Aug. 4, 2022 - "Face Lathering, I Don't Get the Appeal" and Other Thoughts
#GEMsOfWisdom / #RawHoggin
I don't like face lathering. There, I said it. Feels good to get that off my chest.
Everybody argues the merits of face lathering and I definitely see the appeal, especially when traveling. There's a strong argument for less gear on the countertop, adequate time hydrating the stubble, and plenty of pre-shave exfoliation. All that being said, I just don't enjoy it as much. I get demonstrably better results starting my lather in a bowl, I don't sling lather all over my bathroom, and I have a place to catch extra lather and falling lather as I work it into my stubble. Combine all that with a super-scrubby boar knot that's just starting to split and feather, and I'm already missing my usual Precision Loading™ routine.
Also, what is going on with my soap consumption?
As usual, I weighed my soap an hour or so after this morning's shave, but I'm confused by the result. How did I only use one gram yesterday but eat up more than three grams today? I loaded for about a minute today, versus forty seconds, but with the same soaking wet brush as yesterday.
Here's what I'm thinking.
I generally use a different soap every day, and scoop (versus tub loading), so I'm used to working from a dry soap puck. That's different than Austere August; now I'm using the same tub of soap everyday and I'm introducing water directly into the tub. The top of this Lime tub is starting to hold some moisture, making it much easier to load soap, at the same time the boar knot is breaking in (making it easier yet to pick up soap). By that logic, I will need to spend less and less time loading throughout the month, with a steeper decrease at the start (when most of the bristles split). We'll see if this holds true.
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#sidetracked u/Teufelskraft
I promised I'd get to some fun stuff. Today, I present for your enjoyment two upbeat tunes, both released in the aughts and linked by variations on some of my favorite slang.
Let's start with a delightful 2006 single from revival girl group The Pipettes. I think this is from the remixed 2007 release of We Are the Pipettes, which has a bit of filler, but generally mined the early 1960s girl group sound with just the right balance of riot-grrrl-meets-Spice-Girls wink and reverence. The A-sides are where it really shines, the best of those being "Pull Shapes." That title is British slang for dancing, and that's exactly what this track will make you do. It's pure, uncut joy, manufactured in a lab, slapped onto vinyl, and delivered straight to you ears.
YouTube: The Pipettes - "Pull Shapes"
Next, we have a song that throws "Shapes" instead of pulling them.
This is one of my favorite tracks from The Long Winters' 2003 release When I Pretend to Fall. I recall songwriter and vocalist John Roderick explaining that he got the expression "throwing shapes" from old hair metal promo photos, where a flamboyant front-man would pose with their guitar, body contorted into weird angles, axe jutting out all showy and phallic. They were arranging themselves into shapes and throwing them at the camera. Anyway, a search engine will tell you "throwing shapes" is, again, British slang for dancing. Let's say both are true and chalk it up to vernacular differences across the pond. I'll also call your attention to this song's twangy guitar melody. I'm no musicologist, and my command of theory is nonexistent, but I'm pretty sure that riff skitters along at a different time signature than the rest of the propulsive composition—at least after the first few bars. That little flourish reads as tangled more than it does showy, elevating a good song to a great one, making "Shapes" one of my favorite in the short-but-terrific Long Winters catalogue.
(If I had to choose—today, right this moment, knowing I'd forget about a gem—I'd say "The Commander Thinks Aloud" is Roderick's crowning achievement, while "Carparts" and "Mimi" are my favorites. "New Girl" and "Pushover" would be in there as well. When I Pretend to Fall is good start to finish, if you prefer to listen to a full album.)
Bandcamp: The Long Winters - "Shapes"
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