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For the Love of fishing

I am a keen fisherman and will take any opportunity to wet my lines, although I must admit that despite my efforts, I am not as successful as I would like to be or believe.  Not that I have not caught my fair share of fish, why I even managed, on a trip to Mauritius, to hook a blue marlin, all 284 kg of fish.  But the real attraction to fishing is the gadgets that are required and the technicality of it all.  It starts with the rod, then the real, line, hooks leaders, plastics, lures, poppers and the like.  Then there are sinkers and bait holders and a slew of bits and bobs that make up a well-stocked fishing tackle box,  and that, that is the real attraction. Rods with that special action that gives the feel of a great fisherman, reels with slick bearings that give that hot knife through butter feel,  line that allows you to cast amazing distances, hooks that turn in the fishes mouth so you can  hook a fish without any effort, all this and I still have trouble catching fish. I
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Confessions of a Tech Junkie

I am passionate about gadgets, and I cannot resist a gadget especially if it comes in the form of a tool that claims it will make the job easier. Take the hook tying tool I bought a while ago. I had on many occasions impaled my fingers while tying a hook to the end of my fishing line.  So fish tying gadget here I come.  I get home, tear open the packaging and dive into the instructions.  In their wisdom, they have only included a diagram to show how to use the tool.   I try following the diagram and no matter how hard I try I cannot work out how they have managed to loop the line over the tool and hook and cannot locate the hole through which I need to thread the end of the line to complete the knot.  YouTube to the rescue!  YouTube, where you can find videos on every subject under the sun, well almost.  I locate the only video featuring my hook tying tool and select it for viewing.   Instead of showing how to use the tool, the video shows every page of the instruction manual while ex
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Learning to Swim

My decision to learn how to swim had nothing to do with the fact that the earth is more than two-thirds water.   The point is had my dad, in his wisdom, not lifted me out of the water when I tried to swim to shore after climbing off a tyre tube when I was no more than a lad of 4 years old, you would not be reading this post, and I would be pushing up the daisies.  It is this which drove my desire to teach myself how to swim. I decided the best approach was to go to a pool observe and then in the safety of the shallow end of the pool I would attempt to teach myself to swim.  Since this was the late sixties, 1960's for those who are not in the know,  the one thing that was difficult to come by was a swimming pool.  They were as scarce as hen's teeth. A private swimming pool in an Indian area was unheard off, and a public pool was not very high on the list of priorities of the municipal authorities, and I would be surprised if it did make it to the list in the first place con
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The Only Truth

the longing inside, a void unfulfilled? a life of adventure, a movie left untold? the illusion of life, a stage show of the mind? thoughts that shape our world, a figment of our imagination? to have loved and lost love, an emotional state of being? to find our purpose, is it not just to be? confusion, illusion, diffusion, are they not reflections of each other? peace, true peace can only be found in the Other, the only truth!
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Gracefully

I have made up my mind! Without a doubt! I will grow old gracefully and accept that which comes with age.  Like the realisation, when one day you sit in a restaurant and cannot see the ingredients on the menu, that it is time to get a set of reading glasses. I can clearly recall the first time that happened to me.  After trying to focus on the ingredients list for several minutes by constantly trying to telescope the menu, moving it closer and then finally extending it to arms length, without any success that it would be better to get a set of glasses or suffer the suspense of ordering a dish and having a complete look of shock and surprise what it arrived if it contained an ingredient that was inedible.  It would be like having chef's surprise at every restaurant meal! Rather than put my ageing heart through that kind of stress I decided to swallow my youthful pride and get a pair of glasses.  Not just any pair though, something that would be elegant and yet youthful. I settled
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Contribution

The realisation that how a situation is envisioned compared to the stark reality of it often leaves one disillusioned.  The movie that plays out in the mind, the storyboard that we often base our decisions on, seems to have been produced, directed and scripted by someone who has been high on some potent narcotic, that nobody even knows the name of, when compared to reality and reality is a humbler of man. It is humbling to realise that whatever we do whether or not it has been done before or not that we can only do this because of the contribution and generosity of others.  How much do we rely on what others have contributed to make ourselves a success whether or not we find it palatable? This very blog, everything about it, is a contribution by others and mine a mere humble arrangement of words trying to get your attention. How is it possible then that if our contribution is dependent on the contribution and generosity of others that arrogance has become so prevalent?  An a
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What's in a Movie

If there is one movie that stands out for me amongst the multitude of movies that I have watched in my lifetime it has got to be "Jerry MaGuire". Yes I know, I know, I know what you thinking how could I be into a chick flick? The "you got me before you said hello" bit.  But I think its much more clever, it is actually a guy movie disguised as a chick flick.  How else would the director have got the chicks into the movie with the guys?  How do I know it's a guy movie? Ask any guy what he remembers of the movie, yes you got it "SHOW ME THE MONEY", now if I have ever heard a "guy" line, this is it.  To be honest this is just my excuse.  You see I quite enjoy the so called "chick flick", although I do have my limits. I definitely draw the line at stuff like "Sex in the City". But I have to say one of the best movies I have ever seen, and I have seen it about 20 times, has got to be the Godfather. It is the ultimate guy movi
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