I was watching the excellent BBC 4 quiz programme, Only Connect, presented by that curvaceous little minx, Victroria Coren, tonight. It featured several clips from an interview about the show with the science writer and broadcaster, Simon Singh, who appeared on a special celebrity edition last year. Every time I've caught sight of Singh recently, I've meant to find out why an evidently super-intelligent and not bad-looking 48-year old man with a PhD degree in Particle Physics from Cambridge and CERN, and with a string of successful books and TV programmes behind him, would choose a hair-do that makes him look like a CAUC.Does anyone know?
I think it is because he is a great fan of Jedward and part of that zany, lovable group of people whose slogan is "I'm mad, me!"
ReplyDeleteThe other example I can think of is the violinist Nigel Kennedy [socialist and hater of Israel]. Thankfully, he seems to live permanently in Poland.
The MP Michael Fabricant comes to mind, but he may be part of the "Cover Up Baldie" brigade [if so, I wish he would hand over some of his discarded pieces to one T.Young].
I think there is a simple explanation.
ReplyDeleteMost of those whose profession takes them into the world of cryptography and the complex algorithms behind such concepts as dual key encryption, only to find that as soon as one set of mathematical problems has been replaced by another of even more fiendish complexity, tend to have heads which come to a point. Quite possibly during the research which went into his masterly The Code Book, the mental effort caused Mr Singh's cerebellum to expand, leading to a pressure to his cranium which made it assume a similar shape. The hairstyle is an attempt to disguise this unfortunate condition, being cheaper than a Trilby and less threatening than a hoody.
Fabricant. Hmm. You have to wonder what was going on in his head (let alone on top of it) the day he settled on that particular wigular style. At least Singh can stop looking like a CAUC any time he wants to - Fabricant either has to look like a CAUC for the rest of his life, or scare the bejabers out of everyone by "going commando". Personally I admire the Toby Young approach - in BBC3-speak, equivalent to "I'm A Bald Bloke... F*ck Off!"
ReplyDeleteI think wigs are fine for people who rely on their physical appearance for a livelihood - TV and film folk, for instance. Also, they're acceptable for covering up deformities (such as the one ex-KCS ascribes to Simon Singh) or scarring. But I think everyone else should desist - as they should desist from comb-overs of any description - and to keep the hair that's left as short as possible. (I can no longer take André Agassi seriously after discovering that he spent one French Open final worrying whether his hair-piece would fall off.)
Having said that, I'm aware that I still have most of my hair (just starting to thin at the front - curses!), and therefore should try not to sound smug or issue advice to chaps who don't. But I was disconcerted, when, on my only visit to a girl-friend's family while at university, I was ushered into the father's bedroom to say goodbye early one morning (the visit hadn't gone well) to find that a small rodent had leapt onto his head during the night and was now crawling down slant-wise across his forehead. I never quite recovered from the shock, and split up with the young lady soon afterwards.