娱乐英语新闻:Feature: Argentine barber dedicates shop to The Beatles

by Juan Manueal, Mao Pengfei

BUENOS AIRES, April 22 (Xinhua) -- British rock band The Beatles arguably put many barbers out of business in the 1960s by making longer hair fashionable for men, but that has not stopped an Argentine hairdresser from dedicating his shop to the Fab Four.

A big fan of the legendary musical group, barber Gerardo Weiss decided to unite his favorite pastimes into one grand venture by turning his establishment in the traditional Buenos Aires neighborhood of Flores into a veritable shrine to the legendary band.

"At first, everyone told me that it was passe, that nobody was going to come ... but I went ahead anyway, because it was a dream of mine, to combine my two passions: The Beatles and the barber shop," Weiss told Xinhua.

Part museum, every inch of the shop is covered with vintage Beatles memorabilia, from posters to album covers and photographs, while shelves are filled with souvenir items, such as miniature dolls of musicians John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

"I began to build it after I had a dream," said Weiss. "I dreamt The Beatles were coming for a haircut, and since I used to get up late, I almost didn't arrive in time to attend to them."

The dream "was so real that on that very day I wanted to turn it into a reality," said Weiss. "I took down all the regular photographs that were hanging up on the walls and I plastered everything with The Beatles, just like in the dream, only much better."

According to Weiss, there are at least three establishments similar to his around the world: one in the band's home city of Liverpool, Britain, another in the U.S. state of Illinois, and a third in Japan.

While Weiss has never met any member of The Beatles in person, he holds out hope of one day meeting Paul McCartney, one of the two surviving band members, along with Ringo Starr. That hope may not be too far fetched, since McCartney is scheduled to play in the Argentine city of La Plata in May, and will likely pass through the capital.

In the meantime, his shop has attracted fellow diehard fans of all ages and nationalities, including from as far away as China, Japan and Indonesia, he said, as well as thousands of tourists in search of anecdotes or photo ops.

"I feel that all the love I have for them, they have paid back to me," Weiss said.