There’s been a whole lot of talk – and a few new laws created – over the safety issue of using cell phones while you’re driving a car. It’s unbelievable that some people try to text while they drive – there’s a reason why keyboards never became one of the standard dashboard instruments.

But while that particular problem has gotten all the media attention, another safety issue has gone completely ignored – that of using cell phones in a barbershop. Well, in little old New Zealand (which is not a part of Australia, by the way), one barber has taken a stand. Peter Bradley, co-owner of “The Stylish Man,” a barber franchise in the city of Auckland, has banned his patrons from using cell phones during haircuts.

“When people are running around trying to answer their phones it could be quite easy for them to get their ears cut,” Bradley told “The New Zealand Herald.” “It’s never happened but we’ve had a couple of close calls.”

While we can’t say any of our Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club® customers has ever had a painful conclusion to one of their cell phone calls during a haircut, we understand Mr. Bradley’s point.

And we would also have to say that having a cell phone to your ear could also be dangerous on aesthetic grounds – the barber might be forced to trim around the phone, leaving the visible outline of an iPhone in the hair on the side of your head.

Nevertheless, we aren’t going to launch an official ban on cell phones at any of our Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club® franchise locations. Frankly, most of the men who come into a barbershop are looking for a place where they won’t be told what to do.

However, there are a few additional activities, besides answering one’s cell phone, that our customers shouldn’t attempt in the barber chair, especially when receiving one of our sublime Straight Razor Shaves. They include:

• Flossing
• Forehead exercises
• Playing the harmonica

The management thanks you in advance for your cooperation.

Find out more about Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club® , our franchise locations and our franchise business opportunities at http://www.kennedysbarberclub.com.

If you haven’t had a chance to read our article, “Barbershop Bonanza: The World’s Most Expensive Haircut,” we suggest you do so – when a man pays $23,000 for a haircut, it’s a fairly big story (especially when you run a barbershop franchise business like we do!).

The man in question is the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaula. Lucky for us, we only have to type it, not pronounce it.

We appreciate the Sultan, because he’s a man of loyalty. When he couldn’t make it to London to get his hair cut by the barber who had been attending to him for 16 years, he brought the barber – Ken Modestou – to him (speaking of loyalty, we’re hoping Ken was able to reschedule all his other customers’ appointments for that week).

But enough about Ken. Let’s find out a little bit more about Mr. $23,000 Haircut – the Sultan himself.

A few fun facts:

• He’s worth over 20 billion dollars
• He owns over 100 Rolls Royces
• He also owns 232 Mercedes-Benzes, 224 Ferraris, 245 Bentleys, 150 BMWs, 165 Jaguars, 125 Porsches, and 20 Lamborghinis.
• He’s married to a woman 33 years younger than him. Oh, and another woman too.
• He owns a Boeing 747-400 furnished with gold plated furniture.
• He operates a $3 billion theme park (no word on whether the Tilt-A-Whirl is gold-plated, but thanks for asking).
• His home has 1788 bedrooms, 257 bathrooms, and a floor area of 2,152,782 square feet. Sad to say, it’s only the second largest palace in the world, after the Beijing Imperial Palace.

What the Sultan is probably most famous for – or infamous, to be more accurate – is paying a truckload of money to have seven beauty queens – including two Miss USAs, one Miss Teen USA and the runner-up for Miss United Kingdom – shipped over to Brunei for a “modeling job.” This did not go well, and one of the Miss USA’s, after being held captive there for over a month, smuggled a note to the U.S. Embassy, which basically read, “GET ME OUT OF HERE.”

So, Ken the barber, consider yourself lucky that you got your 23 grand and a plane ticket back to London. And we’ll certainly think twice before we accept one of the Sultan’s very, very over-generous offers to visit.

If you can’t afford to spend $23,000 on a haircut, well, guess what? You can get “The Best Haircut and Straight-Razor Shave You’ve Ever Had, or it’s Free™!” at any Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club® location for a lot less. And we mean, a LOT less.

Find out more about us and our franchise business opportunities at http://www.kennedysbarberclub.com.

Our Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club® recently saluted the proud American tradition of barbershop quartet singing in a recent article (BARBERSHOP QUARTETS: OR, WHO WANTS TO JOIN “SPEBSQSA?”). 30,000 Americans still actively participate in it, quartets still perform in such public arenas as Disney World – and remember, even Homer Simpson found success in a barbershop quartet (“The Simpsons,” Season 5, Episode 1 – when the Be Sharps conquered the music world).

The traditional barbershop quartet songs are fairly well known – “By the Light of the Silvery Moon,” “For Me and My Gal,” and “Sweet Adeline.” But we became intrigued by the Barbershop Harmony Society’s giant online index of sheet music – what other buried treasures lurked there, just waiting to be brought to life in four-part man harmony?

The answer was quite illuminating. For instance, TV fans can enjoy arrangements of “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Island,” “The Jeopardy Theme,” “The Happy Days Theme” and “The Muppet Show Theme, ” while 60’s and 70’s music aficionados can hum along with “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” a “Carpenters Medley,” “Build Me Up Buttercup,” “Candy Man,” and “Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road.” We were sad to note the absences of “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town” and “Billy, Don’t Be a Hero.”

What was even more interesting than the songs we knew was the songs we had no idea ever existed – vintage (read: not only before we were born, but possibly before our grandparents were born as well) tunes with intriguing titles that made us want to order the entire lyric sheet for a full-blown psychological inquiry.

Here are a few that stood out for us – and please remember, all these are real songs:

“I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Hot Dogs” – Yes? And what do you intend to do with them?

“The Spaniard That Blighted My Life” – Another argument against illegal immigration.

“Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” – Don’t tell PETA.

“Your Bulldog Drinks Champagne” – Yes, and my hamster eats caviar, what of it?

“If I Knock the ‘L’ Out of Kelly” – He’ll probably beat the ‘S’ out of you

“If He Can Fight Like He Can Love, Goodnight, Germany” – And he’s worse than Hitler

“Never Throw a Lighted Lamp at Mother” – What, an unlit one is fine?

“Never Hit Your Grandma With a Shovel” – Seriously – were these common problems?

“Where did Robinson Crusoe go with Friday on Saturday Night?” – I give up. To hit Grandma with a shovel?

So, when you hear the next terrible Britney Spears song, remember – it could be worse. She could record “I Like to Go Swimmin’ With Wimmin’.” Actually, now that she’s been alerted to the existence of it – she just might. Sigh.

We can’t promise barbershop quartets at our Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club® – but we can promise upscale surroundings, all the modern amenities including a complimentary beverage, as well as our outstanding Signature Straight Razor Shaves and Haircuts. Watch for more Kennedy’s locations opening soon – and find out how to invest in an outstanding franchise business opportunity of your own at http://www.kennedysbarberclub.com.

In the meantime, please remember to remove all shovels and lighted lamps from your home. No sense inviting temptation.

When you come into a Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club® for our luxurious Signature Straight Razor Shave™, you’ll always find a friendly experienced barber ready to give you the full relaxing treatment and the best possible service.

But The Intel Corporation seems determined to improve an already-awesome thing. If you’ve seen one of their latest commercials from their “Sponsors of Tomorrow” campaign, you’ll know that their vision for the future of the barbershop business somewhat surprisingly doesn’t include the barber. You can view the spot online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6nOlgNJfHo.

How do you like the Knicks this year?

In the commercial, you see lasers scan a very wary man’s face (an actor portraying robotics engineer Louis LeGrand) – and then a robotic arm wielding a formidable-looking straight razor execute a perfect shave of the one side of his face. The faux Louis breathes a sigh of relief – until he learns they’re about to do it all over again

There are several problems we have with this Future Shave scenario. First of all, since our electronic nose hair clippers rarely function correctly, are we really supposed to trust a mechanical arm to not remove an ear or two along with our whiskers? Second of all, who is actually named Louis LeGrand? Surely, he must be a distant cousin to Pepe Le Pew.

Finally, what is a barbershop without the barber? Yes, there are certainly many opportunities to boost the profit margins at our barbershop franchises by simply following in the footsteps of most American corporations and not actually employing people. And yes, the barbershop of 2020 could resemble a coin-operated car wash, where you sit in the middle of a cubicle and whirring mechanical shears and blades come at you from all sides (tourniquets provided on the house, of course).

But frankly, you can’t shoot the breeze with a robotic arm. You can’t talk sports, politics, movies or TV with a piece of metal, no matter how hi-tech it is. We’ve actually experimented by attempting to talk to a variety of household appliances, and only the vacuum cleaner seemed in the least responsive (we swear the power light blinked twice for “yes” and once for “no” – but we could just have had too much coffee that morning).

The final blow to the whole Robo-Barber scenario came when we discovered the Ultimate Truth about the Intel commercial – that the robotic arm was, in fact, NOT a robotic arm, it was a glorified puppet. And if there’s one thing worse than being shaved by robots, it would have to be by puppets. Imagine having a relaxing straight razor shave and turning around to see Fozzie Bear hacking away at your face. The indignity. The indignity.

So please allow our highly-skilled, licensed, flesh-and-blood barbers to handle all your tonsorial needs at a Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club® location near you (you can find the nearest one at our website at http://www.kennedysbarberclub.com). We guarantee no robotic arms and no puppets. Marionettes, however, are under consideration.

If you’ve seen our new article on “Weird Beards,” you’ll quickly observe that we’re not the largest fans of Facial Hair Gone Wild. But we must make an exception for a great friend of Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club®, who recently wrapped up a whisker-a-thon for a worthy cause.

Daniel Poskevich decided to begin growing a “Yeard” – that would be a beard that’s allowed to sprout unimpeded for 12 months – on September 20th, 2008, to raise money for charity (Cents of Life – find out more about it at www.centsofrelief.org). He also blogged about his experience – while sharing photos of the progress of the overgrown lawn that his chin quickly became.

Before...

and a yeard later

We’d like now to reprint his most recent entry from www.yeard.blogspot.com, which completely captures the climax of this year-long odyssey. And no, we’re not just doing this because the blog happens to mention us (well…it’s partly because it mentions us – who wouldn’t want to be called “professional beard assassins?”).

Friends-

As I said, the emotions are running high around here. I’ve already been put on warning by my fiancée, Shelleanor of Arabia, that she may not go through with our upcoming nuptials because she hasn’t seen my face in a year and won’t be used to it, so at least I have that going for me. I’m going to spend the rest of the afternoon today researching Buddhist chants and other relaxing exercises that I can perform on Sunday to avoid any possible separation anxiety/abandonment issues for when the Yeard is gone. Either that, or I’ll drink many, many Natty Lite tall boys at Graffiti Junktion…that can cure anything (even swine flu).

How did the shaving go? Can those tall boys really cure swine flu? Keep checking Daniel’s blog for the answers – and consider making a contribution to his cause at www.firstgiving.com/yeard.

And as always, feel free to drop by your nearest Kennedy’s Barber Club location, which you can track down on our website at http://www.kennedysbarberclub.com. You’ll find that our professional beard assassins are armed and ready to eliminate their next hairy target – with prejudice.

All of us at Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club® strive to provide you with the most luxurious “guys only” experience at all our franchise locations. Leather chairs, hardwood floors, free beverages and a relaxing straight razor shave are just part of our pampering program.

But, we have to be honest. The most time you’re spending at Kennedy’s is an hour, maybe an hour and a half. There’s only so much we can do. Especially when we’re so busy making you look even more handsome than you already are – we really have to focus our efforts in that direction.

So if you’re looking for more of an upscale space that you can occupy all by yourself, doing all the “guy stuff” that you want to do, we humbly suggest an overnight stay in Hong Kong at the boutique business hotel, The Fleming. There, they’ve just taken the most excellent step of implementing “His Space” concept rooms.

Paradise Found: “His Space” Hotel Room

What’s so special about the “His Space” rooms?

We’re talking in-room putting green.

We’re talking Playstation 3, Xbox 360°, and Nintendo Wii.

We’re talking iPod dock entertainment system, men’s magazines and a fully-loaded DVD library.

And finally, we’re talking 50% off selected imported beers.

Ultimately, however, I believe we’re really talking, order in a few pizzas, lock the door, and don’t come out for four or five days.

And by the way, if that’s not enough, you can upgrade to an Executive Room – which contains a foot massage machine. Which feels quite good when you’re playing Halo on X-Box.

And lest a woman is reading this article over your shoulder – and the veins in her forehead are beginning to bulge over this kind of special treatment for men – the fact is that the “His Space” rooms were only created after the success of an entire floor dedicated to “Her Space” suites.

And in those rooms, we’re talking fresh flowers, super-soft furry cushions, herbal tea, and a yoga mat. And we’re talking – bag that noise! Except maybe for the super-soft cushions. One’s posterior can get sore after a solid 12 hours of Xbox play.

If Hong Kong isn’t on your immediate travel agenda, then, instead, plan a visit soon to your nearest Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club® location for the best male-pampering in town. Find out more about us and the hottest barber franchise business opportunity currently on the market at www.kennedysbarberclub.com.

And sorry, we’re not currently set up for video games. When you start jumping up and down in the barber chair to celebrate cracking a Grand Theft Auto level, that can get a wee bit dangerous.

What makes a man a man?

There are a lot of different opinions on that. Some would believe that taking on the entire Russian Army singlehandedly makes a man a man (see the end of “Rambo 2). Some would believe that taking on terrorists, the Chinese, the President of the United States and the incredible crapfest that passes for your personal life in the space of a day makes a man a man (see any season of “24″). Still others would say a man can only be truly a man when he learns to be sensitive enough to appreciate and love the dorky girl he’s working with (see any Matthew McConaughey romantic comedy).

(By the way, nobody who would pick that last option is actually a guy, but hey, we believe in providing all points of view.)

We at Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club® decided we needed to settle the masculine matter once and for all. So we decided to research the matter extensively and thoroughly in an ongoing strenuous effort to determine the effort.

Okay, okay, we’re lying. We just Googled “manliness.” We have a lot on our plate these days.

And what did we find? An entire website devoted to manliness here! Surely the ultimate answer would be here!

Well, it turns out they had a 30 day program devoted to achieving manliness. Yes, a whole month of tasks that turn you into the ultimate guy – awesome. And what was most awesome was the final thing you had to do to accomplish manliness.

And that final task – the thing you do on the 30th day – the mission that signifies completion in the Art of Manliness – is going to a barbershop to get a straight razor shave.

Don’t believe us? Check it out here.

All of us at Kennedy’s know that there’s nothing like a barbershop shave to make a man feel like a man. And, more importantly, to make a man feel good about being a man. When you examine some of the other things The Art of Manliness asks you to do in the 29 days leading up to the shave – shine your shoes, take the Marine Corps fitness test, write your own eulogy, and start a debt reduction plan, to name a few examples – they don’t exactly sound like fun. They sound more like work. You know – something requiring thought and effort.

Well, all the thought and effort that goes into getting a Kennedy’s signature straight razor shave is walking into one of our Barber Club locations, sitting down in an empty chair and relaxing. Then, when it’s over, as the Manliness blog states, “you’ll walk out of the barbershop feeling rejuvenated, relaxed, and uber-manly.”

What guy could ask for anything more?

When you’re ready to complete your march to manliness, check out Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club® locations and franchise opportunities at www.KennedysBarberClub.com, where, of course, we pledge “The Best Haircut and Straight Razor Shave You’ve Ever Had or It’s Free!”™.

Matthew McConaughey, you’re even welcome to come. Just, please, for once in your life, keep your shirt on.

Pretty awesome. The Orlando Magic is moving forward to the NBA Finals against the legendary L.A. Lakers. And for all those naysayers who think they can’t go all the way (President Obama – we’re talking to you!), let’s remember that a lot of sports analysts thought LeBron was going to stop them cold in their tracks.

Instead, the Magic’s guard, Courtney Lee did a good job stopping LeBron in his tracks. Check out one of his great Magic moments from the play-offs against the Cavaliers here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmvUVUGrftY&feature=fvst

At Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club® , it’s great to see a first year NBA player like Courtney excel – making 11 starts and leading the team in scoring once and assists once during the playoffs.

What’s the secret of his success? Well…we think it just might be his haircut. Go back to YouTube and check out this video, if you haven’t already…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EohjDrmqzd8

At about three minutes in, you’ll see Courtney getting a shave and a cut at one of our very own Kennedy’s Barber Club locations. And, as he mentions in the video, other Magic superstars like Rashard Lewis are also proud Kennedy’s members. Which definitely makes us feel good about our franchise – hey, we must be doing something right if we’ve got NBA stars as regulars!

Courtney Lee

Guys like these are used to superior service – and you know they want to look sharp. That’s why they choose Kennedy’s. Our barbers pamper our customers with our guaranteed “Best Haircut and Straight Razor Shave You’ve Ever Had or It’s Free!”™ – not to mention free amenities, the latest men’s grooming products and a comfortable, upscale environment where guys can relax and shoot the breeze.

No matter who takes the NBA crown in the finals (and you may already know depending on when you read this), we all have to agree the Magic have had a dazzling year. So let’s give them props for a great season of basketball – and start getting pumped for another one next year.

In the meantime, guys, feel free to make yourself look like a pro yourself by stopping in at any Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club® location and experience some grooming Magic yourself. Find out more about us, our locations and franchise opportunities at our website at http://www.KennedysBarberClub.com.

And LeBron? You’re welcome to stop in too. Kobe…we’ll have to think about you. Let me go check the score…

Don’t know if you’ve had the chance to read our article on the history of straight razors (http://www.kennedysbarberclub.com/articles-2/history-of-straight-razors.php), but it’s pretty interesting to find out that guys used to shave their faces with everything from clam shells to gold – and that they’ve been doing it since the Stone Age.

Of course, they couldn’t have been too good at shaving back then, judging from Fred and Barney’s five o’clock shadows on “The Flintstones.” Still, it is impressive.

And so is the straight razor shave we offer at Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club® franchise locations – it’s the best and smoothest shave you can get anywhere, plus you get to sit back and relax while our expert barbers do all the work.

Here are some other well-known advantages of getting a straight razor shave from a licensed barber:

• Straight razors provide a better shave because of their larger blade. They cover a wider area and cut closer. Just ask Sweeney Todd.

• They don’t have to be rinsed as often during a shave, because the long blade “scoops” the lather along with it.

• Straight razors handle tough shaving tasks much better – especially beards and longer facial hair. Multi-blade razors get clogged with stubble in between the blades. Yuck.

• Multi-edge blades can irritate the skin and cause “razor bumps” on your face – a condition known to the scientific community as “Pseudofolliculitis barbae“ (by the way, come into a Kennedy’s and pronounce that correctly – and we’ll give you a free glass of water!).

We still believe, however, the greatest thing about getting a barbershop straight razor shave is getting the warm lather applied to your face, instead of the cold shaving cream or gel generally used at home. Those just put you on edge and make your face instantly suspicious – “is this idiot going to nick me all up again? Just start putting the wet toilet paper bits on me now and get it over with!” The lather, in contrast, just instantly relaxes you – and prepares you for the entire soothing straight razor experience.

We invite you to discover the glories of the classic shave at any Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club® location. You’ll find out it’s a big reason why our franchise has been such a great success. Find out more about us, our locations and franchise opportunities at our website at http://www.kennedysbarberclub.com.

And remember – before you stop by, practice saying “Pseudofolliculitis barbae!”

Through the ages, men have always known where to go to gauge other guys’ stances on issues – the Barbershop. Sports, politics, movies, which supermodel is the hottest, etc…

And that’s part of why we founded the Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club® franchise – to bring back the great tradition of guys sitting around shooting the breeze, but in a more modern, upscale environment.

That’s why we were happy to see talk show host Jimmy Kimmel take advantage of what we like to call “Barbershop Research” by conducting his own political survey in one (you can check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqxEhC9EEg ).

Kimmel was concerned that, with Obama taking office, he might make a joke that might be deemed to be racist in these politically correct times. So he took his cameras into a barbershop whose clientele was mostly African-American to get the lowdown on what he could and couldn’t talk about when it comes to the Commander-In-Chief.

What he immediately discovered was that it was NOT okay to make fun of the Obama kids. Totally off-limits – total agreement from everyone. But the second thing that was brought up – the first lady’s butt – proved to be a more controversial topic. At first, Michelle’s butt was said to also be off-limits – but then, as the guys started thinking about it, they decided it was another historic first – the first First Lady with back!

Then Jimmy started asking about Obama himself. Could he compare him to the black super-nerd of sitcom days gone by, Urkel? Nah, that wasn’t cool. Well, what about Carlton, the uptight rich kid from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?” Yeah – that worked!

What didn’t go over was joking that Obama wasn’t going to get his kids that puppy he promised – he was going to give them trained fighting pit bulls instead. So, Jimmy quickly realized, he needed to drop the Michael Vick jokes…

If you haven’t seen the video, check it out, it’s hilarious – and again, it’s also a reminder of the cultural importance of the whole Barbershop scene. If more politicians did “Barbershop Research,” they’d actually know what we think of them.

Then again, maybe that’s why they don’t do it.

Try out some “Barbershop Research” for yourself at any Kennedy’s location – you can find the nearest one at http://www.kennedysbarberclub.com/kennedys-all-american-barber-club-locations – or open one of the hottest franchise opportunities available yourself by checking out http://www.kennedysbarberclub.com/open-a-kennedys-all-american-barber-club.

And remember – there’s nothing like a Barbershop if you’re in the mood for some cutting remarks.