Goodbye Mr. Williams ; We will never know the real you

                                                           Robin Williams 1953 - 2014 

     Many of my family and friends of my generation, those born in 60s and 70s will surely recall Robin Williams from the sensitive but madcap Mork (Nano Nano) and Mindy with his co-host Pam Dawber.

     During our formative years of the early 80s, the satirical comedy Happy Days and later Mork and Mindy were really our weekly entertainment for many of us young adults. Robin's madcap and hundred miles a minute humour were sidesplittingly funny and his trademark handshake, or the one with the fingers outstretched and with the 3rd and 4th fingers apart was the 'cool' handshake of the era. We, the young adults of the early 80s had only TV, radio to entertain us. No internet, smart phones, cheap budget airlines to distract us from the humdrum of daily life.  

    I read so many tributes of his wacky zaniness in many magazines, tabloids and top news magazines like Time and Newsweek, as well as his great gift of making people laugh. He was a comic genius who was so troubled by his mortality and falling off into obscurity that he took his own life. He fell into drug and alcohol abuse and was in and out of rehab a number of times. The very lure of the entertainment world with its monetary rewards and fame ultimately leads to many a diva, entertainer, movie, TV star to lose their sense of reality when their star fades in obscurity. Fitting back into society to be a 'nobody' is very scary and traumatic when earlier, every tweet, comment, and utterance is carried along by millions of 'followers', you dine in private jets, go to exclusive parties and live like oil rich princes. Money, the lavish life, the fans, the sense of being removed from reality. Many people just 'lose it'. The list of people who have had nervous breakdowns, taken drugs, taken their own lives in the entertainment world far outstrips those of us lesser mortals working 9 to 5 day jobs and struggling with our mortgage and kids education. 

We the nameless faceless people who form 99% of the society are the lucky ones. We have no massive expectations by ourselves, our managers, our fans and our family and friends to top the last selling CD or film which raked in mega millions. Success in itself is a double edged sword, it sits uncomfortably with the ordinary.  So the 64 million dollar question is this, can we deal with failure for multiple times, until we find success ? If we attain success too quickly and too huge, can we live with it ? Dare we ?   

   The tragedy of life is that it is too serious to be taken too seriously. Robin knew that only too well that he created all his alter personas to entertain all those around him. Many who knew him said he was actually ultra-shy and needed the zaniness as an outlet of his creativity which was nothing short of genius. 

   Goodbye my Captain. Nano Nano. The world is a sadder place without you.  

Lose 5 kg for good ; by end of this year

         Setting Yoyo diets are like any short term goals, once you achieve them, you revert back to your old ways and the results you have strived for so hard and so long all go to waste. However, this year, in the middle of nowhere, in August, I have decided that enough is enough, I am writing this down for everyone to see. But my immediate goal is to lose 5 kg, for the following reasons :

a) health
b) vanity
c) family

        Many of my peers are overweight, and as the 50s decade rears its ugly head, health issues will invariably crop up. I have been active in sports for the most part of my life, but the last couple of years, the weight gain has been due to bad dietary habits like snacking, the occasional drinks with friends, and lack of exercise.

       Metabolic syndrome is the onset of the most common lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, heart problems and gout, so I want to delay or even totally avoid these debilitating diseases with the correct attitude as well as strong minded will to lose weight.

     So from today 18th August, I have started on my fitness regimen. I will track

and keep myself updated weekly. Watch this space.

   For a start, I intend to skip the lunch meal and replace it with a short but fast run in the gym of 5km or longer everyday this week. If the lunch run is not done, then a run in the afternoon is a MUST. On top of that, I will intersperse the evening with a 10 - 20 lap swim for the days when my aching body (perhaps Wednesday and Friday) says STOP. 

So every week I will track my weight, and run history. 

     18th August - 76 kg  

Rise and fall of nations and empires (football teams included)

                                                    Where did we go so wrong ??

The agony of defeat

       Brazil's world cup 2014 run till the semifinals ended in the most humiliating way. Leaderless (their captain Thiego Silva was out suspended), firing blanks (their talismatic key striker Neymar) the team succumbed 7 - 1 to a ruthless German team at Belo Horizonte stadium in front of a partisan 70,000 crowd.

      What happened to the record 5 times World Champions which boasted in the past the likes of Pele, Garrincha, Romario, Ronaldo , Ronaldinho, Socrates, Zico and Caesar ?  Many a great team like am empire has to realise that their time is well and truly past them. I am no expert soccer pundit, and this post has been written post mortem so everyone has hindsight as their database.

      This World Cup in 2014 was Brazil's to lose. They had invested US$ 11 billion into building new infrastructure like stadiums, roads at the expense of alleviating the massive social problems of the poor who protested day and night. Why spend money on an U$ 11B advertisement when you could easily feed or provide cheap housing to 1 million marginalised slum dwellers ?? Why indeed ??

     Football (like governing a country or empire) is never stagnant. Once a great ruler or team manager has reached the pinnacle of success (like Julius Caesar in BC 70), it was time to find a successor - for rightly or wrongly. That is called rejuvenation or re-invention.  Many a ruler and football manager has stayed on longer than necessary for love of power, ego or money's sake and to disastrous effect.

    Luis Felipe Scolari must make way for new blood with fresh new ideas and change tactics and strategies for the betterment of Brazil. To stay on to prove a point or rebuild is indeed pointless in my opinion. 

    Brazil is now a has-been, just like Spain's tikki taka football. Hard skillful attacking sides like Germany now rule the day. 

    My prediction for Final ?     Heart says Argentina (for Messi sake) but Head says Germany

   Germany to win by 2 - 1.

   Seize the Day.     

    

Great New Song

The Fifa Website for all the Video Highlights of the World Cup 2014

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/videos/highlights/match=300186478/

Spain 1 The Netherlands 5 World Cup 2014

What a cracker of a goal, the first one scored by Arjen Robben. His second one was equally splendid.

The Usual Suspects ; My Health Supplements

L to R:   Triflex, MegaMen Multivitamins, Proviva G, L-Gluthathione,Ginko Biloba,E 400

      Some readers are wondering what I take as health supplements, for the past 9 years, these are the supplements I take on a daily basis. The latest addition is the Proviva G which is to prevent the inevitable rise in blood sugar and high cholesterol.

     As earlier mentioned, I take health supplements as one of the factors to ward off disease and old age issues as long as possible. There are of course people who disagree with me completely but I have been a convert since the mid 2000s when I had a health scare.

    The bath-tub curve which I will describe in a later post is one which is widely used in the Life Insurance industry as well as in electronics and other industries. In it, it depicts the normal life span and the onset of mortality (death) for people living in developed, developing and underdeveloped countries.

Of course everyone wants to live as long and as healthily as possible. That would be a great blessing from God if one could live to say 90 years if age without encountering any major disease or deterioration of one's mental and physical well being. That is the dream and goal of modern day medicine since its founding some 200 plus years ago.

Doctors, physicians, traditional medicine practitioners and drug manufacturers always aim for the optimal health of the human being with the best quality of life for as long as possible. 

The case of healthy living and health supplements.  

Many people in modern society have known about the ills caused by metabolic syndrome. Many choose to ignore it at their own peril. Many just take a wait and see position. Many die prematurely and many only will do something only when a life changing disease hits them.

If you are living in an urban or even rural community, there will be stress points thrown at us from time to time caused by work, business, family and personal health circumstances not of the person directly but maybe a family member.  

My humble suggestion :  

Eat healthy + Exercise enough (cardiovascular and strength) + Sleep enough (7 hours min) + Health Supplements.

The first 3 everybody knows how to regulate themselves, but I will offer my own regimen.

a) Eat healthy - Less oily and fried foods, more vegetables, brown rice, less meats, no snacks  and no soft drinks. I make it a point to eat at home in the evenings as much as possible, as home cooking is the best way to control the oils and fats. We normally steam, grill and only occasionally stir fry. Plenty of vegetables, fruits, soups and only 1 meat dish (almost no beef) consisting of fresh fish (daily), chicken or a little pork.  

b) Exercise enough - I run 2 - 3 times a week (at least 5km each time for half hour to 45 

    minutes) and do cross training exercise Karate at least 1 and a half hour each week.

    Lately I have been swimming 10 to 15 50 m laps for about half hour each time.  

    So 4 times each week minimum totally 4 hours.

c) 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep. 

d) Health Supplements : daily dosage

        Joint Flexibility

     x 3 tablets of Glucosomine, Chondroitin, and MSM Sulphate  (hard big capsules)   (GNC)

        Memory and Brain Boost

     x 1 capsules (soft) 120 mg Ginko Biloba                  (GNC)

       Blood Sugar and Cholesterol Control

    x 2 capsules (soft) Proviva G                                       (VivarFresh International)

      Blood Thinner and Coordination

    x 1 Vit E (soft)   ;  x 1 Glutathione (small)                   (GNC)

      General Nutrition

    x  2 tablets Mega Men                                                 (GNC) 

    x 1  1000 mg Vit C                                                      (Various)

 So there it is ; many people are shocked at my looks and health,  when I tell them I'm 52, to be honest. I am boasting a little, so there are definately plus points in looking young and healthy !!  

     

                                                                  Still alive and running !!