Don't Hate the Player

Gary Player has won 160 tournaments over the course of his lengthy career, including the Grand Slam and Senior Grand Slam (winning all 4 majors in a year). He's the only guy who's ever done that.

He keeps incredibly fit, and at age 75 makes Patrick Bateman - 


look like Michael Moore (here he is exercising) -

Read about how he (Gary Player) does 1000 crunches and 1000 pushups every day, just to get warmed up.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424053111903520204576482082753114232-lMyQjAxMTAxMDAwMjEwNDIyWj.html

Staying Young

Ha ha, this is definitely not my problem -

That's the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. They don't remember what it's like to be twelve years old.

- Walt Disney

Nightingale-Conant has a great Word-of-the-Day type service that emails out a Motivational Quote of the Day. You may sign up for it here. This is probably my favorite -

"Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can."

- The Dalai Lama

Let's Hug It Out

The health benefits of a hug are many. Read here in ThirdAge all of the reasons why, among them -

[H]ere’s what the researchers discovered about the power of the hug:
• Blood pressure soared in the no-contact people. Their systolic (upper) reading jumped 24 points, more than double the rise for huggers, and their diastolic (lower) also rose significantly higher.
• Heart rate increased 10 beats a minute for those without contact compared with five beats a minute for huggers. 
• Both men and women were seen to have higher levels of oxytocin after the hug. 
• People in loving relationships were found to have higher levels of the hormone than others.
• All women had reduced levels of cortisol following the hug, as well as reporting the blood pressure benefits.

Parks and Recreation

Here's a cheap and fun activity for you to do this weekend. In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, all national parks will waive their admission fees from January 15 to January 17.

Find the park closest to you here -

http://www.nps.gov/index.htm

Dr. Oz 25 Greatest Health Tips

This is a good list of ways to stay healthy from Dr. Oz. I'm sorry if I've posted it before. It's a good thing to think about around the new year. Click here for the link.

Men's Health Pushup Challenge

This is a good chest workout, especially considering it only takes 5 minutes. It took me 6:18. After this and my 35 minutes 3.5 mile race performance maybe I should pick it up a little. Check it out.

Click here to see the video.

5:15 on the second time around.

Third time around 4:58, what's up?

Drink Up

Time - "Why Do Heavy Drinkers Outlive Nondrinkers?"

A friend sent me that article back in August. Forgot until just now to post it. When I received it, I replied that I took exception to the fact that he had put me first on the distribution list. Then I wrote that I was just kidding and was honored. And also that it was probably why I was replying at 230 in the morning, from a bar.

Basically, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin found that, even accounting for every external variable that could be unrelated to the actual alcohol consumption, such as socioeconomic reasons, or work-related stress, etc., those who drink alcohol outlive those who do not.

So, it sounds to me like you'd better start drinkin'. Please also note the correct usage of the past participle of "to drink," that is, "drunk." Please, please, please learn it. It drives me crazy that people get it wrong so often.

Don't Make That Face...

...or it might get stuck that way forever. Holy crap! That might be true!

"Sleep Apnea Mask May Cause Subtle Facial Changes"

From MSN Health & Fitness -

"The common treatment, called continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) can help relieve the interrupted breathing of sleep apnea. However, 'my research found possible craniofacial change [as a result of] long-term CPAP use,' said study author Hiroko Tsuda, an assistant professor in the general oral clinic at Kyushu University Hospital in Japan."

Freaking Laser Beams

Well, it's kind of all over the news, but if you haven't heard, a former FDA regulator, Dr. Morris Waxler, who was an early proponent of laser eye surgery, now thinks that the benefits of peeling your eye back and shooting a laser at it might be outweighed by the risks of the procedure.

Did you know that the word "laser" is an acronym, by the way? It stands for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation." Pretty cool, huh?

Anyway, according to the article I read,

"Waxler's analysis of FDA data shows half of Lasik patients experience side effects and more than a third continue to need glasses or contacts."

But it goes on to state that another eye doctor dude had this to say -

"'In this day in age [sic] unless you have a really extreme prescription, it's unusual to develop glare or halo after surgery.' added Dr. Michael Walker of EYE-Q laser center in Fresno. Dr. Michael Walker is a Valley ophthalmologist and has performed Lasik surgery on more than 16,000 patients. He disagrees with Doctor Waxler's analysis because the data comes from the late 90's and that technology has improved dramatically over the years.

'It gets better every year, it certainly get faster and more refined but if I didn't believe the procedure were safe and effective I certainly wouldn't be doing it.' Dr. Walker added."

Keeping It All In Perspective

I've been thinking recently of an old friend who died from injuries sustained in a car accident 7 years ago. I keep his funeral card in the visor of my car and consider him a guardian angel. It happened on August 23rd, so I'm thinking of him more often this time of year, and can't believe it was so long ago.

Just today, in my pursuit to know everything that's going everywhere in the world all the time (this is a futile one, obviously), I happened upon an article on NPR's website about a support group for people who have outlived their children, called  The Compassionate Friends. It's important to know that there are many people struggling with this alienating situation and that we should be appreciative of the ones we have in our lives.