Keep Moving Everyday !!!

Here is the secret to living well and living long - at least for me anyway.

My last full marathon was 3 odd years ago !

1. Exercise at least 4 times a week of duration 50 minutes ; a brisk walk, a run, a cycle, 
swim or just climbing stairs just to get that old pump the heart beating relentlessly is a must.

2. Do mind stimulating exercises. I play Sudoku most days, and spend at least 30 minutes  on an challenging level game (Normally Daily Telegraphs competition level games) 

3. Try to focus and be Happy ; Engage in a rewarding experience. My work in my business keeps me pretty happy. Stress is a downer, so I try not to load myself with too much work  - that can be a real killer too. 

4. Give back to society ; I have said it numerous times and will continue to say it. Give my time and some money back, because as the wonderful Mr. Tony Tay of Willing Hearts says, when you give to the less fortunate, you really wake up to the fact that indeed you ARE fortunate. 

5. Wake up, meditate and smell the fresh air. 

6. Seize the Day ; the salad days are gone, but wisdom and experience have replaced the raw energy and blind enthusiasm.  Just enjoy the ride .

Salad Days June 1990 - Visit to Yoshida Seiki 

And the Wolves go marching on !

Today's fifth round FA cup tie away to Bristol City brought another victory to the Wolves who have got 0 silverware of note in the last 38 years. The last serious Cup they secured was the 1980 League Cup which was won by a mistake by Shilton giving Andy Gray an open goal to score.

The only goal came from a beautiful pass from Conor Coady onto Matt Doherty whose jinking run into the penalty box and then hauling the ball back to Ivan Cavaleiro to place it past the hapless Bristol City keeper Fielding. 

They then went on to control the first half with beautiful passes and the mercurial Doherty came very close to a second goal which just nicked the upright. Boly, Gibbs White, Moutinho and Dendonker all either forced their goalie to make finger tip saves or parry their shots out wide.   

Now, they are in the last 8 and my dream as a fan is to go and watch the FA Cup Final with the Wolves once in my lifetime.

Will 2019 be the year ????  I wait with bated breath. 

My Goldfish in my Water Feature live in a Separate Universe to Me.

Here are 4 happy goldfish taken today. I have got them for over 3 weeks and I have learnt a lot about rearing goldfish in the past. There are many factors which will lead to their early demise, so I have alot of pain and heartache in the past, especially when the water in the water feature turns acidic or some disease wipes them out. 

So 3 weeks ago I bought my first pair of goldfish, and so far so good. The thing is that the weather has been very hot and we have no t had much rain. Rain is likely to be acidic in nature, and hence will disrupt the alkalinity in the pool. Before putting the fish in the outdoor pool, I had conditioned the water with lots of salt as well as with an anti-chlorine solution which normally affects ornamental fish.





Once that was done, I also have ensured that there is enough air (ie. bubbles) circulating the pool and that whenever we clean the pool, we do not use any soap or cleaning solution. The fish have led a happy existence, so far, only eating 6 pellets a day (we control their diet very strictly) as well as changing the water only once every 2 weeks or so, ensuring that 2 - 3 pails or about 1/3 of the water is reused.

Chlorine, alkalinity and acidity all lead to problems and may eventually kill the fish.

But as goldfish, they lead a very happy existence, playing with one another, exploring the length and depth of the pool and keeping all those who observe their existence quite happy.

Its as if they live in their small universe and we humans in ours. 

There is hardly any interaction between them and us. If they are happy and lively, so am I. 

Joe Cocker - Feeling Alright

What a fantastic song ! 

Streets of Fire - Tonight is what it means to be young

One of the iconic movies of my youth and young adulthood, I believe this superb movie was released to the general public in 1983, I was 21 years of age then. I had the Video Cassette Tape of it and then the CD. I must have watched it over 20 times, I was so enthralled with the actors then as well as the music.

The director was the renowned Walter Hill and he cast the then heart throbs of Michael Pare, Diane Lane as the leads as well as several renowned actors as the supporting cast. The storyline is simple, a rockstar girl who is on her way up is kidnapped by a gang of hoodlums in the '50s ghettos of New York.

Word gets around and her old flame Cody comes flying in to save her from the bad guys, and then its just a cat and mouse game of guy saves girl, they go into hiding with their sidekicks and the 'keh lair fair' (bit part band mates) and the bad guys go all around town looking for her and creating mayhem, finally culminating in a one on one street fight between Cody and the Boss (superbly played by Willem Dafoe).

This final scene is the song of the movie and Cody makes his exit, and once again leads to Ellen's heartbreak but he realises it for the best, so strolls off into the sunset and hops a ride onto the butch girl's car and they lived unhappily ever after.

The acting was quite stiff in retrospect, Diane Lane gave a pretty superb performance but Michael Pare's acting was as stiff as cardboard. He rarely showed emotions as perhaps that was the 'macho' image of the 50s.  

Nowadays with the confusing titles of Metrosexuals, SNAGs, Me Too women and LGBT, we men frankly don't know what persona to carry let alone show. I think the women are just as equally confused.

  

Chinese New Year Resolutions

I have decided on this 2nd day of the Chinese New Year to post 3 Resolutions, 1 for the brain, 1 for my health and 1 for my spirit.

Taken atop St Peter's Basillica in 2017, above all the statues of the saints and apostles

St Peter's Square is in the background. 

1. Brain - to learn a new mathematical game, Mahjong, so that I can play this centuries       old game with my family and friends. Plus it keeps my mind as sharp as can be.



2. Health - To learn a new sport for my late middle age. 70 is now the young old age and 90, the old old age.  



3. Spirit - To seek and find the meaning of Life through seeking the established religions and meditation, to give back more to society so that I can lead a more fulfilling existence.  

Why we like 'stories' of hope ?

I chanced upon an article from the local newspaper headlined "Twins barely made it to Express stream now doing well in IB".

This is the statistical biases which all newspapers can and most often do highlight but do remember it is 5 in 50,000 or 1 in 10,000. 49,995 do not come near this result and probably tens of thousands just scrape through. 

So when you have stories which are full of hope based on say 50,000 students studying for this year's 'O' levels, there will always be the 0.1% of these boys and girls who will come up against the odds.Note 0.1% is still 50. If there were only 5 then the odds would be 0.01 % . 

In Thailand, Dec 1975 for the Sanya Samaki Swim Cup with Bangkok Sports Club

And boy they do make out a great story of success. The reason is that our minds are geared, or primed to react and praise the ones who come out on top. It is so motivational and enriching. Success bias is ingrained in our brains for the longest time. Not so the plodders and mediocre performers who form the bulk of the 95% students.

Our brains are also wired to link instances in time chronoloigically to form a story. Logical or Sensational, we all have the 'capacity to spin a yarn', to make an oration. So that we end up being more popular, more sought after and more liked on Facebook. 

Stories are just events which when scribed down, they are inextricably linked to form a message. The spin is where the writer then knowingly puts in his bias.

Throw in a few 'downers' and there will be many and the story just becomes another one of everybody's life. 

So be careful of what is written out there. Spin doctors make you want to see what they see and are intent to spread a line for the unwitting. 

Its called an Op - Ed, or opinion editorial.