building for years. Even as far back as the turn of the last century, a Tash was seen as an essential element of what the “ideal man” should look like:

That’s Eugen Sandow, the man who some people say was the father of modern body building. He measured Greek sculptures to find the proportions of “The Grecian Ideal” and then lifted weights until he had sculpted himself into the desired shape. At the time this photo was taken (in around the mid 1890s), he was seen as having the ideal male physique. We can only assume, as he was a man that honed his appearance, that he saw his Tash as an essential element of what the ideal man looked like.

These days, we still attempt to sculpt ourselves. Some of us do it literally and work to achieve a desired body shape; while others take a more figurative approach and work until other ambitions are achieved. TF is here to encourage you to keep going and to press on towards those goals.

Back to today, one man who appears to have harnessed the power of the Tash to propel himself to greatness is this guy:

Looks like chicks really do dig him…

That’s Lachlan Morton, a 21 year old cyclist who, after starting to rock a Tash last month, has been putting a hurt on his competitors in literally every race he’s ridden . TF has been bike-heavy of late (and many of you have made your views on that clear) but, on this occasion, I make no apologies for including Mr Morton. The reason for that is the recent addition to his race-bike:

When he appeared at the start line with this first licence plate (he’s been using a couple in recent weeks), he raised a few eyebrows and I’m sure some saw it as a pretty arrogant move. However, not only does he not take himself too seriously, he knew something that his competitors didn’t: that he’d worked harder than them in the run-up to the race and that he was able to beat them; which he promptly did, all on his own.

That, fellow Appreciators, is how it’s done. Hard work, and the confidence which comes with it, can be big factors in whether we are able to achieve our goals. One can imagine the reaction Eugen Sandow received when the people of Victorian England saw that he was lifting weights in order to look like Greek sculptures! I suspect his response was the same as Lachlan’s – “I’ll show ’em…”

Have a great weekend folks!

#keepgoing

Cliffhanger

Posted on July 26, 2013 by tashfriday

Morning Tash Appreciators,

This week brings to an end another season of TF. For the next two weeks, TF headquarters is scheduled to be closed for a summer holiday.

End of season finales are tricky things. This time last year, which was the end of the first “proper” season of TF (i.e. when more than about a dozen people read it!), the aim was to finish on a positive note that would leave you all wanting more. For the second season, something more is required. Like all quality entertainment, it has to be believable; and for it to be believable, the end can’t always be a happy one.Looking back at last year, TF was talking about star-spangled super dreams of sky-scrapers and sparkling blue sea. It really was a super dream and a fantastic time. But that’s the thing about dreams, sooner or later you have to wake up. This year, life certainly has been a wake-up call: even coming up with alliterative sentences requires more energy than I have to spare.

For some Appreciators (including this one) parts of 2013 have been majestic, but considerable chunks have been bloody awful. This year TF has seen its ensemble cast (us) go through trials and tribulations that we could not have seen coming. But unlike conventional entertainment, the people are genuine, and none of the drama has been set up purely for our enjoyment.So, as the curtain falls on season 2, we are left with something of a cliffhanger: will our heroes and heroines overcome, or will they stumble and fall?

The beauty of season 3, and everything that follows, will be that the outcome is in our hands.If I was a betting man, I’d say that this narrative arc of ours has plenty of running-time left to allow for the story to take a turn for the better. Maybe not this year – maybe not even at the end of next year – but, by the time all is done and the credits start to roll, I’d be amazed if things hadn’t worked out ok.So for the next couple of weeks, TF will rest, re-energise, recuperate (hey, maybe I do have the energy for alliteration!) and prepare itself to throw anything and everything at whatever life foolishly puts in it’s way. That’s where this week’s Tash comes in. When TF returns, it intends to channel some of the spirit of this man:

That’s Jules Winnfield (aka Samuel L Jackson) in Pulp Fiction. He will be the inspiration for season 3 because, sometimes, you have to snap some necks if you want to cash those cheques (figuratively speaking, of course).

Have a great couple of weeks!

KEEP. GOING.

What’s next?

Posted on July 19, 2013 by tashfriday

Good morning Tash Appreciators,

It’s clear that, for the first time in years, summer is truly here. Let’s hope it’s sticks around for a while.

Summer can be the best time of the year. When the weather is good, people tend to get out more, see their friends and generally have a great time. There’s also the prospect of getting away from the drudgery of daily life to somewhere exotic; where the grass really is greener.

Speaking of places where the grass is greener, TF was ecstatic to receive a present all the way from Cambria, California (a few short miles from the spiritual home of Tash Friday) this week. It was a book containing tips to groom one’s Tash – smashing stuff and much appreciated!

My favourite so far.

Anyway, back to summer. It can also be a time when you take stock and you realise that half of the year has already rushed by. That chance to reflect can leave you either with a sense of satisfaction about how the year has gone so far or it can leave you thinking “what have I been doing for the last 7 months!?”

I’ve recently started watching the West Wing (I think this is the third time!) as a bit of a morale booster. For those who haven’t seen The West Wing, you need President Bartlet in your lives. Immediately:

In the first episode, Bartlet gives some advice which I think is useful for the summer. His staff are caught up in their own squabbles and difficulties and they’ve taken their eyes off the bigger picture (righting wrongs, saving the world etc etc). Bartlet gathers them together and says:

“Breaks are good. It’s not a bad idea to take a break every now and then… But break’s over.”

He sends them on their way with a suitable anecdote, then turns to his secretary and asks purposefully “what’s next?” This summer, we all need to take a break. We’ve all worked hard for the last seven months. But once we’ve had time to rest and think, we need to get cracking with what we really want to do. We need to work out what’s next.To the Tash. Two things which spring to mind when summer arrives are beaches and ice cream. A type of ice cream is Magnum. Magnum P.I is the name of a show in which Tom Selleck played the lead. In Magnum P.I, Tom Selleck was often at the beach; sometimes while making important phone calls. Therefore, logically, this week’s Tash could only be the great Tom Selleck:

What? It makes perfect sense, honest…

Have a fantastic weekend folks – I’ll be taps aff by 5.01pm!Keep going!

Friday Quote – The West Wing (rebeckaflatt.com)

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