Beard Campaigners issue urgent hot weather advice for the hirsute
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has issued emergency advice for the hirsute as Britain faces potentially its hottest day of the year so far on Monday
Tips for protecting the Beard in hot weather
If the beard is above six inches in length moderate summer pruning may be in order. However this will only be needed if the hot weather continues
Where possible do not go out between 10am and 6pm and stay in a cool or air conditioned space, such as a library or pub while keeping socially distanced.
If the beard starts to overheat immersing it in the freezer cabinet of the nearest supermarket will provide an instant remedy
Hand held fans may also be used to ventilate the beard
If the beard starts to dry out in the heat and follicles become brittle regular immersion in a glass of craft beer or lager will moisturise and nourish the beard
Do not use beard oils. In heat these may make the beard a sticky mess
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, as well as warmer temperatures the UV index will be. For those who have not been out much so far in 2021 there is an additional danger to the follicles. Shielding the beard with a mask or bandana may be prudent.
Conker Campaigners back efforts to save Muswell Hill conker tree from developers
The Campaign for Real Conkers that promotes rule free conker playing has backed a residents campaign to save a Muswell Hill conker tree from being cut down by developers.
The tree in Cascade Avenue off Muswell Hill N10 in North London has a Tree Protection Order but developers claim it is unsafe. The ultimate decision rests with the local Haringey Council.
The campaigners say that once lost conker trees are not easily replaced and there is clear evidence that the tree is both well loved and used in the autumn for the key purpose of collecting conkers. Sadly this is not always the case across the country and conkers can lie uncollected.
CFRC Organiser Keith Flett said, the early evidence from tree blossom is that 2021 could be a vintage year for conkers. To lose this ancient tree in that context is entirely unacceptable
The CFRC says that conkers is one of the few sports that can be played for free. All that is required is a conker and some string.
It is opposed to championships, rules, regulations, separate teams for men and women and commercial sponsorship.
It seeks to encourage young people to play conkers. It should not be the preserve purely of those of mature years
Johnson gets married as a Catholic demonstrating his familiar ‘flexible’ approach to life
Carrie Symonds and Boris Johnson got married on 29th May at the(Catholic) Westminster Cathedral in Victoria St.
The marriage has excited some comment on the basis of how Johnson who has been previously married twice was allowed to get married again in the Church. It appears the answer is that since Johnson wasn’t a Catholic in those marriages they don’t count but being brought up as a Catholic does.
I’m not religious so I leave such doctrinal matters to others. Such things are hardly unknown on the left however. A small left-wing party some years back deciding it no longer wanted certain people as members simply returned the subs they had paid and told them they had never been members anyway.
Johnson was brought up as a Catholic by his mother- who knows what religion if any Stanley professes. However when he got to Eton he decided he’d transfer to the Church of England where presumably he remained until recently.
There is a long standing ruling class prejudice against Catholics dating back to the 1701 Act of Settlement and it remains the case that the Monarch cant be a Catholic as they head up the C of E. Being a Catholic presumably struck the young Johnson as an unnecessary bar to progress.
Given he managed to be both for and then against the EU ultimately backing the latter on the basis of personal expediency yesterday’s marriage was firmly in character for Johnson.
Latest ever start to the Beard, Shorts & Sandals Season today
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that with another Bank Holiday weekend the 2021 Beard, Shorts and Sandals has been declared open on Sunday May 30th.
It is the latest ever start to the official season, 11 days later than in 2020 due to the very wet and cold weather the UK has had in May.
The BLF says that it has relaxed guidelines for the 2021 season and brought in a new framework governing types of footwear, length of shorts and the controversial issue of socks:
1] Shorts may be half length (to the knee) or three-quarter length-‘culottes’. The length of shorts is particularly important as climate change may mean that unprotected legs get sunburnt.
2] Footwear should be casual. There is a considerable range of sandal type footwear now available. Some leaves parts of the feet and toes open to public view, while some does not. The BLF is not prescriptive about the matter.
3] Socks may be worn, depending on individual preference. If the beard, shorts and sandals are to be displayed in busy urban areas it is likely to be prudent to wear closed rather than open casual footwear.
4] There is no prescription or definition on what type of beard may be worn, or how this may match with the shorts and sandals. This again is left up to the individual.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, its good that the weather has picked up enough at last to allow the official opening of the Beard, Shorts and Sandals Season 2021. We would urge those participating to stick to the guidelines, developed after much experience of beards, shorts and sandals wearing. Not everyone takes to the appearance of the beard and sandals wearer in a positive way but the guidelines help people to stay safe.
The alcoholism of Alice is, as we have previously noted, a very serious issue and rightly has been a focus of the Archers in recent weeks. There have however been undertones of temperance and they were to be heard again this.
The social life of Ambridge, such as it is, revolves around The Bull and the Grundy’s cider barn. Social drinking is a way of life. Indeed the traditional folk song John Barleycorn underlines quite how central it has been over the centuries.
It may well be that various members of the Ambridge ruling class such as Lilian and Brian are people who drink too much. However the thought of Jennifer that they had ‘normalised’ drinking and hence made Alice an alcoholic is a line too far. It is simplifying a complex matter.
Ambridge Socialist poll. Could The Bull thrive as a temperance hotel?
Now that Helen and Lee are moving into Beechwood it has finally been revealed that Lee has certain peculiarities (as we all have). In this case it’s a collection of models and posters of Bruce Lee, the Incredible Hulk, Spiderman and so on. Negotiations over the positioning of the various items continue
Vince is in lurve
Vince has trodden pig shit over the carpets at Lower Loxley and uses this as the ideal moment to announce that he lurves Elizabeth. She is not so sure so they have lunch instead
Johnson first PM to marry in Office since Lord Liverpool who presided over the Peterloo Massacre
Carrie Symonds and Boris Johnson have reportedly got married today at Westminster Cathedral, a grand building on Victoria St close to Victoria station and also close to the current Labour Party HQ.
Back in the day it would have been seen as unusual at best for a Tory PM to live with the unmarried mother of his latest child at Downing St but fortunately times change even in the Tory Party.
Johnson is in any case in good company. The last PM to marry in Office on 24th September 1822 was Lord Liverpool (1812-1827) who presided over the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester in August 1819. Protesters for the vote were cut down and killed or seriously injured by the Yeomanry- local businessmen on horseback with sabres.
E P Thompson in the Making of the English Working Class notes that Liverpool’s verdict on the Manchester Magistrates who sent in the Yeomanry was that their action was ‘substantially right’ in ordering something that led to the death and injury or ordinary people.
Beard Power likely to be central to Champions League final result
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that beard power is likely to be central to the outcome of the 2021 Champions League Final.
The Financial Times (29th May) has published a series of statistical graphs showing that both Chelsea and Manchester City are amongst the most wealthy of European Clubs with teams reflecting that status.
This means that advantage must be looked for elsewhere, and hear beards and beard power could be decisive.
According to research published on twitter by Steven DC (OheeDC) Chelsea have more hirsute players available in Porto than Manchester City but this in itself is no guarantee of the outcome of the game.
As ever the BLF underlines that it is how the beard is deployed that is likely to be decisive on the pitch.
Another important factor is the beard power displayed by the managers. Here Guardiola is expected to shave Tuchel but things may appear differently on Saturday evening.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, our advice to the Chelsea manager is to play Giroud from the start. He doesn’t need to interface with the ball just flaunt his beard in Manchester City’s half
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that with another Bank Holiday weekend the 2021 Beard, Shorts and Sandals is set to open on Sunday May 30th.
A public vote saw 54% say they were ideologically opposed to wearing socks with sandals. However a combined 46% thought wearing socks was practical or their personal preference anyway. The 54% fell short of the 66% required to make ‘no socks’ part of the official BLF guidelines.
The BLF says that it has relaxed guidelines for the 2021 season and brought in a new framework governing types of footwear, length of shorts and the controversial issue of socks:
1] Shorts may be half length (to the knee) or three-quarter length-‘culottes’. The length of shorts is particularly important as climate change may mean that unprotected legs get sunburnt.
2] Footwear should be casual. There is a considerable range of sandal type footwear now available. Some leaves parts of the feet and toes open to public view, while some does not. The BLF is not prescriptive about the matter.
3] Socks may be worn, depending on individual preference. If the beard, shorts and sandals are to be displayed in busy urban areas it is likely to be prudent to wear closed rather than open casual footwear.
4] There is no prescription or definition on what type of beard may be worn, or how this may match with the shorts and sandals. This again is left up to the individual.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, socks are always the most controversial issue during the Beard, Socks and Sandals season. It is an issue that seems to divide the beard, shorts and sandals community. Ahead of the start of the season on Sunday it’s clear that there is no super-majority to suggest a move away from leaving the matter up to individual preference.
Beard, Shorts & Sandals: Karl Marx & the socks question
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that with the official start of the 2021 Beard, Shorts & Sandals season delayed due on Sunday, it is reviewing the outcome of an advisory vote on the socks question.
The campaigners say that socks have come to occupy an important place in modern culture.
As recently as 2019 Boris Johnson, was criticised for allegedly wearing the same pair of socks on more than day. It was an environmentally friendly act, unusually for Johnson, but like his politics might have whiffed a bit.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, I can hardly speak because during the night the resident cat, Holly, continues to carry off my socks and dump them in a pile with her cat nip mouse as something to play with..
As ever Marx (Heroes of the Exile) has the best analysis
an officer of the revolution must carry the following articles according to regulations: 1 head-covering and cap, 1 sabre with belt, 1 black, red and yellow [60] camel-hair sash, 2 pairs of black leather gloves, 2 battle coats, 1 cloak, 1 pair cloth trousers, 1 tie, 2 pairs of boots or shoes, 1 black leather travelling case — 12″ wide, 10″ high, 4″ deep, 6 shirts, 3 pairs of underpants, 8 pairs of socks, 6 handkerchiefs, 2 towels, 1 washing and shaving kit, 1 writing implement, 1 writing tablet with letters patent, 1 clothes brush, 1 copy of service regulations.”
It’s more than time for a trade union in craft beer
This week has seen a number of posts on Insta and Twitter and a feature on Woman’s Hour on Radio 4 with Melissa Cole and Charlotte Cook focusing on issues of sexism, harassment, homophobia and transphobia in craft beer.
Craft is of course modern, cutting edge stuff full of people who the Daily Telegraph would describe as ‘woke’. Yet there are still employers and employment relations and wherever they exist there is ample scope for bad practice and worse.
The answer as Matthew Curtis, the Burum Collective and others have posted is a trade union. Or to be more accurate it’s the start of an answer.
My occasional posts on the matter usually attract little obvious attention. Beer (aside from Big Beer) is largely not organised by unions and someone working in the sector reposting such a piece might find themselves victimised or blacklisted by their employer. Both are illegal but taking effective action in that context is hard work. Ask those who have been blacklisted over the years in the building trades about that.
Maybe the impact of COVID-19, furlough and potential and actual job cuts has opened a moment when the trade union movement can organise craft beer. It’s not union officials in Head Offices that’ll do that though, its workers on the ground pushing for it.
Brewdog lost an Employment Tribunal case in 2018 against a former employee who took a case around the issue that the brewer had failed to make adequate adjustments in a situation where the individual had failing eyesight. I haven’t read the Tribunal judgement but would merely note that it is not particularly easy to win ET cases.
The Bakers Union (BFAWU) balloted for and took strike action at two Wetherspoons pubs in Brighton over a demand for a £10 living wage and union recognition. The Bakers have been pioneering in efforts to unionise companies like McDonalds.
Of course Big Beer is largely unionised, mainly by Unite and Unite also has membership in some craft brewers as does the independent union IWW.
Craft Beer is much smaller and mostly union free though, even if more progressive employers do pay the living wage. On the whole in recent times while union organisation in large scale private sector employers is robust (I’m a union officer in this environment) in smaller private sector areas unionisation is poor.
In short if people have an issue they quit and go somewhere else. Not always ideal for either employee or employer.
Of course there is nothing to stop anyone working for a craft beer brewer from joining a union. They will get personal representation and advice and much cheaper and much better informed advice too than consulting a lawyer.
Collective recognition is a different matter. Unions like anyone else have to look at resource and cost as well as the important principle of trade union organisation and recognition. Recruitment and recognition campaigns are hard fought and hard won.
When it comes to sexism, harassment and so on in the workplace, union organisation and recognition does help a lot. Cases can safely be called out (it still takes a lot of courage though) and there is an established framework for dealing with them. Far from all work out well but the large employers where I operate do identify transgressors, particularly serial transgressors and sack them.
That’s just the beginning of a lengthy story though. What about equal pay, the gender pay gap, the gender pension pay gap? Also what about detrimental impact of maternity on promotion opportunities(it shouldn’t exist, it does) and by the way are the Executives still a load of white men in suits. Unions actively grapple with all these issues.
Some craft brewers are probably large enough to warrant collective representation now. Brewdog, Beavertown and Camden come to mind. That doesn’t mean ‘everybody out’ by the way. It mainly means a better organised way of reflecting and dealing with workplace and workforce issues.
The same applies to bars which is why the BFAWU initiative at Spoons is interesting.
So when it comes to unions in craft beer and pubs, perhaps the question is, if not now, when?
Update
There is an interesting post from Boak & Bailey @boakandbailey. It focuses on what beer drinkers and pub goers can do. Boycott is the obvious point though if that is to be effective it needs to be collectivised and focused on particular issues. Personally I make a point of talking about unions and the importance of joining without minimising the issues & problems which obviously as a union officer I am very familiar with. The bottom line though is to get the confidence to challenge and do something. That can be a very hard thing to do, but it can be done
trade unions active in this area include @IWWLondon @BFAWUOfficial @FairHospitality
