7 Zen steps for digital fitness

Let me begin by admitting outright that I'm a geek and lazy and probably have medium-to-extreme attention   deficit disorder. I can pretty much do anything, I set my mind to, as long as I feel like doing it (usually way past when most sane people would move on) but can't even so much as finger curl a remote button without solid motivation. In short I have zero will power (zilch).


For the past fifteen years I've been spending 8-12 hours a day in front of some screen of some type. My work alone involves 6-8 hours sitting in front of a computer (coupled with approximately about  3-6 hours daily entertainment and infotainment screen time).


Its this digital life coupled with my flawed to begin with personality that almost made me hopelessly fat, slow and sloppy. It couldn't go on, I didn't like what I saw in the mirror and more importantly couldn't afford the ballooning insurance premiums. (the final straw was when my Doc told me to give up sweets, cheese and alcohol) 


I also started feeling (almost) that all this tech was some how constricting me.


Since I couldn't give it all up I decided to figure out ways to make all this "connected" time and technology work to get me fit.


I call this the "Zen of Digital fitness"

'Zen' because most of it is a collection of really simple ideas but it helps shed stress, burns calories and makes you feel a lot better about yourself while you are at it.


Note: It has worked for me (I’ve shed inches, regained stamina, fixed my cholesterol and had loads of fun and can eat and drink what I want :D) but you may need to tweak it to suit your own pace and lifestyle. Also be smart and ask a professional if you have medical conditions or special needs etc.


Now finally presenting; 


The 7 Steps to the Zen of Digital fitness:

1. Get some pumping Music
2. Change the way you watch TV
3. Kit up with the latest tech in sports and exercise gear
4. Find great tips and techniques online
5. Use your smartphone as a personal trainer 
6. Use your body to play video games
7. Go social with your  effort and progress 

Reading Sheet Music (Mnemonics)

If you are beginning to learn to read sheet music check out my quick-and-dirty articles about getting your feet wet.

Once you understand the basic layout of the notes you can start reading a score. You will soon notice though that like any other language getting fluency in reading music takes time.

Often you will find yourself counting lines on the treble or bass clef to figure out which note to play.

Here are some simple mnemonic devices to help you quickly recognize the notes on the grand staff.

A truly scrumptious noon

I don't usually write about food but my meal this afternoon was good enough to change that.

I believe that being vegetarian in Singapore is harder than being vegetarian anywhere else. Not because there aren't enough options for vegetarians (far from it) but rather because there are too many alternatives.  In fact, Singapore is the foodie capital of the world with a mind boggling array of food choices for any palate.

This afternoon after a long and tiring meeting at the Central Business District I headed out to hunt for a quick bite. (technically, being vegetarian, I should say I headed out to 'gather' rather than 'hunt'). Deciding to try something new I eliminated all the joints I frequent whenever I near the CBD  at meal time.(in one fell stroke :p)  

Today I was rewarded (for my effort and patience) with a delightful meal that was quick, delicious, economical and refreshingly healthy.

I proudly present to you Vegan Berg: http://www.veganburg.com/

I had a Grilled Satay Burger with Seaweed fries and the spinach and potato balls and a apple & passion fruit cooler. (It was simply gorgeous what more can I say... I am writing this blog post aren't I)

After the meal, completely obscenely stuffed I decided I couldn't eat another savoury bite and began to look for desserts (sheepish grin)

The CBD of Singapore, being the centre of the foodie capital of the world, as I was saying in this self same post a few paras ago, didn't disappoint by delivering a second gastronomical gem in the same afternoon.

http://latteemiele.com.sg/

Latte E Emiele is a Gelato place truly run by Artisans of the Gelato making craft. I had the Orange blossom and Honey flavoured Gelato in waffle cone and it was sooooo good that it made my knees weak. I tried a bunch of the other flavours and would recommend any one of them without reservations.

Since I have no idea how one gracefully ends a blog post so obviously about gluttony 'bye!'  

 

Reading sheet music made easy (Part 2)

This is a continuation from Part 1

The aim is to get to a point to be able to read the following piece:

Seeing how written music maps to the piano extremely well, leads me to believe that modern sheet music was invented first for the piano (or maybe the piano was invented with sheet music in mind... Who knows???).

This sheet music to keyboard mapping is so intuitive that it is the logical place to start (at least in my opinion :P)

Step 2 (Marching forward)

Reading sheet music made easy (Part 1)

The above is the opening from "Für Elise" ('For Elise' in English) which is one of Ludwig van Beethoven's most popular compositions. The above lines contain all the information required for a pianist to be able to render this well known extract of the timeless melody written more than 200 years ago in April 1810. 

The skill required to render this music as a balm for the soul, takes years of practice. However, getting to a point where one is able to understand that these unfathomable glyphs are  part of the tune is easy. 

The ability to read music allows us to start practising and play the millions of scores from Pop, Rock, Classical, Jazz etc genres which get published as sheet music. 

This is the first in a series of tutorials (and by series I mean 2 maybe even 3) about the basics of reading sheet music. At the end of these tutorials you should be able to make sense of most of what is written on this opening lines from For Elise. 

A note of caution for everyone! I like to figure out most things myself and am not classically (or infact even otherwise) trained. So whilst this is an easy way to learn reading music it might not be the correct way of going about things.  

Step 1 (Lets start from the very beginning...)

Pizza is a Vegetable!

Shucks I wish my mom had known this! I had to eat carrots and peas!

No one is saying this yet but I've taken the liberty to carry that argument to its logical conclusion.

PIZZA is everything!!!

Nevertheless this is a fascinating debate to follow:

Pizza is a vegetable
Pizza is not a vegetable
Pizza is a vegetable
Pizza is not a vegetable
Pizza is a vegetable

and so on (all different links btw)  :)

Web of life

All of human existence is but a single thread in the vast fabric of life. When it comes loose and we decide to go against nature we set ourselves up for only one of the two inevitable outcomes: either it will unravel the entire fabric or break.

Not only are many species of plants and animals becoming extinct and biodiversity is disappearing but the ecosystems that break down because of this are the same that provide us the food we eat, the water we drink and the very air we breathe. Pollution today has also started affecting us directly and has been identified as the major culprit to a host of serious health issues ranging from life threatening diseases, like cancer and asthma, to physical disabilities and psychological disorders.

With the very existence of human life itself threatened the importance of saving the environment is obvious. It is not that society is unaware of the urgency in the need to curb humanity’s insatiable appetite and decrease the waste and pollution it generates. Information about environmental degradation is easily available on the internet and its impact on the human condition often makes its way into the news and media.

Rather than discuss in detail here, again, how ‘to save the environment means to save yourself’ and that ‘we should save the world because our children will inherit it’ I have decided to focus instead on the benefit to society if its members can begin to think beyond their selfish goals and needs and extend consideration for other living things that share the planet with us.

I know that changing the world is a very big undertaking and we often do know where to begin. Let us begin with some small baby steps, with learning some simple civic sense ourselves. Rather than dumping our garbage into the open we should consider segregating it for recycling. Instead of simply throwing cigarette butts, toffee wrappers and empty cold-drink cans on the road we should make the extra effort to carry them with us till we can dispose it with responsibility.

The small savings we will make when we switch off lights we don’t need at home or even by not letting the water run unnecessarily while we are brushing our teeth will translate to big savings for the environment.

To be a society means to be connected to others in a rich and complex web of relationships. We come together to form societies because they give us comfort, security and continuity. If the members of a society can think beyond themselves and show consideration to others it makes the society more strong and beautiful. If a society can show consideration to the environment that it inhabits it makes the society enlightened.

There is a beautiful ‘Red-Indian’ saying I recently came across “a man's heart away from nature becomes hard; a lack of respect for growing, living things soon leads to lack of respect for humans too” 

Tiger in Acrylic

This Jungle Cat is nearly life sized and painted on an A1 sized canvas board. I am, sort of, happy with the result even though I was lazy and did not put in enough details.

I think tigers are the most beautiful creatures in the big cat family. They look so adorable that you just want to hug them.

Just has a random thought!

First caveman to ever see a tiger:

Caveman: OOOOh such a cute kitty! Let me give you a hug!
Tiger:  Hmm ...Tempting but  I just ate!  

:D

William Blake wrote those immortal lines in praise of this cat:


TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
   
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?
Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Acrylic Painting

Most of my artwork till now has been oil pastels with a little bit of pencil work. I've tried oil pastels on paper (several gsm weights), canvas and mounted boards with varying results and though it has proven to be a versatile medium, of late, I've been getting a bit restless with it.

I tried watercolours, ever so briefly, but found them cumbersome and myself extremely clumsy with them.  Watercolour pencils worked a bit better for me but required too much effort and mundane labour.

I realised that the thing I loved most about oil-pastels was that I could use my hands (palms and fingers both) to coax the colours in whatever way I wanted. I could spread the medium with wild abandon and still be able to regain control later and focus the painting.

This was clearly something pencils and watercolours just didn't do too well.

I shied away from oil's proper simply for the kind of set-up and preparation  needed to get started and the amount o technical knowledge that went into rudimentary things like colour mixing. It was while I was exploring oils that I stumbled upon acrylics.

I always thought of acrylics as a medium for use with cloth or craft but discovered that it is a painting medium fast growing in popularity. The paints are very easy to handle and dry fast. They require just water as a thinner and can be used on almost any kind of surface.

These paints work well in layers and can easily be removed for correction. Also I found a company that makes these paints with non-toxic materials that are safe to use with your hands.

My first experiment with the medium was a disaster though it helped me learn a lot about how it behaves. I'm now working on my second piece which is progressing well and will be posted here soon.

Don't get me wrong, I will still be painting with oil-pastels and very much love working with them but you should be seeing more acrylic work on this blog soon :)

 

Odds