Taking: the 6 week no shampoo challenge.

Today marks the midpoint of an experiment that I'm hoping will liberate me from the shackles of shampoo and conditioner. Apparently after 6 weeks of not using shampoo on your hair, its natural balance of oils returns, leaving it full, clean and shiny. Sounds potentially skanky I know but bear with me.

This graph represents the feedback from more than 500 people who tried this exercise a few months ago after it was suggested by Richard Glover on ABC radio in Sydney.



As you can see, the vast majority of them feel that their hair was as good or better than it was before they started.

The messageboard associated with this gives a lot of extra detail and helpful hints about avoiding smelly, itchy hair and more. There is also a section of the ABC website featuring a six week blog from a 21 years old woman who went through the whole thing and came out the other side with cleaner, shinier and fuller hair.

Here's how the site describe the process:

The theory is that shampoo actually destroys the balance of your hair's natural oils. The cycle might go this way: your hair produces natural oils, and after a few days, starts to feels greasy, oily and dirty. So, you wash your hair with detergent, which strips away the grease.

But, as the grease is natural, your hair and head start to fight back by producing more to compensate for the loss, so you wash your hair again. And so on.

But what happens if you don't shampoo your hair? Well, the theory says that your hair will get more oily, greasy and smelly, but after six weeks it will become sweeter smelling, bouncy, the natural balance will have been restored. It will even look more attractive, more sexy and wonderful than every before!

Evidently I still have the greasy looking stage to work through yet but from all accounts it passes pretty quickly and if you vigorously rinse your hair in the shower it won't smell either.

So far my hair feels ok, it's a little lifeless and lank, it feels slightly dry/dusty but I don't think it looks too bad.

Here's a short clip from today - I guess ideally I would have a clip from the start of the process for the purpose of comparison but you can't win 'em all.

My hair looks a little messy because this is the look (for want of a better term) that I'm trying for. (As for the beard, that's a whole other experiment :)



(I'd also like to thank the PC for humouring my participation in this and also for joining me)

Getting: there

Working on: a project

Here's a teaser - more to come soon.

Listening: Crazy - Theremin Version & Messerchups

It's got a theremin - it's got to be cool.


(Check out Russian band Messerchups if you like freaky cool electro 50's sci-fi surf music with theremin by the way)

These are a couple of their clips - it's everything you want from modern Russia.





(By the way PC, there's no hidden message in there, I just heard the dialogue samples but it's just such a cool song)

Acting: Gogol & Playing:Consequences

Had an interesting one last night - housemate Jelena's shiny happy people friends came over and did a play reading of Gogol's The Inspector General, a scorching satire of corruption in Russia from 1836. (As you do)

I jumped in for a couple of minor roles in the second half though I wasn't quite up to speed enough to do them in the outlandish accents everyone else was putting on. I can't say I knew much about Gogol before this (beyond that he existed and was some literary figure of note) but it was a very lively piece that showed that some things (toadying, corruption, powergames) never really change.

From there we moved on to a writing game called consequences. I don't think I've played it before (I think I've heard of it though) but it's a group story writing game.

In essence, you write part of a story on a piece of paper, fold your section over so it can't be seen, pass the paper around the circle, write the next part of your story, fold, pass, etc until it is done.

The story takes the form of

• Man's name


• Woman's name


• What they did


• Where they did it


• What he said


• What she said


• Who saw them


• The consequences

I must confess, I was a little dubious about this but it worked surprisingly well.

Here are some of the stories that came of it.

James Packer and Kate Barrow (French resistance figure) were sipping champagne, nibbling on caviar & camembert and discussing the meaning of life on a nudist beach.

He said something to the effect that it was all "that bitch's" fault.("That bitch" pertaining to his ex).

She said take me to the river, wash me down.

The Pope saw them and there was chocolate mousse for all.

Joseph P (French resistance figure) and Marilyn Monroe were playing in a sprinkler in the cheapest room in the worst hotel in the most dangerous suburb of Rotterdam.

He said "Well might you say God save the Queen because noone can save the Governor General"

She said "I think you're mistaken, I'm not a doctor"

A flock of West Canadian geese saw them and several very ugly babies with hot bodies were born.

Haagendaaz and Erica Packer were playing poker in a smoky French cafe where Sartre once had sat and debated on the Existentialism.

He said "I love floating high up in the clouds with you"

She said something inane that nobody really remembers anymore because, let's be honest, it's really not very important after all.

WIN news saw them and the crowd all drank champagne and rode off into the sunset.

Once upon a time Bugsy Malone and Edith Pilaf got married in a secret Scientology ceremony with Tom Cruise presiding in a dirty bistro.

He said "C'est la vie".

She said "This is hilarious and inventive"

Who saw them? Who didn't see them! They had no shame!

Labour won the election - a landslide victory - but the socialists couldn't help but wonder... who would they protest against now?

Kevin Rudd and Maggie Thatcher were enjoying a lemon meringue pie in the sun as their pizza slowly digested on a luxury yacht in the Mediterranean.

He said "I like sucking lemons"

She said "Ooh la la!"

A dolphin called Flounder saw them and a few drunk kids threw up and an old lady fainted but more or less everyone else was at least mildly amused.

They all turned out pretty well I think and it was a lot of fun.