Senses working overtime #486

1 The feeling this week:

Photo by Emma Harper on Unsplash

2 Reading: Seth Godin on what language reveals

If the argument you’re hearing isn’t based on what we know to be true, and doesn’t lead to a logical conclusion, it could be because it’s not actually seeking to be a productive discussion.

It’s awkward to say “yadda, yadda” but that might be what’s on offer.

(This came to mind during the week as I listened to a guy in a suit without a tie talking to me and a group of other teachers).

3 Reading: The BBC's Football Extra - on Everton after 2 losses

Everton's current plight has not come out of nowhere. It's merely the latest hoof in the genitals for a fanbase whose will to endure such pain would impress the Shaolin.

4 Listening: WTWMC - Motorvatin'

5 Listening: Haken - Aquarius

Overtime: 

"When you're on the field, play as if nothing else matters.
When you're off the field, remember that the game doesn't matter at all."

James Clear

Senses working overtime #485

1 The feeling this week:

Photo by Kate Stone Matheson on Unsplash

2 Reading: Serviceman J - Jamie Pennell

Jamie is a distinguished MAGS old boy, and his book is perfect for the library at Hastings' Boys' High School. I've recommended it to all my classes as well.

3 Listening: Pelican West - Haircut One Hundred

Perfect for anticipating spring.

4 Listening: WTWMC Motorvatin' 

We're nearing the home straight - one more week/lap to go. 

5 Listening: Charm - Clairo

Overtime: Zen and the journey

"Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion. Then, when you're no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn't just a means to an end but a unique event in itself. This leaf has jagged edges. This rock looks loose. From this place the snow is less visible, even though closer. These are things you should notice anyway. To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top. Here's where things grow."

Writer and philosopher Robert M. Pirsig

Source: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (courtesy Dylan O'Sullivan and James Clear)

Senses working overtime #484

1 Reading: Mojo magazine (issue 366)

2 Reading: Monument Rock - Louis L'Amour

3 Listening: Saxophone Colossus - Sonny Rollins

4 Watching: Season 7 of Monk

It's a perfect, gentle, easy to watch evening show after a day at work.

5 Listening: WTWMC - Motorvatin'

Overtime:  

“The most important decision you will ever make is to be in a good mood.”

Voltaire

Senses working overtime #483

1 Listening: The Chills - Brave Words

The soundtrack for thousands of Kiwis these last few weeks has been albums by The Chills to remember Martin Phillipps. The three amigos have been playing and reviewing Brave Words.

My review is here.

 

2 Watching/ celebrating: Ellesse Andrews

She is an amazing athlete, yes, but she's also a very humble and joyful person. I love her post medal reactions.

3 Watching/ celebrating: Maddison Wesche

In the women's shot put final, Maddi won a silver medal, which was great, but it was her smiling reaction to the competition that was even greater. Big fan!

4 Watching: Martin Phillipps  

The documentary The Chills: The Triumph & Tragedy of Martin Phillipps is on my purchase list. In the meantime this overall/interview is well worth your time. And this live performance on KEXP is just stunning!

5 Reading: Daily Stoic on the Olympics

As the Stoics would remind us, it’s not winning that counts. That there is sometimes another plane of greatness that an athlete can win—by the injury they overcome to finish, by the political gesture they make on the medal stand, by the way they treat a competitor. We tell the story of the Japanese equestrian Shunzo Kido in the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He was competing in the 22.5-mile, 50-obstacle race that he didn’t normally run after a teammate was injured and had to drop out.

Improbably, with no proper training for himself or his horse, Kido was in the lead, clear of the pack after jumping over the second-to-last obstacle. But what Kido did next was even more improbable. He pulled up the reins and dropped out of the race. Out of nowhere, he gave up the chance of gold and glory for himself and his country.

Why?

He could feel the horse struggling and sensed that even just a few more seconds at full speed would kill the horse as it crossed the finish line. As the plaque on the Friendship Bridge along the Mount Rubidoux Trail commemorating his unprecedented display of sportsmanship reads, “Lt. Col. Shunzo Kido turned aside from the prize to save his horse. He heard the low voice of mercy, not the loud acclaim of glory.”

Overtime: (A pre Olympics) Ellesse Andrews

“Now I have a bit more experience behind me and it’s a cooler place to be coming from. I’m a different person now than I was at the last Olympics, and that’s just from having more experience and growing up a little bit.”

Senses working overtime #482

1 The feeling this week:

Photo by Paola Andrea on Unsplash

2 Reading: Mother's Day - Laurence Fearnley

3 Listening: Washington County - Arlo Guthrie

Gabriel's Mother's Highway Ballad #16 Blues is a wonderful song.

4 Listening: WTWMC - Motorvatin'

The three amigos are now compiling a playlist of songs of a vehicular nature. 

5 Reading: Sylvia Plath

Poet and novelist Sylvia Plath reminds us that choosing a path means ignoring the rest, but not choosing means squandering them all:

"I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet."

Courtesy James Clear's newsletter

Overtime: James Clear

When you're younger, it's easy to underestimate how fleeting the days can be. Each choice matters. Each day matters.

When you're older, it's easy to underestimate how much opportunity you still have. Don't talk yourself out of it. It's never too late to start.