kidmercury

"You're balding." This is what my cousin says to me, out of the blue.

His fiancee agrees. So does my brother. And my brother's wife.

And the lady at the hair salon.

Now, to be fair, this isn't the first balding scare I've gotten. Back in college, in the year 2000, I had gone through a phase where I dyed my hair a whole bunch of colors: orange, green, blue, among others. Eventually, I decided to cut my hair and let the black grow back.

But it wasn't growing.

I panicked. Others may have LOL'd, but I was in "OMG WTF" mode. I even went out and bought Progaine, which is some shampoo that is supposed to stimulate hair growth.

It didn't work.

I don't know how or why, but eventually my hair started growing again, and all was well.

But in the event that this balding scare is for real, I started thinking about my strategy for dealing with baldness. Here are my thoughts:

1. Don't run from it, embrace it. This means no stuff like having a ponytail when it is painfully obvious the hairline is receding. Instead, this means shaved head.

2. Shaved head introduces a few concerns:

• Weird issues with your scalp. I'm not concerned about this, I think my scalp is fine.
• Distortion of other features. I think a shaved head will make my nose look bigger. I mentioned previously how I had been accused of having a big nose. LOL. I find this amusing and am not really concerned about it. As for eyebrows, though, that could be a more legitimate concern. May have to consider doing some work on that front. Probably worth doing so anyway for optimal appearance, though should baldness become a greater threat, some mild eyebrow shaping work may become a more worthwhile investment in terms of making myself look cool.
• Maintenance. This is my biggest concern. A shaved head means you have to keep it clean, which means shaving it more regularly. I barely get around to shaving my face, now I got an even bigger concern? Oh well. The alternative, which is just to let random patches on my scalp grow in whatever bizarre shape they want, is not an option. And besides, one of my resolutions for 2009 is to start looking like a real person again. The past couple years I've done nothing but work, which I do from home or Internet coffee shops. But astrologically, the social area of my chart is really gearing up again, particularly with Pluto going into Capricorn (though the social energy is specific to my chart, and not necessarily for you, depending on what your chart looks like). So once I get back in the swing of looking like a real person I should be up to the challenge of doing the maintenance work.

Role Models for Baldness

This also got me thinking: who are the coolest bald dudes? Which bald dudes can I look to for inspiration on how to be a cool bald dude? My top list:

Michael Jordan. No doubt about it, the best display of baldness ever. Like Michael Jordan, I have dark skin (though not nearly as dark as Jordan). I think I will look better bald when my skin is dark. Though my skin does lighten a good bit if I stay in colder climates for a while (like my old home, New York City).

Bruce Willis. Great transition from hair to baldness, he still looks cool and tough. I'm cool and tough, but it's not in my nature to present myself as tough. So I don't think I can play the Bruce Willis card in terms of baldness.

Seth Godin. Seth is one of my favorite marketers (here's his blog), and I think he's done a great job of marketing himself as a bald person. Also, I think if I was bald, a more academic, business-like image will benefit me. Don't get me wrong: I'll still write my songs of Love and Truth, will still drop Truth like it ain't no thang, and will still be Kid Mercury. But I may dress more academic should the baldness threat level get raised.

Don't Worry, Be Happy (At Least Not About Baldness, But Maybe About the Economy)

In any event, I'm not really concerned about baldness, and will not be taking any action anytime soon. I still got at least a few more years before it becomes time to take action. Perhaps even longer.

This post was just for my amusement, because I've overworked myself the past couple days and needed something to amuse myself before continuing to the tasks of the day. On a more grim note, though, Bob Chapman has a fantastic analysis of the economy up. Bob is a super smart guy who really knows what he's talking about in terms of the geo-political scenario as well as international economies. I found Bob from listening to Alex Jones' radio show. Here is my song for Alex, which I been meaning to do a blog post on. It's one of my favorites out of my jams (will definitely make Kid Mercury's Greatest Hits). Anyway, the point is that people need to listen to Alex's radio show. Homeboy knows WTF he's talking about and, even if you think he doesn't, he has the best guests on that cover a wide array of very real and very important information, so you should listen to it just for that.

Back to Chapman's killer article. Here are some excerpts:

Those of you, as we mentioned over the past several weeks, who don’t believe loans are loosening up are wrong, they are. Consumer and bank lending has grown by an annualized rate of close to 50% in the last six months. As this unfolds we see demonstrations in Iceland where the currency has been crippled, inflation is 18% and no one trusts government, bankers and politicians anymore. European banks will take a $75 billion hit on this fiasco. Incidentally Danske Bank sees Iceland’s inflation hitting 75%. That could well cause the overthrow of the government. The Iceland experience could be the forerunner for America three years from now.

Today worldwide banks are very interconnected and in the current environment that is very bad news, because eventually problems in one sphere will affect other spheres, making all currencies fall against gold.

We have not seen a market selling climax, so pressure will remain on the market for sometime to come. All the fairy tale rallies – the “Working Group on Financial Markets” creates will not last. 2009 will see many bankruptcies. Investors have not capitulated, nor do many really understand the severe gravity of our economic and financial problems. 95% of investors, the public and Wall Street still do not get it.

We recently saw a recommendation by a money manager, brokerage firm recommending US Treasuries. They have to be out of their minds. Everytime bonds are issued it makes the issuer less solvent, our currency less viable and the borrower a major loser. That is why people worldwide for the past six months have been cashing in dollars and other currencies for gold and silver bullion and coins. Some see what is in our future.

US Treasuries are no safe haven. There is a lack of functionality in the Treasury market and if not soon connected it could lead to negative investor perception. If that happens the Treasury will find it increasingly difficult and expensive to raise money and to roll over maturing debts. That will cause interest rates to rise as government is manipulating them lower negating their attempts to jump-start not only the economy, but the world as they both head into depression. The situation is so far advanced that 10-year TIPS are pricing in zero or netative average inflation for the next ten years, which, of course, is insane and shows you the extent of bond market manipulation by the Fed to keep interest rates low in order to keep mortgage rates low enough to allow refinancing and new buyers. Our government has savaged the TIPS inflation spread in order to keep their scam going and to give retirees no return on their Treasury investments. Anyone who buys US Treasuries is insane or stupid.

In 2 years 25% to 38% of all Americans will be out of work and waiting outside homeless shelters and food pantries. Many will be the elderly or single women and children. The question is will welfare and food stamps still be available?

Recently we ran the numbers of Barack Obama’s major contributors, which was Wall Street, banking, corporate America and the University of California – Berkeley, a long time nest of far left and communist causes. This is whom Obama is beholden too, not the American people. Obama will expedite the economic collapse by doing very little to help the people as America slips to second-world status. He will continue the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan and continue to spend vast amounts on security in the name of the scam called terrorism. His Cabinet is a rehash of Clinton Illuminists. The elites remain solidly in power, so much for change. This while the average American is desperate.

Check the full article for more of Bob's insight.