What the hell man? I don't see how playing Starcraft or anything on TL has anything to do with hair? Well maybe the Korean Music Discussion...
A little background first, I've been doing hair for about 13 years, it wasn't any thing I ever saw myself doing while growing up. I never played with dolls, I grew up poor so the only exposure I had to a "Salon " growing up was going to go see the local barber who charged $6 for a haircut. He also wore prosthetic ears like earmuffs (Wasn't sure if it was a war injury or a horrible barbering school accident)
I had never done very well in school, I would usually read through whatever text book I was given at the start of the course and never touch it again for the rest of the semester. I would get A's and B's on tests but absolutely REFUSED to do homework, my NES was way more fun than that. Needless to say most of my teachers saw this as a problem and most parent- teacher conferences ended with the phrase "He has sooo much potential"
By tenth grade I decided school wasn't for me anymore. I had discovered drinking and punk rock. Seriously, at 16 years of age what more did you really need anymore? I spent the next 7 years sleeping on couches, touring the west-coast playing to literally tens of people. But mostly I was drunk. I don't think I would ever trade those years for any other life. We didn't accomplish much, but, the experiences I had and the things I saw were like an after school special on steroids. I look back sometimes and chuckle, "How the fuck did I make it through all that without being killed or committed?"
Eventually the party has to end, I have a genetic condition known as the "Fuck-Its". I had grown bored with being poor, barely making enough money from a show to buy a bean and cheese from Taco Bell. I had gotten sick of being cramped up in a van with four guys I didn't even like anymore. On New Years Day 1999 I packed up all my belongings and moved for the first time from Santa Cruz to Sacramento. Some girl that had booked us shows let me stay on her couch and eventually I got a place of my own I had a shitty part time job calling people asking them if they wanted to participate in a political poll, yeah, I was that guy, the guy that calls ya during dinner time causing your Dad to slam down the phone and tell your Mom "Those Gotdam Telemarketers!!!"
The job didn't pay well but was all that I could find. By this time I was covered in tattoos( I was going to be a fucking rockstar right? Had to look the part!) no real skills to speak of, and being a High-School dropout, my grasp of English language was negligible. I wasn't exactly the guy you put on top of the resume pile. I knew I had to get an education but the thought of finishing up my High School credits just to sit through 4 years of an educational institution sickened me. I had thought of going to massage school but the thought of rubbing down fat hairy guys sickened me more.
One night I had met a girl at a local bar, she was covered in tattoos, had short bleached hair and the face of an angel who had been around the block. She bought me a couple beers and I asked her what she did. She told me she was a hairstylist and how great the freedom of making your own hours was. She said that she had made enough money to buy her own house. When I walked out her door the next morning I knew that day I was going to do hair and began looking into it.
"Cool Story Bro, I still don't see what this has to do with Starcraft or TL" I'm gettin there....Chill man.
I moved to Santa Maria a small rural town in the middle of California and far away from any fun I was used to. Why would I move to a town so far removed from the punk rock lifestyle I was used to? A place were the local watering holes played both kinds of music(Country aaaannnd Western)? Well simple, my dad lived there and I had found a beauty school there that would cost me less $1000 and I would only have to spend 9 1/2 months going to school. I fell in love with school the first day. Being the only straight guy in a school filled with 70 women was pretty damn cool. On flip side telling your Dad and friends that your going to beauty school and no I'm not gay can be kinda awkward. I loved working with my hands and took to cutting hair immediately. It was instant gratification, you take a pair of scissors to a persons head, the hair hits the ground and there's no turning back. What you leave behind can result in a smile or tears.
Though I loved the 8 hours a day while I was in school, the town was boring as hell. I usually spent my time stealing as much music as I could from Napster. One day I was walking down the aisles of the local Staples and a box caught my eye, StarCraft. The cover art looked cool and the graphics on the back of the box looked Awesome. I went home and installed. That game pretty much got me through 9 months of boredom. I played it everyday after school. I played the single player and dabbled in multi-player on bnet a bit. I was pretty terrible and was under the notion that you didn't have to expand until your main base ran out of minerals, but hey that's how it was played back then LOL. I think if wasn't for that game keeping me occupied during my free time in that boring town I probably would have quit school and gone back to being a couch-surfing scumbag.
"If this was a Replay I would have it on x8 speed by now" K man I'll fast forward a bit.
About a year after graduating school I moved down to San Diego to work for the Artistic Director of Paul Mitchell. Eventually after 5 yrs I had worked my way up and was charging $70 a haircut, ran a Salon and was traveling the country doing "Platform Work." Being a Platform Artist basically means you travel the country with a team, going to trade shows and conventions standing on stage teaching other hairstylists how to do hair. I put all my time into getting better at doing hair and would often go stretches of 10 weeks at a time without a day off. It was like being in a a band again but I now stayed in hotels instead of vans. It was a lot of hard work for little gratification, but, working around pretty models every weekend was often reward in itself. Needless to say I really didn't have time to play video games anymore.
It was around this time the economy started taking a dive. When people start hearing of an impending economic crisis, what do you think the first thing they cut out of their budget? Thats right, $70 haircuts. My client list was drying up, I hated the pressure of being in middle management telling people what to do and I guess in the back of my mind that little punk rock kid was laughing at me for being a corporate shampoo salesman. I didn't really get along with anyone I worked with and had only gotten anywhere in the company by my hard work alone. I was never the type to kiss-ass or play politics so my head was smushed against the proverbial glass ceiling. My case of the Fuckits kicked in and I just stopped showing up to work one day somewhere around my 30 birthday. Looking back I guess it was some kind of mid-life crises and I'm surprised I just didn't go out and buy a red sports car.
I wasn't sure I wanted to do hair anymore. I know I didn't want to go work for another product company, and working my way up in another salon didn't appeal to me either. I spent the next six months or so making my living by playing limit hold'em at a local card room. Eventually that just became a shitty office job with co-workers who hated you and wanted to see nothing more than you walk out the door broke.
Sometimes being talented at something is a curse. It will claw at you and keep you awake at night until you use it. It can be unrelenting and sometimes can make you psychotic if you try and ignore it. I eventually started getting back into doing hair, drifted from Salon to Salon and teaching at a beauty school here and there. I was making a living but not really doing with anything my career. I had big dreams that never went anywhere and fell into that trap of telling people about these big plans without really executing anything.
"Can we talk about Starcraft again?"
Yes.
I was in the doldrums at this point and pretty depressed. A friend of mine that knew I played Starcraft back in the day sent me an email saying that a sequel was coming out and he had attached a beta key. I downloaded the game and was immediately enthralled with it. While only multi player was available I played the hell out of it, even considering how bad I was. Memorable moments included not knowing about walling off and seeing 40 1 supply roaches unburrow in my main. "What the hell was that I asked!' I also remember being incredibly pissed off the first time cloaked banshees appeared and watching as all my workers got picked off. I was terrible at the game but at least I cared about something again! I was determined to get better at this game and began searching the internet on "Tips and Tricks" for playing Starcraft2. I eventually came across Team Liquid and immediately devoured information. I found that like hair cutting, there are no real "Tricks" it takes hard work and perseverance. If you want to know how the hair industry relates to Starcraft here's a handy analogy I sent to Intrigue. (More on that later)
As far as the hairdresser question I'll put it in starcraft terms for you. London is like Korea, the best in the industry reside there. The top end salons are like team houses with Sassoon training most of the bonjwas. Micro would be the way the hair is physically cut. Macro would be the overall shape of how the hair looks. Mechanics would be HOW you cut the hair. Where you pull it, elevate it, etc. Overall taste would be like "Gamesense" not everyone has it, but the people that do are scary! Mullets, Jersey blowouts and combovers would be considered the hair equivalent of cheese. At the high levels there's a lot of geometry involved and haircuts are constructed like build orders. Face shapes would be considered the maps. You want the right build to compliment the head shape. 98% of all hairstylist are pretty bad, think of the top 2% who can actually create art like the masters/GM league
So during my time on TL I discovered a bunch of streams and this little thing called the Day[9] Daily. I started watching it religiously to get better at SC2 and was able to improve quite a bit. Then it dawned on me, "I could do something like this with hair!" I started looking through threads here on TL giving advice on how to do streaming and eventually started looking for models. I started last year and did 3 shows a week up until 50 episodes. I think that I had let it run it's course and was able to build up a bit of a following on a social networking site for hairstylists. It amazes me how far behind my industry is techwise. Out of all the big billion dollar companies out there I was the first hairstylist to run a regular live show. Just like Day, except I was teaching noobs to be better cutters. It was later here on TL when I first saw the "One Minute(ish)" guides posted that I had another idea, I was going to to do "Short Attention Span Haircuts" Most haircut videos are extremely dull shot in a white room with a very droning English voice over. I would always fast forward them anyway so I decided to my own pre-sped versions originally inspired by the One Minute(ish) guides.
Since I've started doing all these videos I have started to get offers to go and teach in salon workshops all over the country. I am often hired by a hair-related website to do video and editing work and not only get to travel over-seas quite a bit but have been getting paid more for that work than actually work in the salon now. I think in a year I will be fully self employed and making a living off of skills that the TL forums have given me. The last time I was in London I desperately needed some music for a video I was editing and had remembered a blog post from Intrigue about his band. I dug up the blog and the music from "Castles" fit perfectly I pm'd him here asking for permission to use his music and he got back to me promptly and agreed! The music totally made the video and the guy I was filming is flying me back to London for more video work. I'll include the video down below so you guys can hear the sweet music as well as one of my short vids.
I know this got a bit long but I just want to thank the community for inspiring me to be someone better than I was when I started playing SC2. All in all I don't think I would be doing all this cool stuff in a industry as far from SC as you can get if it wasn't for you guys. I'm only a simple hairdresser so I don't think I can give much back. Maybe if you PM me I can give you a discounted haircut while in San Diego. But if nothing else you have my sincere gratitude and thanks for motivating me to do better.
TL;DR Thank you Teamliquid.net for helping to ignite my passion again.
Here a couple vids I've done the first is music from Intrigues band Castles and is video I shot and edited of one of my fav cutters.
this is my "One Minute (Ish) inspired one. I opted just for music since I cant talk that fast but it is me cutting. My girlfriend did some of the filming
Whoaaa that's pretty sick o.o I'm a bit at crossroads of what I want to do with my life as I haven't found anything I'm really passionate about. I'm going through school and while I do enjoy learning I don't know if it's something I can get a career I love.
Your blog gives me hope that one day I'll discover my passion and go on to work in a field I love :D
I just wanna say I'm on my phone browsing tl.net. Upon seeing this blog (and finished reading it of course), I knew I had to log in just to give you a 5 stars.
baller. as. fuck. sick blog, man. you are a really good writer. somehow, sc2 and hair are really strongly tied right now. just look at all the kr progamers! let's be honest; what really separates them from their eu/na counterparts?
On November 25 2011 18:48 Alejandrisha wrote: baller. as. fuck. sick blog, man. you are a really good writer. somehow, sc2 and hair are really strongly tied right now. just look at all the kr progamers! let's be honest; what really separates them from their eu/na counterparts?
HAHA I work in a barbershop at the moment and everytime an Asian guy with longer hair comes in, I'm like, hmmmm which progamer am I gonna make this guy look like
Streetheat, I live in San Diego too. Will have to check you out when I have time. In your video, the neighborhood looks like it is South of the 8, yes?
On November 25 2011 18:48 Alejandrisha wrote: baller. as. fuck. sick blog, man. you are a really good writer. somehow, sc2 and hair are really strongly tied right now. just look at all the kr progamers! let's be honest; what really separates them from their eu/na counterparts?
HAHA I work in a barbersop at the moment and everytime an Asian guy with longer hair comes in, I'm like, hmmmm which progamer am I gonna make this guy look like
wow really!? do you have a favorite progamer hairstyle perchance?
wow thx you impressed me. sick story of your life! i never was a punker or be tattoo´d but WC3 & SC2 changed my life in a simmilar but not so awesome way
On November 25 2011 18:59 Sky101 wrote: Streetheat, I live in San Diego too. Will have to check you out when I have time. In your video, the neighborhood looks like it is South of the 8, yes?
On November 25 2011 18:48 Alejandrisha wrote: baller. as. fuck. sick blog, man. you are a really good writer. somehow, sc2 and hair are really strongly tied right now. just look at all the kr progamers! let's be honest; what really separates them from their eu/na counterparts?
HAHA I work in a barbersop at the moment and everytime an Asian guy with longer hair comes in, I'm like, hmmmm which progamer am I gonna make this guy look like
wow really!? do you have a favorite progamer hairstyle perchance?
Actually MMAs Stands out for me right now as it's a bit refreshing to see a Progamer without the shag.
Edit: If you're a white kid the Hero cut will just make you feel like Bieber. One haircut can look great on one guy and look shitty on another. For instance when ever I grow out a long style I think I look all cool, then I look at a picture and feel like fat elvis.
On November 25 2011 18:48 Alejandrisha wrote: baller. as. fuck. sick blog, man. you are a really good writer. somehow, sc2 and hair are really strongly tied right now. just look at all the kr progamers! let's be honest; what really separates them from their eu/na counterparts?
HAHA I work in a barbersop at the moment and everytime an Asian guy with longer hair comes in, I'm like, hmmmm which progamer am I gonna make this guy look like
wow really!? do you have a favorite progamer hairstyle perchance?
Actually MMAs Stands out for me right now as it's a bit refreshing to see a Progamer without the shag.
shag you say? i must say i am unfamiliar with the term; i apologize for that and is that mma pre mo-hawk?
On November 25 2011 18:48 Alejandrisha wrote: baller. as. fuck. sick blog, man. you are a really good writer. somehow, sc2 and hair are really strongly tied right now. just look at all the kr progamers! let's be honest; what really separates them from their eu/na counterparts?
HAHA I work in a barbersop at the moment and everytime an Asian guy with longer hair comes in, I'm like, hmmmm which progamer am I gonna make this guy look like
wow really!? do you have a favorite progamer hairstyle perchance?
Actually MMAs Stands out for me right now as it's a bit refreshing to see a Progamer without the shag.
shag you say? i must say i am unfamiliar with the term; i apologize for that and is that mma pre mo-hawk?
A shag is a term that came from the early 70s originally called the shake in England. It Describes shattered edges with a round geometry. post mo. MMA's I would consider a mohawk while a fauk hawk is just a regular haircut using product to create the pointy shape
Thats inspiring and a well written blog. Finding something you're passionate about is one of the biggest things in life and to me seems so luck based. Either you find it or you don't. You did and you seem to have a blast with it, so props to you.
Interesting read! I don't know anything or really care about hairstyling much, but I ran into your videos some time ago and actually watched them through and thought they were great. Now I find out you're a SC/TL'er , pretty wild haha.
On November 25 2011 18:48 Alejandrisha wrote: baller. as. fuck. sick blog, man. you are a really good writer. somehow, sc2 and hair are really strongly tied right now. just look at all the kr progamers! let's be honest; what really separates them from their eu/na counterparts?
HAHA I work in a barbershop at the moment and everytime an Asian guy with longer hair comes in, I'm like, hmmmm which progamer am I gonna make this guy look like
I'm Asian and planning to grow my hair long for now, I'll love you forever if you could give me an sC cut!
Man, you lead an interesting life. Thanks for sharing this. By the way, where is that Japanese from at the end of the song in video one? Maybe intrigue could answer to that. 5/5
What would I do to live in San Diego and visit you know so I you could give me some advices about my hair/hairstyle Being struggleing to find something good and simple but all that our barbers do is or something like a mushroom or he/she cuts in my ears . I guess it sucks to be blond and white guy
Cool blog really, and keep up with the good work !
anyways, second video is sadly blocked for germany but real nice story ^^ didn't like the bold shouts in between though, maybe leave those out the next time, they distract too much imo.
That was a good read, always good to hear a genuine life story.
I hope you don't charge $70/cut any more because if I ever have a business trip around your area I will seriously consider getting a Bisu haircut (from you of course).
That was amazing story. It's so cool to read about the lives and experiences of other TLers. I think I would understand everything so much more if there was a Starcraft progaming analogy. Now I know that London is the place to be for stylists.
I loved your blog! I enjoyed reading every bit of it, and I am really glad that you are making a name (or at least a decent living, it seems) from doing what you love! xD
I do have one question that I've never been able to quite figure out, and I think you may have the expertise/knowledge to finally answer it. I'm a Korean guy, and I have the typical Asian complexion with the big head, small eyes, square jaw and lack of nose bridge (picture in my profile). I opt for the typical long-ish Korean haircuts because over the years, I have tried many different haircuts such as the fauxhawk, mohawk, short mohican, perm'd hair, and even the white-man part, but they all looked pretty silly in picture. Now I see these white people rocking short-ish hair like it's nobody's business but somehow when Korean guys, barring celebrities with abnormally small heads, get the same haircut, it looks really bad. I have two conjectures as to why: one is different facial structure and overall head shape, and the other is the texture of Asian hair (it feels thicker, straighter and more straw-like than my white friends'). You also mentioned in one of your replies that Korean haircuts look bad on white people (a la Justin Bieber), so my question to end this long drawn out prelude would be: what is it like cutting Asian hair, as in how does the experience differ from cutting a white person's hair, and what would you say accounts for this difference in how a white person looks versus an Asian with the same exact hairdo (or similar enough)?
I'm sorry if I offended anybody with my gratuitous use of the non-PC "white person" in my post btw
Wow I just woke up this morning to see this got spotlighted!! Thank you guys! I'll answer some of the questions in here when I get home from work tonight as I'm already running a little late. I may even have to write a whole separate blog on "How to get the haircut you want!"
Know how you feel about becoming disillusioned with something you're good at, I play rugby to regional representation level and eventually 3 training sessions and 5 sessions a week just takes the fun out of something you want to do for fun...
Great story aside, I really enjoyed the first video. It's just visually and aurally pleasing. I'm not even really that interested in hair or hair cutting but the video was really well done. So count filming and editing among your talents too
Awesome story, and the second video in particular was awesome too. Guess you can have a big case of the "fuck-its" if you got the determination and the passion to try something different.
That was an awesome story, it's funny how inspiration comes from the oddest places. I wonder how many people think you're insane when you talk about how important Starcraft is to your success.
On November 25 2011 18:36 GhostKorean wrote: Whoaaa that's pretty sick o.o I'm a bit at crossroads of what I want to do with my life as I haven't found anything I'm really passionate about. I'm going through school and while I do enjoy learning I don't know if it's something I can get a career I love.
Your blog gives me hope that one day I'll discover my passion and go on to work in a field I love :D
You took my exact post you f**king voodoo-witch-demon!
Also amazing OP I'm really happy for you and I too am at a bit of a crossroad of what I want to do...
EDIT: I also hope this gets to Day. I'm sure it will. That inspiring SOB
I'm looking forward to the 'How to Get a Good Haircut' blog! I've always liked long hair in principle since you can do so many things with it (curl/wave, gather it up in a bun, updo, loose braid, etc), but it looks horrid on me. I had long hair in high school, and now I want to hide all of my HS pics and never take them out. Since then, I've experimented a bit with shorter lengths and found that what looks good on me at present is a sort of shoulder-length (at max) layered bob.
Great read, thanks! I especially enjoyed the starcraft-hairdressing equivalent terms.
Amazing story and a really awesome video. Congrats on being that guy who gets unstuck (from wherever you were stuck) and actually does something with his life!
On November 26 2011 19:26 Liquid`Nazgul wrote: geez that's amazing! hope to see you at an event sometime.
Perhaps you could combine sc and hair styling... Go to events and make people look like their Korean idols! O.o
I can believe no one has made a reference to the infamous artosis haircut, streetheat should drop by the next MLG and give these nerd ballers a true baller haircut!
Sick blog 5/5. Great to hear that you're doing well for yourself and happy you could share your story with us. Inspired me to do something different from what I've done for the past 5 years with my hair. If only I could figure something else out that looked good T_T
Great story, my heart warmed up a bit from reading this. Amazing that you kept following your passions, it's actually quite inspiring. Glhf mate, best of luck to you.
On November 25 2011 19:41 dartoo wrote: This was a really nice blog, the cool part is whatever you do you seem to be really happy! All the best, 5/5!
I came in thinking korean progamers gave you ideas for new haircuts at work or something :D
Totally this! i was thinking of something like " when i first saw Bisu's pictures I learned how to cut hair right!" or "Comming to TL and discovering K-POP have made me a better haircutter!"
Great blog, fucking good history, loved both videos, that band is fucking amazing, and the one minute(ish) video is fucking hilarious, be ready to have your whole channel filled with TL comments everywhere lol
On November 27 2011 09:05 Heafmo wrote: Where can I find the 'StreetHeat Daily' I wanted to be a stylist when I was growing up however I wasn't taken seriously.
I keep all my past vids at www.joshxo.com You are def in the right country for it so much talent in the UK
On November 27 2011 09:05 Heafmo wrote: Where can I find the 'StreetHeat Daily' I wanted to be a stylist when I was growing up however I wasn't taken seriously.
I keep all my past vids at www.joshxo.com You are def in the right country for it so much talent in the UK
Is it odd that I felt proud to be from London over something that I've never had an interest in?
Anyway, really interesting blog, the variety of amazingly talented people on TL never ceases to amaze me. It is truly the greatest community on the internet.
On November 27 2011 09:05 Heafmo wrote: Where can I find the 'StreetHeat Daily' I wanted to be a stylist when I was growing up however I wasn't taken seriously.
I keep all my past vids at www.joshxo.com You are def in the right country for it so much talent in the UK
Is it odd that I felt proud to be from London over something that I've never had an interest in?
Anyway, really interesting blog, the variety of amazingly talented people on TL never ceases to amaze me. It is truly the greatest community on the internet.
If you really want to feel some London pride I recommend watching the Vidal Sassoon documentary on Netflix. He's a Londoner who pretty much changed western society forever. I have a few clients who study at a local architecture school and they love it.
But seriously, this is really cool. How can you not just hnnng a little bit about such a great community that really affects so many different kinds of people in such positive ways? Even though I don't really have time to play now that I've started grad school, stuff like this makes me really happy I'm still addicted to teamliquid.
Man 5/5 blog, awesome story and that short attention span video is hilarious :D I live on the other side of the planet, but if I ever come to San Diego, I'm totally gonna make sure to go get a haircut from you :D Do blog some more, you're a pretty good writer so I'd enjoy hearing some more from you
no, thank you, for inspiring the community, and espeically much of the communities who has yet to step up to their potentials. The reason that teamliquid is the most intellectual, mannered, passionate, and diverse gaming community is because of members like yourself, members who explore the mysterious lands outside of starcraft and educate such to the community. Once again, thank you.
So glad there was a happy ending, i was hoping there was as it was sounding a bit bad at one point!
Good luck in the future :D and i still can't beleive the Meccah of Haircuts is in London "/ i just thought they over charged the hell out of haircuts because it was London haha!
On November 29 2011 07:39 Ash wrote: Amazing story and well written blog. It never fails to amaze me whenever I read about how StarCraft has managed to change people lives.
Would also be great if you could link us to the blog post you mentioned where you managed to get the music from. I love them!
Wow, that is REALLY great you get to mix music and hair? (well have you considered using your own music? :D) but most importantly I was wondering is your music passion stronger? ( sorry, i didn't read it all, skimmed some parts, hope you understand ^^; ). Since you said you wanted to be a hairstylist, was music not a true passion, or did that passion just shift?
Also I would like to ask you. As someone who is interested in passion over money (music performance, piano, and/or composition or namely arranging songs and selling them, if you know about Touhou), I would like to know how "hard" it is to live a life of performance. You said you were poor and all that but at the same time you found a place to sleep and were able to perform? were you just lucky or are there actually quite a lot of places to perform without being SUPER good?
thanks in advance <3
(i wonder if i can make as great a story to write about for my college apps -- relating it to starcraft, i mean :D)
EPT
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