It’s that stage of proceedings

Posted on November 8, 2013 by tashfriday

Good morning Tash Appreciators,

It may not quite be panto season yet, but we seem to have reached the stage of proceedings where we take a slight pause from the action to make some shout-outs. Feel free to whoop loudly if you, or someone you know, is mentioned…

This week, a steady trickle of Movember-related Tashes have been submitted for TF’s consideration. Here are a selection of my favourites:

From the world of professional sport comes a Tash which must surely have been on the go for some time. This chap is a South African rugby player who has played for the Lions in the Super-14 and, more recently for the Glasgow Warriors. I think this effort may take some beating:

From across the Pond comes a Tash of a sweeter kind – a sugary effort from the stupendously named Glory Hole Doughnuts in Toronto:

Last, but not least, comes another offering from Scotland. I am reliably informed that this chap is known for smashing his way up and over various high mountain passes around west central Scotland. I also hear that the shape of his Tash is the result of exhaustive aerodynamic testing – a man must be aerodynamic, after all. Mr Russell Bridges, take a bow, sir:

Thanks for all the submissions and #keepgoing to those taking part in Movember.

Have a great weekend folks!

#keepgoing

Winter Warmer

Posted on November 1, 2013 by tashfriday

Good morning Tash Appreciators,

As the clocks fall back, the nights draw in, and the cold winds begin, we could all do with a winter warmer. This weeks TF will offer two types of warmth: practical advice for avoiding a winter chill and fire for the soul.

First, the practical advice. As this is TF, the most obvious tip is to suggest that you all rock a Tash. This appears to be good advice – even for the ladies – as there is plenty of cosy looking Tash-wear which would both be fashionable and a public proclamation that you appreciate the Tash:

For the gents, Movember begins today – why not join in? I understand that the key advantages of having a Tash in November are as follows: looking fly; using it to pick up chicks – I understand they dig them (apologies for the sweeping generalisation and crass language, ladies, I’m sure you understand that it is done in the name of charity); and that you will be helping to combat prostate and testicular cancer as well as mental health challenges. As if that wasn’t enough of an incentive, if you decide to participate in Movember then you effectively are this week’s Tash – Nick Offerman:

For chaps like myself, who are not blessed with facial follicles capable of bashing out a worthy Tash in 30 days, we can always donate to the cause. I already have:

Naturally, any Appreciators who decide to sport a Tash will, if they wish, be included in one of this month’s TFs.

Now for the fire in the soul stuff. As I think I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been working my way through the West Wing (again). It’s the ideal winter warmer – when the nights are cold and dark, and hibernation seems a very attractive proposition, there’s nothing better than watching President Bartlett and the gang blow the walls off every room they enter just by being good folk. It may be a political drama but it’s very accessible and the characters are likeable. If you have any doubts about it, ask someone for a loan of episode one – I’ll be surprised if you don’t stick with it.

I’ve just finished season 2 and – without giving away any of the plot – the President has a decision to make. He’s challenged God; he’s seen the ghost of an old friend; and has made a deal with his wife. However, with the words “If you think we’re right and you won’t speak up because you can’t be bothered, then God, Jed, I don’t even want to know you” ringing in his ears, he stands at the lectern, puts his hands in his pockets, looks to the side, smiles and…

It’s magnificent on too many levels to list but, if you like reading TF, then you must watch it.

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)

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

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

What’s his name?

Posted on June 6, 2013 by tashfriday

Good morning Tash Appreciators,

Earlier this week, I had to do google image searches for manly/macho men (don’t ask, but I swear it was legit).

What struck me about the results of these searches was that although there were one or two familiar faces (Tom Selleck being one, obviously), there were also a whole slew of Tash toting men who weren’t named. They were simply filed under the name “manly man”.

A few examples:

Who are these men? I may simply be ignorant and these chaps are in fact as well known as Tom Selleck, but I doubt it. It’s strange that their names have been lost/forgotten but the fact that they’re proper blokes lives on.

In classic portrayals of “real” men, such as classic westerns, the hero of the piece is often not named. He just appears, fights off a gang of lesser men and rides off into the sunset. The best example is perhaps Once Upon A Time In The West where Charles Bronson (another classic Tash) is simply listed as “Harmonica”:

A more recent example would be Ryan Gosling in “Drive”, where he’s simply “Driver”:

There’s something about these characters that appeals to men (and women?). They lack any ego whatsoever, to the extent that they have no name, but they do have a conscience and a depth of character which goes beyond simply what they are known as.

In an age when every person has to self-publicise themselves and what they do – and when every movement must be documented on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or some other social networking website – it’s reassuring to know that, even on google, a real man can be just be a bloke, without having to provide his life story. If people like his work, great. If they don’t, then that’s fine too.

I suppose it harks back to simpler times, but sometimes simple would be better.

Have a great weekend folks.

Keep going!

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