SkyMall Monday: Flair Hair Visor

by Mike Barish on

Are you embarrassed by your child’s age-appropriate baldness? Has his or her wispy, toddler hair become a point of contention in your house? Do you purposely leave your child home alone rather than risk people publicly mocking him for his inability to have a full, luxurious head of hair before he can even walk? Well, finally, there is a product that will not only give your child that ultra-cool hairstyle that he deserves, but also keep the glare of the sun out of his tender eyes. This week, SkyMall Monday spotlights the Flair Hair Visor.

As a man with no hair, I can appreciate one’s desire to enhance himself follicly. Sure, I look stunning bald, but not everyone can make such handsomely honest claims. Hair growth creams and surgical solutions can cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. Wigs and toupées rarely fool anyone and pose a unique set of challenges in blustery conditions. But with the Flair Hair Visor, your child can finally escape the stigma of being in the stage of development that precedes full hair growth.

As always, I don’t ask you to take just my word for it. Just check out this carefully selected excerpt from the product description (that happens to be the only sentence in the product description that isn’t littered with typos):

Instantly give yourself a head-turning new ‘do and amuse friends– and strangers!

If people are pointing and laughing at you, then yes, I suppose they are amused. And just imagine how amused they will be when they see that there are Flair Hair Visors for adults, too! You and your child can have matching fake visor hair and avoid the damaging effects that the sun can have on your retinas. And if you protect your retinas, you’ll be able to gaze into the mirror and see how magnificent you look with your fake hair that has taken the attention off of your child’s fake hair. See, you solved that problem of being embarrassed by your kid already!

Bring an air of confidence back to your family with the Flair Hair Visor. Surely people will stop mocking you and your child now. I think. Maybe.

Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.

Free public theater tickets in Central Park to see “Hair.” The how to get them and why I’m feeling miffed

by Jamie Rhein on

An article I read in the New York Times last Thursday night left me feeling miffed. It explains one reason why it can be difficult to snag tickets to see “Hair,” the current, free Shakespeare in the Park Public Theater production at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater.

It’s called CHEATING. Clever, but CHEATING.

According to the article, there are people who are hired to wait in lines by people who don’t want to wait in line themselves. The line at the Delacorte Theater is one example of where this hired-line waiting cleverness happens.

And, why am I MIFFED?!

As a person who STOOD IN LINE with my brother and my 6-year-old son on August 6, slathering on sunscreen and sweltering, waiting for the line to move into the shade, but DID NOT get tickets, I’m annoyed.

Here is the saga. The good news first: My brother lives in Manhattan, therefore, I have the enviable position of having a place to stay whenever I show up in the Big Apple for a visit.

The smart news: Knowing that anything can happen in Manhattan, we had back-up plans when we took our spot after walking past the gobs and gobs of people already waiting when we walked the distance from the subway stop to the end of the line. Some were reading in the lawn chairs they had the foresight to bring with them, and others were eating a picnic feast.

The not so smart news: We showed up at 11:00 hoping for the best. Getting tickets can mean arriving in line as early as 6:00 A.M. As if, I’d drag my son to Central Park at 6 A.M. for an 7-hour wait. Hardly.

The way the line works: Tickets, you see, are handed out at 1 A.M. Depending on your spot in line, you can be done soon after, or be still waiting at 2 if the tickets or vouchers for tickets hold out. Although we showed up awfully late, a woman who works for the theater assured us that we had a chance. I call her Friendly Explainer. Friendly Explainer pointed to a lamp post past us in line and said, “People that far back have gotten tickets.”

She also pointed to a spot way, way, way, way, way, in front of us and said that tickets are gone well before then as well.

While we waited, another man with the theater–Helpful Guy, told us the procedures for getting tickets once they begin to hand them out.

Another woman, let’s call her Line Watch Dog, stood at the end to make sure that we all minded our P’s and Q’s.

Here are the P’s and Q’s:

  1. Each person in line can get 2 tickets.
  2. There is no line jumping.
  3. You can not save a spot for someone else.
  4. You CAN NOT LEAVE the line for any reason. If you LEAVE THE LINE, you lose your spot. It doesn’t matter if you are sweltering and feeling faint, hungry and need to something to eat or you will be tempted to eat the grass, or if you have to pee so badly that you can hardly stand it.It does not matter if the people you happen to be waiting with will save your spot. DO NOT LEAVE THE LINE for any reason.

My son did leave the line to go play on the playground close by, but he was whining so much from the heat and boredom of waiting that Line Watch Dog may have been happy for him to leave the line.

I also gave him money for the ice-cream truck that came by. As if it would have been possible to stand him if I had said no. Line Watch Dog may have even given him money herself.

Since I had already agreed to let him take off his shirt, when Sponge Bob melted all down his chest, cleaning him up with a bit of bottled water wasn’t a problem.

By 1:45 p.m. we found out we did not get tickets or vouchers to possibly get tickets later in the day. If you are given a voucher you can come back at 6:30 to see if you can get unclaimed tickets. I was thrilled to not get a voucher because, being the obsessed person that I am to get anything free, I would have been right back in line at 5:30 p.m. waiting in line. A stupid way to spend one of the only two days one has in New York City. It’s a big city with lots to do.

Why are there unclaimed tickets? Here is what Friendly Woman explained:

The Delacorte has 1,800 seats. Some of the seats are given to corporate sponsors, but on any given day, the theater doesn’t know how many of those people will come or exactly how many tickets will be available to the general public. Each day is a surprise.

Personally, I find it ironic that the public can’t really get all that many tickets to public theater on certain days because private donors get most of the tickets. Just a thought. I don’t think this is bad necessarily. It’s just an observation. As the tickets are being given out, they don’t know how many people in line will be taking one or two tickets.

Once the tickets are gone, a certain number of vouchers are handed out. If you get a voucher, you may get a ticket later, but again, they won’t know until they see how many people who have corporate tickets don’t show up to claim their seats, or how many people who got tickets earlier decide not to come and bring their tickets back.

And also, there are those UNETHICAL CHEATERS who hire people to show up to wait in line for them. The hired help show up at 6:00.

And that’s the story of why we didn’t see “Hair.”

Although, ticket luck was not ours to have, we did have a good time thanks to the ice-cream truck and the people we visited with who were also waiting. One of the women in line was asked out on a date by Kevin Kline when they were in high school.

Coincidentally, I saw Kevin Kline in Pirates of Penzance at the Delacorte Theater years ago when it was easier to get tickets. That’s what makes New York City a surprise. There are all sort of crazy connections.

Maybe one of these days when my son is older, we’ll pack breakfast, lunch, games, lawn chairs and books to read and show up at least by 7 a.m. in order to give ourselves a fighting chance. We’ll keep our eye out for the cheaters and give Line Watch Dog a hand.

The show goes through September 14, so you still have time. Since there are no reservations, except for the corporate tickets and Summer Supporters, you have a fighting chance. Be smart. Show up no later than 8 a.m. To be a Summer Supporter, you donate $165.00 to Shakespeare in the Park and you can get a ticket.

(The above picture is one thing we did after we didn’t get tickets. Walk to the pond, where sailboats glide and ducks like to be fed, to see where Stuart Little, the talking mouse had his victory ride in one of the boats.)

Yourdon, who took the first two pictures, did get tickets this summer. So, it is possible.

Let people look at your hair and get 20,000 Delta miles

by Iva Skoch on

This is truly one of the more bizarre frequent flier miles offerings out there. The folically challenged could really score some free air tickets here.

Bosley, the hair restoration company, is offering 20,000 Delta SkyMiles to anyone who’s willing to let them take a look at his/her hair. And, if you–by any chance–decide to go through with their hair restoration procedure, you will earn 150,000 miles.

Well, what do you think?

[Thanks, Chris, for the tip]

Read my New York Times story on the world’s strangest collectible shop

by Jerry Guo on

If you’re ever in Westport, Connecticut (home of Martha Stewart and other moguls), check out this see-to-be-believed collectibles shop, though it’s not technically open to the public.

Run by 48-year-old John Reznikoff, University Archives holds the world’s largest collection of hair from celebrities. Oh, and they also have priceless artifacts like a cosmonaut suit, a copy of the Declaration of Independence, and one of Monica Lewinsky’s dresses :-).

My New York Times piece about John centers mainly around his hair collection and the growing interest in this strange–but lucrative–hobby. If you have any questions, shoot me a comment below and I’ll be happy to answer your questions. Read the full story here or pull out a copy of The New York Times Sunday Style section tomorrow morning at the breakfast table.

Too-tight holiday braids can make your hair fall out

by Martha Edwards on

Nothing says ‘I just got back from a holiday’ like a fresh pair of tight cornrow braids on someone’s head – it’s more effective than a fresh tan in winter or a tacky souvenir outfit if you ask me. These teeny tiny (and some would say tacky) braids are popular, but they can be dangerous to your hair, as our sister site, That’s Fit, told you a few months ago. Don’t believe us? Check out this article from the Daily Mail — they profile an eight-year-old girl who lost her hair after getting some too-tight braids while holidaying in Rhodes. And the stress of it all has caused her to develop alopecia, which mean her hair isn’t growing back. Good grief!

One has to wonder, is it really worth it to spend a chunk of money on a hairdo that takes hours to finish and doesn’t look all that good in the end anyway? Frankly, I’d be happy if holiday braids disappeared altogether, so while I feel for this poor girl, at least it will discourage others from getting braided.