shave and a haircut, two bits

iPod morning commute music: Graham Parker: Passion is no Ordinary Word, The Graham Parker Anthology, Disc 1 (1993)

Yesterday morning's commute music, actually. I first got turned on to Graham Parker (and the Rumour, back then) in 1979, with his superb album Squeezing Out Sparks. But for some reason, that's as far as I went with his catalogue until this 2 disc anthology came out. My vinyl collection in the States had vanished by then, so the anthology became my sole Parker CDs, and they were revelatory! I prefer the earlier stuff found on disc 1, but the later stuff is cool, too. I finally replaced Squeezing Out Sparks with Arista's 1996 re-mastered CD which included, on the same disc, a live version of the same album, in the same order, referred to as 'Live Sparks'.

Today I don't have to go to work, as only the senior students have lessons, and I don't teach them on Fridays. Monday I'll need to go in, but Tuesday should be off as well. The rest of the students return on Wednesday, and from then on it's business as usual.

Yesterday I went for a haircut at the cheap barber located near Tenma Station on the JR Loop Line. On Thursdays, they charge only ¥1,800 (at yesterday's exchange rate) for a haircut, shampoo, mini-massage and and shave. As I've written before, I really enjoy this full treatment; yesterday, I was in the barber chair for over an hour. What's amazing to me is how in America this doesn't really exist. The emphasis is on speed, get it cut and get out ASAP. I know of no one in the States who has EVER had a shave at a barber shop. It's a shame, really, that this ritual, the shave and the haircut, is virtually nonexistent anymore.

Two bits, BTW, equals 25 cents. An old football cheer went like this: "2 bits, 4 bits, 6 bits, a dollar; all for Belvidere stand up and holler!"

I wonder if Americans still know what 2 bits are?