Curtain Raiser

Posted on August 23, 2013 by tashfriday

Good morning Tash Appreciators,

After an extended break, TF has reopened for business refreshed, reinvigorated and ready to raise the curtain on the next season of Tash Friday.

As this is the season opener, it seems only appropriate to go back to the roots of TF. Although the level of Tash related paraphernalia appears to be cresting a wave of popularity at the moment, that wave has been building for years. Even as far back as the turn of the last century, a Tash was seen as an essential element of what the “ideal man” should look like:

That’s Eugen Sandow, the man who some people say was the father of modern body building. He measured Greek sculptures to find the proportions of “The Grecian Ideal” and then lifted weights until he had sculpted himself into the desired shape. At the time this photo was taken (in around the mid 1890s), he was seen as having the ideal male physique. We can only assume, as he was a man that honed his appearance, that he saw his Tash as an essential element of what the ideal man looked like.

These days, we still attempt to sculpt ourselves. Some of us do it literally and work to achieve a desired body shape; while others take a more figurative approach and work until other ambitions are achieved. TF is here to encourage you to keep going and to press on towards those goals.

Back to today, one man who appears to have harnessed the power of the Tash to propel himself to greatness is this guy:

Looks like chicks really do dig him…

That’s Lachlan Morton, a 21 year old cyclist who, after starting to rock a Tash last month, has been putting a hurt on his competitors in literally every race he’s ridden . TF has been bike-heavy of late (and many of you have made your views on that clear) but, on this occasion, I make no apologies for including Mr Morton. The reason for that is the recent addition to his race-bike:

When he appeared at the start line with this first licence plate (he’s been using a couple in recent weeks), he raised a few eyebrows and I’m sure some saw it as a pretty arrogant move. However, not only does he not take himself too seriously, he knew something that his competitors didn’t: that he’d worked harder than them in the run-up to the race and that he was able to beat them; which he promptly did, all on his own.

That, fellow Appreciators, is how it’s done. Hard work, and the confidence which comes with it, can be big factors in whether we are able to achieve our goals. One can imagine the reaction Eugen Sandow received when the people of Victorian England saw that he was lifting weights in order to look like Greek sculptures! I suspect his response was the same as Lachlan’s – “I’ll show ’em…”

Have a great weekend folks!

#keepgoing

Cliffhanger

Posted on July 26, 2013 by tashfriday

Morning Tash Appreciators,

This week brings to an end another season of TF. For the next two weeks, TF headquarters is scheduled to be closed for a summer holiday.

End of season finales are tricky things. This time last year, which was the end of the first “proper” season of TF (i.e. when more than about a dozen people read it!), the aim was to finish on a positive note that would leave you all wanting more. For the second season, something more is required. Like all quality entertainment, it has to be believable; and for it to be believable, the end can’t always be a happy one.Looking back at last year, TF was talking about star-spangled super dreams of sky-scrapers and sparkling blue sea. It really was a super dream and a fantastic time. But that’s the thing about dreams, sooner or later you have to wake up. This year, life certainly has been a wake-up call: even coming up with alliterative sentences requires more energy than I have to spare.

For some Appreciators (including this one) parts of 2013 have been majestic, but considerable chunks have been bloody awful. This year TF has seen its ensemble cast (us) go through trials and tribulations that we could not have seen coming. But unlike conventional entertainment, the people are genuine, and none of the drama has been set up purely for our enjoyment.So, as the curtain falls on season 2, we are left with something of a cliffhanger: will our heroes and heroines overcome, or will they stumble and fall?

The beauty of season 3, and everything that follows, will be that the outcome is in our hands.If I was a betting man, I’d say that this narrative arc of ours has plenty of running-time left to allow for the story to take a turn for the better. Maybe not this year – maybe not even at the end of next year – but, by the time all is done and the credits start to roll, I’d be amazed if things hadn’t worked out ok.So for the next couple of weeks, TF will rest, re-energise, recuperate (hey, maybe I do have the energy for alliteration!) and prepare itself to throw anything and everything at whatever life foolishly puts in it’s way. That’s where this week’s Tash comes in. When TF returns, it intends to channel some of the spirit of this man:

That’s Jules Winnfield (aka Samuel L Jackson) in Pulp Fiction. He will be the inspiration for season 3 because, sometimes, you have to snap some necks if you want to cash those cheques (figuratively speaking, of course).

Have a great couple of weeks!

KEEP. GOING.

Grow the roses

Posted on July 12, 2013 by tashfriday

Good morning Tash Appreciators,

This week, I had the great pleasure of catching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on TV. Even though it was released in 1968, it has lost none of its appeal:

The film fits in with just about everything which TF stands for (with the obvious exception of the state-sponsored abductor of children). It starts with a man who is faced with the cold reality of life: his inventions, although brilliant, aren’t paying the bills or allowing him to give his kids the things he wants them to have. He’s told that he needs to stop dreaming and do an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. In the end though, all of his dreams come true.

I could go on for ages about the different messages which I think stem from the film. However, I will skip the lecture on how it illustrates the point that, no matter how downtrodden they are, young folk will always prevail. In my opinion, the most important message comes from a group of imprisoned inventors who have been tasked with building a car as good as Chitty: from the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success:

It’s a theme that runs through the whole film. For example, as the opening credits roll, the car which will later become Chitty goes on fire and is destroyed. The leading man’s life is a bit of a disaster too. His wife (he’s wearing a wedding ring) is, for whatever reason, no longer part of the family and his home and career are a wreck. It’s only by sheer bloody-mindedness that he perseveres and succeeds. The inventors’ song tell us exactly why he carries on:

When it gets distressing it’s a blessing!
Onward and upward you must press!
Yes, Yes!
Till up from the ashes, up from the ashes, grow the roses of success.

This only occurred to me as I watching it, but literally 90% of the male cast has a Tash. It’s therefore hard to choose just one for this week’s TF. The spies and Baron Bomburst, for example, are particularly funny. However, Grandpa Potts wins it both because of this role in the “Grow The Roses” hymn but also because of the line:

“Never say “no” to adventures. Always say “yes”; otherwise you’ll lead a very dull life.”

It just doesn’t get any better.

Have a fantastic weekend folks!

Keep going!

I ain’t got no worries

Posted on July 5, 2013 by tashfriday

Hey now Tash Appreciators

I was able to finally watch the decider of the NBA Finals this week. It was a close game and LeBron James of the Miami Heat was on top-form. In the end, The Heat were victorious.

I understand from those more knowledgeable than I, that James is one of the top basketball players of his generation. He can apparently sink jump shots even when he’s off-balance when his feet leave the ground. Some go as far as to say that he ‘balls (i.e. plays [basket]ball) so hard that people want to fine him. Lucky for him, first they have to find him.

James was the Most Valuable Player of the Finals:

As good as he is, James doesn’t always have the support of basketball fans. There seem to be various reasons for this, ranging from the way he left his previous team to him getting too much praise from the media.

In an interview after the decider, when he had been crowned Most Valuable Player and also a league champion (a video of which is on the TF Facebook and twitter page #shamelessplug), James is asked about how he plays and what he thinks about people who boo him from the sidelines. He said this:

“Listen, for me, I can’t worry about what everybody say about me. I’m LeBron James, from Akron, Ohio. From the inner city. I’m not even supposed to be here. That’s enough.

Every night I walk into the locker room I see a No. 6 with ‘James’ on the back. I’m blessed. So what everybody say about me off the court don’t matter.

I ain’t got no worries!”

It’s the last part that I really enjoyed. You can see in his eyes that, at that moment, he really means it: he is totally comfortable with who he is and what he does. In my view, you don’t need to be a superstar basketball player to have that attitude and find that peace of mind. He’s just a man doing what he enjoys and, in his words, “that’s enough”.

Often we – and I’m talking really about younger folk, here – get hung up on what we stand for; what we are defined as; what we put on our Facebook/LinkedIn pages as our profession. I put it to you that if we just concentrated on putting our all into everything we do (regardless of what that is), we’d be free of worries too.

I know what you’re thinking – has LeBron rocked a Tash? Has he ever! A cracking effort, actually:

Just to finish this week, there’s another man who knew the value of being satisfied with life, on the basis that he did things his way. I believe he said: “what is a man [or woman!]; what has he got? If not himself, then he has nought”:

Both Frank and LeBron can’t be wrong: just work hard, do it your way and all will be well.

Have a fantastic weekend folks!

Keep going!

LeBron getting dissed again? (thasportsjunkies101.wordpress.com)

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