Saturday 26 October 2013

THERE ARE STORMS - AND STORMS...!

I was 3rd Mate on an old cargo ship, steam driven (know as an 'up and down job) and so underpowered that when heading into bad weather, we often went backwards. 
It was 1957 and we were tied up in Hong Kong when a hurricane (typhoons in these parts) warning was broadcast. The captain decided we'd be safer at sea, so we sailed as soon as possible, went south east, heading into wind, the only way really to manage such weather. 
And it blew up very quickly and we were soon rolling and pitching violently, know as 'pounding' in the trade. As it got worse we all collected on the bridge, unsure if we'd survive, such was the ferocity of the weather. 
Then out of the spume and spray just ahead of us, an old wooden Chinese junk appeared, running flat out before the winds and doing well over twenty knots. 
As is passed close down our port side, we saw in its open afterdeck, a bunch of kids and dogs - playing football..!
So don't worry too much about the dreadful gales forecast for the weekend...keep it in perspective, go watch a game of football...

Friday 25 October 2013

AN UNEXPECTED EXPERIENCE....

I swim nearly every day (except Sundays). I went swimming as usual today and then, while changing, the thought came, 'Why don't I try the sauna..?'

So I had my shower as usual, but went into the sauna instead and sat down.

It wasn't very interesting, just a bench, a bucket of water and me with a ladle occasional scattering water onto a little pile of stones in the middle of the sauna's heater. I only stayed about ten minutes. 

But when I got to the pool, I was amazed at how different I now felt. First, the pool water, usually very cold, felt good and then, when I started swimming, I was so relaxed, both physically and mentally, to begin with, I could only paddle along even slower than usual.

It was a rejuvenating experience - I could get more flowery, but will just say it was a game changing experience for me because, for the rest of the day, I felt both unusually fit and quite elated by it all.

Saturday 5 October 2013

What life is really about...

Life is not about wealth or culture, success or failure, aspiration or inspiration, but simply about avoiding boredom - all the rest is scaffolding…





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Thursday 3 October 2013

LAW THAT (APPEAR TO) TRANSCENDS LAW(S)...

There is only one circumstance when immoral interventions are justified - and here I mean anti-semitic, racist, etc...etc... - infact the thoughtless breaching of all these big taboos (the ones set in ferro concrete) - is when, and only when, it enables a good joke....

So did you get the one about the Scotsman, the Englishman and the Irishman...?

Me neither..!

Second Thought For Today....why do our social and cultural laws change so remorselessly - because they are ultimately based on the laws of physics (that's why science has swallowed philosophy) and the laws of physics aren't fixed either - they're also always changing...

You heard it here first...! 



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