Readers of the Soap Forum in our new member spotlight series, this is round #2 I would like to introduce you to Randall otherwise known as @kingfisher He has been a member since March 2009 and is a regular poster across the boards. Get to know Randall a little better:
1. Name, job field, age/generation: My name is Randall Fisher. I am a Pediatric Infectious Diseases physician, which means that I take care of children with complicated infections. I am 58 right now but I will be 59 in a couple of weeks, give or take a few days.
2. What’s the meaning behind your username?: My name means nothing. I wanted Fisherking, because of the movie, but it wasn't available, so I switched it around to kingfisher and it worked. I do not like to fish and haven't been fishing in decades. Oh, and I am the king of nothing.
3. When did you join B&B and why did you join us?: I joined B&B in March of 2009. I was dissatisfied with shaving, and especially shaving foams/gels. I searched the internet looking for the best shaving lather. That search led me to B&B, and after exploring for a bit, I joined. My first "real lather" was that shaving cream in the green tube that they sell at Bath and Body Works.
4. Talk to us about your acquisition disorders: I have the ADs pretty bad, especially RAD and SSAD. I never really got into brush acquisition, although I have plenty of them, too. At first I lathered with a brush but continued to shave with an Atra. When I tried DE shaving I found it harsh. At one point I actually thought that everybody on B&B was pretending they shaved with DEs and that nobody would own up to the truth.
There was a member around that time who suggested doing a first pass with a cartridge razor, and then doing an XTG pass with a mild DE, like a Krona. I started doing that every day for several weeks and then decided I could probably do the whole shave with a DE. That's how I got hooked on traditional shaving.
RAD started with somebody PIF'ing me a Superspeed. From there, somebody PIF'd me a Tech. Since then, I have tried nearly every Gillette ever made, and lots of modern razors, too. Only recently I branched out into GEM-style razors, too. I tried them probably back in 2010 and hated them; sold them all and never tried them again until July of this year. Found out I had been using them incorrectly. Now I love them. My favorite is the MMOC but I also like my ClogPruf, my bullet tip, my Everready Streamline, and my Shovelhead. Nowadays, I shave for about a week with a DE, then a week with an SE, and then back to DE. I like variety. I don't know how many razors I currently have but it wouldn't surprise me if it more than 25.
Soaps I have always loved but I have tried to keep the active soap list to about 5 soaps at a time; I buy a new soap only when I have completely used up one of the 5 soaps. Makes me feel like I don't really have SSAD, even though I really do, I just control it.
5. Favorite soap and why?: I don't really have a favorite soap. I find that all good soaps shave about the same. I love Mystic Water, Cold River Soap Works, Stirling, and Dr. Jon's about equally. There are other soaps that are just a bit below these. I'm happy with lather that is not too airy. I prefer cushion to slickness, if given a choice. Scents are really important to me. I like citrus scents and some florals, or combinations of citrus and floral.
6. How do you lather?: I bowl lather exclusively, and have since the beginning. I'm a daily shaver, and I think the face gets more than enough exfoliation from the shave. I have used all kinds of brushes but I have come around to the point where I only use synthetics now. They lather quickly and easily and they dry fast. I have only three brushes in rotation right now, but I will be adding a 4th within the next few weeks. It will be a restored Rubberset 400. It will also have a synthetic knot.
7. Tallow vs. Veg vs. Glycerin: Most of my favorite soaps are tallow soaps, but a really good veg soap lathers just as well. Dr. Jon's, Country Club for Men, and I Coloniali, in my experience, hang with the best tallow soaps in the world. I have used melt-and-pour soaps in the past, but I prefer tallow or veg soaps that are made from scratch.
8. 3017 or variety? If Variety have you ever used up a soap? I guess I answered this a bit earlier by accident. I never 3017, I do like variety, and I have used up LOTS of soaps. By keeping the herd small, I am able to do that. In the past I would use a different soap pretty much every day, but lately I have taken to using a single soap for a week, and then changing to a different one. I like variety, but I no longer need every single day to vary from the last.
9. Did B&B introduce you to anything else? Like Nib, photography, etc.?: B&B introduced me to nothing else, really. I was already way into fountain pens LONG before I found B&B. I am a Mormon, so I don't smoke and never will. I've always liked to cook, so the Mess Hall didn't introduce me to that, but I enjoy that subforum.
10. Favorite sub forum on B&B not named Soap?: My favorite subforum on B&B besides the soap forum is the Safety Razor forum. I used to go exclusively to the DE portion, but now I read and post in both the DE and SE subforums all the time. I also love the Mess Hall.
11. Tell us a story: When I was a medical student at Tulane University in New Orleans, the Final Four was held at the Superdome. The national championship game was on a Monday night, as it always is, but this one was the night before my internal medicine final exam. My friend and I were at my place studying early in the evening. We were both huge college basketball fans. At one point we looked at each other and said, "What are we doing? Let's go down there and see if we can find a ticket to the game."
So we took the bus downtown, walked over to the Superdome, and looked for scalpers. Within about a minute, my friend found a ticket at a price she couldn't pass up, but the guy only had one ticket. I told her to buy it anyway, since the guy only wanted $20, and that I would see her after the game. I searched around for a few minutes more, found a different scalper, bought a ticket, and headed into the cavernous Superdome.
When I found my seat, my friend was right there: one row behind me and about 5 seats over. What are the chances? The place seats something like 60,000 people! When the surrounding people found out we were friends, they traded seats so that I could sit next to her!
Oh, and it was the Indiana-Syracuse game that came down to a game-winning shot on the baseline. Doesn't get any better than that. And both of us passed the exam.
12. Soap or Cream?: Soap, soap, soap. I quit using creams a LONG time ago. I prefer soaps by a wide margin. I have only one cream, and I really only use it when I am on vacation (I Coloniali).
Thank you Randall for taking the time to answer our questions! It was great to get to know you a little bit better!
If you would like to be spotlighted please go sign up here:
Member Spotlights
1. Name, job field, age/generation: My name is Randall Fisher. I am a Pediatric Infectious Diseases physician, which means that I take care of children with complicated infections. I am 58 right now but I will be 59 in a couple of weeks, give or take a few days.
2. What’s the meaning behind your username?: My name means nothing. I wanted Fisherking, because of the movie, but it wasn't available, so I switched it around to kingfisher and it worked. I do not like to fish and haven't been fishing in decades. Oh, and I am the king of nothing.
3. When did you join B&B and why did you join us?: I joined B&B in March of 2009. I was dissatisfied with shaving, and especially shaving foams/gels. I searched the internet looking for the best shaving lather. That search led me to B&B, and after exploring for a bit, I joined. My first "real lather" was that shaving cream in the green tube that they sell at Bath and Body Works.
4. Talk to us about your acquisition disorders: I have the ADs pretty bad, especially RAD and SSAD. I never really got into brush acquisition, although I have plenty of them, too. At first I lathered with a brush but continued to shave with an Atra. When I tried DE shaving I found it harsh. At one point I actually thought that everybody on B&B was pretending they shaved with DEs and that nobody would own up to the truth.
There was a member around that time who suggested doing a first pass with a cartridge razor, and then doing an XTG pass with a mild DE, like a Krona. I started doing that every day for several weeks and then decided I could probably do the whole shave with a DE. That's how I got hooked on traditional shaving.
RAD started with somebody PIF'ing me a Superspeed. From there, somebody PIF'd me a Tech. Since then, I have tried nearly every Gillette ever made, and lots of modern razors, too. Only recently I branched out into GEM-style razors, too. I tried them probably back in 2010 and hated them; sold them all and never tried them again until July of this year. Found out I had been using them incorrectly. Now I love them. My favorite is the MMOC but I also like my ClogPruf, my bullet tip, my Everready Streamline, and my Shovelhead. Nowadays, I shave for about a week with a DE, then a week with an SE, and then back to DE. I like variety. I don't know how many razors I currently have but it wouldn't surprise me if it more than 25.
Soaps I have always loved but I have tried to keep the active soap list to about 5 soaps at a time; I buy a new soap only when I have completely used up one of the 5 soaps. Makes me feel like I don't really have SSAD, even though I really do, I just control it.
5. Favorite soap and why?: I don't really have a favorite soap. I find that all good soaps shave about the same. I love Mystic Water, Cold River Soap Works, Stirling, and Dr. Jon's about equally. There are other soaps that are just a bit below these. I'm happy with lather that is not too airy. I prefer cushion to slickness, if given a choice. Scents are really important to me. I like citrus scents and some florals, or combinations of citrus and floral.
6. How do you lather?: I bowl lather exclusively, and have since the beginning. I'm a daily shaver, and I think the face gets more than enough exfoliation from the shave. I have used all kinds of brushes but I have come around to the point where I only use synthetics now. They lather quickly and easily and they dry fast. I have only three brushes in rotation right now, but I will be adding a 4th within the next few weeks. It will be a restored Rubberset 400. It will also have a synthetic knot.
7. Tallow vs. Veg vs. Glycerin: Most of my favorite soaps are tallow soaps, but a really good veg soap lathers just as well. Dr. Jon's, Country Club for Men, and I Coloniali, in my experience, hang with the best tallow soaps in the world. I have used melt-and-pour soaps in the past, but I prefer tallow or veg soaps that are made from scratch.
8. 3017 or variety? If Variety have you ever used up a soap? I guess I answered this a bit earlier by accident. I never 3017, I do like variety, and I have used up LOTS of soaps. By keeping the herd small, I am able to do that. In the past I would use a different soap pretty much every day, but lately I have taken to using a single soap for a week, and then changing to a different one. I like variety, but I no longer need every single day to vary from the last.
9. Did B&B introduce you to anything else? Like Nib, photography, etc.?: B&B introduced me to nothing else, really. I was already way into fountain pens LONG before I found B&B. I am a Mormon, so I don't smoke and never will. I've always liked to cook, so the Mess Hall didn't introduce me to that, but I enjoy that subforum.
10. Favorite sub forum on B&B not named Soap?: My favorite subforum on B&B besides the soap forum is the Safety Razor forum. I used to go exclusively to the DE portion, but now I read and post in both the DE and SE subforums all the time. I also love the Mess Hall.
11. Tell us a story: When I was a medical student at Tulane University in New Orleans, the Final Four was held at the Superdome. The national championship game was on a Monday night, as it always is, but this one was the night before my internal medicine final exam. My friend and I were at my place studying early in the evening. We were both huge college basketball fans. At one point we looked at each other and said, "What are we doing? Let's go down there and see if we can find a ticket to the game."
So we took the bus downtown, walked over to the Superdome, and looked for scalpers. Within about a minute, my friend found a ticket at a price she couldn't pass up, but the guy only had one ticket. I told her to buy it anyway, since the guy only wanted $20, and that I would see her after the game. I searched around for a few minutes more, found a different scalper, bought a ticket, and headed into the cavernous Superdome.
When I found my seat, my friend was right there: one row behind me and about 5 seats over. What are the chances? The place seats something like 60,000 people! When the surrounding people found out we were friends, they traded seats so that I could sit next to her!
Oh, and it was the Indiana-Syracuse game that came down to a game-winning shot on the baseline. Doesn't get any better than that. And both of us passed the exam.
12. Soap or Cream?: Soap, soap, soap. I quit using creams a LONG time ago. I prefer soaps by a wide margin. I have only one cream, and I really only use it when I am on vacation (I Coloniali).
Thank you Randall for taking the time to answer our questions! It was great to get to know you a little bit better!
If you would like to be spotlighted please go sign up here:
Member Spotlights
