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Thursday, September 15, 2011

Knots Landing: Tahrir Square Edition

Last night I was woken up at 1:30 am. Unable to go back to sleep I started to channel surf until I settled on Dubai One. They were showing a TV movie titled "Knots Landing: The return to the cul-de-sac 2". For those of you born in the late 80s and 90s, Knots Landing was a popular prime time soap opera. It was a spin off of another infamous TV show "Dallas" as it followed the lives of Val and Garry Ewing (JR and Bobby's brother) upon moving to Knots Landing, somewhere in California. I want to say Los Angles, but I am not totally sure. 

Growing up in the 80s, I used to religiously watch every episode of Knots Landing and Falcon Crest (another prime time show staring Jane Wyman). They were on everyday at 9:00 on channel 2. Everyone watches these shows. They were often topics of discussion at school, with people trying to guess what is going to happen next. We would anxiously await the twists and turns of plot lines, and try to mimic the actors fashion (who can forget Abbey's eye shadow and hair cut, she started the whole Rachael craze). Even now, 20 odd years latter I still remember the names of the major characters and couples. There is Val and Garry, Karen and Mac (she was originally married to Sed, but he got killed off), Greg and Laura (who died of brain cancer, and their daughter Meg was raised my Karen and Mac). Many careers were launched in these shows. Alec Baldwin made his debut as Val's younger brother. He was totally hot, we all had a huge crush on Joshua (the name of his character) until he turned into a psycho and killed his wife, then committed suicide. Who can forget Page (Nicollette Sheridan), Mac's daughter with Anne. 

Although I tuned in the middle of the TV movie and I had no idea what was going on, I kept on watching. Abbey was scheming something with Gregg and someone got killed while a warehouse burnt down. Val was furious to discover that Garry has a daughter with some other woman. Mac was occupied with a case against Gregg. Just same old Knots Landing business. I kept on watching out of the sheer joy of reminiscing with the show. This got me thinking about the prime time soap operas of today. Are there any ? Maybe "Desperate Housewives", but that show has been deteriorating since season three. What else, "Grey's Anatomy"or  "Private Practice"? I wouldn't necessary characterize these shows as a soap opera. Although everyone is sleeping with everyone else, but there is a genuine lack of scheming and plotting. Then I realized that I have stopped watching soap operas all together. I am more into short witty sitcoms (or what's left of sitcoms) and other cable dramas like "Ture Blood", "Boardwalk Empire", "Damages", and "Sons of Anarchy". I still tune into network crime shows such as the "Law and Order"s and "CSI"s. I wondered about this shift in taste. Are current prime time soap operas so bad that they don't attract my attention anymore? Have I just matured and my taste of entertainment has evolved? Or maybe our lives are full with our own drama. We are plagues with tragedies that were unimaginable a few years back. There is war, famine , natural disasters, economic turmoil, life threatening animal related flu. The list goes on and on. No mater how you try to hide from the news, it's going to find you whether be it via television, facebook, SMS, or pod casts. Misery likes company, and it finds us all eventually. The adventures of the residents of Knots Landing, or Westeria Lane for that matter, does not entertain us any more. 

As I was dwelling on this conundrum, I looked over at my alarm clock to see that it was almost 4:00 am. I waited for Fagr azan, then I fell asleep to the familiar sound of the opening credits of "The Closer".

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Will lose weight ! Help me to loose weight ! Despirately need to loose WEIGHT !

Being idle is my worst enemy. When I am idle, I get depressed and physically ill. Therefore I like to keep myself occupied. However I have been suffering from a 4 month idle patch and it is starting to take its toll on me. I am feeling the effects creeping up. They have manifested themselves in my recent weight gain. I have gained 2 kilos, with my weight reaching 75 kgs :(


Last December I suffered a minor back injury. During my physical therapy, the doctor told me I have to loose weight. His exact words were, "I will tell you now that you have to loose weight. I don't need to know how much you weigh. I can tell by just looking at you, that you MUST loose weight." I admit those were some harsh words, and it hurt hearing that my lower back muscles are so out of shape that they literally can't hold up my body anymore.


Now all of this grim news should have wiped me in a frenzy to get my butt moving and loosing those kilos, but there was a catch. Due to the back injury I could not exercise, not even take long walks. I was advised by my crude doctor to take up swimming, which is a novel and interesting sport in itself. The only problem was I don't know how to swim. So my mission was to find an establishment that taught overweight grownups how to swim. I also needed to buy a bathing suit - but I will leave that little adventure for another post. I was adamant and resolute. I will abide by the doctor's orders to loose weight the improve my lower back muscles ! However these plans never materialized into actions, for a number of reasons I will not divulged into now. Yet here I am, 8 months later, with an extra 2 kgs to get rid off.


Talking about weight issues and body image seems like such a cliche. We have all gone through them. Some buckle down, do the work that needs to be done and collect the rewards. Others bitch and moan about how hard it is to actually loose weight. I perceive myself as belonging to neither group. I have become complacent with my weight gain. I embrace it as a fact of life. I am getting old, chances are I am going to get wrinkles and I am going to get fat. I see it as an opportunity to buy new clothes and indulge in delicious deserts. But the truth of the matter is over the past 10 years I have gain 15 kgs, and I will be better off without them. The ironic thing is I know exactly why I emotionally eat at times, why I have gained weight, and why I haven't lost any. I guess the bottom line is, I am too lazy to do anything about it.


The biggest part of my problem is not having any support system. My mom's idea of eating healthy, is eating at home. On the surface that is a nice idea, but when the homemade menu consist of rice, pasta, bread, lasagna covered with all sorts of cheese, bashamel covered vegetables, scorched slabs of meat, and burnt chicken, you realize that eating at home is not going to cut it. I know that I can always cook for myself and not eat what my mom is serving. But that is easier said than done, especially when you have such a weak disposition to food as I do. But again these are just further excuses. Yes, I would be better off if I had a more supportive family at home, but tough luck cause it ain't gonna happen. The truth is I am getting old, but I am also starting to feel old because of the way I eat and my lack of exercise. So, I can bitch and moan , or I can do something about it. And I have chosen the later.


Some of you might be wondering why I have decided to blog about this. First of all, it will give me a constructive daily activity to do and take me further away from the idle abyss of boredom. Secondly, it'll act as kind of a pledge to myself and you all are witness. Maybe it will keep me on track. Last but not least, I was hoping that you can be my support group. Whenever I am discouraged and distraught with thoughts of abandoning my quest, I might find new friends who will help me along the way.