8 January 2010

The Magic Troika

Greetings,

So? How are your New Year's resolutions holding up?

As the man lying on the couch said, "Sofa, so good."

I read an article recently about the three most common resolutions, and I bet we've all made one or more of them at various times. The magic troika of New Year's resolutions is as follows:

Stop smoking

Lose weight

Get Fit

I'm one of the fortunate few who has managed to resist that seductive swine called Nick O. Tine, and it always amazes me how people can continue to fall into his clutches, despite all the millions spent on public education programs about the dangers of smoking.

I remember one of Seinfeld's monologues where he chatted about the way people respond to the warning labels on cigarette packs: Smoking causes cancer ... Smoking clogs your arteries ... and the no-room-for-confusion: Smoking - a leading cause of death. So people will read these, look at the graphic images that accompany them (here in Australia, health warnings now occupy 30% of the front and 90% of the back of pack, with a photo or similar appearing on both front and back), then they'll happily open the pack and light up a ciggie.

But these same people will run into the laundry, rip a newly-bought garment from a spouse's hands, point furiously at the label and say, "Look! It says 'dry-clean only'."  

There's no way governments can legislate against stupidity!

The second resolution is to lose weight, and what a sad commentary that is on our society! For most of the history of the world, our ancestors waged an all-out battle to find enough to eat (and sadly, many of our fellows still face this problem), and yet, here we are in the Western World where one of our biggest health problems is obesity!

I have a theory that the majority of our health problems could be solved in a matter of months if it weren't for the fact that they're worth so much money! (See this week's Little Something Extra for some mind-blowing figures!)

The silly thing about our "obesity epidemic" is that the solution is one of those bleeding obvious things, and I'll let you in on the secret:

The way to lose weight is to eat less!

Ta-da!

Now, that wasn't hard, was it?

The second part of the secret is this:

If it's not in the house, you can't eat it!

Simply don't buy processed food, empty calories or chemically-laden manufactured foods, because if they're not in the house, you can't very well eat them, can you?

Of course, it's not quite as simple as that, which is why the weight loss industry rakes in billions every year, selling pills and potions and programs, but if you're interested in making a real effort to improve your health, lose weight and get fit without lining the pockets of the big multi-nationals, you may find what you need in a couple of my ebooks called Healthy, Happy and Fit - a Guide for the Whole Family and Healthy Eating.  Each one has all the information you need to help you regain control of your health and fitness. And you can toss some pennies into my Running Away Fund at the same time. See? We're all happy!

Click here for your ebooks on health and fitness.  And you'll be astonished at the teensy price! For less than you'd spend on a coffee and donut, you can have a lifetime of health for yourself and your family!

And the third common resolution is to get fit ... Been there? Done that?

Me too.

That's why this is such a great article: "Ask ten people what type of exercise they should be doing to burn fat and fire up their metabolism and they’ll all probably tell you the same thing.  They’ll tell you that you need to do 30-40 minutes of moderately-paced aerobic exercise on a treadmill, elliptical machine, stair climber, etc. for 3-5 times per week. 

"They’ll probably also tell you that more is better…4 times per week would be better than 3, and 5 times per week would be even better.

"People will tell you this because that’s been and continues to be the mainstream recommendation for fat burning by many fitness professionals.  Get in a certain target heart rate and stay at that heart rate for 30 minutes or so, several times per week."

Read the better way make your body work for you and a practical exercise program for those strapped for time. (Try the stair exercise ... it's a little ripper. I've been trying to work in a few of these every time I use the stairs at home.)

OK ... so those are the three most common resolutions -- not just for this year, but for every year!

However, I have a much simpler resolution that you might like to adopt as yours, too, and it's this: Be positive!

There's even an old song you can sing to celebrate it ... Sing along, girls and boys: "You have to ac-cent-u-ate the positive, e-lim-in-ate the negative, latch on to the af-firm-a-tive and don't mess with Mr In-between."

When you think about it, it's all we really need to do to ensure a great 2010. And there are clichés galore all giving a similar message if you want to elaborate: look for the silver lining; when life sends you lemons, make lemonade; look on the bright side ... But you've heard them all before, which, of course, is the whole point of a cliché.

We've all heard about the student who tossed aside his copy of Shakespeare's Collected Works, dismissing it because it was full of clichés ...

A comprehensive list of clichés, all prefaced by the warning to avoid them like the plague! here. But I have to admire the creativity of this wannabe cliché to describe some of our common-sense-challenged friends: He couldn't pour water out of a boot with instructions printed on the heel.

And this site has a wonderful list of clichés from those who hold a Black Belt in Clichés -- sports commentators  here.

Clichés aren't limited to short expressions; you can also get clichéd plots, attitudes and characters, as this great site of Science Fiction clichés shows here.

Here are some examples:

Futuristic new and advanced versions of weapons systems and vehicles look exactly like the ones from the 20th century, except for a painted symbol, a blinking light or slightly different arrangement of control surfaces/tracks/wheels.

Any old whiz kid or astro-mechanic droid can override the security protocols for the city's central computer. The designers never seem to upgrade their firewalls to avoid this.

Even though the vacuum of space has no resistance mechanism such as air or water, a star ship that loses power will grind to a halt.

And finally, another Seinfeld comment, this time on the subject of clichéd movie plots: "When you enjoy something, you must never let logic get too much in the way. Like the villains in all the James Bond movies. Whenever Bond breaks into the complex, the villain says, 'Ah, Mr. Bond, welcome, come in. Let me show you my entire evil plan and then put you in a death machine that doesn't work'."

This week's quiz:

Since we've spent a bit of time thinking about movie clichés, here are some words you see at the end of a film as the credits roll. Do that thing you do:

segue, dailies, beat, mixer, looping, gaffer, cutter, dolly grip, best boy, breakaway  

1. assistant to the electrician

2. specially designed prop or set piece which looks solid by shatters easily

3. electrician

4. screening of footage before it is edited

5. crew member who moves the piece of equipment that the camera sits on to allow mobility of the camera

6. chief of the sound crew; responsible for the quality of the sound recording on a shoot

7. transition from one shot to another in editing

8. single unit of action

9. person responsible for assembling the various visual and audio components of a film into a coherent and effective whole.

10.an in-studio technique matching, synchronizing voice to picture  

And a story about ants ... Well, why not?

A scientist was complaining to a fellow scientist that his colony of fruit flies, for some unknown reason, had never mated in his glass enclosure. Given that his experiment required several generations to complete, this was causing quite a problem. The visiting scientist told him that he had experienced a similar problem at his lab and it resulted from the slick glass walls of the enclosure. Apparently the flies mate while crawling along the glass walls of the enclosure. 

"Your glass is too slick," he told him, "but I have just the remedy". 

The second scientist asked for a bottle of table salt and some flour and water. He mixed the concoction and brushed it on the glass walls. The flies began crawling along the surface and mated immediately.

"My problem is solved," exclaimed the first scientist, "If only I had known that flies need monosodium glue to mate!"

Last week's quiz:

tintinnabulary summons, bovine continuation, perform ablutions, flattering ovation, pretty servitors, presume, partake of liquid refreshment, tendered, residing, attended 

1. wash - perform ablutions

2. went - attended

3. bridesmaids - pretty servitors

4. bell - tintinnabulary summons

5. living - residing

6. have a drink - partake of liquid refreshment

7. speech - flattering ovation

8. cow’s tail - bovine continuation

9. gave - tendered

10. suppose - presume

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A Little Something Extra

Article discussing the pharmaceutical industry here

Table of profits and salaries (complied in 1999 by Richard Laing, Department of International Health, School of Public Health, Boston University... read it and weep!) here

2008 Fortune 500 Revenues and Profits for Pharmaceutical Industry here (Just to give you a taste ... Johnson & Johnson was ranked 35th with revenue of $61,095 million, up 14.6% from 2006. Yes, that's $61,095 million! Can you say "$61 billion"?)

Oxymoron of the week: new cliché

Word of the week: Cothurnal (n) a grave and elevated style of acting; tragic acting; tragedy

This brilliant word comes to us from the Greek kóthornos, which was a type of boot with thick soles worn by tragic actors in heroic roles in ancient Athens.

In my teaching days, my Year 11 class once put on a production of Sophocles' Antigone, and I looked after the costumes. It was easy to buy metres of different coloured cotton to drape around the various characters; we chose colours that clashed for our protagonists, and pastels for our Chorus. I was extremely fortunate to have been doing this in the 80s when platform shoes were all the fashion, because all I had to do was buy a pair of platform thongs for my main characters and hey presto! Our cothurnal was ridgy-didge!

We've discussed the whole concept of tragedies in the past, if you missed it, catch up now. 

Here's a Latin phrase you'll want to hear after sticking with your resolutions and following the tips in my ebooks Healthy, Happy and Fit and Healthy Eating! 

Nonne macescis?

[NOH-nay mah-KAY-skees]

(Have you lost weight?)

Did you know that you can have your very own Latin reminders? How about undies proclaiming, Bene est rex esse? (It's good to be king) Or a shopping bag that warns, Emptrix nata sum (Born to shop)? Click here for these and more: http://www.cafepress.com/write101 

Recommend this page to other writers by clicking the Recommend it! button below, then see what pages others are recommending here.

Kind regards,

Jennifer

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