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Hirsute cosmologist Peter Coles beards broadcaster James O’Brien to win Beard of Winter vote

Posted in Beards, The Universe and Stuff on January 30, 2018 by telescoper

Wow. Fame at last!

 

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Beard Liberation Front

PRESS RELEASE 30th January

Contact Keith Flett     07803 167266

Hirsute cosmologist Peter Coles beards broadcaster James O’Brien to win Beard of Winter vote

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that leading hirsute cosmologist Peter Coles has bearded broadcaster James O’Brien to win the Beard of Winter poll.

Mr Coles, of Cardiff University and Maynooth University in Ireland was previously a contender for Beard of the Year in 2014.

The Beard of Winter is the first of four seasonal awards that lead to the Beard of the Year Award in December 2018.

It focuses both on fuller organic beards, suitable for winter weather but also on beards that have made an early New Year impact in the public eye.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, Peter Coles has one of the most distinguished of scientific beards. Clearly his victory was in the stars but…

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Hirsute cosmologist Peter Coles joins Beard of Winter poll after ‘write-in’ votes

Posted in Beards, Biographical on January 22, 2018 by telescoper

I see that, despite popular demand, Keith Flett, on behalf of the Beard Liberation Front, has at the last minute decided to give me another chance to fail to win a beard award. I’m currently in second place in the poll as it enters its final week…

kmflett's avatarKmflett's Blog

Beard Liberation Front

PRESS RELEASE 20th January

Contact Keith Flett      07803 167266

Hirsute cosmologist Peter Coles joins Beard of Winter poll after ‘write-in’ votes

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that leading hirsute cosmologist Peter Coles has joined the Beard of Winter poll after write-in votes for him broke the threshold of 1% of the total poll

Mr Coles, based at Cardiff University and also at Maynooth in Ireland was a contender for Beard of the Year in 2014.

The Beard of Winter is the first of four seasonal awards that lead to the Beard of the Year Award in December 2018.

It focuses both on fuller organic beards, suitable for winter weather but also on beards that have made an early New Year impact in the public eye.

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, Peter Coles has one of the most distinguished of scientific…

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Hair from Bayeux

Posted in Beards, History with tags , , , , on January 18, 2018 by telescoper

Since the Bayeux Tapestry (which, being stitched rather than woven, is an embroidery rather than a tapestry) is in the news I thought I’d share some important information about the insight this article gives us into 11th century hairstyles.

As you know the Bayeux Tapestry Embroidery concerns the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings between the Saxons (who originated in what is now a part of Germany) led by Harold Godwinson (who had relatives from Denmark and Sweden) and the Normans (who lived at the time in what is now France, but who came originally from Scandinavia).

Most chronicles of this episode leave out the important matter of the hair of the protagonists, and I feel that it is important to correct this imbalance here.

Throughout the Bayeux Untapestry, the Saxons are shown with splendid handlebar moustaches, exemplified by Harold Godwinson himself:

This style of facial hair was obviously de rigueur among Saxons. The Normans on the other hand appeared to be clean-shaven, not only on their front of their heads but also on the back:

This style of coiffure looks like it must have been somewhat difficult to maintain, but during the Battle of Hastings would mostly have been hidden under helmets.

With a decisive advantage in facial hair one wonders how the Saxons managed to lose the battle, but I can’t help thinking the outcome would have been different had they had proper beards.

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Toby Young excluded from Beard of Winter shortlist

Posted in Beards, Politics on January 4, 2018 by telescoper

The campaign against Toby Young gathers strength…..

kmflett's avatarKmflett's Blog

Beard Liberation Front

Media Release

4th January

Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

Toby Young excluded from Beard of Winter shortlist

The Beard Liberation Front the informal network of beard wearers has said that self-styled ‘right-wing maverick’ Toby Young has been excluded from the Beard of Winter shortlist due to be unveiled on 14th January.

The campaigners say that the BLF has investigated whether Young has faced pogonophobic discrimination, after New Year criticisms of his appointment as an official Universities regulator.

The finding was that, on the contrary, Toby Young, and particularly his social media presence, has brought the hirsute into disrepute

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, the coveted Beard of Winter Award, the first of four seasonal Awards, invariably has a diverse shortlist, for example Prince Harry is certain to feature, but Toby Young is a beard too far.

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Doubt expressed over accuracy of measurement of the ‘Beard-Second’

Posted in Beards, Science Politics with tags , , , on September 4, 2017 by telescoper

As a practising scientist I too am concerned about the reliability of the definition of the `Beard Second’. In addition to the intrinsic variability from one individual to another (including genetic influences) many external environmental factors affect beard growth, so any definition must include conditions such as temperature, pressure, sunlight levels and whether or not the beard is supplied with nutrients. In any case the term `average’ usually applies to the arithmetic mean, whereas the quoted text seems to imply the median.

My advice to the Beard Liberation Front is to refer this matter to the National Measurement and Regulation Office for review but along with most government offices nowadays it only seems interested in issues that directly affect the ability of businesses to profit rather than safeguarding the accuracy and reproducibility of scientific matters of direct interest to the public, such as the rate of beard growth.

In the longer term, however, I believe the only way to establish a reliable standard for the `beard second’ is through an extensive research programme. A detailed proposal is in preparation to UK Research and Innovation, as it seems an appropriate topic for an interdisciplinary award.

kmflett's avatarKmflett's Blog

Beard Liberation Front

press release 3rd September contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

Doubt expressed over accuracy of measurement of the ‘Beard-Second’

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has expressed doubt over the accuracy of the unit of measurement known as the ‘Beard-Second’.

The ‘Beard-Second’ is designed to measure how quickly in time a beard grows.

According to Wiki:

The beard-second is a unit of length inspired by the light-year, but applicable to extremely short distances such as those in integrated circuits. The beard-second is defined as the length an average beard grows in one second. Kemp Bennett Kolb defines the distance as exactly 100 angstroms (10 nanometers). as does Nordling and Österman’s Physics Handbook. However, Google Calculator supports the beard-second for unit conversions using the value 5 nm.

The beard-second establishes a related unit of time, the beard-inch which is 29.4 days (or 58.8 days…

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Cat and Beard

Posted in Beards, History on August 12, 2017 by telescoper

No time for a proper post today so here’s a picture of a Victorian lighthouse keeper and his cat.

beard

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The Beard and Hat-Trick Test

Posted in Beards, Cricket with tags , , , on July 31, 2017 by telescoper

I’ve just arrived where I shall be for the next two weeks (of which more anon), but I couldn’t resist noting today’s remarkable finale of the Third Test between England and South Africa, which ended with Moeen Ali taking the last three wickets in consecutive balls. A hat-trick, no less. Quite a spectacular ending for the 100th Test Match played at the Oval.

I was so excited by Moeen’s performance that I tweeted about it and ended up on the BBC website with this analysis:

Fame at last!

The `inimitable Keith Flett’ didn’t need any encouragement from me to write a blog post pointing out that Moeen is the first England player with a beard ever to take a Test hat-trick.

Incidentally, there were quite a few comments on social media about the timing of Joe Root’s declaration, mainly arguing that he’d waited too long. I certainly wouldn’t have declared unless and until England had a lead of 450+, so thought he got it about right. More importantly, his team won with plenty of time to spare.

It’s been a truly topsy-turvy series so far, with England thumping South Africa at Lord’s and the Oval, but losing heavily at Trent Bridge in between. I wonder what will happen in the final test, at Old Trafford?

Probably it will rain…

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Beard of Summer 2017 poll concluding in close shave

Posted in Beards on June 30, 2017 by telescoper

The excitement is mounting as we go into the last day of voting for `Beard of Summer’…

And to anyone who accuses me of a blatant attempt to influence the outcome of this very serious poll, I say: “VOTE FOR ME!”

kmflett's avatarKmflett's Blog

Beard Liberation Front
Media release
30th June
Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

BEARD OF SUMMER 2017 POLL CONCLUDING IN CLOSE SHAVE

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said the poll for the coveted Beard of Summer Award looks like concluding with a close shave at midnight on Friday June 30th.

On the final day of voting the poll had a Welsh flavour with the lead alternating between Cardiff based academic Peter Coles and Caerphilly Assembly Member Hefin David.

The result is revealed after votes have been checked as the conclusion to National Beard Week on Saturday July 1st

The poll is the third of four seasonal Awards that culminates in the Beard of the Year Award at the end of December.

The campaigners say that as ever it is not just the style of the beard but the impact it makes in public

BLF Organiser…

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Taking the Biscuit

Posted in Beards, History with tags , on May 17, 2017 by telescoper

During the course of a short perambulation around Bologna this morning I came across this statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the famous biscuit manufacturer.

Apologies for the stray light affecting the picture. It was a very sunny morning!

I was subsequently surprised to discover via the interwebs that the Garibaldi biscuit is in fact an English invention, first produced in 1861 and was inspired by a visit to England by Garibaldi in 1854. No doubt it was his impressive beard that made him so popular.

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Campaigners say right-wing attempts to singe King of Spain’s beard nothing new

Posted in Beards, Politics on April 3, 2017 by telescoper

A bearded perspective on one of the Great Questions of the Day..

kmflett's avatarKmflett's Blog

Beard Liberation Front

Media release 2nd April

Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

Campaigners say right-wing attempts to singe King of Spain’s beard nothing new

Zimbio

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has warned that the current furore around Gibraltar as Brexit discussions open may be a ploy by right-wing elements in the Tory Party to launch a fresh attack on the King of Spain’s beard.

King Felipe V1 who sports a salt and pepper beard is thought to be the only serving hirsute European monarch.

Francis Drake, after agreement with Queen Elizabeth 1st, launched an attempt to singe the beard of an earlier King of Spain, also called Felipe at Cadiz, prior to the 1588 Armada.

The Daily Mail complained about King Felipe’s beard on his appointment in 2014:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2797591/will-english-singe-king-spain-s-beard-felipe-joins-facial-hair-trend-making-europe-s-bearded-monarch.html

BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, we’re no great fans of Royal Families but…

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