இ Random facts VI ~ As Years Go By

The Old Geezer.

*The Old Geezer was the 64th commenter in my last post "When U ЯR 64". Oh what a coincidence! He wrote an enlightening comment ~ "Old age ain't for sissies! Do not resent growing old. Many are denied the privilege!" Profound and insightful words of wisdom from a wise man. Almost coming to the end of my 7 Random Facts of Bananaz, one more to go. A picture paints a thousand words. Kindly bear with the time for uploading as it may take awhile. Its all about the adventures of Bananaz in his 20 something, turning 30, pushing 40 reaching 50 making it to 60 hitting 70 and gracefully hope to get into 80 and perhaps more. (Sorry for the poor condition of the old scanned photos).

By looking at the two pictures above one should be able to tell some stories and the year. No prize for guessing. Yup its Woodstock, the Psychedelic Flower People, Peace and Make Love Not War.  Cannot see any ears or shoes and the bell bottoms or commonly called in our local lingo 'hala hala' could go around at 25 inches. Singapore had their strict rule of 4 x 2 meaning the hair at the side must have two fingers clearance from the ears and 4 fingers from the back of the neck. Never been to Singapore until late 80's. The picture of little Bananaz is a classic example of 4 X 2 haircut. Noticed the hair parting? As a boy would part the hair from left to right which is the norm for guys those days but got it changed from right to left during secondary school and what about the watch? It's on my right hand all becoz Bananaz wants to be different.

1970's ~ Full throttle: It's almost every young men's dream to drive a machine full blast without the fear of getting a speeding ticket. Powered by a two-stroke adapted chainsaw McCulloch 87cc engine and slick tyres to grip on asphalt road. When the chief track marshal at the starting point announced "Start your engine!", the adrenaline really started pumping. Go Kart races were mostly held in Penang with the 'racing track' start/end at the main Post Office and only been to a competition once in Taiping.

1970's: Where's Bananaz? Clue: The person who defies superstition or taboo over unlucky number?

1980's ~ Mount Aso: is the largest volcano in Japan, and one of the largest in the world. That was the closest Bananaz ever landed the feet at the crater. Honestly with the current quakes and eruption around the globe we may not have the opportunity to be near volcano. According to Wikipedia an erruption that took place from 300,000 to 90,000 years ago created a huge caldera, 25km across north to south and 18km across east to west. Its circumference is estimated between 80 and 120km.

1990's: The two hours wait for this ride was worth the while, imagine travelling at a top speed of 160km/hour and a free fall straight down from 115 metres. Venue is Dreamworld, Gold Coast Australia. The 'Tower of Terror' with Speed: Up to 160 km/hour, Height: 115 metres or 38 storeys, Length: 330 metres (=3 football fields), Track Length: 400 metres, Acceleration: 0 to top speed in 7 seconds, Weightlessness: 6.5 seconds, Gravity Forces:4.5 G's. Location of Bananaz: second row second from left.

1990's: The view is spectacular from up above Mount Kinabalu and the greatest pleasure in life is doing things that others say you cannot do which is against my doctor's recommendation not to climb mountain. In 1997, a re-survey using satellite technology established its summit (known as Low’s Peak) height at 4,095 metres (13,435 ft) above sea level, which is some 6 metres (20 ft) less than the previously thought and hitherto published figure of 4,101 metres (13,455 ft).[(Said this before in previous post). ]

Con't Part 2..

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இ When U ЯR Sixty Four

Sorry would like to pause on the 7 Random facts about Bananaz with five down two more to go. Cannot wait to post this interesting article received in an email by a buddy friend about growing old with A.A.A.D.D. (Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder). Bananaz shall kick off another 'section' about senior boomers titled 'When U ЯR Sexty Sixty Four' though a bit too early knowing all of us are pretty young and young at heart too. Age is mind over matter. If you don't mind it doesn't matter. Birth, sickness, old age and death 生老病死 *shēng lǎo bìng sǐ * is inevitable, life is impermanent and death is certain. Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional and laughing at yourself is therapeutic.

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder.
Somehow I feel better, even though I have it!!

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. -
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my cheque book off the table, and see that there is only one check left.

My extra cheques are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of coke I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my cheques, but first I need to push the coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The coke is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need water.

I put the coke on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on to the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:
the car isn't washed
the bills aren't paid
there is a warm can of coke sitting on the counter
the flowers don't have enough water,
there is still only 1 cheque in my cheque book,
I can't find the remote,
I can't find my glasses,
and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all damn day, and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail....

Do me a favor
Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don't remember who the hell I've sent it to.

Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!

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இ Random facts V ~ Nothing Left In Right Brain

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Our little 'crinkly walnut' brain is a master piece. It is divided in two parts – left & right. In the left nothing is right and in the right nothing is left. There are many brainy schools of thought and myths regarding the left brain right brain. As far as writing is concerned Bananaz uses right hand from day one but left hand on the Chinese abacus and later electronic calculator in order to save time while holding the pen in the right hand. Been wearing my first ever watch on the right hand since younger days and owning two anticlockwise watches currently *dare to be different* whoa. In any cue sports Bananaz does not need the "rake" or "bridge stick" for billiard or snooker game as the cue could be easily switch to the left hand and vice versa.

Bananaz became much bolder in late 90's going against all odds in attempting to 'exercise' the right brain by training the left hand to use chopsticks and writing and also to remind the mind that "Nothing is Impossible" Know what? He did it. Prefer to place the computer mouse on the left but on rotation basis to the right at a regular basis. Ooops! Now comes the confusion. Is Bananaz a right hander or a lefty? If I don't know I don't know, I think I know. If I don't know I know, I think I don't know ~ (Ronald David Laing, psychiatrist 1927-1989).

Done a quiz from Creativity Test and here are the results: Left Brain (54%); Right Brain (46%).
Bananaz's Result? : Click Here Exit

You are more left-brained than right-brained. Your left brain controls the right side of your body. In addition to being known as left-brained, you are also known as a critical thinker who uses logic and sense to collect information. You are able to retain this information through the use of numbers, words, and symbols. You usually only see parts of the "whole" picture, but this is what guides you step-by-step in a logical manner to your conclusion. Concise words, numerical and written formulas and technological systems are often forms of expression for you. Some occupations usually held by a left-brained person include a lab scientist, banker, judge, lawyer, mathematician, librarian, and skating judge.

Your complete evaluation follows below:


Your Left Brain Percentages:
46% Logical (Your most dominant characteristic)
44% Sequential
32% Linear
27% Verbal
25% Symbolic
0% Reality-based (Your least dominant characteristic)


Your Right Brain Percentages:
44% Nonverbal (Your most dominant characteristic)
34% Intuitive
28% Random
28% Concrete
24% Fantasy-oriented
6% Holistic (Your least dominant characteristic)

According to research by Amar Klar at the National Cancer Institute ~ "the gene for hand preference might also be the gene for hair whorl direction, the way a person's hair turns on the top of their head. Half of people with counter clockwise whorls prefer their left hand". Oh my! Bananaz's hair whorl direction is counter clockwise. Going further with the Geschwind theory, named after Norman Geschwind, a neurologist, proposed that the presence of high levels of testosterone before birth can lead to a left-handed child. Unfortunately, scientists can't open up someone's brain and see a sign for hand preference, so the myth remains that lefties are more artistic. What remains true is that the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and vice versa.

A usual mundane conversation transpired during morning breakfast which goes like this..

香蕉人: 有時候我不曉的我是左手是右手? Pinyin: yǒu shí hou wǒ bù xiǎo de wǒ shi zuǒ shǒu shi yòu shǒu?
Bananaz : Sometimes I wonder whether I'm left or right hander?

芒果: 那個不重要; 愛不愛我才重要
Pinyin: mángguǒ ~ nà ge bùzhòngyào ài bù ài wǒ cái zhòngyào.
Mango: That one not important, love no love me only important (lit.)

Oh dear! A classic case of  "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" where by two genders who have diametrically different communication styles, emotional needs and personal values to each other as pointed out by the author of this book, John Gray?

Click HERE to learn how to write Chinese 左右.

Lefties have long suffered. Eating with the left hand is considered impolite in India, Indonesia and Malaysia. Chinese characters prove extremely difficult to write with the left hand and in the past teachers would slapped the wrists of left-handed students. According to Wikipedia, the Chinese character for "left", 左 depicts a left hand attending to work 工 gōng. In contrast, the character for "right", 右 (Mandarin: yòu) depicts a right hand in relation to the mouth 口 kǒu, suggesting the act of eating. In the olden days in China, the left has been the "bad" side. The adjective "left" 左 pinyin: zuǒ means "improper" or "out of accord". However in one of the Daoist temple one must hold the incense and place them in the urn with the left hand during prayers. According to this Dao, the right hand is "bad" most likely contaminated with evil deeds based on the variety of studies suggest that 10% of world population are left-handed.

Left Brain Teasers:

Because their brains are organised differently, left-handers see and think differently and can get some very different results from various "brain tests", usually doing very well on tests that involve creative thinking or unraveling complex images and manipulating 3D images. Here's a famous test of creativity - have a look at the image below:

A non-creative right handed brain sees only a hodgepodge of disconnected shapes, but the left-handed brain can go beyond logic and find the connecting concept that makes sense of the shapes. If you can't "see" beyond the shapes, it's because your right-handed brain is trying to solve the problem and won't let your left-handed brain have a go. If you still can't see the picture, the answer is at the bottom of this page **

Here's another example showing how your left-handed brain can even create things that don't exist. If you can see the white triangle - the one with its apex pointing up - it's because your left-handed brain has created that triangle to unify what is otherwise simply a collection of angles and PacMan shapes. There is, in fact, no white triangle there.

**The picture in the first brainteaser is of a dog drinking from a stream, with its head in the middle of the picture facing down to the water and its tail off to the right.

Are you aware that August 13 is designated International Lefthanders Day by Lefthanders International who are from 7-10% of the world's population? This myth holds that a right-brain person is generally creative, intuitive, artsy, while a left-brain person is more of a problem-solver, more logical. What do you think? Myth or Fact?

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